The Country Life Diary of a Gangster's Secretary - c63

This chapter is paid for by Nemuru!

The first time Ihyeok saw Hyeseong was 6 years ago, when he caught the  Baek Dae Pa faction hitting Taesung from behind and trying to side with Seohyeon. Ihyeok still remembered how the pale and scrawny kid was nervous but didn’t back down among the gangsters and responded calmly at that time. 

 

Ihyeok didn’t believe in things like fate. To survive in the dirty back alleys where blood splattered and a knife could be thrust into your stomach the moment you let your guard down, you naturally grew distant from such sweet and beautiful words.

 

But that day, the moment he first saw Hyeseong and all the problems were solved at once with his wit, Ihyeok felt something boiling up inside him. Enough to vow that he must make this child one of Taesung’s people.

 

He didn’t know the definition or proper meaning of fate. But at least  if something like that existed, he sometimes thought that the day he discovered Hyeseong might have been fate for him.

 

“Hey, what are you thinking so deeply about. At the dinner table.”

 

Late in the evening, Ihyeok was having a meal with Seongjin for the first time in a while. He had no choice but to come back up to  Seoul to clean up after the UK business trip fell through.

 

“I heard Hyeseong almost got hurt. That’s why you couldn’t even go to the UK, what’s there to be so dejected about. They’re making it obviously unpleasant too, but give it some time. It’ll be okay? I also contacted them to apologize earlier during the day and they seemed to have softened a lot.”

 

“Hey.”

 

“What.”

 

“What do you think of Hyeseong?”

 

Seongjin, who was happily eating rice topped with raw fish, raised his head at the incomprehensible question. 

 

“All of a sudden? Hmm…”

 

Although it was a sudden topic, Seongjin thought hard for now.

 

“What is there to think. To me, he’s like an irreplaceable younger brother.  If Hyeseong wasn’t there, do you think our company could have grown this big? And he always takes care of me from the front and back while pretending not to. I think of Hyeseong like a real younger brother.  If he asks me to put him on the family register, I might even do that.”

 

Seongjin must have thought it was appropriate himself, as he began to focus on eating again. Every now and then, Seongjin even expressed Hyeseong as a noble person. He exaggerated, saying that  if it weren’t for that kid, he wouldn’t have been able to shed his dirty thug days so early, and that he was no less than a savior who led him to the world of light.

 

“Younger brother…”

 

Ihyeok blankly stared at the fresh raw fish in front of him. Clearly, there was a time when he thought the same way. He had his eye on Hyeseong in the beginning purely for the benefit of the organization. Because he was convinced that bringing that kid in would bring success to Taesung. 

 

So he treated him well and kept contacting him to lure him in. But as Hyeseong frequented the Taesung office, and even became a member of the same organization and went through thick and thin together, at some point, Hyeseong became a precious existence to Ihyeok as well.

 

He cherished and took care of Hyeseong, who was overly mature and clever for his age but had a soft heart, like a younger brother. To the point where Ihyeok, who had no siblings, thought this might be how it feels to have a much younger sibling.

 

<I don’t really know what you think of me either, Ahjussi.>

 

But why did his head go blank after hearing those words? Why couldn’t he come up with any answer? 

 

No, was it right for him to simply consider Hyeseong a cherished younger brother in the first place?

 

“Hey.”

 

“Ah, what again. If you’re not going to eat, go first or something.”

 

“If you found out that Hyeseong had someone he loved enough to give up everything for, what do you think you’d do?”

 

“Hyeseong got a lover?”

 

“Are your ears clogged? I said if.”

 

Hmm, Seongjin put down his chopsticks again and began to ponder.

 

“I’d have to support him. If my younger brother found someone he loves that much, isn’t that obvious? Do you know how much dating advice Hyeseong gave me before?”

 

Support. Yeah, maybe Kang Seongjin is the normal one. If you really cherish and care for Hyeseong, if you consider him like family, shouldn’t you have such thoughts?

 

But then why was the boiling anger the first thing for him instead of such pure emotions? Why did he want to arbitrarily condemn and crush that person?

 

The questions that started with Hyeseong’s inquiry began to raise bigger issues. Honestly speaking, on the day he almost lost Hyeseong, his mind was taken over by anger and worry to the point that rational thinking was impossible. He was so agitated that he even lost some of his memories.

 

Would those be the emotions felt by someone who simply considered him a younger brother?

 

“So is Hyeseong doing a bit better?”

 

“For now. The hospital said there was no major problem.”

 

With Seongjin’s question, Ihyeok was able to escape his thoughts for now.

 

“Get up if you’re done eating.”

 

Although Seongjin scolded Ihyeok for leaving food, saying he’d be punished later, Ihyeok ignored him and left the restaurant. He had been worried about Hyeseong’s condition the whole time anyway. As he was about to go to the parking lot, he felt a faint vibration in his pants pocket.

 

“……”

 

Ihyeok’s eyes gradually widened as he casually checked the caller.

 

“Hello.”

 

– …Ahjussi.

 

Hyeseong’s choked voice came over the phone. Ihyeok felt a jolt in his chest for a moment.

 

“Did something happen?”

