I’m Not That Obsessive

Chapter 2

When you’ve seen a secret, it’s best to pretend you didn’t. Especially when you’ve stumbled upon a massive secret that could paralyze all media outlets and social networks, you need to be even more careful with your actions.

I had no intention of gossiping about Mitchell’s hidden sexual identity and tried to quietly turn back.

Knowing better than anyone the hardships of celebrities who have no privacy and are picked apart from all sides, I had no intention of revealing this anywhere. I swear, not at all!

Although it was a bit shocking, I tried to pretend I hadn’t seen anything, but people always make mistakes at crucial moments. Just like when you try too hard to do well, even things you usually do well can go wrong.

Bang.

It was the first time since elementary school that I had tripped over my own feet. The two men on the bed turned their heads towards me as I fell hard on my behind.

“No! I didn’t see anything!”

I covered my face with my hands and scrambled to my feet. Even though I thought it was a stupid thing to do, I couldn’t think of any other alternative.

Hoping they would just let it slide, I hurriedly ran towards the front door. Of course, I didn’t get far before I was caught by the scruff of my neck.

Mitchell, wearing nothing, grabbed me and pushed me against the wall. Gripping my collar, he looked furious.

Of course he would be. Having his secret discovered by a man who had trespassed into his home must have felt like a bolt from the blue.

But I absolutely, absolutely had no intention of revealing his private life to others. Really! I wish he could understand that.

“I’m sorry! Really sorry. I’m your next-door neighbor and I came because of the noise. To ask if you could reduce the number of parties a bit. But the door was open so I came in. I shouldn’t have done that, I’m really sorry. I’ll apologize. But I didn’t see anything. I’ll keep it secret until I die, really.”

I explained the situation and said several times that I would zip my mouth shut. Knowing that he must be more flustered than I was, I tried to speak as calmly as possible.

With a height difference of about 10cm and a robust body that had played warrior roles quite well, the man gripping my collar was terrifyingly threatening.

Between his disheveled blonde hair, emerald eyes shining like jewels glared at me as if they could kill. For a moment, I was captivated by those fiercely burning eyes. I never knew anger could be so beautiful.

Just as I was about to be mesmerized by the noble face I had only seen on screen, I barely managed to regain my senses and continued speaking.

“I’m really sorry. If you want mental compensation for the trespassing, I’ll pay damages.”

Even as I said it, I realized it was a dangerous statement. Offering to pay damages without knowing how much I might be fleeced in the land of lawsuits.

Still, Mitchell probably wouldn’t go as far as a lawsuit. He wouldn’t want to make a big scene when I could potentially speak out if pushed.

It was then, as I was extremely tense and just watching his reactions, that Mitchell raised his eyebrows and said,

“Next door? Someone was living next door?”

“…Huh?”

He didn’t know?

Well, I hadn’t been going out much lately. Especially when it seemed like there would be a party, I didn’t go out at all. I would turn off all the lights in the house and quietly stay in a dark room watching movies.

Even so, to not even know that someone was living there…

I was dumbfounded by Mitchell’s words. I couldn’t tell if it was the fault of a careless real estate agent who didn’t do their job properly, or if Mitchell had forgotten even though he had been told.

If the low wall in the lawn yard was in that shape, shouldn’t they have informed him about the presence of neighbors even more?

Anyway, Mitchell didn’t believe what I said.

“Don’t lie.”

His hand gripping my collar tightened even more. As he pulled on my clothes, my neck chafed and it became difficult even to breathe. At this rate, I might really die at Mitchell’s hands.

He might really do it, considering that the spotless career he had built for 13 years was about to be embroiled in a major scandal because of me. I might disappear without a trace because of one moment’s mistake!

“Ugh, I really live next door. We can go and check together, can’t we?”

I thought I should first prove that I lived next door. I needed to clear up the misunderstanding that I was a liar and make him believe me. Only then would he even slightly believe that I wouldn’t carelessly run my mouth.

“Please.”

In the midst of all this, more threatening than Mitchell’s furrowed brow or his lips that looked ready to spew curses was his lower part.

His erect member was poking into my stomach. You’d think it would shrink in a situation like this, but Mitchell’s seemed even angrier than its owner. It was chilling, as if he was pointing a gun at me.

Just then, the bedroom door closed. The other man inside seemed to close the door as if he didn’t want to show his face. I hadn’t seen his face anyway since he had been bent over. All I remembered was Mitchell’s firm buttocks.

