CI 4.2

In truth, Won Hee-yeon probably knew perfectly well that the envelope wasn’t Son Yeo-il’s. He had merely interfered out of curiosity and concern about what Son Yeo-il and Oh Yu-na might be discussing alone. It was a bit funny that he still acted like the embodiment of jealousy even after coming out and outing himself in front of Oh Yu-na.

But then again, I’m pretty bad myself when it comes to jealousy.

Belatedly achieving self-awareness, Son Yeo-il decided not to blame his boyfriend’s clinginess and changed the subject for him.

“Anyway, please wait a little, Hee-yeon. I’ll leave work on time today. We were going shopping later, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right. Then I’ll wait patiently, and you take care of your work.”

At the mention of their after-work date plans, Won Hee-yeon quickly turned into a gentle lamb and obediently ended the call. Smirking, Son Yeo-il returned to his office and swiftly prepared the provisional seizure application with content he had prepared in advance and submitted it to the court.

Soon, Koo Dae-hyun would be heading toward his downfall, but more than that satisfying revenge, Son Yeo-il was simply looking forward to quitting time. Because after work, he could meet his boyfriend who melted him every day with his sweet greetings.

***

“Is that my husband coming? You’ve worked hard today too.”

Finally, 6 o’clock came around. As he got into the car that had been waiting for him, Won Hee-yeon welcomed Son Yeo-il with a bright smile on his face that seemed to stretch from ear to ear. It was a smile that made even Son Yeo-il, who had thought he should definitely caution Won Hee-yeon about calling during consultations, smile along.

“You’ve worked harder, Hee-yeon. Now you have to drive too.”

“Hey husband, how are we going to do this? Should we leave right away? That store closes at 8.”

“Yes. Let’s eat dinner after we get there.”

Today, Son Yeo-il and Won Hee-yeon had planned to visit an interior accessories shop in a larger neighboring town. Won Hee-yeon’s car began to speed smoothly toward the outer road. Feeling more excited than when they went clothes shopping, Son Yeo-il chattered in a bright voice.

“How did you know about such a store? I looked it up in advance and it seems to have many pretty items.”

“I’ve got this area locked down. If you don’t find anything you like today, we can go to Seoul or somewhere else next weekend, so take your time looking. I’ve got the basics set up already, but the finishing touches should be according to your taste. It’s our newlywed home now.”

“W-what newlywed home?”

Despite his half-hearted protest, Son Yeo-il didn’t look particularly displeased. Today, Son Yeo-il was planning to buy items to decorate his new room in Won Hee-yeon’s house. Last weekend, the two had promised to live together once Son Yeo-il’s studio apartment was sorted out. Recalling that promise made his heart tingle, so Son Yeo-il needlessly turned his head to look out the window.

“The days have gotten longer now.”

When he first came to Yongju City, it seemed like the sun had completely set by around 7 o’clock, but now the sky was still bright blue even after work. He could feel that a considerable amount of time had passed since then.

“That’s right. It’s summer.”

At Won Hee-yeon’s affectionate response, Son Yeo-il realized that more than the changing seasons, their relationship and his own feelings had changed most significantly. And he recalled what had happened last weekend, while looking out the car window like this.

<Oh my. Coming all the way to Seoul and not even being able to treat you to a proper meal before heading back, what a shame.>

On the way back to Yongju City after leaving the hotel, Won Hee-yeon clicked his tongue as if genuinely regretful. Having rolled around together until nearly dawn, the two had naturally failed to meet the checkout time and hadn’t been able to visit the restaurant they had researched in advance.

Even after requesting a late checkout and extending it further, Son Yeo-il was barely able to pull himself together enough to go outside. Even then, it was embarrassing when hotel staff rushed to help him in the lobby, thinking he might be injured as he walked with a bent waist and an awkward gait.

<Not at all. The room service was delicious.>

Son Yeo-il licked his lips, remembering the hangover soup he had ordered through room service at an awkward time that was neither lunch nor dinner. Despite being poorly composed for the price, it had gone down well, perhaps because it was his belated first meal.

<That’s true. Anything eaten with my baby is an outright feast.>

Won Hee-yeon’s following words were also true. Although Son Yeo-il had lived his whole life with a small appetite, lately everything tasted delicious. It was probably thanks to the person who seemed satisfied just watching Son Yeo-il eat, smiling from across the table.

