“Director, when you were young, you resembled the garden of your family home a lot.”
Ah. Siwoo’s eyes crinkled a little deeper. Baek Sanho lifted his head slightly to meet Siwoo’s gaze. His tightly clenched hand shook with a slightly larger swing. That sight looked just like excited children. And it evoked a certain memory. A memory from long ago, in the garden of his family home.
***
It was a sweltering summer day. Ten-year-old Siwoo was kneeling on the grass in the garden, rolling a toy car. It was a fire truck model he had received as a birthday gift. Vroom, he made engine sounds as he rolled the car, then suddenly stopped his hand with a whoosh sound. He extended the long ladder of the fire truck.
“…….”
At that moment, someone suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking the sunlight. Siwoo slowly lifted his head towards the shadow that had fallen on him. At first, he couldn’t see the person’s face well. They were backlit, and he could only see a dark silhouette. But it was clear that it was a stranger.
“…Oh, hello.”
He tried to greet, but the child only tilted their head. In the meantime, his vision, now accustomed to the light, captured the child’s face. The round, chubby cheeks looked like rice cakes. The black hair sparkled in the sunlight. The child remained tight-lipped despite Siwoo’s greeting.
“Who are you? Who did you come with?”
Not many kids came to play at his house. He usually met children his age at school or during special gatherings. It was both curious and pleasant to see a child who had suddenly come to his house, so Siwoo stared at the child intently.
The child pointed suddenly towards the front gate. In front of the large gate stood a woman he had never seen before. Ji-hwan’s face, facing her, showed a look of discomfort. It was the first time he had seen Ji-hwan make such an expression.
“Did you come with that lady?”
The child nodded. But why wasn’t this child saying anything? The small head nod was cute, but he was curious about what kind of voice the child had. Siwoo smiled brightly. Yes, he decided to entice the child. It was very easy to entice a child his age. After all, he had a cool fire truck model.
“Do you want to play together?”
He grinned and held up the fire truck model. However, the child continued to gaze only at his face. Huh, that’s strange. There had never been a child his age who didn’t show interest in the fire truck model. More than five kids had asked to touch it just once.
“Why? Is it not cool? It’s awesome.”
So he felt a little hurt. It wasn’t because the fire truck model felt shabby, but because his attempt to hear the child’s voice had failed. The child’s small hand touched Siwoo’s cheek, which was tilted in confusion. The sudden poke made Siwoo widen his eyes in surprise. The child tilted their head as if mimicking Siwoo.
“Because you’re pretty.”
Ah, the voice is pretty. He didn’t know what the child was referring to as pretty, but it was clear that the child’s voice was beautiful. The child stared at Siwoo’s puzzled face and spoke again.
“You’re really pretty.”
No, I’m not pretty; I’m cool. Siwoo chuckled. The child was strange.
“You’re prettier. You look like a porcelain doll.”
“A porcelain doll?”
“Yeah. White and smooth, anyway, really pretty.”
It was true; it really was. It resembled the porcelain dolls placed in the living room display case. Just then, he thought it would be nice to show that doll to the child. The child blinked their big black eyes twice and then spoke again.
“And you smell really good.”
“Good smell…?”
“Yeah, like the smell of earth. A warm smell.”
What does a smell like earth mean? Is it the smell from the garden? Sometimes, the person who took care of the garden would dig up the soil to plant new saplings. But there was none of that today. Siwoo wore a puzzled expression before bursting into a giggle. The child was really strange.
“Huh?”
At that moment, a sweet smell wafted in from somewhere. Was it because he had inhaled deeply to smell the earthy scent from the garden? It felt a bit too strong for that. What had initially been a faint scent suddenly felt thick, wrapping around his entire body. Strangely, he felt a floating sensation. It was similar to the feeling of someone gently caressing his skin. It was a pleasantly eerie feeling.
“Is that smell coming from you?”
The smell was fruity. A scent of fruit soaked with dew. Or perhaps it was the scent of crushed fruit. One thing was certain: it was incredibly sweet. His heart began to race unexpectedly. He had never felt his heart race this fast even when he discovered a game console he had wanted so much.
“What smell?”
Just like Siwoo didn’t understand what the smell of earth was, it seemed the child had no idea about the scent coming from them. The innocent eyes blinked. Silly. How could they not know when it was so strong? Taking a deep breath, a sweet fragrance flooded his lungs. For some reason, he felt his limbs go weak, and he began to feel drowsy.
