The voice laced with a question mark was mixed with a deep sob. It felt as if the reason he had barely held onto was snapping apart. The moment Siwoo’s body spun around like a painting, Manager Jung urgently grabbed Siwoo’s shoulder. He firmly blocked Siwoo, who was about to rush towards the child behind him. He shook his head resolutely.
“Director, it’s the chairman’s limousine.”
“…Let me go.”
“Not now.”
Siwoo knew it too. He shouldn’t face Sanho right now. Not when his father was watching the situation unfold with his own eyes. All the plans he had carefully built over the past month, and the longing he had held back, could vanish like smoke in this one moment of choice. However, reason and instinct were two different things. Shoving Manager Jung aside, Siwoo slowly turned his body.
“Hyung.”
The sunset sky deepened into a richer orange. The beautiful light created by nature was cast over Sanho’s face.
“Sanho.”
The moment Sanho heard his voice, his expression crumbled in an instant. His porcelain-like white face was filled with various emotions.
“Say it. The words you promised to say when we meet again, say them now.”
“…Sanho.”
“If those words weren’t a lie, say them now.”
The small voice gradually gained strength. It was a voice filled with pent-up frustration. His heart ached. The reality that he couldn’t say the words he had wanted to say while putting a ring on Sanho’s finger hit him painfully.
“Director, you need to make a rational judgment.”
Manager Jung squeezed one of Siwoo’s arms tightly and shook his head again. Siwoo also knew deep down that Manager Jung was right. He had never felt so powerless, and he couldn’t believe how disgusting he felt. Siwoo bit his lips tightly. He forced his expression to harden as he looked at Sanho. Watching Siwoo, who didn’t say a word to him, Sanho slowly pulled his lips into a line.
“…Ha.”
It was a hollow laugh. Despair quickly colored Sanho’s face.
“I was the only one waiting, right?”
“……”
“I was just a fool waiting all alone.”
Sanho’s face began to twist into an expression that was hard to gauge, whether it was laughter or tears.
“I can’t be without you, Hyung. You are my everything. Nothing means anything without you.”
“San…!”
“It’s okay that I was the only one waiting. But, being with someone else is not okay. At the very least, you can’t forget me. I’ll make you live your whole life thinking only of me.”
Sanho’s lips formed an even rounder arc.
“A kind Hyung… if I do this, you’ll remember me for life.”
In an instant, Sanho’s slender body moved without hesitation towards the wide road. Bang! The sound of a horn blared chaotically. A large refrigerated truck, which had just come rushing from the end of the road leading to the underground parking lot, skidded along the road. Sanho’s gaze, standing in the middle of the road, was fixed on the approaching large truck. The bright white headlights swallowed Sanho’s body. It was a very brief moment, but the expression that appeared on Sanho’s face was undoubtedly a smile of resignation.
“Baek Sanho…!!!”
Manager Jung’s hand, which had been gripping Siwoo’s arm tightly, was roughly shaken off. There was no time to stop it. It took only a few seconds for Manager Jung’s eyes to widen as he watched Siwoo rush out.
Siwoo instantly embraced Sanho, who was glowing white in the headlights. He pulled the small head into his arms and tightly intertwined his hands over Sanho’s back. In the moment their two bodies tangled together from the force of the movement,
Creeeak, bang.
The large refrigerated truck slammed on the brakes, tilting its body at an angle. It crashed into the man who had suddenly dashed onto the road and the man who had embraced him as if to protect him. The impact sent their two bodies, now a mass, rolling across the road.
Siwoo felt the boy he had held in his arms hugging him back. Compared to the pain of his knuckles tearing on the asphalt, it was a trivial sensation, but he felt a small relief from the fist that clung to him. He hugged the boy even tighter to protect him from the shock. Even as his head collided hard, blurring his vision, Siwoo fumbled to hold the back of the boy’s head.
“Are you, okay…? Sanho, are you okay…?”
He barely managed to lower his gaze to look at the boy. After confirming that the boy’s tear-filled eyes were looking up at him, Siwoo smiled faintly. Ah, he’s okay, he’s okay… and then the world went dark.
