Can Love Be Transferred Too? 52

#52

“Rabbit?”

Jin Woohyeon asked with a puzzled voice.

“Aren’t I a bit big to be a rabbit?”

“…You are big.”

“Ah, is that it? Since I’m really big, I’m really cute.”

“That’s not it.”

He was a bit cute when he tilted his head while saying that just now, but anyway, that wasn’t what I meant.

“It reminded me of the clock rabbit.”

“Ah. The one from Alice in Wonderland?”

“Yeah.”

At first, it was just curiosity. What about me does this guy like so much that he’s being kind? How can he be so firm without any worries or concerns?

So when I followed Jin Woohyeon, pretending I couldn’t resist my curiosity, he invited me to a very strange and fascinating world.

In the wonderland he guided me to, my shortcomings didn’t become obstacles that ruined relationships. I could just take one bite each of mysteriously flavored desserts I’d never tried before, and the bad, painful memories I’d been masochistically mulling over lost their power.

“Did you become curious about me?”

Joy gathered in his voice like ripples on water.

“So you want to follow me anywhere and see what happens, hyung?”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t such a remarkable thing to say. It might have felt somewhat out of the blue.

But Jin Woohyeon was simply delighted. As if even that level of influence was enough.

“Ah, what should I do if I keep wanting to look back? Wondering whether hyung is really following, whether you’re coming or not, whether you’re coming well, whether I should hold your hand and lead you so you don’t fall.”

“…”

“I’ll take you to good places.”

Jin Woohyeon, with his elbow on the table, leaned his upper body forward slightly and whispered.

“You can come slowly. I have plenty of time and patience.”

The words he added, saying he would wait enough for me, seeped in leaving a tickling sensation.

“Think about it for a long time and follow carefully.”

It would have been something I couldn’t even dare to imagine in my original state. For me, love was an emotion with too specific a form, one that belonged to someone. There was even a time when I believed it would never change because it had hardened from being too old.

But now I know. There’s no ‘absolute’ or ‘forever’ in this world. Even the foolish old love I’d kept like an iron rule couldn’t be an exception to that law.

“After we finish eating all this, where should we go?”

I smiled slightly and asked jokingly.

“You thought of the swimming pool and cafe, but left the next plan empty?”

“No way.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“I do have a few things in mind, but I thought I’d adjust according to hyung’s opinion or the situation. Is multiple choice more comfortable?”

As if to prove his words, several options came out immediately, and I chose what looked the most fun among them.

“I want to go to an arcade. I want to play games after a long time.”

“Wow, I’ve never been to one. Sounds good, should we go slowly?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll clean this up and come back.”

Watching Jin Woohyeon’s busy figure from behind, I replayed our earlier conversation. He told me he’d take me only to good places so I should follow carefully, and that he’d wait however long…

‘You don’t need to do that, Woohyeon.’

Actually, you see. I’ve already arrived in wonderland. I came here quickly without even knowing where this place was.

Don’t nag me about what to do if I follow recklessly without fear.

It was because it was you.

Because it was you, I believed it would be okay, so I followed.

* * *

“…Did I sleep?”

I had just closed my eyes for a moment while waiting for an intersection signal that felt particularly long, but when I came to my senses, the car with the engine off was shrouded in darkness.

“You didn’t sleep for long.”

Jin Woohyeon, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, answered. Thanks to the streetlight in the distance, I could barely make out the outline of his face. Naturally, his expression wasn’t readable either, but I wasn’t flustered or anxious.

“About 20 minutes?”

Having just woken up and apparently having slept deeper than I thought, my head wasn’t working immediately. When I cranked my creaking thought circuits and pulled out a few memories from before falling asleep, I belatedly remembered that the navigation screen had shown an estimated arrival time of about 40 minutes.

“We arrived early.”

Jin Woohyeon said with a voice tinged with laughter.

“20 minutes after arriving at the parking lot.”

“…Huh.”

That means I slept for at least an hour. Flustered, I adjusted my posture slightly.

