PUCKD Ch 39

With a single swipe, Doomin dismissed the endless stream of notifications and calmly sent a message to Hyonghoon. Tap, tap, went the sound of his fingers on the screen. Met up with Minchul and Hojae. Thanks for being with me earlier.

Even as he was composing that sentence, a barrage of indiscriminate criticism, profanity, and sexually harassing notifications continued to pour in. Watching this, Hojae’s chest tightened with frustration once again.

The moment Doomin pressed the send button, Ji Minchul snatched the phone out of his hand.

“You sent it all, right? Turning it off.”

“Huh?”

“You’re banned from your phone for the next week.”

And with that, he pressed the power button and turned off Doomin’s phone. Doomin, startled by Minchul’s sudden action, blinked a couple of times and then burst out laughing.

“But seriously, I didn’t think you guys would come. I thought you’d think that way too.”

“What are you talking about.”

“My brother called me disgusting earlier. Said he’s going to disown me. Not kidding, for real. You know, right? My brother doesn’t joke around. Isn’t that crazy? In this day and age, over something so small…”

“…”

“…Ah f*ck, why am I crying again. I thought I cried it all out earlier.”

A tear could be seen trickling down from between his puffy, swollen eyes.

He had always been an overly bright person. Just as Ji Minchul had said, he was someone who tried not to talk about dark things.

This was the first time Hojae had seen him look so unstable. Vaguely imagining how hard it must be and actually seeing his friend cry were two very different things. It was shocking.

“I know I’m disgusting too. An Alpha, and a man, wearing women’s clothes…”

Doomin’s shoulders trembled. His water-logged voice was pitiful. Shin Hojae hesitated, looking at Doomin. He couldn’t bring himself to speak.

“You’re not disgusting at all.”

As if rebuking Hojae’s hesitation, Ji Minchul spat out the words without any hesitation. Then he pulled the crying Doomin into a tight hug.

Doomin started to cry loudly, “Huu-eong.” Shin Hojae watched Doomin’s back for a long time with a dark expression.

He, too, wanted to hold Doomin’s hand and tell him. You’re not disgusting. You’ve done nothing wrong. But his lips wouldn’t part, as if they were glued shut.

Isn’t this hypocrisy?

To comfort someone else with words that were once used to hurt another.

Late that night, it began to rain.

Kwon Junghyun supported his throbbing head with his hand and very slowly sat up. It had become difficult to ignore the rhythmic knocking sound any longer.

The studio-style room, where a small table, a TV, and the door were all visible from the bed, was in a tourist hotel in Gangneung where the players were also staying.

His plan to return to Seoul right after the practice game had been postponed due to the sudden incidents.

Junghyun got out of bed without turning on the lights. The texture under his bare feet was chilly and cold. Come to think of it, had the air conditioner been on all this time? He must not have even thought to turn it off, having collapsed onto the bed as if fainting right after his shower. As soon as he registered the slight chill, his body began to shiver.

Junghyun tightened his open gown, found the remote, and turned off the air conditioner, which had been set to 21 degrees. His condition, which had been poor since the morning, was threatening to hit rock bottom.

It had been a long time since he’d been engulfed in such a listless mood. It felt like the first time since he started acting as the director of the sports team, at least.

But representing the club came with responsibility. Especially on a day when an incident involving one of the club’s players had broken out. Kwon Junghyun had to whip his constantly sinking body through strategy meetings that lasted late into the night.

And he had finally returned to his room after 11 PM. Since it was an unscheduled stay, Junghyun had no spare clothes or underwear. That was why he was lying down wearing only a gown after his shower.

The knock came again, as if urging him on. There was only one person who would knock on his door at this hour. It must be Peter.

Junghyun put the AC remote back in its place and said he was coming in English. After the meeting earlier, Peter had asked him if he was okay. He thought he had hidden it, but it must have shown. Peter used to take care of him whenever his condition worsened back in the States, too.

