I Bought the Male Lead with Money

21.

There was only one method that came to mind.

From now on, Jinhyeon is the person Yu Jin loves. Of course, he didn’t actually have feelings for Jinhyeon, but it seemed like the best excuse to persuade Keith.

It’s the best approach considering what needs to be done going forward. Since love moves many things, people become more understanding with just the word ‘love’.

Yu Jin’s constant attempts to give things to Jinhyeon would also appear more natural. It might be fine to go persuade Keith right away, but he was too tired now.

‘Let’s rest a little.’

Then confess to Keith. That he loves Jinhyeon, and therefore can do anything for him. That he feels like he’ll die if Jinhyeon isn’t by his side.

Keith would be shocked, but what other choice was there? Yu Jin closed his eyes with a deep sigh.

Keith paced in front of the office. He repeatedly raised his hand to knock, then lowered it again, just letting time pass.

It was the first time Yu Jin had acted like this.

‘If only that guy hadn’t been here in the first place.’

None of this would have happened. Keith hesitated several times before finally touching the door.

Knock knock.

There was no voice from inside. Normally, he would have just knocked and entered, but now he hesitated. After hesitating for a long time again, he opened the door to find Yu Jin asleep in the office chair. Fortunately, his complexion looked better than before.

Keith stood opposite Yu Jin, watching him.

“Mmm.”

Yu Jin stirred in his sleep, but he didn’t look comfortable leaning on the chair. Thinking he should take him to bed, Keith reached out his hand, but at that moment, Yu Jin’s eyes suddenly opened.

“Brother?”

Keith froze, unable to make a sound. But Yu Jin didn’t act coldly like before.

“Good timing. I had something to say.”

“Something to say?”

“Yes, sit down over there.”

Yu Jin pointed to a table at one side of the office. As Keith did as told, Yu Jin also got up and sat opposite him.

“Brother. I’ve always been grateful to you. For embracing and protecting a good-for-nothing who couldn’t do anything.”

“…I did it because I wanted to.”

“I know. That’s why I’m even more grateful.”

Listening to Yu Jin’s calm words all along, Keith had an ominous feeling. Yu Jin looked straight into Keith’s eyes.

Even if you know it, hearing it directly was different. Keith didn’t want to hear Yu Jin’s words.

“I just remembered I have something to do!”

At Keith’s words, Yu Jin asked,

“Is it something you need to do right now?”

“It’s urgent.”

He desperately made an excuse, but Yu Jin didn’t seem to want to back down either.

“Alright. Then I’ll speak quickly too.”

I don’t want to hear it. Keith gritted his teeth.

“I like Jinhyeon. No, I love him.”

The strength drained from his jaw. His vision blurred with the oncoming despair.

‘Where did it go wrong?’

Keith traced his memories. He had taken the suffering Yu Jin out of the Lucid main house and settled in a new place. Even after leaving the main house, Yu Jin still suffered, but Keith wasn’t impatient. He wanted to monopolize Yu Jin as much as he loved him, so he thought he could slowly ensnare him.

Before he was broken, Yu Jin was like sunshine, attracting many people’s gazes. He was a child who couldn’t help but be loved, so it was countless how many people approached him before Yu Jin broke. But Keith didn’t want that. He wanted to monopolize Yu Jin, so he didn’t fully prevent him from breaking.

Haruna seemed displeased with this, but she couldn’t interfere either. She didn’t have the ability to remove Keith, who had already taken control of the mansion. And above all, to Haruna, Keith was family. He was the only blood relation left after their mother passed away.

So no matter how much she liked Yu Jin, Haruna’s top priority had to be Keith. That’s why he had been reassured, but everything changed.

To be precise, it was since Jinhyeon entered the mansion. Yu Jin showed endless interest in him, and Haruna also began to change her mind.

‘I don’t want this.’

Keith didn’t want to let go of Yu Jin. If Yu Jin fell in love and abandoned him.

‘I don’t want this.’

He couldn’t imagine a life without Yu Jin. It felt like standing on a steep cliff, looking down. He trembled with fear and dread.

“Brother, so I’d like you to leave Jinhyeon alone from now on.”

Leave that guy alone?

“I feel sorry towards you.”

If you’re sorry, you shouldn’t say such things. Anger rose, but it didn’t last long. Despair filled the place where the anger had subsided.

