Projection Novel (Completed) - Chapter 23

Sejin’s high fever lasted a full week. Even if he took medicine, his fever would briefly drop only to rise again within an hour or two. Cheon Sejoo even gave Sejin, who couldn’t swallow pills due to a swollen throat, an antipyretic injection he brought from his studio.

During that week, he lost 5kg, but, like a lie, he suddenly grew taller. It was as if all the lost flesh had turned to bone. Cheon Sejoo was startled to see how much taller Sejin was when he finally got up. Even the little remaining baby fat on his jawline had fallen away, revealing masculine lines.

“I told you. It’s growing pains,” Sejin said, tugging at the suddenly too-short hem of his t-shirt, trying to stretch it. His voice, too, was different from a week ago. The husky, neutral voice that had come with puberty was now a completely beautiful male voice. His face was still pretty, but the girlish feeling he had when they first met was gone. Sejin had simply become a very handsome boy.

“Right, it wasn’t just wishful thinking…” Cheon Sejoo muttered, scanning Sejin with a look of surprise. Though it might have been irritating to be stared at, Sejin merely snorted briefly in response.

Sejin’s attitude had changed significantly since the day Cheon Sejoo visited his school. He no longer acted excessively sharp towards Cheon Sejoo, nor did he hurl harsh words at him as if trying to provoke an unnecessary war of nerves. Seeing Sejin like this, Cheon Sejoo felt that he had stepped inside Sejin’s boundaries. Just as Cheon Sejoo had begun to see Sejin as a younger brother, Sejin also seemed to recognize him as a guardian. This change wasn’t bad.

“You need a new school uniform.” After a week of illness and the weekend, Sejin was perfectly fine and up again. On Monday morning, as they left the house to return to their routine, Cheon Sejoo noticed Sejin’s ankles exposed beneath his school uniform pants. Cheon Sejoo looked at Sejin’s slender ankles, where a yellow bruise was fading, then raised his gaze to meet his eyes. Sejin also seemed awkward with the half-span higher eye level, intently staring at Cheon Sejoo’s closer lips.

“The school has uniforms left by graduating seniors. I can find one of those and wear it.” Nowadays, there is  a growing culture of donating school uniforms after graduation for students in need. Dozens of uniforms, cleanly washed by a company, were piled up in the school storage, so if you told your homeroom teacher, you could find pants that fit. But at Sejin’s words, Cheon Sejoo frowned.

“You have to wear it for over a year, just buy a new one.” At that, Sejin also frowned.

“Why wear it for over a year? I won’t even wear it for six months.”

“…Why?”

“Why? Because I’m going to grow taller again.”

At Sejin’s matter-of-fact reply, Cheon Sejoo looked down at him with a slightly amused expression. Although men are said to grow taller even after twenty, it was difficult for someone who had just passed 170cm at eighteen to grow more. Most children who exceed 180cm usually do so before their senior year of high school.

“You might not grow. You seem to have reached the average Korean height already.” As Cheon Sejoo spoke, walking towards the car, Sejin furrowed his brow. Looking at Cheon Sejoo’s back, who seemed to be over 180cm, he wondered who he was cursing… then shook his head and followed him.

“I will grow.” It was like a promise.

After a small argument about whether he would grow taller or not, the two got into the car as if by agreement. Sejin sat in the passenger seat, hugging his bag tightly, and Cheon Sejoo drove roughly, as always, like a biker gang. When they arrived in front of Dongseoul Nam High School after 40 minutes, it was the usual time. Sejin, as usual, opened the passenger door and got out as soon as Cheon Sejoo stopped the car. Then, before the door closed, he hesitated and greeted him.

“See you later…”

“…Uh, uh.” Cheon Sejoo was flustered by the guy who usually got out without a word now saying goodbye. He widened his eyes, nodded, and unconsciously waved his hand. Sejin’s lips curved into a smile as he watched Cheon Sejoo’s hand waving like a child, then quietly closed the car door and disappeared. It was the beginning of a new daily life.

