CI 1.17

Having reflexively blurted out a harsh insult, Son Yeo-il, feeling his words might have been too severe, slightly raised his eyes to check Won Hee-yeon’s face. Disgustingly, his reddened gaze was in an even dirtier state than his erect lower body.

He had momentarily thought differently, but indeed, gratitude was gratitude, and being a pervert was being a pervert. With his sense of caution fully revived, Son Yeo-il hurriedly began climbing the stairs.

“Yeo-il-ah. Don’t misunderstand. Listen, I don’t have any bad intentions, it’s just, you know Pavlov’s dog story? This bastard is such a son of a bitch that whenever it hears our Yeo-il’s voice, it stands up automatically as a reflex.”

Won Hee-yeon followed Son Yeo-il, spouting even more terrifying words. Despite his awkward posture, unable to do anything about his erection, he had no shortage of things to say.

“The rest of the world calls that ‘bad intentions,’ you know?”

“It makes me sad when you say that. This guy is actually quite decent if you get to know him. It’s just trying to get friendly with our Yeo-il.”

“And why do you keep calling me ‘our Yeo-il’ as you please?”

“If I’m Hee-yeon-ssi, then our Yeo-il has to be our Yeo-il, what else would I call you? Here, greet my son.”

When Won Hee-yeon went so far as to point at his lower body and wink, Son Yeo-il panicked even more and waved his hands frantically around.

“Forget about it. I cancel all forms of address moving forward. Don’t follow me!”

“Our Yeo-il is still awkward with this guy. He looks a bit rough, but he’s actually very cute if you get to know him. How about it? Since we’re on the topic, why don’t we go to my room and promote a constructive friendship between our Yeo-il and this guy…”

When they reached the second-floor doorway, Won Hee-yeon opened his door wide before Son Yeo-il could. His lower body was still visibly bulging as he wiggled his fingers, beckoning Son Yeo-il to come in.

Feeling as though his already lost purity was being violated again just by looking, Son Yeo-il quickly jumped into his own room.

“Are you crazy? Seriously. I’m going in!”

Only after slamming the door shut did he realize he had forgotten to thank Boss Won. Since it was obvious that he would be listening with his ear pressed against the door, Son Yeo-il stood in the entryway and spoke slightly louder.

“Anyway…thank you so much for today, Boss Won.”

Within seconds of finishing his words, a message came from Won Hee-yeon. 

[Why am I Boss Won again?]

Does he really need to hear me say it? While Son Yeo-il was taking off his shoes without bothering to respond, another message followed.

[The disappointed one has to bow to get what they want~ Our Yeo-il worked hard today♡♡ Sleep well and dream of me♡♡♡♡]

As if the texted hearts weren’t enough, Boss Won sent an emoticon of an irritatingly flirtatious character shooting love bullets.

He even finds emoticons that look just like him to send to me.

After chuckling incredulously, Son Yeo-il straightened his chest and entered his room. The day that he had expected to be long and exhausting was unexpectedly coming to a close with a gentle smile.

***

“Yeo-il-ah. Try this. Mmm?”

“Khup, kup, keaak.”

Friday lunch, the day after his vacation, Son Yeo-il was startled when Won Hee-yeon suddenly called his name while he was eating a lotus leaf rice set meal. He almost spat out the rice he was chewing onto Won Hee-yeon’s hand that was trying to feed him sweet braised chestnuts.

“Ahh, you s-startled me!”

“What’s there to be startled about? Is it because this face is exactly to our Yeo-il’s taste again today?”

Won Hee-yeon winked while poking his own cheek with his index finger. More absurd than his shameless attitude was how his face was literally glowing even in this situation. Despite driving a long distance all day yesterday, he showed no signs of fatigue. Son Yeo-il grumbled inwardly.

This person has been calling me by my name all day today. What’s going on?

Perhaps thinking he had “earned” some form of address yesterday, Won Hee-yeon had been mentioning Son Yeo-il’s name at every opportunity from the moment they got in the car until lunchtime.

<Did Yeo-il sleep well?> <I saved this seat for our Yeo-il to sit.> <Has our Yeo-il-ssi tried lotus leaf rice before?> <Oh my, why did they build this restaurant on such a hill, making our Yeo-il struggle like this?>

Each time, Son Yeo-il felt mentally disturbed. When he heard strange terms like “baby” or “husband,” he was simply horrified, but for some reason, hearing his name made his solar plexus tingle. It was a name he had been called constantly for twenty-six years of his life, what was so special about it now?

It was irritating, but having been greatly indebted to Won Hee-yeon yesterday, he didn’t want to lose his temper today. Furthermore, since his name was Son Yeo-il, he had no grounds to prevent someone from calling him “Yeo-il.”

