PHUW 139

When Teacher Kim saw Haeri again after a long time, she couldn’t close his mouth at the sight. From being worn down by Jeong Mok, Haeri had lost weight, had dark circles under his eyes, and his skin looked rough.

“Your face is completely ruined.”

“I caught the flu… I’m fine now.”

What reason could a kid who only studied at home have to suddenly fall ill like that? Teacher Kim might have asked what he had been doing to get so sick, but she didn’t.

Instead, she firmly assumed Haeri, who usually didn’t study, had strained himself by suddenly studying too much. So even though Haeri hadn’t said anything, she herself decided to cancel the Wednesday class and cut down the homework.

“If you’re struggling, don’t keep it to yourself until you get sick. Tell me beforehand. I’ll let the other teachers know too. What will you do if you’re this weak.”

While saying so, Teacher Kim rubbed Haeri’s back. Being treated that way by someone old enough to be his mother made his chest feel warm and his nose sting. From then on, his view of Teacher Kim shifted from simply being a scary teacher to being scary, but also like a mother when he was sick.

As homework in every subject was reduced, the museum visit and report assignment was postponed indefinitely. That reminded him the chaos had begun when they were planning that museum visit.

“Let’s go to the museum this Wednesday.”

“Wouldn’t the weekend be better?”

“I’ll go alone.”

“No. I’ll come with you. I can adjust my schedule on Wednesday.”

Trying hard to read Haeri’s mood, Jeong Mok instantly rearranged his entire schedule at that one sentence. As a boyfriend, he was perfect. But as an executive, wasn’t he the worst? At this rate, he’d be fired soon. If he got fired, he wouldn’t go to work. If he didn’t go to work, he’d be home all day. If he was home all day, he’d keep pestering to do it, and then Haeri would be sucked dry and soon leave this world…

“No. Let’s go on the weekend.”

Haeri quickly changed his words.

Jeong Mok, in the middle of talking with his secretary, looked at him.

“Wednesday is fine.”

“No. The weekend will be better.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

He absolutely couldn’t let him get fired. Jeong Mok, still looking unconvinced, stared at Haeri for a moment, then finally told the secretary to cancel and ended the call.

The weekend arrived quickly. This time, the morning of their outing arrived without incident. Since it had been so long since he went outside, Haeri, after washing and eating breakfast, shut himself in the dressing room, focused on picking out an outfit.

Dressed in a light casual suit, Jeong Mok sat on the living room sofa, waiting for Haeri to finish getting ready.

Gom-i climbed onto the sofa and rested his head on Jeong Mok’s thigh. Since the two of them would be going out, he had been taken on a walk twice as long as usual and fed a special meal of top-grade Korean beef with organic vegetables, so the dog lazily wagged his tail and blinked contentedly.

“You’re only nice to me when Haeri’s not around. At least sometimes, give me a break.”

Petting the dog’s head, Jeong Mok voiced his dissatisfaction. But the double-faced, stubborn creature pretended not to hear.

Bzzz.

His phone buzzed. It was Chief Ahn.

–We found Cha Iltaek.

It was rare good news. That brute was cautious and sly…

“In China?”

–No. In Korea.

Even Chief Ahn, considered the best in domestic intelligence short of the NIS, had taken quite some time, so Jeong Mok had suspected Cha Iltaek had smuggled himself abroad.

–He was hiding at a junior’s family home in Shinan County.

“So he did take a boat. What about the ledger?”

–I had one planted.

“Report it to the prosecution and police. Make sure to watch until he’s properly arrested.”

–Understood.

Jeong Mok never handled Cha Iltaek directly. Instead, he created a fake ledger using part of the chairwoman’s knife, planted it on him, and reported him to the prosecution. The plan was for the prosecution to discover the ledger and tie the reckless drug addict and related figures together on their own. With a family already notorious for their cruelty to their children, chaos was guaranteed.

“Have you found the president?”

–It seems he smuggled himself to China on an illegal Chinese fishing boat. I’ve mobilized the employees to search. It’ll take some time.

Since Hyeonsan was a conglomerate, it had a local branch in China. The employees Chief Ahn mentioned were the local Chinese staff. They were better than ordinary Koreans for this, but using ordinary people had limits.

“Report him to the Public Security Bureau as a drug offender.”

–Then it’ll be hard to have him extradited back to Korea.

Chief Ahn asked if Jeong Mok wasn’t going to handle it directly.

