Speak of The Devil

Somewhere, an electronic sound was heard. It hadn’t even rung for three seconds, but it was enough to disturb the consciousness submerged beneath the surface of sleep. Then, a rustling sound was felt nearby.Whether it was a yawn or a deep breath, there was a sound of inhaling deeply followed by exhaling, and a slight recoil was transmitted to the bed. A momentary light passed over closed eyelids behind the sound of footsteps that silenced.Even without opening my eyes, I could tell that Jung Yiyeon had gotten up for work and gone into the bathroom. Indeed, the sound of water pouring was distinctly audible from beyond the firmly closed door.Jung Yiyeon moved cautiously, but for some reason, I was wide awake today. Without hesitation, I got up from bed, did some stretching, and left the room. After washing lightly in another bathroom, I headed for the kitchen.There was rice in the rice cooker and side dishes and soup in the refrigerator. I didn’t know how things were before I came to this house, but since I arrived, a housekeeper had been helping with the household chores. He came three times a week during weekdays, filling the side dishes, soup, and cooking, and cleaning the house. He was the one who worked when I was trapped in Jung Yiyeon’s villa before, so I was familiar with him. And, his cooking skills were still excellent, of course.There was a note on the refrigerator indicating what kinds of soup and side dishes were available. After reading it carefully, I decided on beef radish soup for breakfast. I took out the soup from the refrigerator and stir-fried the pork in a pan. The side dishes in small plastic containers were too much for individual servings but seemed sufficient, so I just put them all on the table.After warming up the soup and finishing cooking the pork, Jung Yiyeon, who had finished getting ready for work, came out of the room. When he saw me, he widened his eyes.“Did you sleep well?”“Why did you wake up so early?”It’s not like I always oversleep, and even when I wake up early to prepare breakfast, I always get this kind of reaction. He laughed when he saw the table set.“Did you wake up early to prepare breakfast for me?”I just woke up because of Jung Yiyeon’s noise. I didn’t even fart or answer, but Jung Yiyeon hugged my waist and kissed me. Is it really that nice just because I warmed up some food? It’s a little strange every time. Of course, I don’t dislike it.“I’ll enjoy it.”Sitting down and picking up the chopsticks, Jung Yiyeon had a particularly happy expression on his face from the morning. It was similar to the face he had last night when he was proudly boasting after defeating someone. Geez, is it really that good? Somehow, I feel embarrassed just watching him.After sharing a small conversation while eating, we cleaned up the table. It would have been enough to cover the side dish lids and put them in the refrigerator and clear a few dishes, but Jung Yiyeon insisted on helping, which caused a brief friction. Eventually, Jung Yiyeon went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and I cleaned up the table. I roughly tossed the dishes onto the countertop. If Jung Yiyeon wanted, he could run the dishwasher or do the dishes himself.I saw him off after he brushed his teeth and put on his jacket and coat. Well, it was just up to the front door. There was no end to the smile on Jung Yiyeon’s lips.“You didn’t forget about our dinner plans, did you?”“No. I’ll leave on time.”“What are you going to do during the day?”He asks while standing at the entrance. I just shrugged and said nothing. Maybe I’ll exercise, have lunch, and spend the afternoon somewhat passively until it’s time for dinner. In the evening, we planned to go see a ballet performance because Jung Yiyeon had managed to get tickets.“Want to commute together?”What nonsense is this again? He hugged my waist as if he were being cute.“It’d be nice to be together at work, wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t be bored either.”“I’ve never said I’m bored.”“I’m not forcing you. If you’d rather rest, feel free to.”Jung Yiyeon pressed his lips firmly against my cheek while still hugging my waist.“But lately, you seem a bit lethargic. Or should I quit too and hang out with you?”