His Silence Scares Me More Than His Obsession

“Haa…….”

Haejin was cleaning, wiping the floor with a rag, when he suddenly let out a deep sigh.

It wasn’t because the work was hard or his situation was pitiful.

It was because he kept remembering how Beomwoo had suddenly appeared at his part-time workplace last time and said he would contact him.

Beomwoo, who had declared he would make Haejin fall in love with him—Haejin still found it hard to let go of his feelings, and he had worried that if Beomwoo really set his mind to pursuing him, it would be even harder.

But as if to make his worries pointless, Beomwoo had neither contacted him nor shown up since that day.

Haejin spent each day anxiously wondering if he would contact him or appear suddenly like that day, until one day he suddenly felt this situation was strange.

It wasn’t him, but rather, it felt like he was waiting for Beomwoo.

He had tried not to be conscious of him, but the more he tried, the more Beomwoo popped into his mind like a contrary frog.

He couldn’t tell if that was just his nature, making him think of Beomwoo constantly, or if he was just thinking of him an unusually large amount.

As his mind grew more and more complicated, he sighed deeply as if wanting to sink into the ground.

At the dining table, his aunt and uncle, who were drinking, looked at him with suspicious eyes and muttered.

“Ha, there’s no way it’s this quiet.”

“Did that brat pull some trick?”

“It seems like it, right? Even if we give that kid the benefit of the doubt, the other side—their company is involved, right?”

“How come there’s no news, as if sealed tight? Shouldn’t one of those sons be rushing over saying they want to marry?”

He hadn’t been paying much attention to their conversation while cleaning, but he heard the uncle and aunt’s words in turn.

He didn’t know, but they were talking about him.

The content was that it was strange there was no news even after sending him out to the gathering.

Fortunately, it seemed they didn’t know that he had turned down all the brothers right there on the spot.

Come to think of it, it was basically like they all conspired together not to marry, so there was no benefit in them finding out.

……Still, Mr. Beomwoo didn’t seem to have given up yet.

Was it fortunate he hadn’t said anything?

Then again, Beomwoo knew he was being abused at home, and he wasn’t the type to pass that on to create a bad opportunity.

They were forcefully trying to coerce him into marrying someone he didn’t want, yet even in the midst of that, he found himself thinking, ‘He wouldn’t do that,’ viewing Beomwoo in the best possible light.

As Haejin thought of Beomwoo, he pressed his lips together and continued wiping the floor.

His aunt tapped her foot against Haejin, who was crouched down wiping.

They probably wouldn’t even call a pet they were raising this carelessly.

Haejin stopped wiping and looked up at her.

The woman narrowed her eyes and spoke to him.

“Hey, what did you do there?”

“……What did I do?”

“You must have done something, that’s why there’s no news like this.”

“You ruined it, didn’t you?”

“Those people probably think this kind of marriage is absurd too.”

“No way.”

“We’re not just offering some ordinary company president position, it’s H Group.”

“Those rich bastards, there’s no way they wouldn’t be greedy.”

Haejin feigned ignorance and made excuses, but his aunt scoffed, saying it couldn’t be.

She always had the underlying belief that people who know the taste of money are greedier.

But from what Haejin felt after entering the chaebol family, the greediest people he had ever seen in his life were his aunt and uncle.

It’s natural for people to like money, but the problem was they didn’t earn it themselves and tried to exploit others.

Just like now, trying to get him involved with a chaebol family somehow.

But stating his thoughts would only make things more exhausting, so he stayed quiet.

His uncle stared intently at him and spoke.

“Hey, hand over your phone.”

“……Huh?”

“Something’s f*cking suspicious.”

“I need to see if you pulled some trick, so hand over your phone.”

They were convinced there was no way there’d be no news without a reason, that Haejin must have done something, and tried to find evidence on his phone.

The demand to inspect his most private item was inevitably shocking.

So when Haejin hesitated and didn’t hand over the phone immediately, they looked at him even more suspiciously and stood up.

“Looking at how you’re not handing it over right away, there really must be something, huh?”

“N-no! There’s nothing……. It’s just, my privacy.”

“Privacy my ass, stay still.”

Haejin insisted he didn’t want to show his phone for other reasons, not because he had something to hide, but they overpowered him by force and snatched the phone away.

They sat on the dining chairs, and Haejin sat kneeling on the floor as his phone was inspected.

