Come Back

After finishing his second shower of the day, Lee Hae-sung left the bathroom, dripping wet and completely naked.

He had a long-standing habit of drying himself off on the rug at the bathroom entrance to avoid the moisture he disliked.

He didn’t mind the moisture itself, but he lived in an environment where he didn’t need to manage it. His ex-wife had once remarked on this. It wasn’t said in criticism—she too had grown up in an environment where she didn’t need to take action to avoid things she disliked.

That might actually be true.

Even with proper ventilation, moisture builds up during a shower. He disliked that clamminess, so he quickly left the bathroom. Even if he walked around the powder room dripping wet, it would soon be tidied up as if by magic.

Interestingly, he had never shared a bathroom with his wife. Both Lee Hae-sung and his wife found the idea of sharing a bathroom repulsive. Like most people who grew up using their own bathroom from a young age, to them, the bathroom was even more private than the bedroom—it was their own solitary space. Even the couple’s bedroom had become more of an extension of their business relationship, a contract-based space.

But he had spent time in the bathroom with Choi Hong-seo.

After their first sex, they had soaked in the bathtub together, exchanging meaningless jokes and playful remarks while their bodies were still in contact. That time, as sweet and intoxicating as the sex itself, lingered in his memory.

The bathroom was a place filled with those vivid memories.

Lee Hae-sung threw the towel he had used to dry his hair into the basket and hastily dried his body with a new towel. Finally, he discreetly wiped between his legs, grabbed a third towel, and wrapped it around his lower body as he stepped out barefoot onto the rug.

It had been a long time since he stayed at the Seocho-dong house.

He hadn’t visited his house in Bundang in even longer. Though the house, carefully built to offer him rest amid nature, was his sanctuary, it was also the one place where he didn’t have memories with Choi Hong-seo, so naturally, he rarely went there.

The Hanam-dong mansion, on the other hand, held significant meaning as it was where Choi Hong-seo had lived until the end, and it had more memories with her.

It was impossible to compare which one was more precious. He had chosen to live like a gatekeeper in the room where Choi Hong-seo had once been. All the memories in that house were shared with her, while in the Hanam-dong mansion, Choi Hong-seo had been alone. He felt like he had to protect that place…

Perhaps the Hanam-dong mansion was, in a way, Lee Hae-sung’s true tomb for Choi Hong-seo.

He had no intention of inviting the actors from the cast of *Cream Mansion* to such a place. It was a space far more private and almost sacred than any bathroom.

After completing his simple skincare routine, according to the stylist’s usual routine, Lee Hae-sung gently rubbed his jaw and walked toward the dressing room.

He had hired a professional stylist to manage his overall image, including his appearance and wardrobe, just like entrepreneurs and business leaders who take their image seriously.

It was very different from the previous generation, where people questioned the importance of grooming for business. Almost none of the third-generation business owners in Lee Hae-sung’s circle didn’t have a stylist.

Perhaps that was why his much younger lover had never rejected him.

As Lee Hae-sung smiled faintly, thinking about this, his pace suddenly slowed.

At moments like this, he sometimes forgot the death of that child. In one instant, he would recall a word or action that the child had said, laughing with pure joy, only to then remember their absence in the next moment, his face freezing into cold, hard stone. This was one of those moments.

As he stopped, a display cabinet filled with perfumes caught his eye. Beautiful glass bottles of various shapes were neatly arranged. Slowly, he walked over to them.

He didn’t wear perfume when he was working. It was advice from his mother.

The perception of fragrance was highly subjective. What was a pleasant scent to him could be an awful smell to someone else. So, his mother had advised him to avoid anything that might leave an unpleasant impression on others outside of work.

However, in his private life, he occasionally used perfume to refresh his mood.

He didn’t spray it often, but there were about a hundred perfumes displayed in the cabinet. Compared to the people around him, this could hardly be called a “collection.” In a world where everything is abundant, the standards of abundance are bound to be different.

Lee Hae-seong took one bottle and picked it up.

It was a perfume he used to wear sometimes when he met that kid.

“What perfume is this?”

“Why? Are you secretly trying to buy the same one?”

“If I buy it… is that okay?”

“Of course it’s fine. I’ll give you a bottle tomorrow. It’s an order made by a perfumer in Paris, so it’s not available in stores.”

“It’s that rare? Can you really give it to me?”

“There’s nothing more precious than you.”

As he sprayed the perfume into the air and inhaled the scent, the conversation from that day vividly came back to him. Even the sight of that kid’s red ear was so clear that it felt as if he could bite it at any moment.

It was the monumental day they first had sex, relaxed in the bath together, fell asleep in the same bed, and started the day together.

On that day, Lee Hae-seong had canceled all his appointments and spent the entire day with Choi Hong-seo. He was so deeply in love with his partner that he suddenly canceled all his schedule to match the partner’s day off. Although there weren’t any particularly important meetings, it was an unprecedented event for him. Manager Kang had to confirm it twice when he was asked to adjust the schedule.

