The Pet’s Temptation - Chapter 3

Hajin held Hae-Soo to prevent her from falling, left her in her seat, and went somewhere. Hae-Soo only blinked with a puzzled face. Her head was empty and she couldn’t think of anything. It was just that the warmth that had surrounded her just now disappeared.

At that very moment, a cold wind blew into the cart and Ha-Jin came back in.

“Drink this and let’s go. I’ll take you home now.”

What was in Hajin’s hand was a hangover drink. Maybe he went away to buy it. As soon as the fact was recognized in her blank head, her eyes heated up and tears came out. She bowed her head, not thinking of accepting the drink he was giving her. Tears dripped and left stains on the back of the hand and on the table.

Ha-Jin put down a small bottle of beverage on the table and came to Hae-Soo and hugged her shoulder. He offered no consolation. However, a friendly silence was much better than a hasty consolation. Hae-Soo put his shoulder around Ha-Jin, shedding tears for a moment, and then raising his head with a sniffle.

Then Ha-Jin handed her a handkerchief as if he was waiting. Hae-Soo also blew his nose by receiving a handkerchief as naturally as someone who had already expected his behavior.

“I’ll wash your handkerchief and return it to you.”

“It’s alright, just keep it.”

“Why? Is it dirty because I blew my nose? Shame on you, Kang Ha-Jin.”

Hae-Soo pretended to stare at him, shaking her mouth for no reason with the tip of her nose red. Then she laughed helplessly as if she were losing her mind and continued.

“I’m a fool. The groom ran away with another woman on his wedding day, and I’m barely drinking in a cart bar like this.”

“If you don’t say silly things like that, it’s no different from usual. It’s nothing new to stop by a cart bar almost every day for a drink.”

“…that’s true. We would stay here and grab a drink together.”

Not long ago, it was a familiar routine for Hae-Soo. She blinked in a fresh mood and smiled faintly.

It feels comforting just because it is not different from usual. Although it’s a day that’s ruined after going through something like a crazy drama, she even thought this was pretty good.

“And it’s up to me to take my Noona home.”

Ha-Jin picked up the hangover drink he had left on the table and opened the lid and handed it to him. Hae-Soo laughed quietly and took the bottle he had given her. Of course, drinking it doesn’t immediately sober her up, but she was grateful for Ha-Jin’s concern for her.

‘Come to think of it, Seo Dong-myeong, I’ve never received such consideration from him before.’

A sudden thought made her bitter. Hae’soo put down the empty bottle and chewed on the inside of his lips. Dong-myeong was not much different when they were friends or lovers. She’s say he’s a consistent person, to put it mildly, but she didn’t mean to say that.

It’s just that he was indifferent to her.

Was it wrong to continue the relationship with him even though she knew it? The problem may have been that she held onto him foolishly, even though she noticed that there was another woman in his heart.

“Don’t think about useless things and get up.”

At that moment, Ha-Jin snapped his finger in front of Hae-Soo. Hae-Soo, who woke up to the sound of his fingers bumping, smiled bitterly.

“You can put a mat on it. Kang Ha-Jin. How did you know I was thinking uselessly?”

“Because it’s written all over your face. You can’t hide your true feelings before and now. I can see it all on your face.”

“I must have lost my mind. Even when I’m 30, I hear things like that.”

Hae-Soo mumbled lamentably at Ha-Jin’s words and sighed. Then Ha-Jin tilted his head and opened his mouth again.

“What’s wrong with that? It’s much better than someone who doesn’t show what’s inside”

“But it’s better to hide your feelings in moderation. It’s not a good thing to reveal my true feelings even though I’m old.”

She tried to pretend to be calm at the wedding hall, but she felt bad thinking that she might have looked funny to her taste. Ha-Jin, who was staring at Hae-Soo repeatedly frowning and straightening his forehead, opened his mouth.

“How do I look then?”

“Huh? You? I don’t know…….”

Hae-Soo tried to answer the question he suddenly brought up without much hesitation.

He was Ha-Jin, whom she had known since he was young, and she thought that there was nothing she didn’t know about him. However, when Ha-Jin met her eyes, Hae Soo couldn’t open her mouth easily.

This is because this view of him was unfamiliar.

‘It’s unfamiliar, what’s unfamiliar.’

She tried to shake off the rush of embarrassment. The person in front of her is just the brother of a best friend she has seen for more than 10 years. So there was no reason to feel strange. Hae-Soo nodded and took a breath, then replied calmly again.

“Of course, my puppy is on Noona’s palm. I’ve seen it since you were a kid.….”

“You know exactly what I’m going to say now, don’t you?”

At that moment, Ha-Jin interupted Hae-Soo’s words in the middle. Hae-Soo frowned slightly in his speech. It was because she felt something difficult to express from him again.