The Country Life Diary of a Gangster's Secretary - c79
This chapter is paid for by Nemuru!
Hyeseong was vacuuming as usual when it happened.
âWhat? What did you just say?â
Hyeseong frowned, turned off the vacuum, and looked at Dohyun who was sitting on the living room couch using his laptop. A pleasant afternoon breeze was wafting in through the open front door left ajar for ventilation.
âHuh? Iâm planning to go up to Seoul for good next week.â
Dohyun said with a chuckle. Why does he always bring up important things like this while the vacuum is running? Hyeseong quickly approached Dohyun.
âWhy all of a sudden? You never mentioned that before.â
âWell, actuallyâ¦â
Dohyun smiled and told Hyeseong about what happened last time at his motherâs birthday party.
From what he said, it sounded like Dohyun got an earful from his mother when the whole family gathered together. Not only did he quit his job on a whim and come to Korea, but he was also freeloading at his poor friendâs house without any plans.
âYou know how my mom is, Hyeseong.â
âAh, well. Sure.â
In fact, when Hyeseong first got the call that Dohyun had wrapped up his life abroad and was returning to Korea, his biggest worry was actually whether Dohyun was alive or not. Thereâs no way his scary mother would have tolerated such an impulsive action.
Luckily, whether Dohyun managed to persuade her somehow or pulled some cute act, the issue of his return seemed to have passed relatively smoothly. The proof was that he had come back to Hyeseongâs house even after the birthday party.
âI thought she was starting to trust me a bit since she didnât say anything, but when I met her last time, I realized that wasnât the case. Do you know what my mom said to me at the endâ¦?â
Dohyun looked at Hyeseong with a terrified expression.
âWhat did she say?â
âShe said sheâs been watching to see how long Iâm going to keep freeloading and playing around at your houseâ¦â
Oh boy, Hyeseong let out a sympathetic sound without realizing it.
This was one of the reasons Dohyun was so afraid of his mother. Itâs not that she hadnât said anything about his return to Korea. She had been observing her son to see how well he would do after suddenly quitting his job and coming back.
And it seemed that grace period had come to an end.
âActually, I still donât want to work yet. I have some money saved up. But you know, Hyeseongâ¦â
âYeah.â
âMom keeps appearing in my dreamsâ¦â
Dohyun collapsed face-down on the table with a miserable expression.
He muttered with difficulty that in his dreams, his mom keeps chasing after him, yelling at him to ask when heâs going to get his act together, and that thereâs no nightmare like it.
âWell, then I guess thereâs no choice. Pack your bags.â
Hyeseong replied curtly and slowly got up.
âHyeseong, youâre so cold.â
Dohyun grabbed Hyeseongâs waist as he tried to stand up, practically in tears.
âCanât you talk to my mom for meâ¦?â
âAre you a child? And Dohyun.â
âYes?â
âIâm scared of your mother too.â
Hyeseong said pointedly that itâs best to start economic activities as soon as possible, even if playing around is fun, as he tried to detach Dohyun.
But Dohyun desperately clung to Hyeseong, begging him not to abandon him.
âDohyun, there are times in life when you have to do things even if you donât want to.â
âHyeseong!â
Let go, Hyeseong tried hard to move his arms to remove Dohyun who was gripping his waist, but to no avail.
Dohyun held on to Hyeseong with tremendous strength, as if he really didnât want to get a job in Seoul. As if Hyeseong was some kind of lifeline.
Hyeseong turned his body and tried to walk forward.
But Dohyun didnât give up either and refused to let go of Hyeseongâs waist. As a result, he ended up being dragged along.
âHey, let go while Iâm still asking nicely.â
âCan you live without me, Hyeseong?â
âYup. I can live perfectly fine.â
âYouâre too much!â
Dohyun suddenly put more strength into his grip. Hyeseongâs feet got tangled and he collapsed forward with a thud.
The sound of his forehead hitting the wooden floor was no joke, startling the sleeping Boksil who jumped up in fright.
âGasp!â
Dohyun let go of Hyeseong in shock and covered his mouth. Oh no, his face clearly showed he knew he messed up.
âHye-Hyeseong, are you okay?â
Dohyun crawled over to Hyeseong who was lying on his side on the floor. Hyeseong was glaring at Dohyun while holding his forehead.
âS-sorry. I didnât mean toâ¦â
Dohyun awkwardly laughed as he tried to get closer to Hyeseong.
âWhat are you doing?â
A familiar voice came from the front door.
Hyeseong, Dohyun and Boksilâs heads all turned towards the door together.
âAhjussi.â
Hyeseong spoke softly, still rubbing his forehead. The expression on Ihyeokâs face as he leaned against the open door was, how should I put it â a bit scary.
And with good reason. The scene that met Ihyeokâs eyes was like this:
Hyeseong was lying on his side covering his face, while Dohyun had crawled over on his knees supposedly out of concern and was positioned right at Hyeseongâs thigh area.
In other words, not only did it look like Hyeseong was pinned under Dohyun, but Dohyunâs position was also a bit suggestive.
Ihyeok took off his shoes with an ominous air and slowly approached Dohyun.
