Chapter 129: Dissolve: His Last Choice

Since when did I become the kind of guy who enjoys such positive daydreams?

I, Song Hyunsoo, once notorious as a cynic.

No, this was closer to delusion than imagination. Yoon Jooho, with an embarrassed face, saying, “I’m sorry too.”

Even if Jooho were to die and be reborn a hundred times over, that would never happen.

The thought of following him out was futile from the start. The Director and the CEO of the investment company were with Jooho.

Passing right in front of the counter where I stood, Jooho didn’t even glance my way.

That coldness stung at my nose.

I couldn’t understand why I was so emotionally thrown by something so trivial.

I hadn’t lived a particularly gentle life, so why did this affect me like this?

I wasn’t like this with anyone else.

“Did you have a fight with the Prince?”

“…What?”

“You two were always stuck together, and now there’s this cold breeze.”

Aunt Kurin tilted her eyebrows, nodding toward the exit where Jooho had disappeared.

Startled that even Aunt Kurin at Gukine had sensed the rift between Jooho and me—something no one else had noticed—I meekly defended myself.

“We weren’t always together.”

“When one leaves, the other chases after. You can’t fool my eyes. Do you think I haven’t seen a couple drunkenly making up here more than once?”

“Y-yeah?? I mean, making up… Aunt, what are you talking about…”

“Well, you two aren’t exactly a couple, but it’s obvious one adores and the other follows. So why act so cold now?”

Gripping a pen on the counter, I sulked, aimlessly doodling shapes on my notepad.

“Maybe you just like someone else more than me, senior.”

“He’s not the type to change his mind often.”

“You mean Jooho senior?”

“Look at his temper. If something doesn’t please him, he won’t even glance at it from the start. People like that don’t give their hearts easily, but they’re not fickle either.”

That sounded about right.

“Isn’t the bachelor at fault here?”

“No!”

I jumped up, denying it, but in truth, I wasn’t fully convinced it was all Jooho’s fault either.

After all, I wasn’t even his lover. I didn’t have the right to get this upset.

“Is that so? Then the Prince must’ve done something wrong. One of them must be to blame. Or maybe both are idiots.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

After the Director and the CEO returned, the first round ended quickly.

There was no sign of Jooho, who had left with them.

I was worried but had no one to ask.

Caught off guard, I was pushed by the crowd to grab my coat and bag and leave.

As I looked around for the Manager, a sleek sedan pulled up and stopped in front of me.

One of Jooho’s cars parked in the basement of his mansion.

The driver’s side window rolled down, revealing Jooho’s face.

“Hyunsoo, want to ride with me?”

“No, it’s fine. The manager’s here.”

“That manager already left, as far as I know.”

“……”

Jooho was clearly the one who sent him off. What a cunning guy.

He looked up at me, who was resisting, then turned his face fully toward me.

“Are you never going to see me again? If that’s not the case, get in.”

There were still people loitering outside Gukine, watching.

Instead of stubbornly holding onto my pride, I got in the passenger seat.

It was definitely not because Jooho’s side profile looked a little lonely.

The sedan took off as soon as I closed the passenger door.

Normally, I would have been excited just to ride in this car.

Like when I first got in the 911, I would’ve looked around, touched everything, and asked a million questions.

But now, whether it was a Bentley or even a private jet, I probably wouldn’t care.

At the alley’s end, Jooho turned on the blinker and checked to the left to merge onto the road.

I glanced at his profile and asked in a sour tone,

“It’s a workday today, so why are you driving yourself?”

“I’m driving to take you.”

“……”

Did he really think I’d be touched by that?

I scoffed inside but honestly didn’t feel bad.

“Really.”

“I haven’t said a word.”

“Alright.”

That simple reply, unusually quiet, made me turn my head toward him.

Jooho, who had seemed focused on driving while pretending not to notice me, finally spoke.

“When are you moving your stuff?”

“My stuff?”

“You have to move it into my place, right?”

Was he trying to act like nothing happened?

No, he might genuinely think nothing’s wrong at all.

“Even if you move slowly, come to the house first. I’ll take you to Bogwang-dong. Just bring the essentials.”

“I don’t understand why you’re doing this, senior.”

“A promise is a promise. I know you’re mad at me, but still, come home.”

“You said I was a nuisance.”

It felt like someone was poking at my heart with rough fingers, and just remembering that moment nearly brought tears to my eyes.

“That’s not it.”

“What isn’t?”

“I said it’s not.”

“Then explain it. Speak so I can understand, since we’re human.”

I hadn’t planned to say that, but my voice got louder, emotions rising.

I bit my lip tightly and looked out the window.

Jooho said nothing, eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Once on Hangangbuk-ro, the car began running with the Han River to our left.

Through the passenger window, apartment complexes in Seongsu-dong with Han River views passed by.

As I gazed absently at the scenery, tears finally welled up in my eyes.

“Do you like it because I’m easy to control?”

“You’re seriously misunderstanding yourself. I’ve never had you under my control, and it’s not easy.”

“……”

“There are plenty of people who’d do whatever I say with just a flick of my finger.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

I nodded in agreement, then looked down at my lap and asked again.

“So, you like it because I’m not easy to control?”

“Song Hyunsoo.”

“I don’t get you sometimes. Dating Yoon Jooho isn’t easy at all.”

I smiled weakly and turned my head back to the window.

The way wasn’t gentle, but there were definitely tender moments.

Moments when he cared, then moments when his words cut like a knife.

Sometimes, he treated me like something precious; other times, he threw me away like nothing.

When I smiled back and ran to him with a smiling face, a glass wall stood between us.

We fought, stabbing each other with harsh words.

Yet today, he tells me to come home like nothing happened.

“No matter who you like or can’t forget, I know you don’t have the right to be mad at me. But still, when you were like a fire burning…”

“You were wearing clothes on fire.”

“……”

“You were wearing clothes on fire. Should I have just left you like that?”

“……”

“Do you really want to wear those?”

Traces of the previous person.

Of course, I didn’t want to wear that.

I shook my head, overwhelmed by frustration and hurt.

“But you kept tearing them off like they were so precious to you.”

“Yeah, that was my fault. But you know now it’s not that anymore.”

“……”

Jooho’s unusual willingness to admit his fault made me nod.

I had no right to ask why he still cherished those things.

Jooho exhaled a breath, almost a sigh of relief, and his voice softened.

“You said those things came from me, then suddenly sent them back. I didn’t know what to do; I wasn’t expecting that. Honestly, when I got them, I hadn’t gotten over it yet. So I just put them away and forgot about them. That’s it. Don’t give it meaning.”

The sedan turned right, passing an ecological forest on the left, then took a left turn onto Ttukseom-ro.

Leaving Hangangbuk-ro, it drove a bit further and stopped beneath the fence of an apartment complex near Oksu Station.

Jooho took out a cigarette, placed the filter between his lips, and held out the open pack.

I didn’t refuse and took one.

As I sucked on the filter and exhaled a thin stream of smoke, Jooho rolled up the sleeves of his knit sweater slightly.

In the darkness, something sparkled.

It was the wristwatch I had gotten back from Manager Cha Kyumin.

The watch… he wore it after all.

My heart thumped deeply.

In the silence, Jooho pressed a button on the steering wheel and started playing music at low volume.

“……”

It was a song from the playlist I had on the way to Myeonghaeri.