Top Secret

Jaeyoon’s shoulders tensed up. His body was pulled with a jerk and he gave a groan of pain. His heart leapt at the lips that soon covered Jaeyoon’s as if they wanted to swallow them.

“!!!!-”

His lips were suddenly stolen, and he tried to regain freedom by shaking his head, but as even his neck was bent, an ouch unconsciously escaped him.

The lips, which were warmer than he’d expected, gently wandered over his own and tried to pry open his mouth and invade. His tongue, which was sweeping the roof of his mouth and roaming inside, gave chills to his whole body and drained him of strength. He didn’t know if the sound of his heart pounding in his head was because of fear or because of something else. Jaeyoon came to his senses when he was gently pushed by the hand hugging his shoulders and his back touched the seat. At the same time, the lips that were persistently coveting the inside of his mouth also broke off. Jaeyoon gasped as he exhaled all of his pent-up breath.

“If you forget this time, you’re dead.”

Whispering this brutal line in his ear, Sieon slightly opened the passenger side’s door, as if saying to get off. Wide-eyed, Jaeyoon pushed the door all the way open and got out of the car as was told. He stared blankly at the back of the car which left immediately after, wondering when was it he kissed so passionately, only to realize that he had just had his first kiss.

After that day, like it had been an illusion, he lost contact with Sieon. As if to prove the exchange had been established, the devil’s number 4444 no longer came up on his cell phone’s screen. At first, Jaeyoon thought his phone may have broken, fearing his future troubles. But Sieon really stayed out, leaving the house empty for a long time. His place was deserted for a few days, with newspapers and fliers piling up at the front door. Putting his ear to the door in case he went out and Soonsoon was left alone inside, Jaeyoon got suspicious looks from the next-door neighbor.

Eventually, the guard ahjussi told him that the owner would be away for a long time. He didn’t even pick up his calls. He forces(?) him to date and immediately after goes off the grid. Jaeyoon had somewhat complicated feelings.

His parents believed he was getting private tutoring so, for the first month, he said he was going to private lessons and, although he felt sorry about killing time in the study room, he didn’t reveal the truth(?). He could’ve just exposed(?) Sieon’s lie, and Jaeyoon himself knew he was strange for not doing it. When he found himself looking blankly at his cell phone that had no signal, he was startled. However, it was true that he could fully throw himself into exam preparation without his interference(?), so Jaeyoon was soon able to recover his pace. 1

And in no time, the day of the College entrance exams arrived. Since the examination site was the same as his friends’, Jaeyoon’s father decided to give them all a ride. In the front seat, Jaeyoon spotted Youngsoo and honked the horn.

“Ooo, it’s so cold. I think I’m going to freeze while guessing the answer.”

“There’s going to be a heater.”

“What if my brain freezes even before we get there? Wouldn’t that be an unavoidable natural disaster?”

Looking in the rearview mirror at Youngsoo, the drama queen, being told off by Yoonjae, Jaeyoon laughed. He couldn’t feel any tension from this fellow.

“Don’t be fussy and miss ticking any answers.”

In the last mock exam, Youngsoo was scolded by the homeroom teacher as he happened to overlook a line and wrote all the answers one space lower than he should have. He was even more humiliated by the fact that he’d checked and his mistake had actually yielded more right answers than his original version. He narrowed his eyes and glared at Yoonjae.

“I don’t want to hear that from a dude who’s going to see his girlfriend after the exam.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“Heng, heng.2 When it ends, you’re gonna run like mad, right? Eeuuu, so horny.”

“That’s it. Eat taffy and shut up!”

Yoonjae took out some taffy from his bag and blocked Youngsoo’s chattering mouth. Jaeyoon, who was so nervous that he’d put an uhwang cheongsimwon3 in his pocket, could feel his shoulders easing up at Youngsoo’s chatter.

There were some predictions that the CSAT score this time would massively drop, especially for the difficult maths I section, but Jaeyoon left the examination site satisfied with the fruits of his diliigent studying. They would get the results in the evening, so only the answers were written on the back of the test identification slip.

