Gentle Giant 8

Gentle Giant Chapter 8

“I was just startled by how sudden it was. You’re still a student, so I thought it might be too much… Why would I have any reason to dislike you coming to Korea! Juho, I’m sorry. Were you really hurt??”

-A little…?

“I see, if you were hurt even a little, I’m really sorry. I said it too harshly, hyung did.”

-Phew, hyung…

At the sound of Juho’s sigh coming through his ear, Dain’s shoulders gradually hunched.

Maybe he shouldn’t have called today. As time passed, he seemed to only make Juho feel worse. As expected, he really did have a talent for making others feel bad.

-Hyung, do you really not have any friends? Is it also true that you’re alone every day?

Was not having friends something that showed this obviously? Could you feel it in a person’s way of speaking when they had no friends?

Each word Juho spoke pierced into Dain’s chest.

“Y-yeah. You know I don’t have friends. I guess that’s why. I didn’t speak well…”

-No. It’s not that hyung did wrong. I’m just going to think deeply about why hyung doesn’t have friends…

“What’s there to think about? It’s just that people don’t want to get close to me…”

Because I’m big, look fierce, am timid, and can’t speak well. If asked to give reasons for not having friends, Dain could talk for 3 nights and 4 days as he continued muttering.

From Juho, who had been quietly listening to that, a suppressed laugh finally leaked out.

-Ah, I want to say the words hyung prohibited. Dain hyung, it’s okay. I’m coming, right? I can be worth 100 friends for hyung, don’t worry!

“Mmm, I hope you come to Korea soon too. Really, really.”

-Right? As expected, hearing hyung say that makes me feel much better. I’ll let you know the details in a few days.

“Yeah yeah! Got it. Don’t overdo it too much. I just arrived at the convenience store. I’ll send a message later. You said summer semester ends today too, right? Listen well to your lectures until the end.”

-Yes! I’m about to head out now too. I’ll contact you, hyung!

Still, it was fortunate that Juho’s mood improved at the end. Dain reflected once again on his own clumsiness. If Juho ever said he was going to do something next time, he should definitely show a positive reaction.

Juho always kindly prevented Dain from digging himself into holes. This time too, if he had hung up in the middle saying he felt bad, Dain would have almost dug through to the other side of the earth, not just into a hole. As expected, Juho was kind.

Dain, who had been thinking about Juho in a daze, put on his convenience store vest and entered behind the counter. It was the start of today’s night shift work.

***

Dain’s face was filled with seriousness as he looked at the t-shirts spread out before him.

To others, they would all look like the same black short-sleeved tees, but to his eyes, subtle differences definitely existed.

“That one has too deep a neckline, and that one… looks like a dirty black color. Should I wear this? Ah, no good. The seam came undone.”

Picking up clothes he had already picked up, holding them up to the mirror, folding them neatly and then picking them up again. He had been repeating the same actions for over 30 minutes. Even so, he couldn’t find clothes he really liked, so his mood wasn’t great.

Finally, he even took out the t-shirt his noona had given him as a gift from a corner of his drawer – one he hadn’t worn because he treasured it too much.

This t-shirt was also black, but it was made of thin summer knit material with cute fox embroidery on the left chest, adding a point to the plain outfit.

It was a knit that noona had given him, saying it was trendy among young students these days. Usually he felt embarrassed about wearing trendy things, so he had only washed it but never worn it, but on a day like today, it seemed okay to wear.

After much deliberation, Dain chose the neatest beige slacks for pants, and now stood in front of the mirror moving his short hair this way and that.

“I should have known and not cut my hair last week.”

Dain wasn’t satisfied with his hair that he had cut short because it looked messy. No matter how he tried to style it, the hair he could grab was too short and just slipped through his fingers.

“Ah, this is ruined…”

After quietly talking to himself, Dain was messing up his uncooperative hair when he was startled and quickly combed it back neatly.

There’s no case of a pumpkin becoming a watermelon just by drawing lines on it. Thinking that no matter what he did here, he would just look like a stylish thug, Dain’s hands finally stopped their busy movement. And as if timed with that, the phone on his desk started ringing.

[Juho]

Dain smiled slightly at the caller’s name on the screen and quickly pressed the green button.

“Yeah, Juho.”

