ACTSV chapter 33

Until now, he had never willingly let anyone else into his home. He had protected his home even when he was beaten by loan sharks who forcibly barged in.

Baek Jingyeom often asked why he didn’t just let them in, but Jinwoo didn’t want to. He wanted the rooftop room to be a sanctuary just for him and Jingyeom.

But it was hard for Jingyeom to fend off the loan sharks alone. Still, he resisted them fiercely.

Complaining about why such a house mattered, but knowing Jinwoo didn’t want them there, he somehow managed to keep them out.

This showed that Baek Jingyeom didn’t truly hate Jinwoo.

One day, after several such incidents, Baek Jingyeom had clutched his chest and collapsed. Struggling to breathe, the loan sharks had fled, knowing about his illness and fearing that if something happened to him, Jinwoo would go berserk.

If that happened, they wouldn’t get their money. Additionally, there was no need to pressure Jinwoo, who was diligently paying off the principal and interest.

Since that day, the loan sharks never came back to the house.

Jinwoo still didn’t know about this. He just thought the loan sharks stopped coming.

Anyway, Jinwoo didn’t welcome anyone trying to invade their sanctuary.

Jinwoo smiled as he watched Jingyeom’s anxious face.

“Hyung, it’s hot, so just buy the watermelon and come back right away. Don’t buy a lot and make it heavy. Okay?”

“….”

Jingyeom alternated his gaze between Jinwoo and Wonbeom before turning around and speaking softly.

“Shall I buy it for you at the mart? We have cold water in the fridge!”

It was a compromise, but not what Wonbeom wanted.

Jinwoo couldn’t hide his amusement. Should he call this innocence or a lack of awareness?

It was surprising in a different way.

“Or should I buy you coffee from the café downstairs? They say a proper lunch for office workers includes coffee afterwards!”

“Where did you hear that?”

“On YouTube!”

Wonbeom let out a disbelieving chuckle.

What kind of videos had he been watching on YouTube?

Earlier, he had insisted on wearing sunglasses to get a refund, and now he claimed that proper lunches for office workers included coffee.

While not entirely wrong, it wasn’t universal, especially not for Wonbeom.

Wonbeom had never been fond of coffee. He drank it only when necessary, but typically avoided it.

In contrast, Jinwoo practically lived on coffee.

He didn’t drink it at home, but at work, he had it first thing, then throughout the day, after meals, and again later. He lost track of how many cups he drank daily.

He wasn’t picky about the type of coffee either. Sometimes, Secretary Yang brought him coffee from a café, and he drank that, along with capsule coffee and instant coffee, consuming any he could find.

In contrast, Baek Jingyeom avoided coffee due to his sensitivity to caffeine.

Jinwoo, although craving coffee, had been restraining himself. But Jingyeom’s suggestion made him want it even more.

Jingyeom seemed ready to go get it immediately if asked.

“I don’t want coffee, I want cold water.”

“Oh…”

Jingyeom, who had been deep in thought, told them to wait for a moment and then got out of the car and ran to the market.

Jinwoo hurriedly got out and told him not to run, but Jingyeom was already inside the market.

When Jingyeom came out of the market, he was holding a bottle of mineral water. Cold mineral water.

With a bright smile, Jingyeom knocked on the rear window. He waited for the window to fully roll down before handing the water to Wonbeom.

“If you were thirsty, you should’ve said so!”

Jingyeom, who had misunderstood the situation, looked extremely proud. Wonbeom, who suddenly found himself holding the cold water, stifled a laugh at the unexpected gesture.

It was truly beyond his expectations.

Jinwoo, keeping his twitching lips steady, approached Jingyeom.

“Go get some rest. It’s been a long day in the car… we keep eating out. Let’s have dinner at home tonight.”

“Got it. If I go to the office now, I’ll have to work overtime, right?”

“Probably not. I’ve finished most of the urgent stuff. If anything comes up, I’ll call you. Okay?”

“Sure. Go quickly.”

Jinwoo reached out and gently stroked Jingyeom’s cheek. As the large hand touched his cheek, Jingyeom smiled brightly and tilted his head.

Just like a cat rubbing its face, Jingyeom softly rubbed his cheek, making Jinwoo’s hand and lips tremble. It was something he never would have done before.

He knew he had to help Jingyeom regain his lost memories, but the longer they spent together, the more that determination seemed to fade.

Would it be okay to leave things as they are?

Jingyeom seemed to have accepted his frailty, and since he would need to adapt to a new body after surgery, regaining his memories wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Jinwoo, looking at Jingyeom who was planting bad thoughts in his mind, finally spoke up.

