186
“It’s broad daylight, you two.”
At the sudden voice, Siwoo and Seojun froze simultaneously. Their heavy breathing stopped at the same time.
Seojun first covered Siwoo’s body. He pulled down the rolled-up shirt to his thighs while looking for the owner of the voice.
It was definitely that cat beastkin’s voice. Just seeing the pitch-black hand that struck their shoulders, they could tell.
“You really came? Where are you?”
Siwoo, forgetting his embarrassment, jumped up and looked around. The man had already caught him in worse situations before.
“Come out now if you’re here!”
He hadn’t seen the man since that day. Because the man had left a note asking not to look for him, Siwoo had been waiting endlessly.
“I said come out!”
No matter how much he looked around, he couldn’t see him. Frustrated, he shouted, and a black hand appeared and flicked his forehead.
“How dare you raise your voice so rudely.”
This time it was a real hand. The man who revealed himself in front of Siwoo raised his chin.
He was wearing the same clothes as when they had parted. However, they seemed washed as the clothes were clean and his face wasn’t grimy. Since he didn’t look thin, he probably hadn’t gone hungry.
Relieved, Siwoo glared fiercely at the man.
“Where have you been staying? Why are you showing up only now?”
Siwoo examined him from head to toe, demanding to know what he had been doing all this time. He fired questions without giving him a chance to answer.
Whenever he thought of the vanished man, he also remembered his last appearance. The image of him holding a beating heart in his arms while crying even appeared in his dreams.
“Where did you sleep? Who were you with? Did you stay alone the whole time?”
“Why are you making such a fuss?”
The man backed away to avoid Siwoo’s barrage of questions while rubbing his ears. Siwoo stuck close to him, urging him to answer.
“Why should I tell you? Who are you to me?”
The man, frowning, drew a line with Siwoo. At his brusque attitude, Siwoo was left speechless.
“Is that what you say to someone who was worried about you?”
Seojun, unable to stand by any longer, stood in front of the man with a crooked expression. At the same time, he shielded Siwoo behind him and whispered for him to go put on pants first.
“Forget it. I’m leaving right away anyway.”
The man waved his hand, telling them not to bother. He had just come to see Siwoo’s face briefly.
“Where are you going?”
Siwoo peeked his head from beside Seojun’s arm and stared at him intently.
“None of your business.”
“Won’t you come back?”
His blue eyes wavered anxiously. It felt like the man would leave for a distant place. Somewhere they couldn’t even find him.
“I’ll come if I feel like it.”
The man shrugged while turning his gaze away. It was an ambiguous answer.
Feeling even more anxious, Siwoo approached him decisively. He had so much he wanted to say, but now that they were face to face, his lips froze.
Siwoo now knew who the man was. He had been told his name and his entire life story.
The man was alone. He had no family or colleagues left. From the beginning, he was someone who had no attachments to this world, to the extent that he had planned to live inside the gate forever.
“Live well.”
Choked up by the man’s words that sounded like a final farewell, Siwoo grabbed his hand firmly.
The man didn’t shake off Siwoo’s hand. He just lightly hit Siwoo’s leg with his long tail.
“Eat well, sleep well, and live happily.”
Siwoo’s face was reflected in his purple eyes. The man examined Siwoo’s eyes, nose, and mouth one by one. As if looking for someone in them.
“And don’t overdo the guiding.”
He then pulled his hand away and lightly hit Siwoo’s pure white crown. Instead of grabbing him again, Siwoo just glared at him.
“Do you have money? A home?”
He continued with questions to prevent him from finishing his farewell. He couldn’t just let him go like this, all alone in the world.
“You’ll have to get everything new. Stay here for a while.”
Siwoo pointed to the spacious dormitory. It was large enough that adding one more person wouldn’t make a difference.
“Stay with us until you find a place. I won’t bother you.”
The man just sneered. How much do you even know me to cling so desperately? He was such a kind kid that it made him sigh.
Blood really doesn’t lie, it seems.
“My room is super spacious. And it’s in a corner. We can put in another bed too.”
“That’s a bit…”
Seojun, who had been quietly listening, interjected. At this, the man shook his head first.
“I prefer being alone.”
Siwoo’s eyes reddened. When Seojun took his hand, his lips even trembled as he fought back tears. He wanted to hold onto the man more, but being a fellow cat beastkin, he couldn’t bring himself to grab him.
The man looked like he would leave even if Siwoo clutched at his pants hem. His eyes showed he needed time alone.
“Don’t cry. We’ll see each other again someday.”
The man shrugged, saying there were still tediously many days left to live. Siwoo bit his lip to avoid crying as he faced the man.
“Then… at least take some money.”
“I don’t need that kind of thing. I’ve got this.”
