BHB 109

Seeing this surveillance, it was clear that the school video must have also been passed on to them. Of course, they would know. Given the sensitive period, the place they would be watching most carefully would be Lee Taegang, who was like a time bomb.

“I’m just doing what I’m told~. But Lee Taegang, that bastard acted so high and mighty, but he turned out to be nothing special?”

The mocking laughter gradually faded away. And as it became increasingly buried under the sound of music, Yeowon tiredly rubbed his face, which had relaxed a little.

“…”

“…”

And suddenly he looked at Lee Taegang right in front of him. His breath, seemingly frozen, touched near his cheek and was momentarily strongly felt.

Yeowon opened and closed his mouth trying to say something, but his voice wouldn’t come out easily. Having encountered him while being too off guard, he had nothing prepared. Questions he wanted to ask flooded his mind, but the thought of whether he should ask them strongly occurred to him. He wondered if it would be better to turn his back on him and act as if nothing had happened, asking casually as usual.

It was the first time since middle school that they hadn’t talked for so long. It was also the first time they hadn’t seen each other for so long. An awkward atmosphere tightened around his throat, but what bothered him more was the fact that Lee Taegang was also staying quiet.

Neither of them could say anything, but they didn’t think about leaving this place first either. The noisy sounds coming from outside seemed distant, as if they were in another world. The one who broke the long-maintained silence was none other than Lee Taegang.

“…Where are you staying?”

In fact, if he were to face Lee Taegang again, he had expected him to go wild like a crazed beast. Since leaving home and quitting school on his own was equivalent to cutting off all the relationships they had built, he thought he would surely be angry, and that would hurt him. After all, what Yeowon had abandoned were symbolic things they had shared.

But it was unexpected. The uneasy breathing that seemed precarious, the deliberately calm voice.

Nevertheless, his closed lips wouldn’t open easily. He knew well enough from Do Youngjae that he had been desperately looking for him. Yeowon realized from his hesitant attitude that he still hadn’t resolved the knot enough to answer Lee Taegang easily. Emotions that seemed like they could be easily sorted out if he didn’t see him, if they were apart, were still tangled like a skein of thread.

“Just… getting by on my own.”

This blunt answer felt pathetic. Even as he spoke, he regretted it, and just as a silent sigh was about to burst out, Lee Taegang’s hand, which had been motionless, rose. For a moment, thinking it might touch his face, his body unconsciously froze. His large hand stopped and smoothly traced the radio wire that had fallen over his shoulder.

“…What’s this?” Lee Taegang’s brow, which had been only calm, distorted subtly. 

Only then did Yeowon recall that he was currently working.

“Ah.”

Yeowon unconsciously put the radio he had taken out back in his ear. The thought suddenly crossed his mind that the man called the manager might not pay his today’s wages.

“…Don’t tell me you’re…”

“Yeah. I work here.” Yeowon cut off Lee Taegang’s obvious question firmly. 

At a glance, it was the same reaction as Do Youngjae’s. But the difference was that Lee Taegang looked more panicked.

“Why are you doing something like that?” Lee Taegang, frowning as if knitting his brows, acted as if a cherished child was experiencing hardship. 

That reaction made Yeowon feel awkward, and he muttered with an uncomfortable face, “…Because I quit school.”

After breaking free from the daily life that was knowingly or unknowingly controlled by Lee Taegang, there was nothing left. He had no one he was seriously dating, no will to do anything, and all along he had been just a fool following Lee Taegang around.

“I need to do something.”

Now he couldn’t spend time meaninglessly anymore. He tried to continue the conversation matter-of-factly, but Yeowon’s heart shook every time he saw Lee Taegang’s face swallowing anxiety. Lee Taegang’s reactions to his every word were now so visible. Now that he could see it, his emotions were too obvious. But he felt this distance was appropriate. A distance where they couldn’t control each other. He felt that was necessary for both himself and Lee Taegang.

In fact, he too had regretted it after the festival day. Whatever the reason, he shouldn’t have touched the other’s weakness in that way. He had done to Lee Taegang what he considered the most despicable thing.

Meanwhile, his phone vibrated in his inner jacket pocket. In a space where even each other’s breathing was keenly felt, the sound of the phone vibration felt like a thunderbolt. Startled, Yeowon hurriedly checked his phone, and the light pouring from the screen brightly illuminated the dark room.