âOh, helloâ¦â
Dohyun tensed up at Ihyeokâs scary expression and could only widen his eyes.
âHuh?â
Ihyeok grabbed Dohyunâs hood and flung him to the side. The defenseless Dohyun hit the wall with a thud. He groaned softly while rubbing the back of his head with a dazed look.
âAhjussi, what are you doing?â
The startled Hyeseong quickly got up and ran to Dohyun. When asked if he was okay, Dohyun replied that he was fine with a blank expression.
Hyeseong narrowed his eyes at the culprit who had suddenly appeared and thrown the kid for no reason.
âAhjussi, whyâ¦â
âWhat happened to your forehead?â
Before he could finish speaking, Ihyeok strode up to Hyeseong. Without hesitation, he grabbed Hyeseongâs cheeks with both hands and lifted his face.
The cut from before was completely healing. However, there was a distinct red mark on his forehead from hitting the floor earlier because of Dohyun. It had already started swelling up in the few minutes since then.
âNo, waitâ¦â
âI asked what happened.â
It was also because Hyeseongâs skin was delicate. With his cheeks squeezed, it wasnât easy for Hyeseong to talk.
Dohyun, who was standing next to them, clapped his hands as if realizing something while blankly watching the scene unfold.
âYou need to let go for him to speak.â
Finally free from Ihyeokâs grip, Hyeseong took a small step back and cleared his throat.
He couldnât help but be flustered by Ihyeok suddenly approaching and kneading his face as he pleased.
Hoping his face wasnât turning red, Hyeseong turned his head slightly.
âWe were just playing around and that happened.â
âDid you do this to him?â
Ihyeok glared at Dohyun with a low voice. The terrified Dohyun slowly hid behind Boksil who had come over.
âUh, well you seeâ¦â
âWhat the heck were you playing at to cause this? Donât you know his skin bruises easily?â
Why is this ahjussi acting like this? Hyeseong looked at Ihyeok strangely as he kept getting mad at Dohyun for no reason. The kid was already scared of Ihyeok as it is. Sure enough, Dohyun was sitting there with an ashen face just hugging Boksil.
âI told you, we were just playing around. By the way, what brings you here?â
Hyeseong blocked Dohyun from view. Ihyeok also averted his gaze at Hyeseongâs expression silently pressuring him to stop being angry.
âJust. To see you.â
He came to see me for no reason? His state really was a bit strange today.
Getting mad at Dohyun over nothing, saying he came without a reason⦠Hyeseong quietly glanced back. Dohyun was sitting there timidly, trying to read the room.
âCheon Hyeseong, come here. Letâs ice it.â
Checking the time, it had just passed 3pm. He must have gotten off work early today.
âItâs fine. Why even put ice on it?â
But Ihyeok ignored Hyeseongâs words and went to the kitchen to open the fridge.
Dohyun quickly said he would go take Boksil for a walk and left in a hurry after getting ready. But they had already walked Boksil this morning. In other words, Dohyun was running away because he was scared of being with Ihyeok.
âWhy did you get mad at Dohyun?â
Hyeseong asked reproachfully. But Ihyeok brought over an ice pack without a word and sat Hyeseong down in the living room.
âI said itâs really okay⦠Ah.â
Hyeseong bit his lip slightly at the sudden cold sensation on his forehead.
âHow hard did you hit it for it to swell up like this?â
âItâs not that swollen.â
âItâs very swollen. You just didnât look in a mirror.â
Ihyeok carefully placed the ice pack centered around the injured area.
Hyeseong felt a bit uncomfortable. His careful touch on the forehead strangely made it feel ticklish.
Ihyeok sat facing Hyeseong, put a hand behind his head, and kept icing the swollen part.
Honestly, itâs not like an arm was broken or anything. It would have been fine to do this much alone, but Hyeseong just stayed still. Because he liked Ihyeokâs gentle and soft touch.
âDohyun says heâs going to Seoul.â
âIs he moving back for good?â
Hyeseong nodded.
âSo be a bit nicer to the kid. Heâs acting like that because youâre always so scary.â
âWhen was I ever scary?â
Hyeseong lightly pushed Ihyeokâs hand away at the brazen remark. The ice pack fell off but the chill still lingered on his forehead.
âYou were saying something to him just now too. We were only messing around but you made a big deal out of nothing.â@@novelbin@@
âHow is it nothing? You got hurt.â
Well. Does this even count as getting hurt? Sure, it hurt when he hit it and he could feel the swelling, but it wasnât that serious.
But Hyeseong couldnât say anything. Because Ihyeok was looking down at him with a slightly less angry face than before, or more precisely, an expression that seemed to say he felt wronged.
Come to think of it, Ihyeok was always like that. Whenever Hyeseong got even slightly hurt in front of his eyes, he would make that angry but sad face.
Like now, and like that day when he ended up hospitalized after getting kidnapped by Kim Doo-sung, and when he got hit in the cheek by Choiâs husband, and long ago when that thing happened at the Taesung gangâs office.
This chapter is paid for by Nemuru!
Translation Notes:
Thank you so much, Nemuru I can do the 4 chapters now! Really Thank you so much. We love you >3
-YengLi