107
The scene inside the car was completely different from what he had imagined. Taein’s body trembled as he saw Gari, whose body was wedged on the back seat floor, and Jang Ihwan, who was laid flat on the seat being beaten one-sidedly. Gari seemed to have been knocked unconscious after being hit in a vital spot, his face intact, but Jang Ihwan was being beaten intensively on the face. Then, as if he had lost consciousness, Jang Ihwan’s arms also dropped down limply. Daejeong, who had been striking while pressing his head against the car ceiling, finally pushed his back backward.
Taein also stepped back.
Soon the door opened and Daejeong, with an ordinary appearance, got out of the car.
“Oh my. When did you arrive?”
To Daejeong who bowed his head as if nothing had happened, Taein answered with a flustered expression.
“Ah, just now…”
Daejeong also seemed embarrassed as he scratched his eyebrow and opened his mouth.
“Ah, I was late with greetings. I’m Daejeong, working with hyung-nim Donghwan.”
“…Yes, I’m Kang Taein.”
“Yes, I know. I’ve heard a lot about you from hyung-nim. That you’re our person now.”
A few drops of blood were splattered on Daejeong’s face as he spoke with a smile. His white shirt also had two buttons missing, and his arms were scraped red as if sunburned, perhaps from struggling. Taein rubbed the back of his neck and conveyed his thanks first. He felt he should find out later how Yoon Donghwan had described him.
“…Yes, thank you for helping.”
“Ey, what thanks? Since you’re someone going with hyung-nim, this much should be done.”
He seemed to have greatly exaggerated about him, who was nothing, with his characteristic playfulness. Someone going with him. He had heard words like business partner or partner whenever he was bored. Probably he had said something like that again. Taein had nothing more to say to Daejeong who waved his hands saying he had done what was natural. He just nodded slightly and muttered words of thanks anyway.
“Haha, yes… But that younger brother? Where’s the little kid?”
“Ah, I’ll find him. Thank you.”
It was meant to say he would handle it himself now, but Daejeong kept following him. As they crossed the narrow roadside and walked beside the nursery building, he could hear continuous footsteps. Taein quickly headed to the playground with fast steps. The coconut shell-shaped equipment where he had left Eundo sitting earlier was reflecting in the sunlight. Without hesitation, Taein went straight there and bent down looking for Eundo.
“Hyung!”
The child who had originally been sitting near the entrance was now crouched in a corner. Taein, who moved his gaze toward the sound, immediately extended his hand. Whether the equipment was used as a shelter for children much younger than Eundo, the height was too low for Eundo to stand up. Eundo approached with both shoulders pressed close to his ears and hugged Taein while stretching out both arms.
“Did you come quickly?”
“Yeah, I was afraid you’d be waiting.”
“Hyung~”
Eundo, who hugged Taein’s neck while swinging both legs, kept acting cute calling “hyung.” Eundo’s face, which had been calling “hyung” with his eyes closed, changed when he saw someone in front. Daejeong, who was watching the two from a few steps away, raised his chin once, trying to match the child’s eye level. He tried to get closer saying “ooh,” but Eundo straightened his upper body.
“Hyung, it’s a thief.”
“Huh? Ah.”
Taein, who looked back, newly realized Daejeong was there and put the child down on the ground.
“He’s not a thief… he’s on hyung’s side. Thanks to this ajusshi, we finished the hide-and-seek quickly too. Say thank you.”
“What’s the little guy’s name? Why is he so cute?”
Daejeong first spoke friendly and approached Eundo. He even reached out and messed up Eundo’s hair. Eundo seemed to struggle a bit as his hair kept poking his eyes. He closed his eyelids tight and then shook off his face with his small hands.
“Eundo’s name, Eundo. Da, da.”
Having to introduce himself at the same time, the child clearly showed his burden. Taein kept looking at Eundo with a chuckling face from the side. Earlier he had been crying “hyung, hyung,” but now he seemed to have erased even his sadness while nervously waiting alone. Taein had also swallowed the emotions that kept welling up to some extent. He was just sending a pleased smile to Eundo who was trying hard to say his name properly.
“Hm? Does he resemble his hyung? Strange, he also seems to resemble someone I know?”
Daejeong, who was looking closely at the child’s face, tilted his head. He could roughly understand what he meant.
Eundo increasingly resembled Gu Wanjae. He occasionally heard that he resembled his hyung, but that was because people hadn’t seen Gu Wanjae. Under the baby face with round nose, light eyes, and fair skin, Gu Wanjae’s feeling and appearance were intact. And since Gu Wanjae resembled Yoon Donghwan, it wasn’t unreasonable for Daejeong to say so. Taein, who roughly caught on, just slowly blinked his eyes.