-Hyung, I just finished departure procedures and am going to board the plane.

“Already? Wow, I’m more nervous than you are…?”

-I’m also nervous since it’s been a while since I’ve been to Korea, and thinking about seeing hyung makes me even more nervous.

Along with a short laugh, a gentle answer came from Juho. Dain also seemed infected by that laughter and laughed out loud before asking Juho once more.

“You’re arriving in Korea around 10:30 AM, right?”

-Yes. I’ll probably arrive around then.

“Yeah, then I’ll come out to meet you at that time.”

-Hyung, are you really okay? You have to come right after finishing work.

“It’s fine! I’m going because I want to go. Ah, by any chance, are other relatives or friends supposed to come pick you up? I didn’t hear about that last time…”

On the day it was decided that Juho was coming to Korea, Dain promised to go pick him up. Of course, Juho also said he’d be happy if Dain came, and made him promise several times that he absolutely had to do so.

However, as that day approached, he suddenly worried whether he had been stubborn about going when other people were coming.

At Dain’s worried words, Juho immediately denied it.

-I don’t have anyone coming to pick me up. My relatives are all abroad, and I don’t have friends here, so would I have any in Korea? I’m really only going to see hyung, so if hyung doesn’t come out, I’ll become an international lost child.

“Gasp! You can’t become an international lost child! Yeah!! I’ll definitely go! Come safely. Got it?”

-Yes. Don’t worry. Hyung, I’m inside the airplane. It looks like we’ll take off soon, so I’ll hang up now. See you tomorrow.

As Juho said they would take off soon, sounds that seemed like announcements were periodically flowing from the other side of the phone.

Even though it was Juho who would fly for 14 hours on the plane, Dain was more nervous and nodded his head along with his answer.

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

-Yes. You be careful coming too, hyung.

“Yeah yeah.”

With Dain’s short answer, the call ended.

It was now Tuesday evening at 8 PM. For Juho to come to Korea, the day on the calendar had to change to Wednesday. It was longer than expected.

“It must be hard on the airplane…”

Dain, who had never traveled abroad, recalled the airplane to Jeju Island that he had at least taken once.

Over 100 people were packed tightly into the large airplane without a single empty seat. Dain happened to have a middle seat. And as soon as he sat down, he could feel the people next to him becoming uncomfortable.

Among people of average seated height, only he stood out more, making it awkward. In the end, he couldn’t move a muscle until arrival, squeezed tight in his seat.

On top of that, how severely the airplane shook. Even during that short flight time, all kinds of scary thoughts came to mind. Even thinking about it again, cold sweat seemed to flow down his back and his palms seemed to get damp.

Juho was doing that difficult thing for 14 hours to come here. He would definitely be exhausted when he arrived in Korea. He thought he should definitely buy meat for him tomorrow.

After making that resolution to himself, Dain looked at himself reflected in the mirror again. From moving around choosing clothes in the narrow room in midsummer, sweat had quickly formed on his forehead.

Discovering the sweat drops, Dain was startled and quickly went into the bathroom. It was already his third shower today.

***

Incheon Airport, which he was visiting for the first time, was bigger than expected. Really incredibly big. Even someone with a big build like him became as small as a fingernail at the airport. And that big airport was packed full of people. If family got mixed in among other people, it seemed like they wouldn’t be able to find each other.

Dain, who didn’t have a license yet, had taken an airport bus from his neighborhood, but where the airport bus dropped him off was the departure hall. After being dazed for a moment at the sight he was seeing for the first time, Dain soon learned that the arrival hall was on a different floor.

He made his way through people making a commotion looking for their companions everywhere and tactfully used the escalator to find the arrival hall.

However, the problem was too many exits. From the center where he was standing to both ends, exits were lined up in alphabetical order. And he had no way of knowing which exit Juho would come out of.

“At least I’m glad I arrived early…”

Thanks to the bus arriving faster than expected despite overlapping with rush hour, it seemed like he could wait for Juho even if he got a bit lost. He thought he should have searched about Incheon Airport before coming if he knew he would be this flustered.

Moreover, from walking around the wide airport nervously, sweat began forming on his forehead. The four showers he had taken until before going to work yesterday became useless.

“What if I look dirty?”

Dain muttered while quickly wiping away the sweat before more could flow.

