DI Ch 41

“Uh…”

I don’t think I’ve ever had blood coming out of my ears before. When I couldn’t say anything out of confusion, Tae Seong-je started the car again.

“This won’t do. Let’s go to the hospital.”

“No, it’s fine. Hyung, you’re busy. I’ll go to the hospital as soon as I get home. Let’s just go home.”

Tae Seong-je silently accelerated and focused on driving. It was clear that he knew exactly where the hospital was located. I grabbed him by the shoulder in a hurry, and Tae Seong-je spat out a stern and cold word.

“Let go.”

“Ah. But hyung, I’m really…”

“Seo Seung-won, do you remember what I told you earlier?”

That was a warning. I raised my upper body and then lay back down. When I closed my mouth and looked at him, he seemed to hold back his anger and enunciated each syllable.

“Can’t you understand the situation? Did you feel a little weak in the knees right now?”

“No…”

An apology slipped out of my mouth as I felt discouraged. Finally, I lay down and hugged my backpack, but I couldn’t help but feel guilty for bothering someone who was already busy. When the car came to a stop at a red light, his fingers nervously tapped the steering wheel. I lowered my head because I was afraid of his cold eyes. My head, which had been spinning like it was about to burst from stress overload, began to feel better gradually. There was soon no pain anywhere, and the journey to the hospital was awkward. It was a really frustrating body…

***

“You don’t seem interested in me.”

I shook my head in confusion at Woo Ji-min’s sudden words. What are you saying… I am very interested in Woo Ji-min, the main character’s ending.

“No, that’s not true. I’m very interested in you, hyung.”

“Haha, is that so?”

Woo Ji-min laughed at my words. However, he didn’t make any jokes about being grateful. Woo Ji-min’s eyes looking at me were kind as if he was looking at an innocent child. He straightened his chest and stretched his body, then smiled at me.

“You don’t know how long it’s been since I relaxed and had a meal with someone.”

Although Woo Ji-min looked tired, he appeared relaxed as if he had finally taken a breather. That expression reminded me of myself, who had recently left Seo Seung-won’s house and become independent.

“This is just fine. It’s a comfortable distance…”

“…”

“Ah, sorry for saying something weird. It’s just that, for some reason, weirdos always seem to gravitate towards me, and I don’t have many normal people around me…”

While listening to him without saying a word, one of Woo Ji-min’s lines suddenly came to mind. Woo Ji-min’s line about how he cried out that there was not a single one of them who was normal. There were not many normal people around him.

That’s why Woo Ji-min took a breather between ordinary times with Seo Seung-won, but he didn’t let down his guard even if he wanted to. But Seo Seung-won was just a close junior to him, neither more nor less than that. Thanks to that, Seo Seung-won became the first normal acquaintance in Woo Ji-min’s life.

Woo Ji-min suddenly clenched his fists and trembled. It seemed like he was already drunk after eating a meal with alcohol. His cheeks were already reddened, and he muttered while furrowing his brows.

“All those weird, beggar-like people who have nothing better to do, they annoy me by hanging around and driving me crazy.”

Kang Moo-hyun naturally came to mind.

Woo Ji-min was a remarkably attractive man who drew a lot of attention. Woo Ji-min was a stunning beauty, with a slender physique and a shimmering aura that ordinary people couldn’t match. According to the novel, there were many people who envied and coveted him, so there were stalkers and perverts lurking around him. However, Kang Moo-hyun was the only person I had seen obsessing over Woo Ji-min, so he was the only one who came to mind.

Woo Ji-min said that he remembered me after seeing my nosebleed on the first day. He said he had never seen someone’s nose bleed so profusely in his entire life. And when we frequently ran into each other in class, he became concerned and bought me dietary supplements, which made him feel embarrassed as if he were being presumptuous. In the end, he asked the first-year student representative to secretly deliver them, but I never received anything like that.

When I made a clueless face, Woo Ji-min’s gaze sharpened. It seemed like we were both thinking the same thing. Kang Moo-hyun is this bastard again? However, there was only suspicion and no physical evidence. It wasn’t something significant either. Woo Ji-min struggled to suppress his boiling emotions and continued to drink alcohol. I followed suit and emptied my glass.

“Even if it isn’t.”

Woo Ji-min dropped his spoon and continued to drink only the alcohol. I also put down my utensils without hesitation.

“I’m really tired of people picking up weird rumors and then asking me if they’re true. You’re the first person I’ve ever met who doesn’t ask me anything.”