“…Yeah. I’ll be back.”

“Director, thank you so much for today. Goodbye!”

Wonbeom, who hadn’t rolled up the window yet, was watching the entire scene, including Jingyeom’s bright smile and goodbye.

He responded with a slight nod and then rolled up the window. The dark tint quickly obscured the view.

Wonbeom squeezed the water bottle in his hand and then relaxed his grip.

“Director, huh…”

Earlier, he had called Soohyuk ‘hyung,’ but now Jingyeom naturally called him ‘Director.’

Wonbeom tilted his head skeptically.

Isn’t it strange to call someone ‘Director’ when he was not even a company employee?

He didn’t particularly want to be called ‘hyung.’ He’d been called ‘Director’ or ‘Director Tak’ for so long that it wasn’t unfamiliar.

But why did it feel strange to be called ‘Director’ by Jingyeom?

‘Secretary Baek is good at calling me hyung.’

Wonbeom thought for a moment if there was anyone who called him ‘hyung,’ but there wasn’t.

He was an only child, and his relatives, though they shared the same genes, were worse than strangers.

Even as a student, he was called ‘senior’ rather than ‘hyung.’ In high school, he moved abroad, so he rarely had conversations in Korean.

‘Hyung…’

It was ridiculous even to himself, but he thought that if Jingyeom looked up at him with those moist eyes that seemed ready to shed tears and called him ‘hyung’ with a bright smile, it would be a new experience.

While Wonbeom was lost in such thoughts in the car, Jinwoo was outside, expressing his concerns to Jingyeom.

“Now that I look, all the watermelons here are big. If there’s one you want to pick, just choose it, and I’ll take it up with me.”

“Didn’t we already talk about this earlier?”

“I’m worried you might be in pain again tomorrow.”

“I’m fine, really. Besides, I don’t have any heavy lifting to do. No more nagging! They must be waiting. Hurry up and go!”

Jingyeom pushed Jinwoo’s back. This was in front of a market, and they couldn’t leave the car parked for long.

There weren’t any parking enforcement cameras, but the unspoken rule was to park briefly, quickly take care of business in the market, and then move.

“I’m going, I’m going. You be careful going up too.”

“Got it!”

Jinwoo reluctantly got into the driver’s seat.

Jingyeom watched the black sedan until it disappeared down the alley, then shook his head and headed to the market to buy a watermelon.

With the help of a market employee, he picked a watermelon and carried it up the hill without stopping until he reached home.

As he climbed the stairs, the wide-open space welcomed him. It was still bright out because of the long summer days.

“…Is everything okay?”

Even though he knew he wasn’t in a position to worry about Wonbeom, he couldn’t help but feel concerned.

But knowing that the reassurance not to worry was genuine, he quickly pushed the thought out of his mind.

Back at home, Jingyeom seriously contemplated whether to continue his flyer distribution part-time job.

Being deceived by a pyramid scheme was entirely his fault. He had lost his senses momentarily, enticed by the ridiculous dream of making a quick fortune.

However, he ended up there because of Sanghoon. He thought he needed to have a conversation with him too.

If things went well through conversation, he would continue the part-time job, but if not…

“What should I do?”

As he sat down in his room, pondering, the phone rang.

Seeing the caller, he turned the phone upside down to silence it.

He felt that if he answered, he might end up saying something harsh. Soon after, a message arrived.

Jingyeom bit his lower lip slightly, then, with a determined look, he placed his thumb on the keypad.

Sanghoon hyung: I heard about it! It was amazing, right? But why did you refund the toothpaste?

5:58 PM

5:59 PM

Hyung! Do you know that place is a pyramid scheme?

Sanghoon hyung: A pyramid scheme? It’s network marketing, haha. It’s different from a pyramid scheme.

5:59 PM

That is a pyramid scheme!

6:00 PM

Frustrated emoticon

Sanghoon hyung: I’m telling you, it’s not, haha. Let’s not talk about this over text. Let’s meet and talk. Are you coming to work tomorrow?

6:01 PM

6:01 PM

No, I’m not going! And I won’t be going in the future either. As long as you know it’s a pyramid scheme, that’s enough.

Sanghoon hyung: Why aren’t you coming?

6:02 PM

Sanghoon hyung: Jingyeom

6:12 PM

Sanghoon hyung: Hey

6:30 PM

Even though more messages came after that, he didn’t even bother checking.

If Sanghoon had been another victim unaware of the pyramid scheme, would this discomfort have eased a bit?

Jingyeom threw the phone onto the bed. He could hear the buzzing of notifications, but he ignored it.