DHG Ch 69

The young Heewoo’s expression as he looks at his grandmother through the lens is also bright and clear. His face was particularly bright in the photos taken with his grandmother. The way he looked like he was saying something to her, his fleeting smile was as fresh as a young leaf touched by rain.

Such a youthful face.

Such a healthy and bright expression.

All those elements overlapped with the pale, thin, scar-covered face from when he first saw him.

“Thank you.”

Heewoo, who happened to be looking at his grandmother’s face in the old phone, thanked him once again. He bowed his head sincerely, having recovered precious photos he thought he had lost forever.

“Thank you so much. Truly.”

“I believe I told you to stop saying that.”

Jang Seungyung deliberately hardened his expression. He had heard countless words of thanks after settling Heewoo’s debt of over one hundred million won a while ago. It got to the point where he couldn’t tell if he was a lover or a bank teller who had approved a difficult loan, so he had threatened that if he said thank you one more time, he would take it as consent to have sex with all the lights on.

“You’re unnecessarily polite. Or are you really going to repay me sexily in bed? Wow, I’m looking forward to it?”

“……”

Surprisingly.

The silent Kwon Heewoo reacted seriously to the joke. He took Jang Seungyung’s hand and led him toward the bedroom.

And then, standing near the bed shrouded in the dim darkness, he didn’t know what to do. Jang Seungyung, who was quietly watching his gently wavering eyes, pulled Heewoo towards him with a wide grin. The two of them flopped onto the soft mattress together as if they were diving.

It was only after his eyes met Jang Seungyung’s playful ones in the darkness that Heewoo realized he had been joking.

“Come here.”

Jang Seungyung, looking at Heewoo whose blinking had become more frequent, opened his arms with a smile. Heewoo, still holding the phone, hesitated before moving a little closer.

He came right into his arms. Jang Seungyung burst out laughing at the act of him hugging his waist awkwardly instead of his neck. He wrapped both arms tightly around the shoulders that fit perfectly in his embrace, pulling him in close.

Actually, he had been half-serious… but it seemed better to leave it as a joke.

Because he was able to see such a bright expression. Even though he wasn’t smiling as widely as before, there was a distinct hint of a smile on his lips.

The dimple on one cheek appeared again. Jang Seungyung pressed his lips into the delicately indented hollow of his cheek. He was pleased that this happy face was at least similar to his expression from when he was younger.

“You grew up well.”

Jang Seungyung said. He appropriately clenched and unclenched his hands, which were repeatedly trying to tense up, and stroked Heewoo’s soft hair.

After caressing him like that for a while, he began to speak. He sat up, leaned casually against the headboard, and gazed at Heewoo with curious eyes. From this angle, the round nose and lips visible beneath his slightly averted eyes looked childlike. Jang Seungyung tapped his cheek and continued.

“You don’t have any debt now.”

“…Yes.”

“After the GED, you’ll take the college entrance exam and go to university. What’s your life plan after that? Is there anything you want to do?”

He asked the boy who had likely never had a chance to think about his own life, pushed around by debt. With the hope that he would dream of anything freely, without a shadow of a doubt, just like when he was young.

Heewoo, who had his eyelashes lowered in the calm darkness, answered hesitantly.

“The owner of a smoothie shop…?”

His tone was half-disbelieving of himself. Jang Seungyung recalled Kwon Heewoo diligently making juice, neatly preparing fruits and vegetables, and burst out laughing.

“Haha, alright.”

The image of him wafting a fresh, sweet fruity scent did suit Heewoo very well.

Jang Seungyung wrapped his arms around Heewoo again and lay back down. He pulled the boy, who was trying not to put his weight on him by propping himself up on the mattress, down on top of him, then cupped the back of his head and bit his cheek.

“You still call me Boss. Do you secretly really like the title?”

Heewoo, who balanced himself by propping his elbows on Jang Seungyung’s firm chest, rubbed his flushed cheek with the back of his hand. After lightly biting his lip with his upper teeth for a moment, he said.

“If they could, a lot of people would probably want to become a CEO. A… successful self-employed person.”

It was a rare, enthusiastic tone. Only then did Jang Seungyung think that Heewoo might genuinely want the title of “CEO” itself.

“A successful self-employed person is good.”

“……”

“Speaking of which, I was your CEO, wasn’t I?”

“Yes.”

“But the employment contract is over now.”

“…Ah.”

“How long are you going to keep calling me Boss?”

