SOG Ch 136

The slender woman wearing Seon Jae-chan’s coat and sneakers was Seon Jae-chan’s mother, Gu Ji-young. Woo-jin knew her face because she was somewhat of a celebrity. Woo-jin noticed Jae-chan’s clothes and shoes that she was wearing and then checked Seon Jae-chan’s slippers again.

An awkward atmosphere briefly hung between the three people suddenly facing each other. The sound of car brakes squeaking echoed repeatedly through the vast underground space as vehicles came and went. Woo-jin broke the silence first.

“Hello.”

In response to Go Woo-jin’s greeting, Gu Ji-young adjusted the collar of her coat and nodded.

Only then did Jae-chan come to his senses. He took a quick look at his mother and then asked Woo-jin.

“Did you bring your car?”

Woo-jin nodded slightly.

Jae-chan’s lips tightened. He had brought Woo-jin out on impulse but now didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t question Woo-jin about his feelings for Nam Hae-sol with his mother present. But after dragging him out so abruptly, he also couldn’t just tell Woo-jin to go home in his own car.

It was a complete mess. Jae-chan’s mind, still in shock and slightly unstable, rattled like a wobbly wheel.

Just then, Woo-jin perceptively spoke up:

“I was going to call a driver anyway. I had a drink.”

“…”

“Can you give me a ride?”

Woo-jin spoke with a clear face that gave off a feeling of soberness and no hint of alcohol at all.

Jae-chan knew that Woo-jin didn’t even have time to raise the champagne glass to his mouth since he followed him from the parking lot, but Jae-chan just nodded stiffly.

Since his mother was already occupying the passenger seat, Woo-jin sat in the back seat. Jae-chan also got in the driver’s seat, following Woo-jin who entered without hesitation.

“Give me the shoes. – It’s not safe to drive in slippers.”

After a bit of a struggle to get his sneakers back from his mother, Jae-chan checked his phone once more.

[How did it go, Jae-chan?]

There was a text from his aunt. He sent a reply, then gripped the steering wheel again. The car slowly pulled out.

As he drove to Woo-jin’s officetel, Jae-chan occasionally glanced at the rearview mirror. It was his first time seeing Woo-jin sitting in the back rather than the passenger seat. Even in the midst of everything, he found this rare arrangement intriguing. Before he knew it, they had arrived at the officetel, which wasn’t far to begin with.

After parking the car for a while, Jae-chan followed Woo-jin out to see him off. The headlights of the still-running SUV cast a diagonal light on their backs.

“What’s with the car? Don’t you need to get it fixed?”

Woo-jin asked, leading Jae-chan inside the sidewalk block. Jae-chan explained after taking a look at the side of the car body, which was dented here and there and badly scratched by the Union Hero’s shield.

“It’s okay. It’s my father’s car.”

“Ah.”

Woo-jin nodded briefly in understanding, then raised his eyebrows in thought. He was curious how Jae-chan had ended up driving his father’s car.

“…”

It seemed unlikely he’d get an answer, with Jae-chan’s mother waiting in the car.

Woo-jin recalled the text message he’d checked on his phone in the car. The urgent message the surveillance team had sent after Jae-chan’s missed calls.

[We’re leaving this message as it seems to be related to Guide Seon’s safety.]

After receiving a report on Jae-chan giving a dress to his successor, Woo-jin had reflected that obsessing over his every move was no different from stalking. So he had instructed them to refrain from reporting Jae-chan’s movements unless something unusual happened.

[An hour after Guide Seon entered the mansion, a white vehicle suddenly crashed through the front gate and drove out. (…)]

Initially, the surveillance team had just observed Jae-chan entering a mansion and was on standby.

For this reason, the text was missing the details Woo-jin wanted. If it was a large mansion in the north, it must be Jae-chan’s family home, but he couldn’t know exactly what had happened inside for about an hour. He could only vaguely guess based on what Jae-chan’s mother had said earlier, “Hey! If you came to rescue me—”

“I’ll tell you the details later.”

Jae-chan must have noticed Woo-jin’s worried expression and comforted him like that. After much thought, Woo-jin finally asked.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Huh? Oh, no.”

Jae-chan waved his hand. Fidgeting with his thick knit collar, he seemed to try changing the subject by asking Woo-jin:

“Weren’t you not supposed to come today?”

At that question, Woo-jin remembered something he’d forgotten. He reached for something in his coat pocket, then sighed briefly.

“I had something to tell you… but later. Your mother’s waiting. You look cold too.”