Time flew by quickly. Three weeks after Sejin’s violence incident, winter break arrived. As Sejin spent more time at home, their schedules changed. Normally, after school, he would go home, prepare dinner, eat, and study, but now that only Cheon Sejoo went in and out of the house, they had to make a new plan.

It would be convenient to send him to a cram school, but that was difficult due to Sejin’s reaction last time when he brought up the subject. Cheon Sejoo thought that if he openly said, ‘You were upset, weren’t you?’, Sejin would huff and say to send him to cram school even if he didn’t mean it, so Cheon Sejoo decided to plan for homeschooling instead.

“From eleven in the morning until three in the afternoon, supplementary… classes? By you?” But as soon as he started making plans, Cheon Sejoo frowned at the news of Sejin’s supplementary lessons. Not just anyone, but Kwon Sejin doing supplementary lessons during vacation?

Last time, when Cheon Sejoo went to the classroom to retrieve Sejin’s bag, he instantly understood Sejin’s words about the unfavorable study atmosphere. It was clearly a time right before final exams, yet only five students remained in the classroom.

Three of them were looking at books, but the remaining two were sleeping under their padded jackets in front of the heater. Even the teacher, who had earphones on, seemed oblivious to Cheon Sejoo taking Sejin’s bag, as she couldn’t take her eyes off her laptop.

But supplementary lessons at a school like that? It was more surprising and unbelievable than the fact that Kwon Sejin intended to participate in supplementary lessons. Cheon Sejoo crossed his arms and stared intently at Sejin sitting next to him. He was trying to figure out if he was lying. And as if to spur on his suspicion, Sejin subtly averted his gaze, unable to meet Cheon Sejoo’s eyes for long. At that, Cheon Sejoo clicked his tongue as if he had caught him red-handed.

“Are you telling me to believe that?”

“Of course you should believe it. What else are you going to do if you don’t?” Sejin was still brazen. This time, he defiantly retorted Cheon Sejoo’s suspicious gaze with that question. At his confident attitude, Cheon Sejoo chuckled disdainfully.

“You know I have your homeroom teacher’s number, right? Shall I call and ask?” Even with that threat, Sejin remained confident. He raised his head high, snorted, and said, “Go ahead and ask. How can you live in this world if you can’t trust people like that?”

“……” Is it true? If he’s telling me to even call the homeroom teacher… it must be true, right? He felt a little uneasy. But it would also be funny to call the homeroom teacher to confirm if Kwon Sejin was really participating in supplementary lessons.

After much thought, Cheon Sejoo finally decided to trust Sejin. He thought there was no way he would lie about something like this. Though his excessive confidence was a bit suspicious… Tsk, Cheon Sejoo clicked his tongue and soon tapped the schedule with the tip of his pen, explaining.

“So, you’ll go to school by subway yourself since you’re starting at 11. After it ends, I’ll come home with you whenever I have time… No, then the schedule is the same as when you were in school.”

“So, just do what we’ve been doing.” Sejin quickly nodded at Cheon Sejoo’s summary. But no matter how Cheon Sejoo looked at it, he didn’t like this timetable. He felt it was a waste of time to lose two hours from 9 AM to 11 AM, as vacation should be a time for much freer study than during the semester. Two hours would be enough time to memorize a hundred English words, and then some. Of course, Sejin would barely memorize ten…

Cheon Sejoo, resting his chin on the sofa, pondered, then wrote something on the timetable as if to suggest, “Let’s do this then.”

8:00 – 10:00: Solve practice problems for Korean, English, and Math every day, rotating subjects.

“Anyway, you wake up early, so don’t waste this time. Solve some practice problems in the morning to clear your head before going to school.”

“……” Sejin looked at Cheon Sejoo with a look that said he was talking nonsense. Solving practice problems to clear his head? He couldn’t understand how such an idea came about. But whether Sejin reacted or not, Cheon Sejoo went on to explain the plans he had in his head, one after another.

“You’re in your last year of high school now, and there’s a mock exam in March, so you should aim to get at least 777. If you get 777, there’s a good enough chance you’ll get over 555 in the CSAT. Even if you’re a dumbass, you can do that much in a year.”

