13
Taein said whatever and hung up the phone, then went to Gu Wanjae’s house.
There he lived on just snacks and bread until Gu Wanjae came.
He slept much more than last year, and if no one woke him up, he sometimes slept 20 hours a day.
Gu Wanjae was often away from home, and Taein had no appetite and was tired.
On the occasional days when Gu Wanjae came home to the officetel early, he was strangely excited. So even with his drooping body, he didn’t doze off, and when Gu Wanjae came, they went to eat pork ribs or pork belly. On days when Gu Wanjae had a lot of money, they even ate beef ribs. His mouth was bitter so it didn’t go down that deliciously, but it was still better for his body than just picking at a few pieces of snacks.
Gu Wanjae only became free in December. Gu Wanjae’s face that he first saw during middle school winter break was now hazy. Taein walked as far apart as possible outside because of Gu Wanjae, who kept growing taller. He was eating poorly and not growing to his potential height. If he had managed himself diligently since elementary school, he would have at least reached 180cm. Those few centimeters made a person look so insignificant.
They were on their way back to the officetel after eating with Gu Wanjae, who had come home early.
Taein was walking side by side with Gu Wanjae, but as he became conscious of their height difference, he subtly slowed his walking pace.
“What are you doing?”
“Part-time job.”
“What kind of part-time job?”
“Just serving. At a chicken place.”
“Won’t that make you lose more weight?”
“Well. It’s actually good exercise.”
Around October. Gu Wanjae came home after ten days and made a fuss saying that crazy bastard had lost a shit ton of weight. After that, whenever he did anything, he’d say “Won’t that make you lose more weight? You’ll lose more weight.” He wasn’t wrong. He hadn’t weighed himself, but it seemed like he’d lost about 5kg. The volume difference was completely different from when he’d lost just 1 or 2kg. He was trying to exercise somewhat and when he ate too many snacks, he’d try to heat up frozen chicken breast. But it was only once or twice, so it seemed to have no effect. When Gu Wanjae heard he was getting a part-time job, he was only worried about weight loss.
“Would that even count as exercise?”
Gu Wanjae’s eyes swept up and down Taein, who was walking apart from him.
“With that body of yours.”
“What, you bastard.”
He spoke aggressively as if he might hit him any moment, but he didn’t have the strength for that. Besides losing weight, Taein was experiencing various other problems. Since the beginning of this year, he’d had many tired days, and as winter came, he sometimes spent entire days just sleeping. On days when Gu Wanjae was around, he tried to stay awake, but on days when he wasn’t, sleep came as if he’d taken medicine. When he woke up after sleeping that long, having a headache was another problem. Not every time, but some days he had stomach pain too.
“Anyway, the part-time job is a bit…”
“I’ll just handle it myself.”
“It’d be fortunate if you handle it yourself.”
Spitting out words that mixed worry and dismissal simultaneously, Gu Wanjae stood in front of the officetel building. When they entered after inputting the password, they felt warmer air than outside. It seemed to be because of the warmth coming from the security office inside. Taein quietly followed behind Gu Wanjae.
“Are you okay? You don’t look good at all.”
“Just a bit tired.”
“Tsk.”
The reason for wanting to work part-time was because of Gu Wanjae’s birthday. December 31st was Gu Wanjae’s birthday, and there wasn’t much time left until then. Because he’d been paying management fees faithfully every month, he had almost no money left. Still, he wanted to celebrate his birthday grandly, so even with his body in this condition, he’d secured a part-time job. Taein was only considering whether to work for one week or two weeks, thinking about the hourly wage. One week would make his body deteriorate more, but two weeks would still…
“Hey, did you hear what I said?”
Taein, who had been spacing out in the elevator, turned his head with a “Huh?” at Gu Wanjae’s words.
“Why is your condition like this?”
“I just woke up.”
“Why are you always just waking up? You said you just woke up before too.”
“Yeah, it was like that then too.”
“You’re talking fucking weird.”
“What’s weird about it?”
“You’re fucking weird.”
The elevator happened to stop just then. Taein said “I’m not weird” first and stepped out into the hallway. Going familiarly to apartment 1204 and entering the password, Gu Wanjae followed like a guest. Even so, he didn’t stop asking “Are you really okay?”
“Yeaah, I’m fine.”
He stretched out his words like “yeaah” like Gu Wanjae and entered the room.
Even when Gu Wanjae half-opened the door and stuck his face out, Taein just collapsed onto the bed like he was falling. And closed his eyes just like that.