Though he woke up earlier than Choi Hong-seo, he didn’t rush him. He quietly held him until he naturally opened his eyes, fully aware of how much he had teased him the night before.

The kid, who always looked tense and made things difficult for him, was slowly showing different sides of himself—sometimes approaching him, teasing him, and indirectly expressing affection. He was so happy about this change that he couldn’t hold himself together.

That kid, after a passionate night together, was now sleeping in his arms. He had felt it, had wanted it so actively the night before, and Lee Hae-seong kept replaying those memories, gently caressing the kid’s bare shoulder, kissing his forehead and hair repeatedly.

The kid, who was tightly cuddling him, would breathe against his bare chest, sending ticklish breaths. Though it was probably a subconscious act in his sleep, the kid’s arm was draped over his lower abdomen.

The kid’s face, relaxed and sleeping peacefully by his side, never grew tiresome to look at.

That morning, Lee Hae-seong imagined a life where every day began like that.

He had planned to gradually make it happen so that his younger lover wouldn’t be startled or scared, but the idea of spending every day ending and starting together was an exciting thought.

From the bed that morning to the bathroom, from the bathroom to the powder room and dressing room, and finally starting the real day—Lee Hae-seong couldn’t pull away from Choi Hong-seo’s body. Even the kisses they shared that late morning must have added up to hundreds.

After a long shower together, with some gentle caressing, they were in front of this display cabinet. He had hugged the kid from behind and gave him the perfume as a gift.

“Is this the perfume? The one you sprayed when we walked together on Namsan?”

“Do you want to try it?”

He opened the package and handed the new bottle to Choi Hong-seo. He then sprayed a little on the kid’s wrists, just as people usually do, rubbing the wrists together and finally rubbing them under the ears.

“If you rub it like that, the scent particles get crushed and the fragrance fades or changes quickly. It lasts longer if you leave it as is or just tap it lightly.”

“Oh? I didn’t know that.”

“Also, the outer wrist holds the scent longer than the inner wrist because there’s less contact there.”

He grabbed the kid’s wrist, now wearing a bathrobe, and sprayed the perfume lightly on the outer side of his wrist.

“It really smells like you.”

He was happy as he inhaled the scent, his wrist brought close to his nose, smiling shyly.

It seemed like he could never get enough of looking at that face, and he felt like he could do anything for that kid.

It wasn’t his first time in a relationship. He wasn’t at an age where he would naively look at the meaning of love, and that wasn’t his personality either.

Yet, for some reason, his feelings for that kid were so passionate. He wanted to do everything for them, and everything felt precious. Despite trying to explain it away with terms like ‘out focusing’ and other excuses, there were aspects of his feelings that couldn’t be explained at all.

Someone had stolen that precious memory, and on top of that, they were trying to use it.

Who wouldn’t feel furious?

Lee Hae-seong, with an expressionless face, sprayed the perfume at several points on his body. He couldn’t help but wonder—would Yoon Hye-an react to this perfume as well?

He removed the towel wrapped around his lower body and moved into the dressing room, beginning to get dressed.

Many people thought that a conglomerate heir like him would live as an object of admiration, but in reality, he was usually the object of desire.

In Lee Hae-seong’s life, there were only people who tried to use him to get something—whether it was money, promotion, or status.

The countless sexual temptations from both men and women weren’t even worth mentioning. They saw him as ‘the opportunity of a lifetime.’ So, they would do anything, throwing away their pride and dignity without hesitation.

Some approached him strategically, while others clung to him recklessly. They’d appeal to their purity or their sexiness, and some would strip and throw themselves at him.

To Lee Hae-seong, however, those things were neither stimulating nor attractive. No, they couldn’t even be called temptations. It was nothing more than the act of devaluing themselves, throwing away their worth by equating it to money.

People projected their desires onto ARA’s Lee Hae-seong.

It was easy to guess what kind of desires Yoon Hye-an was projecting onto Lee Hae-seong. What people usually wanted through Lee Hae-seong was almost always the same.

This wasn’t something special for Lee Hae-seong. Whether some kid was eagerly trying to get his attention or not, he would have responded indifferently.

If only Choi Hong-seo hadn’t been dragged into the web of temptation.

To try to win his favor by evoking memories of a deceased lover. It was a new method he’d never encountered before. A cold sneer appeared on Lee Hae-seong’s face as he fastened the last button of his shirt in front of the mirror. He could only hope that Yoon Hye-an was prepared for the consequences.

By the time he had finished buttoning up, the sound of Manager Kang’s voice came from the hallway. It was time to wrap up the preparations.

“Vice President.”

“Oh, it’s already this late.”

“They should all arrive in about ten minutes. As you requested, I’ve adjusted the timing so that Yoon Hye-an will arrive a little later.”

“Alright, thank you.”

Lee Hae-seong, now fully dressed, patted Manager Kang’s shoulder as he left the dressing room.