Chapter 6

While standing by the register and handing over his credit card to settle the bill, Major Kang subtly reprimanded Hee-chan. Having experienced that very humiliation firsthand, his words carried a venomous bite.

At Major Kang’s sharp remark, Hee-chan cast an anxious glance toward Se-woong standing beside him. He had vaguely assumed Se-woong was fine, but a belated worry crept in that it might not be the case. Even putting himself in Se-woong’s shoes, the situation was hardly pleasant. Reading Hee-chan’s uneasy expression, Se-woong eased the man’s mind with a faint shake of his head.

Serving yesterday’s equal classmate as today’s superior officer. Using formal honorifics with a peer with whom cursing back and forth had been second nature, standing at rigid attention before him, and snapping a salute. All of this was undeniably wretched.

Yet for Se-woong, what was truly wretched was never such trivial formality.

The truly wretched disaster had struck one day without warning, like an act of nature. Se-woong remembered all too vividly that suffocating moment when an azure sky had been swallowed whole in an instant by pitch-black storm clouds.

From the very beginning—

“Captain Cha, how about giving me a ride home?” Major Kang asked.

He exhaled a long plume of cigarette smoke. It had been obvious from the moment the major arrived from headquarters without his car.

Se-woong gave a nod of assent. “Yes, sir. Administrator Oh is heading in the same direction, so we agreed to ride together.”

“Then the three of us can have a nice, cozy ride together. You’re dropping me off first, right?” Major Kang chuckled, turning back toward the restaurant. “Owner, wonderful meal! I’ll be back next time with my fiancée.”

Hyun-woo waved cheerfully from the door. “Just give me a ring before coming, and I’ll reserve the best table for you. Safe travels back, sir!”

At the chirping click of the car unlocking, Major Kang, having soaked up Hyun-woo’s warm send-off, climbed in to claim the rear passenger-side seat. In the major’s mind, that was clearly the seat of honor. There was something almost impressive about how he hopped in on his own rather than waiting for someone to open the door for him. By default, the front passenger seat fell to Hee-chan.

Once he saw them get in, Se-woong turned toward Hyun-woo with a gentle smile. When a handsome man of such delicate features offered a serene, neat smile, whose heart could resist melting? It would have been wonderful if he smiled like that before others, but unless he was around people who put him completely at ease, Se-woong rarely smiled this way. He was the polar opposite of Lee Shin.

“Go back inside,” Se-woong murmured softly. “Why bother coming all the way out here when you’re so busy?”

Hyun-woo waved a dismissive hand. “The rush hour’s finally wound down. I’m really sorry about tonight, Woong-ah. When they told me the other party had arrived first and went straight into the private room, I thought, Ah, fuck, we’re screwed.”

“It’s because I booked at the last minute,” Se-woong countered with an apologetic tone. “I should have known things were going too smoothly for a Friday night. Didn’t you overextend yourself today? I really want to pay for the extra meat you sent out.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You think all that food went out just because of a booking mix-up? It was a bribe so that guy looks after my boy. Anyway, get going. I’m heading up to see Shin now.”

Fearing the passengers inside might overhear, Se-woong lowered his voice, and Hyun-woo pitched his tone down accordingly. Still, there seemed little reason for concern. Aside from the car’s soundproofing, Hee-chan was engrossed in showing Major Kang something on his phone in the back seat—likely the middle-aged dating show he had taken a recent liking to.

Hyun-woo rubbed the back of Se-woong’s neck with a broad palm. Then, as if an abrupt realization struck him, an awkward stiffness washed over his face.

Hesitating, Hyun-woo lowered his voice further, “Oh, Woong-ah. Min-hyung’s being posted to the States as an expat. I heard it was finalized sometime last week, and she said she’s leaving sooner than expected. That’s why I invited her over for dinner, but somehow the two of them arrived together. They must have run into each other out front, right?”

Hyun-woo’s explanation was overly detailed and rambling. Guessing what weighed on his friend’s mind, Se-woong felt an unbidden pang of embarrassment. It felt as though Hyun-woo had caught him fretting absurdly over Min-hyung. Knowing how perceptive the man was, he had probably figured it out long ago. How pathetic it must look, harboring groundless jealousy toward a childhood friend—especially when he no longer had any right to feel that way.