 

There were so many things he wanted to say. If his body was okay, why he cried earlier, why he asked such a question. But the words that came out after careful selection were terribly blunt.

 

– No. That’s not it…

 

He could hear Park Dohyun saying something next to him. Hyeseong seemed to be moving to get away from him.

 

– I was discharged from the hospital. They said there was no major problem and I was fine anyway.

 

“Oh. Okay.”

 

It was good news to hear. Ihyeok felt inexplicably anxious and carefully chose his words. That was probably all for the purpose of the call. The hospitalization was forced by his insistence anyway.

 

– Are you in Seoul?

 

“Yeah.”

 

– …You’re not coming down today?

 

“What?”

 

Ihyeok’s steps froze at the unexpected words.

 

– Ah, it’s nothing much. I have something I want to tell you, Ahjussi. But if you have to stay in Seoul, I’ll contact you again later.

 

“No. I’ll go down now. I was planning to anyway.”

 

When Ihyeok spoke hastily, Seongjin, who had come out after paying, looked at him with strange eyes. There were still mountains of things to take care of. But Ihyeok glared at him for no reason and gestured. It meant to part ways roughly here.

 

Seongjin gave him the middle finger and slipped into his own car.

 

“If I go now, it’ll take about an hour. No, it’s night so there won’t be much traffic, so I think it’ll take about 40 minutes.”

 

Ihyeok spewed out words like a machine gun, lest Hyeseong change his mind, and started the car.

 

– Then I’ll be in front of your house in time, Ahjussi.

 

“0524.”

 

– Yes?

 

“The password to my house. Don’t wait outside in the cold, go inside.”

 

– Okay. I’ll wait.

 

Ihyeok felt greatly moved by the words that he would wait.

 

As soon as the call ended, Ihyeok drove the car. He still didn’t know what Hyeseong contacted him to say. It could be something pleasant or not. Considering his behavior so far, the latter was very likely, but Ihyeok was still happy.

 

Hyeseong, who contacted him first to talk, and his gentle, pleasant voice couldn’t make him happier. 

 

At the same time, Ihyeok vaguely felt that all these emotions were something he couldn’t feel from just a cherished younger brother.

 

* * *

 

Ihyeok arrived in front of his house like a shot after driving from Seoul. Fortunately, the road conditions were good, so it only took about 40 minutes as expected. As he got out of the car, he saw that the lights in his house were off. Did he not come yet? Or…

 

As Ihyeok was about to walk to the front gate anxiously, a familiar figure was crouching in front of the door. The moment he realized it was Hyeseong, Ihyeok felt all the blood in his body violently surging.

 

“I told you to go inside. I even gave you the password to the house.”

 

Only then did Hyeseong seem to notice Ihyeok, and he dusted himself off and stood up.

 

“No matter what, it feels a bit weird to enter someone’s house when the owner isn’t there.”

 

He was inflexible as expected. But Ihyeok felt he liked even that side of him.

 

“It’s cold. Let’s go in.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Hyeseong carefully entered Ihyeok’s house. Hyeseong, who said a small “Excuse me” at the shoe rack, took a big look around his house.

 

It was a bit bigger than his own house, but the basic structure wasn’t very different. It consisted of a living room, kitchen, one large room, one small room, and a bathroom.

 

“I’ll make you some coffee. Sit down.”

 

“Ah, I’ll do it.”

 

“Why are you making coffee at someone else’s house?”

 

“Oh…”

 

Hyeseong obediently sat at the living room table as Ihyeok said. He looked at Ihyeok’s back as he manipulated the coffee machine with his outerwear off. Hyeseong, who was blankly watching his white shirt move this way and that according to his back muscles, shook his head violently and eventually stood up.

 

“I told you to sit.”

 

Despite Ihyeok’s words, Hyeseong took out two teacups without paying attention. 

 

In Ihyeok’s eyes, which were staring at his side profile, Hyeseong’s injuries that hadn’t completely healed yet were visible. The swelling had gone down, but the cuts on his cheeks and lips, and above all, the huge band he had on his forehead, were so annoying to see.

 

Ihyeok unconsciously reached out to Hyeseong’s straight forehead. But before he could touch it, his eyes met Hyeseong’s with a thud.

 

“Ah, sorry. That…”

 

Ihyeok scratched his forehead awkwardly.

 

“The hospital said to just come regularly for disinfection. They said the wound wasn’t deep, so it wouldn’t leave a scar, and told me not to worry.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“The other wounds are fine too. They said to apply ointment well.”

 

“Oh. Okay. That’s a relief.”

 

“So you can touch it.”

 

“Uh… what?”

 

Ihyeok turned his head as if surprised. Hyeseong neatly placed the teacups and met Ihyeok’s gaze. A terrible silence lingered between the two. The coffee machine rang two or three times to indicate that the beans were done dripping.

 

“You’re worried about my wounds, aren’t you?”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

Ihyeok raised his hand and brushed Hyeseong’s forehead. Hyeseong slightly closed his eyes. The touch that was heading for his forehead soon stroked his cheek and then moved towards his chapped lips.

 

His touch tracing Hyeseong’s face was very careful and also hot.

This chapter is paid for by Nemuru!