17
“……”
“What are you thinking right now?”
“……”
“Are you drawing lines with me because it came out that you’re an Omega or something?”
“…It’s not me.”
“Ah, this bastard really.”
“……”
“What are you thinking? Do you think I’d kick you out of the house just because that came out of you?”
At those words, Taein bit his lower lip slightly. Honestly, he didn’t expect Gu Wanjae to talk this much. It didn’t seem like reluctant talk either. He was genuinely hurt and truly dumbfounded. If he was going to react this much, why did he leave earlier? The moment that thought flashed by, he could see Gu Wanjae holding something in one hand. It was a cafe takeout cup.
“I can clearly see how you’ve been looking at me.”
“Hey… it’s not that, I’m also confused…”
“Confused? Yeah. I was confused too. But I didn’t expect you to draw lines and say you’d take your phone tomorrow and stuff like that.”
“That was.”
“What more do I need to say? All you need to do is apologize, bastard.”
“Ah.”
Gu Wanjae was always far outside the range of possibilities in the life Taein had lived and experienced. He wasn’t some typical delinquent bastard who would pick fights with him, and he didn’t cut off their friendship just because he became an Omega. Gu Wanjae didn’t do all the things that everyone would do to Taein. That was strange. Strange and…
“Sorry.”
“Ha, shit. How nice. Shibal, does saying sorry fix everything?”
“…It’s not just words, I’m really sorry.”
“…Shibal bastard.”
“I thought you left first.”
“Ah, you thought I left and would just go home like that.”
“Still, I have nothing to say. Anyway, I’m sorry.”
“Bastard. You need to see me again.”
Hearing up to “You really thought of me as complete trash,” Taein put the word sorry in his mouth once more. He was really sorry. When he swept past in front of him for that moment, he really thought he was going home like that. He thought their relationship had been mercilessly cut off. Gu Wanjae seemed to have gone out to buy cafe drinks after seeing his blank face. The takeout cup in his hand was almost hidden but not quite.
As they left the emergency room, Taein mentioned the drink first.
“That… did you go to buy that…”
“What, shit. It’s for me to drink.”
Gu Wanjae opened the drink lid as it was and slurped it down, but couldn’t handle the hot temperature and made a “Keh” sound. A few drops also splashed on the floor.
“Hey…”
“Ah, shibal. It tastes like shit. You drink it.”
What Gu Wanjae handed over was a milk drink with chocolate aroma rising from it. Since all he did was take one exaggerated sip, the amount was almost the same. Taein received the drink and wrapped the cup surface with both hands.
It was warm. Even though it was just a cup, it felt soft. He usually didn’t prefer sweet drinks, but for his complicated heart, this kind of drink seemed like it would be medicine. As soon as he tasted it, the tension throughout his body relaxed. Whether good or bad, his heart that had been beating rapidly also found a layer of stability.
Gu Wanjae headed to the payment counter without hesitation. He had only thought about leaving the hospital together, but hadn’t thought about reality. Taein, who thought “Oh no,” stopped drinking his hot chocolate and rummaged through his pockets. There was nothing there.
“Hey, there… I’ll give you the money tomorrow.”
At those words, Gu Wanjae’s head whipped around. He blinked slowly and stared at Taein intently. Then without any answer, he stood in front of the payment counter and made the payment. Because of the tests, it came to nearly 300,000 won. It seemed that much hospital fee was charged for emergency treatment. It was understandable, but it was an amount that made his spine go cold.
“It’s really expensive… Hey… can I give it to you by next Monday?”
After finishing the payment, he asked Gu Wanjae such things first. Gu Wanjae looked at Taein with the same eyes he had just before payment, making a slightly smiling expression.
“If you’re going to pay back, pay back 1 billion.”
“…What?”
“Forget it, shibal bastard.”
As if it was bothersome to talk more, Gu Wanjae waved his hand and put his wallet in his pocket. Then he headed straight to the hospital main entrance. Although Taein followed from behind, it was hard to go fast because he had a drink in his hand without a lid. Before he knew it, Gu Wanjae had gone that far and was calling a car in front of the taxi stand. This time he didn’t wait either. He got in the passenger seat of the taxi alone.
Taein, who arrived dozens of seconds late, got into the back seat of that taxi.
