#032
Lee Yeonwoo rubbed his face against the soft pillow, trying to wake up from sleep. Outside the window, it was still night.
He had downed the alcohol in his hand and somehow managed to find his way to the bedroom with his hazy mind and lie down. He couldn’t even remember how he had hung up the phone.
As he buried his face in the pillow and stayed still, he felt a gentle hand stroking his hair.
He tilted his head slightly to check who the hand belonged to.
“Sleep more.”
“…When did you arrive?”
“Just now.”
Yeonwoo turned his head completely toward Kang Dojun and wriggled closer to him.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“Could I be more tired than you?”
Though he had gone through difficult times, the moment he saw him, his heart melted away. Since he always called him hyung, at some point it felt as if he had become like a real older brother.
For some reason, having him by his side made his heavy heart feel at ease. His eyes drowsily opened and closed at the regular patting touch.
“Did you eat dinner?”
“Grandma Kyeong-i made kimchi fried rice for me.”
“That must have been delicious.”
“I wanted to eat omelet rice more.”
Even when he whined about trivial things, Kang Dojun accepted it well.
“I’ll make it for you later during the day.”
Perhaps it was thanks to his deep and gentle voice. Yeonwoo was able to sleep comfortably for the first time in a long while.
There was an article on a website that detailed information about Ber, so he read it. His expression gradually grew cold as he scrolled down. He was the worst of the worst. A person crazy for money who would do anything as long as he received donations.
The fortunate thing was that public sympathy leaned toward Yeonwoo rather than Ber. No matter how much Ber struggled claiming he had done nothing wrong, forcibly exposing someone who said no to a live broadcast was clearly a crime.
He was sick and tired of viewers who somehow managed to find out locations even when they weren’t revealed on broadcasts.
Ruining one person’s life was far too easy for the public.
After giving taxi fare to manager Park Daeho and sending him away, he had rushed here without rest. Though his body was exhausted from filming that had continued since morning and the long drive, his mind was alert.
He looked down at Yeonwoo silently. Seeing him sleeping soundly with swollen eyes from crying only made him sigh.
If Yeonwoo wanted to file charges against Ber, he was confident he would gladly help.
Kang Dojun began investigating and collecting evidence, capturing and recording Ber’s activities one by one for any potential court case, not even realizing that the sun was gradually rising.
* * *
Yeonwoo blinked his eyes. It had been a long time since he had slept until the sun was high in the sky. But he didn’t even think of getting up, wrapping himself in the blanket and lying still, though it wasn’t even hot.
A delicious smell was wafting from the kitchen.
He quietly tried to recall the memories from the night. What he vaguely remembered was gentle touches and a scent that calmed his heart.
‘Who was it…’
Grandma Kyeong-i? Grandma Suni? No, it seemed to have been a male figure. He thought of Uncle Cheolsu, but he didn’t have gentle touches.
‘Was it Grandpa Beom?’
He tried to match the touch with each village resident he thought of one by one, but none were the right answer.
‘…Who was it?’
As he was lost in thought, someone came in.
“Are you awake?”
He remembered. The owner of those touches was hyung.
He had definitely thought that Grandma Kyeong-i would be cooking in the kitchen, but his prediction was wrong.
Yeonwoo slowly sat up like a turtle.
As one clue was solved, the events from last night began to come back to him one by one.
“Hyung, did you get some sleep?”
“What time do you think it is? Of course I slept.”
Though all he had done was take a brief nap while sitting, he didn’t want to create unnecessary worries for Yeonwoo who had barely regained his energy.
“I made omelet rice. Let’s eat.”
Yeonwoo quickly got up.
“I really wanted to eat the omelet rice and kimchi fried rice that hyung makes.”
“You should have said so.”
“You were in Seoul, so what would be the point of saying it?”
Though they had only met for ten days before parting, they had continued to keep in touch afterward, so even today when they met again, there was no awkwardness between them.