“Let’s go together. I’m not lying. And I’m not the kind of thoughtless person who would go around talking about other people’s private lives. So please let go of this. It hurts!”

My plea seemed to work as the hand gripping my collar loosened slightly. Still, he didn’t let go. His wolf-like eyes continued to glare at me.

I suddenly remembered a movie where Mitchell had played a werewolf. Even in a moment like this, his green eyes sparkled beautifully.

“What’s your name? Who are you and what do you do?”

Mitchell, who seemed to be thinking for a moment, finally let go of my neck as he inquired about my personal information. Instead, he grabbed my shoulder and dragged me to the middle of the living room.

“My name… Bae Geon-woo… Geon-woo Bae. I’m Korean and I came here to live for a while.”

Mitchell picked up the white robe strewn on the sofa. He put on the robe and slippers. Then he grabbed my shoulder again and pushed me towards the door. He seemed to want to verify if I really lived next door.

“Lead the way.”

I went out to the front door first. Although our front yards were adjacent, the houses were quite far apart, so we had to walk a bit. Fortunately, no one else was using the hillside land except for Mitchell and me, so we didn’t encounter anyone.

“It’s true,” I said dejectedly as I opened the front door of my house. I hadn’t bothered to lock it, thinking I’d be back soon.

“This is really my house.”

I stretched out my hand, gesturing for him to look inside as we entered. Although there wasn’t much furniture or many belongings, the pile of food in one corner made it look like someone lived there. I had bought it all at once to avoid going out frequently.

“Mr. Mitchell, I lived here before you did.”

I immediately regretted mentioning his name. He was so famous that pretending not to know him might seem strange. So I called him by name casually, but the moment I said “Mitchell,” his brow furrowed even more.

I had only emphasized the public image of ‘Mitchell Cronenwirth’.

“I’m truly sorry for entering your house without permission. I promise again that I’ll keep my mouth shut. We Koreans are known for our loyalty. We don’t expose others’ private matters, you know?”

“Private matters?”

“Ah! No! I mean, we’re good at keeping secrets. We respect others’ privacy.”

I jumped up and down, trying to fix my slip of the tongue. I pleaded with him to believe me, rubbing my hands together, and fortunately, he seemed to understand my sincerity.

“If you run your mouth carelessly, I’ll make you experience something you’ve never experienced in your life.”

“Ah, I won’t! I won’t! I don’t want to have that kind of experience, so I absolutely won’t say anything. Don’t worry. Really.”

“Alright. I’ll believe you.”

Thankfully, Mitchell nodded. All that begging had paid off. I was relieved that he wasn’t completely unreasonable, but I hesitated when he pulled out his phone from his robe pocket.

“Number.”

“Huh? Oh. Ah…”

I gave him my number, and Mitchell called my phone. He confirmed again as the phone on the table vibrated.

I didn’t expect to get Mitchell’s phone number this way, but I was secretly pleased. It wasn’t a bad thing to get to know a big celebrity, after all.

“I don’t trust people easily.”

When he first spoke, I couldn’t understand what he meant at all. I naively thought he might be trying to take credit for letting this incident slide despite not trusting people, but Mitchell turned out to be more meticulous and cunning than he appeared.

“I’m going to record you swearing that you won’t tell anyone.”

“Ah… okay. That’s fine. I can definitely do that. I really won’t say anything.”

“Take off your clothes.”

“…What?”

“Take off your clothes and say it. I need to have some collateral too, don’t I?”

“Ah, haha.”

I just laughed. I waved my hand, asking what the need for all this was. I tried to laugh it off, telling him to stop joking, but when I looked at Mitchell’s face, there wasn’t a hint of humor. He was serious.

“Why should I take off my clothes? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“If you hadn’t trespassed into our house, this wouldn’t be happening. You committed a crime first.”

“I’m sorry about that, but even so…”

Suddenly, I thought maybe it would be okay to just take off my top. As Mitchell said, this all happened because of my mistake, so it seemed right to at least pretend to follow his words.

“Hmm, alright.”

I took off my coat and t-shirt. Even though it wasn’t cold, a chill ran through my body for some reason. I covered my chest with one hand and nodded towards Mitchell’s phone.

“Record. I’ll say it.”

“No. You need to take off the bottom too.”

“Are you… drunk right now?”

Mitchell sneered at my words and pointed at my pants again.

“Take them off.”