Suddenly, Heewoo became speechless, as if he had a mouth full of honey. Jang Seungyung gently traced the edge of his silent lips with his thumb and made eye contact.

“Well, call me CEO or darling, whatever you’re comfortable with.”

The title wasn’t the important issue right now. He cupped the cheek that was starting to turn red, as Heewoo averted his gaze as if the light were too bright, and asked.

“It’s a good profession, but are you sure?”

Heewoo, blinking rapidly, asked back.

“About what?”

“Are you sure your dream is to be a smoothie shop owner?”

Jang Seungyung wondered if Heewoo had the same dream when he was attending school properly.

Almost simultaneously, he reviewed the investigation files on Kwon Heewoo that had made him uncomfortable for a while late last year. Until he was seven, Heewoo had lived moving from one tiny room to another with his mother. He had never even set foot in a daycare or kindergarten.

The elementary school he attended after that was a small branch school where he went to and from holding his grandmother’s hand. The biggest world Heewoo had probably encountered was the town he went to by taking a bus from afar when he entered middle school. After that, he was practically confined, working in various kitchens.

In that limited, dark world, would he have had the luxury to dream properly?

Regardless of whether he had a dream or not, was he ever given a chance to look after and nurture his own dream?

“For now, just try everything you want to do.”

“……”

“Take the GED, and then just try everything you feel like doing. That’s how you’ll know what you like, right?”

Jang Seungyung said in a carefree, indifferent tone, like a loafer. Hoping that Kwon Heewoo, who was listening intently to his words with bated breath, wouldn’t feel any burden.

This kid had far too little life experience. His true wish was for him to have various experiences now and find something, anything, that he wanted to do.

“You don’t have to know what you like right away. For now, just keep studying. Then, if you just keep doing things one by one, you’ll end up somewhere.”

Their gazes met at an angle. Heewoo, who was mulling over Jang Seungyung’s words while their eyes were locked, once again agreed with a “Yes.”

He seemed lost in thought for a moment. He had answered “CEO” when asked about his dream, but… there was a time when he wouldn’t have dared to even utter such words. Becoming a respectable business owner felt like a ludicrous wish given his situation.

But then this man in front of him appeared and turned his life upside down.

In the best possible way.

He was isolated from Kim Jinhwan, whom he had feared he could never escape, and even the heavy burden of debt had disappeared. He became an incredibly affectionate lover, pouring out love like a welcome rain, and now, he was making him dream dreams he thought only belonged to others, as if they were his own.

Since being with Jang Seungyung, “CEO” no longer felt like it was in another world, like a star in the night sky. It felt like a destination somewhere on this earth, one that he could eventually reach if he worked part-time and painstakingly saved up money.

Heewoo smiled without realizing it. As was often the case, when he was with the man, it felt as if a blade of grass he never knew existed was sprouting in his heart.

“You must be hungry. Shall we eat the galbi-jjim?”

“Uff-da,” Jang Seungyung made a playful sound, swiftly lifting Heewoo into a sitting position and getting up first. As Heewoo got up to follow Jang Seungyung, who was heading to the kitchen.

The sound of a cell phone ringing broke the peaceful silence.

Jang Seungyung checked the caller ID and gestured toward the kitchen, signaling for Heewoo to eat first.

He glanced at his phone and headed to the terrace. His face hardened as if hit by a cold wind as he closed the door and pressed the answer button.

“Did you get the consultation?”

Jang Seungyung asked bluntly. His voice was noticeably colder. Secretary Hwang’s report followed.

—Yes. They said all the files on Mr. Kwon Heewoo’s phone are copies, not the originals.

“Find the location of the originals.”

—Understood.

“What about the drugs.”

Jang Seungyung mentioned the white pills that had frequently appeared in the hidden image files.

-I’ve requested a component analysis. If it is what you suspect, I will also inform Mr. Kwon Heewoo’s doctor.

The brief call ended there.

Veins were bulging on the forearm holding the phone. Jang Seungyung slowly relaxed his body. He twirled the innocent electronic device in his hand and replayed Heewoo’s words in his mind. What the boy had said when he asked about the man with the dyed hair.

‘It happens sometimes. I erase bad memories.’

So that’s what you think.

Leaning his arm on the cool railing, Jang Seungyung raised the corners of his mouth after a moment. If that’s what Heewoo believes, then so be it. He felt no need to change that thought. Because he could make that thought a reality.