CH 81

His stomach was turned upside down, and his head hurt like it was going to break. He barely opened his eyes, so he couldn’t be bothered to move. He moved so much that the bed sheets were messed up and he was lying on his back. Ja-kyung, who had only just gotten up, opened his eyes wide.

A couch was stacked in front of the door.

“Huh…?”

He rubbed his eyes wondering if he was seeing it wrong. He even remembered drinking in the living room with Wang Han and Wang Lun last night, but the memory stopped after that. He got out of bed and looked around, but he didn’t see anything unusual.

He wondered what had happened.

First, he went into the bathroom to get some rest. Standing in front of the sink, he lifted his bangs while looking at his face. A bruise was clearly visible in the middle of his forehead. What’s this. Did I fall? There were also bruises on his knees and arms.

What the hell did I do? After taking a shower to wake up, he put a patch on the kiss marks left by Kang Il-hyun and changed his clothes. After moving the sofa and putting it in place, he opened the door with a little fear.

Despite his concerns, the living room was as usual. The sofa and table where they had a drink yesterday were also cleaned. He exhaled a sigh of relief and proceeded to the first floor. He heard Wang Han and Wang Lun’s voices from inside the dining room as he passed by the living room.

Before going to them, the house chef approached and asked kindly.

“Are you okay?”

Ja-kyung nodded his head awkwardly. Yes.

“Do you want me to get you hot water?”

“No, I’ll have the usual.”

Wang Lun and Wang Han were eating at the table when he arrived. Their expressions were strange to say the least. ‘Why?’ Ja-kyung asked with his lips, but they only shook their heads in response.

The house chef approached and handed him honey water instead of juice.

“It’ll be fine to soothe yourself before a meal. Breakfast will be ready soon.”

Ja-kyung sat down with his cup. Wang Lun, who was eating bread with soup, curled his lips and twitched as if he was trying not to laugh. An uneasiness creeps up behind his back. Before Ja-kyung could ask why, he heard voices from outside the living room.

Kang Il-hyun came inside despite the fact that it was past rush hour. When Ja-kyung turned to say hello, his eyes widened slightly. There was a band-aid on the bridge of Il-hyun’s nose. Il-hyun made eye contact and smiled brightly.

“Good morning.”

He pulled out the chair next to Ja-kyung and sat down. Wang Lun and Wang Han stood up and picked up the bread as if they had agreed.

“Thank you for the meal, Mrs.”

Looking at the Wang brothers, Il-hyun motioned for them to sit down.

“The witnesses can’t run away.”

Witness?

Il-hyun changed his posture and looked directly at Ja-kyung, and put his arms behind the chair. Ja-kyung gradually moved his upper body backward to avoid him, who was coming close.

“Why, why?”

“Do you have anything to say to me?”

What do I want to say?

“Your nose… What’s wrong with it?”

When Ja-kyung asked, Il-hyun wrinkled the bridge of his nose as if in pain.

“I was attacked by a crazy cat last night.”

Ja-kyung made a confused expression. What crazy cat? No way… Ja-kyung moved his gaze to the Wang brothers sitting in front of him, but both were fidgeting. He must have done something wrong, based on the atmosphere. Was he involved in a drunken fight? No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember anything.

He looked carefully and asked carefully.

“I… Did I do it?”

Il-hyun did not respond. Ja-kyung couldn’t recall anything, so he was at a loss for words. Soon after, Il-hyun pulled on his tie and unbuttoned his shirt. It was red around his neck

“You don’t remember this either?”

Ja-kyung opened his mouth and tilted his head.

“No way, did I…?”

Il-hyun called Park Tae-soo and gestured as soon as he finished talking. Park Tae-soo, who was standing close to the sofa, brought something with him. It was a tablet with a video on the screen. When the button was pressed, images of the two appeared on the CCTV screen.

It was recorded and the time shown below was last night. In the living room on the second floor, the two of them grabbed each other, shoved each other, and squabbled with each other. Ja-kyung punched him first. Il-hyun lightly avoided it, but the problem came after that. The two got tangled up and fell on the floor when Ja-kyung put his legs on top of Il-hyun’s shoulders, crossed them, and strangled him.

Il-hyun rolled on the floor for a long time, as if he lacked the strength to resist the stranglehold with Ja-kyung’s legs rather than his arms. Ja-kyung runs away to his bedroom as soon as Il-hyun frees himself from the leg that was strangling him. Il-hyun stood up and stood in front of the door, putting one hand on his hip and brushing his flowing hair.

He could feel Il-hyun’s rage even as he watched it on the screen. With a bite of bread in his hand, Ja-kyung stared at the screen, speechless. Kang Il-hyun smiled softly from the side.

“Would you like to hear your voice? It’s even hotter.”

As he opened the next file, two voices alternated.

[Don’t act like this, tell me exactly why you’re angry.]

The low, deep voice belonged to Kang Il-hyun.

[Go away! You son of a bitch! If you dare to come closer. I’m not going to let you go!]

Ja-kyung’s voice was full of spite.

[I kept calling you pretty, so you’re taking liberties now, don’t you?]

[When did I ask you to call me pretty!]

[Come here while I still speak nicely.]

