Chapter 49: I’m Very Happy

Yoon Nam-hyuk felt very thirsty.

The fever medicine had taken effect, and his wounds were bandaged. But to avoid putting pressure on them, Dr. Choi had specifically instructed him to sleep on his stomach.

After lying on his stomach for ten hours, Yoon Nam-hyuk’s neck started to ache, and he had trouble breathing. It felt like there was a furnace in the bed, making him feel dry and thirsty.

He slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Qi Huai’s sleeping profile, his brow slightly furrowed.

Qi Huai?

Yoon Nam-hyuk was stunned for a moment before he remembered the foolish thing he had done today. He had dragged his injured body to the other’s doorstep to play pitiful, hoping that the other would soften his heart on account of his injuries and not mind that he had gone on a blind date behind his back.

Of course, it would be even better if he could exchange one injury for Qi Huai’s infinite tolerance. After all, in order to get his mother’s memento, he would probably do more foolish things in the future.

He was cold and in pain, constantly rehearsing those pitiful words in his mind. But as he thought, he lost consciousness…

So despicable, right?

But if he wasn’t this despicable, he would lose him. Because in Yoon Nam-hyuk’s heart, no one would ever tolerate a “selfish” lover like him.

Yoon Nam-hyuk stared at Qi Huai in a daze. He reached out his index finger to touch Qi Huai’s slightly dry lips. To his surprise, as soon as he touched the seam of his lips, the other caught his fingertip.

Qi Huai opened his eyes, licked Yoon Nam-hyuk’s fingertip with his tongue, and then let go. “Does the wound hurt?”

His dark eyes were bright. The other had clearly been feigning sleep just now. Yoon Nam-hyuk’s ears burned. He pulled his hand back into the blanket and secretly rubbed his fingertip. “…It doesn’t hurt.”

“Liar.” Qi Huai turned on the bedside lamp, turned from his back to his side, and stared at Yoon Nam-hyuk.

“…” Yoon Nam-hyuk licked his lips and didn’t make a sound, very obedient.

“Heh, pretending to be good,” Qi Huai snorted.

Shi…

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s lips were pressed tightly together. In order to gain the other’s forgiveness, he held back and didn’t make a sound, swallowing the words that were about to burst out.

Qi Huai laughed at Yoon Nam-hyuk’s expression. He reached out his index finger and hooked the other’s Adam’s apple. “Thirsty?”

Before Yoon Nam-hyuk could answer, Qi Huai twisted open a bottle of mineral water, took a sip, turned around, pinched Yoon Nam-hyuk’s chin, and fed it to him mouth-to-mouth.

The mineral water was slightly cool, but their tongues were hot. The transparent liquid that couldn’t be swallowed in time slid down the side of Yoon Nam-hyuk’s cheek. Qi Huai caught it with his hand and smeared it on the other’s Adam’s apple, then kissed his way down, sucking the water stains on his Adam’s apple clean.

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s head, which had just experienced a high fever this afternoon, felt even dizzier. He wanted to wrap his arms around Qi Huai’s head and have him kiss him further down, but as soon as he lifted his hand, he pulled on the wound on his back and couldn’t help but hiss.

“Hurts?” Qi Huai raised an eyebrow.

Yoon Nam-hyuk didn’t make a sound.

Qi Huai was so angry he wanted to laugh. “Do you still want water?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk: “…Yes.”

Qi Huai: “Do you want to drink it yourself, or should I feed you?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s brow furrowed in conflict. He made a decision against his heart. “…I’ll drink it myself.”

Drink it yourself, my ass, Qi Huai thought.

Logically, a baby bottle would be most suitable for someone recovering from an injury on their stomach. But Qi Huai knew with his every fiber of being that the other would never use something like a baby bottle. So he had no choice but to personally act as President Yoon’s baby bottle, letting him drink to his heart’s content.

After half a bottle of mineral water, Yoon Nam-hyuk’s tongue was sore. The tingling, pleasant sensation covered the pain on his back. He lay on the pillow, panting, letting Qi Huai casually caress his lips. Only then did he have the mind to look around the bedroom he was in.

The light-colored bedroom was clean and tidy. The style and some of the furnishings were inexplicably familiar to Yoon Nam-hyuk. He felt it didn’t quite look like a hotel.

“Where is this?” Yoon Nam-hyuk was confused.

“My place.” Qi Huai lowered his eyes and hooked Yoon Nam-hyuk’s chin, like he was teasing a puppy. “I rented a new apartment in Cheongdam-dong.”

Cheongdam-dong?

Yoon Nam-hyuk blinked.

Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, one of the most famous wealthy areas in Korea, known as “Korea’s Manhattan Upper East Side.” The apartment his mother had left him was here.

