Chapter 22

Geon-hyuk closed the distance until Naru could see the cruelty in his face up close. Naru’s eyes were reddening; he forced himself not to cry — too proud to shrink before Geon-hyuk.

Geon-hyuk, who had been snickering at Naru’s changing expression, hardened his face into something cold. He looked like a psychopath from a dark movie.

“I thought you were that rich kid Gyu-yeon had been trashing, but you’re not.”

“……”

“No background, no family, no home.”

Those were things Naru couldn’t understand. He’d thought he was the rich kid Gyu-yeon had been badmouthing, but he wasn’t. Taken another way, it made sense — Naru had never insulted Gyu-yeon. If anything, he’d wanted to praise him.

The next words at least made sense. No background, no home. That was true. It was Gyu-yeon who had willingly taken in someone like him.

Naru looked at Geon-hyuk as if to say, What an obvious thing to point out, and bit his lip. The mood felt off in a way he couldn’t quite name.

“What kind of bastard did you roll in from, I wonder?”

“……”

“Tell me. Where did you crawl out from?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

Geon-hyuk was curious about Naru’s very existence. He wanted to know where he came from and what he’d done. Naru had no intention of answering. If Gyu-yeon had asked, he’d have been careful, but there was no need to tell Geon-hyuk.

Annoyed by Naru’s cheek, Geon-hyuk finally raised his hand. His actions mirrored the Previous owner’s, which sent a chill through Naru. When Naru hunched down, Geon-hyuk grabbed his hair roughly and forced his head up.

Forced to look up, Naru met Geon-hyuk’s chilling gaze. He was used to this kind of treatment, but it was infuriating that someone who had nothing to do with him was resorting to violence.

“Then, shall I tell Yu Gyu-yeon first?”

“Even if you tell him, nothing changes.”

“Why would nothing change? He’ll completely abandon you like now.”

“Gyu-yeon, Gyu-yeon would never abandon me.”

Geon-hyuk burst into laughter at the fierce reply. It struck him as ridiculous that Naru insisted he wouldn’t be abandoned after already being abandoned.

Naru truly believed Gyu-yeon would come find him. Even after nearly two hours of waiting and facing reality, he never doubted it.

He steeled himself and clenched his teeth. He had to hold out until Gyu-yeon arrived so this snake of a man wouldn’t bite him. A dog by nature, he was endlessly obedient to his master, but when he judged someone dangerous he would bare his teeth and fight.

“Stop the jokes. If you don’t want Yu Gyu-yeon to find out everything, come see me again on Monday.”

“No.”

“You’re such a nothing, but you’re stubborn as hell.”

“You’re nothing either. Are you Gyu-yeon’s lover? You’re not even that, ugh…!”

As Naru kept attacking, Geon-hyuk shifted. Grabbing his hair, he dragged him deeper into the corridor and suddenly choked him. Born into a wealthy family and unused to harsh words, he seemed offended that someone like Naru would call him nothing.

Contrary to his gentle features, his expression had turned devilish. Pinned to the wall with his neck squeezed, Naru couldn’t breathe freely. The pressure made his face go red; he couldn’t even cough.

“I warned you last time, didn’t I? Know your place.”

“……”

“You look like you have a lot to say, say it.”

It was absurd to be choked and told to speak. Unable to resist, Naru slapped Geon-hyuk’s arm as hard as he could. Each neat little smack drew a deeper furrow to Geon-hyuk’s brow.

His airway was closing. Naru fought to steady his fading mind and force his eyes open. His body weakened against his will, and he resented it.

“Hah, huff, gack…!”

Just as he was about to faint, Geon-hyuk let go. Naru collapsed to the floor with a thud and groped for air.

Geon-hyuk brushed his hands off with an indifferent look as he stared down at Naru. His behavior was anything but decent.

He even put his foot on him as if to trample his body. He could choke him, maybe, but trampling him was unbearable.

The clothes Naru wore were the new ones Gyu-yeon had bought. Because his own were shabby, he’d changed into Gyu-yeon’s outfit and wandered the department store — and now the precious clothes were being cruelly dirtied.

“I guarded the seat next to Yu Gyu-yeon. Someone like you barging in ruins that.”

“What do you mean—”

“Shut up and listen. The one who should be closest to Yu Gyu-yeon is me. What, someone like you rubbing against YK?”

“Move your foot, you—…”

No matter what relationship Geon-hyuk had with Gyu-yeon, it wasn’t Naru’s concern. It was a connection Gyu-yeon would cut off eventually anyway. Right now, Naru just wanted the foot off his clothes.

