Ch.116Chapter 116. Gift (2)

“Sigh…”

Jake stood in front of the bathroom mirror and patted his cheek once.

He was all prepared.

Now all he had to do was leave the house.

But that final step seemed a bit difficult.

“Hmm…”

Peeking through the door crack, he could see his father sitting with a newspaper spread wide open.

Today was a rare day when his father was resting at home.

Jake’s mind became complicated with thoughts about what would happen if he got caught leaving and what excuse he should make.

‘I’ll have to force my way through.’

There was nothing to gain by worrying about it.

The only option was a frontal breakthrough.

Jake gathered his courage, opened the door, and naturally walked through the living room.

His father’s line of sight was blocked by the newspaper anyway.

With luck, he might think I’m just going to the bathroom and not stop me…

“Jake.”

“…”

As if that would happen.

At the short, quiet call, Jake squeezed his eyes shut and stopped.

When he turned his head, he met his father’s eyes as he slightly lowered the newspaper.

“I hope you’re not playing too much just because it’s vacation.”

“Of course not, Father. This is my first time going out since vacation started.”

“Is that so? What about your vacation homework?”

“I finished it all on the first day.”

“Good. Well done.”

“…”

His father raised the newspaper again.

After saying “well done,” his father never asked anything more.

Just as Jake was about to take another step—

“Jake.”

“Yes, yes, Father.”

“I have high expectations for you.”

“Yes…”

“Good. As long as you know that.”

“…”

That was it.

Jake held his breath and quickly walked through the living room to the front door.

This was the advantage of having earned his father’s trust.

He didn’t interfere much in most matters.

His father seemed to dislike Jake hanging out with Cuss, so it could have been troublesome if he had asked more questions.

‘Now I need to pick up the flower bouquet I ordered.’

Women definitely like flowers, right?

Cuss might be a third gender, but since she looks like a girl, Jake figured she would like flowers.

So he’d give her the flowers as soon as they met.

Then they would stroll through the plaza, and when lunchtime came, they’d go to a restaurant…

Jake mentally reviewed the plan he had been working on all week.

‘Come to think of it, Cuss said she wanted to ask me for a favor.’

She said she’d talk about it when they met.

He was dying of curiosity about what it could be.

Could this be a positive sign regarding his confession?

No, he shouldn’t get too excited.

Don’t get ahead of yourself—focus on closing the distance first.

Start as friends.

That’s where it begins.

Jake took a vigorous step forward, barely suppressing his pounding heart.

“…”

Meanwhile, Tom carefully emerged from his room after hearing the front door close.

He planned to follow his brother.

Since early morning, his brother had been rummaging through all his clothes, which was unusual.

This wasn’t like his normal self who would just grab whatever was at hand.

It was obvious who could make his brother so excited.

It must be Cuss.

Whatever his brother and Cuss did wasn’t really his business.

But for some reason, he kept feeling concerned about it.

He was dying of curiosity.

So he finally decided to follow him, but his father stood as a barrier in front of Tom too.

As Tom was sneaking through the living room—

“Tom.”

“Eek?!”

He was stopped by a quiet voice.

“I saw your report card.”

“Yes…”

“You ranked 8th in the school.”

“…”

That’s a lie.

Report cards don’t show rankings.

His father must have asked a teacher to find out the rankings.

But knowing his father, he wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than first place.

He would surely scold him.

Tom squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the imminent scolding.

“…”

“…”

But his father said nothing.

Tom’s shoulders slumped as he slowly opened his eyes.

The newspaper still stood firmly between his father and Tom.

His father’s gaze never turned toward Tom.

Tom trudged toward the front door in a daze.

His father never asked where he was going.

Unlike with his brother, whom he trusted not to misbehave, the context was different.

He simply didn’t care about Tom.

Whether he went out or studied, he just didn’t care.

‘This sucks…’

He lost all motivation to follow his brother.

Tom left the house, swallowing his tears.

***

“I’ll kill him. That bastard.”

“J-Jinsoo! Control yourself!”

That crazy bastard.

I wanted to rush over there, throw the bouquet at him, and drag Cuss away by the wrist.

But since Juliane was desperately holding onto my waist, I decided to restrain myself.

…It definitely wasn’t because I couldn’t physically overpower Juliane.

“If you intervene now, what will happen to Cuss? Let’s just watch for now.”

“Grrrr… I can’t stand this…”

“Please be patient, I beg you.”

That little shit—is he acting cocky because he knows Cuss’s true identity?

Last time he brought a lawyer with him so I let it slide, but now his arrogance level is through the roof.

How can I keep him from approaching Cuss?

Maybe I should just throw him into a drum filled with cement, weld it shut, and dump it in the LA harbor.

I was having these thoughts when—

“Ugh. The bouquet is too big. It’s burdensome. Am I supposed to carry this around?”

“Huh…?”

“I don’t really want to accept it.”

“Ah…”

Cuss was pushing away the bouquet with disgust.

Hell yeah, that’s it, Cuss.

Suddenly my anger subsided.

It was reassuring to know that Cuss had good judgment when it came to men.

But is a bouquet really that burdensome?

On my first date, I started with an even bigger bouquet…

“Hahaha! Right? It’s burdensome? Sorry!”

The guy casually tossed the bouquet into a trash can.

You’re just going to throw away something so expensive?

