Do You Want to Escape? I’ll Take You Out

He took Haejin to the deserted playground where they had talked last time.

Perhaps because it was late again today, there was no one at the playground.

With nowhere else to sit and talk, Haejin sat on a rusty swing, and Beomwoo stood opposite him.

He seemed to be waiting for Haejin to finally explain his circumstances.

Since they had moved location as he wanted, he should talk now, but when it came time to speak, he found it difficult to open his mouth.

Even though Beomwoo knew his situation, it was different from personally describing what had happened to him.

Even though he wanted to think it didn’t matter how Beomwoo saw him since they had no future anyway, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

I should tell him, I really should tell him…….

As Haejin stretched and bent his legs, hesitating, Beomwoo, who was standing in front of him, looked down at him for a moment and then spoke.

“Wait a moment.”

“……?”

Before Haejin could even answer, Beomwoo turned and suddenly headed somewhere.

Curious where he was going, Haejin watched as he entered a convenience store near the playground.

Is he going to buy cigarettes because he thinks the wait will be long? He is a smoker…….

It felt a bit awkward, but since Haejin himself wasn’t mentally prepared to talk yet, it didn’t matter.

So Haejin sat quietly waiting for him to return.

When Beomwoo came out of the convenience store, he was holding a black plastic bag.

It looked quite heavy to just contain cigarettes.

What is it?

Even though it probably wasn’t related to him, he grew curious.

As Beomwoo stood next to him with the bag, he took something out and handed it to him.

“Take it.”

“Huh?”

Haejin looked at him with a ‘what’s this?’ expression, but Beomwoo just gestured with his eyes as if to say, don’t ask, just take it.

Haejin awkwardly took it and looked—it was a beer.

Beer?

He thought it would be cigarettes or something for Beomwoo himself, not for him…….

Being given something so unexpected suddenly was confusing.

Bewildered, Haejin took the beer can with both hands and asked him.

“Why did you buy beer all of a sudden?”

“Because it didn’t seem like a story to tell sober.”

He had suspected there might be some ulterior motive to offering alcohol, but it seemed he was suggesting borrowing some liquid courage for a difficult topic.

It was indeed a story hard to bring up sober.

Especially since Haejin had never told anyone directly.

……One can of beer probably won’t make me drunk.

Haejin tightly gripped the beer can he received with both hands and bowed his head.

“Thank you…….”

After speaking, Haejin glanced at him once and opened the beer can.

When he lifted the tab, there was a pssht sound of carbonation rising.

Honestly, he felt a bit awkward when he was given the beer, but once he started drinking, he felt refreshed inside.

The weather was hot, and he had been feeling stifled.

As Haejin gulped down the beer refreshingly, glug glug, Beomwoo looked at him and let out a faint smile.

“I thought you wouldn’t have had something like this before.”

“……”

Even though he was the one who offered it, he seemed intrigued that Haejin drank it so well.

At his words, Haejin flinched.

For this body, it was the first time tasting alcohol.

Before becoming an adult, he had never touched alcohol.

But this time, relying on memories from his past life, he had brought the drink to his lips too familiarly.

Haejin took his mouth off the can and mumbled to him.

“O-one can is fine…….”

“I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m the one who brought it for you to drink.”

“……”

Well, that’s true…… but it definitely sounded like teasing.

Having run out of things to say and feeling embarrassed, Haejin put the beer can back to his lips and sipped.

Maybe because it was a late night in a deserted playground, and he was sitting there drinking beer.

Whether it was the atmosphere that seemed to make one honest about anything, or because this young body, experiencing alcohol for the first time, had a low tolerance.

After drinking only a little, a tipsy feeling quickly rose, disarming the defenses that had tightly wrapped around his heart.

Haejin placed the half-finished beer can on his knee and finally opened his mouth.

“Actually…… that message, my guardians sent it.”

“……”

“They want me to get married, you see.”

“They have my phone right now too.”

It wasn’t a confession, just stating that someone else sent the message, so why had it been so difficult?

After barely uttering a couple of sentences, it felt refreshing, as if a heavy stone had been lifted from his chest, but also strange.

Some say sharing worries lightens the load, but this wasn’t intended as that, nor was it confiding in a friend.

He was just explaining the situation because Beomwoo had been dragged into it, so why did his heart feel lighter?

Had he lived alone for so long with no one to confide in that his heart mistakenly thought he could rely on him?

Since there was no way he could rely on him, Haejin thought he shouldn’t feel this relief.

But Beomwoo, who had been listening with a serious expression, nodded calmly.

“I thought so. You’re the only person connected to that number who could send me such a message.”

“……”

Since he knew Haejin was being abused at home, it seemed he had not only realized Haejin didn’t send it but also guessed who did.

He was a smart person, so he seemed to have good intuition in that regard.

But to have guessed that far…….

Did he know his guardians sent it and, worried Haejin might be harmed, chose not to reply and came directly instead?

Thinking about it, no matter how strange the message was, it came from someone who wanted to marry him, so a reaction would be expected.

Completely ignoring it was an unusual move.

Moreover, he even went so far as to appear in front of him and ask.

He could have done it deliberately to create another chance to meet him, but if Beomwoo intended to push for marriage regardless of Haejin’s will, he could have seized the opportunity even if it seemed like Haejin didn’t send it, as long as it seemed like a chance.