He met up with Youngsoo and Jinwook at the entrance of the first floor. With the expression of a man overwhelmed by the thrill of liberation, Youngsoo glided down the stair railing.

“Hey, let’s get together.”

“Yoonjae left first, saying he was going to meet Jihye.”

“Ogu, traitor, I knew he’d do that. That Lee Wanyong-like jerk.”4

“Let’s leave behind the guy with a boss5 and go. Let’s eat ramyeon, go home and guess the right answers.”

“No, no!! I want to be a free soul until we get the scores!!”

When Jinwook put his arm around Youngsoo’s shoulders in order to grab him, Youngsoo struggled and suffered. The school gate was crowded with cars from parents who were waiting for their high school senior children to finish the CSAT. Jaeyoon thought it was a relief that he’d stopped his father from picking them up. Although the weather was warmer than in the morning, it was still chilly, so Jaeyoon adjusted his collar.

“Uwa~ Isn’t that a Pontiac6? Pontiac Solstice Convertible. What kind of lunatic drives that?”

“If you’ve got money, you can drive it. What provoking are you on about?”

“I mean, it’s not in the country yet! Not only that, apparently, it’s 20,000 dollars, so if they’re not provoking in front of the examinees who are tired from the exam, what is it?”

Although he was growling and wishing for someone to crash that car, his eyes were giant hearts, wanting to touch it. Jaeyoon, who was listening to Youngsoo and Jinwook’s conversation from behind, looked at the car Youngsoo was pointing at and stopped in his tracks.

“Now I have to prepare for my driver’s licence test so I can drive on the day of the entrance ceremony. That day I’ll become the Kingka7.”

“Do you have a car to drive?”

“Oho, Mr. Kim, what do you take me for?”

“You were so happy to finish the exams, and now you’re preparing for another test?”

Jinwook shook his head in disbelief.

“It’s this damned fate that forcingly pushed me back. A driver’s licence is a must-have item to cement my cool-guy image. I’ve been wronged.”

“Everyone has a driver’s licence these days, what’s that reach?”

As if refusing to listen anymore, Jinwook’s footsteps quickened. Youngsoo ran ‘dadada’ to catch up with Jinwook and shouted at Jaeyoon.

“Hey, Ha Jaeyoon, come on quickly. How come you’re becoming like a turtle as the days go by- Eh, where did he go?”

“Oh, he followed us until the front door.”

“Didn’t this bastard run away?”

“Where would Jaeyoon run to?”

“It could be a time difference attack that the Autoreverse tried to trick me with.”

Jinwook rubbed his chest in discomfort, anxiously feeling that someday he might see this megalomaniac in a mental hospital.

The warm car was overflowing with awkwardness. Jaeyoon adjusted his collar with a different meaning from before.

“It’s been a long time.”

“…….”

The man was silent.

Jaeyoon recognized at a glance that the car Youngsoo was pointing at was Sieon’s. Although he didn’t know its name, there was no way he could forget that slim, pitch-black car body he’d seen so many times. He approached it without even realizing and stared inside, when the door opened as if to say [Get in!].

“Did you have something to do nearby?”

Unable to stand the awkwardness, Jaeyoon opened his mouth again. It had been so long that he seemed to have forgotten all the fear from a few months ago. Apart from getting slightly thinner, his face carved like a sculpture seemed not to have changed.

“The exams?”

“Yes?”

“The exams.”

Thinking it unexpected, Jaeyoon opened his eyes wide. Even if you didn’t know him well, Sieon wasn’t the kind of person to ask something like this. It was strange enough he went to pick him up on the day of the exams – he still couldn’t believe he’d really come to pick him up – but to even ask how the exams went… It wasn’t like him.

“… I managed it somehow.”

“Somehow?”

“Just as much as I’ve studied….”

“Are you a birdbrain?”

“Eh?”

“If you fail and don’t pass this measly exam, know that you’re going to die.”

