Epilogue
“Get up now.”
At Jaehyuk’s quiet call, Junghyun woke from his sleep and immediately squeezed his eyes shut as soon as he opened them.
The sunlight was too strong.
Shielding his eyes from the sudden flood of light, he managed to sit up, and Jaehyuk, who was sitting at the bedside, smoothed Junghyun’s disheveled hair.
“It’s late. Get up.”
“…What time is it?”
“Eleven.”
At this brief answer, Junghyun opened his eyes wide.
Then he looked around.
The view outside the window was definitely bright.
Excessively so.
Which meant…
“Hyung, don’t you need to go to work?”
“It’s Saturday.”
“Ah…”
Now that he thought about it, that seemed right.
He had been so busy lately that he hadn’t had the mental space to be aware of the days, but it was about time for the weekend.
“Weekends are for resting.”
Muttering the meaningless statement that weekends exist so people can rest, Junghyun got out of bed and roughly put on the clothes that Jaehyuk had neatly arranged.
“Shower and come out. I’ve bought clothes for you.”
As Jaehyuk pointed toward a corner of the room, the space connected to the bathroom, Junghyun looked in that direction and asked curiously:
“By the way, what is this place? It looks like a pension…”
The structure was clearly like a pension, but there was something different about it compared to a typical pension.
The furniture and electronic appliances had an apartment-like feel, he noted as he looked around, and Jaehyuk smiled as if he had expected this question.
“It used to be a pension. It had relatively spacious rooms for a pension, so I bought it and remodeled it for when I come surfing.”
Jaehyuk added with a hint of regret that it had a private beach, a board storage room, and he had even purchased a jet ski.
He had been excited about coming surfing with Junghyun every weekend once the weather warmed up, but it seemed they wouldn’t be using this place for a while.
“We can come surfing together when the baby grows up. You’re going to teach Jajang-ie surfing anyway, right?”
At this casually thrown remark, Jaehyuk’s face lit up.
He seemed to be imagining the scene.
“Of course, surfing is a must.”
“If it’s our child, they might be riding a board before they can walk.”
“Then I should just buy a surfing beach. Shower and come out. The renovations were just completed, so there’s nothing in the house, and we need to go out. Think about what you want to eat for breakfast too.”
“For breakfast, it’s seafood ramen, of course.”
Seeming pleased with the hastily decided breakfast menu, Jaehyuk raised his hand.
After giving him a high five, Junghyun hurried into the bathroom and slowly looked around the interior.
The structure and design were almost identical to the bathroom in Jaehyuk’s apartment.
And surprisingly, despite the claim that there was “nothing in the house,” the bathroom supplies were fully stocked.
And with products that Jaehyuk typically used.
It was strangely amusing that while the refrigerator might be completely empty, the shower products were well-prepared, and he smiled curiously as he turned on the lukewarm water to start his shower.
It was a refreshing Saturday morning after a long time.
* * *
“Should I drive?”
After showering and changing into new clothes, Junghyun stepped out of the house and hesitated as he was about to head toward the car under the sunlight.
He hadn’t noticed in the darkness last night, but in the daylight, he could see they were right near the hotel they had stayed at four months ago. And that meant that within a 10-minute walk, there were shopping malls, surf shops, and restaurants.
“We don’t need to take the car. We’ll walk.”
“…I guess so. But was there someone selling this place?”
“If someone wants to buy, it has to be sold.”
He wondered how much they had asked for, but it wasn’t his money, so it didn’t matter.
And this location was really ideal for surfing.
“Will we be here all weekend?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Then when do we go back?”
As they chatted, they opened the gate and walked out, and a very familiar road stretched out before them.
It was a road he knew as well as his own neighborhood after visiting so many times over the past 8 years.
No, since he only drove through his neighborhood, he might actually know this road better.
“We’ll go back tomorrow night. We’ll leave a bit late to avoid traffic. We can’t surf, but there’s a famous cherry blossom spot nearby, so let’s take our time visiting that place and then go eat some raw fish. If you’re tired, we can come right back and rest.”
“I don’t mind, but is that okay for you?”
Pretending to be concerned, he asked if it would be alright considering the incident that had happened yesterday, and Jaehyuk replied indifferently as if it didn’t matter.
“I’ve put my phone on silent.”
It was actually because of Grandfather, but that had made things peaceful.
To be honest, there was also the possibility that Grandfather, unable to endure any longer, might send someone to the house today, so he had escaped.
So he planned to spend the time leisurely here until tomorrow.
Monday’s issues could be dealt with when the time came.
At home, Junghyun and Director Jang would provide an ironclad defense, and at the company, he could stay out all day. He would be busy for a while anyway.
If necessary, going on an overseas business trip to check the foreign factories was also an option.
Of course, taking Junghyun with him.
“If we’re staying until tomorrow, shouldn’t we buy some groceries? I saw a barbecue machine there, we should have a barbecue too.”
“I’ll have someone get groceries.”
At Jaehyuk’s attitude of so naturally planning to order someone to do it, Junghyun, who was walking along the fairly crowded weekend street, looked up at Jaehyuk curiously.
“Who?”
“My slave.”
“…Don’t tell me it’s Yoonho hyung?”