“I’ll come often from now on.”
“But I’m going to Seoul?”
“…Wasn’t that something you said in anger?”
Yeonwoo looked at Kang Dojun while chewing his omelet rice.
“I’m going to Seoul.”
Even if it was something he had said in anger, he had no intention of taking it back. He could temporarily leave the apiary to Uncle Cheolsu, and Cheolsu would soon be on vacation so he could help with the work. Of course, he was paying him daily wages for that.
He hadn’t spent a single penny of the large appearance fee he had received after filming ended. This time he decided to use it for his Seoul trip.
For some reason, today wasn’t as difficult as yesterday. Was it the power of having drunk alcohol to his heart’s content, or was it because Kang Dojun had rushed all the way from Seoul to here to comfort him?
Despite having regular video calls all this time, sitting face to face in person made him happy and glad. And he thought that joy had overcome yesterday’s difficulties.
“When are you coming? To Seoul.”
“When you go, hyung.”
“…But I have to leave tonight.”
Whatever the reason, being next to Kang Dojun calmed his heart and made him feel cozy. Yeonwoo, who had been going through difficult times lately, wanted to stay by Kang Dojun’s side, who made him comfortable.
Strike while the iron is hot – he jumped up before Kang Dojun could stop him.
“Then I’ll go ask Uncle Cheolsu right now and come back!”
“You should finish your meal first!”
At words that sounded somewhat like nagging, Yeonwoo stuffed the remaining rice into his mouth in one bite and then hugged Kang Dojun tightly.
“Thank you. It was delicious. I ate well.”
Without giving him a chance to refuse, he hugged Kang Dojun tightly and then ran out in a hurry.
Kang Dojun’s pupils trembled finely before he burst into laughter. He felt the same as when he had first come to this place. It was exactly like a storm had swept through.
A person couldn’t change in just four months, but Yeonwoo was so exactly the same that it was reassuring. On the other hand, he was also worried that he might be deliberately ignoring yesterday’s incident and pretending to be okay.
After cleaning up where Yeonwoo had been sitting, Kang Dojun also slowly went outside. To greet the elderly residents after a long time, he first went to visit Grandma Kyeong-i from the house across.
When he knocked on the door but got no response from inside, he headed to the chicken coop just in case. Fortunately, he was able to find Grandma Kyeong-i.
“Hello. Have you been healthy?”
Grandma Kyeong-i didn’t answer his words and threw a bundle of white paper.
“I was trying to make omelet rice, but there are no eggs, no eggs!”
When Yeonwoo said he wanted to eat omelet rice, he had urgently gotten eggs from Grandma Kyeong-i’s chicken coop, leaving behind a note:
[This is Kang Dojun. Have you been well? I’m sorry, but I’m taking some eggs. Sorry, I’ll go to the mart this afternoon and buy eggs to replace them.]
“What? You came all the way from Seoul again to steal eggs? You rascal! You’ve only picked up bad habits!”
“…I’m sorry. I was also making omelet rice. If you haven’t had lunch yet, please have this.”
Kang Dojun held out a bowl containing leftover omelet rice he had made in the morning. Grandma Kyeong-i glanced at it and awkwardly took the bowl.
“Ahem… Make sure to buy and replace the eggs! But why did you come here again?”
Kang Dojun wondered what would be good to say.
He didn’t want to bring up yesterday’s incident, which would have been painful for Yeonwoo as well. However, he needed to let her know that Yeonwoo was going to Seoul.
“I came to pick up Yeonwoo.”
“…Is that blockhead really going to Seoul?”
Grandma Kyeong-i made an expression of incomprehension.
Kang Dojun didn’t know in detail why Yeonwoo had suddenly set his goal on going to Seoul, but he thought one of the reasons must be because the village people were having a hard time due to visits from outsiders.
Just because one person came to Seoul wouldn’t completely stop outsiders from visiting, but he was such a naive guy who wanted to help even a little.
