Chapter 98

98 The Investigation

Kyung-Soo had to talk to him, find out everything about him. But he could not just approach him and start talking to him, he had to find a way that would not raise any suspicions. Stealthily he kept walking behind him. It appeared that he was looking for something. Was Nivritti buying something for him too?

He exhaled like a bull. His blood was boiling due to jealousy. She just met him and was buying a gift for him. On top of that, he himself was selecting the gift. He pursed his lips and gritted his teeth. And then he realised, maybe he was a good person that’s why Nivritti was impressed with him. His face fell with disappointment. Why couldn’t she find him to be good? Why couldn’t she buy a present for him?

Or maybe he was looking for something for himself. Why would she buy clothes for someone she just met? Jae-Hwa, he could understand, she was her friend, but she just met with this man, surely, she was not going to buy anything for him.

He pouted and moved forward. He crossed an aisle and stood before the rack the handsome man was standing behind. If Kyung-Soo would remove a shirt, he would see the handsome man’s face clearly. He bit his lower lips pondering upon how to talk to him.

Suddenly, he realised what he could do to initiate the conversation. All he had to do was grab a shirt that Jae-Hwa’s brother would pick too. He was standing before a t-shirt rack and was staring at a yellow t-shirt. Kyung-Soo made a disgusted face after looking at the yellow t-shirt. It had an abstract print all over it.

“He likes this? What is he thinking? What kind of choice he has?” thought Kyung-Soo, disappointed.

Before the brother could grab it, Kyung-Soo pulled on it and both started tugging at the shirt. Abruptly, Kyung-Soo peeped through the collection of t-shirts and looked at Jae-Hwa’s brother.

The handsome man yelped and jumped away from Kyung-Soo.

“Oh sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you,” said Kyung-Soo and came in front of him.

.....

The handsome man had his hands over his chest due to fear, breathing heavily. “No, no, it’s fine. I was just not ready for a head among the clothes,” said the handsome man.

“Ha-ha, you are funny. Nice to meet you,” said Kyung-Soo and offered his hand to him. “Wow! He really is handsome,” deliberated Kyung-Soo.

“Thank you. I am San Jae-Geun, nice to meet you too,” he said and smiled politely.

“Oh shit! What name should I give out? Should I tell him my real name or a made-up name? Well, there can be many people with the same name. I will give my real name,” pondered Kyung-Soo.

Jae-Geun stood there looking at Kyung-Soo waiting for him to tell his name. “You don’t know your own name?” mocked Jae-Geun.

“Smart-ass!” thought Kyung-Soo. He looked at Jae-Geun and replied, “oh, sorry! My name is Nam Kyung-Soo.” He said from behind the mask. “Do you like the t-shirt?”

“Yeah, it’s okay,” said Jae-Geun and shrugged his shoulder. He could not be more uninterested.

“It’s okay... and you are still thinking about getting it? Why not buy the thing that you like?” asked Kyung-Soo.

“Oh! It is not for me, it’s a gift,” replied Jae-Geun.

Kyung-Soo was slightly happy after hearing that the gift was not meant for him. Then who was he looking for a gift that too in the men’s section? Who else was in her life? His heart kept aching with every thought. “Someone in your relation or your wife’s relation?” Kyung-Soo asked a far-fetched question.

“My wife?” asked Jae-Geun, shocked.

“Oh, sorry if I am mistaken. But I thought I saw you with a girl,” Kyung-Soo played another trick.

Jae-Geun was taken aback. How could someone think Nivritti was his wife? “What? What? What? No, no, no, she is not my wife,” he visibly looked flustered.

“Wow! Amazing reaction. So, she is a girlfriend,” somehow Kyung-Soo used the term ‘girlfriend’. He hated calling Nivritti someone’s else girlfriend. His heart almost stopped at the thought that she might leave his life.

“Ha-ha, ha-ha, no, no, no, no, no... no, she is someone I just met yesterday.” Jae-Geun was nervous and agitated. Kyung-Soo could not understand his expression. He was jumpy and actively trying to tell that he had nothing to do with her, but his eyes were telling a different story. He kept glancing at the entrance of the changing room corridor trying to see if she was coming back. Or maybe he was looking at the place he last saw her.

