SLC 25

It was strange.

Kang Uicheol had come to Seoul alone at a young age and gone through all kinds of hardships before meeting Chairman Choi. Chairman Choi, who took in an orphan with nothing to his name and gave him opportunities, was his benefactor, his father, and his teacher.

He had worked at the mansion for well over 20 years, so everything that happened inside the estate passed through him and was reported to Chairman Choi.

The same was true for matters involving the young master. He himself had taken care of the young master, who had lost his parents and been left alone as a child, so he could confidently say that he knew Mok Seongha better than anyone.

But it was strange.

He couldn’t understand this.

Secretary Kang sat across the table, alternating his gaze between the two people eating, drawing question marks in his head.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

When Mok Seongha called him, Kim Jinkyung, who was sitting across from him, answered with startled rabbit eyes. This was a perfectly ordinary scene.

“Eat this.”

Mok Seongha picked up the broccoli from his own plate and handed it to Kim Jinkyung.

“…It’s fine. I have some too.”

“Eat.”

“……”

Kim Jinkyung accepted the broccoli with a sullen expression and ate it. That made it the third time already. The third time Mok Seongha had passed food from his own plate to Kim Jinkyung.

It was strange. Why was he acting like that? What had he eaten wrong for the selfish, unbearably cute young master, who didn’t even know what giving was, to behave like this?

As if he had noticed the stare, Mok Seongha turned his head toward Secretary Kang.

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You have something to say?”

“No.”

Secretary Kang immediately lowered his gaze. There was something subtly overbearing about him. He had always lived a life without regard for rank, acting however he pleased, but his attitude felt slightly different than before. No, rather than overbearing, it felt like he was on guard. And more than that, had he gotten a bit taller over the past few days?

“Hey. What are you doing about today’s lesson?”

In response to Mok Seongha’s question, Kim Jinkyung, who had been chewing on broccoli, suddenly inhaled wrong and started coughing.

“Cough… ngh…”

Secretary Kang silently handed him a glass of water. Kim Jinkyung accepted it, murmured a thank you, and drank.

How did someone that weak and timid end up coming in here?

“The-the lesson?”

“Yeah. Review the parts I’m bad at in math and English.”

“Ahaha. I should.”

Kim Jinkyung answered while holding the water glass with both hands and drinking.

The mention of “review,” confused Secretary Kang.

“Didn’t you say you studied all night yesterday?”

Kim Jinkyung spat out the water he was drinking with a pffft in response to Secretary Kang’s question.

“Ah, that’s disgusting.”

Mok Seongha recoiled in disgust. Secretary Kang calmly took out a napkin, handed it to Kim Jinkyung, who wiped up the water splashed around.

“I’m sorry. The water went down the wrong pipe.”

Kim Jinkyung muttered while wiping the table with trembling hands.

It looked like they hadn’t studied yesterday and had just ditched together. He really was a uselessly overeducated and earnest person.

Secretary Kang recalled Kim Jinkyung, who had trembled in fear and protested to him that neglect was abuse. He had never seen a person that timid in his life, yet he was stubborn in odd places.

Well, that was probably why he had been able to teach the young master all this time.

Secretary Kang didn’t particularly like Kim Jinkyung as a person, but he agreed that there was no one better suited to teaching the young master than him.

Kim Jinkyung was fundamentally harmless. He was too soft hearted and kind to harm anyone.

Of course, if he were to harm the precious and beloved young master even unintentionally, Secretary Kang would swear to use every method in the world to take revenge. Brutal enough that he’d beg to be killed.

“Ah, um, so, I think the pace was a bit fast, so I was reviewing, and then, um, so…”

Kim Jinkyung, whose face had gone pale, rambled incoherently, making excuses about the tutoring. It was pitiful to watch.

Mok Seongha was looking at Kim Jinkyung as if he found it amusing.

He’s going to die like that.

Just as Secretary Kang was about to cut him off, a phone rang.

“Tha-that’s mine.”

Realizing the sound was coming from his own pocket, color returned to Kim Jinkyung’s cheeks. But as soon as he checked the name on the screen, his expression turned rigid.

“Who is it?”

When Mok Seongha tilted his head, trying to see the name, Kim Jinkyung quickly stood up.

“I’ll step out to take this call.”

He took his phone and left the dining room. Mok Seongha resumed eating without a word.

After moving his fork a few times, he muttered to himself in a voice tinged with irritation.

