#Side Story 19
“I want to… I want to too… But why… suddenly?”
“Really?”
He responded kindly with a look of disbelief. The gentle touch withdrew. Saheon continued speaking in a casual tone, as if discussing the weather.
“I’m used to captains talking about marriage, it’s been happening for a while, but suddenly seeing you sitting next to me…. But Cheongmyeong, you’re still young. I just said it without thinking. Don’t worry about it too much.”
My face felt hot for some reason. I wondered if I had responded too lukewarmly compared to the feelings he held. But before I could say anything, Saheon’s words cut me off.
“Oh right, did you take the red ginseng? You should take it after eating.”
Saheon bought all sorts of supplements under the pretext of building up my – weak by his standards – stamina. This time, he had brought squeezable red ginseng.
The conversation topic naturally faded. He sternly gestured towards my carry-on. I had to take out the squeezable red ginseng I had put in the front pocket and suck it down in front of him.
After finishing the supplement, we naturally moved on to our planned date.
We left the hotel at a slightly awkward time to avoid running into seniors who had gone sightseeing. I followed Saheon’s lead. As expected, he seemed to know London’s geography well.
We went to a small cafe frequented only by locals, drank delicious coffee, and ate sweet cake. After chatting idly while sitting on the sofa for a while, as lunchtime approached, we went to a flea market along the river.
Although there was nothing to buy, just looking around was fun. We walked along the river, rummaging through old tableware, furniture, books, and clothes sold at the market. By the time we finished exploring the flea market, I was holding two keyrings that Saheon and I had bought to attach to our suitcases.
They were handmade knitted doll keyrings. I chose a teddy bear with a red bowtie, while Saheon chose one with a blue bowtie. Since the bears’ fur colors were different, it didn’t seem likely that anyone would realize they were couple items.
Having digested our breakfast while sightseeing, we naturally headed to a restaurant serving brunch. The inside of the restaurant was quiet, having oddly missed the lunch rush.
The restaurant Saheon chose was a success. It seemed even more delicious than the hotel breakfast. I thought I had been doing well finding good restaurants in London by following my seniors around, but apparently not.
After polishing off the brunch accompanied by tea, I let out a contented sigh, satisfied with my full stomach. Saheon was drinking the remaining cold tea.
“I’m full.”
“You’re full? Was the food okay?”
“Yes. It was delicious.”
“I’m glad it suited your taste.”
The gesture of silently putting down the teacup was elegant. I meaninglessly followed Saheon’s hand with my gaze. He smiled gently.
“What should we do now?”
“Right… What time did you say you had to be back by?”
“Four o’clock.”
Looking at the clock, it was already 3:20 PM. It would take about 10 minutes to get back to the hotel, so we had about 30 minutes left. I still didn’t like that the captain had summoned his juniors.
Saheon doesn’t even like drinking that much. And there’s a flight tomorrow too. I didn’t like having our time together taken away. I had to try not to frown too much.
“The timing is a bit awkward. Shall we walk around a bit before heading back?”
“Okay.”
But my voice clearly revealed my displeasure. Saheon smiled and reached out his hand. When we came abroad together, skinship tended to become bolder.
It was something we couldn’t do in Korea. Saheon intertwined our fingers on the table and gently stroked the hollow of my knuckle with his thumb.
“My baby.”
It was a nickname I was used to by now, but sometimes it still made me feel shy. The sharp edge in my heart seemed to soften, surely because of his voice. Encouraged by the warmth in his caring voice, I quietly mumbled my thoughts.
“…I don’t like that captain. Making you drink, and talking about marriage too.”
Thinking about it again, that captain had suggested marriage to someone else even though he knew Saheon had a partner. Suddenly I felt like snorting in anger. When I huffed, Saheon chuckled softly.
“Alright, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear the captain from now on. Let’s go now.”
I nodded, pressing my lips together. Saheon quickly finished paying, after giving a tip to the waiter who had helped serve us. When we went outside, the sky that had been clear until morning was now hazy.
“Is it going to rain?”
“The forecast didn’t say anything.”
Perhaps due to his profession, Saheon, sensitive to weather, looked up at the sky with me. I glanced at his side profile, which somehow looked cute, and smiled faintly while slightly lowering my head. Saheon’s arm wrapped around my shoulder.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Just because.”
“You’re happy just looking at me?”
I stared at Saheon, who was asking something so obvious. The answer came in a faint nod. Saheon’s Adam’s apple moved. His gaze swept the quiet street, and after confirming that no one was around, he boldly kissed me.
