Chapter 138
Just from giving a warning that wasn’t even a real warning, the man who had been acting like he feared nothing in the world lost his momentum.
“W-what…?”
The pot-bellied man stepped back nervously, and seemingly embarrassed by his own fear, he pointed a finger at Seokjae. However, what he was trying to point at wasn’t Seokjae, but Muyoung who was hidden behind him.
“Hey, did you bring another person here on your own again? How are you planning to handle this when we’re already short on food?!”
“Ha.”
Seokjae snorted at the sight of the man who couldn’t even speak properly to him yet acted so rudely toward Muyoung as if he were somebody important. He tilted his head back skeptically to look at Muyoung.
“Yeah, Muyoung. How could you bring just anybody?”
“Huh? What?”
Perhaps startled by being suddenly addressed, Muyoung rolled his round eyes. His lips trembled slightly, and it looked like an apology might burst from that small mouth at any moment, so Seokjae quickly added:
“I mean, that’s how you ended up having to live with someone like him.”
“W-what did you say?”
“Oh, you weren’t rescued by Muyoung? You came here on your own? That’s odd.”
“Huh, hmph! Well, I never!”
It seemed like he’d hit a nerve. The man stumbled over his words with a reddening face. Then, as if finally thinking of something to say, he pounded his fat chest with his palm and exclaimed:
“But I’m an original member who’s been here from the beginning! Do you think you’re the same as me when you just arrived later?!”
“Wow—are ranks determined by seniority here? Is this the military or something?”
“N-no, of course not. The military? Here, we don’t—”
Muyoung, taking Seokjae’s sarcasm as a genuine question, was startled and tried to explain, but Seokjae cut him off. He hadn’t asked out of curiosity but to pick a fight.
“Then shouldn’t Muyoung be the leader? Anyone watching would think he’s your underling or something.”
“A-ahem. That’s not it. It’s just that he keeps ignoring my requests! It’s important, but he always puts it off!”
“That’s not true! It’s really hard to find! It’s summer, and because they’re soft fruits, it’s difficult to find ones that aren’t spoiled!”
Seokjae had been about to say “If it’s that urgent, go look for them yourself,” but closed his mouth when Muyoung grabbed his clothes and cried out.
‘He can talk back after all?’
Surprised to hear Muyoung raising his voice for the first time, Seokjae looked down at him and saw that Muyoung couldn’t hide his anxiety, as if worried whether Seokjae would believe the empty-headed pot-bellied man over him.
“I-it’s really true!”
He’d thought Muyoung had no opinions of his own since he couldn’t say a word until now, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
‘So he’s fine with being treated poorly but doesn’t like being falsely accused?’
Unable to understand the difference between their conversation earlier and now, Seokjae raised one eyebrow.
‘He’s like a little puppy barking to protect its home.’
Though they’d just met today, he somehow felt proud of Muyoung and decided to help him more definitely, as he’d already intended to do.
“Muyoung.”
“Yes?”
“It looks like this guy is challenging your authority, right?”
“C-challenging my authority?”
“I’ll find your place for you right away, so don’t worry. I’ll make sure he never dares to cross you again.”
Originally, he was just planning to help this once and make sure the pot-bellied man wouldn’t be noisy in front of him. He didn’t care what the man did behind his back.
But now he decided to show that he was backing Muyoung, to make it clear the man couldn’t mess with him. However…
“N-no, it’s okay!”
“…”
“Really, it’s okay.”
He’s refusing?
To give up an opportunity to make things easier without doing anything—from Seokjae’s perspective, it made no sense at all. Considering Muyoung’s kind personality that might seem foolish, he was probably worried that Seokjae would beat that pot-bellied man mercilessly.
Seokjae bent down and whispered quietly in Muyoung’s ear so the others couldn’t hear.
“I won’t hit him. I just want to make sure he can’t treat you badly. You don’t want that either?”
“Hup.”
When the deep, low voice brushed against his ear, Muyoung held his breath, his hands and feet curling up involuntarily from the ticklish sensation.
“Hmm? You don’t want it?”
Unaware of his situation, Seokjae asked again when there was no answer, a hint of urgency in his voice. Only then could Muyoung nod his head creakily. It wasn’t, as Seokjae had guessed, because he was worried about the man getting hit, but because he was concerned that Seokjae might get hurt by confronting a man who was half-crazed with protecting his child.
“Fine. If that’s what you want.”
Having two eyes didn’t help Seokjae perceive that Muyoung had refused out of concern that he might get hurt in a counterattack. So he just nodded with a sigh at what he thought was a polite rejection. He thought he’d never met someone so kind, like they’d stepped out of a fairy tale.
