ABNA Chapter 4

‘Had there only been one or two times in my life when things went terribly wrong?’ 

He could confidently say that wasn’t the case for him. In his life, he’d experienced countless moments where cold sweat ran down his back, and he felt a chill down his spine, thinking, “Oh, I’m screwed.” 

For example, there was the time he took a delivery job and ended up covered head-to-toe in white powder because the bag accidentally ripped open during the delivery. 

Or the time he went for a customer service job and, as a high school graduate, he was suddenly making phone calls pretending to be an investigator from the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, telling people they were involved in a crime—when in reality, he was about to be involved in a crime in real-time. 

‘Are my eyes playing tricks on me?’ 

He bit down on his trembling lips and rubbed his eyes with his shaking hands. 

The man, who had been facing away from him, kindly turned to face him, as if to confirm his worst fears. 

“W-what is this?” 

‘Why? Why is that man wearing Do-jae’s face?’ 

‘That can’t be. Is it an impersonation? If it’s an impersonation, is it a face impersonation? But is there such a thing as face impersonation? Can that be possible?’ 

The presence of a face that shouldn’t be there made him panic, and ridiculous speculations popped into his head. 

He wanted to escape reality by thinking it was just a coincidence, that he was just someone who looked alike, but because his face was so handsome, it was hard to find someone who looked even remotely similar, so that wasn’t easy either. 

Just then, Mr. Kim, who had been getting beaten to a pulp, suddenly collapsed as if a fuse had blown. He seemed to have fainted. 

“Should I wake him up?” 

The Do-jae impersonator raised his hand towards the man who was volunteering to be a human alarm clock. 

“It’s okay. Today was just a warning anyway.” 

Having finished his business, the man took his eyes off the unconscious landlord. Then, with a flick of his hand, another man next to him pulled out a handkerchief. 

“Aren’t you… going on a date today?” 

The man, who was wiping his dirty hands, glared fiercely at the question. The man who had tried to say something nice to get in his good graces flinched. 

“Shit.”
 

Even when he was beating up Mr kim, his language was vulgar, but he didn’t use such a chilling tone. Heegyo lowered himself as much as possible and perked up his ears, eavesdropping.
 

The man just kept wiping his hands without saying a word. Then he roughly tossed the handkerchief towards the man. 

It was a while before the man spoke. 

“…he says he’s busy these days.” 

The man’s voice was far from the fierce behavior he had just shown. It was so gloomy and depressed that Heegyo wanted to dig his ears out to make sure he had heard correctly. 

“he says we can only meet three times a week, shit. What kind of messed up situation is this?” 

And a chill ran down Heegyo’s spine, who had agreed to meet Do-jae three times a week. 

‘The messed up situation is My situation right now!’ 

Heegyo had been busy working at a factory these days. He didn’t want to show Do-jae his exhausted face, so he didn’t want to meet him on the days he worked. 

So, it was only on his days off, and when Do-jae whined so much about only meeting twice a week at most, he barely managed to settle on three times. 

“Ah. So that’s why you’ve been in a bad mood lately. But when you’re dating, your partner might be busy…” 

“I guess I’ll have to put a GPS tracker on him.” 

“…” 

Heegyo’s body stiffened at the word GPS. 

“Young Master. As I’ve said repeatedly from the beginning, relationships are built on trust and faith…” 

“So, I’m not going to eavesdrop, just put a GPS tracker on him.” 

Heegyo’s small head was about to explode. Unaware of his situation, the murmuring voices below grew louder. 

“Still, GPS is a crime.” 

“Come on, Chief Choi. Are you saying that after seeing what happened to that bastard here?” 

“This bastard… Anyway, Young Master. You said you wanted to approach him normally. Then don’t do things like GPS and just date like everyone else. Please.” 

“Young Master. I disagree. Doing things like everyone else? That’s all unoriginal and boring. You should do everything you want in a relationship so you don’t have any regrets when you break up…” 

Smack. 

Another sound of someone getting hit. 

