Chapter 66
The door opened at a time too early to be called morning. The one who came out was Seo-jung, who had finished preparing for work.
As soon as he stepped onto the first stair, Seo-jung recalled the conversation he had with Cha Yoon the night before. Did he clean up the living room? Remembering Cha Yoon returning to his room late at night, Seo-jung’s steps quickened.
Standing in front of the first-floor living room, Seo-jung examined the area where the drinking party had taken place the day before.
“…Well, at least he cleaned up.”
Though there were still sauce stains from the snacks on the white carpet and crumbs scattered here and there, it seemed he had made an effort, albeit clumsily.
Seo-jung checked the watch on his wrist. He had some time left before he needed to leave for work. Without hesitation, he put down his bag and started a second round of cleaning.
A while later, Seo-jung stood up. After confirming that the living room looked much cleaner than before, he picked up the bag he had left on the sofa and headed to the front door.
As soon as he opened the door, a chilly air swirled around him. The weather, now entering early autumn, showed its change in this way. Seo-jung quite liked the dry yet cold dawn breeze. He took a few deep breaths in and out before stepping forward.
After crossing the garden and opening the main gate, Seo-jung stood in front of his neatly parked car. When he pressed the button, there was a beep and the locked car door opened.
Just as he was about to open the door with a smooth motion, there was a sound. Tap, tap, tap. The sound of sneaker soles hitting the ground repeatedly came from afar. Seo-jung, who was about to get into the car, instinctively turned his head towards the sound. It was coming from beyond the sloped hill.
Soon after, Cha Yoon appeared over the hill. It wasn’t an unexpected figure. There weren’t many people he knew who would be moving around at such an early hour.
Even from a distance, Seo-jung could see his sweat-soaked t-shirt and flushed face, suggesting he had been out running. As Seo-jung was eyeing him, Cha Yoon seemed to notice Seo-jung as well, suddenly stopping at the edge of the hill in an awkward posture.
Not long after, Cha Yoon’s eyes widened, and he started hurriedly descending the slope. The distance between them quickly narrowed, seemingly due to his increasing speed. As a result, Cha Yoon’s face, which had appeared blurry at first, gradually became clearer.
Perhaps he’ll just pass by me and go into the house. After all, he heard those words yesterday. No sooner had this thought crossed his mind than Cha Yoon, now close, stopped right in front of Ki Seo-jung.
I thought wrong. Seo-jung quickly corrected himself. Regardless of what had happened the day before, he was recalling how Cha Yoon would invariably come to pick fights the next day, like a robot that reset daily.
“……”
“……”
Now that he had approached, Cha Yoon was quiet. Seo-jung also had nothing to say, so he made no effort to speak. The two stood in place, continuing their silent confrontation for a moment.
Cha Yoon, who had entered Seo-jung’s field of vision, had only stopped his legs but still looked busy. His chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, and his eyes quickly darted back and forth between Seo-jung’s face and the car parked behind him.
As his eye movements increased, his expression changed moment by moment. The most noticeable changes were in his eyebrows and lips. His eyebrows furrowed together in the middle, and his lips twitched. He looked like he had a lot to say.
In contrast, Seo-jung’s expression opposite him was utterly calm. This contrasting appearance made Cha Yoon’s expression stand out even more.
Ki Seo-jung rubbed the inside of his cheek with his tongue. He had a rough idea of what Cha Yoon wanted to say. It was obvious. He was probably going to ask about the car behind him. It would be more difficult not to know, given how intensely he was alternating his gaze between the car behind and Seo-jung’s face.
However, there was something else he was pondering. Namely, ‘whether to tell him the truth or not.’ On closer inspection, it wasn’t really anything significant. Most of the cast members in the X House already knew that his car had broken down before he moved in.
But regardless of that, he wasn’t sure if it was right to give Cha Yoon what he wanted. Even if it was just a trivial matter. He didn’t want to show even the slightest opening to Cha Yoon.
The confrontation between the two, which seemed like it would go on endlessly, didn’t last as long as expected. This was because Cha Yoon, who had been standing still, showed movement first.
Seo-jung fixed his gaze on Cha Yoon’s lips, which were about to announce the start of the war, and stepped back as if raising his guard. He was in the midst of engraving in his mind the thought that he wouldn’t fall for whatever Cha Yoon said.
