Episode 35
“Once we solve the housing issue, I’ll get a proper job. Then I’ll see you get married… see your children being born… I want to live together, but your wife probably won’t like it? I should keep my housing subscription account.”
“Why wife? It should be sister-in-law.”
“Sister-in-law my ass. I’m two months older than you.”
Kwon Yuwon snickered, raising one corner of his mouth. Si-yul laughed along and leaned back against the chair.
But he wasn’t sure if he could get married. Si-yul looked at the table, trying to envision his distant future. Unlike Yuwon’s clear blueprint down to the last detail, his imagination was as hazy as if trapped in a thick fog.
* * *
“Huh?”
Si-yul, who was lying down playing a mobile game, opened his eyes wide. The sender of the text message was a name that had been lingering in his mind. They had exchanged numbers but hadn’t contacted each other until now.
[Do you remember me? It’s Woo Tae-joo]
Of course he remembered. It was the day when, for the first time in his life, he had boldly entered a motel with a stranger he met at a bar, intending to sleep with someone else. Thanks to that courage, he had spent the night with Woo Hyun-se, so it was impossible to forget.
[Yes. We met at the bar last time]
[You remember. What have you been up to these days?]
The greetings continued. Woo Tae-joo said he had been busy with final exams. Si-yul had known about it, but hearing about exams and assignments, it seemed he really was a college student.
[Do you have time tomorrow?]
He asked as if he already knew tomorrow was Si-yul’s day off. But Si-yul had prior plans. Of course, it was with Woo Hyun-se.
It had happened just earlier. As Si-yul was about to get out of the car, Hyun-se stopped him. He said since tomorrow was a day off anyway, Si-yul should stay the night. How could he say such nonsense when Yuwon would be wide awake at home… Besides, Yuwon had a keen sense for these things.
The other day, when Si-yul was sending a short reply to Hyun-se, Yuwon had poked his side like a veteran detective, saying that Si-yul seemed to be texting more often lately, asking if he had met someone. Si-yul had broken out in a cold sweat and hurriedly sent an incomplete message saying “Good nighr” before quickly opening a game.
‘I’m not meeting anyone. It’s just the part-time job group chat.’
Fortunately, Yuwon didn’t dig deeper. After drinking at the convenience store last time, Yuwon had been spacing out more often. Thinking it was probably because he had given up the chance to make big money, Si-yul was preoccupied with covering up his own tracks.
‘I can’t. Yuwon will be suspicious.’
After finishing his reminiscence, Si-yul gripped his belt tightly before replying. He understood Hyun-se’s frustration. He too desperately wanted to be together. With Hyun-se, even just lying in the car side by side listening to the radio without talking made his heart flutter.
‘Si-yul always says no first to everything.’
‘It’s because you always ask difficult things, CEO.’
‘I want to spend more time with Si-yul. All night long.’
There was no way he couldn’t understand the hidden meaning in those words. His cheeks quickly flushed. He leaned towards the window to hide it.
‘I’m going in.’
‘How about tomorrow?’
‘What?’
‘Staying together all night.’
‘Oh, really.’
Hyun-se didn’t know how to give up. He always tried to achieve what he wanted. Even if it meant putting Si-yul in a difficult position.
‘I’ll let you know tomorrow.’
‘I’ve become much more patient since meeting you. Did I tell you that?’
‘I think you still need a bit more. Keep working on it.’
‘If I’m any more patient, I’ll turn into Buddha.’
His expression was serious as he joked. When Si-yul laughed out loud, Hyun-se’s furrowed face relaxed slightly. There was still a hint of irritation, but his eyes were less intense than before.
‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’
Hyun-se asked as Si-yul was unbuckling his seatbelt. Ah, Si-yul paused, then stretched out his neck and planted a loud kiss on Hyun-se’s cheek. He quickly grabbed Hyun-se’s chin as he was about to pull away and stole a kiss on his lips. In that brief moment, he tasted the inside of Hyun-se’s mouth before pulling away.
‘Text me before you go to sleep.’
‘Yuwon…’
Their lips met again. The excuse that was about to leave Si-yul’s mouth was swallowed back.
‘I can’t compromise on that.’
Si-yul stared at Hyun-se with his mouth agape. His eyes were dreamy, as if entranced. Maybe it would be okay if he hid in the bathroom to send a text. After making this plan, he nodded.
