93.
Chae Yoo-jeong and the woman, Kang Ji-ye, who did not notice that I was right behind them, continued their conversation.
“Stop pushing! Do you think it was me who wanted to come?”
Kang Ji-ye, who had parked her car right next to the road, frowned and shouted nervously.
“I came because Kyung-seok oppa asked me to come and see your face since it’s your birthday!”
“If you are going to come, please contact me in advance. Why do you give up on all contact and just come to me on your own?”
“If you had answered my call earlier, I would have just thrown the cake at you and gone home.”
Kang Ji-ye, exhaling heavily, filled with frustration, continued her words.
“Chae Yoo-jeong. Why didn’t you explain that you were in contact with Yoo Ji-han?”
My name came up very naturally in their conversation. I reflexively twitched my hand and looked at Chae Yoo-jeong’s expression.
Chae Yu-jeong, who was glaring at Kang Ji-ye with narrowed eyes, answered in a cold voice.
“Why should I explain that to you? And don’t call Hyung’s name carelessly. How close are you to Yoo Ji-han, anyway?”
“Does that matter now?”
“Then?”
“Shouldn’t you have let me know in advance if you were going to boldly come to pick up Yoo Ji-han at the guild meeting? How can you do this when you clearly know I’m there too?”
Kang Ji-ye touched her forehead as if her head hurt.
“Do you know what Yoo Ji-han and I talked about before you came? I asked if he was in touch with Yoo Chae. But he said he didn’t?”
“…….”
“Why did you show up to pick him up when you clearly broke off your relationship with him? Do you know how surprised I was to see you?”
I slowly closed my eyes and opened them, feeling my blood go cold.
As I unconsciously tightened my fist, the handle of the cake box I was holding was distorted by my reckless movements.
“I met Hyung for a different reason. I’m going to completely quit Zenoris and won’t be playing as Yoo Chae, so it doesn’t really matter.”
“...Wait a minute, Chae Yoo-jeong. I’m asking just in case.”
After hearing Chae Yoo-jeong’s words, Kang Ji-ye noticed something strange and opened her mouth.
“Is it possible that Yoo Ji-han doesn’t know that you are Yoo Chae? So now...”
Before Kang Ji-ye could finish her question, a short beeping sound rang on my cell phone. The notification sound that rang from the cell phone in my hand was clearly audible to the two people who were ten steps away.
Only then did Kang Ji-ye and Chae Yoo-jeong discover me and their eyes widened in shock. I stared at Chae Yoo-jeong, whose complexion instantly turned white, then looked down and checked his cell phone.
Funnily enough, the identity of the notification sound was a text message from the dessert shop thanking them for purchasing. As I read it, the cake box I was holding in my other hand felt very heavy.
“Hyung….”
“Hello.”
Ignoring Chae Yoo-jeong’s eye contact, I smiled softly at Kang Ji-ye and said a greeting, which greatly embarrassed her.
“Ah, unn, Well... when did you get here...”
“I’m sorry, Noona.”
I put my cell phone in my coat pocket while cutting off Kang Ji-ye’s words.
“Could you please give me time with him? I have something to talk about with Chae Yoo-jeong.”
No matter how much I tried to suppress my emotions and calmly resolve the situation, my voice inevitably came out cold.
Kang Ji-ye, who looked at me and Chae Yoo-jeong in turn with an embarrassed look, eventually nodded.
“Okay. I was going to go anyway. It’s not my place to intervene.”
Kang Ji-ye, who sighed, added one last thing to Chae Yoo-jeong.
“Later, when you come to your senses, call Kyung-seok oppa. I’ll be there.”
Kang Ji-ye got into the car and left the place. I watched the car until it completely disappeared from sight, then turned my attention to Chae Yoo-jeong.
Chae Yoo-jeong’s face was seen as pale as a corpse. The man’s lips trembled as he stood there, unable to open the door for me to speak first.
“Chae Yoo-jeong.”
As I calmly called his name, Chae Yoo-jeong’s shoulders trembled greatly.
“Answer straight from your mouth.”
“........”
“Are you Yoo Chae?”
Chae Yoo-jeong, whose pupils were shaking intensely, eventually closed his eyes tightly. Cold sweat formed on his temples.
“……Yes.”
After hesitating for a long time, Chae Yoo-jeong answered in a voice as rough as sandpaper.
It was the answer I expected, but when I heard it, a strong pain radiated from my chest. I had a tough time swallowing the unknown emotions that rose up to the end of my throat.
“Okay.”
“Hyung.”
“Take this.”
I didn’t want to see Chae Yoo-jeong’s face anymore. With my head slightly lowered, I forced the guy to take the cake box I was holding.
“You said you like this. Take it and eat it.”
“W-wait a minute, Hyung.”
“I’m going.”
