Love Me More

Love Me More Side Story 11

Dawn Dream

Si-yul was sitting on a swing. The scenery looked familiar. The old slide, the seesaw with tire pieces placed underneath, and the low monkey bars where children used to hang – it was the small playground in the orphanage’s backyard. Over there in the sandbox, he and Kwon Yuwon used to build sandcastles, carrying water in buckets until sunset.

Riding the swing after a long time, he forgot he was an adult and excitedly kicked his feet. It was okay that no one was around. Someone would come soon. Though he didn’t know who it was, he was waiting.

At the sound of grass parting, Si-yul stopped his feet. Something huge and black was crawling out of the forest, twisting its long body.

“Oh…”

It wasn’t a person. It was a giant snake, as big as a house. Its size rivaled the massive snakes said to inhabit the Amazon. Strangely, while even small garden snakes usually startled him with fears of them being venomous, this enormous snake wasn’t scary at all. Its glossy jet-black color was beautiful, and its dark eyes were like obsidian. Rather than wanting to avoid it, he wanted to stroke it.

The snake seemed to understand Si-yul’s feelings and approached, coiling itself into a circle and raising its head straight up. It was taller than Si-yul standing up from the swing, and its body was thicker too. It looked like a very clever and sharp snake.

Si-yul carefully reached out his hand. Despite its size, the snake cutely flicked its tongue and pressed its head against Si-yul’s hand. The touch felt cool and smooth, yet somehow nostalgic. As if this snake was what he had been waiting for while swinging.

The snake wriggled its tail and coiled tightly around Si-yul’s body. It nuzzled its snout against his neck as if asking to be loved, tilting its head this way and that.

“Will you come with me? … Is that okay?”

He worried if someone might have been raising this beautiful creature, if it had been living loved and cherished and had accidentally come outside. The snake seemed to understand and swayed its long neck like a dance. It looked like it wanted to go together. It was absurd that he could communicate with a snake, but he accepted it naturally.

At first, he hesitated thinking it might belong to someone, but the more he looked, the more he wanted it. He wanted to go with this snake.

“Then shall we go together?”

Si-yul asked gently while stroking the snake. The snake looked at Si-yul with its dark, beautiful eyes, then lowered its head and rubbed against his stomach. There was a bright light, and when it faded, the lovely snake was gone.

Even after opening his eyes, Si-yul couldn’t immediately tell if it was a dream or reality. Only after blinking a few times did he realize he had been dreaming.

Though the snake’s body temperature had been cool, his stomach where the scales had touched felt warm. He quietly lowered his hand and stroked his belly.

What a strange dream.

Sensing that Si-yul had woken up, Woo Hyun-se turned and wrapped his strong arms around Si-yul. He pulled Si-yul into his embrace, entwining his long, thick legs around Si-yul’s lower body. The strength of his coiling grip was no less than the giant snake in the dream.

Could that snake have been him?

Whatever it was, it felt like a good omen. Si-yul decided he should tell Hyun-se about it when they woke up, as he turned to hug Hyun-se back. Even in his sleep, Hyun-se seemed pleased to be embracing Si-yul, his scent wafting through the bedroom.

After going over the dream once more so as not to forget it, Si-yul tried to go back to sleep. The warmth enveloping him was more cozy than any blanket, and he quickly drifted off.

A Spring Day

It was unusually hot for May or June. The harsh sunlight penetrated through the windows, illuminating the inside of the bus. Under a cloudless blue sky, rice seedlings swayed in the wind like water plants. Unlike the city filled with buildings, the scenery passing by was very pastoral – wildflowers everywhere along the farm roads, an eagle circling high above a distant mountaintop.

The chartered bus finally came to a stop after traveling for a long time on a road as winding as a snake’s body. At the driver’s announcement that they had arrived, everyone started to gather their things.

Woo Jung-ryeol, who had been sitting in the front seat, got off the bus with a friendly face. He had considered going separately by car, but following his aide’s advice that acting like a common person at times like this would create a good image, he had taken the lead in boarding the bus.

“Well, even when I told them to study at home, they insisted on tagging along. Said volunteer work is important too. No matter how much I said it was fine, they were adamant about coming together. As you all know, what parent can win against their child? So we came together.”