“I’m not interested in rumors…”

Oh right. Rumors. I had completely forgotten about them.

“It’s been a while since I had a meal with someone who doesn’t talk nonsense. If there’s something you want to eat, feel free to order more. Seung-won eats a lot. Eat more.”

I was having dinner with Woo Ji-min at the moment. It was an apology for the times when he had been treating me like an avatar during the group assignment. For example, conveying messages to Kang Moo-hyun or letting me speak on his behalf. It was challenging at the time, but it wasn’t too difficult since it was originally Seo Seung-won’s role.

We successfully finished our presentation with the professor’s praise, and at the same time, we disbanded the group chat room. Woo Ji-min was the first to leave, followed by me, who didn’t want to spend more time with Kang Moo-hyun. Kang Moo-hyun kindly suggested that we have dinner like the other groups to celebrate the successful completion of the project, but Woo Ji-min and I declined the appointment with various excuses. Suddenly, Kang Moo-hyun’s cold expression came to mind. It was fine because the two of them continued on to the second part anyway, so interrupting them was not a problem.

Woo Ji-min tried to buy me a meal a few days later, but something came up and he couldn’t make time. Instead, we frequently ran into each other late at night in the library. Even though I remembered the plot and everything, it was difficult because I couldn’t remember a single line of the dialogue, but the conversation with Woo Ji-min went exceptionally well. First of all, we had the same hobbies. Studying. Going to the library with Woo Ji-min became my daily routine.

After passing the midterm exams safely, Woo Ji-min suggested that we have dinner at a restaurant he knew through his part-time job in his first year. As expected, it was the first curry shop where Tae Seong-je and I ate. I couldn’t even order the same thing I had ordered before because I felt a little guilty.

The place had been remodeled and the atmosphere looked like a normal restaurant. It made me laugh. I wondered if Tae Seong-je would have ever entered such a restaurant if it wasn’t for me. Woo Ji-min and I quickly became close, whether it was due to the alcohol, our shared interests, or his loneliness. Woo Ji-min drew attention wherever he went, and he was surrounded by strange people. With rumors circulating on campus since his first year, he couldn’t make friends properly even in his third year.

Maybe that’s why the high barrier of defense seemed to crumble over time. He’s more fragile than I thought… I smiled along with Woo Ji-min’s faint laughter and secretly stuck out my tongue. If Kang Moo-hyun saw it, he might kill me out of jealousy.

What surprised me while talking with him was that Woo Ji-min seemed more exhausted because of Kang Moo-hyun than I had thought. It caught me off guard. Since I had read the book from Woo Ji-min’s perspective, I thought I might have missed some of the behaviors or emotions of others, but I never thought I would have missed the narrator’s emotions.

Woo Ji-min began to talk more as the alcohol took effect, most probably because of a drinking habit. He expressed his deep loathing for Kang Moo-hyun and his desperate wish for him to stop meddling. If there were people who didn’t know about Kang Moo-hyun’s image-making tactics, they would have found him peculiar, but when I mentioned that the senior was a bit intimidating, Woo Ji-min applauded and jokingly confirmed that he was indeed such a person.

He was as excited as a fish out of the water, cursing Kang Moo-hyun and venting his frustration.

“Ah, so many things have become complicated because of that bastard, you know?  I don’t need a lover right now, but it’s so irritating that he even comes to my part-time job and quietly disturbs me.”

Woo Ji-min’s dreams were ordinary and peaceful. He simply wanted to meet a good person, get married, and have children. Being an orphan, he yearned for his own family, and since he had nothing, he focused on building up his skills as much as he could. He wanted a happy and warm home of his own.

At that moment, I felt sorry for Woo Ji-min. Unfortunately, his fate was intertwined with Kang Moo-hyun. Woo Ji-min fought fiercely with Kang Moo-hyun in the first part and eventually reconciled, but they agreed not to see each other again. However, Woo Ji-min joined Hyun-seong, unaware that the person who would eventually become the owner of Hyun-seong Group was Kang Moo-hyun. That was the beginning of Part 2. No matter how much they get tangled up, filled with hatred, and trembling with anger, Kang Moo-hyun doesn’t let go.

Then, in order to seek revenge against Tae Seong-je for Seo Seung-won’s death, Woo Ji-min reluctantly joins forces with Kang Moo-hyun, and in the process, he starts to understand Kang Moo-hyun’s feelings. It was a sickening relationship of love and hate.