From the size of the bedroom and the low-key yet tasteful decor, if the total area of this apartment was 200 square meters, the deposit alone would probably be around 300 million won, and the monthly rent would be an additional several million won.

He had indeed transferred 100 million won to Qi Huai a while ago, but that money shouldn’t even be enough for the deposit…

Yoon Nam-hyuk couldn’t help but ask, “Did you take out a high-interest loan too?”

Qi Huai: “…”

System: [Hahahahahahahaha!]

The laughter was deafening. Qi Huai rubbed his temples and blocked the System, his tone helpless. “Am I that poor in your eyes?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk was puzzled. “Aren’t you? You don’t even have 500,000 won in your account…”

Not only was his bank account empty, but he also lived in a dump like a rooftop apartment. The cramped living room was as small as a delivery box. When the nearly 1.9-meter-tall Qi Huai stood in it, it was as if a purebred Maine Coon had stood up in a delivery box—so long-limbed that even turning around was difficult.

The image of poverty was deeply ingrained. Qi Huai was at a loss for words. He shoved his phone into Yoon Nam-hyuk’s hand. “See for yourself.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk: ?

Qi Huai took his index finger and tapped on the banking app, signaling for him to enter the password himself.

“…” Yoon Nam-hyuk entered 123456. Password incorrect. “Did I remember it wrong?”

Qi Huai couldn’t help but laugh. “Didn’t I say I changed it to your birthday?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk was speechless. He was stunned for a long time before he entered the last two digits of his birth year plus 0411, his face and ears burning.

The app unlocked. Even though Yoon Nam-hyuk was used to seeing money, he was still shocked by the string of zeros in the balance.

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s eyes widened. “You…”

Is he kidding me? Where did he get so much money?

Qi Huai smiled and poked the mole on Yoon Nam-hyuk’s nose. “Curious? Want to know how I did it?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk was suspicious. “Do I?”

Did he inherit a huge fortune like that Eun Chul-woo?

Qi Huai leaned closer. “Kiss me.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk threw the phone aside. “…Don’t even think about it.”

He said that, but the next second he grabbed Qi Huai’s collar. Qi Huai’s lips curved into a smile, and he very cooperatively leaned in. They shared a lingering, tender kiss, devoid of lust.

Yoon Nam-hyuk was very happy.

When he went to find Qi Huai, he had imagined all sorts of possibilities. The cruel version was that Qi Huai wouldn’t care about him, or at most would just call an ambulance and leave. The less cruel version was that Qi Huai would stay by his side like he was now, but they would inevitably have a big fight.

He had never imagined this version, where the other acted as if nothing had happened and even kissed him so gently.

The kiss ended. Forehead against forehead, Qi Huai sighed against Yoon Nam-hyuk’s lips. “Nam-hyuk, leave Woosan.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk froze.

Qi Huai’s voice was gentle. “Leave Woosan, leave the Yoon family. We’ll start a new entertainment company. You don’t have to worry about the money. The share distribution and the company’s decision-making power will all be in your hands. We’ll poach the Woosan team you’re comfortable with, and the RC team you like too. Without you, Woosan is nothing. I believe it won’t be long before…”

Yoon Nam-hyuk interrupted him. “I can’t leave Woosan for now.”

“Why?” Qi Huai was confused.

Yoon Nam-hyuk said slowly, “Woosan Entertainment was founded by my mother. I can’t let it fall if there’s even a glimmer of hope. Also… Yoon Tae-min has hidden my mother’s last memento. I want to get it back.”

No wonder…

Qi Huai was helpless. He gently stroked Yoon Nam-hyuk’s hair. “You’re staying in the Yoon family for these things? Even if he beats you like this, you’ll still work for him?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s eyes darted away.

Qi Huai pinched his chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. “What are you hiding? I’m not a fool. The driver just sent you home, and a little while later you end up like this. Who else could it be but him? Answer my question. Why did he hit you today?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk pressed his lips together, truly like a little clam that wouldn’t open its mouth, just as Dr. Choi had said.

Qi Huai immediately understood. “He hit you because of me?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s expression stiffened slightly.

Qi Huai sighed inwardly. As expected.

Today, Assistant Yoo had told him that Yoon Nam-hyuk’s blind date was indeed a misunderstanding. He had already prepared a cooperation contract with the blind date, but he just hadn’t found a suitable candidate.

Yoon Tae-min had been wanting him to go on a blind date, and he had finally gone. In just a few hours, the contract couldn’t possibly have been discovered.

Logically, both sides should have been very satisfied. Why would Yoon Tae-min suddenly fly into a rage and beat him? Unless something had happened that made him even angrier than a failed blind date.