He pushed his torso up, shoved Geon-hyuk’s leg away with all his strength, and hurriedly brushed at the dirty knit, spitting out a curse he’d learned from Gyu-yeon.

It irritated him that the cream-colored knit showed the black footprints so clearly. Because of the material, the stains wouldn’t come out no matter how he rubbed.

“Because of you, my clothes, my clothes…”

“What kind of bastard fusses over a single stupid piece of clothing—”

“This is the outfit Gyu-yeon bought me and you ruined it! You horrible, f**k, filthy beggar!”

Spitting curses, Naru lunged at Geon-hyuk like a flying squirrel. When they collided, Geon-hyuk staggered slightly. Even though Naru was small, the sudden impact hit hard.

Naru grabbed Geon-hyuk’s neck with both hands and slowly tightened his grip. He thought that since he’d been hurt, the other should feel it too.

Unfortunately, Naru’s strength didn’t faze Geon-hyuk. He looked down at the trembling hands and sneered, finding it pathetic that Naru had never threatened anyone and couldn’t muster real force.

“So, you were bold enough to attack but you don’t have the nerve to choke someone, huh?”

His condescending tone was utterly obnoxious. Naru put more strength into the hands at his throat as a warning: he could hurt him if he wanted.

If he hadn’t crossed into this world and met Gyu-yeon, he would have knelt without question. Being treated like the lowest scum would have been natural, and even if he hadn’t done anything wrong he’d apologize first if someone felt offended.

But since meeting Gyu-yeon, Naru had been changing. For the first time he’d felt respected, and voicing his opinions no longer resulted in insults or beatings.

Living normally made unfair treatment feel intolerable. His emotions had broadened — anger, resentment, sadness, happiness — all things he had learned from Gyu-yeon.

I’m not a fool anymore. I should know how to rebut.

“Don’t do this to me. I haven’t done anything wrong. You’re the one who suddenly showed up and hit me.”

“Why would you have done nothing wrong? You lied and deceived people.”

“…I never did that. I don’t lie to Gyu-yeon.”

Naru really had never lied. If Gyu-yeon was curious about the Previous owner, he was confident he’d tell him everything honestly. It wasn’t pleasant to recount the abuse he had lived under, but Gyu-yeon would embrace him gently.

Naru and Geon-hyuk remained in a suffocating silence. Naru still didn’t release his hands from Geon-hyuk’s neck, and Geon-hyuk kept smirking without changing his expression.

It felt wrong, but should he just end it here? Naru agonized. He worried that if Gyu-yeon found him and saw this, he might misunderstand.

Should he say, let’s end it here? Say we’ll never see each other again — would that be enough? If Gyu-yeon saw this… though there was no way he would—

“Hah, what are you doing right now?”

His timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The harsh, rough voice — it was definitely Gyu-yeon’s.

Naru, still gripping Geon-hyuk, turned his head. Gyu-yeon stood there, frowning deeply. He must have run; his hair was mussed and he was panting.

Naru felt relief and anxiety at once that Gyu-yeon had finally found him. No matter how rotten Geon-hyuk was, he was still Gyu-yeon’s friend. Naru had been caught choking that very Geon-hyuk when Gyu-yeon arrived.

He hurriedly let go and wiggled his fingers. His hollow eyes trembled.

Unlike Naru, Geon-hyuk looked relaxed. Hands in his pockets, he looked down at Naru and curled his mouth into a slight, infuriating smile.

“What are you doing.”

It was a genuinely angry voice. Gyu-yeon pushed his hair back irritably, eyes sharp, clearly ready to let loose a string of curses.

About an hour earlier, Gyu-yeon had turned his car around and come back to the department store, running frantically from the first floor. Thinking Naru probably hadn’t taken the elevator, he checked each floor by escalator, combing the store like a cat after a mouse.

An hour passed. With a half-given-up heart, he reached the 12th floor and checked meticulously from the food court to the hair salon, even the emergency stairwell.

Still, Naru was nowhere. The only place left was the corridor to the staff entrance — out of the way and rarely used, so he hadn’t expected to find him there.

Convinced Naru wasn’t in the department store, he turned away dejected. It was unbelievable, but he had to accept reality.

Then he heard voices deeper in the corridor. He couldn’t make out the words at first, but they didn’t sound like staff.

Hope flared. Gyu-yeon walked into the corridor and confronted an absurd scene.

He couldn’t understand why the kid who had hidden and disappeared would be here, but something else was even more incomprehensible.

It was Geon-hyuk.