“It’s super sweet, and, um, it’s a smell that makes you feel good.”
It was indeed a smell that made him feel good. He wanted to smell it all day long. The child quietly echoed Siwoo’s words.
“Does it… make you feel good?”
“Yeah.”
Nodding, Siwoo took a step closer to the child. He didn’t know why, but he instinctively sought the source of the smell. Suddenly, he pressed his face against the child’s white nape. Sniff sniff. He inhaled like a puppy.
“It’s coming from here.”
Siwoo’s sudden closeness seemed to startle the child, who took a step back. Then, the child touched the nape of their neck where Siwoo’s lips had almost brushed. It seemed they were checking if something was on it. Rubbing their nape, the child found nothing on their hand. Of course. The scent was invisible, and the child’s nape was pure white without a speck of dust.
“Hey.”
Siwoo glanced at the child and opened his mouth.
“Yeah?”
“Can I bite you there?”
Even he thought his request was very strange. Wanting to bite the flesh of a child he had just met. It was truly an absurd thing to say. But it was also an honest thought. He wanted to bite the child’s nape. It felt like it would taste incredibly sweet, like fruit. It was strange. He usually didn’t like fruits. The child looked very flustered at Siwoo’s request.
“Baek Sanho! Come here.”
At that moment, the woman who had been standing at the front gate called the child. The woman, who looked a bit scary, gestured towards the child quite irritably. The child, called by the woman, slowly hardened their face. With a blank expression, the child lowered their head and walked towards the woman. After taking a step, the child suddenly turned back to Siwoo.
“Next time.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll let you bite me next time.”
Without waiting for Siwoo’s response, the child turned and trotted off towards the woman. Siwoo stared blankly at the child’s retreating figure for a while.
“…Next time?”
When would that be? Tomorrow? Or the day after? Or… after ten nights? Siwoo bit his lip and thought. As the woman roughly grabbed the child’s hand and led them out through the gate, Ji-hwan, who had been looking troubled, slumped his shoulders. Then, noticing Siwoo standing there blankly, he approached with a straight posture. He bent slightly at the waist to speak to Siwoo.
“Sir, is something wrong?”
“Ah.”
Siwoo looked up at Ji-hwan. He had just started working as his parents’ secretary, and to Siwoo, who had no siblings, he felt like an older brother. Although he had started using honorifics since becoming a secretary, he originally called him by name. They were close enough to share many secrets. The child he met earlier had an incredibly sweet smell. So I made a strange request to that child, and they promised to let me do it next time we meet. Hyung, when will that child come again? The words that poured out chaotically in his heart, Siwoo didn’t voice them. He just… felt a strange desire not to say it. A desire to keep it as his own secret, a feeling he couldn’t quite understand surged within him. Siwoo shook his head at Ji-hwan, who was looking at him.
“No, nothing happened.”
“Hmm, then.”
“But, hyung.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want to eat fruit.”
“…Fruit? But you didn’t like fruit.”
“Yeah. But suddenly I want to eat it.”
“I’ll make a note of that. What kind of fruit do you want?”
Siwoo tilted his head. He was suddenly at a loss for words at Ji-hwan’s question.
“I don’t know, just….”
Ji-hwan smiled faintly and nodded. The lady would probably be very pleased. She might even suggest buying the entire orchard. Not understanding what buying meant, Siwoo just nodded. He was still thinking about that child.
The sudden memory seeped back into the present. It was the memory of the child he had first met in the garden when he was ten. Siwoo smiled at Ji-hwan.
“Ah, I liked the garden of my family home when I was young.”
“Do you remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
And then he looked at Sanho and smiled.
“Sanho, did you like it too? Our garden.”
Sanho blinked as if trying to recall for a moment. Then he slowly replied.
“I don’t remember well. I was just staring at the kid holding that oddly shaped toy car.”
Huh? Siwoo laughed out loud. He felt Sanho’s ring in the hands they were holding. As he fiddled with the ring on Sanho’s finger with his fingertips, Sanho chuckled. A sweet scent wafted up like a mirage.
“It smells nice.”
He thought it was a truly sweet bond. And he was sure that this sweet bond would never be broken for a lifetime.
