117.
Chae Yoo-jeong must have been busy, but he didn’t arrive home until close to 10 p.m.
When I opened the door, Chae Yoo-jeong was standing there with a very nervous face.
“Come in.”
Even though I moved out of the way to indicate that he should come in comfortably, Chae Yoo-jeong only watched me for a long time before finally entering the front door. On his back was a bag I had never seen before.
“It’s too late. Sorry.”
“You just came here from work, so what’s there to be sorry about?”
After reconciling, we only exchanged occasional messages and phone calls for a week, but this is the first time we have met in person, so it is understandable that it will be awkward.
He wasn’t particularly uncomfortable, but Chae Yoo-jeong was embarrassed and shy. Since he’s been off for over a year, I guessed that he’s paying more attention.
“Are not you hungry?”
“No, it’s okay. Rather, Hyung.”
As soon as he finished work, he drove all the way here, so I thought I should feed him something, so I was about to go to the kitchen, but Chae Yoo-jeong, who was nervously licking his lips, caught me.
“I… I have something to show you.”
“……?”
You have something to show me? Suddenly?
As I looked at him in confusion, Chae Yoo-jeong swallowed his dry saliva and carefully knelt down on his knees in front of me. He then put down his bag on his back and took out his things one by one.
“Actually… I should have come and talked to you first before you asked me to meet you. I’m sorry.”
“Uh, what?”
“I made a lot of big mistakes towards Hyung… However, since you accepted me, I thought I should try harder in the future.”
The sight of Chae Yoo-jeong kneeling in the middle of the room and making strange noises made me lose his senses. While I was lost, not knowing where to begin to point this out, Chae Yoo-jeong continued his speech alone.
“It will be difficult to restore trust and confidence in a short period of time, so I have prepared many things to make Hyung less upset as much as possible.”
“Oh… really?”
“Yes! For now, I brought this.”
He handed me the first thing he took out of his bag.
“It’s my schedule. It’s all sorted out until next month, but it’s unlikely to change anything. Ah, this too.”
“…….”
“These are the IDs and passwords of all the games I’ve ever played!”
The second piece of paper Chae Yoo-jeong handed over to me was filled with not only the ID and password, but also the game name and username, written in great detail.
Since both ‘aaadd11’ and ‘Yoo Chae’ are written in the <Zenoris> entry, it appears that he also wrote down the username he used when he first started playing the game. After confirming that it included information about HOL, I pressed my temples.
“… Why is HOL also written? Is this okay?”
“It’s okay! Anyway, I have a separate official account that I use for scrimmages and matches.”
“No…….”
“Hyung Hyung, look. Here’s my cell phone password and contact list..……”
“Chae Yoo-jeong. Stop.”
I sat down with my legs folded so that I was at eye level with Chae Yoo-jeong, who was kneeling with him. And then I caught the guy’s face looking up at me with his eyes sparkling.
Chae Yoo-jeong was startled and closed his chattering mouth.
“I didn’t call you for this.”
“What?”
My heart felt frustrated when I saw Chae Yoo-jeong’s helpless expression.
‘Still, the schedule is beneficial, so let’s keep it.’
I neatly folded the paper containing his schedule and stuffed it into my pants pocket before opening my mouth.
Now we can finally talk. At that time, Chae Yoo-jeong was speechless.
“Other than this, don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“What……?”
Chae Yoo-jeong was confused. I couldn’t help but give one more hint to him.
“I called you earlier.”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what you said then?”
“Ah……!”
Chae Yoo-jeong must have realized the topic of conversation only then and quickly nodded his head.
“Sorry.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t have to tell me about who Hyung is seeing. I won’t wonder or ask questions either. Never mind.”
“What?”
“I should have pointed this out a long time ago... Sorry. What I asked when we met in December didn’t mean anything. It’s not a lie, the table was really close so I could hear the conversation... No, I’m sorry. I’ll never ask again.”
The more I listened, the more astonished and dumbfounded I became. When I was speechless and unable to respond, Chae Yoo-jeong scratched his forehead with a shy smile.
It wasn’t something that was meant to roughly shake up my mood. Chae Yoo-jeong sincerely thought that way. I later remembered Chae Yoo-jeong asking him if I was going to marry her in the alleyway of the hotel. I finally understood Chae Yoo-jeong’s behavior, which did not show the slightest hint of jealousy on his part and was asking purely out of curiosity.