Without realizing it, Keith knelt beside Yu Jin. He had to persuade Yu Jin. He needed to say something, but his voice wouldn’t come out, and only tears poured from his eyes.

“Ugh.”

For the first time in his life, Keith cried, groaning like an animal. These were tears he hadn’t shown even when his mother passed away. He cried and cried.

“Brother?”

Even hearing Yu Jin’s confused voice, he couldn’t stop the tears.

“I, I…”

He liked Yu Jin. From the first time they met, he liked him so much that he thought it would be nice if they could become a couple when they grew up.

“People of the same gender can’t become a couple.”

His mother had said with a troubled smile. He had thrown a tantrum at his mother, asking why not. He was really young then. As he grew up, he came to understand why people of the same gender couldn’t be together, but he still couldn’t give up.

“I love you.”

He just couldn’t give up. He could do anything for Yu Jin, so why was it Jinhyeon?

Keith clung to Yu Jin.

“I like you. I love you. It has to be you.”

He desperately poured out his feelings, begging for affection. Even pity would be fine, he wished Yu Jin would give him even a fragment of his heart.

Yu Jin saw Keith crying for the first time in his life. Haruna cried sometimes, but Keith always gritted his teeth and held back his tears.

So Keith’s crying was unfamiliar. His usually calm green eyes were blurred with tears, pouring out profusely. His hand moved involuntarily at the sight of Keith trembling, looking at him pitifully. When he wiped Keith’s wet cheek, Keith looked at him with teary eyes.

“Even being second is fine. I’ll do anything. Please don’t abandon me.”

This isn’t right. Even while thinking that, Yu Jin couldn’t withdraw his hand.

“Stop, stop crying.”

Yu Jin also got down from the sofa and sat in front of Keith. Then he embraced Keith, who was larger than him.

“Why would I abandon you? I won’t abandon you.”

When he patted Keith’s back, Keith’s body shook. Was he always this tearful? But he had been holding it back all this time.

‘Because he had a lot to be responsible for.’

His chest fluttered with affection. Feelings he never expected began to bloom. It’s not like he and Jinhyeon were actually in love anyway. He thought that after Jinhyeon used Yu Jin to climb higher and everything was over, freedom might come to Yu Jin as well.

When that time comes, wouldn’t it be okay for Yu Jin to find a romantic partner too? He had never thought of a man as a lover before, but seeing Keith changed his mind.

‘I guess I have a thing for crying men.’

How could even his crying face be so pretty? Yu Jin faced the crying Keith.

“Do you like me?”

When he asked that, Keith nodded.

“I like you, I like you so much.”

“Then can you wait for me?”

“…Wait?”

Keith sniffled.

“When everything is over, if you still like me then.”

“I will like you!”

“Then let’s date at that time.”

He didn’t know when that would be, but it seemed okay. At Yu Jin’s words, Keith’s eyes widened. The tears that had been continuously flowing had stopped at some point.

“Is this a dream?”

Yu Jin giggled at Keith’s dazed expression and mumbling. Then he reached out and pinched Keith’s cheek hard.

“Does it hurt?”

“A little.”

“A little?”

Yu Jin applied more strength. Only then did Keith’s eyes become clear, as if waking from a dream. With his cheek still being pinched by Yu Jin, he mumbled.

“It’s not a dream.”

Keith, with his messy face, smiled brightly and raised his drooping hands to hug Yu Jin tightly, rubbing their cheeks together.

“I’ll wait. I’ll wait no matter how long it takes.”

His high voice gradually subsided. Thinking he might cry again, Yu Jin kissed Keith’s wet lips. It was a token of their promise.

Keith looked at Yu Jin’s face and thought.

‘He’s so kind.’

Yu Jin had always been like that. He was always a kind child, friendly to others. He was fundamentally different from Keith, someone who knew how to sacrifice for others. So of course he would fall for mere tears.

It was true that he had cried sincerely, but he didn’t expect Yu Jin to fall for it. Yu Jin, who had his heart swayed by mere tears, was both pitiful and lovable.

Keith deliberately sniffled more and hugged Yu Jin tightly. Since Yu Jin wasn’t the type to break promises, they would date someday. But then a question arose.

‘When is “when everything is over”?’

He wasn’t sure what Yu Jin meant by “when everything is over”. If there was something special for him, it would obviously be getting revenge on the Lucid family, but instinctively, he felt that wasn’t it. If not revenge, there was only one thing he could think of.