Had he slept for about 30 minutes? Taein opened his eyes with a start and looked around. He was fine when they were eating, but his condition suddenly got bad on the way back. He thought he was okay, but it seemed he wasn’t. Taein got up from the bed, opened the door, and went out. Gu Wanjae was lying on the sofa wearing only sweatpants. He seemed to be watching a movie while lying down.
“What are you watching?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
As he nodded and approached the sofa, Gu Wanjae said “Hey, wait” and got up from his seat. He went to the kitchen and rummaged through the cabinets here and there. What was in there?
“There was some fatigue recovery drink here.”
“When? 10 years ago?”
“Ah shibal, did I see wrong?”
“Probably. As far as I know, there’s nothing there.”
Taein said with a hollow laugh. Still, after sleeping for 30 minutes, his condition was much better than before. Gu Wanjae made a laughing sound saying “Sheesh” and continued searching through the cabinet. He seemed to be looking for something though.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Looks like you spent the money?”
“What money.”
Taein turned his head and looked at the cabinet Gu Wanjae had opened. They used to put the monthly management fee there.
“This management fee. I told you to spend it ages ago.”
“…What.”
“What do you mean what.”
Taein paused for a while before answering.
“I didn’t spend it. Isn’t there money there? Didn’t you spend it?”
“What?”
Gu Wanjae laughed saying he should have spent it ages ago, then raised his eyebrows greatly at Taein’s words.
“What are you talking about?”
Taein got up from his seat and headed to the kitchen. He couldn’t see from over there, so it seemed he needed to check himself. It might have fallen to the back. With that thought, he stuck to the cabinet and looked up, but there really was nothing. A look of confusion briefly crossed Taein’s face.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I didn’t spend it. Didn’t you spend it?”
“Why would I spend your money? Hey, think carefully. Did you really not spend it?”
He had doubts too. Because his mind was so scattered, because he was always drunk on sleep. He wondered if he’d spent money while half-asleep. But nothing came to mind. All he could think of was how, because his body was unwell, he’d considered whether to cover Gu Wanjae’s birthday with the management fee. The reason he was confident he hadn’t spent it was because of that conflict. Even setting aside his physical condition, Taein was certain. That’s also why he was getting a part-time job, wasn’t it? In the end, because he hadn’t spent it. Because he’d never touched it.
Taein, who had been deep in thought, looked at Gu Wanjae with a face that showed the result was the same.
“Yeah, I didn’t spend it.”
At those words, Gu Wanjae’s face twisted mercilessly. He didn’t say anything, but there seemed to be a corner he could guess. Gu Wanjae made a “Tsk” sound and passed by Taein. He hurriedly picked up his phone that had been scattered about and called somewhere. The person seemed to answer right away, as Gu Wanjae started the call by shouting.
“Hey!”
The main point followed immediately.
“You took the money in the kitchen, you bastard! Don’t you know what I’m talking about? If not you, then who! Huh? Shibal, you Omega bastard! Are you crazy! Why are you leaving your traces all over me too, you crazy fuck! Shibal, you bastard who only reeks!”
It didn’t seem like he was listening either. It looked like he was unilaterally spewing curses. Taein saw Gu Wanjae, who kept shouting even though the other person didn’t seem to acknowledge it, and he too became tense. He wondered if he should say that he had spent the money.
Gu Wanjae’s anger didn’t subside, as he cursed with veins bulging in his neck.
“Fucking bastard, shitty asshole!”
His face was such that it was hard to approach. Taein thought Gu Wanjae might collapse and tried to stop him, but even that seemed daunting. When Taein slowly approached and put his hand on Gu Wanjae’s shoulder, suddenly Gu Wanjae threw his phone toward the window with a thunk, got up, and went into the room. When Gu Wanjae acted like this, there was always only one reason.
Family matters.
Taein blankly stared at Gu Wanjae’s back as he went outside wearing only a hoodie in the middle of winter.
In his head, only the curses Gu Wanjae had said and the words “Omega bastard” remained.
“……”
The whole house seemed frozen. What was this? Taein was left alone, thinking about how to handle the situation. Was there anything he could do? Since he probably didn’t go out in a suit, there was a high possibility Gu Wanjae would return soon. Still, wouldn’t it take about 30 minutes? Thinking that, he walked toward the phone Gu Wanjae had thrown. Contrary to thinking it would be completely smashed, there were only two large cracks on the screen. It was minor damage considering the impact it received.
Taein swept the screen with his palm to check its function.
It wasn’t even broken.
As he was checking and looking at the phone, the screen suddenly changed.
There had only been a notification to enter the password on the background screen, but someone was calling. There was no saved name.
“……”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