“If we both slack off, the household will be in chaos. Let’s go quickly. It’ll be late.”I jabbed the ribs of the man who kept saying such unreasonable things. I knew better than anyone how hardworking he was. Despite wanting to spend time with me, trying to have dinner together as much as possible, and making an effort to spend weekends together, he couldn’t hide the fact that he brought work home. Moreover, Jung Yiyeon’s commuting time seemed to have become faster than when I worked as his secretary.Still, the fact that there were no suggestions to take it easy or quit work altogether was because I knew that Jung Yiyeon enjoyed his work. He was someone who constantly wanted to fulfill his ambition, even if he pretended to be satisfied with the present. While I couldn’t compare to Jung Yiyeon in scale, I understood because I had similar aspirations.“See you later then. I’ll come to pick you up on time.”When I nodded, Jung Yiyeon finally kissed my lips and left the house. With one person gone, silence quickly descended inside the house. I never felt particularly quiet when I was at home, but Jung Yiyeon’s house, perhaps because it was unnecessarily spacious, often felt unusually lonely.Since Jung Yiyeon didn’t want me to do household chores and hired people regularly, I didn’t have much to do. After quitting my job, I spent my days leisurely, but lately, I hadn’t been meeting people much, so my daily life felt somewhat dull.Thanks to Jung Yiyeon’s suggestion, I moved into his house, and since then, I’ve been suffering from lethargy. It had only been a day or two of rest, but I even wondered if I had always been someone with no hobbies.Looking back, I was passionate about playing, building my resume, and working. Even in college, I was the type who sought recognition in my work. Living a busy life seemed natural, and now that I think about it, I enjoyed such a life. Rest was sweet after hard work. There were times when it was physically demanding, but occasional vacations were enough, and I had never seriously thought about quitting everything and resting. Driving smoothly at 140km/h was my style.But lately, the pace of my life seemed to be less than 20km/h. Sometimes it was leisurely and nice, but it also felt tiresome.People might call it a complaint of the affluent. If I could be grateful for almost no financial difficulties. Recently, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that my life was stagnant and rotting away in a puddle. The same daily routine made me feel depressed, unlike when I worked at the office.Anyway, I didn’t like the feeling of being stagnant, and I didn’t want to lose what I had, so I studied foreign languages and started exercising, things I hadn’t done before. But… the fact that Jung Yiyeon noticed my lethargy was a bit surprising.Maybe it would seem a little pathetic to watch from the sidelines. No, even thinking such thoughts seemed to imply that my current state wasn’t great.It was a situation where I could only sigh when I thought about it alone. Lethargy needed some kind of outlet. I went into the kitchen first. Even though there was someone who took care of the household, I felt guilty for not even doing the dishes. I put on rubber gloves and did the dishes, pondering how to spend another day. It was an everyday life so peaceful that it was almost boring.When evening came, Jung Yiyeon came to pick me up in front of the house. Despite declining his offer to send a driver, he came himself. Seeing his smiling face, I lost the will to complain, even though I had to endure the long commute due to rush hour.After dinner and entering the theater on time, I finally found out what performance we were seeing today. It was no wonder because when Jung Yiyeon asked, “Do you want to go see a ballet?” I didn’t have anything else to do, so I just said, “Sure,” without much interest.The title of the performance was “Onegin.” I remembered it as a piece performed by a legendary Korean ballerina who had been active in a prestigious ballet company in Germany. Even though I had seen musicals several times, this was my first experience with a ballet performance.“Do you like ballet?”“Well, I haven’t really seen much of it, to be honest.”It seemed Jung Yiyeon had about the same level of interest as me. I was curious about how a performance that progressed only with acting and dancing without a single line of dialogue would be. I worried that Jung Yiyeon, who often fell asleep in movie theaters, might doze off again this time.Fortunately, Jung Yiyeon didn’t fall asleep. Contrary to my concerns, the ballet performance had tremendous appeal. The choreography of the dancers overwhelmed the audience, and emotions were conveyed solely through the movements of the dancers. It was never boring; it was fascinating, and the movements created by the human body were awe-inspiring.Tatiana, a naive country girl, falls in love with Onegin, who has a cold and arrogant attitude, after seeing him. She dreams of falling