BHB 91

Yeowon couldn’t grasp what was being said even after hearing it. Each word from Baek Seungha mixed together in his head as if he were trying to solve a word puzzle.

“It’s fortunate that Yeowon is so innocent. He still doesn’t know anything about how you manipulate people behind the scenes.”

“… What are you talking about?”

Yeowon tried to connect the sentences slowly and understand their meaning, but it wasn’t easy. Yeowon just stared at the two with a half-dazed expression. 

Taegang had lost his words, and Baek Seungha shifted his gaze toward Yeowon standing blankly and spoke again, “Back then, when my father passed away and debts were piling up, with no money for the funeral and facing homelessness, Taegang said—”

“…”

“He’d give me enough money to handle the immediate situation if I dropped out of school and disappeared from your sight.”

This was a story Yeowon was hearing for the first time. Something he had never even considered.

“You know what? The poor truly resent charity when they have absolutely nothing.”

In a situation Yeowon couldn’t understand no matter how hard he tried, words naturally wouldn’t come easily. Regardless, Baek Seungha turned his head back to Taegang and continued speaking, “That doesn’t mean I came back to do anything specific. I really came for my siblings, and meeting Han Yeowon again was just a coincidence.”

“…”

“But seeing you still by Han Yeowon’s side, still manipulating him…” Baek Seungha glanced at Yeowon, who was standing there like a fool. His face, even while sneering, showed an inexplicable bitterness as his words trailed off. 

No matter how much Yeowon thought about it, he couldn’t understand their anger, Taegang’s uncontrolled intense emotions, or Baek Seungha’s hostility and detachment toward Taegang.

“I don’t understand. Taegang, you explain it. What is this guy saying?” Yeowon roughly grabbed Taegang’s collar. “Tell me.”

“…”

“Is it true? Is everything he’s saying true?”

Despite asking multiple times, Taegang showed no response. To summarize briefly: Taegang had taken advantage of Baek Seungha’s financial difficulties for his own benefit. And that benefit was Baek Seungha dropping out and leaving Seoul. Yeowon couldn’t understand why that would be beneficial to Taegang, so he kept thinking about it over and over, placing his hands on his waist.

“Ha… I really don’t get it. Seriously.” Yeowon let out a hollow laugh, frantically moving his gaze around, unable to comprehend. “Why… why did you do something like that?”

Although Yeowon asked as calmly as possible, wanting some kind of answer, Taegang only gripped Baek Seungha’s collar more tightly. Blue veins bulged fiercely over the back of his clenched fist.

“Yeowon is asking you.” Baek Seungha added, glancing at Taegang. His smiling face, as if daring him to speak, was completely different from when he was with Yeowon. 

Baek Seungha, who had seemed mature and kind in front of Yeowon, now looked like the lowest thug from a back alley.

Taegang glared at Baek Seungha as if he might kill him right there, but couldn’t say anything and just chewed his lips. As he gnawed his tender flesh as if he might tear it, and finally unable to control his temper, was about to raise his fist—it was Yeowon who stopped him. Yeowon’s hand gripping his arm was filled with desperate strength. All the emotions about the current situation could be felt pouring into that grip.

“Don’t do it.”

After warning him again through gritted teeth, Taegang turned his head to look at Yeowon. He too had a fierce gaze, rising with anger. “Let go.”

“You let go first.”

“No, you let go.”

“I said let go!” Yeowon burst out in an agitated voice at his stubborn behavior. 

All this reckless behavior without any sense, and the conversation he’d just heard, were all incomprehensible and irritating, yet Taegang was being childishly stubborn without caring about Yeowon’s concerns.

“How old are you to be throwing punches like this?”

“…”

“Let go. Before I get really angry.”

When Yeowon warned him quite seriously, this time Taegang let out a hollow laugh and wiped his mouth. Looking intently at Yeowon, who was speaking with emphasis on each syllable with wide eyes, Taegang let out an eerie, deflated laugh. After laughing for quite a while, he turned his head askew.

“Why?” Then he suddenly blurted out, nodding toward Baek Seungha and asked, “Are you afraid I’ll hit this bastard?”

“What?”

“I’m asking if you’re afraid I might touch a hair on this bastard’s head.”

“Ha.”

Even though Yeowon couldn’t laugh at his absurd statement, he stared at him with a blank expression. Yeowon was at a loss for words, finding his uncontrolled anger and inability to contain his emotions unfamiliar. At the same time, every bit of him interrogating without any rationality seemed pathetic.

“… Stop this nonsense and get a grip.” Yeowon muttered quietly, suppressing the urge to shout. 

