The Turning Point of Life
“Who are you calling washed-up?”
“……”
“I’m saying this because I want Colt to be happier. Aren’t you sick of it too? Meeting a new woman every time, sleeping with her, and then breaking up a few days later. How many more years are you planning to do that before you’re satisfied?”
That was the life James had watched Colt live since the day he met him. It was the same cycle, over and over again: a new woman, then a breakup.
“……Mm.”
Truthfully, even Colt had started to find those shallow encounters a little stale lately. What happened to him in London, when he was mugged, had also played a large part in making him look back on his life. It was enough to make him think that all of it had been caused by the way he kept chasing after new women.
“You’ve enjoyed your youth plenty, Colt. It’s time to start looking for a different kind of happiness.”
“Haa… a different kind of happiness, huh… That’s hard.”
“It’s not just Colt you need to think about. Think about the women who get hurt too. Do you really think you were nothing but a good memory for them? Can you say for certain you weren’t just some awful man who left wounds in those tender hearts?”
“……”
Even Ho-jeong, whom he had met and parted with recently in LA, had been like that. When Colt left her at the airport, she had acted cool and let him go, but when she heard he had been hurt, hadn’t she panicked and worried over him? That meant he still lingered in her heart, and that in turn meant Colt himself would remain there as a wound.
“James……”
“I know. You need time to think.”
“I… Haa……”
James understood perfectly that this was not a decision Colt could make lightly. He was being asked to change the way he had lived his whole life. Of course it wouldn’t be easy.
“I’m not telling you to choose right this second. I don’t have the right to force you anyway. I’m only saying it because I hope it helps. Just remember what I said sometimes, and that’s enough.”
“...Fine. I’ll think more seriously about my future. Listening to you has never gone badly for me even once.”
Colt knew that from experience. James was always right, and whenever Colt failed to follow his advice, the ending was never good.
“Good. Then my lecturing is over.”
“You said you were looking for a flight to Korea, right?”
But James remembered how, after arriving in England this time, he and Colt had gone their separate ways.
“I’m fine going alone.”
“What?”
“I’m saying you can head back to Las Vegas now. The share I’m holding for you can wait until I return to the United States and hand it over.”
In any case, if he went to Korea, his girlfriend would be there to meet him. Even if she wasn’t, there was no reason he couldn’t carry out his trip there on his own.
“No. Let’s go together. I want to sort out my thoughts on this trip too.”
“...Then decide what feels right for you. If you need help with anything, I’ll help. This could be a turning point in your life.”
“James, meeting you was a huge stroke of luck for me.”
“Same here. I relied on you a lot through some hard times.”
“……”
“……”
It was a warm exchange, but James still wasn’t done.
“You were fine except for the woman problem.”
“...Is that an insult?”
“Half an insult, and you still understood it perfectly. What a guy.”
“Jim. You’re at it again.”
The childish wordplay was proof that their relationship was still the same as ever.
“Colt, just book the flight already. Don’t go upstairs and glue yourself to that woman again. Though you’re probably too old now to keep doing that anyway.”
“Damn it……”
Colt wanted to fire back with something, anything, but it was hard to find a weak spot in James.
“And when you exchange money in Korea, make sure you go with me. I can’t just let you out by yourself when you’re like a kid left by the water’s edge.”
“Tch! That won’t happen anymore!”
Especially when it came to currency exchange, he had nothing to say.
“Send me the flight details once you’ve booked them.”
“……Got it.”
Not long after James returned to the hotel after parting with Colt, he received a text about the flight to Korea.
“Oh? That’s fast.”
So they’d booked the ticket as soon as they’d split up.
“Four days from now… That’s quick.”
The time for James to leave for Korea was closing in fast.
Tap tap.
James sent Colt a message.
[Is booking the ticket all you need to do? You should’ve booked the hotel too! Your work is a mess, Colt. Secretary!]
[I’m looking too! Don’t talk to me! It’ll only slow me down!]
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A plane that had departed from England touched down at Incheon Airport.
“There she is.”
When James and Colt came out of customs, they saw a familiar face. She was even holding up a small sign.
Welcome. My Love!
James recognized her and opened his arms, and Suji flew into them.
“I missed you so much! James.”
“Me too.”
At their happy reunion, Colt glanced around for no good reason, and James, noticing the look, said, “Why are you looking for Ho-jeong here when you broke up with her in the States?”
“When did I do that?”
“Just now. You were searching for where Ho-jeong was, weren’t you? Your eyes were practically rolling around your head.”
“I wasn’t.”
James knew Colt was lying. But Suji seemed to know it too.
“Colt, Ho-jeong didn’t come.”
“I said I wasn’t looking for her. Why are you like this too, Suji?”
“...Ho-jeong said she couldn’t come with me because she was afraid the feelings she had finally managed to sort out might start wavering again.”
“……”
At Suji’s words, Colt’s nose stung for no reason.
She still has feelings for me...?
“If you still have feelings too… would you meet Ho-jeong again?”
“No. I’m older, and… I don’t suit a young, beautiful woman like her.”