‘No, I even hugged him…!?
It was too unfair for Chae Yoo-jeong to just laugh it off like it was an illusion. I said things to him when it wasn’t going well when we met back in December, so he could have had such a misunderstanding. But wasn’t it different a week ago?
How can I simply hug him just because I forgave him for lying in the past? I wondered if Chae Yoo-jeong thought I hugged him with the intention of becoming his normal Hyung or him being my Dongsaeng! There’s a reason why I couldn’t accept Chae Yoo-jeong for a long time and was worried.
I struggled to swallow the hot feeling that rose up to the tip of my throat and barely straightened my eyebrows. I shouldn’t react emotionally. I had to calmly correct every misunderstanding from one to ten.
Without knowing where to begin with, I turned to Chae Yoo-jeong, who was making a bright expression, and with difficulty, pulled up the corner of my mouth.
“Chae Yoo-jeong.”
“Yes, Hyung.”
“What did you have in mind…when I forgave you a week ago?”
When I asked him gently so as not to be scared as much as possible, Chae Yoo-jeong slightly opened his eyes as if he was surprised. Then his lips opened, and he checked my mood.
“Be… Because you feel sorry for me……”
I suppressed the lament that was about to burst out. At this point, Chae Yoo-jeong seemed to have noticed that something was unusual, and his complexion turned pale.
“And?”
“Hyung… Because you’re nice?”
“Also?”
“I begged………………”
The desire to smoke has soared tremendously. No, do I want to drink instead? My mouth was sore from bitterness.
I predicted that it would not be easy to continue the same feelings as before as if nothing had happened. I also knew that Chae Yoo-jeong would continue to claim his position by my side.
So, I deliberately showed an attitude of leaving the past in the past and moving forward so as not to put pressure on him, but it seems that he failed to understand.
As my face hardened, Chae Yoo-jeong fluttered his eyelids. It felt like he was going to cry tears of fear at any moment.
“Chae Yoo-jeong.”
I carefully held on to Chae Yoo-jeong’s white hand, as it was obvious that he was blaming himself internally even if I didn’t say anything.
When I lowered my head, I saw Chae Yoo-jeong’s and mine’s hands clasped together.
Yes, I was too hasty. The right answer for us was to start over from the beginning.
Chae Yoo-jeong’s gaze, which was blankly looking at his grasped hand, fell on me.
“Everything you said was wrong. I didn’t accept you with that kind of heart.”
If Chae Yoo-jeong misunderstands my feelings, I can explain it now. Again and again, until he was convinced of my feelings.
“I made it clear when I called a week ago.”
As I continued to speak quietly, Chae Yoo-jeong’s face, which had been pale, gradually lost color.
“Let’s try one last time.”
“……”
“Answer me. Were we in a normal relationship before we broke up?”
Upon hearing my question, Chae Yoo-jeong’s cheeks quickly tinted red. A feeling spread through my mind.
Chae Yoo-jeong, with his eyebrows furrowed, opened his mouth in an unsightly, shaking voice.
“That’s…….”
“It’s too much to kiss someone under a streetlight and then pretend not to know.”
When I lightly teased Chae Yoo-jeong, who looked like he was about to faint at any moment, to relax, his whole face turned as red as an apple.
“No. Sorry. It wasn’t an ordinary relationship.”
Should I at least ban this guy from saying sorry?
“Hyu-hyung were… I thought you were getting married... Okay……”
“I won’t get married. I already tried to explain that part.”
I let out a short sigh and said something I hadn’t mentioned on the phone earlier.
“The woman I ate with at the hotel restaurant is named Kim Da-hee, and she is Kim Dae-seok’s Noona. Do you remember Kim Dae-seok?”
“Hyung’s friend?”
“Yeah.. She only had dinner with me that day after she asked me to do so. Actually it’s been 5 years since we met again. It was my first-time meeting with her in a while, and she has someone else to marry.”
“Then… Aren’t you getting married? With her?”
“I will not. There’s no one who can do it, even if it’s not Noona.”
I said again, holding Chae Yoo-jeong’s cool hand with more force.
“I haven’t met a woman in over a year, let alone gotten married. Okay? Don’t ever ask me again if I’m getting married.”
“Really?”
“Would I really lie to you like this? Really. It’s my sincerity. Alright?”
