CI 3.12

In a way, it was a creepy situation, but it was also a bit cute because Won Hee-yeon was acting the way he was right then. Son Yeo-il changed the ratio of ‘creepiness’ and ‘cuteness’ according to his affections filtering.

“How far have you imagined? Do you know that you have a surprisingly cute side, Hee-yeon? It’s a little creepy, though.”

“Eeing. Is it really okay to say that to your wife?”

“You act like a stalker sometimes.”

“Eeeing? I’ve never done that.”

“You have. How did you find out the password to my studio apartment?”

“You told me that yourself.”

Hey, liar. He was about to snort, but Son Yeo-il suddenly thought that Won Hee-yeon wouldn’t lie to him outright.

Did I really tell him? When…?

While Son Yeo-il was searching his memory, Won Hee-yeon intertwined his fingers with Son Yeo-il’s and asked in an ingratiating manner.

“So, what do you think of this room, husband? Is it too small and simple? If you like my room over there better, we can make that your room too. I’m a Dol-soe* who serves my darling, so I don’t need a room.”

T/N: Dol-soe is a traditional Korean male name or nickname, typically used to represent a simple, strong, and loyal man, often of peasant or servant background in historical or rural settings.

Far from being small and simple, the room was the largest space Son Yeo-il had ever had in his life. The wooden furniture was simple, but the grain was fine and clean, and it was clear that they were expensive items. Since it was a room decorated to Son Yeo-il’s taste, there was no way he wouldn’t like it.

However, just as Won Hee-yeon acted like a stalker even though they were dating, Son Yeo-il always acted aloof even though they were together. The more his heart fluttered, the more aloof he became, and he asked next as if he was picking a fight with the other man.

“But why did you prepare all this without saying anything? What if I said I couldn’t live with you?”

No matter how much Son Yeo-il grumbled, Won Hee-yeon was not at all affected. He grinned as if he loved even the aloofness of the other man and replied.

“Well, you promised to think about it last time. My Yeo-il is a careful and trustworthy person, so I’m sure he’s thinking about it carefully. And that’s the way nature works. Animals do that too. The one who is courting has to decorate the nest nicely.”

‘But we’ve already had sex,’ he was about to retort, but thinking that he should speak a little more nicely, Son Yeo-il said this.

“You don’t have to court me. I like Hee-yeon too.”

After saying that, Son Yeo-il realized he had never actually told Won Hee-yeon “I like you” before. Though it wasn’t something he shouldn’t have said, he suddenly felt embarrassed and couldn’t manage his expression well.

However, Son Yeo-il was considerably more composed compared to Won Hee-yeon. Won Hee-yeon’s face heated up like a boiling kettle making squeaking noises. His fingers, intertwined with Son Yeo-il’s, became rigid, and his Adam’s apple visibly bobbed.

“So, you’re, like, saying…”

His eyes were half-glazed as he mumbled. At this rate, not only would they not leave the bed all weekend, but even Monday’s work attendance was in danger. Feeling an instinctive sense of crisis, Son Yeo-il immediately thought of something to say that would bring Won Hee-yeon back to his senses.

“Hee-yeon. I’m hungry.”

“Huh? Oh, ahh. Food.”

“Yes. I’d like the French toast you made for me before.”

At Son Yeo-il’s words, which came with a rare bit of aegyo, Won Hee-yeon jumped up from his seat, forgetting about everything else.

“Then I’ll prepare it right away! Wait just a little while. I’ll make you something delicious.”

After Won Hee-yeon dashed to the kitchen like lightning, the sound of clattering soon followed. Son Yeo-il carefully looked around the room in the sunlight and sweet aroma. Various thoughts came to mind amid the peaceful air.

What would it be like to live with Hee-yeon? Isn’t it too fast? But it doesn’t seem like I would dislike it. No, it seems like I would really enjoy it. Just as he was slightly furrowing his brow in serious contemplation, a sweet and savory smell began wafting through the doorway.

That’s the smell of French toast.

Outside the window, the sunset was softly sparkling, and the bed was cozy. There was no reason to feel anxious or rushed. Until cautious Son Yeo-il had fully tested the stepping stones, Won Hee-yeon would gladly wait, so he didn’t need to worry too much about the distant future but could simply enjoy this present moment.

Recalling the sweet and fluffy taste of the French toast, the corners of Son Yeo-il’s mouth quirked up. After eating a hearty meal, it might be nice to finish watching the movie they hadn’t finished on Friday night.

