IPSTDS Chapter 94

Chapter 94

The café Park Sangcheol told him about was nearly empty despite it being a Saturday afternoon. Among the few people there, Nahyuk spotted Park Sangcheol right away.

It was because his appearance was the same as in his dreams. Of course, time had passed, and he looked a little older than back then.

Nahyuk and Kangil sat across from Park Sangcheol. The moment they did, Park Sangcheol’s murky gaze fell on Nahyuk.

It was an even more unpleasant gaze than what he had faced in the dream.

“Noah Yoon, how is it that your face looks exactly the same as before?”

Park Sangcheol’s first words sounded very familiar. Nahyuk recalled chapter 79, which he had just read, and gave a different answer than the one Yoon Noah had given in the original.

“Yeah, thanks for seeing me in a good light.”

Unlike Yoon Noah, who had replied sharply, he answered softly.

That answer made Park Sangcheol flinch. He looked startled by the unexpected gentleness.

Then his eyes slid over toward Kangil, the uninvited guest.

“And this is?”

As expected, it was the same line from chapter 79.

In the original, Kangil had stepped forward himself to say he was Noah’s lover, but this time, Nahyuk cut in first.

“My lover.”

Nahyuk wanted the situation around him to flow differently from the original. He didn’t know how the original story would end—whether happily or in tragedy.

But Park Sangcheol said,

“Haha, so in the end, instead of Seo Dowoong, you decided to date this guy?”

In the end, it was the same line as the original. And Kangil, too, responded the same.

“Park Sangcheol, don’t compare me to Seo Dowoong. And he’s not ‘this guy,’ he’s Lee Kangil.”

“Right, nice to meet you. As you probably already know, I’m Park Sangcheol, Noah Yoon’s old classmate.”

After introducing himself, Park Sangcheol slid his business card toward Kangil.

Nahyuk alternated his gaze between the two who exchanged words so quickly. How could he change the flow?

“So now tell me why you called me. What exactly do you want to talk about regarding Seo Dowoong?”

“I hear you still don’t get along with Seo Dowoong.”

“……”

“Given my job, I end up hearing all sorts of things.”

“And?”

“Let me show you this first.”

Park Sangcheol pulled something out of his bag that he had prepared in advance and placed it on the table. Inside a transparent, palm-sized plastic pouch were photos.

He jerked his chin as if to say, Take a look.

Nahyuk already had a sense of what those photos might be. He had read the scene in the original.

Inside would probably be…

“……”

Nahyuk looked closely at the photos he pulled out.

They showed Kim Daon and Seo Dowoong together in affectionate moments. There were even pictures of the two holding hands and gazing at each other.

There were no pictures of them kissing or engaging in anything more intimate, but even the photos Park Sangcheol handed over were enough to reveal that the two were not in an ordinary relationship.

“The heir of a major conglomerate is a homosexual? And he’s in some sort of relationship with his male secretary? Can you imagine how big the social shock would be?”

Park Sangcheol rambled on excitedly.

“And if the school bullying incident from high school bursts out at the same time… would Seo Dowoong still strut around the way he does now?”

Faced with this scene that was no different from the original, Nahyuk let out a sigh.

Though Park Sangcheol spoke with such significance, Nahyuk couldn’t care less about Seo Dowoong. He wasn’t Seo Dowoong’s classmate, nor did he love him.

What worried him instead was Kim Daon, who was entangled with Seo Dowoong. He was afraid Daon would also be harmed because of Park Sangcheol, that his happiness would be shattered.

How could he protect Daon’s happiness?

As he wrestled with that thought, Nahyuk spoke to Park Sangcheol.

“But this isn’t something you had to show me. If you were going to expose it, wouldn’t it be better to just do it quietly on your own? Why contact me after all these years since graduation?”

“You’re right. But for the school bullying part, I’ll need your testimony. And recently, it looked like you weren’t on good terms with Seo Dowoong either.”

“……”

“So just like before, let’s team up again and get revenge on Seo Dowoong.”

“……”

“Back then, we were young, and because I wasn’t thorough enough, I ended up expelled… but now it’s different. Even if this ends up affecting me negatively, you, Noah Yoon, can slip out alone like you did before.”

Nahyuk still didn’t know exactly what had happened in the past, but it was clear Park Sangcheol had coaxed Yoon Noah in the same way back then.

Suddenly, Nahyuk recalled the final scene of chapter 79.