Fortunately, he had never exchanged any contact with the chaebol brothers, but because his past life memories were mixed in, his heart was needlessly anxious wondering if some record might remain.

Haejin glanced around, wrapped in tension, as his aunt, who had been staring at the phone for a while, frowned and muttered.

“There’s really nothing……. Is it really nothing?”

“He’s a cunning bastard, so he might have erased all traces. Look more.”

“No, if he erased it, how are we supposed to find it?”

It seemed they couldn’t find what they wanted on the phone, as they argued among themselves about looking more and how to find it if it wasn’t there.

While showing them the phone, Haejin had inwardly worried they might see something, but in fact, it was true the content they wanted wasn’t on the phone.

In this life, he hadn’t exchanged any contact at all.

He was inwardly relieved, thinking he hadn’t specifically erased any records and there was nothing to be caught on, when his uncle, who still couldn’t let go of his disappointment and was peering at the phone, suddenly straightened his posture as if he’d found something.

“Wait.”

“Gu Beomwoo? Isn’t this the name of one of those chaebol brothers? Gu, something….”

Gu Beomwoo.

At the name he heard just as he was feeling relieved, Haejin’s head shot up.

He had received the brothers’ business cards at the gathering and gotten their contact info, but as he had no reason to contact them separately, he hadn’t saved them.

But a few days ago, Beomwoo showed up in front of his part-time job saying he’d contact him, so to avoid him if a call or text came, he had saved it…… and now it had just caught their eyes.

Still, it seemed they didn’t fully remember the name, as their reaction wasn’t one of complete certainty that he was from the chaebol family.

If he stepped forward and denied it, it would only make them more certain, so he kept his mouth shut.

His aunt’s face lit up and she nodded.

“It seems right. I think I’ve heard it.”

“Well, if we send a message, we’ll know.”

They weren’t completely sure if Gu Beomwoo was from the chaebol family and were wavering, but their attitude was that if they sent something, maybe a reply would come.

Whether Beomwoo was from the chaebol family or not, he wished they wouldn’t do that, but if he threw a fit saying no, they would likely become certain he was, so he couldn’t.

What on earth are they trying to send…….

Haejin couldn’t even bring himself to tell them not to and looked at them with anxious eyes.

Fortunately, even as they said, “Let’s wait for a reply,” and took a few sips of alcohol while holding his phone, the phone remained silent with no news.

Even though they said to wait leisurely, as the eagerly awaited contact didn’t come, they kept looking at the phone and muttering.

“Strange. No contact……. Was it someone else?”

“Even if it was someone else, if we sent this kind of message, a reaction should come…….”

He had no idea what kind of message they sent, but his aunt and uncle were puzzled about how it could be so completely silent.

Given that, it was fortunate they weren’t completely sure Beomwoo was from the chaebol family, but they stuffed his phone into their own pocket and said to Haejin.

“Your phone is confiscated for the time being.”

“Huh? That’s not how it works! Give it back!”

“Where do you get off talking big? I’ll give it back when the time comes, so just stay quiet.”

It was unfair enough to have his phone unexpectedly inspected, but now they were confiscating it.

He was anxious about what they had sent to Beomwoo and what kind of reply might come, but even aside from that reason, it was tantamount to taking away and controlling his private life.

So Haejin sprang up from his spot, saying that couldn’t happen, and tried to take the phone back, but he was no match for his aunt and uncle.

Just their threatening gesture of raising a hand as if to hit him made him instinctively curl up and retreat.

No matter how much he brainwashed himself not to be afraid, it was hard to erase the fear of violence already ingrained in his body.

In the end, Haejin had his phone confiscated helplessly, and after cleaning up their drinking table, he returned powerlessly to his room.

Haejin lay down weakly on the floor without even spreading out bedding and muttered to himself.

“What are they trying to do by taking my phone…….”

Would they send another message?

Would another contact come?

He was anxious they might change his life at their whim again.

He let out deep sighs as if wanting to sink into the ground again, when a question suddenly arose.

He said it wasn’t his style to stay still, that he would contact him first.

On the contrary, he contacted him first, so why was there no reply?

It wasn’t him who contacted Beomwoo, but a message was sent from his number, so Beomwoo should think it was from him.

There was a disconnect from Beomwoo’s confident declaration that he would make him fall in love with him.

……What’s really going on?

It was fortunate no contact had come, but he had no idea what Beomwoo was thinking.