Because of what had happened in the early morning, he couldn’t meet Woo Tae-joo. When he sent “I have prior plans,” Tae-joo expressed great disappointment but looked forward to next time. Si-yul sent a reply saying “Let’s have a meal sometime,” but he doubted if such a day would come. Hyun-se knew all of his days off. Would he let Si-yul meet someone else willingly?
“No way.”
Si-yul grinned as he turned on his mobile game. He seemed to already know the answer.
He woke up to the sound of an alarm. He fumbled around his pillow looking for his phone. Squinting his eyes against the brightness, he checked the time. 10 AM. Considering when he had fallen asleep in the early morning, his sleep time was woefully inadequate.
Still, he couldn’t go back to sleep. Si-yul rubbed his sleepy eyes and got up. The loud noise had naturally woken up Yuwon too. With his face buried in the pillow, he just groaned without lifting his head.
“Isn’t today your day off…?”
Yuwon hadn’t been able to sleep last night either. He had tossed and turned several times, got up to sigh once, went to the bathroom once, and went outside to get some air before coming back in. It seemed he had barely managed to fall asleep, and Si-yul couldn’t help but worry.
Maybe the offer he had received from Pig was still lingering in a corner of his mind. It would be good if he could just give up on it cleanly.
“Y-yeah.”
“You haven’t had a day off in a while…”
His voice was husky with sleep. Si-yul retorted, “We need to earn money, there’s no time to play,” and hurried into the bathroom. Lying to Yuwon, of all people, felt like being pricked in the chest with a blunt needle.
He prepared to go out quietly so as not to fully wake the other person. He didn’t even use the hair dryer. The sound of the wind might have made Yuwon open his eyes complaining about the noise. He had said he was going to work, so Yuwon probably wouldn’t ask more questions, but if he happened to ask something, Si-yul’s shoulders twitched nervously.
He came out after roughly drying his hair with a towel. As he left the room, the cold wind tangled in his damp hair. It was so chilly that he sneezed involuntarily.
“Dress warmly. You’ll catch a cold…”
Yuwon, whom he thought was asleep, nagged from behind. His voice was still drowsy. Si-yul just mumbled “Yeah” in response and tightened his collar. This level of cold was nothing to him, who had gone through cold weather training twice.
Hyun-se wanted to come to the inn, but Si-yul had desperately dissuaded him. He really didn’t want to risk running into Yuwon. Recently, even when Hyun-se was dropping him off, he deliberately got off far from the inn’s alley and walked. Hyun-se seemed quite annoyed by this, but Si-yul had no intention of compromising on this one thing.
This time too, they met far from the inn. When Si-yul bent down and tapped on the car window, it opened with a click. Si-yul quickly squeezed himself into the car. Perhaps because he had come out with his hair not fully dried, his body felt more chilly and his skin was cold from the wind. He rubbed his arms with both hands and sniffled.
A hand suddenly approached. It touched Si-yul’s cheek, which was flushed red like a child’s cheeks in winter. Si-yul’s eyes narrowed at the warm touch. Without avoiding it, he nuzzled and buried his cheek into the palm.
“Why did you come dressed so thinly?”
“Oh, it’s not that cold. This is nothing.”
His voice trembled from the cold, but he spoke well. Hyun-se chuckled at Si-yul’s bravado, then took off his coat and covered Si-yul with it.
This time, Si-yul didn’t refuse like he had by the river. Instead, he brought the collar to his nose, sniffing it and grinning. The scent that filled his nose was cool, but the warmth held in the coat was comforting.
“This is perfect weather for catching a cold.”
“I don’t catch colds easily. Don’t you know how tough I am?”
“Really? Your stamina didn’t seem that good.”
“What? I’ve never been told I have poor stamina. I’m good at hanging on the horizontal bar for a long time, and I got top grades in push-ups and sit-ups.”
Si-yul immediately refuted the unfair misunderstanding. He might have counted his rank from the bottom in subjects like math or English, but he was confident in physical education.
“You got tired quickly last time.”
“When was that?”
“In bed.”
After throwing out this unexpected answer, Hyun-se drove smoothly. Si-yul clutched Hyun-se’s coat tightly with both hands and jerked his head up to look at the driver’s seat. His face was well-roasted red.
