UCCU | Chapter 2.2

This place didn’t feel like a normal house at all—it felt more like a fancy hotel than a college hoobae’s home. It was awkward and unfamiliar, and he felt both intimidated and oddly excited.

In the face of such overwhelming wealth, he couldn’t even feel jealous—just awestruck.

When he finished showering, his clothes were neatly laid out in the dressing room. Seonwoo reached for them without thinking, then paused.

“These aren’t my clothes.”

He peeked out the bathroom door, but no one was there. After hesitating, he had no choice but to put them on. They fit him perfectly. Since Ihyun was bigger than him, it was obvious these were bought just for him.

‘Did he really buy clothes in my size? In just one day?’

He was grateful, but it felt weird and unsettling—a little uncomfortable, even.

When he carefully opened the bedroom door, Ihyun was talking to a man in a suit.

Seonwoo waited a little ways off, and soon Ihyun noticed him. But he just looked at Seonwoo without any gesture, so Seonwoo awkwardly walked over.

“Thanks for letting me use the bathroom. These clothes… Are you sure I can wear them?”

“Yeah, I got them for you.”

Really? Seonwoo looked down at the clothes again. They were comfortable, soft loungewear, but looked good enough to wear outside.

“Um…”

He hesitated before speaking. Bringing a drunk classmate home, feeding him, and buying him new clothes was a bit much. He couldn’t remember ever doing Ihyun a favor.

“Thanks. If you tell me how much, I’ll transfer you the money for the clothes…”

Feeling awkward in this situation, Seonwoo spoke shyly. Ihyun just smirked again without answering. This time, seeing that smile made Seonwoo’s ears burn with embarrassment. The atmosphere was getting weirder, so he swallowed nervously.

“Sorry for just eating and running, but I have to get to work. Can you tell me where my phone and wallet are?”

“I’m not going to tell you.”

At first, Seonwoo thought Ihyun was joking and laughed. Ihyun sighed lightly, tilted his head, and spoke, his eyes glinting as he watched Seonwoo’s reaction.

“You’ve been kidnapped, hyung. You’re being held captive right now.”

“Kidnapped? Captive…?”

Seonwoo still didn’t get it and gave an awkward smile. Ihyun openly laughed at him, then continued in a completely calm voice.

“You were so drunk you couldn’t even tell if you were drinking soda or alcohol, so luckily I didn’t have to use any drugs.”

“Huh…?”

If you mix alcohol and drugs, it’s dangerous, so I probably wouldn’t have used them unless you were really sober. Ihyun’s face was expressionless, with not a hint of joking. Only then did Seonwoo’s smile fade a little.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Manager-nim. Do I look like I’m joking?”

Ihyun’s question was directed at the man standing next to him, not Seonwoo. The middle-aged man answered in a heavy voice, “No, sir,” and now Seonwoo noticed he was wearing an in-ear headset. A wave of unease hit him, but Seonwoo forced a smile.

“Ihyun, don’t joke around. I really have to go. If I skip work like this, I’ll get fired.”

“Get fired or not, I’m not joking.”

At Ihyun’s cold, serious voice, Seonwoo instinctively stepped back. While Seonwoo’s face lost all trace of a smile, Ihyun’s lips curled into a chilly grin. He came closer, folded his arms, and looked down at Seonwoo arrogantly.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this day. Now that the semester’s over, no one’s going to be looking for you for a while. And anyway, you… don’t have any family, so it’ll be hard for you to leave here.”

Seonwoo’s mouth dropped open. Ihyun spoke as if he’d been watching Seonwoo for a long time.

“Don’t worry about your part-time jobs. I called both places and told them you can’t work there anymore. You were already pushing yourself too hard, going to the pharmacy every week, so this is for the best. You should take this chance to clean out your old place, too.”

Seonwoo was speechless at how accurately Ihyun knew his situation. Ihyun looked at him with satisfaction. Seonwoo asked in a trembling voice,

“You… have you been following me all this time?”

“Yeah.”

“You… are you my stalker or something?”

“Maybe?”

This really isn’t a joke. Only then did Seonwoo realize this wasn’t just a hoobae being nice to a drunk sunbae. Ihyun gestured for him to come over, but Seonwoo just backed away. He glanced around and spotted the front door. He bolted for it.

He was worried it might not open, but thankfully, it swung wide. He ran outside, feeling the grass prick his feet through the slippers like needles. He tried to run across the garden, but panicked. The garden was so big and full of trees that he couldn’t tell where the exit was.

As he hesitated, unsure which way to go, hands suddenly grabbed him. Startled, he jumped and looked back to see two men in suits had followed him and were dragging him back.

“Hey, wait! Please, let go of me!”

He struggled, trying not to be dragged, but they just picked him up and carried him back inside. Ihyun, who’d been watching with his arms crossed, frowned.

