If You Want Me - Episode 67
<Episode 67>
Even though they had known each other for several years, from childhood until now, he had never once seen him cry. That’s how resilient and strong he was.
Therefore, the impact of seeing him cry was enormous. Seo-won lost his words in a complex mix of confusion and pity.
No, but… Why is he suddenly crying?
Is there a reason for him to cry? I’m the one who got caught after running away, so shouldn’t I be the one crying right now? I’m the one in the unfortunate situation of being harshly rejected by him and possibly losing my baby?
Seo-won looked at Secretary Bae who was standing next to him in perplexity, but he just feigned ignorance and didn’t help. At a glance, Secretary Bae also seemed quite flustered.
“W-why? Why are you crying…?”
It was an absurd situation, but with someone crying in front of him, the wall of wariness he had firmly put up crumbled.
Regardless of why he came looking for him, it seemed he needed to comfort him first. As he floundered trying to calm him, Grandma came out of the kitchen. It seemed she had come out herself after a while passed with Seo-won, who had gone to greet the guest, not returning.
Grandma discovered the two outsiders who had come to her house and asked Seo-won with a dumbfounded face.
“What’s going on?”
“Grandma…”
Does the situation seem to be going strangely?
To Grandma who didn’t know the situation, it would seem like he had made a burly man cry. How was he supposed to explain this situation? His mind went blank and he just mumbled his lips.
As he looked at her with trembling eyes, Grandma, who had been grasping the situation for a moment, opened her mouth indifferently.
“Seo-won, are they your guests?”
“…Yes.”
He wanted to say no, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Even if he said no while he was crying like that, it didn’t seem she would believe it anyway…
As Seo-won hesitantly answered, Grandma let out a sigh as if she had expected it and opened her mouth nonchalantly.
“Coming all the way here from the mainland must have been tough. I’ll be preparing dinner, so go get some air for a bit.”
“Oh, no…”
“You there, the young man in a suit in the back, why don’t you sit and rest?”
Grandma said looking at Secretary Bae. Even if she didn’t know the situation, she could tell Secretary Bae seemed to be attending to Do-gyeom.
As Secretary Bae stood awkwardly, Do-gyeom, who had been quietly shedding tears, gave him a look. Even without speaking, Secretary Bae immediately understood the meaning of his gaze and sat down on the pyeong-sang in the yard.
Seo-won let out a small sigh at that sight. He wanted to say there was no need to let them inside, but seeing Do-gyeom crying, he didn’t feel like chasing him out right away either.
What to do. After agonizing for a moment, Seo-won grabbed Do-gyeom’s arm and said,
“For now, let’s go out. Let’s talk outside.”
“…”
As Seo-won led him out the gate, Do-gyeom followed obediently without a word.
Squish, squish. As they walked without a word, only the sound of stepping on the rain-soaked dirt road and insects chirping filled the space between them.
Seo-won furtively observed Do-gyeom walking next to him. He wasn’t bawling anymore, but he still had a bit of a sorrowful face as if it was hard to compose his emotions.
‘Why does he keep crying… It hurts my heart.’
Earlier, he had only felt flustered and a bit sorry that he suddenly cried, but with him continuing like this, his heart stung and he felt guilty as if he had made him cry.
It would be nice to go somewhere and talk calmly, but as you can see, it was an island village without proper amenities, so there was nowhere to take him. But if they went down where there were a lot of people, it seemed he would become known as the person who made Do-gyeom cry, which was frustrating…
Seo-won, who had been walking aimlessly dragging Do-gyeom, recalled Grandma’s small field above the house.
“As you saw on your way here, there’s nowhere to sit and talk on this island. There’s a chair in Grandma’s field, so I was going to go there… Is that okay?”
“…I don’t mind.”
Do-gyeom answered in a choked voice. It was a reaction that it didn’t matter where they talked.
It wasn’t really a place to have a serious conversation, but as long as no one was eavesdropping, it should be fine. Thinking that, Seo-won headed to Grandma’s small field a little ways up.
In the field, she was growing crops frequently needed for cooking like peppers, lettuce, and green onions on a small scale. At the edge of the field was a small bench set up to work leisurely.
Seo-won had Do-gyeom sit there first and he also sat down next to him.