“Ah, that’s strange… little guy, come here. Eundo? Is it Eundo?”
Eundo hadn’t been close with male adults except for his hyung. He had hardly seen any. It was perhaps natural that he would be wary of a man around his hyung’s age, asking “Who are you? Are you our hyung’s friend?” When Daejeong, who was just a strange man, called his name and told him to come here, Eundo’s fair face hardened sullenly.
“……”
Still, he was a friendly and pure child. Though Eundo found him strange and somewhat unpleasant, he approached Daejeong step by step sideways like a crab toward the man who crouched down reaching out his hand saying “come here, come here.” Who knows what he was thinking alone, with his brow furrowed so much. Taein watched Eundo approaching Daejeong hesitantly as if it was funny. He wasn’t even extending his hand openly. His eyes were looking at him, but he tried to hug Daejeong with only his hands to the side. At that sight, Taein covered his face with his hand and laughed.
“Wow, he’s solid. How old is the little guy?”
Daejeong, who had lifted up such an Eundo, first asked Taein about the child’s age.
“Yes, he’s five years old, but he’s young for his year.”
“Wow, five years old but he speaks well.”
“Huh?” Daejeong patted Eundo’s bottom. Perhaps because it was the first time seeing a male adult acting so friendly, Eundo’s expression was serious even while his mouth was grinning. He seemed to be thinking all kinds of thoughts alone. Taein kept laughing at Eundo’s appearance he was seeing for the first time. Clearly he had faced a terrible moment like falling into hell’s fire, but now he was chuckling like it was a lie. Meanwhile, he could also hear the sounds of children playing on the swings and rope equipment behind. He thought it was an empty gray playground, but that wasn’t the case.
How long had he been bursting into such silly laughter?
Daejeong said “uh uh” and put the child down on the ground.
Eundo, who had been quite tense while being held by Daejeong, quickly ran to Taein and made sounds similar to whining.
“Hyung…”
“Why are you calling hyung? Were you the kind of man who hugs just anyone…”
“No, Eundo only with hyung.”
“You already hugged him and now you’re just saying that.”
“Hyung, were you disappointed?”
“What disappointment…”
He knows all those words too. Thinking so inwardly and letting out a hollow laugh, Taein tightly held Eundo’s small hand with his own. Then he turned his head toward the direction where Daejeong had disappeared. Something seemed to have happened, but he couldn’t immediately turn his gaze because of Eundo.
At the edge of the round playground. The one standing there with his foot up and eyebrows twitching was Yoon Donghwan.
Daejeong was saying something in front of him.
After roughly hearing that, Yoon Donghwan walked forward without hesitation. It was a stride with large steps and force, but no sound could be heard because the playground floor was rubber material.
“You two seem to have become quite close?”
That’s what he said while walking over.
He didn’t know how long he had been watching the playground. Taein slightly pushed Eundo’s hand backward and made eye contact with Yoon Donghwan.
“……”
“That aside.”
“……”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“…What?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you left the kid here?”
“…Why should I tell you such things…”
It wasn’t wrong. Who goes around talking about family circumstances in detail? Yoon Donghwan had also just mentioned in passing “that kid I saw” and “that guy,” but had never specifically asked in detail where Eundo had gone. When he didn’t even ask, why should he have to tell him this and that? Taein unconsciously looked at Daejeong standing far behind.
“Uh uh? You really did become close.”
Yoon Donghwan, who turned around sharply, narrowed his brow greatly saying “Uh uh?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Look at this. You’re already muddying the waters like this, how can I release you into a workplace?”
He even let out words like a sigh, saying “Oy, loach.” Taein really couldn’t understand Yoon Donghwan who was saying such things in a serious situation. Why did he attach a person, and why did he speak as if he was a loach even after attaching a person? Taein was now even annoyed by Yoon Donghwan’s attitude of tackling him while saying he would help in every way. He had already had the interview and just needed to wait for contact, so there was no need to hold onto Yoon Donghwan.
“Then let’s end it here. Thank you for introducing the job. And Daejeong-ssi completely turned Jang Ihwan’s head into mush, so please handle the cleanup for that. Getting unnecessarily involved in trouble…”
He was trying to say what he needed to say and leave, but Yoon Donghwan contorted one side of his face and deliberately picked out one word to say.
“What? Daejeong-ssi?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