Last night’s campfire that seemed like it would burn down the whole world, and this morning’s house with none of the necessities but all of the non-essentials, strangely misaligned in sensibility, made him wonder if it could be… but…
As always, the most deadly things were the trusted axe and the thought of “surely not.”
“You’re quick to catch on.”
“Oh dear…”
“Who do you think made him a slave?”
“You reap what you sow.”
“That doesn’t seem like something you should be saying.”
“I’m reaping what I sowed.”
Having coldly sold out his accomplice with the argument that it’s every man for himself, Junghyun saw the sign of a familiar store and pointed in that direction.
“Wow, it’s really close.”
“That’s why I chose that house.”
“Indeed, the flower of capitalism is money! I’ll have the octopus ramen.”
“I’ll have the king crab ramen…”
As they were opening the door with their menus already decided since the place was familiar to both of them, Jaehyuk suddenly hesitated.
With a frown as if something was strange, he stopped right in front of the door, and Junghyun, who had already entered the store, turned around curiously.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Jaehyuk soon acted as if everything was fine and entered the store again, but after just a few steps, he stopped walking once more.
“Hyung?”
As Junghyun approached him asking what was wrong, he noticed that Jaehyuk’s face was extremely pale.
To the point where there wasn’t a hint of color.
“Hyung, are you okay?”
“…Sorry. I need to get out of here.”
“Yes. Let’s…”
Before he could finish saying “let’s go out,” Jaehyuk bounced out of the store and only stopped walking when he was quite far from it.
But his complexion was still poor.
He looked like he might faint at any moment.
“What’s wrong? Do you feel sick?”
“…A little.”
“You haven’t eaten anything, so it can’t be indigestion… Is it a stomach spasm? The nearest hospital with an emergency room is a bit far, but should we go to the emergency room?”
“No. I’m fine. It’s not a stomach spasm. I’m just feeling a bit nauseous. And a little dizzy.”
He was about to say that even with a stomach spasm, that could happen, but a thought suddenly crossed his mind, and Junghyun closed his mouth.
It was just a “what if,” but he had a suspicion.
“Could it be, is your morning sickness starting again?”
At this question, which he had asked just on the off chance, Jaehyuk shot him a sharp look after a long time.
His face said, “Don’t talk nonsense.”
“No, the symptoms are really similar to morning sickness.”
“I was fine for a while, why suddenly now?”
“Maybe because you’re feeling more at ease?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t believe in such superstitions.”
“I thought it was occult too, but there are quite a few actual cases.”
Jaehyuk had also searched about it yesterday after hearing Junghyun’s words out of curiosity.
It had occurred countless times throughout history in various ethnicities and countries, and was already medically proven as a syndrome, but it still sounded like nonsense to Jaehyuk.
Junghyun immediately caught Jaehyuk’s sentiment and changed the subject.
“Well, whatever the case, it seems like it’s because of the fishy smell of seafood, so we should change the menu… What would you like to eat? Meat?”
“At this hour?”
“In this area, it’s either meat or seafood, right?”
Being by the sea and a surfing mecca, most restaurants served either spicy seafood stew or steamed dishes or ramen types to warm the body after surfing, or meat.
The options were limited.
Jaehyuk, as if he had just understood the specificity of the location, sighed.
“Right, we’re by the sea…”
“Or there’s a home-style meal place I used to go to often, would you like to go there? It’s not far from here.”
“Home-style meal, is that okay?”
Looking at Jaehyuk who was worrying about him with a face that looked like he was dying, despite having wanted to eat ramen, Junghyun gazed at him as if he found him cute.
“It’s fine with me. I just thought of seafood ramen since it’s been a while since I’ve been here, but a home-style meal is good too. It’s an old establishment and a famous restaurant.”
“Then, let’s go there.”
“Let’s go. It’s a 5-minute walk.”
Saying that a home-style meal should be fine, Junghyun pulled Jaehyuk’s hand and quickly stepped into the bright sunlight.
But contrary to this expectation, exactly 5 minutes later, Jaehyuk had to be clutching the toilet bowl.
* * *
“Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay.”
Having barely come out of the bathroom and now sitting on a bench drinking water, Jaehyuk looked very unwell.
If the paleness from before was at a gray level, now his face color was at a black level.
Simply put, he looked like a zombie.
Walking while dead.
“I think it’s because there was fish on the menu there too.”
Whenever they went to that place, he always had kimchi stew, so he had forgotten, but the menu also included pollack stew and fish roe soup.
Because of that, the moment the door opened, Jaehyuk started dry heaving and immediately ran to the bathroom.
“It seems like places with seafood won’t work. Should we just go eat meat?”
At Junghyun’s careful suggestion, Jaehyuk shook his head.
“They have it there too.”
“What?”
“Crustaceans.”
“…Ah…”
Come to think of it, all the meat restaurants in this area also served grilled king prawns. And seafood ramen was standard.
Being by the sea, seafood was unavoidable.
“Then, should we just go get jajangmyeon?”
At the suggestion that while there’s seafood there too, they fry and stir-fry all the dishes, Jaehyuk raised his head with a face that had turned black.
With that, Junghyun was convinced.
Honestly, the Couvade Syndrome thing was something he had said to tease Jaehyuk, but it seemed like it wasn’t something to joke about.
“It looks like Jajang-ie wants to eat jajangmyeon. Let’s go.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