“Are you done crying?”
“…Yeah.”
He nodded, avoiding eye contact as if embarrassed about crying. The tears had stopped, but his eyes were still red.
He’s not even a kid… He had been on high alert thinking he would tell him to get rid of Sticky Rice, but suddenly he cried and his wariness softened. Seo-won let out a small sigh and carefully asked him,
“Why were you crying? Did something happen?”
“…”
He was curious about the reason he suddenly came looking for him and cried. He was even more curious because he knew Do-gyeom wasn’t usually an emotionally fragile person.
He asked with a face full of curiosity, but Do-gyeom kept his lips tightly shut and didn’t meet his gaze as if he didn’t want to answer. He just stared at the innocent ground.
Was he going to say he had no choice because of the one-sided imprint again? It was his go-to answer, so he wasn’t even expecting it, but Do-gyeom belatedly replied.
“I thought I might never see you again.”
“…”
At his answer, Seo-won blankly blinked his eyes. He cried out of fear he might never see him again?
If he coldly recalled their last meeting, there was absolutely no reason for that, but… After thinking deeply, if he hadn’t been able to treat the one-sided imprint during the month they were apart, it was understandable to be afraid. Because when you imprint, you crazily desire the other person and even get sick if you can’t meet them.
He almost mistook it for some other special reason. Realizing he probably didn’t come for the reason he had thought, Seo-won lowered his guard a bit while looking at him pitifully.
Besides being sick, how would it feel to desire someone you don’t even like to this extent? Wouldn’t it be terrible?
Because he could understand his feelings, Seo-won calmly persuaded him.
“Hmm… Young master. I know you’re suffering because of the one-sided imprint, but there’s still nothing I can do about that. You know being with me only has a negative effect on treatment, right?”
“That’s not why I came.”
“Then why?”
“…”
Seo-won asked if there was another reason, but Do-gyeom didn’t say anything.
Was it hard to answer? He tried to think of other reasons he would come looking for him, but seeing him cry only made his heart complicated and no plausible reason came to mind.
Judging by how he shed tears unlike himself, there must be some important reason…
Thinking hard, there were a few reasons he might have sought him out. Like the baby issue he had thought of before, or the matter of the apartment under his name… But it seemed unlikely he would cry over just that, putting aside his pride.
If it had been to make him get rid of the baby, he would have lashed out in anger rather than cry, and the apartment wasn’t important to him of all people, so it didn’t seem like something to cry over…
Could there have been some difficult situation in Seoul? Something happened at the company? But there’s no way he would come find me for that reason… Especially with how things ended last time, he wouldn’t have come wanting to rely on me. That’s not his personality.
The speculations continued one after another. But thinking alone, an answer was slow to come. In the end, they were all just guesses, so it felt like falling into a labyrinth.
Seo-won, who had been struggling and agonizing alone, couldn’t wait for his answer and opened his mouth again.
“I can’t help you with everything, but first you need to tell me why…”
“I like you.”
“…Pardon?”
Do-gyeom suddenly said, looking him straight in the eye.
Seo-won unknowingly widened his eyes. What did he just… hear? It was such an unexpected answer that he momentarily doubted his hearing. Seo-won asked back in case he had misheard.
“What did you say just now…?”
“I said I like you.”
But the answer that came back was the same.
So he didn’t mishear and he really… confessed to him?
He had once dreamed of the day he would confess to Do-gyeom because he liked him so much. Like they often do in dramas, he had even had tingling imaginings that in that moment, he would become the happiest person in the world.
But the reality was different. Rather than excitement, his heart pounded with surprise. He started denying reality, wondering what on earth he was talking about.
“That… doesn’t make any sense.”
If he had said this before Seo-won confessed, he would have been purely happy. He surely would have felt like he had the whole world.
But now it was different from then. Like rewinding a camera film, the memory of the day he confessed vividly flashed by.
At the words that he liked him, that he was pregnant, Do-gyeom had shown shock to the point of turning pale. He had suspected Seo-won of not taking the morning-after pill.
After showing such a terrible reaction…
“You… expect me to believe that?”
Unless there had been some series of events, a month had passed since Seo-won hurriedly ran away to the island after confessing.
They hadn’t even been in contact once during that time, so how could that cold person come to like him?