Seok-ho’s gaze dropped downward. Following it, Kang-woo looked down as well and noticed the phone tightly clutched in his hand. He had been debating whether to send Seok-ho a message asking when he would be back, and must have fallen asleep while thinking about it.
“I was curious when you’d come home, so I was about to contact you.”
He explained himself without meaning to. Seok-ho replied in a blunt tone.
“I get off work at the same time every day.”
“But you came home early yesterday.”
“That’s true.”
He nodded casually, his expression unchanged.
“There’s shrimp fried rice in the fridge. I can heat it up for you.”
Earlier, Kang-woo had wondered what kind of apology he should give when he saw Seok-ho that night. But the moment they actually faced each other, he quickly decided it would be better to act like nothing had happened.
He didn’t want to bring up the topic of Seok-ho’s mother and weigh down his heart unnecessarily.
“It’s fine. I’m not hungry.”
No matter how late it was, Seok-ho always made sure to eat dinner. Yet today, for some reason, he declined the meal.
Kang-woo blinked with worried eyes.
“Is your stomach upset?”
“No. It’s not that. I already ate outside.”
“…By yourself?”
“With someone I know.”
Kang-woo quietly looked at him, then nodded.
In truth, he wanted to ask who Seok-ho had eaten with. But it felt like it would be prying too much, so he held back.
The conversation ended there.
Kang-woo silently observed Seok-ho’s expression, trying to figure out what kind of mood he was in. Seok-ho also remained standing where he was, still dressed in his outdoor clothes.
It was strange.
Usually, whenever he came home from work, he would go straight to his room and change clothes first. But today he didn’t. At the same time, it didn’t seem like he had anything particular he wanted to say to Kang-woo either.
After the two of them stood there awkwardly with their eyes meeting, Seok-ho turned around first.
“Go sleep in your room. You’ll catch a cold.”
Leaving that one sentence behind, he went into his room.
***
After that, the two of them continued on as if nothing had happened.
Ordinary days passed.
Keeping to their respective routines, Kang-woo and Seok-ho lived under the same roof.
As usual, Kang-woo woke up at 9 a.m. today and started the washing machine and dryer. Just like every other day, Seok-ho woke up at 11, exercised, then returned home and seemed to be getting ready for work in his room.
He had gone into the room with wet hair, and the door still hadn’t opened.
Meanwhile, the dryer finished running, so Kang-woo began folding the laundry. As he slowly moved his hands, the clothes—fragrant with fabric softener—were neatly folded and stacked one by one.
As expected of someone who preferred dark-colored clothing, every piece of laundry belonging to Seok-ho was black.
Should he bring them to Seok-ho’s room now, or wait until he left for work?
After briefly considering the neatly folded clothes in front of him, Kang-woo stood up.
Knock, knock.
He lightly knocked twice on the door. No sound came from inside.
What? Is he working on something?
“Hyung, your clothes are—”
Curious, Kang-woo carefully opened the door.
Then he blinked slowly.
He saw Seok-ho’s broad shoulders. His wide chest and well-defined abdominal muscles were completely exposed. Judging by the way he was halfway through putting on his pants, he must have been in the middle of changing clothes.
Kang-woo’s calm eyes stared straight at the perfectly built body.
“Ah…”
A small sigh escaped his lips.
“I’m sorry.”
Only then did Kang-woo realize his carelessness and shut the door.
Bang!
The sound echoed loudly.
He placed the clothes in front of Seok-ho’s door and immediately went into his own room. Sitting on the bed, he placed a hand over his chest.
It wasn’t the first time he had seen Seok-ho half-naked, yet his heart was beating fast and unevenly.
And he had definitely seen it.
The English letters carved into Seok-ho’s body.
In fact, he had noticed them a few days earlier, during that late dawn when he’d found Seok-ho unable to sleep. But back then it had been dim in the moonlight, so he wondered if he’d simply imagined it.
Now he was certain.
[JEONGWON]
It was clearly someone’s name.
Whose name could it be? His mother’s, perhaps? Or maybe his girlfriend’s?
It didn’t seem like he was currently seeing anyone.
