His Bully

Ho-jin had last seen his mother a year ago.

Han Su-min had moved to China five years earlier, and Ho-jin had gone to considerable lengths to keep the last two years of his life from her. 

When the Tae-sung and minister scandal broke, the identity of the person who had been shot in the parking lot was never made public, and Ji-hun had been protected carefully throughout the investigation. After being fed enough scandals already, the public never learned that Ho-jin had been the one shot in Ji-hun's place.

When Ho-jin rented his own place a year ago, his mother had allowed him to sell their old home.

So yes, the woman had absolutely no idea what had been happening, and now, with Ho-jin holding his mother after missing her for so long, his brain suddenly arrived at one very important question.

What the fuck are we gonna do now?

"Let me look at you, son," Su-min said, laughing.

Ji-hun was carrying the small suitcase inside from the doorway.

"Mom, why didn't you tell me? Are you hungry? How many days are you staying?"

Su-min took off her shoes and put on the slippers Ji-hun handed her, then looked at him. She was smiling, though there was obvious curiosity in her face too.

"It's my first time meeting you. I'm Moon Ji-hun," Ji-hun said, bowing all the way from the waist. "Ho-jin sunbae's—"

"Mom, Ji-hun's staying with me for a while! We work together," Ho-jin cut in, almost panicking.

Coworker. So I can't even be a normal friend. Fine.

Still smiling, Su-min said, "Hello, Ji-hun-ssi. I'm Han Su-min," then turned to Ho-jin. "I wanted to surprise my son, but if there isn't enough room here, I can stay at a hotel."

She clearly meant it.

"You don't need to go to a hotel. We have a guest room," Ho-jin said with a laugh. "Come on, Mom. There's a couch in the living room too. We can all fit. Are you hungry?"

They started toward the living room together. When Ji-hun made a face at Ho-jin and pointed toward the couch, Ho-jin immediately understood that he meant the condom box. He blinked at him to say, "I handled it." "Hoobae, can you make my mom some tea?"

Su-min looked around the apartment. "I've been curious about your place. You can't really tell much from photos, Ho-jin-ah."

"I hope you'll be comfortable here, Mom. We have to leave soon. You won't get bored until this evening, right?"

"No, no," Su-min said. "There are plenty of friends I want to see. Sorry, Ho-jin. I only wanted to surprise you. I know how busy you are."

"Mom, I'm really happy you came. Please don't think otherwise."

Ji-hun returned with the tea, carrying it carefully. In his other hand was a plate with several pancakes. "Please have these. They're still very fresh," he said, then added proudly, "I made them."

Ho-jin looked at Ji-hun and tried to remember the last time he had treated another person with this much respect. It did not take long to realize there had not been one. "Mom, I met Moon Ji-hun when I was in high school. He's studying photography too. He's almost finished with school."

Ji-hun interrupted him. "I also do modeling. We're signing a contract with Wersace today," he said excitedly. "I'll be working with Ho-jin sunbae on this project." His cheeks had turned red.

"Wersace? Aigoo, you must be very famous," Su-min said with a laugh. "I'm sorry, Ji-hun-ssi. I've been in China for five years, and honestly, I'm pretty out of touch with what's current in Korea. Ho-jin may have mentioned it."

"Yes, of course he did," Ji-hun said. "We always talk about you..."

"Speaking of that, Mom, maybe you remember. When I was a senior in high school, I had some trouble with a middle school student. The thing you had to come to school for. Do you remember?"

Su-min suddenly turned and studied Ji-hun's face, sympathy all over hers. "Ah, I remember. The little boy who accused you of being a bully."

"Sunbae! Why would you bring that up now?"

"Pfft..." Ho-jin laughed. "Yeah, that little kid who got me into trouble was Moon Ji-hun. And now we work together at Siseon. He's a really good photographer and model. He was even on a talk show called After Eleven last night—" Then he suddenly stopped. Shit. What if Mom gets curious and watches it...

Ji-hun did not seem to care about the sudden change in Ho-jin's face or the last thing he had said. The only thing that mattered to him was hearing Ho-jin talk about him.

"Ji-hun-ssi," Su-min said calmly. "Ho-jin worried about you a lot back then. For a while, you were all he could think about. Even before he enlisted, he was always saying he wondered how you were doing. I'm sure he still tries to look after you."

"Ho-jin sunbae was worried about me..." Ji-hun murmured. Then he turned to Su-min. "Yes, he still does everything he can to protect me. Actually, he and I..."

The doorbell rang and Ho-jin released a deep breath. Because Ji-hun could let absolutely anything slip out of his mouth at any moment.

Ji-hun ran to the door, and Su-min looked at Ho-jin from the side. "He's such a sweet boy. How old is he?" she asked, picking up her tea.

"Twenty-two."

"He's even younger than I thought."

"Yeah, Mom. You could say he's under my care."

"Sunbae, Won-hee's here! We have to go!"

Ho-jin kissed his mother on the cheek, then crouched in front of her. "Call me today. If I can't answer right away, don't worry. I have an important contract meeting. I'll call you back."

"Okay, son."

"I'm leaving the keys for you by the door. Don't go out until you've rested a little. I love you, Mom."

They hugged. There were many times when Ho-jin did not realize just how much he missed his mother until she was right in front of him again. "See you later."

"See you, Ho-jin-ah."

Ji-hun hurried over, bowed, and said, "I'll see you this evening," before running for the door. His face was still completely red.