“So promiscuous.”

“……”

Secretary Kang couldn’t easily agree with calling Kim Jinkyung promiscuous. In reality, after thoroughly investigating his background, there was no evidence to prove the kind of promiscuous sex life Kim Jinkyung claimed to have. Aside from school, the library, and his rented room, he barely went anywhere, and aside from the occasional meeting with a high school classmate, he didn’t socialize with anyone.

So when the two of them suddenly made a fuss about dating, Secretary Kang had scoffed.

Setting aside the young master, who had barely even hit puberty and had no interest in dating, Kim Jinkyung himself didn’t have the nerve to date the young master. He’d flinch and turn deathly pale just from the young master holding his hand or pulling him into a side hug.

Secretary Kang had no doubts about Kim Jinkyung’s claim that he liked men. There was no trace of him ever seeing women, and he proclaimed his preference for men so fervently that it had to be true.

After a while, Kim Jinkyung returned with a slightly awkward expression.

“I think I need to step out for a bit.”

“What? Why?”

Mok Seongha immediately displayed his displeasure.

“A senior from school contacted me and asked to meet briefly.”

“A guy?”

In response to Mok Seongha’s question, Kim Jinkyung nodded slightly.

“I’ll be back soon. I’ll do the lesson later tonight.”

Mok Seongha didn’t answer and started shoveling food into his mouth. Kim Jinkyung bowed to Secretary Kang and left the dining room again.

“…Promiscuous bastard.”

“Should I have him cut off?”

In response to Secretary Kang’s question, Mok Seongha turned serious.

“What does being promiscuous have to do with tutoring?”

“……”

You said you were dating him, young master.

Secretary Kang swallowed his food and the things he was unable to say.

‎

‎

‎

Even on the bus, Kim Jinkyung couldn’t hide his anxiety. The call had been from Go Jinyoung.

He’d asked if Kim Jinkyung had some time. Unable to find a reason to refuse, he had said yes without thinking, and Go Jinyoung had immediately given him the time and place.

‘It’s fine. He didn’t see your face.’

Mok Seongha had definitely said that, but what if Go Jinyoung had seen his face? What if that was why he wanted to meet?

Even as he got off the bus and walked toward the cafe, Kim Jinkyung thought hundreds of times about turning back. But he couldn’t stand up someone he had already agreed to meet, so he forced himself to keep walking.

“…I want to run away.”

After muttering one last time before entering the cafe, Kim Jinkyung opened the door and went inside.

“Oh, Jinkyung.”

Go Jinyoung, who had already taken a seat inside, greeted him. Kim Jinkyung bowed and sat down across from him.

“Hello.”

He almost said it’s been a while, but stopped himself out of conscience.

“Yeah. I called you because I wanted to give you this.”

Go Jinyoung pulled something out of his bag and handed it over.

“What is this?”

“You said you totally bombed your midterms. I told Yujin-noona, and she gave me her notes from last year’s class to give to you.”

Go Jinyoung was a considerate person. Even on the day they first met, handing over hangover medicine had been one of his habitual kindnesses.

“Thank you.”

Kim Jinkyung bowed his head and accepted the notes. He couldn’t even find a proper excuse to refuse. In reality, he had been spending far too much time helping Mok Seongha study, and it was true that he had messed up his midterms.

“Yujin-noona told me to say hi to you.”

Kim Yujin was Go Jinyoung’s ex girlfriend from the same department. More precisely, his ex ex ex ex ex girlfriend. There were countless women from the same department whom Go Jinyoung had dated. He was a notorious womanizer. Yet his reputation among female students wasn’t that bad. There were even quite a few who stayed in friendly contact with him after breaking up.

“Is Yujin-sunbae doing well?”

“Of course. She’s smart, diligent, and her personality’s great. She’s the type who’ll succeed at whatever she does.”

Go Jinyoung never spoke badly about women he had dated, even if it had only been briefly, even if it had been just a single day. That alone wasn’t the only reason people viewed him favorably.

Go Jinyoung really liked women. Calling him a guy crazy about women wasn’t an exaggeration.

The legend of Go Jinyoung’s woman chasing went all the way back to his freshman year. At a freshman welcome party, a male senior in his fourth year, who was sitting at Go Jinyoung’s table, started drinking and rambling about his sex life, something nobody had asked about or wanted to know.

