TTD Ch 96

As they descended the hill, a few dark clouds began to form in the clear sky. The old lady was still peeling garlic on the bench in front of the run-down store. Ja-kyung asked Il-hyun to borrow his wallet. He took some money from his wallet and handed them to the elderly lady. Her droopy eyelids widened slightly as she raised her gaze to Ja-kyung.

Ja-kyung held up a bag of garlic and shook it.

“For the garlic.”

The old woman stared at the money and Ja-kyung’s face as if she couldn’t see the letters clearly. Her wrinkled eyes narrowed. Ja-kyung smiled and walked to his car. As he was about to get into the car, the old lady called Ja-kyung. But when he looked, she came over and handed him money and two drinks.

“You’re the kid who use to live upstairs, right?”

Ja-kyung was taken aback and speechless. She snatched the bag of garlic from Ja-kyung and smiled softly with a wrinkled face.

“Don’t take something you can’t even eat.”

“…”

“Your bright appearance is still the same as when you were young.”

She turned around and went to the store after laughing. Her hunched back was pitiful. He looked at the drink in his hand. She remembered. She remembered me. Ja-kyung looked at the old lady’s hunched back with melancholy, then ran and hastily put the money into her pocket.

“This is for the bread.”

Then he ran back to the car like he was running away. Il-hyun started the engine and drove away, but Ja-kyung noticed the old lady standing still and staring at him in the rearview mirror. A few drops of rain began to fall from the overcast sky, and the car went back down the way it came.

“What are you thinking about?”

Ja-kyung took his eyes off the rear-view mirror and looked at Kang Il-hyun.

“I feel strange.”

“Why?”

“I thought it would be terrible, but it’s not as bad as I thought.”

“I’m glad.”

It was unexpected. Ja-kyung thought Il-hyun was going to say all sorts of things, but that was all he said.

“Thank you…”

After hesitating for a while, he finally expressed his sincerity. He would not have gone this far without him. Fortunately, it was just a passing rain, and after a brief downpour, the sky cleared up as it always does.

They drove into town and stopped for a drink at a cafe. The cafe was crowded with people due to the sudden rain. After ordering and sitting by the window, the bell rang. When Ja-kyung tried to get up, Il-hyun got up first and went to the counter to pay.

He came back with a tray of cups and was unexpectedly steady. He probably had never done anything like that before. People’s attention followed his movements. Ja-kyung could feel the gazes of people focusing on Il-hyun in the noisy cafe.

He brought the cup and put one in front of Ja-kyung.

“Drink it.”

Il-hyun took a sip of the espresso he ordered and makes a subtle expression.

“How is it?”

Curious about the taste, Ja-kyung asked, but Il-hyun’s expression was grim.

“If it were my employee, I would have fired them right away.”

After laughing, Ja-kyung drank the watermelon juice in front of him. It wasn’t nearly as good as the juice made by the house chef, but it was good enough.

“You really like watermelons.”

“It’s delicious.”

“Do you want to quit your work and go to the countryside to farm watermelons?”

Ja-kyung couldn’t tell by the look in his eyes if he was joking or not.

“Will you pay me?”

“We got engaged, so there’s no your money or my money.”

Ja-kyung was so surprised that he almost spat out his juice. He looked around to see if anyone had heard. Engaged? When did that happen? Is he crazy? He shot lasers with his eyes, but Kang Il-hyun didn’t even pretend to see him. Ja-kyung chewed the straw tightly with his front teeth as Il-hyun showed him the weird photo from earlier as proof.

“It’s all up to you. You lied to me in the morning saying that we’re going to be buried together or something.”

“Who said I lied?”

Ja-kyung scoffed. So it was real? He scolded him to stop joking. Who wouldn’t know that it was just to scare him? Il-hyun made a phone call and pressed the speakerphone. After a while, a man’s voice came from the other side.

“It’s me. Lawyer Park.”

[Yes, sir. Is something wrong that you’re calling me directly?]

“You know what we talked about last week? How was it?”

Ah… The bewildered voice of a man called a lawyer comes through the receiver. The sound was hard to hear, so Ja-kyung leaned forward and brought his face closer to the phone.

[That is… Because there are many legal and ethical problems.]

“Lawyer Park.”

[Yes, sir.]

“If we were going to talk about laws, ethics, and stuff like that, why would I pay a lot of money and hire a lawyer? Isn’t that right?”

[Yes… you’re right.]

“What’s so hard about asking one person to die with you?”

He smiled at Ja-kyung while talking to the lawyer. To avoid being seen, Ja-kyung bit into a straw and cursed with his mouth. It was real. Il-hyun seriously considered burying Ja-kyung alongside him, crazy bastard. Il-hyun leaned back and stared at Ja-kyung after the phone call.

“Did you hear?”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear.”

“Accept your fate.”

