Chapter 22

Geon-hyuk closed the distance to Naru. Seeing that mean expression up close made the discomfort even worse. Naru, whose eyes had been reddening, forced himself not to cry and held back his tears. He was too proud to shrink down in front of Geon-hyuk.

Geon-hyuk, who had been snickering at Naru’s changing expression, hardened his face coldly. He looked like a psychopath out of some dark movie.

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

“……”

“No background, no family, no home.”

It was all things Naru couldn’t understand. He thought he was the rich kid who had been badmouthing Gyu-yeon, but he wasn’t? Taken properly, it made sense — Naru had never insulted Gyu-yeon. If anything, he had wanted to praise him.

The next words were at least understandable. No background, no home. That was true. It was Gyu-yeon who had willingly accepted someone like him with no background and no home.

Naru, looking at Geon-hyuk with eyes that said what an obvious thing to say, bit his lip. The mood felt off in a way he couldn’t quite place his finger on.

“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 seemed to want to know where he came from and what he did. But Naru had no intention of answering willingly. If Gyu-yeon had asked, he would have answered carefully, but there was neither need nor worth in telling Geon-hyuk.

Annoyed by Naru’s cheeky reply, Geon-hyuk finally raised his hand. His actions were exactly the same as the Previous owner, which gave Naru the chills. When Naru hunched down quickly, he grabbed his hair roughly and forced his head up.

Forced to lift his head, Naru met Geon-hyuk’s chilling face. He was used to this kind of treatment, but it was displeasing that someone he had nothing to do with was using violence.

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

“Even if you tell him that, 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 seemed ridiculous to him that he insisted he would never be abandoned after already being abandoned.

Naru believed Gyu-yeon would surely come find him. Even as nearly two hours of waiting passed and he faced reality, he never doubted he would come.

Naru 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 to the death.

“Stop the jokes, and 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 moved his position. Grabbing his hair, he dragged him deep into the corridor and suddenly choked him. Born into a wealthy family and never having heard harsh words, he seemed offended that someone like Naru would tell him he was nothing.

Contrary to his gentle-looking features, his expression now was devilish. Pinned against the wall with his neck squeezed, Naru couldn’t even breathe freely. The pressure was so strong his face only turned 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 raised his hand and slapped Geon-hyuk’s arm as hard as he could. Each neat little smack narrowed Geon-hyuk’s brow.

His airway began to close to the limit. Naru tried to steady his fading mind and force his eyes open. His body was losing strength contrary to his will, and he resented it.

“Hah, huff, gack…!”

Just as Naru was about to faint, Geon-hyuk neatly let go of his neck. He collapsed to the floor with a thud and had to gasp painfully for air.

Geon-hyuk brushed his hands off with an indifferent face as he looked down at Naru collapsed at his feet. His behavior was certainly not normal. It showed no basic morality.

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

The clothes Naru was wearing were new ones Gyu-yeon had bought for him. Because his clothes were so shabby, he had changed into the new outfit Gyu-yeon bought and wandered around the department store, and now that precious new clothing was 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 maintained with Gyu-yeon, it wasn’t Naru’s concern. It was a connection Gyu-yeon would eventually sever brutally anyway. Right now, the important thing for Naru was simply to get the foot dirtying his clothes away.

He pushed up his torso and shoved his leg away with all his strength, hurriedly brushing the dirty knit. He even slipped in a curse he had learned from Gyu-yeon.

It irritated him that the cream-colored knit showed the black footprints even more. And because of the material, the stains wouldn’t come out no matter how he brushed them.

“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 out a string of curses, Naru lunged at Geon-hyuk like a flying squirrel. When he crashed into him, he staggered slightly. Even though he was small, the sudden impact was too much for him.

Naru grabbed Geon-hyuk’s neck with both hands and slowly began to apply pressure. It was his thinking that since he had been through it, he should feel it too.

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

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

His condescending attitude and vile tone were utterly obnoxious. Naru put a little more strength into the hands around his neck. It was a warning that 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 in such a situation. 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 had felt respected, and voicing his opinions didn’t result in insults or beatings.

Living like a normal person made being treated unfairly feel unjust. His emotions had diversified: 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 would tell him everything honestly. It wasn’t pleasant to hear and was embarrassing to talk about the treatment he had lived under, but Gyu-yeon would surely embrace his gently.

Naru and Geon-hyuk continued in a suffocating silence. Naru still didn’t release the hands gripping his neck, and Geon-hyuk, without changing his expression, continued to smirk at him.

It felt unpleasant, but should he just end it as it was? Naru agonized with mixed feelings. He worried that if Gyu-yeon found him and saw this, he might misunderstand.

Should she just 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 was perfect for this moment. The harsh voice and rough tone — it was definitely Gyu-yeon’s voice.

Naru, still unable to remove his hands from Geon-hyuk, turned his head. There was Gyu-yeon, frowning deeply. He must have run up here; his hair was slightly mussed and he was panting.

Naru felt anxiety before relief 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 he ran into Gyu-yeon.

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

Unlike Naru’s demeanor, Geon-hyuk was very relaxed. With his hands even in his pockets, he looked down at Naru and crooked his mouth into a slight smile, which was especially annoying.

“What are you doing.”

It was a truly angry voice. Gyu-yeon, pushing his hair back irritably, opened his eyes sharply. He was on the verge of letting loose a string of curses.

About an hour earlier, Gyu-yeon had turned his car around and returned to the department store and had run frantically from the first floor. Thinking he probably didn’t take the elevator, he checked each floor by escalator, combing the department store like a cat after a mouse.

After doing that, an hour had passed. With a half-given-up heart he came up to the 12th floor and checked meticulously from the food court to the hair salon, even the emergency stairwell.

Even after checking the top floor, Naru was nowhere to be seen. The only place left to check was the corridor leading to the staff entrance, but it was out of the way and people didn’t usually go there, so he didn’t think he’d be there.

Convinced Naru wasn’t in the department store, he turned away in dejection. It was unbelievable, but he had no choice but to accept reality.

But then, he heard voices coming from deeper in the corridor. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they didn’t sound like staff at first listen.

With a hope against hope, Gyu-yeon walked into the corridor and was confronted with an absurd situation.

He couldn’t understand why the kid who had hidden and disappeared was doing this here, but there was something even more incomprehensible.

It was Geon-hyuk.