The man who had spent his life meeting women casually and parting with them just as casually was unfit to be anyone’s lover.
“...Colt.”
James decided this conversation didn’t need to go any further.
“Suji, let’s talk about this later.”
“Ah. Okay. I brought the car, so let’s go to the parking lot.”
“Colt!”
At James’s answer, Colt puffed out his lips, clearly displeased.
“……”
It wasn’t because James had called him Colt. It was because something else had come to mind.
Ho-jeong always called me that too...
With James, it had been a teasing nickname, but with Ho-jeong it had been affectionate. He could almost see her calling him that, coming into his arms.
“Tch.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Move over a bit, Colt. I need to put my bag in.”
“Put it in the trunk!”
“There’s too much stuff in there.”
“Hah!”
Suji had come in a midsize sedan of a decent size, but once the two men sat in the seats, the car felt packed tight. In fact, the suspension dipped quite a bit.
“This is the first time I’ve ever thought my car was small.”
“Mm. It is a little small.”
Compared to his pickup truck, James did feel that Suji’s car was fairly tiny.
“Suji, should Oppa buy you a car?”
“……”
Suji looked at the face of her boyfriend, who was suddenly offering to buy her a car, trying to judge whether he was serious. But James’s eyes looked utterly free of any ulterior motive.
“...Seriously?”
“Do I look like the kind of person who talks nonsense?”
“You got scolded by Ho-jeong before for giving me pocket money, remember? A car is too much. Way too much.”
“Why?”
“Because couples aren’t supposed to give each other money.”
“Ah, so that wasn’t okay?”
James was asking sincerely. Suji understood that he had given it with pure intentions, with no hidden motive at all.
“...Right. I accepted it knowing that was just how you are, but to other people...”
While they were talking, Colt suddenly jumped in.
“What? You gave her money? That’s really unpleasant, you know? Jim Jim, do you think things through at all?”
That was the natural conclusion Colt would reach.
“Why? What’s the problem? I have money, and the woman I love doesn’t have enough, right? Isn’t it better to share it?”
“……”
Colt cupped his hands and leaned in close to James’s ear so Suji wouldn’t hear.
“Then you’re basically no different from buying a woman with money. Most women would think that. They’d wonder if you’re some guy who sees them as women selling their bodies for cash. Of course that’s going to feel awful.”
“Ah… really? So that’s what that meant?”
James had never once thought he was buying a woman with money. He had only cherished the bond that had come to him like fate.
“Colt. I know exactly what you mean too, you know?”
“Ahem.”
“James didn’t give me money for that kind of reason.”
“Of course not, but...”
Suji said it to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood anything.
“Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to see just how much James loves me.”
“That’s a relief.”
Of course, at first she had misunderstood too, but once she saw the innocent way James behaved, she understood that wasn’t what it was.
“Still… I don’t think I can accept a car. I’m planning to give back the money left over from the States too.”
That didn’t mean she could accept everything he tried to give her. Money passing between lovers was uncomfortable from any angle.
“Give back what? We’ll need to use it together on dates anyway.”
The two of them were exchanging heated looks.
“Honestly, you...”
“I’m not someone who treats relationships lightly like Colt does.”
Just as their faces were getting closer, Colt abruptly cut in.
“...Why am I getting dragged into this again?”
“Be quiet. You need to read the room before jumping in.”
“...I’ll get going. Please buckle your seatbelts!”
Vroom.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Suji parked the car at the hotel Colt had booked.
“You guys really picked an expensive hotel again.”
“Places without breakfast are inconvenient. And small rooms are no good either.”
Colt added his own comment.
“Yeah. I especially hate tiny rooms.”
“You two really have no idea how to save money.”
“We’re rich. Didn’t I tell you?”
Beyond the Las Vegas casino they had taken over, James was also in possession of his master’s special inheritance. If he put even a few ancient gold coins up for auction, he could fetch several hundred times their gold value.
“That’s right, Suji. We’re loaded.”
Colt, too, always remembered the tens of millions of dollars in cash he had.
“You don’t have to say it. I can tell from the way you spend.”
Suji had already guessed as much from the way they normally lived.
“You two should rest and get over the jet lag first.”
The time difference between England and Korea was a full eight hours.
“Haa… I am a little tired.”
“Colt, check in and go inside.”
“What? Why am I the only one?”
“Come now. Why even ask?”
“……”
Colt looked back and forth between Suji, who was ignoring him, and James, who was shamelessly talking to him as if nothing were wrong.
“...What are you staring at? Go on, get inside.”
“……”
The reunion of lovers wasn’t over. It had only just begun.
“Tch. Fine. I’m going!”
Colt had no desire to be the unwelcome guest intruding on a sweet moment between lovers.
“If you can’t sleep, go down to the hotel lounge bar and have a drink or something.”
“Do I look like a kid? I’ll take care of myself!”
Colt checked in and went into the hotel, then lay down, but he truly couldn’t sleep. He stayed on the bed for a long while, yet somehow his mind only grew clearer.
“Damn it!”
In the end, Colt went down to the basement exactly as James had suggested. He felt like he’d need a strong drink if he was ever going to get to sleep.