MIM 64

As his suspicions deepened, Jae-seung felt an increasing hollowness in his chest. He existed only as a means to an end, with value only as an experimental result or for how many shares he held. Though he already knew this, the process of confirming each detail firsthand was not easy. Jae-seung smiled bitterly as he raised his eyes.

“What do you think about the will? Leaving aside the fact that that bastard was appointed as the guardian.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Brother thinks father wouldn’t have given me all the shares.”

At those words, Joo-yeon snorted while crossing her arms. What do you mean he’s fine, he’s delusional. Her audible muttering was full of malice.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course that’s your share. Seriously, why did you go there to listen to such nonsense?”

An expected reaction. What would the guy who worked right beside father for years say? When Jae-seung glanced at him, Shin-woo let out a light sigh.

“Though my opinion probably isn’t important, there’s no way the will was forged.”

“Right. Don’t think unnecessary thoughts.”

As if completely forgetting her previous objections to the will, his mother agreed with Shin-woo again. Jae-seung scowled as he carefully observed them.

What’s the use of this conversation? I can’t believe a single word either of them says.

“I heard father wasn’t so generous to me.”

Jae-seung muttered like a complaint as he turned to look out the window. He couldn’t bring himself to say the word “failure.” It felt like if he said it himself, it would become an irrefutable fact.

Dark clouds had gathered in the sky beyond the window. His body gradually grew heavy with exhaustion, as if about to be soaked by rain that hadn’t yet fallen. Just as he noticed his wrist itching, he felt a gaze. Since even the guy’s mere glance complicated his feelings, Jae-seung stood up without looking back.

It was after sunset when he returned to the mansion. Perhaps from spending all day in the car, his head was throbbing, and he just wanted to collapse and sleep without thinking about anything. Jae-seung absently scratched his wrist as he crossed the garden. Though every nerve in his body was aware of the guy following behind, he deliberately kept looking straight ahead as he walked.

As he walked, he saw a white ball of fur running towards him from a distance. Jae-seung looked around with a frown, unsure what to do. The overexcited mutt was running towards him with obvious enthusiasm.

“Ah shit. Get away!”

Despite Jae-seung’s shout, the mutt didn’t back down. Instead, when it reached Jae-seung’s feet, it bounced energetically with its front paws raised. The small thing was blocking his path and making such a fuss that he couldn’t just go inside. When he stomped his foot hard, the mutt interpreted it as an invitation to play and barked while panting heavily.

When he glared at Shin-woo to tell him to take it away, he picked up the puppy with a broad smile. Though Jae-seung expected him to disappear with it somewhere, instead he suddenly pushed the puppy right into Jae-seung’s face without warning. The puppy, already desperate for contact, immediately started licking Jae-seung’s face as soon as it got close.

“Pfft, bleh, ugh! What the-!”

“Haha, looks like it really likes you, young master.”

Shin-woo burst out laughing as he watched Jae-seung shaking his head vigorously to avoid the puppy. Jae-seung retreated two steps and wiped his mouth, which was covered in puppy drool, with the back of his hand. Despite his clear expression of dislike, Shin-woo approached again, still holding the puppy.

“What? Get away, mutt.”

“It’s true. It’s not like this with just anyone. Maybe it instinctively recognizes its owner.”

“…”

“It’s calmed down now.”

As the loud barking subsided, Shin-woo put the puppy in Jae-seung’s arms. He dropped it into his arms so suddenly there was no way to refuse. Though he was curious about what game Shin-woo was playing, the puppy didn’t give him time to think further. Despite claims it had calmed down, the puppy lunged into his arms and licked not just his mouth but up to his cheekbones.

“Uugh, stop it!”

“That was your first kiss, right?”

Over the unruly puppy, he could see Shin-woo smiling. Why is this bastard doing things he never did before? Jae-seung put the puppy down and quickly ran away before it could catch him.

But he was caught again after just a few steps. This time it wasn’t because of the puppy. Shin-woo had moved one step faster than him and suddenly blocked his path.

“How was your first kiss?”

“…What’s wrong with this guy?”

Looking at him casually making jokes, the entire day felt like a lie. Both his eyes curved more warmly than usual and his playful teasing were so ordinary.

It didn’t seem possible that this guy could have committed such horrible acts. Though he knew it was foolish thinking, his mind kept leaning that way.

“How was your first kiss?”

When Jae-seung just quietly stared, Shin-woo prompted again. Though he let out an incredulous laugh, Jae-seung internally debated how to answer. Getting irritated about calling it a kiss would seem too naive, but he didn’t want to show he’d never kissed before. He’d lost his virginity during rut already, so what’s the big deal about a kiss?

Come to think of it, despite doing all sorts of things with him, they’d never kissed. Somehow pressing lips to lips felt more intimate than joining bodies.

That bastard probably kisses his girlfriend. Out of spite, Jae-seung ended up making something up.

“You don’t know, but I’ve already had my first kiss.”

“Huh? Were you forcibly kissed when you were kidnapped?”

“No!”

“…Then was it Ye-wook?”

It wasn’t easy to fool someone who knew all his movements and relationships. Long explanations only lead to getting caught in lies. He tried to ignore it and leave, but the guy’s words stopped him.

“You have terrible taste.”

Jae-seung stopped abruptly and turned to look at Shin-woo. If they were talking about taste, he wouldn’t lose either.

“The ice cream shop owner looked at least ten years older than you. You’re not one to talk.”

“She’s only five years older than me. Can’t ignore the charm of older women.”

Shin-woo took a step closer with a sly smile. It sounded strange hearing him talk about older people’s charm when he was older himself. Jae-seung was confused whether everything seemed different because they’d slept together, or if the guy was acting unusually friendly. While he’d often stared intently before, he’d never blocked his path to engage in playful banter like this, it was suspicious no matter how he looked at it.

Had he changed strategies after joining hands with his mother? Watching him through narrowed eyes, Jae-seung casually turned toward the mansion. He wanted to see how the guy would react.

He’s following.

Still following.

He can hear footsteps on the stairs. There’s nowhere upstairs except his room. Jae-seung stopped at his door and spun around. Despite openly following him to someone else’s room, the guy just looked up at him with wide eyes as if asking what was wrong.

“You want to do it?”

When he tried to probe his intentions, the guy raised his eyebrows high and licked inside his mouth. Then he checked the time on his phone and asked:

“Do you want to?”

“Why else would you follow me around?”

“I was thinking we could go out if you’re not too tired.”

The moment he heard those words, Jae-seung was certain. Though he didn’t know exactly what the scheme was, the strategy had changed.

Not only suggesting going out suddenly, Shin-woo reached out and stroked Jae-seung’s wrist. The lukewarm touch stung slightly on the skin he’d been unconsciously scratching. Jae-seung glared at Shin-woo, who had now started fiddling with his hand.

What did he talk about with mother? Mother knows I’m spending my rut with this guy. Did she perhaps hint that he should seduce me into marriage? If he eliminated me the day after being legally bound, he’d get a substantial portion of the assets, and if he shared that with mother…

Shin-woo cut off Jae-seung’s chain of thoughts.

“It’s a bit late, but we can ride boats at Wolyeong Lake. It’s not far from here, and they have lights at night so it’s quite romantic.”

A moonlit night, a boat on the lake.

His head felt fuzzy with an inexplicable sense of déjà vu. The hand gently caressing his wrist slid down into his palm. The skin touching his was rough but warm. When he slowly raised his head to meet his eyes, the guy whispered mischievously,

“And you don’t even have to pedal, so it’s comfortable.”

After hesitating, Jae-seung nodded. Whatever the scheme was, he’d find out by experiencing it firsthand.