DHG Ch 83

✮⋆˙

“Sleep more.”

The next day, Jang Seungyung spoke with a puzzled look as he first held Heewoo, who had come to see him off at the front door again, in a tight embrace. The scent of skin wafting from the warm body that had just woken up tickled the tip of his nose. It was nice, but he wondered if this kid wasn’t pushing himself a bit too hard.

“Because I wanted to see your face. I also study better in the morning.”

Heewoo, who had been hugging Jang Seungyung back and carefully inhaling the pheromones from his nape, said as he pulled his upper body away.

He quietly took in the man’s face, with its distinct shadows. These days, he would find his eyes snapping open even at the faint sign of the man silently slipping out of bed. He felt that the morning hours he had missed while asleep were a waste. What was that sleep, which he could have every day for the rest of his life, that he would miss the opportunity to see this person off?

“Have a good day.”

After seeing Jang Seungyung off with a smiling face.

Heewoo once again spent an arduous time alone trying to regain his concentration. He focused on solving easy math problems and reviewed the main points for the elective subjects. Even so, he couldn’t stop useless thoughts from abruptly digging into the crevices of his mind.

As he moved his pen absently, Heewoo suddenly realized that not a single thought about Kim Jinhwan had crossed his mind. Even though it was just the other day that he had been scared to death of almost running into him.

The only thoughts that came like unwelcome guests were thoughts about Jang Seungyung.

And it seemed he was incredibly slow in accepting the fact of the tremendous influence that man wielded over his mind.

The scratching movement of the pen tip on the notebook slowed down. Heewoo put down the pen, from which a round drop of ink was beginning to form.

“……”

What does it matter if Jang Seungyung goes on blind dates?

Didn’t he already know that his relationship with him couldn’t last long? It wasn’t something to be newly agonized over.

He was aware that a life where one loves normally and then bears the fruit of marriage when they genuinely come to like each other was difficult for him. It was because the past he himself had chosen was attached to him like a shackle. Would there be anyone who could fully embrace his past of working in the entertainment business and even having a relationship with its boss? There wouldn’t be.

‘You chose this.’

As Kim Jinhwan had said, the one who had made his life that way was none other than Heewoo himself. A person like him couldn’t possibly be in a normal romantic relationship with someone. Of course, he knew that Jang Seungyung genuinely cared for him, but that person too would likely think of love and an official partner as separate things.

So, whether the man went on blind dates, met someone, or came home after showering outside, it was of no concern to Heewoo whatsoever. All he had to do was continue living like this and quietly leave when Jang Seungyung said he was tired of him. The man was Heewoo’s benefactor and the person he loved. Therefore, Heewoo only wanted to grant whatever Jang Seungyung wished.

‘How is that boss any different from Kim Jinhwan!’

The voice of Daol, who had once worried about him, came to mind, but Heewoo thought there was no comparison. It might be the same that both had paid him a huge sum of money, but while life with the former felt like wading through a mire the entire time, life with Jang Seungyung was like the sunlight that poured into that place.

Heewoo had walked along the gentle warmth the man provided and had finally escaped from the pit. He had reached solid ground where there was no violence or threats, a firm plain where gentle affection was poured upon him.

And… the biggest difference would be the heart.

His own heart, which had truly come to like someone.

Heewoo got up from his seat. Because he realized that in a corner of this house, which remained spotless no matter how much he tried to lend a hand, there was a place that needed to be organized.

He retrieved some of his own belongings that he had sorted and put away in various corners as soon as he came home a few days ago. He packed only the necessities into the worn-out backpack that didn’t match the clean and luxurious house at all.

So that he could leave right away if he ever had to leave this house. So that if the man ever wanted to shake him off, he could help him return to his daily life cleanly.

He hid the packed backpack well, out of sight in the closet that Jang Seungyung had made for him. After finishing his task, he sat down at his desk again. Perhaps the reason he couldn’t concentrate was because he had been putting off packing, a task that had to be done. Seeing that he could immerse himself just like before afterwards, that must have been it.

Heewoo solved the problems before him, feeling a little lighter. It was mid-March, with the GED exam date now just two weeks away.

Early evening, as the streetlights began to flicker on one by one. The sound of a horn from a luxury SUV blared impatiently, BEEP, filling the narrow alley crowded with people and shops.

Neither the old man passing by with a cart full of waste paper nor the young man heading home from work with a bag tucked under his arm paid any attention to the noise, heading only on their own way. Soon, the SUV, which had been honking its useless horn, came to a rough stop at the entrance of the alley. It was in front of a shabby multi-family house with gas canisters and the like outside.

“Shit, heard he was kicked out over gambling debts, and he lives in a goddamn shithole of a neighborhood.”