Jaeyoon quietly cast his gaze outside the window.

“What?”

“… don’t you know to say ‘I’ll at least buy you taffy’?”8

“So do you want to eat it?”

“No.”

Jaeyoon politely declined because if he accepted one from him, he felt like he’d really screw up.9

“What have you been doing all this time?”

Why couldn’t I see you? You didn’t even go home. You asked me out, but why did you disappear? Once he started asking, the questions followed one after another. It seemed like he’d been quite worried.

Jaeyoon waited to see what he would say but while waiting for the light to change, Sieon didn’t do anything except take the opportunity to smoke a cigarette. While fidgeting his fingers, Jaeyoon turned to look out the window again. Only then did the thought that his friends would be looking for him cross his mind.

“You’ll have a lot of time from now on, right? 

“……?”

Sieon took Jaeyoon’s reaction – soundless blinking at his unreasonable words – as a yes. The car stopped in a secluded, upscale residential neighbourhood, but Sieon just told him to wait and left, getting out of the car and going into a house. In the meantime, Jaeyoon sent a text message to Jinwook. He grinned at the answer, which was clearly from Youngsoo: ‘Just wait and see when we meet at school.’

Exiting the house and walking quickly, Sieon opened the car door and threw something in. The bundle of hair that suddenly flew in was Soonsoon, the dog Sieon was raising.

“Soonsoon!”

Soonsoon, as if also happy (to see him), must’ve thought wagging its short tail wasn’t enough, so it even wagged its hips and licked him all around.

“Yaa, good to see you. Remember me?”

Sieon just shot them a glance as if what they were doing was ridiculous, and immediately started the car.

After a while, the car stopped in the underground parking lot of Sieon’s villa. When the familiar building came into Jaeyoon’s view, he instantly tensed up. Although there was an essay remaining, the exam was over, so Jaeyoon who wanted to at least spend today comfortably, couldn’t help but be very curious about the intentions of this unpredictable man. The dog in his arms, unaware of Jaeyoon’s feelings, struggled with its whole body, wanting to quickly be set down as soon as they arrived at the familiar house.

“This… Why here?”

Please, just don’t say you’re going to lock me up!!!

“…….”

“…my mom is waiting for me at home.”

That was a good excuse. It was true that, after their son finished his exams, the family would be waiting for him to go eat out.

“When the scores are out, bring it to me.”

“Excuse me?”

“The test identification slip and the score sheet, bring me all of your academic reports.”

“Wh…y?”

Jaeyoon asked cautiously, since the course of the conversation was as hard to follow as this man’s mind. It didn’t seem like he was trying to do his duty as a private tutor, which was just a cover anyway. Still, for a while, Jaeyoon held a vain expectation of Sieon who’d come to meet(?) up with him at the examination site.

“You, can you go to college with your grades?”

What were those rude words? Even though he wasn’t exceptional, Jaeyoon was a model and honor student. As if getting his answer from Jaeyoon, who was pouting at the remark that seemed to be looking down on him, Sieon headed towards the elevator with quick steps. Jaeyoon was also dragged by Soonsoon, whose ears flapped as she gave chase after her master, who was walking away in big strides. Jaeyoon also followed Sieon as if he was running (after him).

The silence continued even in the elevator. ‘He really is a man of few words,’ Jaeyoon thought. Every time he opened his mouth, he either spouted rude things or poured salt on him10 so it was better he was the type to keep his mouth shut, but he felt suffocated by the presence he had only known for few months.

“Why here?”

He gathered his courage and asked once again.

“Aren’t we lovers?”

He hadn’t expected to even hear an answer, so his heart almost jumped out of his chest at the pure contents of the one he’d received. Did he really think so? Of course, they did agree on dating but… Although that was the case, in truth, Jaeyoon who’d never ever dreamed of such words coming out of the person directly involved, opened his eyes wide. Therefore, it was no wonder that a retort akin to groan escaped him.

“Eh?”

“Are we not then?”