Jae-chan was still giving his coat to his mother. Woo-jin suppressed the urge to pull Jae-chan into his own coat, to kiss the marks he’d left under Jae-chan’s thick turtleneck sweater again. Instead, he just patted Jae-chan’s shoulder a couple times before sending him off.

*

“If you came to rescue me, shouldn’t you take responsibility? How could you leave your mother alone in such a dangerous place?”

This was what his mother said as soon as they left Woo-jin’s officetel.

Jae-chan silently focused on the road ahead while turning the steering wheel. He thought it was fortunate, though normally he would have hated hearing this. It was good to have someone beside him. It was good that this person had given him a task to resolve.

“Where are we going now?”

Gu Ji-young, who had been expressing her disappointment for a while, suddenly asked. Jae-chan, who had been driving on the eight-lane road, had suddenly veered onto the highway, leaving District 1.

“District 5.”

Jae-chan answered, gripping the steering wheel tighter with his numb hands. By the looks of it, he might need some unofficial guiding as soon as they reached District 5.

“…?”

“Aunt contacted me. I’ll take you to her.”

Before leaving Woo-jin’s officetel, Jae-chan had checked the reply from his aunt.

“If you don’t want to, just say so.”

Jae-chan said that, but Gu Ji-young just warmed her fingertips in the warm air of the heater. She couldn’t possibly dislike it. If not for her sister Ji-eun, she would have to go to her father, but she just couldn’t muster the courage.

“…”

The car drove on through the night in silence for a long time. Right after exiting the interchange, they briefly stopped at a rest area. Back in the car with some snacks, Gu Ji-young fiddled with the bag of warm walnut pastries her son had bought her and spoke in a small voice:

“Thank you.”

She was somewhat surprised to see her son behaving so maturely. Even though she hadn’t seen him in a while, she always saw her youngest as a child, no matter how much he tried to act mature and smart.

Honestly, he still looked like a baby on the outside. It felt strange to see him driving so skillfully and to be riding in his car.

All these complex feelings were summed up in her awkward expression of gratitude.

“….”

Meanwhile, Jae-chan, pressing the accelerator to match the speed limit, felt nothing. If it had been anyone other than his mother in the same situation, he would have rescued them and taken them to District 5 too. Because that’s what his aunt wanted.

To him, the current situation was just a bleak rescue operation and an excuse to escape from a sudden predicament.

For Jae-chan, there was a far more complex problem than his mother.

“…”

He recalled Woo-jin, who couldn’t take his eyes off Nam Hae-sol. And his own action of forcefully pulling Woo-jin away as if trying to detach that gaze.

He glared at the dark road ahead, as fiercely as if it were the crossroads of choice that had suddenly confronted him.

Even after his mother had dozed off in the passenger seat, Jae-chan remained deep in thought for a long time.

The car drove on the highway all night. After several hours, as they entered the coastal area connected to District 5, a thick fog engulfed them. Despite the breaking dawn, the surroundings were dimly dark. Even as the day gradually brightened to a pale ash-gray, Jae-chan still hadn’t made a decision. Only the SUV he was driving was moving through the silent fog.

*

There were two major options in front of Seon Jae-chan.

1. Pretend to be unaware of Woo-jin’s feelings and continue his relationship with him.

However, choosing the first option would be painful for Jae-chan himself. Pretending not to notice Woo-jin falling for Hae-sol, and just waiting idly for his feelings to drift away?

It was a foolish thought, but even imagining it brings tears to his eyes. Above all else, he didn’t think he could just stand by and watch Woo-jin drift away.

Then, the next option:

2. Interfere with Woo-jin and Hae-sol’s growing closeness.

This doesn’t even need consideration. Hell, how would that be any different from the past?

He had no right to prevent Woo-jin’s heart from turning towards Nam Hae-sol. He couldn’t repeat the huge mistake of the past. Unlike then, he now felt guilty towards Nam Hae-sol, whom he had come to care for as his apprentice.

The incident with Han Myeong-gyu, which was relayed to him by Gyeong Chang-hyun, increased his sense of guilt. Hae-sol was suffering from factors that hadn’t been there before. Jae-chan wondered if she was being harassed by an incompetent guy like Han Myeong-gyu because she hadn’t found the proper connection to someone like Go Woo-jin.

But opting for the first choice didn’t sit well with him at all.

[Welcome to District 5.]

Jae-chan swallowed yet another sigh as he saw the approaching road sign in the distance. The fog had lifted significantly as the day fully brightened. He hurriedly passed through the deserted national road, pressing down on the accelerator.