Come to think of it, even when Son Yeo-il first met Won Hee-yeon and thought he couldn’t stand the sight of him, the food they ate together always tasted good. Back then, he had simply thought, This uncle really knows good restaurants, but now that he had caught Won Hee-yeon’s clinginess, embarrassing words kept coming to mind.

Is there a clearer signal than food tasting good when eaten together? Was it fate from the beginning…something like that? Am I overthinking this?

Though he tried to control his thoughts from getting ahead of himself, even as his body felt heavy as lead, his heart kept floating upward and a smile continued to form at the corners of his mouth.

His gaze kept drifting toward his boyfriend’s profile as he gripped the steering wheel. Looking at that handsome face couldn’t help but improve his mood. Although he felt embarrassed about shouting “Hee-yeon is mine!” at the top of his lungs while drunk yesterday, thinking about it again, it still seemed like the right thing to say.

It’s not wrong. I only called what’s mine mine.

The blue sky outside the car window, the sunset that gradually colored it, and the darkness that slowly arrived all looked beautiful to Son Yeo-il. The roughly two-hour drive ended quickly, and when they reached the studio apartment building in Yongju City, he felt only regret.

Although many exhausting things had happened over the weekend, looking back now, they had all passed in an instant. As they often did when parting, the two stood in front of the building’s common entrance, fiddling with each other’s hands for quite some time.

It was obvious that the time spent apart would feel even longer than the time together felt short. Whether this was fate or whatever, he wasn’t sure yet, but the desire to continue being together was clear.

And we’re both way too jealous. We need a solution for that too.

Clever Son Yeo-il came up with a wise solution. The two of them, with their ridiculously intense jealousy, seemed like they would only feel at ease if they could stick together and monitor each other except during working hours. The answer was decided—it was just a matter of bringing it up.

<Hey, you know what you talked about before, Hee-yeon?>

<What are you talking about? Hmm, the printed shirts? If my baby likes them, I can call the department store right away and have them set aside every color and pattern. How about it?>

Having apparently been quite taken with how Son Yeo-il looked in printed shirts, Won Hee-yeon had not only carefully packed the semen-soaked shirt to bring back, but had also been insisting since breakfast that Son Yeo-il would look stylish wearing such clothes regularly.

Thinking the conversation might drift off in an odd direction if left alone, Son Yeo-il quickly threw a bold fastball.

<Not about clothes, but about how you asked what I’d think about living at your house.>

<…>

<I think it’s a good idea. Let’s live together.>

Of course, Won Hee-yeon had been extremely excited at Son Yeo-il’s words. He had spun around in place like a dog out for a walk after three months and tried to drag Son Yeo-il to his house immediately, causing quite a struggle to stop him. After persuading him that they needed to go to work on Monday and sort out the studio apartment contract, they had agreed on today.

Apparently quite happy about living together, Won Hee-yeon was in high spirits even while driving, chattering about various things.

“Come to think of it, since my baby will only be staying in his room occasionally, it’s not the time to act generous by offering just one room. Rather than just decorating, if there’s anything else you don’t like, change it all. Should we just renovate everything anew?”

Son Yeo-il recalled the gaudy wall clock and tiger fur rug in the living room. While the interior was far from his taste, he didn’t dislike it. After all, it was a house that suited Won Hee-yeon well.

“There’s nothing that needs changing, is there? I like your house as it is now, Hee-yeon. Today I was just planning to look for a shelf for the desk and a small wastebasket…”

“But when a member changes, shouldn’t something change too? Ah, but you’re right. Tearing up the interior would just delay moving in. Instead, I should change the house deed first! Let’s see. The registry office must be closed by now?”

Instead of being deterred, Won Hee-yeon became even more excited. Being human, Son Yeo-il laughed and told him not to say such ridiculous things, but honestly, he was somewhat intrigued.

While trying to push away the shameless thought that with so many buildings already owned, giving away one house wouldn’t be a big deal, he also felt his heart swell with the fact that his boyfriend was such an impressive person.

How did I end up meeting someone like this? So wealthy, so handsome, and endlessly affectionate.