He wondered what they would do tomorrow, whether to go out somewhere or spend a relaxed day at home. Either way, it seemed like it would be an enjoyable experience. Now Son Yeo-il had become someone who lived looking forward to tomorrow.

***

“So when that husband showed up for the adjustment date, he had been so belligerent, but since he had criminal charges pending, his energy just deflated. Mrs. Kang is living alone now, so she’s comfortable and looks better.”

“That makes sense. She pulled out a painful tooth.”

“Exactly. That husband was making a scene, demanding to unfreeze the accounts first, then crying about whether divorce was really necessary. It was quite a spectacle. Even the opposing attorney seemed perplexed.”

“Oh my. That guy would have been out on the streets a long time ago if it weren’t for Mrs. Kang. By the way, what happened with that bastard’s case? That tattooed pig.”

Late at night, Son Yeo-il was talking with Won Hee-yeon in the car on the way home from work. Son Yeo-il, who had been chattering away, bragging about good deeds and sharing funny stories, burst out laughing at the explicit and accurate description of his client, the ‘tattooed pig.’

“He was indicted. Since I’m a trainee, it’s difficult for me to visit the detention center, so Head Attorney Bae is handling it after the warrant was issued. The judge scolded the client a lot at the first trial the day before yesterday. It seems like the sentence will be severe. The judge in the criminal division at Yongju District Court is famous for being strict.”

After saying that much, Son Yeo-il, who was overly self-critical, became gloomy again, thinking, Even so, is it too much to feel good about it when he’s still my client?

“It’s all his fate. You have to think that he’s paying the price for what he did. Right?”

Won Hee-yeon, who always instantly noticed Son Yeo-il’s mood, immediately offered words of comfort, and Won Hee-yeon’s comforting ways always had a way of easing Son Yeo-il’s heart. Son Yeo-il asked Won Hee-yeon with a renewed bright expression on his face.

“What did you do today, Hee-yeon?”

“Well, I’m practically unemployed. I had lunch and stopped by the construction site for a bit, then waited anxiously for my darling to get off work.”

“Hey. I know you’re busy. Was the issue with the people fighting at the site resolved?”

“Ah, that. The supervisor there is a very meticulous person…But wouldn’t this kind of story be boring for my darling?”

Son Yeo-il shrugged his shoulders at Won Hee-yeon’s worried question.

“No, it’s not.”

“Tsk, you have to be honest with each other for a marriage to last.”

“We’re not married, but…I’m being honest. Do you find it boring when I talk about work, Hee-yeon?”

“Eesh, what are you saying? Attorney Son’s cases are the most interesting in the world.”

“I find your stories interesting too. So please, keep talking.”

Won Hee-yeon, who couldn’t hide his good mood, curled up the corners of his lips and fiddled with the tip of his nose before tightly grabbing Son Yeo-il’s hand. He stroked Son Yeo-il’s hand and told him about the supervisor and the site manager grabbing each other by the collar, and Son Yeo-il listened to the story with genuine interest.

It was a peaceful and heartwarming time. Parking the car near the one-room apartment after work and sharing stories like this was a great pleasure for Son Yeo-il and Won Hee-yeon these days.

On days when he worked late, it was too late to go anywhere else, and if they went into the room to spend more time together, they kept wanting to get physically intimate, which was difficult (of course, it was good, but it was too good, which made things difficult. Son Yeo-il was an office worker who went to work every day and worked late 3.5 times a week). So, on weekdays, they mainly had dates that weren’t really dates. Like this.

They weren’t doing much, but Son Yeo-il was really happy right now. Seeing Won Hee-yeon’s bright smile whenever he looked at him filled his heart with warmth. He felt endlessly happy and fulfilled, and he felt foolish for being consumed by unnecessary jealousy earlier.

Right. We like each other this much, so why would I need to be jealous?

Although he had been an adult for a long time, Son Yeo-il felt like he was finally starting a mature and stable relationship. Just as he was feeling inwardly pleased, Son Yeo-il’s phone notification rang.

“Ah, just a moment. I need to reply to this.”

The moment Son Yeo-il said that after checking the message, Won Hee-yeon asked with a glint in his eyes.

“Eesh, who’s bothering my darling at this hour?”

“Uh…It’s Oh Yu-na.”

She was Koo Dae-hyun’s fiancée, who was now Son Yeo-il’s client. At Son Yeo-il’s answer, Won Hee-yeon’s eyebrows drooped and his chin became walnut-shaped. Son Yeo-il felt a pang of regret seeing his lover like this.