What the man proudly pointed to was his face. A handsome face with jewel-like shining eyes.
“As if I’d starve with this face.”
Siwoo stared blankly at the man, then frowned.
“I’ll bring money, so wait. Ha Seojun, you bring everything you have too.”
Seojun said he would check what he had and went upstairs. Siwoo quickly ran to his room and took out all the cash he had stashed away. He also packed his bankbook, cards, and food, stuffing them generously into a bag.
Thinking one bag wouldn’t be enough, he was about to take out a backpack from the closet when Seojun entered.
“Guide.”
At Seojun’s quiet call, Siwoo dropped the bag he was holding. He immediately ran to the living room, but the man was already gone.
“Money… he needs to take money…”
Instead, Jihan appeared from thin air and embraced Siwoo, who burst into tears. Jihan calmly stroked Siwoo’s head as if he knew the whole situation.
Siwoo cried bitterly. He wailed loudly like a child.
“I, I was going, to gi-give him, money…!”
“But he didn’t take it and left?”
Jihan asked Siwoo, who could barely speak through his panting.
“Uh-huh.”
“That must be upsetting.”
Siwoo nodded vigorously and sobbed even louder. Jihan patted his thin, heaving back and stayed by his side until he calmed down.
And he whispered that they would surely meet again. So don’t be too sad.
* * *
After crying for a long time in Jihan’s arms, Siwoo washed his face with cold water and cried again while eating.
Even after returning to his room, the tears wouldn’t stop flowing. He didn’t know how long he had cried. Cared for by Jihan and Seojun, he cried until he came to his senses, and by then, it was completely dark outside.
“You awake?”
As he turned his head toward the low voice, his nose bumped into something. Geonho, who was holding Siwoo close, chuckled and touched his nose.
“I wasn’t sleeping.”
Siwoo blinked his eyes, mumbling in a nasal voice. He didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep.
Geonho quietly smiled and stroked Siwoo’s swollen face.
“Have you finished crying now?”
When he poked Siwoo’s eyelids, which were as puffy as if stung by bees, Siwoo pretended not to hear and nestled into Geonho’s arms.
“When did you come?”
“Earlier.”
Geonho wrapped his arms around Siwoo, who was burrowing into him, and covered them both with the blanket.
“Your beautiful voice is all cracked.”
Geonho clicked his tongue and licked Siwoo’s Adam’s apple. He had expected it when he heard Siwoo had cried all evening, but his throat was even more damaged than anticipated.
“He left.”
Siwoo wrapped his arms under Geonho’s armpits and leaned against his warm body. As soon as he spoke, the tip of his nose tingled again.
“He’ll come back.”
“I don’t think he will.”
“I’ll bring him back. Just say the word.”
Geonho spoke confidently, as if he would really bring the man back if Siwoo just asked. Even if it was just talk, it was a great comfort. That was Kang Geonho’s charm.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
Siwoo often found solace in his groundless confidence. When with him, there was nothing to fear.
Gazing intently at Geonho, Siwoo touched his clothes. Geonho was still wearing the clothes from the site. Getting on the bed without even changing his clothes. Siwoo was about to scold him but let it slide today.
“Where’s Yoo Jihan?”
“Working. Ha Seojun is sleeping.”
“Tell them to stop working night shifts. You too.”
Siwoo frowned as he felt around the thick combat suit looking for the zipper. The winter combat suit had a hidden zipper, making it even harder to take off.
“I won’t do it often.”
“Just don’t do it at all.”
“How can we be the only ones not doing it when everyone else is?”
Geonho languidly smiled and kissed Siwoo’s reddened eye corners. Siwoo frowned and pouted his lips.
Always talking like a grown-up. It’s so annoying.
Seeing Siwoo struggling with the zipper, Geonho helped and took off his clothes himself. Siwoo’s shirt was already removed.
“Take off your pants too.”
Following Siwoo’s command, Geonho stripped off everything, including his underwear. Naked, they pressed closer together and embraced each other.
The soft blanket wrapped around their skin. Thanks to Geonho’s high body temperature, the inside of the blanket quickly warmed up.
“You can cry more.”
Siwoo, who had been wiggling his toes against Geonho’s, looked up.
“If you want to cry, it’s okay to cry more.”
His red eyes looked just like candles. Siwoo pulled Geonho’s palm, which was touching his eyes, and rested his cheek against it.
“I’ve finished crying.”
As he whispered softly in response, Geonho kneaded Siwoo’s cheek like rice cake. Siwoo touched Geonho’s elbow and closed his eyes.
Just as he was naturally about to give guiding, his eyelids slowly opened at Geonho’s low voice that followed.
“I’m sorry.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
