I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan

Episode 57

“Long time no see.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

The two greeted each other. For some reason, it was an awkward meeting.

‘Awkward, when we’ve known each other almost our whole lives.’

Seon-hu was surprised by his own thought and sat down. Jae-young, whom he met after a long time, looked quite anxious.

Although they had known each other since a very young age, Seon-hu rarely had memories of seeing Jae-young like this. Was something wrong? Seon-hu asked with a worried face.

“Is something wrong? You look really unwell.”

“No. It’s not that.”

Only then did Jae-young’s expression loosen a bit. But the shadow was still there. Seon-hu drank a little of the beverage that came out for him.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a really long time. When I called last time… I was sorry. It was too sudden.”

“No. I didn’t even do anything.”

“Still… I was grateful that you even talked to me.”

Seon-hu expressed his slightly late gratitude. That day, his mentality completely collapsed and he couldn’t think normally.

It seemed like things would get bigger if he contacted his family, and it was the same with Tae-sung’s aides not being reachable. Not knowing what to do, let alone how to wait, he cried and contacted Jae-young, who was the only person he could trust.

“I was so out of it that I couldn’t even properly say thank you. I should have contacted you first.”

“No. As long as you’re doing well, that’s enough. Rather than that… there’s something I want to ask.”

Jae-young, who didn’t have the leisure to talk for long, cut off Seon-hu’s introduction. He came out here feeling like he was grasping at straws.

“About that person, do you know?”

“Who… are you talking about?”

Seon-hu was startled by the words that flew out without even a subject because he was in a hurry. Jae-young hesitated for a moment and said,

“Have you heard anything about Seung-hyun Han from Director Han?”

“Seung-hyun Han?”

Seon-hu put down the drink he was sipping in surprise. These days, as if planned, Seung-hyun’s story suddenly came from here and there. He couldn’t understand what was going on.

‘How does Jae-young know that person? Ah, I called him then…’ 

Jae-young was a friend who took good care of him, so he must have looked into what happened. He understood that much.

“Are you… acquaintances?”

But there was no need for him to ask about that person. Seon-hu carefully asked. Jae-young still had an anxious look. As if he was worried about someone.

It seemed like the person he was worried about was that person, but Seon-hu asked thinking it couldn’t be.

“……”

The silence was an affirmation. Seon-hu blinked his eyes in surprise. It was a completely unexpected combination.

“How did you get to know each other? Have you known each other for long?”

Seon-hu poured out questions one after another. Jae-young was the one who asked first, but in the situation where the subject and object were reversed, Jae-young calmed Seon-hu down.

“Have you heard anything?”

At the serious tone, Seon-hu flinched a little in surprise. From the moment their eyes met after entering here, today’s Jae-young was unfamiliar in many ways.

Whenever they met, they only exchanged trivial stories that didn’t need to be told. Even then, most of the time, Seon-hu would talk and Jae-young would respond appropriately to his story and spend time.

Today was different. Jae-young was showing an urgent and anxious appearance as if he was interrogating, not conversing.

“I, I don’t know well.”

Seon-hu stuttered, flustered by such Jae-young. He was curious about how Jae-young and Seung-hyun knew each other, but Jae-young’s mood was unusual to ask this and that.

“Just… that Tae-sung doesn’t like him… and I met him not long ago.”

“Not long ago?”

“Ah, not even not long ago. It hasn’t been a few days.”

Seon-hu traced back the day he met Seung-hyun with his finger. The finger stopped without going over one hand.

“Where? How? No, what did you talk about?”

Jae-young continued asking questions without stopping. Could the reason for the delayed reply that day be here? Could it be related to the sudden change? He wanted to know something, anything.

“Just, by chance… No, it might not be by chance, he said…”

The flustered Seon-hu answered hesitantly. He thought it was a coincidence, but Tae-sung firmly said it must have been a calculated meeting, so he was confused about how to answer.

“I was walking in the park…”

“The park?”

“A few days ago, I went to the family home and was walking Leo when I met him. Before that, I saw him once at the mart too…”

Jae-young frowned for a moment at the completely unexpected place. He even doubted if he heard wrong.