The man who had just the day before yesterday bent Woo Hyun-se and Woo Gi-bbeum over his knee and beaten their thighs with a baseball bat now spoke smoothly. Hyun-se had canceled his original plans, as his father had threatened to break his ribs if he refused, saying he’d come up with a good excuse. It went without saying for Gi-bbeum.

“Didn’t you say they both got first place in their school last time? Good grades and good character. Blood really doesn’t lie.”

“You have such excellent children.”

People who didn’t know Woo Jung-ryeol’s two-faced nature heaped on nauseating praise. Gi-bbeum had turned her head and pretended to vomit at the transparent flattery.

Woo Hyun-se, who had been dragged here by the collar, also got off the bus. Woo Gi-bbeum, who had closed her eyes the moment she boarded and hadn’t opened them once, dragged her feet down the steps like a cow being led to slaughter. While Hyun-se’s expression was his usual smiling face, Gi-bbeum looked like she had chewed on a live bug a couple of times.

“Fix your expression. People are watching.”

“Fuck.”

When Hyun-se quietly advised her, Gi-bbeum cursed as if she had been waiting for the chance. As people turned to look, she switched her mask in the blink of an eye. It was truly lightning-fast speed.

Seeing how well she could manage her expression in front of people, it seemed the saying “blood doesn’t lie” wasn’t entirely false. Knowing it would be the worst insult to Gi-bbeum, worse than any curse in the world, Hyun-se kept his mouth shut.

Hyun-se stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the old building and sign before him. Mungge Cloud Orphanage. Today’s volunteer site.

It was said to be an event for Children’s Day, with local volunteer groups, some chairman, a congressman, and local newspaper reporters participating together. Hyun-se inwardly scoffed. It was ridiculous to see these people, who normally wouldn’t give such a place a second glance except for the volunteer group, gathering like a pack of dogs just to take a photo.

The orphanage staff and director came out to welcome the volunteer group. The director was a middle-aged woman who looked gentle and of respectable age, but despite the smile on her lips, she didn’t seem to be in a particularly good mood.

The orphanage was divided into sections: infant and toddler, children’s, and teenager’s wards. Hyun-se and Gi-bbeum were assigned to clean the children’s playroom, while others were given tasks like cleaning corridors and bathrooms. Hyun-se hoped they wouldn’t run into any children, so this was rather fortunate for him.

But the adults seemed to have different plans. One of the reporters and a congressman got into a small argument with the director. Hyun-se pretended to organize toys while listening in on their conversation. The gist was that since they had come all this way, they should take photos, and why refuse when pictures with the children would look good.

“I’m sorry, Congressman, but we only allow long-term volunteer members to meet with the children.”

“Come now, didn’t we discuss this beforehand? We should at least take photos. We didn’t come all this busy way just to clean.”

“Then perhaps we could take a group photo afterwards…”

“How would that make for a good picture? Director, you should know better than to be so difficult.”

The director looked extremely troubled. There was a reason she had seemed unhappy while greeting people. But with the armband on his sleeve serving as power, and the threat that funding might be cut if they were uncooperative like this, the director reluctantly agreed.

Hyun-se glanced at Gi-bbeum beside him as he put clean toys back in their places. Sure enough, she had been eavesdropping too, muttering “fucking thugs” without even turning her head in that direction. Agreeing, he nodded slightly to himself.

After roughly finishing the cleaning, everyone headed to the auditorium. The children were gathered there. Wary of the strangers, they all hesitated to approach first. The teenagers shrank back or even showed hostility upon seeing Hyun-se and Gi-bbeum, who were around their age.

This is why I didn’t want to come.

Hyun-se inwardly clicked his tongue. Originally, orphanages don’t readily accept teenage volunteers. It was out of concern that it might cause discomfort to their peers. Would Woo Jung-ryeol not have known that? He had probably brought the two of them for the sake of that “good picture” regardless.

Only after the volunteer group stepped forward to play games and distribute food did the tense expressions start to soften a bit. Some children even begged to be hugged. That’s when the photos were taken. The reporters bent over backwards to capture scenes of Woo Jung-ryeol wearing an apron and serving food onto children’s plates, and warmly hugging a child.

Hyun-se and Gi-bbeum were also there, though unwillingly. They could already guess what the article headline would be like without even seeing it.