passionately in love with Onegin, but he rejects her feelings. He not only rejects her but also tears up the letter she wrote on her palm. Not content with that, Onegin even seduces Tatiana’s sister Olga, who has an engagement, despite being her fiancé’s friend.From a purely story perspective, it wasn’t much different from the melodramatic soap operas. Even years later, Onegin realizes that his true love was Tatiana, who had become a noblewoman, and confesses his love to her.It was a cliché, a story of two lovers whose timing was off. I found it enjoyable in my own way. The ballet itself, which expressed the emotions of the protagonists solely through physical movements, was beautiful to watch. Watching their facial expressions and gestures, I couldn’t help but empathize and immerse myself in their emotions.Especially, the pas de deux when Tatiana, who had already formed a family with someone else, rejects Onegin was overwhelming. From Tatiana’s gestures, I felt her unyielding, painful love for Onegin. Onegin’s clinging to her evoked pity, but Tatiana’s anguish made one’s heart ache. When he ran out as if to stop Onegin from leaving, then came back, clutching his chest and wailing, Tatiana’s sense of regret was clearly conveyed. It felt like the sound in my ears was not music but the wail of someone who had gone mad with grief.It was a great performance. Even Tchaikovsky’s music was excellent. It was amazing to see characters being expressed solely through people’s movements, and it would be nice to watch and compare performances of other pairs. After watching the performance and getting into the car, I expressed my honest impression.“Ah, that was something.”“……”“It was enjoyable.”“……”“I think it would be good to see it again.”Jung Yiyeon didn’t reply. A silent laughter erupted inside me at his reaction. It seemed Jung Yiyeon also had no prior information about this performance whatsoever. If he had known what it was about, he probably wouldn’t have asked me to watch it with him.“Um, yeah.”The response that came after a long silence was, as expected, awkward.In fact, Jung Yiyeon occasionally disturbed my concentration during the performance. For example, when Onegin tore up Tatiana’s letter or when he seduced Olga. It was when he regretted realizing his feelings too late, seeing Tatiana, who had become someone else’s wife. I couldn’t help but notice him suddenly fidgeting beside me and pretending not to know anything.Doesn’t the story of a man who coldly rejects a woman’s love but later regrets and clings to her remind you of Jung Yiyeon and someone else’s story? Instead of feeling sleepy, it was supposed to be a content that made sleep flee.“Well… I’m glad you found it enjoyable.”If the man looking sheepish and stealing glances at me isn’t cute, then it must be a lie. Well, he still seemed to be in a huff… I wondered what I said to make Jung Yiyeon come out in such a sulky manner. What is love, anyway? Both Jung Yiyeon and I.“Where did you get the tickets?”“…I got them from Director Jung Sangyeon.”Huh. That was an unexpected answer.“Well, I didn’t expect this level of bad taste from you. No wonder you suddenly gave them to me as a gift…”“…But are you getting along well with her?”My feelings towards Director Jung Sangyeon were never good. It was true that she had assaulted Jung Yiyeon, but wasn’t that because Jung Yiyeon had imprisoned me? But she used that as an excuse to threaten me and pressure Jung Yiyeon. What she wanted was the shares of the company that Jung Yiyeon held. Not just the shares of the hotel, but also the shares of the subsidiaries of Eunha Group that the hotel owned. Although she had transferred all of that, Jung Yiyeon ended up not as the owner of the company but as a mere managing director.“Ah… I actually feel more like a partner than before.”“A partner? But doesn’t Yiyeon have very little to offer…?”“Hmm…”Jung Yiyeon, who was driving, fell silent for a moment. It seemed he was debating whether or not to say this. There must have been a reason for that long pause.“Actually, I haven’t completely transferred everything I have. It’s just a delegation of voting rights.”“…Huh?”