“Dumb… Ha.” At the blatant insult, Sejin’s eyes narrowed into triangles as he glared at Cheon Sejoo. Cheon Sejoo shrugged his shoulders as if he hadn’t said anything wrong and continued,

“Someone like you is good enough. There are many universities you can go to even if you just score 555, so don’t think about giving up first, just try as much as you can.”

Sejin made a sullen face at those words. He clenched and unclenched his hands, then hesitated before speaking.

“Even if I get into college, I don’t have money for tuition.” His mother was tied to the restaurant, earning money, and Sejin had no place to stay immediately, living off others. For him to go to college sounded like nothing but empty words.

Since Cheon Sejoo volunteered to be his guardian, his resistance towards him had significantly decreased, but it was unavoidable that he still got upset in situations like this. Sejin found Cheon Sejoo very irritating, talking about studying when he clearly knew Sejin’s situation. He had to take full responsibility for his future, and Cheon Sejoo wouldn’t even help, so why was he nagging so much?

As Sejin grumbled inwardly, Cheon Sejoo sat cross-legged on the sofa and bent his waist. He rested his arm on his thigh, gazed at Sejin intently, and said,

“If you get into college, I’ll lend you the tuition. Interest-free.”

“……” Sejin narrowed his eyes at the unbelievable statement. What was he saying? Sejin looked at Cheon Sejoo with that gaze, then, feeling suspicion slowly rising, he retorted gruffly.

“Do you have too much money overflowing? A trashy university I could get into with my grades means I’d only get a job at a weird company even after graduating. Even if I get a pittance of a salary there, there won’t be anything left after paying utilities. Your intentions are obvious. You’ll badger me to pay back the debt once I get a job, and then you’ll actually sell me off, won’t you?”

“You should go into creative writing. You write novels well. And who would buy someone like you? A dumbass who doesn’t even know the multiplication table…” Cheon Sejoo chuckled, as if he had heard something utterly absurd. He took a cigarette from his loose pants pocket and put it in his mouth. Seeing him light it and exhale smoke with a languid face, Sejin got up. As he opened all the windows in the living room to drive out the cigarette smoke, Cheon Sejoo, who had been watching him, asked,

“Don’t you have a dream?” It was a cringeworthy question. A dream? When Sejin was little, his dream was to be a police officer. To protect his mother and himself from his trashy father, Sejin wanted to become a police officer. But after realizing that the police couldn’t help them at all, he wanted to become a powerful mixed martial artist who could beat his father down. However, for Sejin, who wasn’t tall or very big, the only quality he had to become a mixed martial artist was his tenacious perseverance.

After reaching high school at 168cm, Sejin gave up on becoming a mixed martial artist and now dreamed of nothing. Dreaming of something was only possible if he had the time for it. Sejin was busy enough just planning to secretly work part-time to save up a deposit for a room to live with his mother. He had no time to worry about his future.

But he did have something he wished for. Sejin just wanted to not starve in the future and not be strapped for cash. A life free from hardship, Sejin’s dream was that small and humble.

“I don’t know.” Sejin ultimately didn’t answer Cheon Sejoo’s question. Cheon Sejoo finally gave up on having a serious conversation with Sejin. However, he persisted in pushing Sejin to study, based on his own judgment that if he studied and his grades improved, he would eventually develop some ambition.

Meanwhile, the lawyer concluded the case. As a result, the money Cheon Sejoo paid to resolve the fight in the cafeteria exceeded tens of millions of won. Part of it was legal fees, and part was settlement money for treatment costs incurred by Lee Haegyeon and Kim Byung-joon’s side. It was a large sum, but he didn’t regret it. He was satisfied with the fact that Sejin would no longer be bullied at school because he had made their transfer to another school a condition of the settlement.

In fact, Lee Haegyeon’s side seemed to want more money, as moving schools meant moving house, but they couldn’t say a word when they saw Cheon Sejoo’s face at the final settlement. He had no intention of getting his hands dirty in the first place, but Cheon Sejoo deliberately acted more ferocious and arrogant to make them fear him. Cheon Sejoo hoped that they would fear his retaliation for as long as possible.