Even if it seemed like a message from his abusive guardians.

But he didn’t.

He anticipated the entire situation and didn’t reply.

As if…… he was worried about him.

Haejin was curious if he had appeared like this instead of replying for the reasons he thought, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

Even if that meaning was correct, Haejin had nothing to give him in return.

He could only think, ‘Probably not,’ that he must have just ignored it because it wasn’t worth replying to.

Just as Haejin was barely holding onto his heart, which was softening from the alcohol and the night’s atmosphere, Beomwoo asked him.

“Do you want to get out?”

“……”

It was a natural question.

When Haejin didn’t deny it and remained silent, Beomwoo met his eyes and spoke seriously.

“I’ll make that happen for you.”

……Get me out?

It was a tempting offer, but it wasn’t much different from what he had said so far, just prettier words.

Wasn’t it ultimately about stimulating his weakness to achieve the goal Beomwoo wanted—marriage?

Even if it seemed like words for his sake, in the end, they weren’t, so he grew cold.

“That method is just to propose marriage, isn’t it…….”

“That’s the easiest and I’d like that too, but you’re going to refuse, aren’t you?”

“……”

“So I’m saying I’ll help you get out through a method other than marriage. Me.”

Haejin had answered curtly, thinking he knew Beomwoo’s intentions, but Beomwoo responded as if that wasn’t his thought.

If he made the same proposal as before, it was obvious he’d be rejected, so his reaction seemed to say, ‘Would I be a fool to say that again?’

If he looked into it, there probably were ways for him to get out of here without getting married.

That’s why he was doing part-time work, thinking he could go to a goshiwon or something.

But…… why?

If it wasn’t for his goal, there was no reason for Beomwoo to help him.

They weren’t even close, and if he thought this was Haejin’s biggest weakness, stimulating it would actually be better for demanding his goal.

But he was offering to remove it.

Could he be planning to demand something else using this as leverage?

Haejin looked at Beomwoo with questioning eyes and asked him.

“Why…… are you helping me?”

“Because I want to.”

……Helping for no reason at all?

Even conceding a hundred times, it was possible he felt pity seeing his situation and wanted to help.

He was capable and rich, so what Haejin would have to struggle and strain to achieve, Beomwoo could solve with a snap of his fingers.

But no matter how many times he thought about it, the Beomwoo he knew, while not a bad person, wasn’t someone who helped others for no reason.

Especially not while discarding a card he held.

“If you say you’re helping out of simple goodwill, honestly…… it’s hard to believe.”

“You have a small head but a lot of doubts.”

“……”

When Haejin spoke, looking at him with eyes even more filled with suspicion, Beomwoo chuckled as if it was absurd.

……What does having a lot of doubts have to do with having a small head?

Even in his past life, during their first meeting, he had treated him like a child, so this seemed like him saying, ‘This kid is so suspicious.’

His body was like this, but he wasn’t actually young.

If he counted the life he lived in his past life, he had lived longer than Beomwoo now.

Since he couldn’t voice that, he just grumbled inwardly.

Beomwoo watched him for a moment, then finally spoke.

“It’s not one hundred percent pure goodwill. It’s true I want to help, but……”

“……Then?”

Was he planning to demand something other than marriage in return for helping?

But other than marriage, he couldn’t think of what Beomwoo could want from him.

He was better than him in money, reputation, everything—what could he possibly demand?

As Haejin looked at him with a curious face, he opened his mouth.

“This is just my thought, but it seems you have an aversion to this marriage because your guardians are pushing you from behind, and because you see who benefits from this marriage.”

“So if I remove other worries, you’ll be able to see objectively what kind of person I am, won’t you?”

“……”

“I want to start over in a situation where there’s nothing.”

He attributed Haejin’s aversion to marriage to his guardians and believed that if Haejin escaped that situation, his perspective would change.

It was quite a cool-headed analysis.

Back then and even now, one reason for his aversion to marriage was because his guardians wanted it.

So he couldn’t say it wasn’t true, but currently, the bigger reason was the dry, suffocating married life from his past life, more than this reason.

But even if he accepted his offer and his situation improved, and he looked at Beomwoo again, that didn’t mean Beomwoo would fall in love with him.

Since the premise that Beomwoo had feelings for him was false from the start, there was no chance they would fall in love even if the situation improved.

The answer was clearly set; he couldn’t accept his help.

Thinking about how Beomwoo had caused him heartache before his regression, he *could* just take the help and pretend not to know and run away, but since the Beomwoo before his eyes now hadn’t caused him pain, that was also difficult.

Haejin, almost swayed by the tempting offer, shook his head restlessly, thinking it would be too difficult.

“I understand the reason you’re offering to help, and I’m really thankful……. Honestly…… it’s burdensome.”

“I don’t know what part is burdensome.”

“I could just receive help from you, Beomwoo, and still not develop feelings.”

“I’m confident about that.”

“……”

“I’m confident I can make you like me. I am.”

If the outcome is set, I shouldn’t accept it.

Haejin refused, thinking of him, but Beomwoo reacted as if that reason was nothing.

As if it was natural that if the surrounding situation was resolved, Haejin would come to love him.

No…….

What should I do with that confidence?