8
The additional beer order quickly went from two glasses to over ten. Jaejoon said his stomach was full and switched to soju, while Seongcheol said he would match Yuwon’s pace and drank beer until the end. Around the time the snacks were running out, the three men stood up swaying.
Jaejoon, whose home wasn’t far, waved his hand and disappeared into the alley, while Seongcheol headed straight to the subway station. Yuwon, who was suddenly left alone, shook his head around to check his location. Where was this again? The dark nighttime streets all looked similar no matter where he looked.
His vision was spinning. He had definitely been fine when they left the beer hall, but somehow the more he walked, the more the alcohol seemed to be hitting him. He was dizzy to the point where even when he held up his phone, he couldn’t see the screen clearly.
The problem seemed to be mixing soju with beer at the end. His chest felt so stuffy and he wanted to get drunk quickly, so he had poured soju into his remaining beer. Since he usually only sipped beer, this was the first time in his life he had gotten this drunk.
“Haah…”
Yuwon stopped walking and caught his breath for a moment. Even though he was clearly standing on solid ground, he felt like he was seasick.
He needed to get home quickly, but it took about 20 minutes by bus to get home. If he got on the bus in this state, he might cause a big nuisance.
Yuwon first looked for a nearby convenience store. Though it was difficult to take even one step, he managed to enter the convenience store across the street. He paid for a bottle of water and plopped down heavily on the chair provided inside the convenience store. He planned to rest here for a bit, shake off the alcohol, and then get up.
Yuwon, who barely managed to swallow a sip of water, let out a long breath. It was a breath heavily mixed with the smell of alcohol.
Even in this situation, Jeonghyeok came to mind. Actually, it had been like that the entire time he was drinking. That was also the reason he had gotten this drunk.
He had told him never to come looking for him again. While not knowing about his heart that became gloomy every day from missing him, the man had said such cold words.
Bad guy. Bad guy… Even though no one was listening, Yuwon only cursed Jeonghyeok in his mind.
That’s when it happened.
“One Marlboro Red.”
It was a low, calm voice. Yuwon turned his head toward the checkout counter as if mesmerized.
A black figure wavered in his blurry vision. When he strained his eyes, he could vaguely make out its identity.
It was a tall man wearing a perfectly fitted suit. After finishing his payment, the man put the cigarettes he received into his jacket’s inner pocket and left the convenience store. All his actions were clean and efficient.
Yuwon slightly furrowed his brow and followed the man with his eyes. Although his vision was swaying back and forth due to intoxication, he was definitely Jeonghyeok. Even though all he could see was the back view and a glimpse of his profile, he was certain.
Could I be seeing things? When that thought occurred to him, a sneer escaped. So when you get this drunk, you even see hallucinations of the person you like, he thought.
Though it should have been bitter, Yuwon actually felt better. Even if it wasn’t real but a man’s image created in his head, seeing the face he had so desperately wanted to see made him feel completely relieved.
Yuwon stood up from the chair with a creaking sound. He staggered out of the convenience store door and chased after the hallucination that looked like Jeonghyeok.
He didn’t need to go far. Jeonghyeok, who had left the convenience store, entered the entrance of the same building. Passing through the commercial building section to the officetel building, he walked leisurely with his hands in his pockets as always.
Yuwon also earnestly followed that black figure from a few steps behind. He barely lifted his head that kept dropping down and widened his eyes. He was suddenly afraid that if he closed his eyes, Jeonghyeok might disappear just like that.
Eventually, the two arrived at the officetel lobby. The dim lobby was as quiet as a tomb. When they reached the elevator, the dark back suddenly stopped. Yuwon also stopped walking.
“Ha.”
Jeonghyeok let out a big sigh. He could no longer ignore the presence he had been feeling behind him since earlier, wondering just how far they planned to follow him. He didn’t know which bastard was bold enough to target him alone, but anyway, he wanted to deal with it quietly and quickly go home to rest.
This was the first rest he’d gotten in days. Tsk, Jeonghyeok clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and slowly turned around. And the moment he discovered Yuwon standing before him.
“You…”
At the unexpected identity, his eyes that had been full of wariness completely relaxed.
Despite Jeonghyeok’s surprised reaction, Yuwon’s expression remained unchanged. His eyes still had no focus and he was just dazed with his mouth slightly open.