Seon-hu saw Jae-young’s face and sighed softly. He had already repeated the story to Tae-sung several times to the point of annoyance, and now he had to tell it again.

“I bumped into him because I wasn’t looking properly and fell, and after that we talked briefly…”

Jae-young let out a small sigh. It was a situation that didn’t suit Seung-hyun, but considering Seon-hu’s personality, it wasn’t that strange either.

Seon-hu’s way of talking to people as if they were close friends and having conversations was familiar to Jae-young too. Seung-hyun didn’t seem like the type to reject people approaching him either.

“You didn’t know his face?”

But Seung-hyun and Seon-hu shouldn’t be strangers to each other. Even if Seon-hu was like that, there was no way Seung-hyun wouldn’t know Seon-hu’s face.

“…I only saw him once. Chairman Han doesn’t like me attending family events…”

Seon-hu said with a slightly sullen face. Hearing this from everywhere, he felt like he really became a fool.

“Moreover, the atmosphere was completely different from when I first saw him, so I didn’t know.”

Jae-young clicked his tongue inwardly. Seeing his sulky appearance, it seemed like he got scolded by Han Tae-sung. Anyway, that side also had a person he didn’t like very much.

“Moreover, on the day I first met him, he even collapsed, so I was out of it…”

“He collapsed?”

Jae-young was surprised and interrupted Seon-hu’s excuse. Collapsed, it was the first time he heard that.

But the more surprised one was Seon-hu. Jae-young was always kind, but he wasn’t someone who showed this kind of reaction.

‘Are they close…? If he was close with Jae-young, there’s no way I wouldn’t know. No, at least until the last time I called, they were strangers.’

“He, he immediately took out medicine, so it seemed like he had an illness. I don’t know well. I said a moment ago that I saw him a few days ago in the park while walking Leo. I remembered that and talked to him briefly, then Tae-sung came and I found out it was him.”

Seon-hu slowly spoke while looking at the unfamiliar Jae-young. Jae-young sank into thought without noticing Seon-hu finding him unfamiliar.

‘There’s definitely something… but he won’t tell me.’

He was only getting more anxious. He knew he was the one who liked the other person more, but unlike the confident start, now it felt like he was the only one clinging on.

Moreover, even if Seon-hu was like that, there was no way Seung-hyun wouldn’t have known Seon-hu’s face. Even if the meeting was a coincidence, what was the reason for pretending not to know? He couldn’t understand.

“What’s going on? You’re only asking.”

After pondering for a long time, Jae-young finally came to his senses at Seon-hu’s words mixed with complaint and took his hand off his forehead.

“…I just happened to get to know him… but I don’t know what kind of person he is even though I know. I thought you might know something.”

“You happened to get to know him?”

“That’s…”

Jae-young hesitated without answering. He was keeping an eye on him thinking he might harm Seon-hu, and he went to find him after hearing that he was spotted at his friend’s bar.

It wasn’t a difficult story up to that point, but he was a little hesitant about the rest of the story. How should he say it? As he was worrying, Seon-hu carefully asked,

“Are you two… dating?”

Even to the clueless Seon-hu, today’s Jae-young was strange. Strange to the point of seeming like a different person. He was already looking anxious, but he was getting weirder the more he talked about Seung-hyun.

Then they’re not ordinary acquaintances, and thinking that far, there was only one assumption that came to mind.

“……”

Jae-young’s expression hardened. Dating. It would be nice if he could introduce them like that. The relationship between the two that Seung-hyun directly defined was something that couldn’t be easily told to others.

“…No. We’re not like that.”

Could they ever be like that someday? After hearing Seon-hu’s story, he was less sure. He thought it was unpleasant that other people talked about Seung-hyun without knowing him well, but now he felt he was not much different.

“We’re not… anything.”

It wasn’t a relationship with a name he could tell others, and he had no confidence about Seung-hyun. But he still couldn’t let him go yet.

“We’re not anything.”

It couldn’t be. Even if he couldn’t be sure about what Seung-hyun was like, Jae-young knew what he wanted. Even knowing it was a foolish wish, he came to think there must be some circumstances in this matter too.

Seon-hu couldn’t ask more and closed his mouth at the face that looked complicated. In the end, the long-awaited meeting ended leaving only questions for each other.