Under Sieon’s intense gaze which implied ‘I’ll kill you if (you say) not’, he swallowed his saliva and bit his lower lip. Jaeyoon wanted to shake him coldly and talk freely to this man who gave off the aura of ‘I’ll kill you if you open your mouth’. Even if he were to hang for it – although that would never happen – Jaeyoon entertained the thought of wanting to crack open his head and see this man’s brain.

When Jaeyoon only blinked, Sieon clicked his tongue. With a ding, the elevator doors softly opened. Sieon, looking straight at the front door, threw out a brief curse at the mess spread out in the hallway. 

“Fuc-”

That sound brought Jaeyoon to his senses. The villa’s hallway was crowded with burly men squatting there, to the point where there was no room to take a step. Smoking at the window in the hallway and dressed in a suit, a man slowly walked over. He gave Jaeyoon one look and crushed the cigarette butt.

“Yo, Park Jeong Sieon, I was wondering where you’d gone, and now you deign to show up.”

“Taehwan, that guy, he looked like a skeleton. How did you make that heavyweight fellow a lightweight?”

“Come on, open the door. These hyung-nims waited for an hour.”

“That was a hell of a hit. Who taught you that?”

“Taehwan flew abroad and blew everything up. You told the Department of MassCom1 (TN: Mass Communication) and sophomores that you’ve had a hard time? Lim Taehwan wrote a memorandum that, as long as you’re in Korea, he won’t come back. He he,” he snickered.

A man with his hair dyed a fiery red and donning a leather jacket and pants approached and put his arm around Sieon’s shoulders, smiling mischievously. Sieon frowned looking at the herd, each of them wanting to say their piece. I should’ve done more to Lim Taehwan, he regretted.

Lim Taehwan’s heart was weak. When Seo Inyoung, his department hoobae and crush, hung herself onto Sieon, he felt sorry for her and, giving her advice, helped her. When picking up Sieon’s lecture timetable, he also didn’t skimp on advice on how to follow him well or his behavioural patterns. Finally, he’d even disclosed Sieon’s address, which the latter didn’t reveal to anyone other than some of his close friends – she camped in front of the villa and just waited; in the end, Inyoung went as far as calling a locksmith and got in. In fact, he had the conviction that Inyoung would soon give up on Sieon. After observing this psycho-like evil man, his personality was so indifferent to all human beings to the point it felt like they were nothing more than stones he tripped over while walking. Even if it was Seo Inyoung, the Queenka11 of Inse Uni, he reckoned she wouldn’t be able to catch Sieon in the end, although he’d only rejected her once so far. However, (he paid) the price for overlooking the pride and mentality of she who had gotten hurt: the extreme outcome was parasuicide.12 They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,13 but it was unexpected that the gentle and elegant Seo Inyoung would do something like trespassing in rage. Unfortunately for her, she’d provoked the temper of the most evil person, someone who couldn’t be controlled at all.

Jaeyoon looked at the people squatting in the hallway in bewilderment. For them all to be called friends, their personalities were too different.

“Who’s that cute little kid? Your son?”

Dumbfounded by the lame joke the guy said when he saw him, Jaeyoon was so shocked by Sieon’s subsequent statement he almost fell backwards.

“My lover.”

“!!-”

“Jerk- Now you’re human. You even know how to joke.”

“Come on, open the door. These hyung-nims will heartily congratulate you.”

“…….”

Of course, nobody honestly believed it. Although thankful that everyone easily disregarded it like it was nothing more than a joke, Jaeyoon experienced a peculiar feeling.

The bunch, who forced their way into Sieon’s home, took a seat and poured out the bottles of alcohol and snacks (that go with it) they had brought like torrents. Looking displeased at the sight, Sieon headed straight to the bathroom.

“Going to Hwemun? Ohhh, you’re our hoobae then.”

“We’re all Hwemun graduates. Even Sieon, this punk, you know that, right?”

“Is Ppengppengie14 still the same? 20 laps around the sports grounds? Every single day, I stamped for being late and there isn’t a single place in the school yard my feet haven’t touched.”