“Don’t hide it from me,” Qi Huai said gently. He took Yoon Nam-hyuk’s hand, which was resting on the pillow. “I’m sorry about that note. As a normal human being, it’s inevitable to be controlled by emotions sometimes. I wasn’t thinking much at the time. I left the note partly because I was angry, and partly because I hoped you would use it to say what was on your mind… I was too narrow-minded. I didn’t know you had so many unspoken difficulties.”

“You did nothing wrong. If I were you, I would have done much worse,” Yoon Nam-hyuk said in a low voice, his expression unusually shy.

Qi Huai smiled. “Would you have come out and called me a bastard?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk glanced at him. “I would have cursed at you for at least an hour, and then given you a good beating.”

Not just that. He would have locked Qi Huai up somewhere no one could find, so that this man who exuded charm everywhere could only meet him, talk to him, and sleep with him from now on.

Qi Huai: “…What are you thinking about?”

That look in his eyes is not right.

Yoon Nam-hyuk snorted.

“What are you hmphing about?”

Qi Huai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He flicked Yoon Nam-hyuk on the forehead and then sighed. “Nam-hyuk, tell me. I want to know more about you.”

He wanted to know what kind of stories were hidden beneath those deep and shallow scars.

Yoon Nam-hyuk stared into Qi Huai’s deep eyes for a moment, then sighed and rubbed his forehead against Qi Huai’s chin. “It’s a long story.”

It was a long story, and a very cliché one.

His mother, Hyun Si-young, was the daughter of the president. His father, Yoon Tae-min, a descendant of a chaebol family, was her senior at Seoul National University.

Yoon Tae-min was smart and rich, and handsome enough. Influenced by his family’s beliefs, he had always maintained that the Yoon family should only procreate with those of superior genes, the upper elite.

He was picky when choosing women, including but not limited to their family background, intelligence, looks, physique, and conversation skills. There were almost no women who satisfied him, until Hyun Si-young appeared.

When she first entered university, Hyun Si-young caused a sensation with her beauty. She was not only first-class in intelligence, but also the daughter of the president. Yoon Tae-min, like a hungry hyena, identified his target and launched a crazy offensive.

Whatever the reason, it was an indisputable fact that Yoon Tae-min kept to himself. He was completely different from those debauched chaebol descendants. Moreover, not every chaebol descendant could get into Seoul National University on their own merit.

And so, the young Hyun Si-young was charmed by this senior. Like all young people driven by hormones, they confessed, fell in love, and walked down the aisle.

“The matter of the illegitimate son made my mother very angry,” Yoon Nam-hyuk said. “That woman was Yoon Tae-min’s secret lover. Apparently, she got pregnant because she didn’t listen and get sterilized. And she gave birth a year earlier than my mother.”

Yoon Tae-min’s health wasn’t good, and it had been difficult for Hyun Si-young to get pregnant. Just as she was about to give birth, she heard that her husband already had an illegitimate son. Not only that, but her father, President Hyun, had just committed suicide not long ago. The two pieces of bad news, one after another, nearly broke her.

Hyun Si-young, holding her breath, gave birth to Yoon Nam-hyuk, barely surviving. Yoon Tae-min, knowing that his health was poor and that having children was difficult, became even more fearless after his president father-in-law’s suicide and directly brought his still-nursing illegitimate son home.

“Raising one is the same as raising two. A descendant of the Yoon family cannot be left in the hands of a woman from such a small, insignificant family,” Yoon Tae-min said heartlessly. “Although your president father is dead, you still have a chaebol husband, and you are the president of Woosan Entertainment yourself. Compared to 99% of the women in the Republic of Korea, you are already happy enough. Don’t put on that pitiful act.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk: “Although my mother was running Woosan Entertainment, she didn’t have many shares. And with the mysterious circumstances of my grandfather’s suicide, my mother could only stay in the Yoon family to ensure our safety. Later, for some reason, she took me and moved out.”

They lived in the Cheongdam-dong apartment for nearly ten years, without their father’s involvement. Everything was fine. That was Yoon Nam-hyuk’s happiest childhood.

But that happiness ended when he was ten. Hyun Si-young died in a car accident. The police and a lawyer came to their door and handed him his mother’s belongings.

The lawyer took out a password-locked box the size of a notebook. “This is a 19th birthday present from Ms. Hyun for you. I don’t know the password or what it is. It was supposed to be given to you on your 19th birthday, but…”

Before the lawyer could finish, he was interrupted by Yoon Tae-min, who had suddenly arrived. “The child’s things should be kept by me, his biological father.”

And so, the ten-year-old Yoon Nam-hyuk logically returned to the Yoon family’s main residence, living with his biological father and his illegitimate older brother.

