PUCKD Ch 30

It seemed that it wasn’t about his father, at least. Shin Hojae let out a relieved breath first.

“Where are you now.”

His tone naturally became gruff. It was only when she called him ‘oppa’ that this kid was asking for something.

He had seen her meticulously putting on makeup this morning, saying she was going out to play, so she probably wanted to get a taxi home.

—Here? I don’t know… I don’t know.

Hojae frowned. Was she so drunk that she was already acting up before the sun had even set?

“Then figure it out yourself. I’m hanging up.”

—Ah, don’t hang up! My legs have no strength, I can’t even get up… I barely escaped and called you, but you didn’t even pick up…

“……What?”

—I lost my wallet and I don’t have my shoes, so I can’t do anything. Shin Hojae, why didn’t you answer the phone right away! Do you know how scared I was that he would follow me? Sshii…

“…What are you talking about. Who was following you?”

—I’ll tell you when we meet. It’s a bit complicated. Heeng… So can you come or not?

At the tearful voice, Shin Hojae switched the phone to his other ear.

The image of Shin Yeonjae waving her hands, saying it wasn’t like that when their mom asked if she was going on a date, quickly flashed through his mind.

That same Shin Yeonjae had now escaped onto the street without a wallet or shoes. Afraid that ‘he’ would follow her.

It was a natural progression for ominous words like dating violence and stalking crimes, which frequently appeared in the news these days, to come to mind.

“Calm down, stop crying. Open your map app, screenshot your location, and send it to me. I’ll be right there. Yeah.”

After hastily ending the call and turning around, he saw Kwon Junghyun standing there, watching him, having returned at some point. Shin Hojae checked that his wallet was in his pocket and asked urgently.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll make up for the remaining 30 minutes next time. May I go first?”

“Where are you going?”

“Pardon?”

“It will be faster to go in my car than to call a taxi. I’ll give you a ride.”

“…Then, please do me this favor.”

This was not the time to stand on pride. As he said, time was of the essence, and it would be a waste to call a taxi.

Kwon Junghyun guided Shin Hojae to the car parked in front of the shop and got into the driver’s seat himself. Hojae was so flustered that he couldn’t even say a proper goodbye to the owner and got into the passenger seat. Just then, a screenshot image arrived from Shin Yeonjae.

“It seems to be an alley near Gangnam-gu Office. Is it far from here?”

“It’ll take about 30 minutes.”

Saying so, Junghyun looked at the sky outside the car window. The sky was gradually getting darker. By the time they got to Gangnam, the sun would have completely set.

“You should tell your girlfriend to go somewhere safe. If she comes out to the main street from there, there should be a franchise cafe. Tell her to go into any of them.”

Shin Hojae, who had been looking at the continuous messages from Shin Yeonjae and the distance on the map, heard his words from the middle and lifted his head a beat late.

“Pardon? Ah, but she doesn’t have her wallet right now.”

“…Then I’ll give you an address. Tell her to grab a taxi and go there. It’s a 10-minute ride from Gangnam-gu Office, and there’s someone there who will pay the taxi fare for her when she arrives.”

“That place is…”

“My house. It’ll be safer than outside.”

“……”

Shin Hojae stared at the side of Junghyun’s face as he held the steering wheel for a moment.

“…Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Shin Hojae relayed the address he gave him directly into Shin Yeonjae’s message window and pressed the call button. Unlike his gruff tone earlier, a voice naturally filled with worry came out.

“…Yeah. Go there first. We’ll talk when you arrive. Don’t cry. Okay.”

After hanging up, Shin Hojae, looking at the car window stopped at a red light, tapped his thigh several times with his fist. It was a habit that came out of anxiety.

Suddenly, he felt a gaze. The gaze rested on Shin Hojae’s hand tapping his thigh before slowly falling away with the feeling of the accelerator being pressed.

10 minutes later, after seeing a message from Shin Yeonjae saying she had arrived safely at Kwon Junghyun’s house, Shin Hojae was finally relieved.

Hojae looked out the window of the car, which was still on the road, once, and then reported the situation to Junghyun.

“She said she arrived safely. Ah, who should I give the taxi fare to.”

“It’s fine. The person who manages my house should be there, so they probably paid with my card.”

“Ah…”

Hojae hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to do. It felt like insisting on paying him back would be too much of a pittance for a man like him. In the end, he chose to say thank you for the umpteenth time.