Finding someone in such a big and unfamiliar place didn’t look easy. Worry sprouted that Juho might arrive first.

While feeling anxious and looking around, at that moment, a large screen that was constantly changing and displaying arrival information caught Dain’s eye. After watching that screen for a few seconds, Dain suddenly remembered the flight number Juho had sent him a few days ago and searched through messages to confirm it.

“DL9015, DL9015, DL9015.”

After repeating and memorizing the flight number several times, Dain’s gaze turned to the screen in the center.

Fortunately, since it was a flight arriving soon, the information was updated on the screen. Flight number, scheduled time, changed time, departure location, etc. were kindly written, making it easy to find. The exit was even listed at the end, so it seemed like he could go there and wait.

Dain’s steps quickened. The exit he confirmed on the electronic board was far from the center where Dain was standing.

Checking the time on his phone, when he arrived at the exit, many people were already gathered there. Though they had faces of all kinds, those who had come to pick someone up all had faces full of excitement. Dain’s face was the same as theirs.

Dain stood still in one spot and just watched the exit door that opened and closed frequently. As the number of times the door opened and closed increased, Dain’s heartbeat gradually rose.

How long had he been watching the door? A short vibration rang from the phone in Dain’s hand.

[Juho: Hyung! I just arrived now! But I think it’ll take a while to go through immigration and get my luggage before coming out. ㅠㅠㅠ│10:43 AM]

It was a message from Juho.

“Gasp… he arrived!”

Dain quickly sent a reply.

[10:44 AM│Did you arrive safely??? It’s okay, come out slowly and carefully. I arrived at the airport too!]

[Juho: I want to see hyung quickly, but there are really so many people ㅠㅜ Please wait just a little!│10:53 AM]

As in his first message, Juho sent a late reply, seemingly taking a long time with immigration and getting his luggage. This time too, Dain sent a reply saying it was okay.

Now that he heard he had actually arrived, he felt more tension than excitement. The thought that he wanted him to come out quickly coexisted with the thought that he hoped he would come out late.

“Phew.”

He placed his palm on his heart that felt like it would burst and exhaled shortly. What was so nerve-wracking about meeting a close younger friend? Dain’s mouth became parched.

How much time passed while he was nervous? The exit door opened and a group of people poured out.

Seeing many Westerners, he thought they might be people from the plane Juho had taken, so he was carefully watching them.

Among them, a man who seemed to have a head bigger than others walked out.

Even though he was far from the exit and only the man’s silhouette was visible, it was clear that he was a beast-person from the feline family.

Among beast-people, especially a top-tier species and feline beast-person that was uncommon to see in Korea, so not only people nearby but even people around Dain fixed their gazes on him.

While everyone was staring at him with widened eyes, he seemed already accustomed to such attention and didn’t pay any mind, only looking at his phone screen.

Dain also found himself looking at the man like others before finally turning his gaze away to focus on looking for Juho.

Buzz buzz, buzz buzz.

The vibration repeated several times. It was a call from Juho. Dain quickly pressed the answer button.

“Oh, Juho. Can you make a call?”

-Yes, hyung. I just came out of Exit B.

“Yeah! I’m right in front of it too? Hmm, is it because there are so many people? I can’t see well.”

-Really? I saw hyung right away as soon as I came out.

“Huh? You see me? Where?? Sorry, I can’t find you well. Could you raise your hand once?”

-Yes. Actually, I’m right in front of hyung.

Where on earth was he? No matter how much Dain looked around, he couldn’t find a face that could rival idols that he had seen.

Juho had already found him, but he still couldn’t find him – Dain’s face filled with embarrassment at this fact. Still, it was fortunate that Juho had recognized him first and said he was in front of him.

Dain quickly looked away from near the exit and looked around.

“Someone with their hand up…”

Muttering to himself while looking for someone with their hand up, Dain’s face tilted in confusion.

The only person around with their hand up was the man he had briefly glanced at earlier.

“…Ju-Juho?”

He called out that name into the phone that was still connected.

-Yes, hyung.

“Yes, hyung.”

Simultaneously with the answer from over the phone, the same voice flowed from the man standing in front.

The feline man who had been standing in front of Dain hung up the phone and took one more step closer to Dain.

“I missed you. Dain hyung.”