「At Park Sangcheol’s meaningful proposal, Yoon Noah answered immediately.

‘I don’t have any desire for revenge.’

Of course, he still hated Seo Dowoong. He sometimes wished the guy who had scorned him would be unhappy.

But he didn’t want to see him destroyed like this.

Besides, Yoon Noah hated Park Sangcheol even more than Seo Dowoong.

As if expecting Noah’s rejection, Park Sangcheol replied without the slightest disturbance.

‘So you’re just going to sit back and watch Seo Dowoong happily living it up with Kim Daon? You could die any day from your illness, don’t you think that’s unfair?’

‘……’

It even seemed like Park Sangcheol knew about his incurable disease.

‘They say Seo Dowoong looked down on you for years. I even heard rumors that he hit you. Since I’m a reporter, I end up hearing all kinds of gossip whether I want to or not.’

Kicked, yes, but never beaten. Still, the neglect was real, and that made Noah fall silent.

‘I’ll give you time to think. And it doesn’t matter if you warn Seo Dowoong ahead of time. The more he tries to retaliate against me, the more I’ll make him taste hell.’」

Chapter 79 ended like that, without showing what choice Yoon Noah made.

Nahyuk couldn’t guess what Yoon Noah’s decision would have been.

He thought that since Noah didn’t wish for Seo Dowoong’s misfortune, he probably wouldn’t be swayed by Park Sangcheol’s coaxing… but since he had once been swayed back in high school, there was still a chance he might give in again.

Either way, whatever choice Yoon Noah made, Nahyuk intended to act according to his own judgment.

But before that, he wanted to ask Park Sangcheol the reason behind his malice.

“Why are you so desperate to bring down Seo Dowoong?”

“Because he’s the one who ruined my life. How can it not burn me up, seeing him live happily while I’m not?”

Wasn’t the reason Park Sangcheol got expelled his own fault, not Seo Dowoong’s? Nahyuk didn’t point that out and instead said something else.

“Do you really think Seo Dowoong is living happily?”

“Isn’t he?”

“He might not be as happy as you think.”

Nahyuk remembered the last time he saw Seo Dowoong. Left alone in a cold, silent space where no warmth could be felt.

With such a lonely face, he had spoken in a voice filled with desperation.

‘Don’t go.’

Could such a Seo Dowoong really be called happy?

“Spare me your pity. No matter what you say, I won’t go easy on him.”

“Fine. I’ll think about it.”

“I won’t give you much time. Three days, that’s all.”

“Harsh as always, Sangcheol.”

Park Sangcheol didn’t answer. He snatched back the photos from Nahyuk and rose to his feet.

“I’ll be in touch in three days. Make sure you pick up.”

“Alright.”

Once Park Sangcheol left the café, a man wearing a cap who had been sitting not far away came to sit across from Nahyuk.

The man with the cap pulled low was Kim Daon.

Since Nahyuk knew Park Sangcheol would bring photos of Daon and Seo Dowoong, he had told Daon to hide his face.

“Hyung, what did he say?”

Nahyuk relayed Park Sangcheol’s threats exactly as they were.

He figured it was better to share the whole truth and come up with countermeasures together rather than keep it hidden.

“…Even though I’ve been careful, to think we still got photographed. I can’t believe it. It’s my fault.”

“How could it be your fault? It’s Park Sangcheol who’s persistent and twisted.”

“Persistent, yeah, and strange. Haa… Hyung, what do you want to do?”

“Of course, I don’t want you to suffer because of this. And the person best suited to handle this is Seo Dowoong.”

“That’s true.”

“But even if I tell him in advance and ask him to deal with it, Sangcheol made it sound like he won’t sit quietly…”

“Right. These days, he wouldn’t even need to release an article. Just one rumor spreading around could ruin someone. And once it spreads across multiple outlets, it’s not easy to suppress.”

“What should we do then?”

Kim Daon replied with a troubled look.

“For now, I think we should do as you said—tell Dowoong.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll…”

Before Daon could finish, Nahyuk cut in first.

“No. I’ll be the one to tell him.”

He thought it was something he needed to handle personally.

After all, Park Sangcheol had reached out to him, not Daon. And Daon had only just ended things with Seo Dowoong—meeting him now would only be uncomfortable. He didn’t want Daon facing him over something like this.

And if he used Park Sangcheol’s name well, maybe he could help Seo Dowoong sort out the feelings he still had for him.