Upon hearing that everything was resolved, Sejin asked Cheon Sejoo for the amount, saying he would repay the settlement money. Cheon Sejoo intentionally quoted an exorbitant amount and told Sejin to repay it slowly once he became an adult. This was because he realized that the work he had done was not for Sejin, but for himself.

With the matter resolved and Sejin beginning his supplementary lessons, Cheon Sejoo commuted between his office and home, doing his work. Some days he followed someone, some days he threatened someone, and some days he got his hands dirty. And on days when it rained in winter, he would contact Dohyoon and spend chaotic nights.

Sometimes he couldn’t go home, but Sejin no longer showed resentment. This was because Cheon Sejoo had made it clear that he was a busy man.

Cheon Sejoo did his best to make Sejin dream of the future. As if to repay his efforts, the fool who didn’t even know the multiplication table could now recite up to the 19 times table, and on days when Cheon Sejoo wasn’t around, he could take a taxi to meet his mother.

Thus, their winter together passed.

In late January, at a dinner with Shin Gyoyeon and his secretary Chae Beomjun, Cheon Sejoo finally brought up something he had long wanted to discuss.

“The atmosphere has stabilized a lot, and Kim Donggil handles the guys well. There are no more conflicts among them like before. So, shouldn’t Shinsa Capital step back now?”

At Cheon Sejoo’s words, Shin Gyoyeon tilted the glass in his hand and raised an eyebrow. Sensing his subtle reaction, Chae Beomjun next to him chimed in.

“The matter of the Capital guys getting cleaned up has spread throughout the other subsidiaries, CEO. Director Cheon is right. There won’t be much else to handle for a while, so Director Cheon can focus solely on his own work from now on.”

“Alright…” Shin Gyoyeon, who had been listening quietly to Chae Beomjun, leaned back deeply in his chair and turned his head. Meeting his sharp gaze, Cheon Sejoo silently picked up the teacup in front of him. As he drank his tea with a face that accepted any decision, Shin Gyoyeon finally gave his permission.

“Then step away from that side now and keep an eye on President Kang at the headquarters. There are rumors that he frequently visits casinos in Hong Kong, and it’s said that those casinos are nominally owned by an executive who has a bad relationship with Liu.”

“Understood. I will turn all my attention there.” As Cheon Sejoo nodded, Shin Gyoyeon straightened up as if the conversation was concluded. He neatly folded his napkin, placed it on the table, and then rose from his seat, leisurely slipping his arms into the jacket Chae Beomjun was holding. Afterwards, he cast a glance at Cheon Sejoo, who had risen to escort him. His emotionless eyes stared intently at Cheon Sejoo, and it was when Cheon Sejoo began to feel a sense of bewilderment. He called out in a quiet voice.

“Cheon Sejoo.”

“Yes, tell me.” Cheon Sejoo bowed his head with a serious, unsmiling face. To him, who was quietly looking down at the table, Shin Gyoyeon tossed a remark in a passing tone.

“Don’t create weaknesses.”

“……” Cheon Sejoo understood the ambiguous sentence at once, probably because he also knew that Kwon Sejin was no longer meaningless to him. However, it was a brief connection. The time he would spend with Sejin was now less than a year. Cheon Sejoo wore a smooth smile, raised his head, and laughed.

“I will make sure there is nothing for you to worry about.” At his attitude, Shin Gyoyeon chuckled faintly, then left the room after leaving one last remark.

“If you lose something precious twice, it will be hard for you to bear as well. Take care of it.”

“……” The sliding door closed silently. That fucking bastard… Cheon Sejoo gnashed a curse inwardly and glared at the direction Shin Gyoyeon had disappeared. He stood there for a long time with a cold expression, until Chae Beomjun, who was sitting at his seat tapping his phone, clicked his tongue and said,

“Tsk, tsk, do you think the door will break just by doing that? Just go and hit him in the back of the head, Director Cheon. If you just hit him really hard so he even forgets he was hit, there’d be nothing more to wish for.”