When the name ‘Baek Seungha sunbae’, honestly saved, appeared, Yeowon unknowingly looked at Lee Taegang. At that moment, their eyes met again, and Lee Taegang’s firm jaw twitched slightly.

“Yes, hyung.”

It seemed the call had gone all the way to Baek Seungha because he had left his post, so Yeowon deliberately ignored him and answered the phone.

‘Yeowon, where are you? The manager is looking for you. Is everything okay?’

The worried voice flowed out of the phone. Yeowon, unconsciously aware of Lee Taegang, quickly replied, “Just in the bathroom. I’m sorry. I’ll be right back.”

‘No. I’ll come to you first.’

“What? No…”

Baek Seungha seemed to consider him like a child left by the water’s edge; he just asked for his location and hurriedly hung up. He was clearly concerned because he knew this was Yeowon’s first time doing such work. 

And to run into Lee Taegang here of all places… 

Yeowon rubbed the back of his neck with a face full of dismay. Thinking he should return to his post, he turned to leave but hesitated and stared at Lee Taegang.

“…I don’t know how Choi Youngdoo got involved.”

“…”

“Be careful. It seems like they’ve installed something like a camera in the room.”

Somehow even this kind of interference felt awkward now. But he managed to speak with difficulty, feeling that if he couldn’t say even this much, he wouldn’t be able to focus on work at all during the remaining time due to anxiety.

“That bastard Choi Youngdoo in the first place… No. Never mind.”

He couldn’t understand why that family would employ such a person, but it didn’t seem like something to get angry about. The adults in that family weren’t people he and Lee Taegang could confront.

“…Just tell me where you’re staying.”

Just as he was about to evade the question and leave, Lee Taegang’s words desperately burst out, grabbing him by the ankle. 

When he instinctively looked back, Lee Taegang roughly rubbed his face and sighed again, “…Just tell me where you’re staying.”

While his face maintained its characteristic coldness, his pupils were shaking aimlessly. At the same time, he felt his warmth up close. He had moved right next to him, trapping him against the door, and supported his hand on the glass where the outside wasn’t visible. With the gap closed even more, Lee Taegang’s breath hit him more explicitly, and the smell of alcohol from him stung Yeowon’s nose persistently.

“Can’t you…?” As he hesitated without answering, Lee Taegang whispered softly. 

Yeowon couldn’t hide his confusion at the voice that betrayed a hint of desperation. Lee Taegang clearly knew the call he just received was from Baek Seungha, and his eyes had changed as soon as Baek Seungha’s name appeared on the screen, but now Lee Taegang was definitely showing subservience. He was holding onto him in a different way. Yeowon froze in surprise at his attitude.

Yeowon was momentarily speechless at Lee Taegang’s behavior, which was different from what he had imagined.

“…”

At that moment, the phone vibrated noisily again, and simultaneously, Baek Seungha’s voice calling for him could be heard outside the door. Without being able to say anything in response, Yeowon quickly escaped from there, looking as if an opportunity had come.

It felt like he had been in a completely different dimension. Lee Taegang hadn’t said much, but his breath was tightening suffocatingly, and he was filled with the urge to escape. The close proximity, the endless piercing body scent, the desperation hidden in his emotionless voice – all of it stimulated every cell in his body.

As Yeowon, who had escaped, unconsciously looked at the closed door, someone grabbed his arm. He looked at them like a person gripped by fear.

“Were you here? Let’s go. There’s chaos right now.”

“…What?” The events from earlier feeling dreamlike, Yeowon dumbly asked back with blurry vision.

“There’s a fight in your area right now.”

“Ah…”

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

When Baek Seungha worriedly asked, seeing Yeowon’s dazed appearance, unable to regain his senses easily, he hastily shook his head. And again, he looked towards the door that showed no movement. The quiet situation was somehow incomprehensible. Baek Seungha, whom Lee Taegang hated so much, was right in front of him. He used to do all sorts of things, his eyes blazing, finding it terrible even to be near him, but now he was quiet. There was no reaction.

Why…? 

By now, he should have come charging at them like a madman having a fit, as he always did. Yeowon had unconsciously thought Lee Taegang would do so this time too, having done it several times before. But his expectation was completely off. Lee Taegang didn’t recklessly press him as usual, nor did he rush at Baek Seungha like an enraged beast.