* * *
The small commotion over the bananas ended abruptly when the pot-bellied man used his wife as an excuse to leave.
After that, the matter of preparing a room for Seokjae remained, but it was resolved when Grandfather Yeongjoong, who had been sharing a room with Muyoung, said he would sleep elsewhere, allowing Seokjae to take his place.
Since it was better than sleeping on a hard marble floor with just a blanket, Seokjae entered the new room without complaint.
Satisfied with using a blanket after a long time, he lay down, and shortly after, with Muyoung’s “Good night,” a quiet night settled in the room.
“…”
“…”
After spending another brutal day with death looming close, it wouldn’t be strange to fall asleep quickly. But soon, rustling sounds broke the silence.
“Um, Seokjae, are you asleep…?”
“No. Why?”
“Ugh—I’m sorry about earlier!”
Thud. Something heavy seemed to hit the ground, and Seokjae, who had been lying down, got up.
A dark silhouette was curled up in a ball with its head bowed to the floor. Perplexed by Muyoung’s sudden formal apology, he asked:
“For what?”
“Earlier when you tried to help me, but I refused and made things difficult for you…”
He wondered what on earth Muyoung was talking about. Seokjae let out a sigh, bewildered by the completely unnecessary apology, and ran his hand through the back of his hair.
“If you didn’t need it and said you didn’t need it, why apologize?”
“It wasn’t that I didn’t need it, but that man has his circumstances…”
“Circumstances?”
“His wife is pregnant right now. And because of morning sickness, she can only eat bananas…”
He had asked out of curiosity about what possible reason could justify treating someone like a servant, but from Seokjae’s perspective, it wasn’t a particularly convincing reason, so he finally said what he’d been thinking all along.
“Then he should go look for them himself. Why is he giving you a hard time?”
“W-well, apparently they had a first child but lost them because of this situation. Since then, he gets anxious when he’s away from his wife… and she feels the same.”
Muyoung stammered out their entire story in response to his harsh words.
Rather than feeling sympathy for the couple who had lost their child, Seokjae’s attention was caught by a single word.
“Child…”
“Yes?”
“Come to think of it, there are no children here.”
“Um, what about it?”
Muyoung was confused by the sudden remark, wondering ‘Should there be children? Does he like children?’
“You today… never mind.”
His eyes, now adjusted to the darkness, showed Muyoung’s bewildered expression clearly. Seokjae, who had been staring at him quietly, carefully opened his mouth but quickly closed it. The possibility had occurred to him that something unfortunate might have happened, making it impossible to bring the child.
Uncharacteristically, he was concerned that Muyoung might become upset, so he watched his words.
“Today…?”
But once words are spoken, they can’t be taken back. Muyoung, having caught the beginning of what Seokjae had said, repeated it thoughtfully before his eyes widened with a question:
“Did you see me outside today?”
He’d thought Muyoung was clueless, but he figured out what Seokjae was going to ask just from the word “today.” Clicking his tongue inwardly, Seokjae answered reluctantly.
“Yeah… I thought I saw you taking a child somewhere, but I don’t see them here, so I mentioned it. If there isn’t one, then never mind.”
“Ah, so that’s what was bothering you.”
“…What’s with that expression?”
Muyoung thought Seokjae’s curiosity stemmed from concern for the child.
‘He looks rough, but he’s actually a very warm person.’
Completely misunderstanding him, Muyoung smiled and said in a gentle voice, conveying that there was nothing to worry about:
“Fortunately, while we were escaping, we met the child’s parents who were looking for them.”
“Then why didn’t you bring them here too?”
Relieved that it wasn’t the worst situation he had imagined, Seokjae naturally asked the question that came to mind.
“They already had people they were staying with.”
“I see. So that’s what happened… Anyway, that’s enough, go to sleep now. Don’t apologize anymore. I’m tired.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Because of me—”
“I said don’t apologize and go to sleep.”
“Yes, yes!”
When Seokjae lay down and spoke curtly, Muyoung also made rustling sounds as if covering himself with a blanket, and then it became quiet.
Shhh-shhh—
Listening to the rhythmic breathing that soon followed, Seokjae stared silently at the ceiling.
Actually, he had wanted to ask Muyoung why he hadn’t gone with that group. At least, it would be hard for them to be worse than this current mix of a crazy man, a pregnant woman, a sick old man, and a lazy college student.
Still, he didn’t ask because… he seemed to know what the answer would be. Probably something like “How could I do that?”
Over the next few days of living together, Seokjae became convinced that his guess was correct. And during that time, he also found the perfect word to describe Muyoung. That word was…
“Pushover.”
“Huh?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