“Stop saying flirtatious things, Boss Won.”

The emphasis on “Boss Won” was meant to convey that no matter how often the other side called him by his name, Son Yeo-il would not call him “Hee-yeon-ssi” again. Yet Boss Won was beaming with inexplicable happiness.

“That’s right. Hurry and finish eating. What if you get hungry while working later?”

“I’m done. Let’s go now.”

Though Son Yeo-il spoke curtly, he took the braised chestnut that Lee Hee-yeon had tried to give him and popped it into his mouth. Thinking about the walk back to the office, he knew he needed to conserve energy ahead of time.

The lotus leaf rice restaurant they had lunch at today had good food, but its location was literally halfway up a mountain. From where they had parked the car, they had to climb a steep hill for quite a while to reach it.

It was difficult coming up, but going down the slope in a suit and dress shoes was even more of an ordeal. As Son Yeo-il stood in front of the visibly steep slope, catching his breath for a moment, Won Hee-yeon suddenly turned his back to Son Yeo-il, sat down, and made an unexpected suggestion to the other man.

“Here, get on my back.”

“What?”

“I brought such an honorable person to this shabby place, I should at least carry you down properly. Aing? Come on, get on.”

Son Yeo-il was extremely bewildered. It wasn’t just the randomness that flustered him. What was more disconcerting was that the moment he saw Won Hee-yeon sitting in front of him, he had an even more unexpected thought.

Wow, take a look at those shoulders.

Even though Won Hee-yeon’s broad shoulders were nothing new, the thought felt strangely fresh. The suddenly emerging fantasy continued to snowball.

Were those shoulders always this broad in frame? Did he work out? Would they feel firm to if he touched them? He seemed to have strength to spare, so would it be okay to get on his back? If I did, I would feel how firm they are. No, but I’ve already been carried by him when I was drunk. How did it feel then?

Even while knowing he should not be having such thoughts, his endless stream of consciousness led to the question: “Actually, how did it feel not when I was carried, but when I was embraced?”

Am I going crazy? In broad daylight too!

Startled by his own thoughts, Son Yeo-il took a few steps back as if fleeing from the lustful demon within himself.

“W-What nonsense are you talking about? Move aside.”

“If it’s nonsense, just think of it as nothing and get on. What’s wrong? Yeo-il-ah. You should listen to oppa.”

Setting aside the term “oppa,” the repeated “Yeo-il-ah” attack made Son Yeo-il completely lose his composure. His floundering legs got caught on Won Hee-yeon’s outstretched arm. Son Yeo-il fell to the ground with a thud, and even banged on his knees.

“Ugh…!”

“Aing? What happened?!”

At the sound of the impact, Won Hee-yeon turned around in alarm. Without giving Son Yeo-il time to say he was hurt, he rushed to the seated Son Yeo-il, making a big fuss. He helped Son Yeo-il up and checked his palms and knees that had touched the ground.

“What am I going to do? Let me see. I’ve committed a mortal sin. Acting foolishly for no reason at all! Oh no, there’s a scratch on this fair, pretty hand. Oh dear. Your knee is bleeding too!”

Won Hee-yeon, with his perfectly drawn eyebrows drooping, alternately blew soft breaths on Son Yeo-il’s palms and knees, then hurriedly ran somewhere to get some ointment. His attitude was so attentive that Son Yeo-il wondered if anyone had ever made such a fuss over him before.

When I fell as a child, Mom used to do this for me.

Caught up in an embarrassed yet warm feeling, Son Yeo-il suddenly realized that he could feel Won Hee-yeon’s breath directly on his knee as Won Hee-yeon squatted in front of him, dramatically blowing. Looking down, he saw that the knee part of his suit pants was torn horizontally by about a finger’s length.

“Huh? My pants…!”

“Are some pants the issue right now? The issue is that our baby is hurt!”

It was natural for Won Hee-yeon to consider them “just pants” since they weren’t expensive. But Son Yeo-il’s situation was different. He currently had exactly two suits. If one disappeared, he had no idea what to wear while the other one was at the cleaners.

Though he tried not to show it, Son Yeo-il’s expression grew increasingly serious. Won Hee-yeon, who was already sharp, seemed to catch on to Son Yeo-il’s mood with almost superhuman speed.

“No, wait. The pants are a problem too! Our Attorney Son is a capable lawyer. How can he go around in torn pants? Don’t worry. I caused this, so I’ll take full responsibility. Come shopping with me. I need to get you a complete suit, head to toe.”

It was like scratching an itch, but as tempting as it was, it was also burdensome. Already getting free meals every day and long rides in his car, and now receiving clothes too? Was he some sort of charity case taken on by Boss Won?

“No, it’s fine. They weren’t that nice anyway.”