The one who got out of the driver’s seat was Kim Jinhwan. With his chin tilted up in an attitude quite different from his subservient manner in front of Jang Jooshin, he yelled at the passersby.

“This is a goddamn shithole of a neighborhood! Huh?”

At the harsh noise, the old man pushing the cart quickened his pace. Other passersby also frowned and looked back, only to hurry away from the spot after seeing the burly man with glaring, large eyes.

“Fucking hell, shee-bal.”

Kim Jinhwan, his face contorted in a way that belied his good-natured impression, opened the steel gate from which all the paint had peeled off. He strode across the yard, where a clothesline, kimchi-making baskets, and a mysterious old chest of drawers were scattered about, and went up the external stairs.

He took out a business card from his pocket that read [Yangrae-dong House]. After checking the address written on the back this way and that, he finally stopped in front of room 204.

“Udul hyung-nim! Are you there!”

BANG, BANG. 

He kept pounding on the steel door, but no matter how much he knocked, there was no sign of life from inside. Just as Kim Jinhwan, whose forehead was wrinkled to the point of distorting his scar, was checking the time on his expensive racing watch.

“What is it. Kim Jinhwan?”

A voice flew in from the hallway he had just come through. Kim Jinhwan glanced up. A skinhead man with a cap pulled down low was standing there in slippers, dangling a black plastic bag. It was the man he was looking for, commonly known as ‘Daemun Faction’s Udul’.

“What brings a guy who says he won’t even step on land that isn’t Gangnam all the way out here?”

Udul asked. Kim Jinhwan, who had erased his hostile air from the alley as if it were a lie, put on a broad smile and bowed his head respectfully.

✮⋆˙

On the rooftop of the multi-family house, a hot pot filled with things like blood sausage and bean sprouts sizzled and boiled on a portable stove.

Udul sat on an overturned soju crate and lit charcoal with a torch. On top of it, he placed a foil dish containing chicken gizzards and garlic to grill. Kim Jinhwan, supposedly the guest, was sitting on a so-called ‘Boss chair’ with all its leather peeled off. On the small table between them, a bottle of Roderick sparkled, its fine surface embossed like crystal. Kim Jinhwan had brought it from the trunk of his car.

“Do me a favor, hyung-nim. Please?”

Kim Jinhwan said. With an affable smile on his face, he handed Udul a paper cup simply filled with whiskey.

Udul avoided his gaze and silently sipped the strong liquor. He put down the paper cup and spoke as he scooped up chunks of well-cooked blood sausage with a spoon.

“I hear Jang Seungyung’s been digging into your every footstep these days.”

“…Well, I guess it’s because of the ledger. It’s not like it’s the first or second time.”

Kim Jinhwan shrugged. Udul fell silent. He was one of the few people who knew about the coincidental point of contention within Geumsan related to the Taekang ledger.

Udul frowned and chewed the food in his mouth. The ledger, huh. Was the thing Jang Seungyung was searching for like a man possessed these days really the Taekang ledger? It was completely different from his past actions, where he took his time as if cornering a fish he had already caught. Lost in thought, he picked up his spoon again and muttered.

“Crazy bastard. It’s obvious he’s gonna make me do shit that’ll have me spewing blood sausage, yet he’s so shamelessly trying to use me.”

Behind Udul, who was grumbling under his breath, a large, discarded plastic sheet of unknown purpose fluttered in the wind. Scooping up a spoonful of bean sprouts and mashed blood sausage, he continued.

“Is it because of that kid again? The waiter whose face you beat to a pulp because he brought snacks to our kids’ table?”

No, wait, was he originally a kitchen staff? Udul mumbled. Pungent smoke from the food boiling and cooking rose from under the hot pot.

Kim Jinhwan just twitched his nose and picked up a piece of chalk that was rolling on the floor. Then, with a cunning look in his eyes, he scanned his surroundings.

Over there, under the clothesline, he could see a hopscotch board drawn in white. As if a child came and went in this desolate place. He broke the short piece of chalk into pieces and answered belatedly.

“Ah, why are you so fussy about the details. You think I’d try to get your skills for free, hyung-nim?”

Kim Jinhwan, who had flicked off the crumbled white powder, raised one corner of his mouth. He leaned his upper body towards Udul, who was preoccupied with scooping up the chewy blood sausage.

“I know why you brought me here, hyung-nim. No matter how much of a beggar’s hovel this place is, you don’t want to let a gangster bastard in. Right?”

Kim Jinhwan pointed his finger here and there around the messy rooftop, which was cluttered with all sorts of junk. A scene that could hardly be called a peaceful living environment.