Oh no. Here we go again.

He had expected this kind of reaction from the moment Won Hee-yeon asked who it was. He had thought about pretending it was a contact from someone else, but Son Yeo-il couldn’t lie, so this couldn’t be helped.

These days, Won Hee-yeon was on high alert whenever Oh Yu-na contacted him. First of all, his justification was, ‘A client is a client, but contacting you after work hours is crossing the line!’

It wasn’t as if Son Yeo-il liked talking to clients even after work, but when Oh Yu-na contacted Son Yeo-il, it was usually when she was meeting Koo Dae-hyun to dig up evidence. It was difficult to meet her fiancé during work hours, so she had no other choice but to contact him late at night.

[Attorney Son, is this a term that gay people use?]

What she sent was a photo of Koo Dae-hyun’s phone screen, which showed a conversation history on a messenger app that read, ‘Did you put in the change for that next week?’, ‘Already estimating’, ‘Okay, please follow up’.

Afraid that she would do something rash, Son Yeo-il quickly replied that it was a term lawyers used. ‘Change’ meant applying for a change of date, and ‘estimating’ simply meant that the date for the case hadn’t been set yet and would be designated later.

Oh Yu-na was monitoring Koo Dae-hyun’s phone in real time to gather evidence and was relaying the situation to Son Yeo-il. Because lawyers used so many terms that even lay people wouldn’t be able to understand, she suspected that all of Koo Dae-hyun’s conversations were lewd chats.

After wrapping up the situation, Son Yeo-il put his phone away and looked at his lover. The muscular man in his thirties, who looked like he couldn’t be stabbed with a knife, was pouting with his lips half-protruding.

“It’s all over now, Hee-yeon.”

“So you’re not contacting that person anymore?”

“Ah, no…what I mean is that I don’t have to reply anymore today. I haven’t found any definite evidence yet. I think I’ll have to keep in contact with her for the time being until I find something concrete.”

Won Hee-yeon was now even twitching his protruding lips. Son Yeo-il, who had been deluding himself into thinking he was in a mature relationship, having escaped the throes of jealousy, felt even more embarrassed.

However, the power of the rose-colored glasses was terrifying, and even Won Hee-yeon’s sulky appearance looked endearing to Son Yeo-il. As a professional lawyer, Son Yeo-il could come up with any number of arguments in defense of his lover.

I can’t help it. Hee-yeon likes me too much!

Moreover, since Son Yeo-il was no match for Won Hee-yeon in terms of age and experience, Son Yeo-il was always the one who wavered and showed a disgraceful side between them, while Won Hee-yeon would always silently embrace Son Yeo-il.

Son Yeo-il was proud and pleased with his mature lover, but he also felt a bit dissatisfied with the situation. After all, Son Yeo-il was quite mature among his peers.

But seeing Won Hee-yeon still burning brightly, unlike himself, who had escaped the storm of jealousy with calm affection, Son Yeo-il thought he could pretend to be a little more mature in this regard and felt a little excited.

“Hee-yeon. You know you don’t have to worry, right? It’s after work hours, but it’s just a business contact. You trust me, don’t you?”

“I trust you a thousand, ten thousand times over. It’s not you I don’t trust, it’s that person over there. I’m telling you, that person seems to be interested in my darling.”

“People aren’t interested in me. You’re doing this again.”

Won Hee-yeon often exploded with endless jealousy toward almost everyone in the world. Hong-shik, the neighbors in the one-room apartment, the store clerks, and so on. Now, he was even claiming that a heterosexual female client had become Son Yeo-il’s captive.

At Son Yeo-il’s firm answer, Won Hee-yeon began to rant like a crazy person on Line 1 about how pretty, cute, and even kind Son Yeo-il was. It seemed like he was going to sulk even more, so Son Yeo-il reluctantly used his ultimate move.

“Um, it’s a bit hot in here. Can we go talk about the rest when we get back to the room?”

At the word ‘go up,’ Won Hee-yeon’s lips, which had been twitching with dissatisfaction, stopped abruptly. He tried to control his expression with the sound of him clearing his throat for appearances’ sake, but the corners of his lips were rising endlessly.

“Hmm, hmm. Should we?”

Looking up at Won Hee-yeon, who was kissing the back of his hand, it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep until dawn again if he went up to the room now.

Well, is it okay? Because I’m happy.

With an equally foolish expression, Son Yeo-il held the other man’s hand tightly and climbed the stairs of the one-room apartment.

Ah…It’s not okay.