Yeowon didn’t want to make a scene in front of a third party. But Taegang showed no sign of stopping. He could see the veins bulging firmly at his throat.

“I’m asking you. Are you afraid I’ll hurt this bastard?”

“…”

“I’m about to lose it. Is that what’s more important right now?”

His gaze, his voice emphasizing each word—everything was completely distorted. Even his fist, which looked like it might strike Baek Seungha at any moment, was trembling and flushed red. Truly, Taegang was genuinely furious.

“He’s the one who broke the promise first.”

“…”

“Damn it, if he took the money and left, he should have stayed gone.”

“…”

“I’ve been patient, but he doesn’t know his place and keeps crawling back up. He’s still hovering around you, right now!”

As if still unable to think clearly, Taegang glared alternately at Yeowon and Baek Seungha with eyes that looked like they might bleed, spouting nonsense without restraint. 

‘Who exactly was this Taegang before me? Why was I only now discovering this side of him?’

Yeowon suddenly remembered what people had told him repeatedly. That he was indifferent. Taegang had said that to him too. Yes, he must have been terribly unconcerned. Even with Taegang, who was closest and most important to him, he had been an indifferent person.

“… Let go first and then we’ll talk.” Yeowon opened his mouth calmly, swallowing his emotions over and over. 

Yeowon held Taegang’s hand firmly, worried that if they both lost their tempers, rumors would spread throughout the neighborhood. His hand felt burning hot, like he’d touched something scalding. Despite his restraining touch, Taegang’s fist wouldn’t easily unclench.

“Please, just…!” Yeowon pleaded. 

Going further would just be like dogs fighting, and fighting like that would only be embarrassing. Besides, what they needed now was a conversation between just the two of them, without Baek Seungha or any third party. For this, he needed to calm Taegang down.

Yeowon barely managed to remove Taegang’s hand from Baek Seungha’s collar and quietly asked Baek Seungha, who had been observing the situation without getting excited, “… Hyung. I’m sorry, but could you leave first?”

“…”

Baek Seungha looked at the situation with complicated feelings and then examined Yeowon with concern, “…Will you be okay?”

“I’ll… contact you later.”

It was embarrassing to be like this in front of Baek Seungha. Yeowon was embarrassed by Taegang for doing this to Baek Seungha, and he was embarrassed to see Taegang acting so irrationally.

“If something happens…”

“No, it’s fine.”

“…”

“Nothing will happen.”

Baek Seungha seemed worried that Taegang might go wild and hurt him, but Yeowon answered firmly. Despite how far the situation had escalated, he clearly knew that Taegang would never harm him.

Baek Seungha was about to be stubborn again but nodded at Yeowon’s unyielding profile. As he walked away, telling Yeowon to contact him immediately if anything happened, Taegang burst into a contemptuous laugh, making the atmosphere even icier. His crooked and childish attitude made Yeowon’s anger rise further, and he twisted his face coldly.

Meanwhile, another car must have entered the alley, as someone was repeatedly honking at the red foreign car rudely blocking the entrance. The loud honking noise was so chaotic it made Yeowon’s head hurt. Regardless, Taegang continued to express his contempt and hatred for Baek Seungha, spitting out curses. 

Yeowon thought it would be better to leave this place first, so he gave a short direction, “Just get in the car.”

Yeowon didn’t want to be with him at all today, but he had to take a step back. It seemed like the only way Taegang would stop, so he had no choice. He got into the passenger seat, and Taegang, who had been acting like a demon, finally got into the driver’s seat obediently and immediately stepped on the accelerator. Leaving the alley at a fast speed without hesitation, Taegang drove aimlessly without saying a word.

A tense atmosphere hung in the car. It was so suffocating that Yeowon’s hands were sweating. The car kept driving without hitting any red lights. In the icy atmosphere, only the humming engine sound resonated like a small noise.

‘Where did things go wrong?’ 

Yeowon thought it started when Taegang and he began having sex. But he began to suspect that wasn’t it. From Baek Seungha’s shocking words to Taegang’s irrational behavior—all of this seemed like evidence that something had been wrong for much longer.

The reason why Baek Seungha suddenly disappeared without contacting him wasn’t just because of his father’s death; Taegang was involved in that incident. The story was that he had used money to persuade someone. Using money to persuade someone to drop out of school—it was so absurd that it didn’t even feel real. Yeowon couldn’t believe he would do something that seemed straight out of a drama. 

‘Taegang? Doing something so childish. Why?’

“What else don’t I know?”

After thinking and thinking, that was what Yeowon was most curious about.

It was ridiculous that he did such things behind his back, and he vaguely felt this wasn’t the end of it.