“…Thank you. For helping me with this and that.”

“I didn’t do it to hear thank you, so let’s stop.”

“……”

“I was also happy to see a side of you I hadn’t seen before, Hojae-ssi.”

At those words, Hojae looked towards the driver’s seat.

“You make that face when you’re really worried about someone.”

“……”

Hojae’s brow furrowed slightly. It sounded as if he wanted him to worry about him too. …A useless thought.

Since he stopped talking and just drove, Hojae also turned his eyes from his side profile. He suddenly saw his right hand on the gear shift.

The protruding part of his knuckle was redder than last time. He was staring at it for a moment when he heard Junghyun’s voice.

“We’re almost there.”

“Ah, yes.”

The car entered a large mansion located on a quiet hill. When Junghyun pressed the remote on the dashboard, the garage door opened automatically, and the car slid into an empty spot and stopped.

The stairs leading from the garage connected directly into the house. Thanks to Junghyun’s consideration, Hojae, who entered the house first, looked around for Shin Yeonjae.

He saw Shin Yeonjae, who was sitting on the living room sofa, stand up abruptly upon seeing him.

“Oppa!”

Shin Yeonjae, her face swollen as if she had cried, ran straight to Hojae and hugged him. His younger sister, who always acted tough in front of him, was unfamiliar like this. On the contrary, his heart sank, wondering how much she must have suffered to be like this.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yeah… just my knee is a little scraped.”

“Let me see.”

Hojae sat Shin Yeonjae back down on the sofa and checked her condition. Because she was wearing a short skirt, her bleeding knee was clearly visible, and he frowned.

The story that she had run away without shoes was also true, as her bare feet in slippers were also covered in scrapes.

When he lifted his head with a serious face, Shin Yeonjae, perhaps expecting a lecture, added, “It doesn’t hurt. Really.” Shin Hojae carefully checked her knees and ankles. Fortunately, it seemed there were no serious injuries.

“By the way, where is this? A friend’s house?”

“Ah…”

As he was hesitating on how to explain, he heard a presence from behind. Shin Yeonjae’s eyes widened upon spotting someone.

“Hello. I’m Kwon Junghyun, the CEO of MJ Sports Team.”

“Ah, uh… Hello?”

“I was in a meeting with Shin Hojae-seonsu, so I heard the general situation. My house was nearby, so I asked him to bring you here. I hope you weren’t uncomfortable.”

“Not at all! Um… thank you for your help.”

“I’ll be upstairs, so please talk comfortably. If you need any help, please let me know.”

After saying that, Kwon Junghyun quietly left.

Shin Yeonjae, who had been smiling awkwardly, whispered to Hojae as soon as he was completely out of sight.

“What’s this. He’s your club’s CEO? He’s really young and handsome.”

“More importantly, shouldn’t you explain what happened?”

“Ah…”

“Were you seeing someone? Is this what he did to you? A stalker? Tell me from the beginning, step by step.”

At those words, Shin Yeonjae’s expression darkened.

“First, promise me you won’t tell Mom.”

“Let me hear it first.”

“Ah, really. I won’t tell you otherwise!”

“…Fine. What is it.”

“No, you remember that day you took Dad’s turn for me because I said I was going to a friend’s birthday party?”

“Yeah.”

“That day, I went with my friend to a club…? No, a nightclub…? Something like that.”

“……”

“No cursing in the middle. No yelling. No getting angry.”

“Fine, just continue.”

“I met a guy there who said he ran a small agency…”

What followed was a spectacle.

The man, knowing that Shin Yeonjae was an aspiring actress, said he wanted to scout her, and Shin Yeonjae, falling for his sweet talk, had given him her contact information.

Shin Hojae let out a small sigh. Like his mom and dad, his younger sister, who had grown up with a perfectly fine appearance, had wanted to be a celebrity since she was young.

It was good that she had gotten into an arts university after many twists and turns, but it seemed she had become impatient after meeting a lot of peers who also dreamed of being actors.

And rightfully so. Even to Shin Hojae, who didn’t know much, his sister didn’t seem to have much talent in that area.

“So. You went to meet that man today?”

“No, that guy said there was an audition at his agency today. He said if I passed, he would let me take acting classes and stuff for free, so I went, but… what audition. It was just him alone in some weird underground studio.”

“……”