112.
Haseo needed stability at a fundamental level. But even knowing he needed stability, he couldn’t guess how to obtain it. Should he just kill time like this? Such thoughts brought anxiety as well. It was too painful to suffer alone.
He filled banchan containers to the brim with carefully made side dishes and stacked them up like a tower. Then he put them all in a bag, making it quite heavy. Still, there wouldn’t be anything better than this as a consultation fee. With such thoughts, Haseo left the house.
“Wow, what’s all this! My goodness! It’s banchan, banchan!”
Jung Nara raised her voice excitedly. She looked much more disheveled than when they last met, but her personality was still the same.
“Are you still writing these days?”
“Yeah, the contest isn’t far away.”
“But is it okay for you to come out?”
“For this level of banchan, I should run out barefoot. There’s even beef soy sauce braised dish that I like.”
Jung Nara’s mouth naturally curved up in a grin.
“Call me next time if you need me too. I’ll counsel you on anything.”
“…Then, um.”
Haseo asked Jung Nara, who was hugging the banchan containers happily.
“How can I become closer with hyung?”
“Aren’t you already close?”
They lived in the same house, confessed their love, and had revealed quite a lot about each other’s past. Yet the two had parts that were too different from each other. Sometimes Haseo felt Mujin was unfamiliar.
“Ah.”
After hearing the story to the end, Jung Nara scratched her messy hair.
“I think I know what kind of feeling that is. But isn’t that a problem that’s hard to solve right away? It seems like you have to slowly adjust by spending a long time together.”
“Slowly adjust?”
“Yeah, actually when I heard your stories, it seems like your couple had more difficult times than simply enjoying yourselves?”
“I suppose so.”
“So go around here and there anywhere. Wouldn’t a path become visible then?”
“Do you think so?”
“I can’t give a definite answer either.”
Jung Nara smiled messily and comforted Haseo. Though they hadn’t shared anything profound, there was a sense of stability that came from having someone who knew about his situation and could talk with him about it.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you? I’m more grateful!”
Like that, the two lightly drank coffee and parted. On the way home, Haseo thought about things he could do with Choi Mujin. However, since he hadn’t lived ordinarily either, not many things came to mind.
First, let’s convey this thought to Choi Mujin too.
“You want to try various things together?”
Choi Mujin listened to Haseo’s story seriously.
“What do you want to do?”
“Anything. I want to try dating like other people.”
Haseo knew that if he said this, Choi Mujin would agree.
“Good. Let’s try dating normally.”
When Choi Mujin nodded, Haseo took out his phone and showed him the screen.
“So I was thinking we could start by watching a movie. What’s good? By the way, renting out the entire movie theater or things like that aren’t allowed.”
“I haven’t watched many movies. What kind do you like?”
“I like this one.”
Haseo chose the most standard action movie. Actually, if there had been a romance movie, he would have chosen that, but there wasn’t one right now. There were only horror movies and action movies, so he chose the better one.
“Okay, then shall we go see it after academy ends?”
The academy ended around 4 PM. If they went to see a movie right after it ended, the timing would be perfect too.
“Yes!”
Haseo answered energetically.
On the day they went to see the movie, he paid more attention to his clothes than usual. He also neatly dried his hair before going to the academy, and other people asked what special day it was.
“I’m going on a date.”
When he answered like that, people around him were surprised and widened their eyes.
“You had a girlfriend?”
“He has the face for it, doesn’t he?”
“No, that’s true. But Haseo-ssi looks innocent.”
Leaving such conversation behind, he came out of the academy after class ended. At the academy entrance stood Choi Mujin in different attire than usual. His appearance in a cozy-looking blue-gray knit sweater and jeans looked unfamiliar. By now he should have gotten used to it, but suits with slicked-back hair suited him so perfectly.
“Haseo.”
At the sight of Choi Mujin waving his hand, Haseo shyly ran to him.
“The movie theater is nearby, so I parked the car over there and came.”
Like that, the two slowly walked the distance to the movie theater. Even during the short distance they traveled, people they encountered couldn’t take their eyes off Choi Mujin. That was the same for Haseo too.
‘He’s handsome.’
Haseo glanced around and carefully took Choi Mujin’s hanging hand. Then the gazes touching them became more piercing, but he decided to ignore that much.
At the suddenly touching gaze, Choi Mujin rounded his eyes and smiled.