Inside the taxi was quiet. As if he had already stated the destination, the driver immediately picked up speed as soon as Taein got in. There was a mountain behind so nothing could be seen, but as they entered the road, the city lights poured straight into the car window. It was a huge and splendid world. Taein didn’t even know his eyes were sparkling with light as he looked out the window, then smiled to himself.
When they arrived home, Gu Wanjae first took out the bedroom blanket. There was a coin laundromat nearby, so he always did blanket laundry there. But going out late at night with a blanket without saying anything was strange.
“What’s that? Why are you going to wash the blanket?”
“Just time to wash it.”
Gu Wanjae said that and passed by Taein, but Taein couldn’t just stay still at home either. Following Gu Wanjae who had already left through the front door, Taein also left the house. He could see Gu Wanjae, who was holding a large winter blanket in his arms, looking at him in front of the elevator.
“Why did you come out?”
“We usually go together.”
“Bullshit. Acting nice.”
“Hey, what do you mean acting nice? Anyway, I do go with you.”
When Gu Wanjae said to go wash the blanket, Taein would say “later, later” and only slowly move his body after more than half a day had passed. He had never followed right out like this. Gu Wanjae had never silently grabbed a blanket and gone out either.
Even in the elevator they arrived at, the two were silent.
Gu Wanjae was only holding the blanket, and Taein only watched the blanket and the elevator floors changing.
Like that, arriving at the first floor and going to the coin laundromat, somehow an awkward atmosphere lingered the whole time.
“I’ll carry it.”
“We’re almost there.”
Gu Wanjae, who replied listlessly, walked straight into the coin laundromat in one go. If he hadn’t suddenly widened his stride, it would have taken another minute to walk. Taein wondered if the 3-4 minutes to the laundromat had always been this long and broke out in unnecessary sweat. Gu Wanjae was putting the blanket in the washing machine and inserting coins. Taein, who slowly approached from behind, added unnecessary words.
“Hey… fabric softener…”
“I’ll do that too.”
“Yeah.”
Then there were no words again until the washing machine started operating. Taein wondered what more to say. About what happened at the hospital earlier? About the hospital fee? Or about what happens next? Whatever it was, he needed to have a conversation with Gu Wanjae and move on. The laundry wouldn’t come out right away either. That meant they had to be like this for at least an hour. When Taein sat on a chair close to the wall, Gu Wanjae saw that through the glass and turned around.
“What? You’re waiting?”
“Then what.”
“I was going to wait at home.”
“…When did you ever do that?”
“What.”
Gu Wanjae dragged his slippers as he walked over and sat in the chair next to him. Taein was only looking forward with his hands clasped together. Gu Wanjae was also just sitting with his legs stretched out in front. How long had they been like that?
In the end, it was Gu Wanjae who spoke first.
“When you become like that. Is there anything I need to do?”
Like that? Taein looked at Gu Wanjae briefly with a question mark on his face, then realized it meant “when you become an Omega.” Ah. Taein replied to Gu Wanjae with a hollow face.
“What do you mean do? That’s not certain.”
“What isn’t.”
“I need to get more tests. That’s why they told me to come to the hospital once more.”
“Anyway.”
“What.”
“If that gets confirmed. What do I need to do?”
“What are you going to do? There’s no such thing. Just live.”
“Hey, don’t think so simply.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You must not know because you’re fucking naive. It’s not that easy.”
“Huh… what do you know?”
“Haven’t I seen more people like that than you?”
“…Why are you comparing it to that?”
“Does it seem like a comparison?”
“Yeah.”
There hadn’t been such talk at the hospital, but returning home, realistic words poured down before their eyes. Although Taein said with his own mouth that he needed to get tested once more, he roughly knew that it wouldn’t be overturned. Because the doctor said so. Because he said too definitively that if his old test was wrong, it would be wrong.
“Hey… anyway, don’t say things like that.”
“What things.”
“You said it. What should you do if I become like that? There’s no such thing.”
“……”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll solve my problems myself.”
“Bullshit.”
“What’s bullshit about it?”
“Hey, is your problem something only you experience? I have responsibility too.”
“…Why do you?”
He was genuinely curious. At Taein’s innocent question, Gu Wanjae answered with his eyebrows sharply lowered.
“One body oath.”
“……”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
