To Byul (Omegaverse)-Chapter 144: Please, hear me out

As they walked towards the club, Yun-tae glanced at Myung-woo who had been a little silent during their ride there.

And even now, he wasn’t saying anything.

’Is something bothering him?’ he wondered but when Myung-woo saw that he was staring at him, he smiled at him, causing Yun-tae to blush.

He looked away right away, still wondering what the distraction was. But before he could ask, he’d have to get rid of his blushing face.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat. "Hey, are... Are you okay?" he asked, his voice low with concern. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Myung-woo blinked, returning to the present. "Yeah, I’m fine," he replied, smiling once more but Yun-tae wasn’t convinced.

He had seen Myung-woo’s expression, the faint furrow between his brows. Something was bothering him.

They hadn’t known each other for long but he was able to ascertain a bit about Myung-woo.

As they stepped inside the club, one of Yun-tae’s colleagues, who wanted to welcome the guest, saw it was him and beamed a smile.

"Yun, you’re back."

"Haha, how has everyone been?" Yun-tae asked and he rolled his eyes.

"Nothing much changed. But you’re back. Does this mean you’re going to resume work?" He asked about Yun-tae and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I don’t know that yet. I’ll have to ask the manager about that first."

Myung-woo listened quietly as they both chatted away, his eyes never leaving Yun-tae’s face but his thoughts were in disarray.

After a few minutes of small talk, another customer came in and Yun-tae’s colleague had to leave.

"Oh, a customer. I’ll catch you later Yun," he said and walked up to the custom.

Myung-woo suddenly grabbed Yun-tae’s hand softly and gently pulled him to a quiet corner. "I need to tell you something," he said, his voice low and serious.

Yun-tae grew curious. Was this about the thing that was bothering him?

"What is it?" he asked, his eyes locked on Myung-woo’s.

Myung-woo took a deep breath before speaking. "It’s been weighing on my mind for a while since you brought it up, and as much as I wanted to keep it from you, I felt it wouldn’t be fair. So, I’m going to confess before you misunderstand my intentions."

Yun-tae wondered what his confession was all about that was making him so serious. Was he finally going to tell him his name? No, this situation seemed too serious for that

"The truth is..." The words were so hard to say for some reason, but he was going to do it. "The truth is, I’m the one who arranged for your paid leave."

Yun-tae’s eyes widened in shock.

"What?"

"Please, just hear me out." Myung-woo immediately intercepted. He wanted to say everything before Yun-tae even had a tiny bit of misunderstanding. "I was there when that awful thing happened, and even if you didn’t know me yet at that time, I knew you, and I was already in love with you at that time. I just... Couldn’t stand to see you suffer something like that and only get an apology in return. So, I spoke to the manager about installing security cameras in the booths and also about giving you a break. But I felt you would be stubborn and maybe needed money so you wouldn’t want to take the break and lose, so I initiated the paid leave. Paying you..." He pressed his lips together. "...out of my own pocket."

Yun-tae’s eyes widened in surprise once again, but he said nothing. What could he even say? Myung-woo had explained why he did it and though it sounded like something he would do, he wasn’t okay with it yet.

So, he waited to hear the rest of what Myung-woo had to say.

Myung-woo’s expression turned apologetic as his eyes fell to the ground.

"I didn’t want to deceive you. Heck, I didn’t want our first interactions to be centered around that kind of situation, but it kind of happened." He shoved his fingers through his hair in frustration.

He was feeling so frustrated at himself.

"I would’ve liked to offer you the money myself instead of covering it up with a paid leave but who would accept money from a stranger they just met, right? I thought about it a lot and I couldn’t think of anything else. I wanted to help you by any means necessary and allow you to take a break." He lifted his hand and stroked his hair. "You’ve worked so darn hard in this life. So hard that you deserved a break and I..." He sighed and dropped his hand. "I must’ve been selfish since I didn’t want you to reject my help."