“Right, with the stamina foundations you built then, you went to the Physical Education Department.”

Knowing that Jaeyoon was their school hoobae, they even asked how the gym teacher, known for his harsh punishments, was doing.

At the continuous torrent of questions, Jaeyoon just kept nodding in agreement and looking around the changed living room. The previously empty and chilly room was newly filled with a sofa, an audio system, a bookshelf, framed pictures and so on. Now realizing that the reason why there hadn’t been any furniture in here before was Inyoung, he shuddered.

“That jerk’s cousin also goes to Hwemun. Are you that cousin?”

Dressed up neatly in suit, he introduced himself as Kim Hyunjoon and asked who Jaeyoon was.

“Dude, he said he’s his lover. Nice to meet you, hoobae-nim. I’m Song Haeyeong.”

This person, dressed in a leather jacket and with dyed hair, who held out his hand was the king of tardiness. I should, too, said someone in a hoodie and stretched out his hand, introducing himself as Lee Jinwook. His name was the same as Jaeyoon’s friend Jinwook, but his aura resembled that of Yoonjae.

“I’m Ha Jaeyoon, seonbae-nims.”

“Right, being near that heartless brute, your heart must have suffered a lot.”

As if feeling sympathy without him even saying anything, Song Haeyeong patted Jaeyoon’s back.

“Seems like Haeyeong heard Jaeyoon’s heart.”

“I do have an eye for people after all. As soon as this lamb got out of the elevator, I felt his destiny of being surrounded by that heartless jerk.”

“Infallible.”

Jinwook tore up the squid15 and grinned at Haeyeong’s meddlesome and exaggerated expression.

Although unexpectedly meeting Sieon’s friends had left Jaeyoon feeling rather perplexed, he liked them who welcomed him with a friendly attitude. He also had some slight respect for them, since they seemed to be people who had endured seemingly rough years with Sieon. And he also secretly sent his condolences to the man he’d overheard had run abroad.

“Here, take a drink. We’ve come here to congratulate that jerk, but I prefer meeting my hoobae more.”

“Ah… I don’t….”

With the cup already offered, the situation became one where both accepting and refusing were difficult.

“Oho, are you refusing the glass your seonbae offered you?”

“You can’t drink?”

Jinwook asked kindly and Jaeyoon nodded, sporting an awkward smile.

“Still, accept it first. If you’re a senior in high school and going to college, there’ll be the freshman orientation. If you can’t drink then, you’ll be treated as a fool.”

“Soju alone is strong, so you can mix it with something.”

And then Jinwook took out a 1.5liter Cola bottle from the plastic bag. Jaeyoon just looked at the bottle with the red label. If they drank this today again, he could envision how the house owner would react.

“We won’t force you to drink it, so let’s at least have one shot. That much is okay, right?”

Since there was no reason to refuse their kind offer, he accepted the coke bottle, but he did start to pay close attention to every existence in the room. When the door clicked open, he was startled and his shoulders twitched unknowingly. After taking a shower, Sieon, who was still drying his hair, sat next to Jaeyoon. When he saw the Coke Jaeyoon was holding, he whispered creepily into his ear.

“Don’t even dream about assassinating me.”

“…….”

Worried that he might end up drinking the beverage the other perceived as poison, he looked away and caught Hyunjoon looking at him. Meeting his eyes, Hyunjoon raised his glass and smiled. Unwillingly, Jaeyoon also faintly smiled in answer. 

“Come on, come on, although it’s late, but it’s because that jerk dropped off the face of Earth, so let’s celebrate and toast that rude jerk for passing the 3rd round.”

“I can’t believe you passed before graduating, you terrible fellow.”

“Congratulations! May the people who get caught by you in the future rest in peace!”

“…….”

