Unhealthy - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 35. Petty Arrogance

Although Ji-su had been the one to suggest having a drink first, Hae-yeong hadn’t been able to eat or sleep properly since the day she learned the truth, so she rather wanted to drink herself senseless and fall asleep.

In the evening, she headed with Ji-su to the pub where Han Chang-hyeon was working part-time.

“Wait, why is my lip color so dull? Oh my god, I’ve been walking around looking like this all day?”

“The lighting is dim anyway, so it’s not really noticeable.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Ugh. I’m going to go touch up my lips.”

Hae-yeong watched Ji-su hurriedly get up with her pouch, then immediately downed the 500cc draft beer that had arrived as soon as they ordered.

The cold carbonation scratched at her insides as it went down her throat, but her phone, which had been silent all day, only felt spiteful.

Frowning, Hae-yeong propped her chin on her hand and scrolled up through the past messages she’d exchanged with Taejun.

“Atonement, my ass.”

「•̅ ̫•̅.」

「´•ﻌ•`」

Hae-yeong pressed her thumb repeatedly on the emoticons Taejun had sent, as if they were his actual face, staging a petty rebellion.

What had she expected from someone who wouldn’t worry a bit whether she came home late or stayed out all night?

Could even the deep resentment growing toward him not completely break the existence called Gi Tae-jun, who had been her longtime crush and dream?

“One more here, please.”

Her stomach burned.

Hae-yeong absolutely didn’t want to admit that even in moments like this, she was full of selfish desire for Gi Tae-jun to soothe her twisted heart and cling to her.

“Where’s Min Ji-su?”

Han Chang-hyeon, who was serving with beer glasses full in both hands, asked about Ji-su’s empty seat.

“Bathroom.”

When Hae-yeong pointed toward the bathroom with her chin, Chang-hyeon’s gaze hurriedly followed hers.

“She can’t handle alcohol well. If it looks like she’s going to drink a lot, try to stop her.”

Chang-hyeon secretly asked Hae-yeong while Ji-su was away.

“Me?”

“If it looks like she’s going to drink a lot, keep her here until I close up. I can’t stand seeing her wandering around outside drunk.”

“Afraid she might walk around on her own two feet?”

As if hit right on target, Chang-hyeon didn’t respond and just pulled out a pen from his pocket to scribble something on the bill.

“I’ll pay for this table, so anyway, just keep an eye on Min Ji-su so she doesn’t do anything stupid.”

As soon as the bathroom door opened, Chang-hyeon left as if nothing had happened, and Ji-su, who had returned, looked wide-eyed at the empty glasses on the table.

“Huh? Hae-yeong, you already finished two glasses?”

“Yeah, yours too. So I ordered more.”

Hae-yeong rolled her eyes and pointed to Han Chang-hyeon, who was moving busily.

“Should we order soju too?”

Hae-yeong didn’t have the confidence to go home completely sober.

The time she’d spent suffering alone all this while felt overwhelming, so the drinking session Ji-su had suggested felt like salvation instead.

The complacent thought that one bottle of soju would be fine was the root of the problem.

One bottle became two, and only after pouring down enough alcohol to slur her speech did she realize something had gone wrong, but it was already too late.

“Hey, hey. Try to pull yourself together. We’re closed.”

Chang-hyeon, who had finished closing the pub, looked helplessly at the two women lying side by side on the table.

Ji-su had passed out after just two beers because she was so weak with alcohol, but Hae-yeong, who had drunk all the alcohol that filled the table, remained motionless even when shaken awake.

“Sigh, Min Ji-su.”

Chang-hyeon looked back and forth between his ex-girlfriend, who had come to his workplace and sat drinking from opening to closing, and the slightly reckless Hae-yeong, then pulled out his phone.

“Someone close to An Hae-yeong… close.”

There’s no one. No one close to her.

Min Ji-su was the only person who interacted with Hae-yeong in their department, but there was no one who would know where her house was, let alone someone he could entrust a drunk woman to right now.

“Ah, damn.”

