ACTSV chapter 174

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Shortly after arriving at Hoonil’s house, Jinwoo left for work.

He had wanted to stay longer with Jingyeom, but he couldn’t overlook his concern for Secretary Yang, who was managing things alone.

Besides, he couldn’t put off work forever.

Though worried about leaving Jingyeom by himself, he consoled himself that the house was big enough to keep him busy.

Indeed, Jingyeom, armed with disposable gloves and a face mask, had already started cleaning, diligently scrubbing with a cloth.

“Why does someone with so much money live without a housekeeper?” he muttered.

These days, there were so many cleaning services, yet he had never called one, despite having moved in years ago.

The window frames bore thick layers of accumulated grime, probably untouched since he moved in.

With a groan of disgust at the sight of tiny dead insects, Jingyeom hurriedly cleaned them away.

Jinwoo had told him to take it easy at home, but how could he do that?

At least cleaning kept him busy.

Feeling satisfied as he admired the restored window frames, Jingyeom even took a photo as proof of his hard work.

He wanted to clean all the windows, but he limited himself to the ones he opened regularly for ventilation, not wanting to overexert himself and fall sick.

After all, dirt could blow in with the wind if he left the grime there.

“Ah!” Jingyeom collapsed onto the living room floor, sprawled out.

Rolling over, he grabbed his phone and opened a job search app.

He knew Soohyuk or Wonbeom would offer him something if he mentioned looking for work, so he planned to find something himself.

Though he didn’t have much to put in the career section of his resume, he figured he was young enough that it wouldn’t matter too much.

“Any café jobs?” he mused.

If possible, he wanted to work at a café. He had some experience, albeit brief, and wanted to learn properly this time.

Most job listings these days were for part-time shifts during busy hours, only two or three days a week for three to four hours.

After searching, he found a small shop with no stairs, one that looked manageable, and applied.

He knew Jinwoo would try to stop him if he found out, so he acted first and asked later.

“I should at least pay back 300,000 won a month.”

Calculating on his phone, he realized that even if he paid 300,000 won monthly, he’d never clear the debt in his lifetime.

Sure, people lived to 100 these days, but it seemed unlikely it would take over a century.

He decided he’d have to increase the payments soon.

Before long, he received a call for an interview.

---

When Jinwoo got home from work, he found himself in an oddly familiar situation and scratched his neck.

“You could’ve rested a bit longer. Why so eager to work already?”

“I want to get out and about. I need to earn money, too. It’s just three hours a day, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It’s nothing major.”

The work conditions weren’t what mattered to Jinwoo.

It was the fact that Jingyeom wanted to work at all that bothered him.

And he’d not only had an interview but also gotten hired.

“Fine. Just don’t overdo it. Oh, and a bodyguard will follow you when you leave.”

“Still? I thought they were all gone last time.”

“They’re staying a bit longer, just in case. If anything seems weird, call me right away.”

Though the situation had mostly calmed down, trouble could always resurface unexpectedly.

Jinwoo wanted to reassure Jingyeom, in case he got startled.

“Are you okay? Jinwoo, are you safe?” Jingyeom asked, concern written on his face.

Jinwoo nodded.

Though there wasn’t anyone guarding him up close, he could sense someone watching from afar.

Suddenly, Jingyeom whipped his head around to look at the empty house and whispered in a hushed voice.

“Aren’t we getting too far from normal? It’s not like it’s common for people to live under constant threat, is it?”

“…”

“Guess being connected to rich people makes everything dangerous, huh?”

“…What have you been watching?”

“Youtube!” Jingyeom answered cheerfully, making Jinwoo smile despite himself.

But he quickly wiped the grin away and said firmly, “Stop watching Youtube.”

---

Jingyeom was coming home from his café part-time job.

He had thought stepping out of the hospital room would change everything, but life felt as repetitive as ever.

Not that he disliked this routine, but given the circumstances, he thought something dramatic should have happened.

Instead, everything was so quiet, it felt off.

‘It’s like the calm before the storm.’

In the movies, this was when characters got kidnapped or something unexpected happened, but he wasn’t hoping for that.

‘Even if it feels unsettling, peace is good!’

Massaging his sore arm, Jingyeom reflected on how his stamina had dropped.

Initially, he studied the café menu from behind the counter.

After mastering the basics, he moved on to making drinks, even stepping away from the counter sometimes to help.

It was more tiring than before, but it was fulfilling and exciting to learn.

Debating what to have for dinner, Jingyeom returned home only to be faced with an absurd situation.

“…”

Water was flooding the house from a burst pipe, leaving him speechless.

He called Hoonil, who, equally shocked, insisted he wait outside while he contacted management.

Entering the house without cutting the power risked electrocution.

Sitting on the emergency stairs, Jingyeom watched people come and go.

Once the water was shut off and the electricity was safely disconnected, he went back inside.