Jaeyoon also raised his glass of soju mixed with a bit of Coke. When he tried to put it down after only pretending to drink it, Haeyeong pressured him with a sharp look, so he just closed his eyes and emptied it. The piquant taste and aroma of soju lingered in his mouth and traveled down his throat. It was a taste so pungent that it made his eyes sparkle. He could bear it thanks to the sweet taste of cola but his head spun with the strength of the rising alcohol.

The bottles emptied quickly. As fitting of his friends, they all seemed to be able to hold their liquor. In the midst of them, who were rowdy, Jaeyoon nibbled on the side snacks while playing with Soonsoon on his knees. Sometimes when he felt a stare on himself, and turned his head; it was Hyunjoon. Whenever that happened, Hyunjoon chuckled but Jaeyoon felt strange.

“Isn’t someone calling you?”

Jinwook said, catching the small vibrating sound that was quietly ringing. Only then did Jaeyoon realize that he’d come here without even calling home; he searched his bag and took out his phone. Sure enough, there were as many as 5 calls from home. Jaeyoon pressed the call button and moved to the kitchen.

[Where are you?!?]

The mom’s voice overflowing with worry cascaded directly into his ears. Since there was still no news about her son, who had said he’d come home right after he finished the CSAT, it was no wonder she was worried.

“I’m really sorry. Now… I was with friends.”

[Then you should have called. Why make us worry?!]

“Were you worried?”

[Of course! We thought there was some accident or something. Are you with Yoonjae?]

“Yes.”

Though, to be precise, I was with Yoonjae’s older cousin and his friends.

[What about the exams? The score?]

“Ah, right.”

[You really! They’re solving it on the TV now. Hurry up and try to guess it.]

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

[Call immediately.]

“Yes.”

Hyunjoon was standing right behind him when he hung up after hearing a wave of nagging.

“Seems like they were very worried.”

“Ah, yes… I forgot to call.”

“Sieon was the one who made you forget?”

“What?”

“We’ll be seeing each other a lot from now on.”

After saying meaningful yet mysterious words, Hyunjoon opened the fridge and took out the water. In a conversation whose direction was completely unpredictable, Jaeyoon, who had distinctly realized that they were Sieon’s friends, decided to ask something he had been curious about since before.

“Excuse me, what are you celebrating?”

“Eh? You didn’t know?”

How would I know if you don’t tell me? Hyunjoon smiled softly and poured water into a cup. Soonsoon, who followed Jaeyoon thinking she was getting something to eat, gently wagged her tail and watched on.

“Should I tell, shouldn’t I…”

There was subtle mockery in his voice, so Jaeyoon frowned unknowingly.

“We’re congratulating Sieon on passing the BE. The second round was announced at the end of October and it was also announced not long ago that he passed the interview.”

“BE… as in the bar exam?”

“That’s right.”

Come to think of it, when he’d come to his house for private lessons, Sieon had said he was a law major. So, he’d been in the middle of studying for the bar exam? When he’d said he didn’t have any time to spare since he was an examinee and the other had snorted and pretended not to hear – that reaction made sense now. He didn’t know he’d been studying for the bar exam. But he’d actually passed that difficult thing?

Now he could kind of understand why Sieon had gone into hiding. To focus on the last spurt, he’d also neglected monitoring Jaeyoon. But it was really shocking. Jaeyoon was confused because it was oddly plausible, even though it didn’t really suit him, who was so well matched with blood and violence, to be given the use of the cane of justice.

“Then, if he passed, prosecutor or judge… he’ll become someone like that, right?”

“I guess.”

Oh my God.16 Jaeyoon mourned any poor criminal who got caught by him and vowed never to do anything bad in the future.

Asking to be excused, Jaeyoon returned to the living room and turned on the TV, to the program where they went over the solutions to the CSAT questions. The English part was already more than half over, so he had no choice but to find the correct answers in tomorrow’s newspaper.

Math was difficult, as expected. He just had to go over the language section, but as he didn’t know the correct answers, he was worried.