The hand resting on his nape slid down to his shoulder before giving his forearm a firm, reassuring squeeze. It was an encouraging gesture born of Hyun-woo’s gentle nature. Patting the back of Hyun-woo’s hand, Se-woong gestured that he shouldn’t worry.

“An expat posting… She must have a lot to prepare,” Se-woong murmured, feigning nonchalance. “Still, private corporate transfers are something to envy. Please pass my regards to Min-hyung. Tell her we should share a meal next time.”

Hyun-woo gave an easy nod. “Yeah, will do.”

Their conversation could go no further. Hyun-woo’s phone began vibrating with earth-shattering vigor, prompting him to fish the device from his pocket. Raising a hand in parting, Se-woong pulled open the driver’s side door.

“Couldn’t even wait two damn minutes before calling again, you bastard?” Hyun-woo barked into the receiver. “What? My hand? Ugh, hang up! I’m coming right now.”

With the phone still pressed to his ear, Hyun-woo cast a wary glance toward the second floor of the restaurant. Only after watching Se-woong’s car smoothly pull out of the parking lot did he turn and walk back inside.

The entire second floor of Yukwoo-jeong was partitioned into private dining rooms. Given the neighborhood’s proximity to the courts, a high proportion of patrons demanded secluded dining; what began as renovating one or two rooms had gradually expanded into turning the entire floor into private suites. Because of strict building and fire regulations, the partitions were merely flimsy sliding doors, but for guests seeking privacy, simply having their line of sight blocked off brought immense peace of mind.

When Hyun-woo slid open the door marked with the numeral ‘8’ at eye level, the man and woman seated across from each other turned their heads in unison.

Hyun-woo scowled, kicking the sliding door shut behind him. “Are you an eagle or what? How the hell can you see that from up here in the dead of night? Ugh, you creep me out.”

“An owl, more likely. Do you even know what an eagle’s visual acuity is?” Shin drawled smoothly.

Hyun-woo grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Immature prick. Acting all high-and-mighty over useless trivia. No, I don’t know, you bastard.”

Muttering about how clearly the parking lot could possibly even be seen from this window for Shin to spot anything and call him over it, Hyun-woo craned his neck to peer down before taking his seat, then shook his head in disbelief. Just as expected, the angle was awkward and the darkness thick enough that discerning anything was a chore.

“Which is why you shouldn’t touch Cha Se-woong so carelessly,” Shin warned coldly. “Not unless you want your wrist snapped.”

Shin’s lips curled in an easy smile, but the casual delivery sent an icy shudder down Hyun-woo’s spine. What am I supposed to do with this guy? When it comes to Cha Se-woong, he never jokes.

Min-hyung chimed in with a scoff. “What did Hyun-woo even do? Don’t let him intimidate you, Hyun-woo. Lee Shin’s just being rotten.”

Dropping onto the cushion, Hyun-woo whined, “Min-hyung-ah—! Don’t go to America. If you leave, this lunatic is actually going to break my wrist in half.”

“Then why don’t you come to Manhattan with me, Yuk Hyun-woo?” Min-hyung countered, swirling the liquor in her glass. “We can make a killing selling our prime Korean beef over there. Can you even export beef to the States?”

“You’re barred from moonlighting, genius.”

Sitting before Hyun-woo and Min-hyung, who were exchanging silly banter, Lee Shin merely checked his wristwatch. It was barely past nine o’clock. Estimating that Se-woong would drop off both Major Kang and Oh Hee-chan before arriving at Shin’s apartment, Shin calculated that Se-woong would pull in around ten-thirty or eleven.

“So, did Major Kang say anything?” Shin asked, shifting the subject. “He isn’t the type to let things slide easily.”

Hyun-woo chuckled into his glass. “Well, I made sure he couldn’t complain. Men like him are actually easy to handle. Pile on obvious perks on the house, knock a chunk off the bill, and they never hold a grudge. Just watch, he’ll be a regular here before long. He’s the type of superior who’d make military life a breeze if Se-woong were just a bit more affectionate, but our Woong-ie simply doesn’t have it in him.”

Shin gave a slow nod of his chin, seemingly conceding that much.

Leaning against the table with a soft sigh, Min-hyung murmured, “I should have greeted Se-woong before coming upstairs. I didn’t realize he’d leave without us even getting to see his face.”