Though he had heard a service company was on its way, he figured he’d better start packing.

Fortunately, his belongings in the spare room had been spared, as the leak was in the kitchen.

Hearing about the incident, Jinwoo told him to wait in the rooftop unit until he got there.

“I should stay to wait for the repair service. The house can’t be left unattended.”

― Ah, right. Okay. But don’t overexert yourself cleaning. We’ll sort it out together when I get there.

“Hoonil already called a service company. I’m just going to sit on the sofa and wait. But, Jinwoo.”

― “Yeah?”

With a serious frown, Jingyeom asked, “The renovations they did last time… That’s why the water’s leaking, right?”

― “…Yeah.”

Jinwoo reluctantly admitted it, unable to reveal that the renovations had been an excuse to keep Jingyeom under watch.

“Do we have bad luck with water or something? Why does this house keep springing leaks?”

― It just happened to overlap, that’s all.

“Really? Got it. Keep working. See you later!”

Jingyeom placed all his belongings on the sofa, worried they might get wet.

There were so many things that even Hoonil had helped him move them to the car.

When Jingyeom had tried to move the mini piano as well, he briefly thought of Soohyuk and let out a short sigh through his nose.

Ever since confessing at the beach, Soohyuk had been subtly but persistently expressing his feelings, as if trying to force them out in the open, though it sometimes felt like everything just flowed naturally.

Still, the continued gestures of affection and attention kept Jingyeom constantly on edge.

The casual mention about wanting a piano had somehow resulted in Soohyuk actually buying one, making Jingyeom’s heart feel ticklish.

‘Still, isn’t this a bit much?’

Everything should have limits, but Soohyuk kept trying to do things for him.

When Jingyeom asked to borrow some money, Soohyuk had agreed without even asking for details, only charging a token interest of a mere thousand won.

It felt like if Jingyeom ever wanted anything, Soohyuk would give it all to him, which made him careful about bringing up even trivial matters.

“…Still.”

He’s doing this because he likes me, right?

Thinking about Soohyuk always made Jingyeom’s whole body itch.

Even scratching couldn’t make the sensation go away, so he shivered, shaking his head from side to side.

For now, moving the luggage took priority over thinking about Soohyuk.

He stacked most of Hoonil’s belongings higher up to prevent them from getting wet.

Once he had finished organizing, the water service technician arrived.

However, they couldn’t fix the problem immediately.

Something was wrong with the pipes buried in the wall.

In the end, Jingyeom had to gather some essentials and head to the rooftop room.

Despite his legs aching from standing and moving things around, the thought of going home made his heart lift for no reason.

“…Is this really my house?”

They were just supposed to do some plumbing work, but why did the place look so different?

Jingyeom’s mouth fell slightly open as his eyes rolled around in disbelief.

The exterior was renovated, and there was even a new roof over the porch.

The door, once opened with a key, now had an electronic lock.

This wasn’t just minor remodeling—it was practically rebuilt.

Jinwoo, who had told him to wait at home, hadn’t even shared the door code.

Hesitantly, Jingyeom tried entering his birthday, and a beeping sound confirmed it as the door clicked open.

“Oh!”

Although the interior was the same size as before, it felt noticeably more spacious.

The flooring and wallpaper were so pristine they must have been redone.

Even the furniture was all new.

It felt strange, like stepping into a completely different home.

“…This is a rental place.”

The thought crossed his mind that this might be overkill for a rental, but the landlord surely must have been involved if it got this far, so he quickly pushed the worry aside.

Despite having been unoccupied for a while, the inside was spotless, likely because Jinwoo had cleaned up during a recent visit.

Surveying the room absentmindedly, he felt grimy from moving around so much and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

While showering, he heard the doorbell but decided to ignore it.

A bathrobe hung on the bathroom door, so he put it on before picking up his phone.

“It’s Soohyuk.”

It didn’t seem urgent, so he planned to get dressed and then call him back, but the loud ring interrupted him.

“Whoa, that scared me!”

Startled, Jingyeom flinched and quickly answered the phone.

“Hello?”

― Why haven’t you been answering?

“I was showering just now.”

― Ha, open the door.

Jingyeom turned his head toward the entrance.

The previous frosted glass door had shown silhouettes, but the new steel door hid everything.

“Are you outside right now?”

― Yeah.

Shaking the water droplets from his hair with his hands, Jingyeom went to open the door.

“Hey… What are you… doing?”

“Huh?”

“I mean… what’s with you?”

“…Why are you stuttering?”

Suddenly, Soohyuk’s face turned bright red.

He averted his gaze, but his eyes kept drifting back to Jingyeom.

Suyeok covered his mouth with the back of the hand holding his phone, his eyes narrowing gradually.

“This is quite the welcome… damn.”

Jingyeom tilted his head in confusion, only then realizing he was wearing a bathrobe—and hadn’t properly tied it around his waist, leaving it wide open.

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