And Kang Dojun didn’t want to stop that either. Naturally, more people lived in Seoul and the attention would be greater, but if something happened to Yeonwoo, he could rush to him right away.
If necessary, he could even become a windbreak for him. Therefore, Yeonwoo’s trip to Seoul was welcome news for Kang Dojun as well.
“It just happened that way.”
“…Say goodbye before you go.”
“Originally, young people should live mingling with others. That guy endured well for three years though.”
Grandma Kyeong-i muttered as she headed inside the house with the bowl containing omelet rice.
Watching her back, Kang Dojun remembered something he had forgotten. Come to think of it, he hadn’t asked whether he would stay in Seoul for a few days and then return to the countryside.
Yeonwoo hadn’t returned yet, and he had discovered a suitcase while cleaning the house earlier.
‘Should I pack some things roughly?’
“…I guess it’s better to have too much than too little?”
As he picked out Yeonwoo’s clothes one by one, they kept increasing.
He decided to utilize the packing skills he had developed from going on business trips here and there for filming. Things that made him think ‘This will fit?’ became ‘This does fit!’ and settled cozily in the suitcase after going through Kang Dojun’s magic touch.
“I’m back! Oh… I could have packed myself.”
Yeonwoo, who had burst through the door full of energy, looked apologetic at Kang Dojun’s appearance.
“I’m almost done. But how many days will you stay in Seoul?”
“Hmm, I haven’t thought about that.”
“Then I’ll pack as much as possible.”
Kang Dojun packed all sorts of miscellaneous items as if telling him not to think about returning here until he had used up all these things.
Then he said to Yeonwoo with a secretly proud smile.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“All of this fits in there.”
“If you arrange the space well, you can put in even more.”
Somehow that statement felt ominous.
“…More than that, hyung, since you came after a long time, let’s go greet everyone! Everyone came out to see me off when I said I was leaving.”
Word must have already spread that Yeonwoo was going to Seoul, as the yard was bustling.
“Oh my, we’re seeing the Seoul young man again!”
“This blockhead is all excited about his Seoul excursion. Even when you go there, listen to your hyung well!”
“Of course he’ll do well. The kid’s age is what now.”
“Don’t worry about the bees, just have a good time and come back. Our actor is also nice to see again!”
“Yes, please take care of me. I’ll go and come back.”
The familiar elderly residents and even Uncle Cheolsu came running in one stride. Everyone patted Yeonwoo once and spoke to Kang Dojun.
He greeted each person one by one, loaded the prepared suitcase into the trunk, and after making his final visit to Grandma Kyeong-i’s house to finish his greetings, got in the car.
Only after Yeonwoo, sitting in the passenger seat, rolled down the window and greeted everyone once more did they depart.
“Have you decided where to stay?”
Yeonwoo leaned back against the soft car seat, fiddling with his phone as he answered.
“I have one friend living in Seoul, so I’m thinking of contacting him. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll find accommodation somewhere.”
“Who is it?”
“Kim Seung… Kim Haseon.”
“The friend you met on the deep-sea fishing boat?”
Yeonwoo glanced at Kang Dojun.
‘That was something I said several months ago, but he remembers it.’
“Yes.”
Kang Dojun hesitated a bit before making a suggestion.
“Would you rather come to my place?”
“Your house, hyung?”
“Yeah, I live alone. There are many rooms, so you don’t need to feel burdened.”
He was looking straight ahead, focused on driving. However, he was tapping the steering wheel, perhaps anxious about Yeonwoo’s delayed response. He hastily added more words.
“I also stayed at your house, so you can come anytime you need to.”
“Hmm, well that would be good for me.”
Yeonwoo opened the car window and gave an answer that was half close to positive while looking at the scenery filled with black roads after leaving the rice fields behind.
Kang Dojun, who had been smiling at his answer, suddenly hardened his expression as if something had occurred to him.
“The eggs… I forgot.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