Min-hyung genuinely regretted missing the chance to see Se-woong after so long. She had thought they would cross paths more often once he was transferred from Gyeryong to Seoul, but catching sight of him proved even harder than when he was stationed down south. Seeing him a grand total of once at Shin’s sister’s wedding said it all.

Considering the two men had broken up, his absence might have seemed natural, yet Min-hyung and Hyun-woo had built their own years of fond memories with Se-woong, making the distance impossible not to lament.

“Are you two really just ending things like this?” Min-hyung asked as she poured soju into Shin’s empty glass.

Even to their closest friends, the breakup remained impossible to believe, yet it was a question neither of them had dared utter until tonight. Hyun-woo quietly pushed his glass forward as well.

When they had first heard news of the breakup, both assumed it was a joke.

In truth, with Shin’s older sister and Se-woong’s second brother married, their parting might have been seen as the natural course of events. Yet neither Hyun-woo nor Min-hyung could easily connect those dots. Had a romance between two men ever been socially acceptable enough to justify lasting nearly a decade? Besides, becoming double in-laws wasn’t even against the law.

Way back when they were young, just after they had begun dating, Shin and Se-woong had gone through this a couple of times. Unsure how to handle their volatile, soaring emotions, they would blow up over petty trivialities, break up, and then make up shortly after; they, too, had experienced those childish lovers’ spats.

Hyun-woo only knew this because Shin, who otherwise never took weekend overnight leave, had suddenly taken leave that particular week to drink himself into a stupor. At the time, he hadn’t had the faintest inkling that the partner in question was Se-woong, whom he occasionally met alongside Shin.

As the years passed, however, he could not recall ever hearing such talk again, even in jest. Perhaps as time marched on, both men had felt the crushing gravity of words like breakup or parting ways. They had likely grown too cautious to utter what would become an inescapable reality the moment it left their mouths.

Yet they had actually broken up. Becoming in-laws might have made it plausible, but to think they had truly split. Even though several months had already passed, it still felt like an utter fabrication.

Min-hyung rested her cheek against her palm. “Woong-ie’s face looked completely hollowed out—I wonder if he isn’t sleeping either. Whenever he suffers from insomnia, his cheeks are always the first to sink.”

“It’s not as if you two were ever going to get legally married, or go around broadcasting to the world that you’re dating,” she pressed on, leaning forward. “Besides, Shin, you barely see Young-ie eonni once or twice a year anyway, don’t you? I mean, why can’t you two just keep seeing each other like before?”

Hyun-woo clicked his tongue in sympathy. “Of all the people for Young-ie noona to marry, why did it have to be Se-woong’s brother? Are you guys unable to be together because of propriety or some nonsense? What does that even mean? It’s not like two men dating was ever within traditional propriety anyway. Man, this propriety stuff is a pain in the ass.”

Even with them chattering about him right to his face, Lee Shin showed no intention of answering, merely checking his wristwatch over and over. Rubbing the corner of his lower lip with a thumb, he looked relaxed on the surface, yet an underlying restlessness betrayed him.

“Lee Shin, you’re already daydreaming about snapping my wrist just because I touched Se-woong a little, so why the hell are you running around on matchmaking dates?” Hyun-woo demanded, squinting across the table. “You really think he won’t catch wind of it?”

“I’m going precisely so he catches wind of it,” Shin replied flatly.

Hyun-woo blinked in confusion. “Wait, but if Se-woong hears about it, how do you think he’ll feel—wait, what?”

“I said I’m meeting them so the news reaches his ears,” Shin reiterated, meeting his friend’s stare. “Only if I’m out on matchmaking dates will Se-woong feel at ease.”

Shin tossed back his shot of soju in a single gulp. A heavy silence descended over the table. Massaging her temples with the tips of her fingers as though nursing a migraine, Min-hyung grimaced in exasperation.

“Fuck. Not a single bastard here is sane.”

Min-hyung muttered the venomous words under her breath, speaking to no one in particular.

Pushing his chair back, Shin said, “Where was your hotel again, Min-hyung? Gangnam, right? I called a designated driver. We’ll drop you off on our way, so get up.”

Checking his wristwatch one final time, Shin rose to his feet. The hour he had premeditated to leave had apparently arrived.