“Yes…”
Chae Yoo-jeong answered calmly, blushing all the way down to his neck, and began to laugh brightly, as if he was happy that the misunderstanding had been resolved. The sight of him smiling, even the corners of his eyes that had been stiff the whole time folding, made me laugh out loud.
“Do you like me?”
“Yes!”
“Why on earth did you ask me to meet you if you liked me so much when I told you I wasn’t getting married?”
I’ve been curious about this ever since. If he were the old Chae Yoo-jeong, he would have been jealous. Was he just jealous? Would he call me and ask me not to meet her? He probably would have told me honestly.
I wanted to know how Chae Yoo-jeong’s thoughts changed. Anyway, I wasn’t by his side for almost a year.
“I didn’t want to interfere with who Hyung was dating, even if you were getting married.”
What I heard about Chae Yoo-jeong’s sincerity came out much more calmly than I expected.
“Hyung’s situation is different from mine. You have probably been dating a woman before... If it weren’t for me, you would have met a good person and gotten married.”
“So you won’t mind me meeting women in the future?”
Instead of answering yes, Chae Yoo-jeong avoided my gaze. In fact, it was nothing short of positive.
He used to be so obsessed, but now I don’t know why he is so liberated. I clicked my tongue inwardly and tilted my upper body towards Chae Yoo-jeong.
When I got close enough to feel his breath, Chae Yoo-jeong stiffened his shoulder.
“Chae Yoo-jeong, don’t make things complicated……………….”
“I would be upset if you had dinner alone with a woman at a restaurant. I don’t like it when my partner eats with other people in places with a nice atmosphere. I’m jealous and I hate it.”
“…….”
“So you can be jealous and hate it too. It’s okay for both of us to do such a thing.”
Chae Yoo-jeong’s eyes, seen up close, wavered and gradually became watery. Chae Yoo-jeong asked, his eyes turning red.
“Really?”
Transparent tears hung on long eyelashes.
“Is it okay to be jealous?”
“Yes, you can do it.”
Seeing the tears flowing down his cheeks somehow made my throat burn. I whispered with a faint smile.
“I was very disappointed because you weren’t jealous… Don’t make me feel bad, just do it in the future.”
“Yes yes.”
Chae Yoo-jeong finally couldn’t bear it anymore and closed his eyes tightly. The tears hanging from his eyelashes fell freely.
“I will. I’ll be jealous...…………”
This was my limit too. I couldn’t hold on any longer and kissed Chae Yoo-jeong on the lips.
I lightly bit Chae Yoo-jeong’s lower lip and then pushed my tongue between his slightly opened lips. His hot breath mixed together.
“U-ugh...………”
Chae Yoo-jeong felt suppressed as I rubbed his tongue and lightly sucked his lower lip.
He let out a moan. He seems to have liked it so much that he was thrilled.
When I pushed Chae Yoo-jeong’s back, he moved backwards and touched the wall.
His posture seemed very uncomfortable, so I parted my lips from his and raised my head. Chae Yoo-jeong, with his lips and cheeks moistened beneath me, was so pretty.
“Chae Yoo-jeong.”
“......Yes?”
Chae Yoo-jeong made eye contact with me with hazy, blurry eyes. I said quietly, wiping away the tears from his cheeks with his hand.
“Can’t you sleep here today?”
Have I ever felt so affectionate and loved by someone? In all this time, I had never invited someone to my house to sleep over, but I couldn’t help but be greedy in front of Chae Yoo-jeong.
“I’ll wake you up in the morning.”
The pounding of my heart felt so good. Chae Yoo-jeong’s trembling fingertips brushed my cheek, as if I had confessed to him. Chae Yu-jeong slowly nodded his head.
My chest felt tickled, and I was filled with myriads of emotions. I savored it and lowered my head again.
Chae Yoo-jeong and my lips overlapped again. It was a soft and warm kiss, different from the hectic one just now.
HM: I had to leave the room to drink water and my mom was asking why I was smiling. I can’t believe it’s been 2 years since I started translating this novel. Haa… YC slay hahaawwwwww How I wish YC atleast feel shy a bit more… As you know this is the last chapter….. There’s still side stories and more…
What a way to end the chapter…. I can’t wait for the +19 side stories. slurp&gulp
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Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor/Proofreader: Meimei, Ghostx
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Thank you for your hard work in translating this novel!!! I really enjoyed your translation and I’m looking forward to the side stories <3