It was quiet outside the door. Junghyun nonchalantly unlatched the chain on the door and pushed the handle. As Junghyun’s eyes confirmed the visitor’s face through the crack of the opened door, they slowly widened.

It was Shin Hojae.

Standing with his back to the bright hallway, his face was cast in a deep shadow. Because all the lights in the room were off, he was backlit. As a result, his expression was hard to see.

Junghyun hesitated for a moment, then took a slight step back, moving aside. At the gesture to come in, he slowly stepped into the room.

Junghyun turned on the lights in the room first. Pressing the master button by the door, the entire room, including the bathroom, lit up.

The digital clock next to the bed showed the number ’00:47′. It was quite a late hour for a visitor.

“…Would you like something to drink?”

Junghyun examined the unplugged coffee pot. It was an old-looking thing, showing its age. Next to the overturned coffee cups, he could see two green tea bags.

He would need water to brew the tea. Junghyun looked around and, after two attempts, finally realized that the drawer below was the door to a small refrigerator.

Inside the fridge were unopened bottles of water and small cans of soda. They were all brands he had never seen before with crude packaging, but soda seemed like a better option than the dubious-looking coffee pot.

“No. It’s fine. More importantly…”

A belated refusal came from behind him. Feeling a little deflated, he closed the refrigerator door and turned around. Shin Hojae was standing awkwardly in the small room.

The room Junghyun was in was a standard room of a very ordinary size, but with an ice hockey player over 190cm tall standing in it, it had the effect of looking more than twice as small.

Now that he looked, it seemed it had been difficult to find a place to sit because of his own clothes hanging on the back of the chair. Junghyun leaned forward to grab his shirt, jacket, and pants.

A gaze followed him to his chest. Only then did Junghyun realize he was wearing nothing but a gown over his bare body.

Was he hesitating not because there was no place to sit, but because he was surprised by my attire? Junghyun reflexively tightened his gown.

Even though it was Shin Hojae who had suddenly entered his private space at this late hour, somehow he felt as if he were the one in the wrong. It was probably because he knew that he found him disgusting.

Swallowing a bitter laugh inwardly, Junghyun stood up, still holding the clothes he was about to put away.

“Wait a moment. I’ll go put something on.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m the one who came unexpectedly… you can just stay as you are.”

His voice trailed off.

Junghyun hesitated for a moment, then decided to follow his words. He had been reluctant to wear the same clothes again anyway.

It wasn’t as if he had been in a gown on purpose; it was strange for him to be the one feeling guilty.

“…There’s something I’d like to ask of you.”

The two sat on chairs with the small coffee table in the room between them. In the awkward atmosphere, Shin Hojae slowly opened his mouth.

“Doomin’s situation, this didn’t happen because Doomin wanted it to.”

“…”

“Doomin said it was a photo taken with his consent, but posting it on the internet without permission, blackmailing him, and spreading it is clearly a crime. Isn’t it?”

“…”

“The internet is full of posts cursing Doomin. But Doomin… he’s never done anything to deserve…”

Shin Hojae’s expression was dark as he spoke.

“…to deserve being cursed at like that.”

A moment of silence fell. Junghyun quietly stared at Shin Hojae’s face, whose gaze was lowered.

“That’s why I came to ask you a favor. The original distributor of that photo, Kim Injoong of Daily One who helped spread it through online articles, and the people who are still producing and spreading rumors, please make sure they are all punished.”

“…”

“Director, you can do it, can’t you.”

Shin Hojae’s eyes looked straight at him.

Unexpectedly, what was in those eyes was trust. Shin Hojae truly believed that he would help him with his problem.

Kwon Junghyun wrinkled his nose slightly. An indescribable feeling made his chest cold.

“For free?”

It was because of that feeling that a spiteful reply came out.

Just how far would he go for his precious friend, for the man he thought was disgusting? One corner of his mouth curved up into a lopsided smile.

Perhaps having a bad personality is hereditary, Junghyun thought with a cold face.

“…I don’t intend to ask for free.”

“Then?”

“I’ll do it. Anything.”