“It’s not because I regret it… It’s because you need power to protect what you want to protect.”That’s a valid point. It really was. Jung Yiyeon still looked at me, but in truth, I felt relieved. Wasn’t it too burdensome for him to give up astronomical wealth because of me? At that time, the priority was for his brother to be safely released, but I couldn’t help but feel heavy-hearted about Jung Yiyeon’s decision.I had wondered why he couldn’t just let go of work when he wasn’t even the owner of the company anymore, but now I understood. It was better this way. By handing over the voting rights to Director Jung Sangyeon, he completely removed himself from the succession battle, so there would be fewer headaches. Since the hotel structure allowed for easy separation of subsidiaries, as long as he held the shares tightly, there would be no risk to the management rights.If there was a problem, it was that I felt a little uneasy about being left out. It was refreshing as if a suppressed discomfort had been released, but at the same time, it felt like being taken advantage of.“Wow, sir. Is this the fish that you’ve caught now? Are you finally confessing the truth?”“No. I’m really not doing this because I regret it, okay? I’m serious. What good is wealth to me? It’s only meaningful to support you. It’s just a means of appealing to your charm, if anything.”Huh. Hearing his excuses didn’t make it more understandable, it just became more and more unbelievable.“And I didn’t lie?”“You said you handed it all over. So you said I don’t have to work hard.”“I never said I gave it all away. Think about it carefully.”I couldn’t help but laugh in amazement. I felt like I should be angry at what I was hearing, but instead of getting angry, I was laughing with relief. It made me feel like I was the crazy one. But at the same time, I understood. Instead of lying, telling only half the truth was a tactic I often used too.“Should I go back and hand over everything again?”“Are you trying to cheer me up or tease me?” Jung Yiyeon asked playfully. “Are you going to read the atmosphere or act shamelessly? Pick one, will you??” I felt a surge of emotion, but all that came out of my mouth was a hollow laugh. I must be crazy to find this cute again.No wonder they say, “Once you meet your match.” I, who had never been so generous to anyone, became particularly weak only to Jung Yiyeon.“Ah, forget it. Just feed the fish you caught.”“Ah… Was it not enough? Alright. Tonight, I’ll try harder.”“No, what are you talking about?”“No, no. I was too lacking. I realized I still have the energy to cook breakfast in the morning… I’ll reflect on it.”No, is he saying he’ll make me unable to get up? I stared at Jung Yiyeon in disbelief, but unlike before, there was no hint of a smile on his face. As I burst out laughing again, he finally smiled too.Haha. Looking at his face, I found myself feeling a bit twisted inside.“But since Jung Yiyeon was honest with me today, I’ll confess something too.”“…Huh? What is it?”“You were curious why I went to meet a friend during college, right?”“Ah, right. But you didn’t tell me who it was or what you talked about.”Seems like Jung Yiyeon was quite curious as he gestured for me to hurry up and tell him. It might not be the best story to tell, but if he was that curious, then fine. In a nonchalant tone, I finally revealed the truth.“I met Jaeoh that day.”In an instant, the smile vanished from Jung Yiyeon’s face. Of course, I hadn’t lied. I first met Jaeoh during college, so it makes sense that he’s a college friend, right?***It was twelve thirty. It was the weekend, but the café was still relatively quiet. People sitting alone at tables with laptops here and there. Among them, I could spot the person I was looking for. Sitting in the far corner was Jaeoh, whom I hadn’t seen in months. He still had his preference for vivid colors, as I could tell from the red sweater he wore.Come to think of it, he was wearing a red shirt when we coincidentally met at the golf club in Busan last spring. For some reason, I felt a bit uneasy. Jaeoh noticed me and I approached him casually. Up close, his face hadn’t changed much.“Welcome. Feeling cold?”“Long time no see. How have you been?”“Doing okay. What do you want to drink? Let’s get some coffee.”“I’ll get it. Americano?”“Um… make it iced…”We exchanged light greetings, but the awkward atmosphere was inevitable. He also elongated his responses, showing that he felt the awkwardness of this meeting. I ordered coffee for him and myself and returned to the table with two prepared Americanos.“It’s cold out, why iced?”“Didn’t you know? I always drink iced.”We exchanged some small talk to lighten the mood, but that was all. For a while, the two of us sat there without conversation, just sipping our coffees.I found this heavy atmosphere quite burdensome. When Jaeoh contacted me after such a long time, I had agreed to meet him without much thought. Perhaps it was out of guilt. Jaeoh had been completely forgotten in my memory all this time. But when his name appeared on my phone screen, the first feeling that came to mind was guilt. And I felt regretful for the connection we had for almost ten years. I remembered how he left after being hurt, but I also felt grateful that he had reached out to me again. Of course, if he showed any lingering feelings towards me, it would be the worst, but Jaeoh probably knew my personality to some extent, so I didn’t expect that. Fortunately, Jaeoh seemed indifferent.