84

“It’s Hae-jeong. Hae-jeong-ah.”

“Yeo Hae-jeong. What brings you here? Oh my, oh my, he really brought his girlfriend.”

A murmur rose at once through the large room. The welcome was so open that my face burned. Yeo Hae-jeong, however, seemed used to such attention. He entered with an easy expression, dragging me along while I followed with hesitant steps.

“Hee-ju noona, are you going to keep calling me like that?”

The moment he sat down, he called to someone. Hee-ju noona. I followed his gaze and saw a woman in striking clothes smiling toward us.

“You come to Korea after all this time and do not think to greet your noona first?”

“That’s why I came here.”

“Empty-handed? Where’s my gift?”

“I sent money to your account.”

“You’re terribly unromantic.”

Even at her playful tone, he did not so much as blink. Silently, he kept hold of my hand and picked up a wet towel. I spread both hands out without thinking. Then he drew them closer and began wiping them carefully. It was always like this. Even if his mysophobia had supposedly improved, his standards of cleanliness still far exceeded anyone else’s.

“Turn them over.”

I turned my hands as he asked. He wiped them with meticulous care, as if even a speck of dust would be too much.

Then it happened. The noisy room fell quiet all at once. I looked up at the sudden chill in the air and found everyone watching us with strange eyes. Only then did I come to myself. I suppose it did look rather odd. Without thinking, I pulled my hands back, and his cousin shook her head with a weary expression.

“……Still the same, Hae-jeong-ah.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

It was embarrassing. I kept my eyes fixed awkwardly on the table when his noona addressed me in a friendly tone.

“By the way, you’re his girlfriend, right? You must be having a hard time.”

“Ah, yes……”

That was certainly true. Dating Yeo Hae-jeong was the greatest ordeal of my life. The tracking app, the CCTV, the meal plans, the skinship at any time and in any place. To date him was to accept all those mad acts as part of love. I felt foolish for having given him an opening simply because I was lonely. As I sat there blinking blankly, the woman smiled brightly.

“You look sensible enough. Why are you dating someone like Yeo Hae-jeong?”

“Pardon?”

“Hae-jeong’s personality is absolutely terrible.”

So she knew. My heart stirred at the thought that there was someone besides me who understood his true nature. I held back the urge to join her in gossip and merely nodded.

“Do you know what he was like when he was young? In high school, someone brushed his arm and he tore up all their uniforms. I think he bought twenty of them.”

“……”

“And that’s not all. He’s never even taken the bus or the subway. Said people’s breath smelled foul or something of the sort. The drivers all suffered for it. He’s a complete prince.”

“Noona.”

Yeo Hae-jeong called as if to stop her. But she was bolder, and more stubborn, than I had expected.

“And still he managed to get a girlfriend. Well, his exterior is perfect. If you think of it as making use of his face and money, then he’s not bad.”

“……”

“For that, Hae-jeong is perfect. Eat well and dump him, and—”

“……Ah.”

Ah. That method.

Before I knew it, I had nodded. At once, he set down his glass with an irritated expression.

“Hey, Yeo Hee-ju.”

“That’s noona to you.”

I only shifted my eyes at the sudden hostility between them, when the man beside Yeo Hee-ju stepped in to smooth things over.

“Ah, noona. Don’t be like that. Let’s just drink in peace.”

“Come on. Cheers, cheers.”

At the men’s call, I raised my glass as well. The drinking went more smoothly than I had expected. Yeo Hee-ju laughed and mixed easily with the others, as though she had not started a quarrel at all. Even so, she did not forget to speak to me from time to time.

I could barely remember the last time I had sat among people like this. I kept my excitement hidden, but after so long, simply being mixed into a crowd felt strangely exhilarating.

By the time several empty bottles had gathered on the table, Yeo Hae-jeong, who had sat quietly beside me all this while, slipped a hand around my waist. The sudden closeness made my body stiffen. I pushed at his shoulder and glanced around at the others. He paid no heed. Instead, he buried his face at the nape of my neck.

“I want to go home, Yeo Eun-ah.”

“……”

“I want to be alone with just you.”

But I was enjoying myself here. I wanted to stay a while longer. I pretended not to hear and only turned my glass slowly in my hand. Then he pressed his large frame against me and leaned his weight onto me.

“Honey, darling, baby.”

My face flushed at the whispered words. In a voice only he could hear, I tried to calm him. He ignored it and pressed his lips to the nape of my neck, rubbing there with shameless persistence. The man across from us glanced over, startled, and quickly looked away.

“People are watching. Stop. Just… stop.”

“Yeo Eun, are you going to use me and throw me away?”

“What?”

“Why did you nod?”

For a moment, my heart dropped. He must have seen me nodding at Yeo Hee-ju’s words earlier.

“No. I was only agreeing. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m hurt. Truly.”

His dejected tone left me speechless. When I did not answer, he rubbed his face against my neck like someone restless and uneasy. His fine hair brushed my chin.

“Are you really going to use me and throw me away?”

“……”

“Do you only love my exterior?”

“……I never said I loved your exterior either, senior.”

It was true that I had been struck by his appearance once or twice. But I had certainly never loved him. Of course, it was also true that I had been swayed for a moment…… At my firm answer, his face twisted, and he let out a curse under his breath.

“……F*ck.”

Had I been too honest? I had only just begun to watch his face when he gripped my thigh hard. The roughness of it told me at once that I had likely said the wrong thing. Quietly, I lifted myself and rose from my seat.

“I’m going to the bathroom for a moment.”

Fortunately, he did not stop me. I slipped out of the room and at last drew a proper breath. Touching the nape still warm from his breath, I walked down the dark corridor. I meant to waste a little time in the bathroom, then return.

I had just passed a crowded room and turned the corner when a man stepped in front of me and blocked my way. My eyes fell first to a pair of expensive-looking sneakers. Then I looked up and found a familiar face.

“……You.”

“……”

It was none other than Yeo Jin-won. At the sight of him after nearly two months, my words caught in my throat. He too seemed not to have expected to find me here. He only stared with widened eyes. Then, flustered, he flushed red and rubbed at his cheeks before speaking.

“Jang Yeo Eun, why are you in a place like this?”

“Me? I’m……”

I came with Yeo Hae-jeong.

For some reason, the words would not leave my mouth. I only stood there dumbly when Yeo Jin-won seized my shoulder and shook it.

“Don’t tell me you ended things with my brother for good. F*ck, I knew it. He wasn’t answering his phone.”

“……”

“So you’re wandering around places like this now? Right? It’s over, then. It’s over.”

Huh?

He interpreted the situation entirely on his own and ran a hand through his hair as though deeply troubled. Yet the corners of his mouth were oddly raised. Frowning as if he meant to look serious, he caught hold of my wrist.

“This is insane. Hey, Jang Yeo Eun. It’s dangerous to come to a place like this alone.”

“……Huh?”

“What are you trusting in, coming here by yourself? Hey. I’ll take you home. This place is full of dangerous bastards.”

You look the most dangerous of all.

I had no chance to say it. He had already tightened his grip on my wrist and started to lead me down the corridor. I braced my heels against the floor and struck lightly at his forearm.

“That’s not it. I came here with Yeo Hae-jeong.”

“What?”

Thump thump, thump thump, thump. The music was so loud that he leaned close and bent his ear toward me.

“I said I came with your brother.”