Just then, at the sound of the pub door opening, Chang-hyeon shook his head and shouted, “We’re closed!”

Making that urgent shout meaningless, heavy footsteps pressed against the pub’s wooden floor, cutting through the deep silence with deliberate thuds.

Chang-hyeon unconsciously turned his head.

The man who passed by Chang-hyeon, carrying the cool scent of nicotine as if he’d just finished smoking, lifted the limp Hae-yeong into his arms without a moment’s hesitation.

“Excuse me, who are you…”

A man in an obviously expensive suit with a cool demeanor. Chang-hyeon instinctively put up his guard and blocked the path of the person who had skillfully taken Hae-yeong into his arms.

“Who are you?”

“Her boyfriend.”

Instantly, a past conversation flashed through Chang-hyeon’s mind.

“Hae-yeong would be lucky if she even held a guy’s hand before graduating college.”

From enrollment, Hae-yeong had already been a famous figure.

The attention focused on her, with her noble appearance and blue eyes, was beyond imagination.

Among the students, even if they didn’t know whether the Department of English Education existed on campus, there was no one who didn’t know ‘that mixed-race girl.’

The small number of students in that year’s intake played a part, but more than that, her cheerful and appropriately sociable personality, contrary to her pretty appearance, elevated her image even further.

However, due to strict family control, her private life was always shrouded in mystery.

Hae-yeong, who rarely attended private gatherings or group activities, had somehow solidified into a mysterious image that lived up to her looks.

After that, she was almost forgotten from people’s minds.

Ji-su also had hardly any interaction with classmates since she started dating from her freshman year, but she happened to get along well with Hae-yeong from the same department, which was how the two became close.

“I haven’t heard that Hae-yeong has a boyfriend.”

When he blocked the man’s path in a guarded tone, trying to protect Hae-yeong from him, the man said calmly,

“We live together.”

A voice that was neither overbearing nor light resonated heavily through the pub’s interior.

“Does that answer your question?”

As if proving that answer, Hae-yeong, cradled in Taejun’s arms, rubbed her cheek against his chest and mumbled,

“Oppa…”

Though it was a voice so small it seemed to crawl away, he could instinctively tell it was definitely the sound of her calling the man.

As if bewitched by something, he cleared the path he had been blocking, and Taejun left the pub without looking back.

Chang-hyeon could only stare blankly at the man’s massive retreating figure.

***

Taejun took the unconscious Hae-yeong not to the Hannam-dong family home, but to Jongno. It was the second house located not far from the company headquarters.

Unless it was quite difficult to get home, he usually made sure to return to the family home without fail.

This was because he couldn’t leave Hae-yeong, who still couldn’t adapt to the massive mansion even after years, alone and neglected.

To dismiss it as meddlesome interference would be too light for its weight. It was a kind of cowardly and self-torturing atonement to fulfill his responsibility for bringing her into the house.

When employees brought him trendy desserts to try, he would dutifully take them to Hae-yeong, and occasionally when his schedule was free or when she looked particularly gloomy, he would drive her to school or pick her up.

He hadn’t expected any special compensation from Hae-yeong.

He simply didn’t want to face the dissatisfaction and resentment written on her face.

When Hae-yeong kissed him, he received it, and when their eyes met, he willingly gave her his lower body too—what couldn’t he do?

Though it was probably just a very shallow form of escape.

Of course, such minor considerations couldn’t perfectly bridge the vast distance between the two.

Setting aside the nine-year age gap, Taejun didn’t know what topics to use to continue conversations.

It was arrogant delusion to believe that relationships could be improved through trivial efforts like exploring young people’s tastes or ways of thinking these days.

Even in those bold moments when she fearlessly pressed her lips to his.

Even the memory of that beast-like first relationship when they devoured each other as if their rational strings had snapped.

Even on those desperate nights when she cried out to be left alone, saying she hated him and couldn’t stand the sight of him.

And even now, in this moment when she called his name while soaked in alcohol and unable to think normally.

Taejun already knew everything Hae-yeong wanted and desired. He had just been persistently turning away from it while knowing.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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