Chae Beomjun, who had been Shin Gyoyeon’s friend for thirty years and accompanied him in everything, had more to gain from him than Cheon Sejoo. Although Chae Beomjun was also an obnoxious person, he shared common ground with Cheon Sejoo in finding the ill-tempered Shin Gyoyeon annoying.

At Chae Beomjun’s words, Cheon Sejoo scoffed in disbelief, yet his fingers twitched with the urge to actually do it. As he clenched and unclenched his fist, Chae Beomjun, seeing his actions, chuckled. After momentarily making a displeased face at the always frivolous laughter, he soon stood up and approached Cheon Sejoo, asking with a serious expression.

“So, how’s your new lover growing up? He’s 19 now, isn’t he? You’ll have to raise him for another year before you can ‘eat’ him. Are you holding back well, Director Cheon? Or, have you already had your ‘revitalizing meal’?”

Chae Beomjun, who had learned Sejin’s personal information through the Hwagak incident, had concluded that Sejin’s extended stay on the 41st floor meant he was Cheon Sejoo’s new lover. It was the kind of thought only a lewd person like Chae Beomjun would have, so Cheon Sejoo frowned and moved away, approaching the window.

He opened the window and put a cigarette in his mouth, and Chae Beomjun, who had approached him, offered a lit lighter. Cheon Sejoo tilted his head, playing along with the obvious intentions of the man. He met his gaze and drew on the filter. Soon, cigarette smoke began to escape through the open window, and Cheon Sejoo spoke.

“Let’s be careful with our words when talking about a child. And I only allow a five-year age difference.” He meant he wasn’t interested in overly young children. At Cheon Sejoo’s words, Chae Beomjun perched on the windowsill and took out his own cigarette. He lit it, held the cigarette in his mouth, and looked up at Cheon Sejoo with a deep, dimpled smile, saying,

“I’m exactly five years older than Director Cheon.” He knew Cheon Sejoo meant someone five years younger, but he said that anyway. Cheon Sejoo gnawed on the filter, looking at Chae Beomjun’s smooth face. If only that man’s brain wasn’t in his dick… Cheon Sejoo recalled the past fistfight with Chae Beomjun and then gave him a sarcastic smile, whispering,

“But Director Chae, you’re still a virgin in the back. I prefer someone with some experience… If you go and learn how to take it from behind, I’ll consider it. Though old men pushing forty aren’t really my type.”

At his feigned generosity, Chae Beomjun let out a sardonic laugh. He stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray and reached out a hand towards Cheon Sejoo’s firm buttocks.

“If the two of us were to sleep together, wouldn’t it be right for the more experienced one to be on top? I think I’d be better than Director Cheon Sejoo… Besides, while I like experienced people, I don’t mind virgins either. There’s a pleasure in teaching.”

A large hand stopped before it reached Cheon Sejoo’s pants. Cheon Sejoo blocked Chae Beomjun and threw his hand away with an annoyed expression.

“Damn it, why are you bringing a rag near me when there’s nothing dirty?”

“Oh, a rag… How hurtful.” At Cheon Sejoo’s displeased voice, Chae Beomjun feigned hurt, winking one eye. Cheon Sejoo found it amusing that he pretended to be hurt even though he didn’t care about being called a rag, so he turned around before Chae Beomjun could spout more nonsense. He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on the table and immediately headed for the exit. From behind him, Chae Beomjun smiled slyly and said his farewell.

“If you need a new experience, call me anytime, Director Cheon.”

“Go fuck yourself.” Cheon Sejoo showed him his middle finger and left the room. He tipped the staff waiting outside to clean and then headed straight for the parking lot.

A furrow was etched between his handsome eyebrows throughout the drive. He was glad to finally be done with Shinsa Capital, but Shin Gyoyeon’s words bothered him. What he said earlier felt like a clear threat to Cheon Sejoo. Meaning, if he created a weakness, Shin Gyoyeon himself would remove that weakness…

Or not? Cheon Sejoo tilted his head, thinking deeply as he drove towards Shinsa Capital. Or did he mean that if a weakness was exposed, he could be attacked by someone, so he should prepare for that?