PEN Vol 2 Ch. 26 : End

“What…?”

Kwon Sejin’s nickname, “Mr. 21st Place,” still remained since he hadn’t been able to take the final exams because he was sick. He felt wronged and wanted to retort, “Stop calling me that!” but for some reason, he couldn’t get the words out. Instead, Sejin unconsciously bit his lip and looked up at Cheon Sejoo. Then, he asked quietly.

“Why do you have so many scars?”

“What scars?”

“On your stomach…”

Sejin gave a quick glance toward Cheon Sejoo’s lower abdomen, and Sejoo raised one eyebrow skeptically. Straightening up, he sat forward and looked at Sejin with a serious expression.

Cheon Sejoo, having received countless advances from a young age, had developed a keen sense for detecting when someone was interested in him. Thankfully, Kwon Sejin had never once set off that alarm until now. But recently, things felt suspicious.

Lately, he had started to notice Sejin’s gaze lingering on him. At the grocery store, at home, during meals, while lying on the sofa, and even while teaching him—whenever he happened to look up, he would catch Kwon Sejin’s eyes fix on him, carrying a certain expression Cheon Sejoo couldn’t quite read.

It wasn’t the lustful, possessive stare of someone driven by romantic or sexual feelings. But considering Sejin’s usual attitude, the change in his behavior was enough to create some misunderstandings.

Normally, he just glares at me all the time.

Why does he keep looking at me like that?

Cheon Sejoo quietly wondered, then, still watching Sejin, asked bluntly.

“Do you, by any chance, like men?”

The sudden question made Sejin freeze. His eyes widened in shock, realizing that Cheon Sejoo had completely misinterpreted his question. Sejin tossed his mechanical pencil onto the table and, in a fit of frustration, slammed his workbook down with his palm. He glared at Cheon Sejoo, his eyes blazing.

“Why the hell would you ask that all of a sudden? Did I even ask if you had a boyfriend? I was just asking about your scars!”

“If it’s not true, then why are you getting so worked up? You’re acting more suspicious.”

“What’s suspicious?! I asked because I was curious! What’s wrong with you? Just because a guy asks another guy something, it doesn’t mean it’s ‘that’!”

Sejin shouted, covering his flushed cheeks with the back of his hand. He continued to argue, glaring at Cheon Sejoo, who was observing him carefully with narrowed eyes.

Sejin went on about how those kinds of misunderstandings was unacceptable, how he only found the scars fascinating because he hadn’t seen people like Cheon Sejoo around him before, and how people like him didn’t exist in his life. He kept babbling on, rejecting any hint of an “accusation” with indignant explanations, until he finished with a final remark.

“Just the thought of doing that with you is revolting. Watch your mouth!”

“Me? Why me of all people? I don’t like it either.”

Cheon Sejoo replied, frowning as if wondering why he was being dragged into this at all.

Sejin, realizing something was off, cleared his throat and muttered awkwardly.

“Well, it’s because you’re the one saying weird stuff… Anyway, stop saying ridiculous things! It’s gross between guys.”

“Yeah, sure…”

Was I imagining things?

Cheon Sejoo didn’t mind Sejin’s homophobic remarks and simply rested his chin on his hand.

While watching the curious teenager intensely focus on his workbook again, he rolled his tongue in his mouth as if something felt off, then turned his head when he heard the vibration of his phone.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

The next morning, rain began to fall.

The cold weather, not yet fully gone, caused the half-frozen raindrops to turn into sleet, failing to become proper snow. Sejin was certain that Cheon Sejoo would go out today.

After tidying up his bedding, Sejin came out to the living room to prepare breakfast. Since Cheon Sejoo hadn’t sent him a message about leaving yet, Sejin made a protein shake for him and then sat down to eat his own meal. While he was eating, Cheon Sejoo returned home, fresh from his workout.

Despite it being winter, Cheon Sejoo was wearing nothing but a thin T-shirt and drenched in sweat. He approached Sejin in the kitchen, playfully ruffling up his hair as he passed by, then downed the protein shake Sejin had prepared in one go.

As Cheon Sejoo set the cup down in the sink and turned away, Sejin’s gaze was drawn to him. Through the thin, damp T-shirt, a massive tiger tattoo covering Cheon Sejoo’s back was clearly visible. It was a vivid reminder that this man was a member of an organization—a subtle warning that Cheon Sejoo wasn’t just an ordinary person.

Sejin found himself suddenly thinking about the gangsters at Shinsa Capital. In that dilapidated building, there were men as tall as Cheon Sejoo, even bulkier than him.

Did those guys have tattoos like that on their backs too?

Sejin vaguely recalled seeing something on their arms or legs, but he couldn’t be sure about their backs. Regardless, Sejin was sure of one thing—Cheon Sejoo was in a different position from them.

The highest-ranking man Sejin had seen at Shinsa Capital seemed to be that bald guy who resembled a fat aristocrat. Every time that man appeared, the gangsters would bow deeply, calling him “sir” with bent backs.

However, when Cheon Sejoo arrived, they didn’t bow like that. Instead, they greeted him with loud, thunderous voices that echoed through the building. It was completely different from the half-hearted greetings the gangsters gave to the bald guy, with their mumbled “good morning.”

All of this made Sejin realize something. Cheon Sejoo wasn’t just some low-level loan shark working for that debt-collection company. The fact that Cheon Sejoo drove two insanely expensive cars, compared to the domestic car the bald man drove, and lived in such a large, luxurious house…

What exactly does this man do?