“Be gentle. You’re not gangsters, why are you being so rough?”

At Ihyun’s annoyed voice, the men loosened their grip. Ihyun strode over and grabbed Seonwoo’s wrist even harder.

“Give him to me.”

“Sorry, sir.”

Ihyun’s grip hurt even more than the men’s. Seonwoo bit his lip to keep from crying out. He looked around for help, but soon gave up. There was no one who looked like they’d listen to him—not the big men, not the staff calmly dusting nearby.

‘Stay calm, Yoon Seonwoo. Don’t provoke them.’

He tried to stay calm, but his body was stiff with tension. He was dragged back to the bedroom he’d woken up in, and tripped, falling to the floor. He banged his knee hard, but couldn’t even say it hurt.

“Hyung, don’t you remember what you did to me?”

Ihyun crouched in front of Seonwoo, who was groaning in pain. The question came out of nowhere, and Seonwoo just watched him, unable to answer. He racked his brain, trying to remember everything from when he started college until now, but couldn’t think of anything that would make Ihyun treat him like this.

‘Did I ever talk behind Choi Ihyun’s back?’

But Seonwoo had never talked behind anyone’s back in college. It wasn’t his style, and he avoided making pointless enemies. If anything, he’d helped people, never hurt them. Especially with Choi Ihyun, they’d only ever shared a class—he didn’t even know him well enough to have a real conversation.

Did I do something terrible while drunk last night?

He was sweating coldly when Ihyun suddenly tickled his foot, making him jump. Why is he tickling my foot? But Ihyun was just brushing off the grass stuck to Seonwoo’s barefoot after the slipper came off. Seonwoo wanted to pull his foot away, but just curled his toes and endured it. As Ihyun gently brushed off the grass with strangely soft hands, he sneered.

“Because of you, my life got totally messed up, but you just forgot everything and lived comfortably?”

“What…?”

Seonwoo jerked his head up in shock. He’d messed up Ihyun’s life? He couldn’t believe it. Other than being at the same university, they lived in completely different worlds. They’d barely even crossed paths.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you, hyung.”

With that, Ihyun pinched one of Seonwoo’s curled toes hard, then let go. Seonwoo’s heart dropped.

“I can’t believe you really don’t remember anything.”

Ihyun stood up, looking deeply disappointed. He shot Seonwoo a reproachful look, then said one last thing before leaving the room.

“Stay here and try to remember what you did to me.”

𓂃𓍼 ོ☁

After Ihyun left, Seonwoo paced the room anxiously. When was the first time he met Choi Ihyun? He racked his brain, going over everything from when he first saw Ihyun in a sophomore elective class up until now, but all he could remember was how hard he’d worked before and after starting college.

“Sigh… What the hell did I do to deserve this?”

Did I accidentally step on Choi Ihyun’s foot? Did I break something of his? Or maybe I helped someone who was his enemy?

Seonwoo scratched his head, his gaze drifting out the window. While he was lost in thought, the sun had completely set, and darkness had fallen over the garden, but as the lights came on one by one, it created a stunning night view.

“…That’s beautiful.”

Drawn in, Seonwoo pressed close to the window and muttered without realizing it. Along the garden path, mushroom-shaped lights glowed brightly. The fountain and pool shimmered with a bluish-white light, and on the other side, the gazebo roof was strung with lights that looked like wisteria flowers. The fabric of the gazebo fluttered in the breeze, and Seonwoo stood on tiptoe to watch, his nose almost pressed to the glass, then tilted his head.

“Maybe I didn’t do something that bad…?”

His mind, half-paralyzed from the shock of being kidnapped and locked up for some unknown mistake, finally started working again.

‘At least, it doesn’t seem like I committed some unforgivable crime.’

If he’d really done something that terrible, would he be in a nice room with a view like this, with the heat on, good food, and even an IV for his hangover? That didn’t seem likely.

‘…Right?’

But still, people don’t usually lock someone up over something minor. Maybe for a chaebol kid, this kind of thing isn’t even a big deal. What if tomorrow he gets dragged off to some basement and locked up there?

He needed to know what he’d done wrong so he could at least beg or plead, but Seonwoo couldn’t think of anything. He started pacing the room again, even more anxious.

Just in case, he tried to remember all the way back to high school. He lived on his own now, but he’d spent his childhood in an orphanage. But even life at the orphanage wasn’t much different from now. He was always a good kid, listened well, and took care of the younger ones.

And in high school, he barely had time to hang out with friends—he was focused only on studying. His goal was to get a scholarship and go to college. He even thought back to his rebellious middle school days, but the worst he’d done was spend the night at a playground, feeling lonely and sorry for himself. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find any connection to Ihyun.

But before that, even further back…