Free Web NovelLee Kangjoo set his phone down. Standing in front of him with his hands clasped behind his back, Yang Seokho wore a thoroughly fed-up expression.
“...Do you even have a conscience?”
Then again, if he’d had one, he never would’ve started this kind of business in the first place. If he’d bothered nurturing something like that, he’d have ended up sleeping on the streets long ago.
“That kid’s age is... ...Never mind.”
Lee Kangjoo looked at Yang Seokho with perfect composure. To anyone else it would’ve been the kind of blank face that gave away nothing, but Yang Seokho had learned through years of getting beaten and dragged around exactly what hid beneath it. He made a strangled sound and shook his head to the side.
“Seokho hyung, huh.”
A mocking edge touched Lee Kangjoo’s face.
Yang Seokho had already tried to avoid eye contact, but it was useless. His whole body broke out in goosebumps.
It had been a while since he’d seen that expression.
Back when Lee Kangjoo had been younger, when his blood had run hotter and there’d been no mercy in his fists, that was the face he used to make. It usually came out in situations that called for violence, and afterward he’d sweep through the night like a hunting beast, eyes shining sharp and wild.
He’d gotten older and better at hiding every side of himself. freēwebnovel.com
Still, if there was any comfort, it was that this hadn’t yet reached the worst stage. It seemed more like he was only debating whether or not to put a hairline crack in Yang Seokho’s ribs.
If he was going to run, now was the time.
“I’ll be going, then. Traffic’s starting to build, so thirty minutes might be a little tight.”
“Have a safe trip, Seokho hyung.”
The deliberately soft voice was somehow even scarier. Yang Seokho bent at the waist immediately.
“I’m sorry. I’ll correct it right away.”
“Be back within an hour.”
Counting the round trip, that gave him exactly one hour.
In other words, don’t exchange a single unnecessary word with Cha Haejun.
Lamenting his miserable lot in life, Yang Seokho hurried out at a run.
* * *
Haejun sat on the sofa with the document envelope hugged to his chest, kicking his legs lightly as he waited for Yang Seokho.
Exactly twenty-five minutes later, the intercom rang.
Yang Seokho must’ve rushed over, because his clothes and hair were a mess. The moment he saw Haejun, he bent over, gasping like the ground had opened beneath him.
“...Do you know how much shit I’ve been through because of you, kid?”
“Huh? Did I do something wrong?”
“...No. Forget it.”
Haejun handed over the document envelope to the head-shaking Yang Seokho. Feeling bad seeing him pant so hard, he brought him a glass of water, and Yang Seokho drained it on the spot. Only after wiping his mouth with the back of his hand did he finally look like he’d come back to life.
“Kid. Does the Director treat you well?”
Yang Seokho flicked a glance at his watch as he asked.
Haejun nodded immediately, hard.
“Yes. He treats me really well.”
Lately, every single day felt dreamlike.
He ate delicious food every day, saw Lee Kangjoo in the evenings, lay beside him in the same bed, felt his touch, and got to sleep in his arms.
The money still vanished straight into Choi Manseok’s account the moment it came in, but even with barely a few coins to his name, living in a nice house where he could eat, wash, and rest made the crushing weight of reality feel far away. His shoulders and back, once bent like a mule’s, had begun to straighten, and the gloom that used to hang over him like a curtain slowly lifted.
Yang Seokho scratched at his jaw and chuckled.
In such a short time, the kid had become like a flower bud full of life. Give it a little more time, and he’d bloom completely, filling this bleak house with the fragrance of a flower in full blossom.
It was a strange way to describe a guy with a dick, sure, but calling Cha Haejun a bud-like beauty somehow didn’t feel wrong at all.
“A house really needs a person in it. Before, it was so barren it felt like a desert.”
Following Yang Seokho’s gaze, Haejun looked around the living room too.
Sure enough, it was very different from the first sight that had greeted him when he arrived.
The green plants and the little things Haejun had placed here and there had transformed the sharp, dry interior and the atmosphere of the house itself. It really did feel like an oasis had taken root in the middle of a desert full of sand mounds.
“That man never once brought anything alive into this house until now... You’re probably the first. Lucky you, kid.”
“Really? No way. ...Wouldn’t there have been at least one of his past lovers?”
“He hates anyone touching his territory. Lover or whatever, he never let any of them come near this place. He always slept at home too.”
At the beginning, that had definitely been true.
Even when Haejun had clung to him and asked him to stay the night, Lee Kangjoo would leave, saying he was more comfortable at home.
But at some point, he’d started granting Haejun’s requests once in a while, giving him the space beside him in bed.
The thought left Haejun dazed and strangely elated.
It made him feel like he had become something special to Lee Kangjoo.
“Damn, it’s already this late... I’ve gotta step on it again. Christ, my life.”
Looking at his wristwatch, Yang Seokho made a miserable face and hurriedly called the elevator.
Even after seeing him off, Haejun stayed standing in the entryway for a long while.