“You little shit. Do you think we’re going to break up?” 

“Ugh. That’s not what I meant! I mean, you won’t have any regrets later if you do what you want, that’s all.” 

Murmur, murmur. 

The people below were divided into two factions. 

The ‘GPS is a no-go, only relationships built on trust last’ faction 

and the ‘Putting a GPS tracker on him will strengthen trust and make it last longer’ faction. 

“Ah, come on. GPS is about suspicion!” 

“What suspicion? I’m saying we’ll strengthen trust with GPS!” 

“You idiot! That’s trust in the GPS, how is that trusting your partner? Huh?” 

No one considered the other person’s opinion. 

‘Shit. If this really is my story, then why the hell are they acting like they have a say in how I live it?  I don’t need any of that crap on my table.’ 

Heegyo, who needed to confirm immediately, reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He was planning to send a text to Do-jae. If that guy is really Do-jae… 

Gulp. 

Heegyo swallowed hard. 

There’s no more solid evidence than this. He barely moved his trembling fingers and sent a text to Do-jae. 

[Do-jae.] 

Then he quickly looked up and looked down below. Thankfully, the man was quiet. He didn’t check anything, as if he didn’t even have a phone… 

“Young Master. You have a text message.” 

The man called Chief Choi handed the phone to the man. The reason he hadn’t checked his messages was because he really didn’t have a phone. Soon, the man looked at the screen and started typing something. 

The light from the screen made the man’s cold face even more visible.
 

‘Shit. No matter how I look at it, it’s Do-jae’s. I wanted to deny it, but my eyes, which had already accepted the truth, were releasing tears.’ 

‘My boyfriend is actually the boss of a gang?’ 

A title that wouldn’t even be attached to a light novel is about to be attached to Heegyo’s life. 

[Do-jae: Why?] 

I got a reply from Do-jae. Why? That’s what I want to say. Why you? Why. 

His whole body trembled, urging him to confront Do-jae and end things immediately. But a flicker of reason stopped him. 

If that really was Do-jae, and if he was capable of what Heegyo had just witnessed… what if confronting him led to the same fate as the landlord’s? 

The thought alone was enough to make him reconsider.
What if things turned violent while they were still together? What would he do then? The fear was already settling in. 

There was no courage left in him. Heegyo had no choice but to admit it — Do-jae now ranked first on his list of people he was afraid of.
 

From commanding those swarming men to beating up the landlord without saying a word. 

It would be strange not to be scared after seeing him beat someone up so professionally. 

[Do-jae: Why?] 

Heegyo stared blankly at Do-jae’s reply and carefully raised his finger. First, 

‘let’s get out of here. Let’s get out of this terrible situation.’ 

Now I just wanted to sleep like I was passing out. Then, when I opened my eyes, wouldn’t a very magical show happen where I’d think, “Ah, it was a dream”? 

“…” 

‘Anyway, what should I reply?’ 

As Heegyo pondered, he remembered how Do-jae would come running at the slightest thing. 

Ah. Then. 

[ (Photo) ] 

[So delicious. I’ll make this for you when you come.] 

Heegyo sent a photo of something he had made after seeing a convenience store recipe that had been trending on social media recently. 

It was a cup of udon ramen with a triangle kimbap inside, topped with tuna. Heegyo had added a long sausage and a soft-boiled egg for extra protein. And because it might be bland, he added a few pieces of kimchi, turning the white broth into a red broth. 

The finished product looked like food that had been left unfinished in life and encountered in hell, but Heegyo, who believed that food should be eaten with the mouth, not the eyes, thought it was perfect. 

Unlike his appearance, Do-jae was serious about food, so if he often took pictures of the food he made and sent it to him, he would come running to share this wonderful taste. 

“Ha!” 

[Do-jae: Looks delicious.] 

‘As expected. My prediction was spot on. How perfect must it look for him to let out such a sigh of admiration?’ 

“Shit.” 

Huh? 

[Do-jae’s: Hyung.] 

“Where did you learn to make dog food?” 

What?