Swallow Hunting - Chapter 50.2
“It is a bakery. Is it a franchise?”
Yang Seok-ho muttered while stealing a glance. Seeing that Lee Kang-ju showed interest, he searched for it and read out the information one after another. He said it was famous for its bread and was frequently sold out even before the afternoon.
“Go buy some.”
“Pardon? It seems to be all sold out.”
“Tell them I will pay more.”
“How about I go buy it tomorrow morning?”
“You have too much to say. Are you idle?”
Tomorrow, Cha Hae-jun will return to his original home. It wouldn’t be too late to give it to him then, but it seemed like it might be a bit of a nuisance. He wanted to give it to him while he was right in front of his eyes.
As for the bastard who lived next door, who had been constantly eyeing Cha Hae-jun and spewing curses, Lee Kang-ju had dealt with him kindly. He was currently held as a slave on a nameless island. Since he was a solitary person with no acquaintances to file a missing person report, the job was easy.
“I will go immediately.”
At the threat of being given more work, Yang Seok-ho immediately bowed and left the office. After lingering in front of the bakery for a while, he soon called Lee Kang-ju.
“They say no.”
“Why.”
“They say they cannot give special treatment to a single customer.”
He coaxed the stubborn owner with money. The owner finally accepted, acting as if he had no choice, only when he called out a price ten times the original amount. Because it took time to make, it was late in the afternoon before he could receive the finished bread.
“Did you like bread, CEO?”
“No.”
“Then why.”
“To give it as a gift.”
“A gift?”
Whether it was so surprising that Lee Kang-ju was giving someone a gift, Yang Seok-ho opened his long, narrow eyes wide and shouted.
“CEO, have you perhaps started seeing someone lately?”
“Someone I’m seeing?”
“No, just because you said it was a gift.”
Lee Kang-ju looked down at the bread silently. Someone he was seeing. It wasn’t anything so grand. He just remembered Cha Hae-jun murmuring that it was the last of the bread, only that.
“It is closer to a newly developed hobby than that.”
Yang Seok-ho tilted his head, which didn’t suit his large frame. He seemed not to understand, but there was no need to explain.
As expected, Cha Hae-jun wore an expression as if he had the whole world over just a single loaf of bread. With his cheeks dyed a rose color and his eyes sparkling like a child tasting cotton candy for the first time.
Gathering his thoughts, he picked up a cup and sat in a dining chair. As he unfolded the newspaper, the space beneath the cup looked strangely empty. It felt as if something that should be there was missing.
Turning his head, the coaster sitting all alone in the corner of the counter caught his eye. Even that was placed crookedly. He brought it over and placed the cup on it. Unlike what Cha Hae-jun did, he placed it right in the center. However, that didn’t please him either.
Wondering what exactly was so bothersome to make him act like this, he stared at the cup with steam rising from it for a long time, then held it and moved it to the very edge of the coaster. Only when he set it down in a precarious spot did he feel as if he had found a lost puzzle piece.
As he was about to leave after getting ready, the object occupying the empty space in the shoe cabinet caught his eye once more, following last night. It was a frame about the size of a palm.
He tried to ignore it and pass by, but as if drawn by something, he took the frame in his hand. It was the photo Cha Hae-jun had taken on the day they drank together. Cha Hae-jun had thrust his head in front of the lens like a wild animal popping out, and he was sitting on the bench beyond him.
He did not like being in photos. He rather disliked it because it could become evidence or a weakness. However, for some whim that day, he had allowed it. It would have been simple to say no, but that easy rejection did not push past the tip of his tongue.
The reason was not clear. Perhaps it was because Cha Hae-jun looked at him so earnestly, or perhaps it was because Hae-jun, who was flushed with alcohol and acting cute while emphasizing his point with his finger, was amusing.
He didn’t like the idea of throwing it in the trash, nor did he like the idea of keeping it. Thinking it was better to return it since it was Cha Hae-jun’s property, Lee Kang-ju calmly set the picture frame down.
***
It was better this way. Out of sight, out of mind.
He could never say, even if he collapsed, that Lee Kang-ju had taken a place in his heart. He would insist that it was just that the face he saw with his eyes open and the face he saw before closing his eyes for a while while staying at that house were both Lee Kang-ju, so it had simply remained vividly in his mind.
What he needed now was his original intention. He had to regain the mindset he had when he first stepped into the world of a gigolo. That resolution to seduce a wealthy lady and receive favor, love, and large sums of money like a pet dog or a pet cat.
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