Cha Yoon, who seemed about to open his mouth, took a deep breath as if he had made some decision and said,
“…It’s nice.”
“Pardon?”
“I said it’s nice, the car.”
Cha Yoon raised his hand to point behind Seo-jung. Then, for some reason, he nodded slightly while pressing his lips tightly together. With a movement so small that it would go unnoticed unless one was paying close attention, just like that.
And that was the end of it.
Cha Yoon turned around and ran towards the X House’s main gate as if he had no more business there. Shortly after, the gate opened with a bang and closed with a thud. Left alone on the street, Seo-jung couldn’t take his eyes off the spot where Cha Yoon had disappeared.
The meaning of the slight nod was only one thing. A greeting. Cha Yoon had greeted him before leaving. And in a very normal way at that. It was such a small gesture that it would be hard to notice unless closely observed, but nonetheless, that’s what happened.
Why on earth did he just greet and leave? What would be a normal response for ordinary people seemed incomprehensible coming from Cha Yoon.
“…Huh.”
Having witnessed this fresh sight, Seo-jung remained in place for some time afterward.
***
After finishing his English education and returning, Seo-jung came home early. As he got out of the car and looked at the setting sun, he suddenly remembered his encounter with Cha Yoon in the morning.
The scene of Cha Yoon abruptly complimenting his car and then greeting him played out in sequence on the empty street. It was a strange scene even upon reflection.
Was it just a whim, or was it the effect of their conversation from the previous night? Seo-jung, who had been trying to find a reason, soon emptied his mind. Whatever the case, if they could have even one quiet day, that would be fine.
As he passed through the entrance and entered the house, he encountered Yeo Ji-yoon and Kim Sae-young, who were just coming out of the terrace with coffee cups in hand.
“Seo-jung, you’re back? You got off work early today?”
“I just had training without any separate work. Were you two resting?”
“Yes, we were having some sincere girl talk over coffee and were about to start preparing dinner.”
“Isn’t that too much work for just the two of you?”
“Ah, well, Da-bin and Cha Yoon went out, and the rest all left for work or school. So we don’t have many options.”
Seo-jung had been wondering why they were starting dinner preparations from just past 5 PM, but now he understood. After thinking for a moment, he waved his hand slightly towards the two.
“Then I’ll join you. I’m not sure how much help I’ll be, but I’ll do my best.”
“Of course you’ll be helpful! Having an extra pair of hands is so important.”
As Seo-jung clenched his fist as if to show his determination, Sae-young reassured him and high-fived Ji-yoon. It was a celebration for gaining a new party member.
After changing his clothes, Seo-jung was busy moving around in the kitchen. His tasks were merely odd jobs like peeling onions, crushing garlic, or doing the dishes, but he was busy nonetheless.
Around the time when the main dish of the day, pork belly kimchi stew, started to bubble, the cast members who had gone out began to return home one by one.
“What’s this? It smells really delicious!”
“Min-wook, look at this. They say dinner is kimchi stew.”
“That’s crazy. Just the smell makes me want to drink soju.”
“I was thinking exactly the same thing!”
“Min-ha, you know what’s up. Shall we have a drink with dinner later? Do we have soju?”
The quiet house quickly became bustling. Seo-jung finished washing the dishes with the voices of the cast members as background music.
“Seo-jung, could you call the people in their rooms? I need to watch over this steamed egg.”
Sae-young, standing in front of the induction stove, asked Seo-jung while pointing at the earthenware pot. Seo-jung nodded willingly.
“I’ll take responsibility and go.”
“Getting such a good assistant makes me feel so reassured.”
At the sing-song voice, Seo-jung shook off the water on his hands and smiled. Now, where was Joo-ah’s room? As he was thinking about the locations of the cast members’ rooms and leaving the kitchen, it happened.
“Cha Yoon, dinner seems ready. Hurry up, change your clothes and come down.”
As he turned his eyes towards the voices, he saw Cha Yoon and Min-wook talking, though he wasn’t sure when Cha Yoon had come in. Judging from what he heard, it seemed Min-wook was urging Cha Yoon to join dinner. Seo-jung, who had been given a task by Sae-young, approached the two after a moment of consideration.
“I’ll do it…”
Just as Cha Yoon was about to say “on my own, so stop nagging me” in his typical manner and brush off Min-wook’s arm, he spotted Ki Seo-jung approaching and immediately closed his mouth.
