CH 132

As Yoonshin sat speechless at the puzzling remark, a knowing look faintly flashed by Sehun’s face. He simply turned his back to Yoonshin. In Yoonshin’s eyes, Sehun’s back seemed to glow and sparkle for some reason, just like yesterday. Yoonshin wondered why. However, his heart ached because he was seeing the back and not Sehun’s face. He reached out too late.

Sehun had already picked up his coat and was walking toward the front door.

Yoonshin hesitantly opened his mouth in an attempt to hold Sehun back with his words, but the door opened and closed with a bright beep. Sehun left. On the living room floor was the half-finished trail of Yoonshin’s clothes.

Following the trail with his eyes led to his disheveled self. He threw off the shirt that Sehun hung over his shoulders and stood to take a shower when he discovered remnants of the other remaining on his belly. His face throbbed with heat.

He wiped the residue off with a tissue, then he started to brood over the echoes that Sehun left behind.

“A statement of claim…” he muttered to himself.

Yoonshin stared at the door partitioning the living space from the front foyer, and his eyebrows angled into sharp slopes.

‘Why did he keep saying that? Is he that troubled that I’m relying on him?’ Yoonshin thought.

He wondered why Sehun was treating this relationship as some sort of transaction. Sehun assessed their value as a ransom, decided that Yoonshin was using Sehun, and offered an exchange of emotions and actions.

Yoonshin was acting strong because they hadn’t yet completely exchanged their feelings, but Yoonshin genuinely wanted to advance their romantic relationship. Yoonshin thought that Sehun might be awkward in expressing himself but that he had resolved to do the same.

However, Sehun’s enigmatic words bothered him. There were too many dubious points to say that it was simply because Sehun was unaccustomed to romantic affairs. His partner was Sehun Kang, a veteran who had gone through hell and high water. It would make more sense if Sehun came at Yoonshin more skillfully and craftily. No matter how unfamiliar he was with romance, being this defensive was just weird to Yoonshin.

Sehun didn’t seem to be toying with Yoonshin. Sehun quite obviously treated Yoonshin differently from others. Yoonshin could sense that the older man wanted to hide his affection for Yoonshin, but it seeped out. Yoonshin couldn’t measure how big the older man’s feelings were, but he was sure that Sehun liked him.

‘Then, is this his style of dating? Do I have to match his steps?’ Yoonshin tilted his head and recalled the oddly hurtful remarks from Sehun. He clicked his tongue. ‘If he tells me to write up a statement of claim, does he think that I won’t?’

Yoonshin crumpled the shirt in his hand, then he sighed before going into his bedroom.

* * *

At a multiplex cinema near the firm, the lawyers of Doguk and other related parties gathered. They had all made time to attend the private screening catered to the advisory committee that was consulted pro bono for a public interest movie, Principia.

The movie was directed by a renowned film director who had won several awards at various international film festivals. On top of that, a famous movie star, Uigun Shin, starred in the show for no guarantee, which raised a lot of publicity. Inevitably, the press and the public were keenly interested in the film.

Originally, this was supposed to be just another holiday season volunteering activity by the firm’s incorporated association, but for those reasons, the executive director of Doguk announced that he would attend the screening for a news publication. In the end, it snowballed into a big event where most of the partners and associates gathered.

Inside the crowded theater, Yoonshin looked around for Sehun. He was about to sit in the end seat of the last row when he heard a familiar voice near the back exit. “Attorney Yoonshin Do?”

He turned around and saw Mihee. Sehun was with her. The moment they both appeared, the other lawyers turned around to greet them, and Yoonshin did the same. However, in his head, he had a somewhat cheeky thought. ‘Did they come in the same car? Just the two of them?’