“Aing? I thought they were designer. When our Yeo-il wears them, they look as beautiful as celestial robes.”

The groundless compliment made him laugh involuntarily. Once he laughed, the atmosphere inevitably softened. As if burrowing into the mellowed mood, Won Hee-yeon stubbornly pressed on.

“Don’t refuse. When you damage someone else’s clothes, you naturally have to pay for them. Isn’t that what the law says?”

“That’s…true. But I’m the one who fell.”

“Come on, how is that our Yeo-il’s fault? It’s my awkwardly long arm’s fault. This wretched arm! Come, come, hurry and hit it.”

Won Hee-yeon pulled out Son Yeo-il’s left hand and made him pat his right arm. While doing so, he visibly flexed his triceps—his muscles were rock-hard and his intentions were crystal-clear.

“Are you being scolded now, or are you showing off your muscles?”

“Both at once. I rarely get a chance to appeal otherwise.”

Son Yeo-il, who had been curious about his muscles from earlier, verbally reprimanded him but couldn’t take his eyes off Won Hee-yeon’s forearm. Just as he was beginning to feel like a pervert himself, Son Yeo-il made a rare self-justification.

He’s constantly sexually harassing me anyway, so whatever. A person can be curious about another person’s body.

Trying to maintain an indifferent expression on his face, Son Yeo-il pointed his fingertips and pressed firmly on Won Hee-yeon’s arm. The arm muscles undulating beneath the silk shirt were firm yet slightly soft, and honestly, they felt nice to touch. As if being jabbed in the forearm was somehow delightful, Won Hee-yeon asked, unable to hide the twitching corners of his mouth, “So, when would be a good time to go clothes shopping? You said you have to work late today, right? How about tomorrow?”

Oh. Now it became a bit awkward to just touch his forearm but refuse to accept the clothes. Instead of flatly refusing, Son Yeo-il gave a vague answer.

“…I have plans tomorrow.”

Son Yeo-il secretly became anxious, fearing Won Hee-yeon might inquire about his “plans.” On Saturday, he had to attend a volunteer event hosted by the Bar Association, which Representative Bae had hastily signed him up for. Since it was an official engagement as a lawyer, he hoped Won Hee-yeon wouldn’t follow him there.

“Ah, is that so? Then how about the day after tomorrow?”

Surprisingly, Won Hee-yeon’s attitude was unexpectedly cool. He didn’t seem interested in who Yeo-il was going with, where, or why. While Son Yeo-il was again too stunned to respond, Won Hee-yeon pressed on confidently.

“You didn’t say no just now, right? Then we’ll meet on Sunday! No backing out.”

Though not entirely pleased, Son Yeo-il’s only achievement was persuading Won Hee-yeon not to insist on carrying him on his back, allowing him to walk down the hill on his own.

Should I have said I wouldn’t accept clothes? But I have nothing to wear right now, and there’s no better solution.

So the next morning, as Son Yeo-il headed alone on an express bus to the rural orchard for the volunteer activity, his mind was unsettled in many ways. Of course, it was natural to feel uncomfortable about suddenly agreeing to receive a suit as a gift.

But why was he so pushy before, yet had no reaction when I said I had plans on Saturday? Well, not that he has to react, but it’s strange that a person is so inconsistent…

The reason such useless questions kept arising was probably because the bus was too quiet. Having become accustomed to someone constantly chattering next to him lately, the silence now felt too awkward for words.

Let’s just focus on work for now. Apple thinning in the morning, counseling volunteer work in the afternoon.

Soon the bus arrived at the terminal, and to reach the orchard venue, he had to take another local bus. When Son Yeo-il arrived, the front of the orchard was already bustling with people from the Bar Association and sponsor organizations. Having not been in such a crowded place with strangers for a long time, he started to feel nervous.

It’s okay. I’m just here to work. Nobody knows me anyway.

Son Yeo-il forcibly straightened his shoulders that were about to hunch and took a deep breath. Thinking he should first make his presence known, he walked up to a middle-aged lawyer who appeared to be from the organizing committee and bowed politely.

“Hello. I’m Attorney Son Yeo-il from Attorney Bae Gi-dong’s office.”

“My, what a good-looking person. Did Attorney Bae select you based on your looks? Welcome. I’m this year’s Chungbuk Bar Association president. Which bar exam class are you from?”

“I passed this year, so I’m still in training.”

“How fresh. There are some junior attorneys gathered over there. I heard there are two trainees as well, so they might be your classmates? You should go introduce yourself.”

That was probably meant to be considerate. Normally, people were happy to meet peers in such settings. However, just hearing the word “classmates” made Son Yeo-il’s body tremble from head to toe. The nightmare of his last semester at law school came flooding right back into his mind.