“Cute.”
“If anything, please say I’m cool.”
“You’re cool too.”
Just lip service. Haseo thought so and cleared his throat. Still, since he had been to a movie theater before, he moved more easily than last time. He bought popcorn and cola, got tickets, and sat down.
“It’s a couple seat?”
“I thought this would be comfortable.”
Since it was a weekday, there weren’t many people, so no one cared that two men were sitting in the couple seat. After that, the movie that started when the theater darkened was ordinary.
Like typical overseas action movies, focusing on the expensive-looking screen made it quickly approach the end. Though the protagonist’s sad past came out in the middle, aside from that, it was a light action movie.
“Come to think of it.”
As the movie ended and they were cleaning up their seats, Choi Mujin casually threw out a comment.
“You’ve never seen the house where I was born, have you?”
“Uh, no?”
But why was he suddenly asking such a thing? Haseo carefully observed Choi Mujin’s mood.
“Did you ever think you wanted to go see it?”
“Yes!”
This time he answered quickly. It seemed that when you love someone, you want to know more about them. Haseo wanted to know more about Choi Mujin. Even though he already knew things, his greed didn’t cease.
“Then let’s go.”
Haseo’s eyes sparkled.
Since the neighborhood where Choi Mujin lived and the neighborhood where Haseo lived were the same, there wasn’t anything particularly new. They climbed the steep, dirty, high road and the long stairs in the middle. After panting and struggling to climb like that, there was a small, old house there.
“Wow, there was a place like this too.”
Haseo had lived in this neighborhood for quite a while, but he didn’t know there was a higher, more secluded place. Still, the house where Haseo and his grandmother lived was at least cleaned properly, but Choi Mujin’s house wasn’t. Opening the gate that was so old it was half-crumbling, a dirty house was visible.
“I guess it’s because it hasn’t been maintained for a long time.”
When he said that awkwardly, Choi Mujin chuckled and ruffled Haseo’s hair.
“It was originally like this.”
In the yard, liquor bottles were endlessly lined up, and the closed door had many marks that looked like they’d been kicked.
“No one lives here now?”
“Right, I’m the owner.”
Just like he bought Haseo’s house, Choi Mujin seemed to have bought his own house too.
“Actually, I thought about just tearing it down, but it’s hard for equipment to get in. And it’s ambiguous to build something here.”
“Can I open the door?”
“Open it. There’s nothing special though.”
When he opened the door, a narrow room was visible. Next to the room was a small door, and when he opened that, a kitchen was visible. Still, since all the food had been cleared out, no related bugs were visible.
Young Choi Mujin grew up in this house.
Somehow he couldn’t imagine it, making it awkward. And he was also curious.
“Don’t you have any childhood photos?”
“I wonder if there are any?”
Choi Mujin opened a drawer in the corner and took out a small paper box. When he opened the box lid, there were photos inside, and there seemed to be dozens of them.
“There might be some here. Grandfather’s hobby was taking pictures before he passed away.”
He was the most decent person in Choi Mujin’s house. How such a man was born under such a person. Moreover, Choi Mujin, who was that man’s son, was also far from a righteous life.
Haseo carefully began flipping through the photos. Then he discovered a baby photo that exuded handsomeness.
“By any chance, is this baby you, hyung?”
“Let me see. That’s me.”
On the back of the photo, the date it was taken was written along with the name.
“Wow. How can a baby be so handsome?”
“What’s the use of a baby being handsome?”
“Can I take this photo?”
Even though it had been in this environment, it was in pretty good condition. But if it continued to stay here like this, it seemed like it would become a mess someday. Actually, he also coveted Choi Mujin’s childhood photo.
“Take it.”
Choi Mujin readily agreed. Haseo took out his wallet and carefully put the photo in there. Fortunately, since the size wasn’t very big, it fit in his wallet. He’d have to go to a stationery store later to see if it could be laminated.
The room wasn’t big, so it didn’t take long to look around.
“Did you see everything?”
“Yes.”
When Haseo nodded, Choi Mujin first stepped out of the room. When Haseo also followed behind him and came out, only then did he close the door.
“But what if other people secretly live here if you leave it like this?”
“There won’t be anyone like that in this neighborhood.”
All the elderly people knew what kind of guy Choi Mujin was. So even if the gate was left open, no one would sneak in and steal things.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