Yang Seokho had probably said it without any thought.
But it sounded different to Haejun.
“I’m the first...”
The words drifted down into his heart like maple seeds and took root there.
Seeds of hope.
* * *
Haejun spent the whole day absentminded.
At one point he watered the plants in a daze, only to spill water onto the floor and startle himself before hurriedly wiping it up.
Even after all that, Yang Seokho’s words kept spinning in his head like a top.
No one else has ever been brought in here.
No one except me.
He was the first thing Lee Kangjoo had ever allowed into his territory.
It was so hard to believe that Haejun had grabbed Yang Seokho by the elevator several more times before letting him leave.
‘Really?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Mm.’
‘It’s just hard to believe.’
‘Believe it or don’t, that’s your choice, kid. But can you let me go now? If I’m late, I might actually die.’
After finally sending off the man who looked like he was being chased by death itself, Haejun rolled around on the sun-warmed floor.
Even while scolding himself not to misunderstand, to get a grip, expectation kept rising from one corner of his heart like a curling plume of smoke.
Lee Kangjoo was good to him.
He didn’t know if Lee Kangjoo was naturally kind.
Thinking back to their first meeting, he’d been terrifying—a man who used Haejun’s mouth to vent desire and could leave someone covered in blood without blinking. Hadn’t Haejun himself trembled after smelling the blood clinging to him?
But behind that cruel side, there was unmistakably warmth too.
Lee Kangjoo had saved him twice.
He’d given him warm arms to curl into.
He’d offered him a safe place, even if only for a little while.
He’d dealt with the man next door who threatened him, and when Haejun was sick, he’d stayed by his side and cared for him attentively.
Was it okay to misunderstand?
Could he allow himself to believe that, even just a little, there was a place for him in Lee Kangjoo’s heart?
If all the confessions he’d swallowed were food, his stomach would’ve been dragging on the floor by now.
The feelings piled up until they crawled up his throat and settled at the root of his tongue.
The courage born from hope felt like medicine, forcing up everything he’d kept buried.
He wanted to shout it to Lee Kangjoo himself.
Proudly.
Passionately.
His chest swelled for no reason.
If Lee Kangjoo were in front of him right now, it felt like he’d run straight at him and blurt out that he liked him without a second thought.
First, he needed to cool his overheated head.
Haejun splashed cold water over his face. In the end, he even filled the sink and dunked his whole head in before the boiling heat finally eased a little.
By the time he was wrestling with his excitement while half-watching TV on the sofa, Lee Kangjoo arrived home.
The heat he’d barely managed to cool surged right back.
His heart pounded so loudly it almost felt violent. He couldn’t tell whether what was about to burst out of him was a confession or his heart itself.
“You’re back.”
Haejun instantly threw himself into Lee Kangjoo’s arms. He wrapped both arms tightly around him, rubbing his face against his chest as he breathed in his scent.
Burying himself in Lee Kangjoo’s space, in Lee Kangjoo’s smell, felt like diving into freshly spun cotton candy.
Lee Kangjoo seemed used to moments like this now. He stroked the Haejun who had flung himself at him and lifted him up easily.
When the two of them were alone, it was rare for Haejun to walk anywhere on his own.
Lee Kangjoo practically carried him everywhere, insisting there was no point slowing down the healing by walking unnecessarily. From the living room sofa to the dining table, from the bathroom to the bedroom after washing up, Lee Kangjoo held onto Haejun the way a child refused to let go of a favorite stuffed toy.
‘Aren’t I heavy? I weigh more than I look.’
‘Let’s put a little more weight on you. Is the food not to your taste?’
When Haejun had asked shyly, Lee Kangjoo had clicked his tongue and shot the question back while kneading Haejun’s ass, still barely a handful even after he’d filled out more than before.
As if.
Mrs. Jeong’s cooking was the best food Haejun had ever tasted in his life. Comparing it to anything else felt insulting.
He’d shaken his head and praised her skill until his mouth practically went dry.
“What did you do all day today?”
“Earlier, Seokho hyung... no, Manager Yang stopped by.”
“He didn’t talk about anything else?”
“No. He just took the documents and left right away.” ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Before leaving, Yang Seokho had grabbed Haejun by the shoulders and begged him to please tell it exactly that way, emphasizing that the two of them had never had any conversation at all.
When Haejun answered brightly, Lee Kangjoo let out a faint laugh.
The narrowing of his eyes made it seem like he knew exactly what had been hidden.
“What else?”
“Mrs. Jeong wasn’t coming today, so... I did some laundry. While listening to music.”
“I told you that isn’t Cha Haejun’s job.”
“There were a lot of towels piled up. It really wasn’t hard.”
“Until your ankle heals, staying still is what helps.”
Haejun giggled and looped his arms around Lee Kangjoo’s neck.
Every time it felt like Lee Kangjoo was doing all this just for him, his heart fluttered helplessly in his chest.