Sejin paused his meal, resting his chin on his hand, his eyes following Cheon Sejoo’s every move.

After taking a shower in the guest bathroom connected to the living room, Cheon Sejoo came out wearing nothing but a loose robe and returned to his room.

Even though he had a bathroom in his bedroom, Cheon Sejoo always chose to shower in the living room. When Sejin asked him why, Cheon Sejoo had casually replied that the window in his bathroom was too big, and he found it uncomfortable.

They were on the 41st floor—who would see him?

Sejin couldn’t understand. To him, the floor-to-ceiling windows in Cheon Sejoo’s large bathroom, offering a full view of the Han River, were nothing but impressive.

A short while later, Cheon Sejoo emerged from his room, now having changed clothes. He wore a large hoodie, along with sweatpants, and a baseball cap pulled low over his face. He looked like a college student.

How old was he again?

Sejin tried to recall Cheon Sejoo’s birth year, which he had once seen on his ID, but he couldn’t remember. He couldn’t remember his exact age, only that he thought it was interesting that Cheon Sejoo’s birthday was on January 1st.

In any case, Cheon Sejoo had a youthful appearance.

When dressed in a suit, he could pass for someone in his late twenties, but dressed in casual clothes like this, he looked like nothing more than a university student.

“I might not be able to come home for a few days.”

Cheon Sejoo casually informed Sejin as he placed a stack of Sejin’s study materials on the dining table. Opening Sejin’s workbook, where a mechanical pencil was wedged into the page, Cheon Sejoo placed sticky notes on every third page, writing down the dates for when Sejin was supposed to complete each section.

Sejin, still holding his chopsticks, silently stared at him.

After a while, Cheon Sejoo, noticing the way Sejin was staring at him, asked with a puzzled look.

“Are you sick or something? You’ve been eating for ages.”

It was unlike Sejin to take so long with his meal. Normally, he would’ve finished eating and cleared the table before Cheon Sejoo even got out of the shower. It was only when Cheon Sejoo pointed it out that Sejin noticed he had been so distracted observing him that he hadn’t finished eating. Realizing this, he hurriedly began shoveling food into his mouth, stuffing it with side dishes.

Seeing Sejin’s sudden rush to finish his meal, Cheon Sejoo chuckled, closing the math workbook and moving on to the English vocabulary book.

Once again, Sejin found himself staring at Cheon Sejoo, this time with a mouth full of food as he forgot to chew.

Cheon Sejoo was undeniably smart.

As much as Sejin hated to admit it, it was a fact he couldn’t deny. Despite having been out of school for a long time, Cheon Sejoo hadn’t forgotten a single math formula, could easily guess the meaning of English words at a glance, and could effortlessly interpret classic Korean poetry—something Sejin had always struggled with. In fact, he was often better at explaining things than the workbook’s answer key.

The more Sejin got to know Cheon Sejoo, the more questions he had. He couldn’t understand why someone like him was involved in this gangster business.

Or wait… was he really a gangster at all?

Sejin sipped his water, sneaking glances at Cheon Sejoo.

He couldn’t imagine Cheon Sejoo barging into someone’s home, and threatening them to hand over their money like the gangsters from Shinsa Capital. It seemed more fitting for him to be a character in a noir film, sitting in the CEO’s office of a tall building, swinging a golf club around.

Could those scars on his stomach really have come from some secret gang fight?

But then again, he had too many scars for that.

While Sejin was thinking about this, their eyes met.

“…What?”

“Nothing.”

Sejin vaguely knew something else about Cheon Sejoo too.

Cheon Sejoo doesn’t feel good during rainy days.

From the end of December through early January, the weather had often been rainy, disguised as snow in weather forecasts. And every time it rained, Cheon Sejoo seemed to sink into himself and would appear much more subdued than usual. He would speak half as much as he usually did and smoked way more cigarettes than normal.

And on those days, without fail…

“I’m heading out.”

“Okay.”

After he finished checking Sejin’s workbook, Cheon Sejoo ruffled Sejin’s hair before walking off. Sejin avoided his hand and watched as Cheon Sejoo’s figure disappeared down the hallway, followed by the faint sound of the front door closing softly.

Left alone, Sejin looked around the large, empty house before standing up to clear the table.

After doing the dishes and preparing some side dishes, Sejin took a shower and sat down at the living room table. Leaning back against the sofa, he opened the workbook Cheon Sejoo had marked and began to study.

Since he was getting paid to study, he had to take it seriously. By the time Sejin finished solving all of the day’s problems, it was already well past dinner time.

After finishing his late meal, Sejin found himself standing in front of the large window in the living room before going to bed.

It was now raining.

Under the dark sky, he watched the raindrops outside the window faintly glisten against the dim light, and Sejin thought of the man who was out there somewhere in the city.

Cheon Sejoo, who seemed to suit the damp and cold air so well—where was he now, and what was he doing?

He stood there, silently lost in those thoughts, and eventually turned off the lights and went back to his room.

Cheon Sejoo didn’t come home until Wednesday.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖Continues in Projection Volume 3⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

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T/N: It’s really a slow burn. I am so attached to them omg. As of now, I could see a lot of chemistry but I honestly couldn’t see how their romance would turn out T-T  I love that Sejin is slowly opening up to Sejoo and how Sejoo cared for tsundere Sejin, I love them both so much. I really think they’re very carefully thought of characters seeing how they act really had a meaning behind it.

Please support the author if you can! And if you’re enjoying the novel, don’t forget to leave a decent rating on NU~

See you guys in Volume 3! I’ll try to update much^^