“Oh, and this time, don’t take the watch.”
“…”
Click.
This time, after definitively hanging up, Mo Yeon sighed even more deeply.
I really hate this. What a truly awful person.
Always threatening me with money. So petty.
Of course, there was a problem with himself for consistently falling for it, but this was all for his independence, so he had no choice.
***
The promised weekend evening flowed with exactly the same repertoire as he had expected.
The restaurant, which according to Tae Young-won was run by a very famous chef, had probably been booked through his hyung’s connections. It was the seat with the best view.
Parents and two grown sons. They appeared to be a very normal family on the surface. In reality, his hyung got along quite well with their parents. No matter how he looked at it, they could have been a peaceful and happy family if only it weren’t for him.
Now, there were more days when ghosts weren’t visible than days when they were, but that didn’t mean Mo Yeon could become a perfect member of the family again. He didn’t want to say something like “I don’t see strange things anymore” as if asking for acceptance.
And Mo Yeon was still ‘the child who sees ghosts.’ He had just temporarily escaped that life due to the influence of the person beside him.
Therefore, he didn’t want to deny that fact either.
Various conversations were exchanged, but Mo Yeon could understand almost none of it. Thanks to this, he just focused on eating the courses that were diligently served, and only needed to respond when his parents occasionally asked about his grades or school life.
“Yeon-ah. Do you like the house you moved to?”
“…Pardon?”
He doubted his ears. He looked up again to check if they were really talking to him. His father was looking directly at him.
“Since you never ask for anything.”
As he was contemplating what to say, his mother’s voice was also heard.
“Mom hopes that you would think of your family more comfortably now.”
“…”
His mind wasn’t particularly complicated.
Rather, because he didn’t know what to say, Mo Yeon lowered his eyes.
“…I’ll go to the bathroom for a moment.”
He stood up and hurried away. He could still feel the gaze of all three people on his back.
I don’t know.
The only thing that filled Mo Yeon’s mind in this thorny situation was one person.
He desperately wanted to see Tae Young-won. A person with whom time quickly passed without the need for any complicated thoughts.
A person who said he liked his insignificant self.
The person who made him not even notice when he had become accustomed to always having bottle caps removed for him, candy wrappers peeled and placed in his mouth, and hot sunlight shielded from him.
Even before entering the bathroom, he had taken out his phone and was tapping on it. Since the call history was filled with only one person’s name, it took just a moment to find the contact.
– What’s the occasion, Mo Yeon?
The ringing didn’t last long. Tae Young-won’s voice, which answered immediately, sounded quite interested.
“Sunbae, what are you doing?”
– Is this really Mo Yeon?
His voice was full of laughter. He seemed quite excited to receive Mo Yeon’s call, which rarely came first.
“I’m asking what you’re doing now.”
– Well, of course I’m…
“…”
– Thinking about Mo Yeon?
He knew he would answer like this. Mo Yeon grinned, and a low chuckle was heard from the other side.
“Will you be at home tonight?”
– Yes, I think so?
Mo Yeon hesitated briefly after hearing the answer.
– Mo Yeon, is something wrong?
After a moment of silence, Tae Young-won spoke in a lower voice than before. He knew that Mo Yeon was meeting his family today.
“No. It’s just…”
Mo Yeon hurriedly said, thinking he might cause unnecessary worry. That wasn’t the reason he had hesitated.
“There’s something I want to tell you, but I feel like I haven’t been able to say it.”
– Something you want to tell me?
“I’ll come over later. Let’s meet at your place.”
Click, he hung up.
Despite being the one to end the call first, Mo Yeon fiddled with the phone in his hand for a long time. Then suddenly lifting his head, he saw his reflection in the mirror.
Mo Yeon furrowed his brow in dissatisfaction when his eyes met his own.
What a complete idiot.
“This is annoying.”
Mo Yeon put the phone in his pocket and washed his hands. Even after washing his hands with the coldest water possible, he continued to run them under the water for a long time. He shook off the moisture from his hands, which had turned completely red from the cold.
“I’m doing it again, really…”
Then he pressed both his ears firmly.
This is a severe case. Like an idiot, his ears just turn red at every opportunity. Smiling like an idiot, showing his teeth.
‘While not being able to say a single embarrassing word.’
Until his earlobes were completely cold, Mo Yeon couldn’t leave the bathroom for quite some time.
***
After hearing that Mo Yeon would arrive soon, Tae Young-won waited for him in front of the officetel.