He did consider calling Yoonjae and asking him for the correct answers, but Yoonjae, knowing Jaeyoon’s personality all too well, would definitely ask why he’d missed the first part; Jaeyoon, who was bad at lying, would then have no other choice but to tell the truth, so he stopped himself. If the language part came out as predicted, then the score would be similar to that of the last mock exam. He would know when he went to school tomorrow, but Jaeyoon, who had no fluctuations in his grades, remembered the teacher’s encouragement of ‘just keep it up’ that he’d received during the meeting and thought he had done well.

“Did you doze off during the exam?”

“Heok!”

Sieon, who had appeared behind him who knows when, looked with pity at the score Jaeyoon had calculated. It couldn’t be anything but terrible without the language section, but even if he couldn’t offer comfort and encouragement, to say it so openly to the examinee who had just completed his exam was a little too much.

“You want to go touch some grass at least?”17

“…….”

If he were to make excuses to the person who had passed the BE even before graduating, he felt he’d only get laughed at – that man really would laugh – so Jaeyoon kept silent.

“Congratulations on passing.”

He’d learned about it belatedly, but since Jaeyoon was polite, he bowed his head and expressed his well-wishes. 

“I don’t want to hear that from a fellow like you, who got that kind of score.”

Really, such bluntness. However, the kind-hearted Jaeyoon paid him no mind. This was just what that guy was like. His short experience had taught him that the person passing out from stomach ulcers and going to the hospital would only be him if he kept paying attention to every little thing.

“Will you be… a prosecutor?”

And he asked what he was really curious about.

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“There’s some bloke I have to get rid of.”

His eyes shone with determination and his voice was resolute.

“They’ve really been getting on my nerves.”

Since the standard of getting on one’s nerves entailed extremely individual criteria, Jaeyoon simply kept quiet. Please, don’t build up evil. He sincerely expressed his deepest condolences to the future of the Korean legal profession.

“If you’re done with your business, then go clean up outside.”

“Yes?”

“It’s been a mess since I was out of the house for a while. Since those things are laying all over the place, push them to the hallway and kick them out.”

“But they’re your friends…”

“Who’s my friend? Those things are my enemies.”18

“…….”

“Lim Taehwan, you jerk. I will definitely repay this debt.”

Blazing with anger, Sieon made insidious remarks about Taewhan, who’d disclosed his home address without permission. Jaeyoon unconsciously stiffened, wondering whether he’d paid his own debt.

“If it’s troublesome, you can put it in the garbage bag and throw it along with the trash.”

Hearing Sieon casually utter such frightful words, he immediately threw out a question that just came to him.

“Perhaps did you… call me here to clean?”

“If you’re my lover, you should be cleaning up.”

The man’s face was nonchalant, as if saying ‘why are you even asking?’. Only then did Jaeyoon become aware of the purpose he’d been brought here for. He realized that there was an irreconcilable wall in his future with Sieon, who had the formula of lover=cleaner.

TN:

1) word(?) – So to explain the overuse of (?) here, it was in the RAWs but it’s intentional and to indiacate that he (or the author) isn’t sure he’s using the right words, or it’s right but questionable, it’s very common to see in Korean variety shows, hopefully I explained it well enough ^^ Also, it appears later too, but I won’t be explaining it anymore

2) heng, heng – crying sound

3) uhwang cheongsimwon – A traditional Korean herbal medicine, to better cope with unexpected situations. It is an over-the-counter remedy and the anxiolytic pill is made of ox bezoar, civet, and herbal ingredients. The pill is effective when people panic and need to return to a calmer state. It is a good anxiolytic medicine without generally stimulating locomotor activity due to exposure to a new, strange environment. It was originally made by Heo Jun, a royal physician and the author of an encyclopedic medical book written in the 17th century during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). The UNESCO-registered “Donguibogam” states ‘uhwang cheongsimwon’ is a remedy for middle-aged or older patients who tend to pass out because of a stroke or hypertension. It is now produced by Kwang Dong Pharmaceutical, one of the country’s leading drug manufacturers. It can be used for those with cardiovascular and hematopoietic problems.