The camera near the glove box that I reflexively looked at was turned off. I was relieved that my sleeping face wasn’t shown.

“They said it’s okay because they got all the footage they needed. I also contacted the dorm saying we’d be late, so if you’re sleepy, you can sleep a bit more.”

I was drowsy but not enough to sleep again. I shook my head.

“Did you release pheromones on purpose to make me sleep?”

I asked thinking he probably did it this time too since he did it before, but I heard an unexpected answer.

“No, I didn’t release any. You just slept well.”

“…Why?”

“Well. Maybe because you moved around busily since this morning and got tired? Or maybe we’ve become comfortable enough that you can rest easy beside me.”

The gentle whisper tapped at my ears.

“The former is more likely, and personally I hope for the latter. Which do you think is the right answer, hyung?”

As if proving his words, the air in the car was fresh. So both the reasonable explanation he offered and his shy wish were correct.

“Today was fun.”

To the extent that I dated without noticing time passing. From morning through evening to now that it’s night.

Originally, eating dinner together with the participants at the dorm was one of the living rules, so we should have returned earlier, but the production team said it was okay to play to our heart’s content and come back today. It was consideration for Jin Woohyeon who joined only after half the total period had passed.

“Especially when we went to the arcade at the end. That zombie game. It’s been a really long time since I made it to the 3rd round boss.”

“Ah, that. It was quite difficult indeed.”

Jin Woohyeon answered in a leisurely tone.

“You said there are 5 rounds? Next time it would be nice to clear it to the end.”

He said it was his first time coming to an arcade. Usually he’s busy with filming, and when he has free time or wants to relieve stress, he does activities that move his body directly.

Indeed, he looked at the 2-player zombie game I often play with unfamiliar eyes, then held the gun in an awkward posture and asked how to reload bullets.

‘You need to turn the aim off the screen. Like this, cover the gun barrel with your hand or tilt it to the side or up.’

‘Aha, like this… oh oh, I died.’

‘If you put in one more coin within 10 seconds, you’ll be recharged.’

‘Wait a moment. If I put it in here, ah, it worked.’

Even after that, every time he made mistakes and lost health, Jin Woohyeon would tilt his head, then a little later blow his bangs away and concentrate.

He adapted at a frighteningly fast pace. As if those few mistakes were a lie, he quickly became familiar with it and started shooting zombies as if he’d been playing that game for months. I was the one who made mistakes because I kept glancing and stealing looks at him.

‘Is it really your first time at an arcade? Why are you so good at this?’

‘Yes. It’s really my first time. I’m generally good at things I do with my body.’

It was exactly as he described. He was good at the whack-a-mole game, fighting games, and racing games. But he struggled with rhythm games, constantly missing the timing, and I laughed so much watching him fumble.

Perhaps knowing there were no cameras watching us, Jin Woohyeon said in a secretive voice.

“Look, hyung.”

“…”

“There are so many people in the world who are better than that bastard, and you can get along better beside such people.”

If he had just said it normally, I wouldn’t have felt it, but hearing it after spending such a day made me think it really might be possible.

No, it wasn’t that it might be possible – it actually was. I hadn’t been captivated by thoughts of Lee Chan all day. Even when he occasionally came to mind, it wasn’t memories or lingering feelings.

Just one of many past days. Lee Chan, who came to me with that level of weight, didn’t cause me any pain.

What was more surprising was the fact that this change happened without any resolution. Naturally, nonchalantly, without any sense of gravity or desperation…

“Is it okay to be like this?”

“Why?”

“I… thought I needed courage to change.”

“That’s not wrong, but it’s not necessarily required.”

“…”

“Change comes at some moment.”

I’d had a similar conversation with Bae Taeseong once before.

‘Change comes at some moment.’

“Whether we want it or not, regardless of how much effort we put in, such moments come. The world isn’t made up only of things we can control.”

“Then what do we do?”

“We have to watch. And we have to endure.”

“…”