Yoon Nam-hyuk would never forget. On the way back to the Yoon family home, Yoon Tae-min said to him in a strangely cheerful tone, “Nam-hyuk, your mother gave me a cold shoulder for ten years, but Woosan Entertainment is too profitable. For the sake of the Yoon family’s status, I had to tolerate her. Now that she’s dead, I know you, as her son, will be sad for a while. But no matter what, both Woosan Entertainment and you must return to your original positions. You must be obedient, understand?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk didn’t understand.

He shrank into a corner of the back seat, staring at Yoon Tae-min from afar, repeating one sentence over and over, “I want my mom. I want to go home.”

Yoon Tae-min frowned deeply. “A spoiled brat.”

The next ten years were the darkest of Yoon Nam-hyuk’s life. The birthday present his mother had left him, that password-locked box, was gone. He had secretly searched his father’s study for it, but could never find it.

Yoon Nam-woo would tell his father that he had been secretly searching for something in the study. Yoon Tae-min would then beat him severely, calling him an ungrateful wolf. Yoon Nam-woo, on the other hand, would watch with great satisfaction, flaunting his father’s “obedience” and favoritism towards him.

As he grew older, Yoon Nam-hyuk suddenly understood that his mother’s password box couldn’t be found by secretly searching. If he wanted to get what he wanted, he had to first gain a voice in this family.

“Woosan Entertainment is too profitable. For the sake of the Yoon family’s status, I had to tolerate her.” Recalling these words, Yoon Nam-hyuk suddenly understood what he could use to control Yoon Tae-min.

So he went from being uninterested in studying like Yoon Nam-woo to quickly becoming a top student, even getting into his father’s most admired Seoul National University’s law school, becoming the most presentable child of the Yoon family.

In contrast, Yoon Nam-woo almost couldn’t even get into the lowest-ranking university. Yoon Tae-min wanted to send him abroad to study, but a blockhead is a blockhead. It was a fool’s dream to think that such a child could inherit the family business. The shareholders would not agree.

After a heart attack, Yoon Tae-min, in order to live a few more years, had to hand over the declining Woosan Entertainment to Yoon Nam-hyuk to manage, and stubbornly insisted on him having children.

Then came the well-known fact: Yoon Nam-hyuk turned Woosan Entertainment around from a loss-making company to a profitable one, and began to live a life where he could challenge Yoon Tae-min, until Qi Huai appeared…

“That password box is not only my mother’s last memento, but also her last birthday present for me.” Yoon Nam-hyuk sniffed. “Dr. Choi said I’m too obsessed. He advised me to give up, but what can I do after I give up?”

He had no family, no friends. He wasn’t like Dr. Choi, who had children and grandchildren and was keen on making money and investing. He wasn’t like Choi Min-jun, who would do anything to get ahead. He wasn’t like Park Seok-jin, whose life goal was to become a Blue Dragon Best Actor. He wasn’t like Assistant Yoo, who was obsessed with coffee and baking and felt that the world was a beautiful place just by eating a good dessert. And he certainly wasn’t like most employees, whose dream was to travel the world after retirement.

He also didn’t want to be like Kim Min-kyung, who, because he hated his family and the world, had fallen into depravity without a bottom line, even dragging ordinary people living in happiness down to hell with him.

Everyone had their own path to walk. He couldn’t see what the future held. But at this moment, he was obsessed with that thing and didn’t want to give up. Otherwise, he couldn’t find any meaning in living.

Will you also advise me to give up?

Qi Huai.

“How can I help you?”

“What?” Yoon Nam-hyuk was stunned.

“How can I help you?” Qi Huai smiled and pinched his cheek. “What’s with that expression, President Yoon? Do you think I’m unwilling to share your past with you? Or do you think I’ll advise you to give up? Yoon Nam-hyuk, you don’t have to give up anything to be with me. You want it—that’s all the meaning there is. How many things in this life can a person be obsessed with wanting?”

Because Yoon Nam-hyuk wanted Qi Huai, even if he was beaten and bleeding, he still came to find him. He wanted to use the other’s soft heart to entangle him, to stay by his side forever.

Because Qi Huai wanted Yoon Nam-hyuk, he despicably left that note to test his reaction. If Yoon Nam-hyuk had really stopped talking to him, Qi Huai would have definitely stormed over and forced him to make things clear.

One had lost his dearest person, the other had never had one. Two lonely and persistent souls, like two flames, passionately intertwined, melting each other’s hearts.

They would never have a cliché drama of chasing and fleeing. And they would never give up on what or who they had decided on.

Yoon Nam-hyuk pulled Qi Huai’s collar and kissed him, his voice trembling slightly. “Thank you. I’m very happy.”

Qi Huai smiled. “I’ll collect my debt when your wounds have healed.”