To Yuwon right now, Jeonghyeok was still just a hallucination. Yuwon was convinced that he was seeing things because he was too drunk. In the first place, he was too drunk to think properly.
“What are you? How did you know to come here?”
“Ajeossi…”
Jeonghyeok’s question didn’t register in his ears. Yuwon walked forward one step, two steps with staggering steps.
The closer he got, the clearer Jeonghyeok’s image became, and the corners of his mouth subtly rose. Looking at Yuwon’s face smiling brightly with a flush on both cheeks, Jeonghyeok was becoming very flustered on the contrary.
“Hey, can’t you hear me?”
Though he even took steps back unlike himself, it wasn’t enough to avoid Yuwon who was approaching relentlessly. Since he couldn’t carelessly put his hands on his body, Jeonghyeok just awkwardly avoided Yuwon. He had thought something was strange from earlier, but seeing how he was floundering around, he seemed to be drunk.
Not content with just being constantly annoying, was he now even throwing a drunken fit? While Jeonghyeok was thinking about how to deal with this troublemaker, Yuwon had become quite angry. He was irritated at the man who was avoiding him here and there despite not even being real.
Yuwon, who had been breathing roughly, suddenly stopped still.
“Shit…”
It’s just a hallucination anyway. It’s okay to do whatever I want.
Come to think of it, that was right. Since it wasn’t even the real Moon Jeonghyeok anyway, nothing bad would happen if he did whatever he wanted.
Having reached a simple conclusion, Yuwon stretched out his arms and pulled Jeonghyeok’s waist into an embrace. His thin arms wrapped around Jeonghyeok’s thick waist quite firmly.
Jeonghyeok, who had been frozen while trying to assess the situation, couldn’t hold back any longer when Yuwon started rubbing his cheek against his chest and opened his mouth.
“Hey, Kim Yuwon.”
“Why… why are you calling me? You bad, bad guy.”
“Come to your senses while I’m being nice about it.”
This was already being very lenient. It was just a mistake made under the influence of alcohol, he could have let it slide like that. Even now, if he came to his senses and got away from his body, he was thinking of treating it like it never happened.
However, the drooping small body had no strength. Far from getting away, he kept clinging closer, making it troublesome.
“Kim Yuwon!”
Even at Jeonghyeok’s shout, Yuwon collapsed into the solid embrace. Not content with that, he soon lost consciousness completely.
***
“Say hello, Yuwon. This is the younger brother who will be sharing a room with you from today.”
“Hello.”
Despite Yuwon’s friendly greeting, the child just bowed his head and had nothing particular to say.
“Yuwon is one year older, so take good care of him. Got it?”
“Yes, Director.”
The Director smiled kindly and patted Yuwon’s head. Yuwon liked that touch. He liked the Director’s warm and affectionate smile. It was the only kindness he could receive.
When the Director left, only Yuwon and the child remained in the room. Though the atmosphere was awkward, Yuwon was somewhat used to this situation. A child who had been living with him would leave and a new child would come in, something that happened repeatedly every few months or, at most, every few years.
“My name is Kim Yuwon. What’s yours?”
“…”
“Don’t want to say?”
The child bit his lower lip tightly and hung his head. Yuwon bent down trying to make eye contact, but it was useless. The child’s hair was too long and covered his eyes.
“It’ll get better once you’ve been here a while. When you feel like talking about your name, tell me then.”
Yuwon, who spoke in a quite mature voice, spread out his bedding.
When you first enter this place, everything is bound to feel unfamiliar and unpleasant. Especially if you come in not at a very young age but at an age where you can understand the situation to some extent, the rejection is even more severe.
Yuwon had seen many such children. There were cases where they lived with their biological parents for several years only to be ultimately abandoned and go half-crazy, and there were also cases where they were lucky enough to be adopted but were returned within a few months and came back here.
Watching children who carried even greater wounds because of happiness they would have been better off not knowing, Yuwon resolved that he would rather live without knowing such happiness. It was better to just adapt well to this place and think about how to safely become independent as an adult.
Night came and Yuwon lay down side by side with the child. The child, who had never let them hear his voice, finally started sniffling.
“Don’t cry.”
Yuwon said.
“Don’t cry…”
When you cry like that, I want to cry too. So don’t cry, please.
He covered his ears and closed his eyes. Feeling like he was being sucked into pitch-black darkness, Yuwon fell asleep.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