I turned my back without looking at Chae Yoo-jeong’s face until the end. I turned back the way I came and walked down the alley next to me.
Chae Yoo-jeong, who was standing there in a daze while holding the cake box, began to hurriedly chase after me.
“Hyu-hyung. Wait a minute! Wait, I...!”
A trembling, hot energy spread from deep within. It wasn’t just anger caused by being deceived. It was more complicated than that... I didn’t have the confidence to face it properly.
My mind was so dizzy. I felt nauseous. No matter how much I thought about it, I wasn’t normal right now. So, I ignored Chae Yoo-jeong’s cries and walked steadily.
“Hyung! D-don’t go. Don’t go like this, please! I’ll explain everything. I will. Please!”
The footsteps were getting closer quickly. I bit my lip and increased my walking speed.
Don’t touch it. Don’t hold on to it, just let it go like this. As for me, I don’t have the confidence to talk rationally, so if I had known what he was doing to me...
“Hyung......!”
A formidable force grabbed my arm. When I felt that, my barely perceptible thoughts suddenly stopped and the emotions I had been suppressing burst out.
I gritted my teeth and shook off Chae Yoo-jeong’s hand, then stretched out my arm and roughly grabbed Chae Yoo-jeong’s collar. Chae Yoo-jeong coughed, pushed by my strength, and hit the wall hard. The recoil caused the cake box to fall to the floor.
“Can you explain? How are you going to explain?”
As I made eye contact with eyes filled with fear, emotions I didn’t even know existed overflowed like a tidal wave. Among the many emotions, the one I felt most keenly was the feeling of betrayal.
“You pretended not to notice when I was confused, and now you’re explaining it to me...?”
“Hyung……”
“I kept asking, how many times?! What did you answer each time?”
“…….”
“You said you didn’t know. You said no! Fuck, but what? Can you explain now?”
I felt resentful. Chae Yoo-jeong, who deceived me. And this shitty situation itself that I found out about today.
If you were going to deceive, you should have deceived more thoroughly. I should have been able to deliver the cake to you with a smile. I should have done that......
“Did you have fun?”
My chest hurt terribly, as if it had been cut to pieces. It hurt so much.
“You must have laughed a lot when you saw me adjusting to the beat without knowing anything.”
“I didn’t, I didn’t!”
Tears poured down from Chae Yoo-jeong’s wide-open eyes. Chae Yoo-jeong gasped and said in denial, desperately shaking his head.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ve never thought of Hyu-Hyung like that. I didn’t laugh. I... I am just…”
“How can I believe that?”
“……”
“How can I believe...”
I was the one who really wanted to cry. But when I looked at Chae Yoo-jeong, whose cheeks were wet with tears, I could only laugh helplessly.
A cake box with all kinds of dirt on it fell on the floor and was kicked by my feet. The cake in the box must have been just as messed up as that. That looked exactly like me.
When I realized that, I felt a severe sense of helplessness. I gently removed my hand from Chae Yoo-jeong.
“...Let’s stop.”
I stepped back, pressing my sore eyes with my hands, and this time Chae Yoo-jeong caught me.
“Please no! D-don’t tell me to stop. I was wrong, I was wrong!”
“Let go.”
“Let me explain. I’ll explain everything, don’t go…!”
Chae Yoo-jeong’s hand holding the hem of my clothes was trembling. I mercilessly removed his ice-cold hand.
“Let’s... talk later. Nothing can happen in this state.”
“.......”
“Don’t grab me.”
Explanation or anything else, rational conversation itself was impossible right now. Chae Yoo-jeong, who noticed that I looked tired, shed tears again. Despite his appearance, I calmly turned away.
It was true, without a doubt, that Chae Yoo-jeong genuinely liked me. So, there must have been a reason for deceiving, and there must have been circumstances of its own. I knew that his plea for an explanation wasn’t just an excuse to avoid the situation.
But still... I was hurt too. With this mindset, I didn’t have the confidence to face him rationally. It felt like I was going to spit out some nonsensical accusation at any moment.
The happiness I felt just before meeting Chae Yoo-jeong melted like snow and disappeared without even leaving a trace.
---
Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor: Meimei
Support on Kofi:
HM: nice…. Wwwwww okay… so the Water noona knows himwwwwwwww… I’m wondering how this is gonna turn out…. And now MC knows…. Aaaagh
This is how I thought, through the chapter as I was reading it from the top.
MM: I kinda knew she knew CYJ from the get go and was kinda expecting something like this to happen but going through it is hard.
GX: Ah, here comes the dramatic reveal we’ve all been waiting for. I was not expecting our beloved MC to be able to just walk away like that, I thought he would blow up.
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😣
OMG.... the reveal!!! finally!!!!! the angst is so delicious hahahaha
thank you for translating <3