‘Girls these days don’t know how to take a loss. When you’re dating, you can eat tteokbokki, and if you don’t have bus fare, you can walk. They act like they’re going to die if they have to pay for a date. Even watching a movie, they insist on going to a nice theater. Huh? If you just watch it at your studio, you save money and it’s way more cost effective.’

The ear rotting remarks made the expressions of the female students sitting nearby gradually darken. He was known for having terrible drinking habits, so even his classmates avoided engaging with him. But the one who cut him off wasn’t anyone else but Go Jinyoung, who had been a freshman at the time.

‘You don’t have money, but you want to date? Why?’

‘What?’

‘Of course you earn money first and then date.’

He said it without the intention to pick a fight, as if he were stating something obvious. The senior, momentarily at a loss for words, soon collected himself and raised his voice.

‘What? So guys without money shouldn’t date? Are you saying poor people don’t deserve love?’

Go Jinyoung smiled and shook his head.

‘No. I’m saying you’ve got the order wrong. If you don’t have money, you earn it and then date. If you want to go on dates, you can even sell your blood to buy a movie ticket.’

‘What the hell, you punk!’

After that, it turned into chaos. The senior rushed at Go Jinyoung, swinging his fists and cursing, yelling if he was saying he should sell his blood. Even as his nose started bleeding from the punches, Go Jinyoung retorted, asking if that wasn’t the bare minimum you should do for something you wanted.

If you want it, sell your blood and date.

That became known as Go Jinyoung’s “blood selling dating theory.” In practice, he really didn’t spare money or time when dating women. Even if he met someone for just 1 day, he gave them the best possible course.

And his praise of romance didn’t end there.

When he got a call that his girlfriend at the time had suddenly lost her father, he dropped everything and rushed to the funeral hall. The funeral was bleak, with barely any relatives, just his ex girlfriend and her mother, but he stayed there for 3 full days. The problem was that it overlapped with midterms. He had always managed his grades strictly, based on his belief that stupid men weren’t attractive. When his ex girlfriend told him he could go back, Go Jinyoung stayed, saying that considering the time they had spent together, this was only natural. In the end, he even carried the bier and followed her to the crematorium, comforting his grieving ex girlfriend. He finished the story by paying the funeral expenses as well. The length of their relationship had been 3 weeks.

“So is Yujin-sunbae going to the US then?”

“Yeah. She said she’s going to keep studying there.”

“If she goes, you won’t be able to see each other. Are you okay with that?”

He had dated Kim Yujin for quite a while. Uncharacteristically, they had gone over 6 months, and people whispered that maybe his woman chasing days were finally over. Some even made bets.

“It’s a shame. But just because I’m sad, does that mean I should block someone’s future?”

He wasn’t just saying empty words. As Kim Yujin prepared to study abroad, the two of them followed the natural steps toward a breakup.

Go Jinyoung was saddened, but he didn’t cling to her. He never acted resentful toward ex girlfriends. If the other person said no, then it was no. If they said it was over, then it was over.

Whether it was an ex girlfriend or a current girlfriend, once he had a connection with someone, he treated them with respect to the very end.

Once, at a guys’ drinking session, one of their classmates started trash talking his ex girlfriend and subtly tried to get Go Jinyoung to agree. She was someone Go Jinyoung had dated before.

‘Hey, you think so too, right, Go Jinyoung? Say something.’

Go Jinyoung didn’t say a word and just drank.

‘You know it too. Seohee dumped you as well. She’s got such a nasty attitude. Then not long after that she switched to another guy. Her profile pic is always with that bastard. When she was dating me, she never once put up a picture with me.’

Go Jinyoung silently picked at the food.

‘If you really look at it, she’s probably seeing this guy and that guy behind the scenes. She’s no joke.’

The classmate laughed, making a curved shape near his chest with both hands.

‘She’s probably the biggest in our year. I saw it myself. If I’d known, I would’ve at least taken a picture while she was sleeping…’

That nonsense ended right there. Go Jinyoung lifted his beer glass and poured it over the guy’s head.

‘Hey, you crazy bastard!’

‘Take a look in the mirror. Is your face even profile pic material?’

‘What?’

‘If you look like that, at least put in some effort. Go to a dermatologist. Go to a salon. Stuff like that.’

‘Hey, you insane son of a bitch!’

The guy grabbed Go Jinyoung by the collar. Go Jinyoung threw the first punch. With the sound of something shattering, everyone around jumped in to stop them.

