PEN Vol 1 Ch. 17

3. Shadow 3 (Part 2)

Realizing he had said too much, Sejin bit his lip in the middle of his sentence, but Cheon Sejoo didn’t seem to mind. It was a truly odd standard. Nodding his head, he finished off the half-emptied can of beer and poured some sake that was next to him into his glass. He picked up the last piece of flatfish Sejin’s chopsticks were reaching for and popped it into his mouth, then downed the whole glass of sake in one gulp. With a smile, he asked another question.

“I’m treating a brat like you so well, doesn’t that make me worthy of respect too?”

Sejin snorted.

“Even saying an extra syllable to you feels like a waste. You drag someone here against their will, so how could I ever respect you?”

Seeing Sejin’s sullen expression, Cheon Sejoo burst out laughing. Judging by Kwon Sejin’s consistent attitude, it was clear that in his mind, Sejoo was nothing more than an irredeemable piece of human garbage. Yet, here he was, sitting quietly in front of him, eating the food as he told him to. It was easy to guess how much Sejin’s pride was suffering on the inside.

To Sejin, Cheon Sejoo probably appeared as just another loan shark from Shinsa Capital who had taken his mother away. There was no way they had escorted her politely to repay the debt, they must have dragged her against her will, so it was natural for Sejin to show him such wariness and disgust.

Moreover, from what Sejin had heard, it seemed that his mother hadn’t even signed the loan documents herself.  From Kwon Sejin’s perspective, it was as if they had falsely saddled a perfectly innocent person who was living a normal life with debt and dragged her away. Perhaps Sejin should have considered it saintly of him not to pull out a knife and attempt to kill him right then and there.

Even so, Kwon Sejin, likely out of consideration for his mother, was expressing his resentment with nothing more than informal speech and glares. In Cheon Sejoo’s eyes, this only made him seem pitiful and somewhat endearing.

As Cheon Sejoo stared intently at him, Sejin grew increasingly annoyed and set his chopsticks down. Most of the dishes were already empty, so it was a bit awkward to use the excuse of being too upset to eat, but either way, Sejin had lost his appetite.

He picked up the glass next to him, gulped down the water, and then spoke.

“I clearly didn’t want to come along, but you forced me to. So don’t even think you can make me do anything.”

It seemed that Kwon Sejin still wanted to act according to his own plans. At his almost threatening words, Cheon Sejoo shrugged and responded casually.

“Do as you please.”

At that indifferent attitude, Kwon Sejin narrowed his eyes again and revealed his true intentions.

“I won’t clean or cook. If you don’t like it, kick me out.”

“I’m not asking you to do anything. Do whatever you want.”

“I-I won’t lift a finger!”

“I told you, do whatever you want.”

“……”

His intentions were too transparent. Ignoring Sejin’s sharp gaze, which seemed to express annoyance at his laid-back attitude, Cheon Sejoo picked up the phone that was lying next to him. At the very least, if they were going to live in the same house, they needed to know each other’s contact information.

But just as he was about to hand it over to Sejin to enter his number, he suddenly remembered what Sejin had said to his mother at Ehwagak. He had mentioned that his phone was disconnected because he hadn’t paid his bill.

Cheon Sejoo gestured with his chin toward Sejin.

“Where’s your phone? Let me see it.”

Sejin, who had been secretly eyeing the remaining yukjeon ^[1]on the plate, flinched and looked up in surprise. With a sullen expression, he rummaged through the pocket of his worn-out hoodie and took out his phone.

“……”

But what he placed on the table could hardly be called a phone. It looked more like a thing that could be considered an artifact or a piece of junk.

With a grim expression, Cheon Sejoo pressed the screen, which was covered in layers of tape. Not only was the glass cracked, but the screen itself had a noticeable glitch.

How does one even use something like this?

Even back when he was attending school at the orphanage, Cheon Sejoo had used a phone in better condition than this.

He stared at the phone’s background, which showed a picture of Sejin with his mother, before handing it back to Sejin.

“Where did you charge it? The battery’s full, even though you can’t make calls.”

“At the subway station… Not that it matters whether it works or not.”

Sejin, who had been about to sneak a piece of yukjeon, answered as if entranced by his question, then quickly turned his head away with a huff.  But despite that, he stubbornly shoved the yukjeon into his mouth, and Cheon Sejoo couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. Seeing how weak he was in front of food, it was clear that he was still just a kid.

“Finish eating and clean up.”

“…I told you, I won’t even lift a finger!”

“Then just leave it.”

It seemed that Sejin thought doing any household chores would mean admitting defeat. Leaving Sejin who was fighting his own private battle, Cheon Sejoo got up from his seat. He then opened his phone and called Sunhyuk.

Yes, Manager.

“Where are you?”

At home. Have you eaten? Should I make something and bring it up?

Moon Sunhyuk was always anxious about not doing enough for Cheon Sejoo. Cheon Sejoo moved to the bathroom, switched his phone to speaker, and began taking off his clothes as he responded.

“No, I’ve eaten. How about the kids? Did they have something good to eat yesterday?”

Yes, I treated them to something expensive. The youngest and Cheoljoo went to the office, and Jinyoung is resting. Do you need anything?

“Yeah. If you have a spare prepaid phone left, bring it over.”

I have one. I’ll bring it up right away.

“No, come up in about 30 minutes. You know the passcode, right?”

Yes, I know.

