Chapter-6😚
Tae gently touched Yun’s cheek, his thumb slowly brushing over the faint wound left behind by his mother while his eyes remained fixed on Yun’s tired face.
When Yun heard his question, he immediately lowered his gaze toward the ground.
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he quietly reached up and removed Tae’s hand from his cheek.
Tae’s eyes immediately filled with concern.
“What happened?”
He asked again, his voice softer this time.
Still
Yun said nothing.
His eyes slowly filled with tears, and before he could stop them, a single tear slipped down his cheek and fell silently onto the ground beneath them.
It wasn’t because of Tae’s question.
It wasn’t even because of the slap from his mother.
It was because everything suddenly felt too heavy.
For the first time in years, Yun had begun to believe that perhaps his life was finally becoming peaceful.
He had entered university.
He had met people who treated him kindly.
He had met Tae.
And, for the first time, he had started feeling as though there might finally be something waiting for him beyond simply surviving each day.
But now
Everything had started falling apart again.
When his grandmother died, there had been nobody beside him.
His mother had abandoned him when he was still a child, leaving his grandmother to raise him alone, and after all those years, the first time she finally returned to his life wasn’t because she had missed him.
She had come for money.
That thought hurt more than Yun wanted to admit.
Everything he had buried for years suddenly felt as though it had risen to the surface all at once, leaving him with nowhere to hide from the pain he had spent so long trying to ignore.
Tae noticed the tears slowly falling from Yun’s eyes.
His expression softened immediately.
He reached toward Yun’s face and gently wiped the tears away with his thumb.
“Don’t cry.”
There was worry in his voice, but Tae still forced a small smile as though he were trying to make Yun feel less uncomfortable.
“I won’t ask anymore.”
“You don’t have to tell me what happened.”
Yun remained silent, simply standing there with his gaze lowered while trying to regain control of his emotions.
Meanwhile, several students passing through the university gates had begun noticing the two of them, and within moments, quiet whispers started spreading among the students as they walked toward the main building.
“Isn’t that Han Tae?”
“Who’s the other guy?”
“Is he bullying him?”
Tae noticed the students staring and whispering about them.
He glanced toward Yun before forcing another small smile.
“Come on.”
“Class is about to start.”
Without waiting for an answer, Tae began walking toward the main building, and Yun quietly followed beside him.
They walked together
But somehow, the distance between them felt like a mile.
Tae didn’t ask anything else.
Yun didn’t explain anything.
Neither of them spoke as they walked toward the classroom, each lost inside their own thoughts while the noise of the students around them slowly faded into the background.
When they finally entered the classroom, the whispers immediately started again, with students quietly discussing what they had seen near the university gate while their curious eyes repeatedly moved between Tae and Yun.
Then suddenly
“Tae!”
“Come sit over here!”
Tae turned toward the voice and saw one of his friends waving at him from across the classroom.
He walked over and took the empty seat beside him, leaving Yun standing alone for a moment before he quietly made his way toward the window and sat down by himself.
Even though Tae was sitting with his friends, his gaze never completely left Yun.
A few moments later, Jun casually placed a hand on Tae’s shoulder.
Tae looked down at the hand before slowly turning his eyes toward Jun.
An awkward smile immediately appeared on Jun’s face.
“Haha…”
He quickly removed his hand and cleared his throat.
“So…”
“I happened to hear something about what happened near the gate.”
Jun leaned closer and lowered his voice.
“Tae…”
“Were you bullying that loner?”
He paused before giving a mischievous grin.
“Let’s share him.”
“I think he’s pretty cute, and he looks like he’d be easy to play with.”
Tae slowly turned his head toward Jun.
His expression became completely cold.
For a moment, he looked at Jun as though he might actually do something terrible.
But Tae didn’t say anything.
He simply turned his attention back toward Yun.
The coldness in his eyes was enough to make Jun’s smile disappear.
One of Jun’s friends noticed the sudden silence.
“What happened?”
Jun immediately laughed awkwardly.
“Haha…”
“Nothing.”
After that, Jun and the rest of his friends became unusually quiet, and nobody dared to bring up Yun again.
The rest of the class passed without much incident.
When the class finally ended, Jun was about to suggest that everyone eat together, but before he could say anything, Tae had already stood up and walked toward the door, his eyes following Yun.
Tae quickly caught up with him.
The two of them left the classroom together.
Behind them, Jun and his friends stared in disbelief.
“What the hell?”
“Is Han Tae actually following him?”
Meanwhile, Tae and Yun quietly made their way toward the cafeteria.
Neither of them spoke much.
They simply sat together and ate in silence, while Jun and his friends sat at another table across from them, occasionally glancing in their direction with confused expressions as though they were still trying to understand what had suddenly changed about Tae.
After finishing their meal, Tae and Yun eventually left the cafeteria and found a quiet bench overlooking the greenery around the campus.
The afternoon breeze moved gently through the trees, and the fresh air brushed against Yun’s wounded cheek.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Tae looked toward him.
“Yun.”
Yun lifted his head.
“Hm?”
Tae looked ahead toward the grass instead of directly at him.
