Reasonable Loss - 1

Prologue

“Let’s stop here,” said Dokwon in a cold voice. If the place wasn’t a bedroom and Eunsoo wasn’t half-naked, it would have been believable that it was just a conclusion after the meeting.

“…What?” Eunsoo, who didn’t understand his words right away, asked. However, Dokwon didn’t give him an answer. But Eunsoo was able to understand it in a different way.

Dokwon picked up his jacket from the bed and got up. As he did, he casually said, “Get rid of Bom-i, no, the child.”

“…What did you say?” Eunsoo looked as if he had been hit hard on the back of his head. He seemed like someone who had just lost all his possessions in an instant or someone who had accidentally found out that the world would end tomorrow.

Get rid of Bom-i, the child. When Eunsoo heard those words, he was shocked, similar to when he heard about his parents’ passing a long time ago.

What should be erased? Bom-i? Why? How could you say such a thing? How could you say that to me, who has never lacked family and now finally has one? How could you ask me to get rid of it?

While Eunsoo was at a loss and speechless, Dokwon, who couldn’t wait for an answer, explained himself.

“If it’s not my child, I don’t care if you erase it or not. If it’s my child, erase it.”

“…?”

“Don’t bother me later.”

“…?”

“I’ll give you as much money as you need. Dating was fun, right?”

“…Fun?”

Eunsoo echoed Dokwon’s words with a hollow voice.

Erase it if it’s my child. Don’t bother me. I’ll give you money. Dating was fun.

The sentences Dokwon spat out one after another shattered into words and syllables, raining down on Eunsoo’s head like hailstones. At the same time, thick tears fell heavily from his eyes.

What, how, why, is this, now…

His mind was a mess. Eunsoo just stood there, stunned. He was too shocked, too overwhelmed to react hastily. All he could do was move his eyes rapidly from side to side and let the tears fall incessantly. At some point, he even stopped breathing.

While Eunsoo was falling into an endless abyss, Dokwon sat down by the bed. Then, he looked directly into Eunsoo’s eyes.

“Don’t make a dirty scene. Let’s end it here, Mr. Yoo Eunsoo.”

It was a tone that seemed to comfort a child. Amidst this, drawing a line with honorifics was also buried.

“…?”

Eunsoo couldn’t say anything.

Dokwon got up, turned his back without hesitation, opened the bedroom door, and left. The sound of his footsteps fading away trampled on Eunsoo’s sanity and thoughts.