[No! You old pervert!]

Ja-kyung’s eyes and mouth widened. Silence flowed in the same way in the audio file he was listening to. After a while, he heard Kang Il-hyun’s bewildered voice.

[Old… what?]

[Old bastard!]

Il-hyun gnashed his teeth as he held the tablet. Ja-kyung placed the bread he was biting on the plate and placed his hands on his knees. Fuck. I’ve committed a heinous sin.

Il-hyun looked back and called Tae-soo.

Tae-soo, do I look that old?

Park Tae-soo responded immediately that he was not. Ja-kyung sighed and rolled his eyes. Tae-soo did a great job, but he was dishonest. When Il-hyun asked the house chef and the Wang brothers the same question, they both gave the same answer. Everyone was lying. When Ja-kyung first saw him, he couldn’t believe Il-hyun was only twenty-nine. He looked a little younger now that he was 30. He’ll look his age when he’s about thirty-five.

But that was not the point now. Il-hyun pressed the button again just as Ja-kyung was about to apologize. Il-hyun could be heard gasping for air. Ja-kyung broke out in cold sweat. Il-hyun’s murderous voice could be heard as if he had just barely escaped.

[Honey, are you really going to do this?]

Ja-kyung didn’t give up and screamed in anger.

[How is it? You also feel awful when you’re strangled! Strangle me one more time! I will also shove it into your ass and step on your neck!]

Oh, I can’t hear any more. Il-hyun paused and set the tablet down. At the same time, he rested his chin on his palm and smiled gently at Ja-kyung.

“Do you remember now?”

“Sorry…”

“I almost died because of you yesterday.”

“I’m really sorry…”

“You don’t have to apologize. Thanks to that, I came to see my dead mother for a short time.”

“…”

“Your face looks better than when you were drunk. That’s great.”

Ja-kyung was speechless as Il-hyun smiled sadly. With that temperament, it’s strange he didn’t kill Ja-kyung yesterday. His head was gradually falling down as if he had become a treasonous criminal. There was silence around the table as if no one was there. Ja-kyung couldn’t even hear the breathing of the Wang brothers sitting in front of him.

Il-hyun lightly tapped his fingertips on the table before reaching out and tucking Ja-kyung’s side hair behind his ear. The touch was gentle.

“Stop with the apology, why don’t you tell me in your own words what happened yesterday?”

Ja-kyung held on tightly.

“If you speak honestly, I will forgive you.”

“… Sorry. I don’t remember…”

“Think carefully. There must be a reason.”

“…”

“I don’t think you’re a crazy person who gets drunk and fights with anyone.”

That’s strange. He seemed to be in a good mood, despite the fact that he was clearly accusing Ja-kyung of wrongdoing. He was smiling, which made him even scarier. Ja-kyung moved the fork and knife away from him quietly.

“I… don’t remember…”

A strange air current flowed in his gaze with a sense of playfulness. Ja-kyung hastily made an excuse.

“It’s just… it happens when I drink, my brothers know.”

He made up words that did not exist in order to avoid a crisis. There was only one case in which Ja-kyung became drunk and his memory was cut off, it was when he was eighteen years old. Ja-kyung thought that the bread he had just eaten had gotten stuck in his stomach, so he grabbed a glass of cold water.

Gulp, the moment he took a sip,

“Are you so upset that I went to a hotel with a girl?”

Pooh! He sprayed the water in his mouth onto Kang Il-hyun’s face. Il-hyun smiled happily as Park Tae-soo handed him a handkerchief to wipe his wet face. Ja-kyung was speechless and stared with his mouth open before turning his head to face Wang Han and Wang Lun, who sat in front of him.

The two averted their gazes simultaneously. Il-hyun leaned in closer to Ja-kyung as he wiped his face.

“Tell me. What made you so angry that you wanted to strangle me?”

A grin spreads across his face. The upper lip of the perplexed Ja-kyung quivered. It was true that he was angry. However, he wasn’t angry with Kang Il-hyun because he was with a woman; he was angry with himself for being in a bad mood when he saw them. So it was definitely not jealousy.

“I understand because if it was the other way around, I would have torn you apart on the spot.”

A murderous intent flashed in and out of Kang Il-hyun’s eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about….”

Il-hyun picked up the tablet again.

“This won’t do, I’m going to have to show you the proof.”

Ja-kyung muttered, and his face became pale. There was no way he would have said such a thing even when he was drunk.

“You’re lying…”

“You’ll know when you hear it.”

Ja-kyung jumped up from his seat when Il-hyun attempted to press something on the tablet. He then grabbed the tablet and ran to the second floor. He slammed the door shut behind him, locked it, and sat down while panting heavily. He checked the screen, but there was nothing but the video and audio files he had seen earlier.

He listened to the audio file just in case, but there was no mention of jealousy. Ja-kyung trembled as he gripped the tablet, a defeated expression on his face. After some time, a message from Kang Il-hyun arrived on the cell phone he was carrying in his pocket.

[Since you seem embarrassed, I’ll send you breakfast.]

Il-hyun’s happy face flashed before his eyes. He clenched his teeth in frustration and the next message arrived.

[Tell me in bed tonight how jealous you were♥]