“You look good.”“Are you being sarcastic?”“You used to drink all the time and lose weight continuously. I’m saying you look a bit plumper. It’s good to see.”I hadn’t bothered to weigh myself, so I just thought my clothes had gotten a bit looser. But the previous me was undoubtedly thinner to anyone’s eyes. Besides, Jaeoh’s words now, and the fact that Jung Yiyeon had been taking care of my meals like it was a critical mission, contributed to this conclusion. Thanks to that, I had recovered quite a bit by now.“How have you been?”It was a simple question about how things were going, but the answer didn’t come easily.“Have you… still been meeting with Chairman Jung?”“Um…”“Was it you who broke his arm?”I was taken aback. How did he know about Jung Yiyeon’s broken arm? But then I realized that it was only natural for rumors to spread, considering that he had been coming and going to work with that cast.“I didn’t do that, but… I guess it looks like I did. Right now… I’m doing… okay.”I wasn’t sure if “okay” was the right word. I hadn’t mentioned my plan to meet with Jaeoh because I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but by the time I woke up this morning, that plan had disappeared. When I called him, he said something had come up at work, but the situation seemed to imply that Jung Yiyeon was really upset.“How did Chairman Jung end up with a broken arm?”I didn’t want to answer, so I just shrugged, but Jaeoh sighed and spoke.“Just curious. It’s not like I’m going to spread rumors… Can’t you tell me about it?”“…Well, it’s kind of a messed up story.”It was embarrassing to talk about. But Jaeoh had a point. When I was struggling with my feelings for Jung Yiyeon, he was the one who tried to support me in any way he could, even though I didn’t want it. Even though I ultimately ended up using his warmth, whether I wanted to admit it or not.In the end, I briefly explained to Jaeoh what had happened. From Jung Yiyeon’s insistence on meeting me ten times, to eventually being kidnapped, and how my brother came to rescue me but ended up in prison, and how Jung Yiyeon covered it up. I tried to explain it as simply as possible, leaving out things like Chairman Jung’s blackmail.“…And yet, now we’re in a relationship.”“…Is that so…”“…That’s how it turned out.”Jaeoh’s response had a somewhat bitter tone. He forced a smile and took a sip of his iced Americano. For a moment, an awkward silence fell again.“…I can’t help but think he isn’t really normal.”Breaking the silence after a long while, Jaeoh spoke.“The fact that he didn’t let you go despite causing such chaos, that’s actually pretty tough. You get tired at some point.”“Yeah. It was really… annoying.”I chuckled weakly. But Jaeoh didn’t laugh.“And in the end, you gave in.”It was an undeniable fact. When I didn’t respond, Jaeoh nodded his head slowly.“But I thought that might happen.”“What do you mean?”“You and him. Just keep arguing and getting closer… I thought you’d end up together.”His words left me speechless. I couldn’t explain it, but it felt like something was caught in my throat.“When you said you liked someone else, I actually… thought it might just be a momentary whim.”“…”“I thought it would be good for you to settle down with someone you loved, but I didn’t think it would actually happen. The you I knew always lived like that… I think I wanted to believe that. Why it wasn’t someone else, why it wasn’t accepted.”I couldn’t find words to respond. Jaeoh continued with his silent monologue.“I thought as long as I kept a proper distance, I’d be the one left by your side… But you couldn’t shake him. Is he persistent, or are you just weak to him?”Jung Yiyeon was persistent. But come to think of it, there had never been anyone who had been so obsessed with me to the point of imprisonment. However, I didn’t have any memories of being manipulated by such people. Even if I continued forced relationships a few more times, my heart had never changed direction even once. Jung Yiyeon was the only one…“If I were that persistent, would you have given me a chance too, I wondered… But I don’t think so.”Jaeoh said with a self-deprecating tone.“I don’t have any ill feelings towards you. It’s just… why it wasn’t good at the end, for us.”