“I’m not going to come to college for a few days.”
Yun remained silent, listening carefully.
“So if anything happens while I’m gone, call me.”
Tae paused for a moment before continuing.
“Don’t hesitate.”
“If something happens again, tell me.”
His voice was calm, but there was a quiet seriousness behind his words.
Tae slowly turned toward Yun.
“I don’t know what happened today, and I’m fine if you don’t want to tell me.”
“But if something happens again…”
His eyes remained fixed on Yun.
“Tell me.”
Then Tae raised his pinky finger toward him.
Yun stared at it in confusion.
“…What?”
Tae said nothing.
He simply kept his pinky extended.
After a moment, Yun finally understood.
“A promise?”
Tae nodded.
Yun looked at his pinky for another second before slowly hooking his own around Tae’s.
The moment their fingers locked together, the strange heaviness that had been sitting inside Yun’s chest seemed to disappear, even if only for a brief moment.
Without even realizing it, a small laugh escaped him.
“Haha…”
Tae stared at him.
The concern that had been lingering in his eyes slowly disappeared when he saw Yun smiling again.
Then, almost without thinking, Tae moved slightly closer, his eyes lingering on Yun’s face for a quiet moment before he gently leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against his forehead.
His eyes widened slightly.
Tae immediately pulled back.
For several seconds
Neither of them said anything.
The silence between them suddenly became unbearably awkward.
Yun looked away.
Tae also looked away.
Finally, Tae cleared his throat.
“Haha…”
“It’s already late.”
“Let’s leave.”
Both of them quietly picked up their bags and began walking away from the bench.
Eventually, they went in separate directions.
There was silence between them.
But neither of their minds was quiet.
Tae walked toward his car and sat down in the driver’s seat.
He placed both hands against the steering wheel before lowering his head slightly, his face slowly turning red as the memory of what he had just done replayed inside his mind.
“Ah…”
“Fuck.”
“What did I just do?”
He leaned back against the seat and stared at the ceiling of the car.
“What if he stops talking to me?”
“What the hell was I thinking?”
Out of frustration, Tae suddenly pressed his hand against the horn.
BEEP!
The sound echoed through the nearly empty parking area.
Tae froze for a second before clicking his tongue.
“…Tch.”
Just as he was about to start the car, his phone suddenly rang.
Tae stared at the screen for several seconds.
He clearly didn’t want to answer.
But eventually, he accepted the call.
The moment the call connected, a playful voice immediately came through.
“Aww…”
“My baby, where are you?”
Tae’s embarrassment instantly turned into irritation.
“I’m coming.”
“Aww, come quickly.”
“I’m already missing you.”
Tae closed his eyes in annoyance.
Without saying another word, he ended the call and started the car.
Soon, he arrived home.
The moment Tae opened the front door, a man came running toward him with his arms wide open.
“My baby!”
“Come give your cute little father a hug!”
Tae immediately stopped him by placing one hand against his forehead.
“Father…”
“Can you stop doing creepy things?”
An annoyed expression appeared on Tae’s face.
His father immediately looked heartbroken.
“I made you this big…”
“And now you’re calling your own father creepy?”
“I’m so sad, my baby.”
Tae sighed before placing both hands on his father’s shoulders.
“Okay, okay.”
“Now tell me what happened.”
The playful expression on Chairman Han’s face disappeared.
His features became completely emotionless.
The annoyance also vanished from Tae’s expression as he immediately noticed the sudden change in his father’s mood.
A moment later, the two of them sat across from each other on the sofa.
Chairman Han rested one leg over the other while Tae kept his hands together over his knees, his fingers tightly interlocked as he watched his father carefully.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Chairman Han casually asked about college.
Tae’s lips lifted into a small smile.
“Everything’s going fine.”
“And I found something cute.”
“Like a little puppy.”
Chairman Han noticed the small smile on his son’s face.
For a brief moment, his expression softened.
But then—
His face became serious again.
Tae had rarely seen his father look that serious.
The sudden change sent a faint chill through him.
Chairman Han slowly leaned forward, his calm expression carrying a weight that immediately made Tae understand that whatever came next had nothing to do with college.
“There was a rat inside the Tigers gang.”
Tae’s eyebrows slowly drew together.
Chairman Han continued.
“He didn’t know that you were the true leader of the Tigers gang.”
The atmosphere inside the room instantly became colder.
Tae didn’t interrupt.
He simply listened.
Chairman Han’s eyes remained fixed on his son.
“Tomorrow, you’re going to Busan, right?”
Tae nodded once.
Chairman Han’s voice became even quieter.
“So make sure that rat doesn’t leave Busan alive.”
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
The playful atmosphere from earlier had completely disappeared, replaced by a silence so heavy that even the faint ticking of the clock seemed unusually loud.
Chairman Han slowly leaned back against the sofa, his expression remaining completely calm despite the weight behind his words.
“Make sure everyone understands…”
His eyes hardened.
“Who the Tigers gang truly belong to now.”
Tae’s expression changed immediately.
His eyes became cold.
The softness that had remained in his expression while thinking about Yun disappeared completely.
“Understood.”
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