The Country Life Diary of a Gangster's Secretary - c46

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“Ihyeok, hyung!”

 

Ihyeok was about to take out a cigarette from his coat when he heard a voice from behind. It seemed Lee Sihyeon had followed him, panting and catching his breath.

 

“Do you think what people say sounds like a dog barking to you? I told you to drop that title.”

 

At the sharp tone that showed anger had not subsided yet, Sihyeon slightly shrank his shoulders.  

 

“Then, should I call you CEO? No, we’ve known each other for so many years, it’s too distant…!”

 

“What nonsense. If someone heard, they’d think we were friends for a decade.”

 

Ihyeok took out a cigarette and lit it. 

 

“That… Ara has bad habits. When she likes someone, she goes all out recklessly.”

 

“What, did you chase after me to defend her?”

 

“N-no, that’s not it. I had something to ask. Do you know a company called Seohyun?”

 

Ihyeok’s gaze, which had been deeply pulling on the cigarette filter, turned to Sihyeon for the first time.

 

“Seohyun Corporation?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why there?”

 

“No, a few days ago at a drinking party, there was a person named Kim Sangmu from Seohyun, and he was bragging that he was really close with the former Taesung’s CEO Kwon…”  

 

A deep sigh burst out of Ihyeok’s mouth along with cigarette smoke. It was true that he had ties with Seohyun. Back in the Taesung faction days, they had jointly hit an organization. Since then, they had maintained a connection, but it was closer to a non-aggression pact where they agreed not to touch each other rather than an alliance. He had heard that they were still maintaining the organization under the name of Seohyun Corporation, but he never imagined they would use his name like that behind his back.

 

“Forget it. I don’t know them.”

 

“Yes. I already told the people at that party. It was obvious he was a thug, so it bothered me that he was using your name.”

 

Sihyeon smiled brightly at Ihyeok as if wanting praise, like a kindergartener. Ihyeok, who had finished his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground. Then he looked at Sihyeon, who was wriggling and trying to stick close to him, with a meaningful gaze.

 

“Uh… why?”

 

Sihyeon’s face turned red at the blatant look. But Ihyeok’s gaze remained fixed on him, who was smiling awkwardly, regardless.

 

“If only Hyeseong was a little friendly to me like you, I would have no regrets.”

 

When another person’s name came out of Ihyeok’s mouth, Sihyeon’s face was colored with disappointment.  

 

“Go inside.”

 

As Ihyeok turned his body, Sihyeon suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled himself close. 

 

“H-hyung. Let’s go somewhere quiet and have one more drink. I know a place with great ambiance, just for a moment…”

 

Before Sihyeon could even finish, Ihyeok strongly shook off his hand and pushed him away.

 

“You bastard. Do you guys not have learning abilities?”

 

Ihyeok tapped his arm with an annoyed face and coldly turned around. Left alone in front of the club entrance, Sihyeon’s face grew more and more crestfallen.  

 

“When that secretary touches him, he’s fine with it…!”

 

Sihyeon bit his lip hard. Whenever he ran into Ihyeok at events, there was always a scene Sihyeon saw. The person who was Ihyeok’s secretary, with a pretty face, would fix his necktie or straighten his collar.  

 

At those times, far from getting angry like now for being touched, Ihyeok would look down at the secretary with a soft expression. More than once or twice, Sihyeon had thought that the way Ihyeok couldn’t take his eyes off the secretary was like a picture.

 

“Seriously, what the…”

 

Sihyeon rubbed his eyes resentfully as if it was unfair. He had to pace outside for a long time, trying to swallow his emotions.

 

* * *

 

Upon returning by car, Ihyeok called for a driver. He had originally planned to go to his home in  Seoul, but as soon as he got in the car, Hyeseong’s face suddenly flickered before his eyes.

 

“Then I will depart now.”

 

As the chauffeur put on his seatbelt, Ihyeok, as if done thinking, slightly lifted himself from the seat.

 

“I’m sorry, but please change the destination. I will pay double the fare.”

 

Ihyeok told the driver Seoin City’s home address. Fortunately, at the mention of paying more money, the driver started the car with a satisfied face without saying anything.

 

Perhaps because it was quite late, the roads were quiet. He tried to get some sleep since it would take some time to get there, but as usual, he couldn’t fall asleep. Ihyeok’s expression was not good as he blankly stared at the road illuminated by the street lamps lined up at regular intervals.

 

The driver glanced at his condition through the rearview mirror and then turned off the radio that was on.

 

Actually, it was a problem that could be solved by directly asking Hyeseong. Why he was avoiding him, why he was saying uncomfortable things he didn’t even mean. They weren’t at a point in their relationship where he couldn’t ask such things. However, there was a reason Ihyeok couldn’t do that thoughtlessly.

 

That day, when he had told Ihyeok not to do such actions to him anymore, Hyeseong’s expression was a little different from usual. His face was stiff and expressionless as always, but how should he put it… It felt like he was barely bringing out something he had suppressed inside to talk about it.

