Soo-hyun exited the building and quickly walked toward the taxi stand. Anger and frustration threatened to bring tears to his eyes. As he rubbed his stinging eyes with his palm, he spotted a familiar black car approaching from a distance.

He thought it couldn’t be, but it really was Ho-beom. Didn’t you go home? When the car stopped in front of him, Soo-hyun just stared blankly until the window slid down with a mechanical whirr.

“What are you doing standing there? Get in.”

Soo-hyun glanced behind him, wondering if Min-jun might have followed. After confirming no one was in front of the restaurant, he climbed into the car.

“Boss Yang, why didn’t you leave?”

“That’s what I want to ask you. Why are you out so early? Weren’t you supposed to have dinner and possibly even sleep with him today?”

His tone was slightly teasing. Then he stared intently at Soo-hyun’s face. Soo-hyun averted his gaze, not wanting Ho-beom to notice he had nearly cried. When Ho-beom didn’t start driving, Soo-hyun urged him to go. Ho-beom finally put the car in motion and remarked casually:

“You must have done something with him. I can smell his cologne on you.”

Oh, I thought you were talking about me crying.

“You couldn’t have had s*x in such a short time, so what did you do?”

Instead of answering, Soo-hyun pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket and held it out to Ho-beom. Ho-beom glanced at it and asked, “What’s this?” Soo-hyun touched the screen to show him. After taking a proper look, Ho-beom slammed on the brakes with a screech. The lock screen displayed a happy family photo. The man was, of course, Seo Min-jun.

The sudden stop caused a car behind them to honk loudly.

Ho-beom pulled over to the side of the road and turned to Soo-hyun.

“Is that…”

“Yes. It’s exactly what you’re thinking.”

Ho-beom’s face contorted, and Soo-hyun tried to explain:

“While kissing him, my hand moved on its own before I realized it.”

Ho-beom gave him a cold look. Soo-hyun had taken the phone without thinking, but he shrank back, wondering if this was really something to get so angry about. Fearing Ho-beom might lash out and hit him again, he placed his hand on the seatbelt, ready to escape if necessary.

Ho-beom ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek, then laughed in disbelief.

“You’ve got skills, Baek Soo-hyun. Meeting him and getting to a kiss right away.”

Ah, so it’s not about the phone. Of course, Ho-beom probably hadn’t expected things to progress to a kiss today. In truth, neither had Soo-hyun. He had only planned to have a meal and probe Min-jun’s feelings, but that bastard had made him so angry… Still, this confirmed that Min-jun had definitely wavered.

With a satisfied expression, Soo-hyun patted Ho-beom’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. At this rate, we’ll get to s*x soon enough.”

Ho-beom’s eyebrow twitched, and Soo-hyun quickly withdrew his hand. He shouldn’t have touched the shoulder so casually. He carefully brushed off where he had touched and straightened his posture as Ho-beom’s gaze shifted to the phone.

“But did you have to take that? Do you have any brains at all? Are you stupid?”

Soo-hyun felt slightly wronged. He thought Ho-beom would be pleased.

“Who knows what important information might be on here.”

“You think that’s Min-jun’s only phone? Someone like him wouldn’t keep anything important on that one.”

Soo-hyun looked like he’d been slapped, but quickly tried to recover.

“Actually, I had a plan when I took it.”

“What plan?”

“Huh?”

“What plan did you have?”

“……”

“See? You really are stupid.”

Ho-beom started the car again with an expression suggesting he didn’t even want to discuss it further. Soo-hyun looked at the phone. Honestly, he wasn’t sure why he’d done it. Sometimes—no, often—he acted impulsively. A psychiatrist once told him it was because the part of his brain that controlled impulses was damaged.

But that might be wrong. If it were true, he would have strangled Min-jun first. This was just the thief’s blood flowing through him. As he tucked Min-jun’s phone into his inner pocket, his own phone rang. Checking it, he saw an unknown number.

“Hello…”

[Soo-hyun.]

Already? Soo-hyun instinctively checked if any cars were following them. Ho-beom glanced at him, noticing his strange behavior.

“Why are you calling?”

Min-jun sighed softly.

[Did you take my phone?]

“Yes.”

[Why…?]

“Because I hate you…”

Min-jun went silent. Soo-hyun took a deep breath and slowly gathered his emotions.

“I was happy when you asked to meet… Despite my resentment… I wanted to see you more than I hated you.”

He paused. While trying to heighten his emotions, he noticed Ho-beom looking at him with an incredulous expression. After briefly making a “what do you want me to do” face, Soo-hyun turned to look out the window for better focus.

“But you deliberately brought your family… When did I ever say I was curious about your wife and child? Why… do you make me feel so pathetic… How I’ve endured all this time… Why do you… make me so miserable…”

Tears like chicken droppings fell down his cheeks. A soft sigh could be heard from the other end of the line.

[Soo-hyun. That wasn’t my intention. You misunderstood.]