A part of him wanted to replace the phone Sejin was using with a new one to relieve it of further suffering, but he knew that the disgruntled young man wouldn’t accept it easily. And he had no desire to coax him into taking it nicely. So, Cheon Sejoo decided to simply give Sejin a prepaid phone that he would use solely for contacting him.

After ending the call with Sunhyuk, Sejoo stepped into the shower. Hot water poured over his upper body, which bore scars here and there, and the newly healed scars turned a reddish hue. He stood under the stream of water for a long time, letting it wash away the fatigue accumulated in his body.

After finishing his shower, he put on a thin silk robe that he usually wore around the house, leaving only his underwear beneath it.

The dark gray robe spread out below the black collar. The intricate patterns, embroidered in a shade even darker than the fabric, covered the gray silk, so densely woven that the designs almost blended into the dark under certain lights. With a towel draped over his head, Cheon Sejoo roughly dried his hair and stepped out of the bathroom.

Even though he had showered quickly, by the time he came out, Sunhyuk had already arrived. Moon Sunhyuk, seated in the living room, was glaring at Sejin with a murderous expression as if to say,  ‘Who the hell is this punk in our Manager’s house?’

Of course, Kwon Sejin was no different. He was glaring right back at Moon Sunhyuk with a look that seemed to say, Birds of a feather flock together, having just witnessed the arrival of another thug at the thug’s house.

Still, perhaps out of some sense of decency, Sejin was in the middle of clearing the table, his hands full of trash. Ignoring the sharp tension between the two, Cheon Sejoo walked over to Sunhyuk.

“You’re here?”

“Yes, here’s what you asked for.”

At Cheon Sejoo’s voice, Moon Sunhyuk immediately stood up. His posture, as he bowed his head toward Sejoo, no longer showed any trace of wariness. Sejoo took the prepaid phone from him, checked that it was functioning properly, and then nodded.

“Thanks. You can go.”

“Have a good rest.”

Only after bowing deeply and lowering his head did Sunhyuk straighten up. As he passed by Cheon Sejoo, his gaze once again landed on Sejin.

Even though he could only see his back, Cheon Sejoo knew that Moon Sunhyuk was giving Kwon Sejin a disdainful look. Seeing this, Sejoo chuckled and nodded toward Sejin, who was holding trash in his hands.

“Come here.”

“…Let me finish cleaning this first.”

Sejin, still watching Moon Sunhyuk disappear around the corner of the hallway, responded with an annoyed expression, as if wondering why he was being called again. Nevertheless, his hands moved quickly as he cleared the table.

He stacked the expensive disposable dishes neatly, turned on the sink to gather the food waste in one place, and even washed a dishcloth he had found somewhere to wipe down the table. His actions were too practiced for someone doing it reluctantly.

“What?”

A moment later, Sejin approached the sofa where Cheon Sejoo was sitting, wanting to make it clear that he wasn’t cleaning because he wanted to. But then he paused, frowning at the sight of Cheon Sejoo’s bare chest peeking through the loosely tied robe. With a face that looked as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have, Kwon Sejin protested.

“Cover up.”

Cheon Sejoo hadn’t expected to hear such words. Raising an eyebrow, he let out a dry laugh. Except for people like Chae Beomjun, he saw no reason to hide his body from anyone. His physique was something worthy of showing off. Seeing the discomfort in Sejin’s eyes, Sejoo smirked and tugged at the hem of his robe.

“Want me to show you what’s underneath as well?”

“Ah!!”

As he teased by letting his robe flap open, Sejin turned his head away in irritation. Cheon Sejoo couldn’t help but laugh at his disgusted reaction, his shoulders shaking with amusement. Ever since they had entered the house, Sejoo had noticed that Sejin’s vivid responses had made him all the more enjoyable to tease.

He laughed for a while, and just as Sejin was about to snap at him to stop, Sejoo straightened up his posture. Then, he used the prepaid phone in his hand to call his own number and handed it over to Sejin.

“Carry this with you.”

Sejin, still frowning, glanced at the phone without even attempting to smooth his expression. He looked from the phone to Sejoo, clearly puzzled about what he was supposed to do with it. Seeing this, Sejoo explained.

At the sound of Sejoo’s voice returning to normal, Sejin shifted his gaze without even attempting to smooth out the frown that had been on his face. He looked down at the phone Sejoo was holding out, then met his eyes with a look that seemed to ask, ‘What am I supposed to do with this?’

Seeing this, Sejoo explained.

“I need at least one way to keep an eye on you, right? If something goes missing in my house, you’ll be the prime suspect.”

“Who would steal something bought with money you scammed off others?”

Sejin’s tone grew increasingly blunt as time went on. It seemed like he thought that if he kept talking back like this, he might get kicked out of the house. Pretending not to notice Sejin’s obvious intentions, Cheon Sejoo waved his hand dismissively.

“That’s what all thieves say. Just take it—my arm’s getting tired.”

Kwon Sejin wasn’t the type to respond well to polite words. If Cheon Sejoo had said something like, ‘We should keep in touch since we’re living together, and I’m curious about where you go and what you do,’ Sejin would have surely scoffed and walked straight into his room.

However, when Cheon Sejoo framed it as needing to keep an eye on him, essentially treating him like a thief, Sejin quietly accepted the phone, albeit with clear annoyance. His attitude seemed to say, ‘Fine, go ahead and monitor me if you want. I’m not going to steal anything anyway.’

Cheon Sejoo felt like he was starting to understand how to handle Kwon Sejin to some extent. This small, stubborn kid only responded when his pride was poked.