 

If he cornered and asked such a Hyeseong, would that child really return to normal? For that question, the answer “Of course he would” did not come to Ihyeok’s mind.

 

“We’ve arrived.”

 

“Yes. Thank you.”

 

It felt like the hour or so had passed like 5 minutes while thinking about Hyeseong. The driver parked the car in front of Ihyeok’s house. Ihyeok got out of the car after giving money to the driver.

 

Perhaps because it was the countryside, there weren’t many street lamps, so it got quite dark at night. Instead of going straight into the house, Ihyeok leaned against the car and took out a cigarette again. Somehow it felt like he was smoking more than when he worked as a gangster.

 

As the cigarette smoke dissipated into the air, Hyeseong’s brightly lit house came into view. Ihyeok’s blank eyes couldn’t leave that house.

 

When he had almost finished the cigarette, the door of Hyeseong’s house opened and a familiar face came out.

 

“……”

 

Ihyeok’s hand holding the cigarette paused slightly. Hyeseong had come out of the house. It seemed he was going somewhere with Dohyun.

 

“Why do you suddenly want ice cream in the middle of the night?”

 

Hyeseong’s voice was faintly heard as he walked out into the yard. He wanted to see his face, but there weren’t enough damn street lamps to see it clearly.

 

“Hehe, originally snacks taste the best at this hour, Hyeseong.”

 

Then the sound of Hyeseong’s light laughter was heard. By now, the cigarette Ihyeok had been smoking had long since fallen to the ground. When Hyeseong’s figure got farther and farther away and became a dot in his field of vision, Ihyeok turned his gaze to the ground.

 

The butt with a faint light remaining caught his eye.

 

“It’s cold, you should have worn something warm to go out.”

 

Ihyeok muttered as he stepped on the cigarette butt to put it out. And so, after taking in the sight of Hyeseong returning with an ice cream in his mouth with Dohyun and going back into the house, Ihyeok left.

 

* * *

 

Even while riding the bus back, Hyeseong tried very hard not to think about Ihyeok, whom he had run into by chance earlier. The scene of him turning his head away from Ihyeok as if it was nothing kept replaying on its own, but he tried his best to ignore it.

 

He had to endure it. Wasn’t it a choice he made himself? It was all his own decision to completely end their 6-year relationship and to tell Ihyeok that. So he had no right to be hurt.

 

It was when Hyeseong got off the bus and was trudging home.

 

“What’s so hard for a young man that you’re walking while only looking at the ground?”

 

At the sound, he looked up and saw the only grandmother who remembered Hyeseong.

 

“Ah, Grandmother. Hello.”

 

Hyeseong greeted her with a forced smile. The grandmother stared at Hyeseong’s face and soon nodded.

 

“Where are you coming from?”

 

“Yes. I had some business so I went to the city.”

 

“But Hyeseong, are you really okay with that gangster bastard from last time?”

 

“Yes, of course. I told you it was resolved well, didn’t I?”

 

To the villagers who had seen Kim Doo-sung causing havoc, Hyeseong had gone around telling each of them that it was handled well, so they didn’t need to worry. He also apologized to Mr. Kim, whose cell phone Kim Doo-sung had broken, and replaced it with a new one.

 

“But if it was resolved well, why do you look like that? Don’t tell me that bastard is still harassing you?”

 

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… because of other things.”

 

Perhaps because the grandmother remembered Hyeseong, or maybe because he was the youngest among the villagers, she tried to take special care of Hyeseong.

 

“I see. Then go on. I need to go grocery shopping too.”

 

“Yes, take care.”

 

“Hyeseong.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“If you hold things in, it becomes an illness.”

 

The grandmother patted Hyeseong’s slumped shoulders a couple times and then walked off. He wasn’t sure if she said that because she noticed something or if the wisdom of elders was just that amazing.

 

“Oh? Hyeseong, you’re back!”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Upon returning home, Park Dohyun was coming out of the kitchen eating the ice cream they had gone to buy in the middle of last night.

 

“But where did you go?”

 

“Ah… I went to the city for a bit. I had some urgent banking to do.”

 

“Then you should have gone together when we went to buy seedlings.”

 

“I didn’t think of that. It was something I had to take care of by today. Should we go buy the seedlings in the evening? Since we’re going out, let’s have dinner too.”

 

“I’m good with that!”

 

Hyeseong naturally shifted the topic to something else so Dohyun couldn’t ask more. Dohyun was excited, saying he would decide what to eat.

 

Hyeseong said he would rest in his room until then and went inside. He changed into comfortable clothes and sat in front of his laptop when his cell phone rang shortly.

 

[Hyeseong-ssi, this is Lee Pilhyun. How can I help you?] 

 

It was a message sent by Manager Lee.

Translation Notes: 

Big thanks to Nemuru for sponsoring the chapters until now. I have been also enjoying the story and was able to buy the chapters because of Nemuru! Thank you so much, have a nice day!