All evening, Tae Young-won had been feeling like a parent who had left their child by the water.
He vaguely knew that Mo Yeon had a very complicated relationship with his family. It was clearly an uncomfortable situation, and he had been worried that Mo Yeon might be depressed for a long time after returning.
At that moment, when the phone call came, he thought his heart would drop. Mo Yeon probably didn’t know how startled he was when he answered the phone.
Dressed in a comfortable short-sleeved T-shirt and training pants, he was holding a black plastic bag in his hand. He had stopped by the convenience store on his way, thinking they might have a beer together.
He felt a vibration in his pocket.
[Baby: I just got off the bus]
It meant he would arrive soon. As he was looking at it for a moment, another new message popped up.
[Baby: I’ll come quickly]
“First time he’s ever said he’ll come quickly.”
He tilted his head at the slightly different feeling from usual. Did something happen at the dinner table after all?
No matter how many times he offered to pick him up, Mo Yeon just kept repeating that he should stay home.
It was getting quite late; why was this child who claimed to see ghosts so fearless?
By now, it was about time for Mo Yeon to appear at the end of the alley. And soon, his prediction was proven exactly right.
He smiled broadly and waved his hand widely.
“What the…?”
Then, something surprising began.
“Why are you running again?”
Mo Yeon had started running toward him. Tae Young-won’s brow gradually narrowed.
Every time he had seen Mo Yeon running before, it was always a scene of him being chased by something.
At first, he found it very strange, and now he knew what had been chasing him each time.
Tae Young-won couldn’t bring himself to tell the proud cat how heartbroken he had been when he first found out.
What’s chasing him again? Those fucking ugly things.
Tae Young-won’s emotions were very complicated as he stood with his arms open and a stern face.
First, he felt sorry for Mo Yeon who was being chased again, and second, he had questions.
Why can he see ghosts?
If a day comes when I’m no longer enough, how will I hold onto you then?
Tae Young-won’s feelings for Mo Yeon were, after all, not so beautiful. He gave a bitter smile at the fact that he was having such obsessive thoughts even at a time like this.
Mo Yeon, running toward him, was getting closer little by little.
But that approaching face was smiling with such a bright light.
“Sunbae!”
“…”
Tae Young-won froze, at a loss for words for a moment.
He threw aside what he was holding and caught Mo Yeon who jumped into his arms. His mind remained dazed, as if under a spell.
Time seemed to flow slowly. It felt like they were the only two people in the entire world.
No, this time was definitely flowing only for the two of them.
“…Why did you run?”
Tae Young-won asked with a face that showed he didn’t understand at all. But his heart was already beating as if it would burst.
“Just, I ran to see you faster…”
What?
It was at the moment when he, blankly frozen, doubted his ears. Mo Yeon, firmly clinging to Tae Young-won’s body, leaning on his shoulder, mumbled again softly.
“…I missed you.”
Tae Young-won put more strength into his hands that were holding Mo Yeon’s waist. It felt like he had to do this or he might start hyperventilating.
“Ha, I’m going crazy. What am I supposed to do with this?”
It was essentially a question he was asking himself.
His heart was beating faster. So fast that he wondered if he might die.
And Mo Yeon embraced Tae Young-won’s neck with even firmer strength.
Tae Young-won was like a bright sun to Mo Yeon. He shielded what shouldn’t be seen, and conversely, he made him see the world he couldn’t see for the first time.
His embrace was Mo Yeon’s new home—the first place he would seek no matter what happened, or even if nothing happened, in the future.
Both of them had thought their relationship wouldn’t work out, but so far, their romance had been smoother than expected and had achieved a certain balance.
“I love you, sunbae.”
After briefly swallowing his breath, Tae Young-won then quietly listened. The sound of a heart beating at the same pace was transmitted from the body pressed against him.
Feeling like it had to be now or never, he opened his mouth.
“Mo Yeon.”
My ungrateful and immoral cat.
“I love you too.”
“…”
Mo Yeon, loosening his arms, looked into Tae Young-won’s eyes.
“I’ll love you even more from now on.”
With a complete light that was not obscured by anything.
The deep shadows that had been cast were nowhere to be found now.
The thought that they were a mismatched pair from any perspective had now disappeared from both their minds without a trace of doubt.
Their first romance, which had been horribly twisted, was a mess, but the second one was not expected to be like that.
This time, absolutely no issues. Definitely, forever and ever.
Their romance was expected to be harmonious from now on.
<Harmonious Love> Side Story fin.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