4) Lee Wanyong – Korean people regard him as a traitor to the nation. He was a Korean collaborator who was pro-Japanese and is remembered for signing the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, which placed Korea under Japanese rule in 1910. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Wanyong

5) boss – girlfriend

6) Pontiac – 

7) Kingka – Basically Mr. Perfect, the most popular and handsome (mostly) boy at school. They’re often supposed to be shown ‘respect’ and are known as perfect. They’re like Miss Popularity at school. Sometimes can be bitchy to others below them, because they take advantage of such a title. Or the guy version of Queen Bee if you will.

8) taffy – To eat yeot, a Korean traditional taffy. This taffy is a popular gift given to students who are going to be taking an important exam. This is probably due to the word yeot coming from the Korean word meaning ‘to stick’ which also has the meaning ‘to pass’ as in pass an exam. source: wiki

9) screw up – 엿먹어라 = Eat yeot/taffy – basically, 엿 was the word the Namsadang (a Korean itinerant troupe which consists of male performers who present various performing arts such as acrobatics, singing, dancing and playing like a circus) used to mean vagina, the common word being 씹(which, btw, is suspected to come from 씨+입 as in ‘seed mouth’ hahahahaha) (source: mykoreanstudy.tumblr.com). In modern times, the Korean phrase ‘eat yeot’ (엿 먹어라) has a vulgar meaning, comparable to using the words ‘fuck you’ in English. The phrase originated from the middle-school entry exams scandal of 1964. One of the multiple choice questions asked in the exam: ‘Which of the following ingredients can be used instead of yeot oil (엿기름; barley malt) to make yeot?’ The correct answer was diastase, but another one of the multiple choices was mu juice, which many people argued was also a correct answer. The parents of the students whose grades suffered from this result held demonstrations and protests in front of government education bureaus and offices, holding up yeot made with mu juice and yelling to the officials to ‘eat yeot’. The phallic shape of raw yeot had also led the candy to be used as a euphemism for penis as early as the sixteenth century.

10) poured salt of him – 염장지르다 – this actually has three meanings, which are: a) to make one angry (from 염장, meaning salt and soy sauce – when you oversalt something and can’t eat it anymore), b) to poke/hurt one’s insides (from 염장, meaning heart and intestines/guts – reopening one’s old wounds), c) to stab someone (from olden times, when a general who was called 염장 stabbed someone). Also, fun fact: Korean politicians seem to love using it, lmao

11) Queenka – Queenka is basically Queen Bee, or the female version of Kingka if you want.

12) Parasuicide = apparent attempted suicide without the actual intention of killing oneself.

13) They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned – Idiom, literal translation would be, ‘Frost can fall even in May and June, if a woman harbors a grudge

14) Ppengppengie – it means wheel of fortune/circle or random) some pics

15) squid – 

16) Oh my God. – In the RAWs it was in English but written in Hangul

17) touch some grass – For luck, like the four-leaf clover but just summed up into a grass

18) Those things are my enemies. – Editor’s note: This reminds me of that one Sherlock episode, when John was telling Sherlock how his friend had called, to which Sherlock became alarmed and said he didn’t have any; John just said “enemy, then”, and Sherlock calmed down immediately, asking “Oh, which one?”. It’s seriously that type of situation with this guy.

(Still looking for TLC if you’re interested ^^)

Sorry again, but in exchange I decided to post the full last part of chapter 2, I was planning on doing 5 parts but since it took so long, I’ll just do 4, now we’re finally a little ahead so I just need to TLC and discuss with my editor so hopefully the updates will be every 2 weeks now ^^;;

Also, I’ve decided to make my own website, so you’ll find me there now, PUIW will be hosted on Miritranslations but Top Secret will be co-hosted until this chapter and then only on my own website from chapter 3, I decided so because Miritranslations isn’t mine and Miri seems to be swamped with IRL and MIA and I didn’t have enough permission to make it easier to navigate and stuff, hope you’ll enjoy it there, I’ll also start posting some teasers there soon, too