His economic sense is completely messed up.

Minus five million points, you bastard.

I couldn’t hear clearly what they were saying, but the two of them exchanged some words and then started walking.

Side by side…

Damn it. Suddenly I felt like crying again.

Why the hell am I secretly watching this from behind?

“They’re going to eat first because Cuss said she’s hungry.”

“Oh, I see. Wait, can you hear them, Juliane?”

“…”

“Juliane.”

“…”

Did she realize her mistake?

Despite my repeated calls, Juliane didn’t respond and her face was gradually turning pale.

Caught red-handed.

“You installed a listening device again, didn’t you?”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“I’ll let it slide this time. If you let me listen too.”

“H-here…”

Juliane handed me a wireless earphone.

When I put it in my ear, I could clearly hear Cuss’s chattering voice.

It really was a listening device.

I glared at Juliane in disbelief, but she deliberately avoided my gaze.

I’m letting it slide just this once…

“What is a student doing in a place like this…”

The place we followed them to was a large restaurant.

And an extremely expensive one at that.

But it wasn’t a traditional, delicious place—just an accessible franchise restaurant.

It was a stretch to call it high-class.

“Your taste in restaurants is terrible. I win, punk.”

“What exactly are you competing with a middle schooler for…”

We snuck in and took seats with just a wall between us.

We both wore trench coats covering our entire bodies and sunglasses, so we wouldn’t be noticed.

We sat there, nervously tapping our feet, focusing on the earphones.

-It feels like I haven’t seen you in a long time. Right?

-No. Not particularly.

-Um… What do you want to eat? You can order anything.

-I’d like the caviar course.

-Uh… the caviar course…?

His voice was filling with dismay.

What’s the big deal?

Checking the menu, I found the caviar course at the very top.

700 dollars…

Damn, is this the price for one meal?

Well done, Cuss.

Since you’re getting a free meal, might as well break his bank.

-By the way, you said you had a favor to ask.

-Yes. That’s right.

What? A favor?

This was the first I’d heard of this.

I looked at Juliane just in case, but she shook her head, indicating she didn’t know either.

Cuss has a favor to ask that bastard?

What the hell could it be?

-The favor is… *static*…

Suddenly Cuss’s voice became unclear with static.

Startled, I tapped the earphone a few times, but the noise persisted.

I was wondering why this was happening when…

“Sir. May I take your order?”

“…!”

A waiter had approached our table.

It was definitely because of the radio attached to his chest.

The frequency of the radio used in this restaurant must be overlapping and causing interference!

This is such a mess.

“Could you please step away for a moment? Please.”

“Y-yes…? Certainly.”

Just as I thought I had successfully chased away the waiter, he went straight to Cuss and Jake’s table.

Damn it. What’s the point then?

All I could hear from the earphone was still static noise.

-*static*… Yes. I’ll have the caviar course.

As I was getting anxious, Juliane kept tapping on her hologram, and the sound became clear again.

But wait.

They weren’t continuing the conversation about the favor.

What was it?

I was going crazy with curiosity.

“Excuse me… aren’t you going to order?”

“A bottle of whiskey.”

“Pardon?”

“No, make it two bottles, please.”

“Y-yes…”

It seemed Juliane suddenly felt like drinking too.

Soon, two bottles of whiskey were served at our table.

We sat facing each other seriously, focusing on our earphones while drinking.

We didn’t even toast for fear of missing a single word.

-Mmm. This is really delicious. Right?

-Yeah, well… It’s okay.

Isn’t this torture?

Continuing to listen was making me want to cry tears of blood.

Juliane’s expression wasn’t normal either; she seemed to be feeling similar to me.

-Hahaha. Should we come here often?

-No.

“Should we kill him, Juliane?”

“Be patient. Not yet.”

“…”

There were countless times I wanted to get up, grab him by the collar, and drag him out.

He kept making obvious advances toward Cuss…

Damn, this is so frustrating.

What favor did Cuss ask of him that she’s meeting with such a guy?

I was about to burst with anger.

-Shall we go now?

Damn. It had been a long, long mealtime.

Feeling extremely sick to my stomach, I exchanged glances with Juliane, and we both stood up simultaneously.

But how is one bottle of whiskey 100 dollars? That’s ridiculously expensive.

We quickly paid and stealthily followed Cuss, sticking to the wall.

-Now it’s time for me to hear your favor.

“…!”

Here it comes.

Damn. If I just heard what it was, there would be no reason to keep watching this.

I should take Cuss home right away.

I gritted my teeth and focused on the earphone.

-You said you wanted to give a gift, right?

-Yes. That’s right.

“J-Jinsoo?”

Suddenly my legs gave out.

As I was about to collapse, Juliane embraced me to support me.

Did he just say “gift”?

She wants to give that bastard a gift?

Damn, why? I trusted Cuss.

I thought she would naturally filter out guys like him who are all flashy on the outside but disgustingly slimy.

I shouldn’t have trusted Cuss after all.

My fist clenched in anger.

-I want to give Jinsoo a gift.

What?

Did I hear that wrong?

-Jinsoo always gives to me. I haven’t been able to give anything back. Even if it’s something small, I want to convey my feelings to Jinsoo.

-So you’re asking me what he might want as another guy?

-That’s right. I was too shy to ask Jinsoo directly…

“Oh.”

Suddenly my vision blurred.