“Compared to what he’s done, execution by firing squad is too merciful. But dragging it out is pointless. Cha Iltaek is enough.”

Just then, the door burst open and Haeri appeared.

“Keep reporting progress. I’ll check constantly.”

After giving the order, Jeong Mok unilaterally hung up.

“All dressed?”

“Not yet. Please take a look.”

Haeri came hesitantly closer to the sofa.

Smiling as he looked, Jeong Mok was momentarily struck speechless.

From head to toe, there wasn’t a single plain item. Of course, these days men too dressed extravagantly when they wanted to. Designer logos were trendy as well.

But who in their right mind covered their shirt, pants, belt, hat, scarf, even socks in brand logos? On top of that, he had a massive crossbody bag big enough to fit a child, with keyrings dangling all over it.

“Ha ha ha!”

Of course, Jeong Mok thought he was joking.

While Jeong Mok burst into loud laughter, Haeri didn’t laugh at all.

“Do I look funny to you?”

Haeri’s tone was serious, with no trace of playfulness.

“……”

The mood turned cold. Jeong Mok quietly shut his mouth.

“I asked if I look funny.”

“No, no. Gom-i suddenly tickled me. Gom-i, why are you tickling hyung like that?”

Flustered, Jeong Mok shifted the blame onto the dog, who had been quietly asleep. Woken up, Gom-i glanced at him and snorted.

“Then fine. So, how do I look?”

“Uh… wait.”

When asked how, the words that came to Jeong Mok’s mind were crazy nouveau riche, continental flair, fashion provocation. Even celebrities or influencers from that side weren’t like this. If Haeri walked around the National Museum dressed like that on the weekend, he’d instantly become a social media star.

How could he soften it without hurting Haeri’s feelings? Covering his mouth with one hand, he agonized.

“You’re pretty. Really pretty. But… don’t you think it’s a bit too much?”

“Too much? Where?”

Where? His whole body. But Jeong Mok couldn’t answer honestly.

“Maybe leave the bag. You don’t need the watch, you can check your phone. And you look best when you don’t put anything on your head.”

He carefully suggested removing at least one thing.

“Don’t look at the accessories. Just the clothes, only the clothes.”

It was a shirt he had never seen before. An oversized patchwork shirt in a messy mix of washed denim, faux leather, and corduroy, with flashy monogram logos printed all over. If everything else were plain and he wore just that, it would’ve looked like the style of someone who enjoyed bold fashion. But with the pants, bag, and cap all screaming louder than a rainbow disco ball, he looked like a fashion terrorist.

“Where did you even get that shirt?”

Jeong Mok had no memory of buying something like that.

“I specially asked the shopper to find it. It’s a limited edition from 202X. Pretty, right?”

With his memories back, Haeri definitely cared more about appearance than when he had amnesia. Since he always carefully picked out new clothes at home, Jeong Mok had given him the shopper’s contact and told him to buy whatever he wanted. And that’s how he ended up with this rag.

“It is pretty. But… for the museum, isn’t it a bit much? You know museums are intellectual, elegant spaces.”

“Too flashy?”

“Well… somewhat? I think simpler would be better.”

“Got it. I’ll dress neatly.”

Surprisingly, Haeri agreed without a fight. Jeong Mok inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

But when Haeri came out again, he easily surpassed Jeong Mok’s expectations.

This time he wore a navy sweatshirt with just a single logo in the middle, beige pants plain enough that the brand wasn’t obvious, and only his socks were flashy. As advised, the bag and cap were gone. Up to that point, it was fine.

But the accessories were worse than before.

His fingers sparkled with rings, some stacked several on one finger to the point it was questionable whether he could bend them. That wasn’t all. Thanks to his rolled-up sleeves, his wrists were exposed, each with two watches strapped on. But what caught Jeong Mok’s eyes most weren’t the aggressive piles of rings and watches.

“You had… pendants like that?”

Around his neck hung a thick gold chain with heavy pendants, each stamped with the logos of German luxury brands and Italian sports cars. They were smart keys.

If the earlier outfit made him a fashion terrorist, this one made him insane. Earlier was a social media star, this was a social media headline.

“The first one was better.”

“Oh, really? Then fine. Let’s go now.”

Goosebumps ran down Jeong Mok’s entire body.

“You’re going out like that?”

“Yes.”

“…Why?”

“Mm, a showdown with the harsh world?”

Haeri struck a cocky pose like a rapper in the final round of a competition.

It was the most nerve-racking moment of Jeong Mok’s life.