Finally, Kyung-Soo realised what he was dreading. “Ohh! You like her,” said Kyung-Soo but clenched his fists with anger.

“What? No!” shouted Jae-Geun. Suddenly he was covered in sweats. He waved his hands vigorously to get some air. He kept exhaling big puffs of air to calm himself down.

Kyung-Soo mentally facepalmed himself as he grasped something. “You afraid of her?”

Jae-Geun looked at him sheepishly. “Well, she is not afraid to fight with a bunch of goons. So, I think I should be scared of her.” Kyung-Soo was happy as his realisation was right. This man was not in love with her but was scared of her. He smiled in the back of his head. How could someone be scared of her? The girl who was scared of a small puppy was scary for a grown-ass man.

As time was passing by, he was finding Jae-Geun to be a strange man. If Kyung-Soo would tell Jung-Hwa about his fear of Nivritti, they both could laugh together at him. On one side was the sister, who was friends with Nivritti and on the other was the brother who just met her and was afraid of her. Kyung-Soo wanted to laugh at him.

“Goons?” Kyung-Soo tried to indulge Jae-Geun.

“Yeah, it’s a long story,” said Jae-Geun.

“But she is so small and petite. How can she fight with goons?” laughed Kyung-Soo.

But Jae-Geun did not like that. He was not ready for anyone to make fun of her. “She not only fought, but she also saved my sister from them,” spoke Jae-Geun and raised his eyebrows at Kyung-Soo.

“Woah!” exclaimed Kyung-Soo after seeing a defensive Jae-Geun. He was happy that Jae-Geun was not ready to hear bad things about Nivritti. But that too made him slightly jealous.

“So, I am a little in love with her,” blurted out Jae-Geun. He did not realise what he just said.

“Excuse me!” shouted Kyung-Soo ready to throw his hands at Jae-Geun.

“I think it’s more of a gratitude for helping my sister,” explained Jae-Geun.

That calmed Kyung-Soo down. He exhaled, “oh, that way.”

“Why are you interested in her?” suddenly Jae-Geun threw a curved ball at Kyung-Soo.

Kyung-Soo felt as if the earth slipped from under his feet. “Ha-ha-ha,” he kept laughing like an idiot. “No, I am... I am interested... in...” he stammered, looking for a plausible answer. Finally, he saw the yellow shirt in his hand. “...in... yes, this shirt. Who are you buying this shirt for?” he hit the curved ball and it was out of the stadium.

“Oh! The girl you saw, she is buying some gifts for the people she works with. She has a boss, I am looking something for him,” replied Jae-Geun.

Kyung-Soo’s face beamed with happiness. No one could see it, but he was grinning from ear to ear behind his mask. She was not buying a present for Jae-Geun but for her boss. Her boss would mean Choi-ssi. But he could not make that assumption, he had to make sure. “Is that person old or young?” he asked.

“Does that matter? Well, he is old,” asked Jae-Geun, shocked. Kyung-Soo was happy that Nivritti was also buying something for Chung-Ho.

Kyung-Soo looked at the weird man and finally understood the problem. “You have no idea about fashion, do you?”

“I know about diseases, ailments, blood, and other bodily fluids, but nothing about fashion,” smiled Jae-Geun.

“Ew! Bodily fluids! What do you do?” inquired Kyung-Soo.

“Ha-ha, I am a doctor,” replied Jae-Geun.

He already knew that as Nivritti told him about that. “Wow! Nice! So let me give you a crash course on fashion. There are different clothes for people of different ages, then there is a colour palette according to the skin. Not every cloth is meant for youth and the same goes for old people. This t-shirt is for someone young. If you want something for that old gentleman, um... come with me.”

Kyung-Soo moved away from him, and Jae-Geun followed him. They both moved a few aisles away and stopped near the Hanbok section.

“Hanbok?” asked Jae-Geun, confused.

“It is not only meant for traditional occasions. We now have modern hanbok, doctor,” said Kyung-Soo.

“Okay,” noted Jae-Geun.

Kyung-Soo looked around and picked an olive-green shirt. “Here this one. I think he will like it.”

Suddenly Jae-Geun asked something that made Kyung-Soo burn with fire. “What about her?”

“You want her to like this?” inquired Kyung-Soo, trying hard to hide his jealousy and anger.