“I don’t want to think that it’s my destiny to be caught and buried by a madman.”

Il-hyun had a very happy expression on his face when Ja-kyung was upset. There were numerous ways to express affection. He shifted his gaze away from the window and toward something else. Then he noticed a movie theater right across the street. Il-hyun’s gaze naturally followed.

“Do you want to go watch?”

He nodded without a second thought. It seemed like a perfect time to go to the movies and then have dinner. It was an ordinary day for anyone, but for the two of them, who had to live with war every day, it was something special.

Fortunately, it was midday on a weekday, so there were few people inside. To enter the Lion Theater, a guide said to buy a ticket, popcorn, and coke. They entered the theater after confirming its location. Again, there were few people. Ja-kyung set his drink down on the armrest and grabbed some popcorn.

Ja-kyung looked around the theater while the advertisement played for about ten minutes. Surprisingly, many men came by themselves to watch it. When he looked closely, he noticed that they were sitting like a wooden stone. It bothered him, so he kept staring at them.

The movie began after the advertisement, and the main character’s face appeared on the screen. It was a French film, and the pamphlet said it was about the love and separation of lovers in a period of stagnation. After some time, an angry woman’s voice could be heard through the screen.

The woman was gesturing wildly and shouting abuse at him, but the exhausted man was too busy leaning back in his chair and ignoring her. When the woman finally left alone, she reached for a bottle of alcohol and lit a cigarette. The woman looking out the window had a lonely expression on her face. Ja-kyung didn’t even think to put the popcorn in his mouth while watching a movie that was more depressing than expected and instead looked at Kang Il-hyun, who was sitting next to him.

No matter how you look at it, it was not Kang Il-hyun’s taste. He shouldn’t have asked him to watch. Concerned, Ja-kyung keeps looking at him and then Il-hyun turned around.

“What’s wrong?”

At the whispered words, Ja-kyung brought his lips to his ear.

“It’s fun?”

“No.”

He knew it.

“But I think it’s about to get interesting.”

He puts on a strange smile and returns his attention to the movie. Ja-kyung also tried to immerse himself in the movie as well. Kang Il-hyun’s hand, which was on the armrest at the time, approached the popcorn container. Ja-kyung thought he was going to eat popcorn, but instead, he slid down and groped Ja-kyung’s thigh. 

When Ja-kyung frowned at him, Il-hyun turned his head and moved his lips silently. I want to do it. Ja-kyung correctly interpreted and pulled his hand in disgust. Il-hyun’s hand slid away like a mudfish before he squeezed Ja-kyung’s dick. 

“Ah, seriously!”

Ja-kyung shouted unconsciously, attracting the attention of everyone in the movie theater. Ja-kyung bit his lip and stared straight ahead, then locked eyes with the men in front of him, and his expression hardened. He could sense a hint of resentment in the way they looked away.

Ja-kyung put down the popcorn container and touched Il-hyun’s leg with his foot. Their eyes met and Il-hyun tilted his head slightly to the side. The two stood up at the same time and left the cinema.

The moment they hurriedly got on the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor, the door to the cinema they were staying in a moment ago opened and someone else came out.

The elevator then closed.

“Did you see that?”

Il-hyun asked and Ja-kyung nodded.

The men sitting in the theater. They were dressed in plain clothes, but Ja-kyung could tell that they were of the same kind as him.

“How did you recognize them?”

“There was one guy who looked familiar.”

“So you touched my dick on purpose?”

“No. I touched it because I wanted to touch it.”

Of course, he is. Ja-kyung looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, and Il-hyun chuckled.

When they arrived at the underground parking lot, the elevator door opened, and they exited to go to their car. At that point, the doors of nearby cars began to open one by one, and people come out. It was an unusual move. The two came to a halt and looked around for a way out. As expected, they stood guard on all sides to prevent them from escaping.

They had no choice but to break through. Il-hyun handed the car keys to Ja-kyung as he walked forward. Il-hyun then makes an unexpected offer to Ja-kyung after he receives it.

“Let’s bet who gets to the car first.”

Haa. Ja-kyung looked at him in disbelief.

“You really want to do that in this situation?”

“If I win, tonight you’ll have to wear lace underwear with flowers on it.”

Seeing him smirking, Ja-kyung gnashed his teeth. He said let’s see.

“Then if I win, can I fuck CEO Kang from behind?”

“Do whatever you like.”

Seeing Il-hyun so confident made Ja-kyung want to fuck him more. Ja-kyung sighed and pulled out a gun from the waist belt behind his back. When the magazine was loaded, Kang Il-hyun’s expression distorted.

“What the hell, when did you get a gun? Isn’t that cheating?”

“If you think it’s unfair, go get one for yourself.”

“You…!”

After loosening his neck from side to side, Ja-kyung jumped out quickly.

“I go first. Keep your promise.”