Yun-tae’s gaze searched Myung-woo’s face and then fell to the floor. He didn’t know what to make of this.

Even if he was feeling quite conflicted in his mind and reprimanding Myung-woo for using such a back alley method, his heart wouldn’t let him be.

He was touched that he thought about him so much to the extent he took things that far. And... he was touched that he was telling him this instead of letting a misunderstanding fester.

It only goes to show how much he cared for him even more.

"Hyung, why... Why tell me now?" Yun-tae asked, his voice soft. Even if he understood it all and had accepted his reasons, he could not give him the leeway just yet.

Myung-woo’s eyes locked on his. "I don’t want to keep secrets from you, Yun-tae. I want to be honest with you, even if it’s hard. Even if it might cause you to hate me. It’s better than you disappearing from my life with a mistake on my part. Even if you come to hate me because of my confession, I will do all I can to make you love me again."

(Now this is how it’s done. Kang-woo, Chin-hwa, take note.)

Yun-tae’s expression softened, and he reached out, placing a hand on Myung-woo’s arm. "You’re such a fool." He said and brushed his cheeks softly with the back of his palm. "I could never hate you. Not when you’re this nice to me."

His heart was beating warmly. Ah, how he loved this feeling.

"Thank you for telling me," he said, his voice sincere.

Myung-woo’s face relaxed, and he covered Yun-tae’s hand with his own. "I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I’m sorry I did things behind your back. But I will make it up to you. I... I will never deceive you again."

He planted his lips on Yun-tae’s forehead.

As they stood there in the corner, hands touching, Yun-tae felt a sense of connection with Myung-woo. He understood that Myung-woo had acted out of kindness, and he appreciated his honesty.

"Ahem," someone cleared their throat behind them and they turned to find the manager. "I was told someone was here to see me?"

"Ah, Annyeong manager. It’s nice to see you again." Yun-tae said but then paused.

At this point, he was rethinking a lot of things. This place... Maybe it wasn’t very suitable after all. And... He didn’t want to make Myung-woo worry anymore.

"I wanted to see you, manager." Yun-tae said. "And that’s because I plan to quit." He smiled. "For good."

Myung-woo’s eyes widened in surprise. Why would he...?

Yun-tae glanced back at him and smiled as he winked his right eye.

’Oh, I see.’ his gaze softened. ’He’s such a lovely kitten.’ he thought and patted Yun-tae’s head.

At the end of the day, they both decided to rent a booth and drank as much as they wanted. It was a form of celebration. That is, if they were planning on celebrating that Yun-tae was officially jobless then it was worth it.

"Hm, this tequila really is the best." Yun-tae exclaimed and Myung-woo laughed.

"You’re speaking like you’ve had others." He said and Yun-tae also laughed.

"It doesn’t matter. Since you said it’s the best then it has to be." He smiled. "After all, I believe everything you say."

Myung-woo’s eyes widened and then he pulled Yun-tae in for a kiss.

It was a heated kiss with their breaths hitching against each other and their tongues swirling together. They were half drunk and so they were nearly losing their minds.

But even with their half-drunk state, they still knew when to stop.

Thanks to Myung-woo’s suggestion, there were now surveillance cameras so their actions could very much be seen by anyone who was monitoring the screens.

"Haha," Yun-tae laughed, his face swaying slightly. "This appears to be the second-best day of my life." He said and then hiccuped.

"Really? Why not the very best?"

"Oh, no, no," Yun-tae shook his head and then leaned his back on the cozy couch. "That’s because the best day of my life was when I experienced the warmth of a family for the first time." He said, staring at the ceiling. "Hwa’s family is so warm and they have such big hearts."

"Yeah, very warm." Myung-woo said and laughed. "They’re very welcoming too. That’s why I like spending time there."

"Oh, that’s right. You were the one. The one who helped me in the bathroom. I..." Yun-Tae got closer and sniffed Myung-woo’s neck. "I can still remember how you smell quite... Vividly."