“Don’t lie. You were wary of me. You kept your distance… afraid I might do something bad to you. Fine… I resent you… I hate you… But… sob… Not once… not once did I forget you… Even in my hardest times… I endured because of you…”

As he sobbed, there was no sound from the other end. After a moment, Min-jun’s deflated voice came through. I’m sorry. Let’s talk in person. Contact me when you’ve calmed down. I’ll come to you. Then he hung up. Soo-hyun checked the disconnected call, completely changed his expression, and wiped away the pooled tears with his sleeve.

Looking to the side, he saw Ho-beom staring at him with an expression that said, “What kind of act is this?”

“What?”

“You’re really…”

“Convincing, right?”

“How could you not be?”

Soo-hyun smiled coolly. Then he turned his head toward the window, ignoring Ho-beom. After clearing the remaining tears with his hand, he muttered “Sh*t” and sniffled.

Ho-beom stared at him. He could tell that not everything Soo-hyun had just said was a lie. And the moment he realized this, his mood soured.

***

After showering, Ho-beom changed into a fresh shirt, took out a bottle from the inner display case, grabbed a glass, and went to the living room sofa. On the table lay a laptop, a watch, and the voice recorder he had given to Soo-hyun. Soo-hyun had declined the offer to have dinner and returned directly to the hotel.

Ho-beom removed the memory chip from the wristwatch and connected it to the laptop. A file appeared, and when he clicked it, a video began playing. Though somewhat shaky, the quality was quite clear. The screen showed Min-jun, his wife, and their young daughter. Ho-beom laughed.

That fox Min-jun. Knowing Soo-hyun’s weakness and sentimentality, he brought his family onto the stage.

Playing her role faithfully, his wife treated Soo-hyun kindly.

[My wife was curious about you. I’ve mentioned you occasionally.]

[What did you tell her?]

[That you’re like my real brother.]

Ho-beom poured himself a drink and leaned back on the sofa. So there’s the bastard who fucks his “brother.” As he lowered his gaze and focused on the screen, Soo-hyun stood up from his seat, and the view changed with the sound of a chair being pulled back.

The video shook, and walls quickly passed by. Then what appeared to be a bathroom came into view. Haah, the sound of a held breath finally released seemed to convey his miserable state of mind. Soo-hyun repeatedly splashed water on his face at the sink, trying to regain his composure.

After a moment, Soo-hyun turned around. The screen changed to show two people: Soo-hyun and Min-jun. Ho-beom sat up straight and focused on the screen. Looking closely, he could see that the camera embedded in the wristwatch was reflecting the bathroom mirror.

With his glass resting on the sofa armrest, he stared intently at the screen.

[Isn’t the order wrong? Shouldn’t you have apologized to me first?]

[What? Were you afraid I’d expose everything?]

[I’ve always wanted to ask. Did you try to reduce my sentence? Did you actually write a petition? Did you really look for me after I was released? No, those were all lies. If you really had, you would have found me by now. How hard could it be for someone like you to find a person! You simply abandoned me, didn’t you?]

Desperation and anger were palpable in Soo-hyun’s questioning voice.

And then Min-jun’s reply:

[I have no idea what you’re talking about.]

That seemed to be the trigger, as Soo-hyun immediately pulled Min-jun in for a kiss. And his other hand groped Min-jun’s crotch. Ho-beom, who had been watching expressionlessly, gripped his glass tightly. As their lips parted, Soo-hyun’s voice could be heard through their heavy breathing.

[Don’t you understand? I’m saying let’s f*ck like dogs again.]

Then Soo-hyun left, saying he had another appointment for the evening. The screen froze there. Ho-beom rewound the video to the point where Soo-hyun kissed Min-jun. It overlapped with the image of him crying in the car, confessing how he had endured because of Min-jun, how much he had missed him.

After staring intensely, Ho-beom downed his drink in one go and closed the screen. He lit a cigarette and looked at the wristwatch and voice recorder. This guy might get drunk because he’s upset and cause trouble somewhere. Or he might be planning to spread his legs for some random man.

After drinking more, time passed, and Ho-beom finally decided to call Soo-hyun, thinking it would be better to check on him now than deal with the aftermath later. The call connected, and after a long wait, Soo-hyun answered. His voice came through amid a very noisy background.

[What a surprise. Calling at this hour.]

Before Ho-beom could ask where he was, some intruders cut in. Hey, is that Soo-hyun’s boyfriend? Tell him to come over! Sister-in-law, please come! No, it’s not like that. What do you mean it’s not? Tell him to come quickly! Sister-in-law, please come! Soo-hyun’s drinking a lot!

It wasn’t just one or two people. As Ho-beom tried to speak, Soo-hyun spoke first.

[It’s not my boyfriend, it’s Boss Yang.]

As soon as the words left his mouth, silence fell like cold water had been poured over everyone.

Then whispering voices:

Hey, hang up quickly. Hurry. Everyone pretend you’re dead. Shh!

Ho-beom’s brow furrowed as he listened.

[Boss Yang. Why did you call?]

“Just because. Are you busy?”

[Yeah, um…]

“Then I’ll hang up.”

[Yeah, sure.]

And with that, Soo-hyun hung up without hesitation.

Looking at his phone, Ho-beom let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha, f*ck. Who said I wanted to come?”