Just as Son Yeo-il was becoming intoxicated with happiness, their car arrived at their destination. The shop owner, apparently familiar with the place, was very happy to see Won Hee-yeon.

“Oh my, Director Won has come! My, you look even more radiant.”

“Oh. It’s been a while.”

“Indeed. Has it been three years? Oh? Could it be you have good news? You said last time you were here that you’d come back when you got married and were planning on decorating your newlywed home.”

Son Yeo-il was momentarily shy at the shop owner’s exuberant words, then the next moment felt an ominous premonition and turned toward Won Hee-yeon. Sure enough, Won Hee-yeon responded with a broad grin, as if he had been waiting for this all along.

“Madam, you’re truly psychic! We need to set a date! You see, I received what you’d call a proposal. What happened was, last weekend when I went to Seoul…oof!”

Surprised by the momentum with which Won Hee-yeon was about to ramble about last weekend to a complete stranger, not to mention labeling Son Yeo-il’s “let’s live together” as a “proposal,” Son Yeo-il quickly pinched Won Hee-yeon’s side. Then, stepping in front of the confused shop owner, he changed the subject.

“Ha, haha…Ma’am. I was looking to see some bookshelves for a study.”

The shop owner tilted her head to one side as if suspicious of Son Yeo-il, who had turned red to the tips of his ears all by himself, but guided the two to the study section of the store. While moving his feet, Son Yeo-il glared at Won Hee-yeon with narrowed eyes. Despite having his side pinched quite hard, Won Hee-yeon was grinning from ear to ear, clearly pleased about something.

Feeling as though his attack had no effect whatsoever, Son Yeo-il sighed and then just joined in the laughter. It seemed that one thing Son Yeo-il’s seemingly perfect boyfriend lacked was “restraint.”

About ten days later, on a leisurely afternoon. Son Yeo-il was printing out a document he had spent all day carefully drafting. Manager Kim, who was approaching to speak to Son Yeo-il, stuck out his tongue at the endless parade of A4 pages being printed.

“Wow, I was wondering what our Professional Son had been so focused on writing, but you’ve authored an entire book.”

“Ahaha, it’s not all written by me; there are many case precedents to cite, so the document got a bit lengthy. Did you have something for me?”

“About that textile factory case filing, the court issued an order to correct the stamp duty, but it seems…”

“Ah, I thought there might have been an error in the correction, so I called the court. The judicial officer said they would check and re-correct it.”

“Oh my, you’ve already handled it. Also, there was a call late this morning that I answered for you…”

“It was from Law Firm Atlantic, right? They also contacted by email. They wanted to change the court date, so after checking the CEO’s schedule, I replied that the afternoon of the 26th would work.”

After providing crisp answers, Son Yeo-il neatly arranged the printed documents, stapled them at the position designated by CEO Bae, and marked each page with issues using flags. Manager Kim spoke admiringly of his flawless performance.

“My goodness, Hand Pro, you were good from day one, and now you’re absolutely flying. I wonder how much better you’ll get after your probation period.”

“What? Oh, no. That’s too much praise.”

“If anything is too much, it’s that you’re too good for this office. Since you arrived, my work has become so much easier! It’s so convenient when things just click. Even if a big law firm tries to scout you, don’t go—stay right here. Got it?”

In his heart, Son Yeo-il felt proud at the praise from Manager Kim, who never offered empty compliments despite his effusive manner. Indeed, lately it had felt like everything was going smoothly.

While most cases were progressing well, the greatest achievement would certainly be the recent mediation settlement on favorable terms in the divorce case that Son Yeo-il had brought in.

A portion of the substantial settlement amount was expected to come in as the contingency fee according to the agreed ratio, and CEO Bae had already declared that he would give Son Yeo-il another bonus as soon as the payment was received.

When I get the bonus, I should buy a gift for Hee-yeon to commemorate us living together. What would be good? We already have about twenty pairs of couple’s pajamas, so we probably don’t need more…

Though it was hectic with the upcoming move, his personal life was also going smoothly. He had been worried because there was still a considerable period left on his studio apartment contract, but that had been resolved well too. The landlord, who had initially only shown anger when first approached, suddenly changed attitude and actively cooperated—though it was somewhat unsettling, as Won Hee-yeon had likely pulled some strings ahead of time.