Then maybe… an ex-girlfriend.
Kang-woo’s speculation gradually began pointing in one direction. As it did, his previously restless heart slowly calmed as well.
Yes. Seok-ho must have loved someone before. And he must have dated that person.
He was the kind of man who naturally attracted people’s affection.
Seok-ho was handsome, and he had a great body. His blunt and cold personality might be a flaw—but there were surely many people who found that appealing.
Simply put, he was someone who stood out even when doing nothing. It wouldn’t be strange if people were constantly drawn to him.
After arriving at that realistic conclusion, a sharp ache pricked somewhere deep in Kang-woo’s chest.
Kang-woo flopped down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
As he soothed his quieted heart, he made a promise to himself.
Don’t get greedy. Being by his side is enough. This distance between them is already enough.
Truly… there was nothing more he should hope for.
***
“I’ll be away from home for a week starting next Tuesday.”
While the two of them were eating lunch together, Seok-ho suddenly informed Kang-woo of his upcoming absence.
Kang-woo stopped using his chopsticks and looked at him.
A whole week away from home? Did something happen?
He waited for more explanation, but none followed. In the end, Kang-woo had to ask himself.
“Why?”
“Business trip.”
“You go on business trips too, hyung?”
Seok-ho let out a small laugh, as if amused by the question.
“Yeah. Even I go on business trips.”
What would he do on a business trip? Would he go around different places promoting his shop?
While Kang-woo was seriously pondering it with a puzzled expression, Seok-ho answered.
“I got a tattoo request. If the client can’t travel because of their schedule, I sometimes go to them and do the work.”
“Ah, I see.”
That must mean the client was valuable enough for Seok-ho to personally travel to them. And if he was traveling himself, that meant all his equipment had to move with him as well.
Nodding to himself after reaching that conclusion, Kang-woo cautiously asked another question.
“Where are you going?”
“New York.”
“New York? You mean New York in the U.S.?”
Kang-woo blinked. He had assumed it would be somewhere within Korea—but the scale was far bigger than he expected.
“Wow… that’s amazing.”
Apparently, tattoo artists even traveled overseas for work.
While Kang-woo was openly impressed, Seok-ho’s expression remained as indifferent as ever.
Still, if he was going all the way to the U.S., the client must be someone quite important. If the person couldn’t travel because of their schedule, that meant they were probably extremely busy.
Which meant they might even be famous.
Could it be… a celebrity?
Kang-woo’s imagination began running wild.
It made him realize once again how impressive Seok-ho’s skills were. The fact that people beyond Korea sought him out was genuinely cool.
Then again, the reason Kang-woo had first met Seok-ho was because Kyung-wook had introduced him as a highly skilled tattoo artist to one of his acquaintances. Of course, at that time Kang-woo had been practically thrown out of the shop, so he never actually got to witness Seok-ho’s skills firsthand.
But as Kang-woo admired him, he suddenly realized something important.
If Seok-ho would be gone for a week, that meant Kang-woo would have to stay in this house alone during that time.
Only then did Kang-woo’s expression darken.
“Then I’ll have to stay here by myself.”
At those murmured words, Seok-ho’s hand paused slightly. Kang-woo didn’t notice and sank into his own thoughts.
Next Tuesday.
There was still quite a bit of time left until then. But somehow, a hollow feeling had already begun forming in a corner of his chest. Whether that week felt long or short, Kang-woo knew he would feel Seok-ho’s absence strongly.
“Can I contact you while you’re in the U.S., hyung?”
Watching his reaction carefully, Kang-woo quickly added,
“I won’t message too often. Just sometimes. Maybe just to check if you’re eating your meals properly.”
Seok-ho stared straight at Kang-woo with his pitch-black eyes.
Maybe it wasn’t allowed after all. After all, contacting him during a business trip might just bother him.
Just as Kang-woo was about halfway to giving up, Seok-ho answered.
“Do it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Whenever you feel like it. If I’m not busy, I’ll try to answer.”
Seok-ho replied casually as he took a spoonful of seaweed soup. A moment later, Kang-woo broke into a bright smile and nodded.
“Okay. Then I’ll contact you often.”