‘You crazy fucker! Are you out of your mind? I’ll get you a criminal record!’

‘Yeah. Do it.’

Go Jinyoung agreed cheerfully to the red line that would cross out his name.

‘I’m fine even with a record. I’m inheriting my dad’s company anyway.’

‘What?’

‘You done talking bullshit now?’

After that, it was a total mess. The other guy got beaten up, and Go Jinyoung was a mess too. He broke his nasal bone, and eventually, the other guy couldn’t even file a complaint. It ended with a mutual settlement. When Yoon Seohee heard about it and came to the hospital crying and apologizing, Go Jinyoung ended up comforting her instead.

‘Why are you crying. Your makeup’s going to run on that pretty face.’

‘Jinyoung…’

‘And just in case, I dunked that bastard’s phone in my beer glass.!

Then he left behind a legendary line.

‘By the way, I’m thinking of getting a nose job while I’m at it. Septal cartilage would be good for the tip, right?’

Beyond that, Go Jinyoung continued his woman chasing life, leaving behind countless feel good stories involving ex girlfriends.

“Oh right. Jinkyung.”

Go Jinyoung suddenly spoke, as if something had come to mind.

So this is it.

Kim Jinkyung waited for what came next. Go Jinyoung was extremely kind to women, and reasonably kind to men. If he had seen him at the hotel that day, even that reasonable kindness might disappear.

Even if he had prepared himself, relationship endings were still painful.

“I suddenly remembered something. My dad bought another apartment near campus a while back and told me to pick whichever one I liked and move in. I chose the one I’m living in now because it’s bigger and closer.”

“Yes.”

Was this just another casual flex about his wealth. Relieved, Kim Jinkyung relaxed and adjusted his posture.

“This year my cousin was supposed to come back from the US, so we left that place empty, but something came up and he’s coming next year instead.”

“Oh, okay.”

“If you’re okay with it, do you want to stay there? You’d just need to clean a bit before moving in. It’s got most of the furniture and appliances already.”

“Uh…”

For now, he couldn’t move because of Mok Seongha’s tutoring. When Kim Jinkyung hesitated, Go Jinyoung seemed to take it another way and waved his hand.

“It’s an empty place anyway, so you don’t need to pay rent or anything. Just stay there.”

“Thank you just for offering.”

“If you’re grateful, introduce me to a pretty cousin later. Someone like you.”

“…Ahahaha.”

Kim Jinkyung laughed awkwardly and scratched his cheek with his finger.

“I’m staying somewhere else right now, so it’s okay.”

“Where did you say you were staying? Living together with your girlfriend?”

“Well…”

Kim Jinkyung took a sip of coffee and searched for an answer.

“Oh, boyfriend?”

Kim Jinkyung froze. The coffee in his mouth refused to pass down his throat.

“Then why didn’t he come for breakfast? The breakfast there is good.”

“……”

Even after swallowing the coffee down, he had no idea what to say. Kim Jinkyung clutched the cup, his lips only moving slightly.

“You saw the person next to me that day, right? She’s the one I’m seeing these days. What do you think? Pretty, right? She plays the piano, so she performs a lot. I’ll give you tickets, so come see a concert with your partner sometime.”

“…Yeah. Yes.”

He should have said they weren’t actually dating, but he missed the timing. He should’ve just greeted him normally in the elevator back then.

“Then let me know when you move later. I’ll give you the address anytime. I’ve got a date, so I’ll head out.”

Go Jinyoung stood up. Kim Jinkyung stood as well without thinking, then called out to him.

“Uh, wait.”

“Yeah?”

“…Aren’t you uncomfortable?”

“With what?”

“About… men…”

He couldn’t even get the word out properly. When Kim Jinkyung lowered his head and trailed off, Go Jinyoung answered with a bright grin.

“Uncomfortable? I’m grateful.”

“Pardon?”

“When two handsome guys pair up, that’s two rivals gone. From my point of view, I’m very grateful. Your boyfriend is really tall and handsome too.”

“……”

Someone’s words from the past about Go Jinyoung suddenly came back to him.

‘That guy is on another level of woman chaser. He’s seriously insane.’

Crazy love really did transcend all prejudice.

“Let’s talk again later.”

Go Jinyoung disappeared with a smile. Left alone, Kim Jinkyung finally relaxed and sat there slumped in his seat for a long while.