I was the one startled by the light touch that came and went with a peck. My heart pounded, wondering if anyone had seen. I fumbled like a boy who had just had his first kiss. Realizing that no one was around, and then remembering that this was a foreign country, I felt a sense of relief wash over me.
“What was that…”
“You were too pretty. Let’s go.”
Saheon rubbed my shoulder a few times before moving on. We weren’t as close as before, but we were still close enough to feel each other’s warmth.
“I think this is what’s good about being in a foreign country. We don’t have to worry about other people’s eyes since no one knows us.”
Saheon mumbled quietly. I agreed with what he said. When I nodded, I heard Saheon’s habitual low chuckle.
“Right. It might be fun to live abroad for a while too. Of course, we can’t do it now… but you know, like those one-month stays.”
“Sounds nice. Let’s try it sometime. Where would you like to go?”
“Europe would be nice, or somewhere like Hawaii…”
As I was continuing to speak, my eyes widened at the grotesque object visible behind Saheon. I wasn’t sure if I was seeing it right. But even after blinking several times, what I had seen didn’t change.
“…would be, would be nice.”
“What’s wrong?”
I hurriedly finished my sentence, but Saheon had already turned around. Seeing him confirm what I had just been looking at, my face turned bright red. When Saheon turned back, there was a playful smile on his lips.
“My baby… When did your tastes become so extreme?”
“No, no. I just saw it because it was there! It’s too openly displayed on the street…”
“Shall we go in?”
“What?”
I almost jumped in place. Saheon’s playful smile deepened. Regret washed over me – I shouldn’t have looked at it in the first place.
“No, no, no. I think it’s okay.”
“Let’s just take a look.”
“It’s really okay…”
But my opinion was thoroughly ignored. Saheon wrapped his arm around my shoulder and cheerfully entered the store.
What I had discovered was a rather extreme adult store. It was probably a shop for people with sadistic tendencies, as it was small but full of all sorts of terrifying weapons.
However, unlike the weapons, the atmosphere was rather warm. The interior design was such that you might believe it was a cafe, but it was no cause for comfort. While the atmosphere was mild, a closer look at the devices revealed their brutality.
Whips that looked painful just to see, pitch-black or bright red ropes, small objects of an incomprehensible deep pink color, objects that were clearly molded after male genitalia no matter how you looked at them, cat-tail shaped things for reasons I couldn’t fathom. Among these, Saheon picked up a pair of silver handcuffs, his eyes sparkling.
“This…”
“No. I don’t like it. Let’s go, hyung…”
I started pleading desperately. Seeing how much I wanted to leave, even Saheon, whose eyes had been twinkling mischievously, put down the handcuffs with a regretful gesture.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Though he said that, his eyes said otherwise. It seemed like human instinct was at play – the more you’re told not to do something, the more you want to do it. I grabbed Saheon’s arm and forcibly led him outside.
We had only gone in briefly, but the sunlight felt warmer than before. As if we had entered a forbidden place, my fingertips and toes felt cold, and cold sweat ran down my back. I sighed in relief and pulled Saheon far away from that grotesque place.
“I’ve been down this street many times during my stays in London, but this is the first time I’ve discovered a store like that.”
“I got it. I got it.”
I responded halfheartedly to prevent Saheon from looking back at the store, leading him away. As I dragged the reluctant Saheon along, we soon found ourselves in front of the hotel.
I let out a complex sigh, half disappointed that our date was over, half relieved that we had arrived at the hotel. Saheon seemed to be shaking off his regret, clicking his tongue.
“Are you going up now? I have to meet in the lobby, so I’ll just walk you to the elevator.”
“No, it’s okay. The timing is tight. Don’t drink too much.”
“Okay.”
“And don’t come back too late.”
“Okay.”
Saheon answered obediently. I looked around briefly. It was a quiet lobby with just a few tourists. I quickly grasped Saheon’s hand tightly, then let go. His released hand twitched as if wanting to grab something.
“Have a good time.”
“Yeah. Go up quickly. You might run into company people.”
His words were tender, almost like a whisper. I had to resist the urge to hug him right at this moment. Nodding almost imperceptibly, I forced myself to take steps that didn’t want to leave. When I looked back, Saheon waved his hand slightly.
As I boarded the elevator waiting on the first floor, I noticed a familiar voice just before the doors closed. It was the captain’s voice from breakfast this morning. Thinking that if we had been just a little later, we might have been seen together, a chill ran down my spine.
Finally, the elevator doors closed. And a quiet silence descended. In this state of solitude, a question suddenly arose – should I really feel this relieved?
As if I had committed a crime… I shook my head to clear the thought. I seemed to be having a lot of stray thoughts today.
