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‘Hmm, he’s quite cute looking. I understand Mr. Song’s situation, but still, bringing in a child who’s been wandering outside into the house is a bit…’
‘Madam, I won’t be greedy. Couldn’t I just put one more blanket in my quarters? If you show mercy just this once, I truly won’t forget it even after death.’
The knees that had been kneeling alongside his uncle were aching painfully. Was it when he was six, or seven? Either way, it was definitely before entering elementary school. It was already dreamlike enough that someone claiming to be his uncle had come looking for him at the orphanage, but the large mansion they arrived at felt even more unreal.
There was a desire to look around curiously, but Han Jaekyung, who had been so accustomed to walking on eggshells, knelt quietly beside his uncle without even complaining about his painful legs. His gaze remained fixed on the marble floor with its elaborate, intricate patterns.
The harsher the environment, the faster humans mature; it was perhaps natural that Jaekyung, a pre-school child, was twice as adult-like and perceptive as his peers.
The middle-aged woman who appeared to be the mansion’s owner frequently sighed deeply after scrutinizing every inch of the shabby child kneeling before her with disapproval. …It would probably be difficult to get permission. Jaekyung realized this fact even before his uncle, whom he had only met the day before.
But that was okay. Nothing terrible would happen if permission wasn’t granted. He would just return to the orphanage where he had been. Even that alone was dramatically different from when he felt he was all alone in the world.
His uncle, who had belatedly discovered his deceased sister’s only blood relative, seemed kind enough that, if asked, he might come to see Jaekyung occasionally. If Jaekyung had a regular visitor, the orphanage staff and other children would probably bully him less than they did now.
Secretly pressing on his calves, which were going numb from the tingling sensation, young Jaekyung’s mind worked like this.
‘Grandmother, I’m here!’
That’s when it happened. When that bright voice and the light sound of running feet approached. His uncle turned his gaze and muttered with astonishment, “Why is the young master here already…” The middle-aged woman, who had been consistently maintaining a high-handed attitude, quickly signaled to the uncle, seemingly not wanting her grandson to witness such a scene.
The uncle grabbed Jaekyung’s shoulder and abruptly stood up. Due to the sudden movement and the cramp in his leg, Jaekyung really tumbled across the floor with a thud.
The cold feeling of the marble floor against his entire body. His legs trembling from the cramp and the woman’s voice clicking her tongue in disapproval while sighing.
His senses were engraved in Jaekyung’s mind more vividly than memories. Each scene from that day, that moment, would come back as clearly as if it were yesterday even when Jaekyung turned twenty, or thirty. “If ‘miserable’ were to be embodied, wouldn’t it be exactly how I looked at that moment?” Adult Jaekyung would sometimes pessimistically lament.
But the truly dramatic reversal began from there.
‘Are you okay? Are you hurt?’
‘…’
‘Who are you? Why are you in our house?’
The young boy who had walked over with measured steps crouched down in front of the fallen Jaekyung and immediately extended his hand. Unable to open his mouth in such a confusing and blindly frightening situation, the boy spoke again in a gentle voice, almost whispering.
‘Sorry. I should introduce myself first. I’m Jang Yeonhu. And you?’
‘I, I am…’
When he raised his head, their eyes met. The boy who had identified himself as Jang Yeonhu was dazzling at first glance. It was strange even to think about it now. They were clearly meeting for the first time, so why did Jaekyung feel like bursting into tears at that moment?
Young Yeonhu waited calmly for an answer without pressing. After a long while, Jaekyung stammered, “I’m Jaekyung, Han Jaekyung…” barely managing to spit out his name.
‘Jaekyung, huh. Even your name is pretty.’
‘P-pretty…?’
‘Yes. Very, very much. Grandmother! I like Jaekyung. I want to stay with him.’
‘Oh my, if our Yeonhu likes him, of course we must make it happen.’
What his uncle and Jaekyung had failed to gain permission for despite kneeling for four or five long hours, Yeonhu accomplished with just one sentence.
‘That’s great, right? Let’s have fun together from now on!’
That was truly… the first moment when Jaekyung’s life dramatically changed.
* * *
“Damn it… I had a stupid dream.”
No wonder his head had been throbbing since yesterday evening; he ended up having an unwelcome dream. Despite sleeping for a long time, his body felt stiff. Jaekyung turned to his side while still lying down and burrowed into the blanket.
Occasionally, when he wasn’t feeling well, he would dream about past experiences. Today, without fail, his mood was foul. He wished he could just take a few sleeping pills and sleep soundly, indefinitely postponing unpleasant matters and past memories he didn’t want to face, like an endless pile of summer homework.
Beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep—
But reality wasn’t so accommodating. Just as his eyes were about to close drowsily again, the sharp alarm bell pierced his ears. Looking at the time, it was half past eleven in the morning. To make it to the appointment on time, he would need to leave home by at least twelve, so he really needed to get up now if he wanted to wash his face before going out.
“Ah, damn it! When did it get this late?!”
While irritably turning off the alarm and turning over, Jaekyung suddenly jumped up and screamed. For other appointments, he could have just wiped the sleep from his eyes and gone out wearing anything, but today’s appointment was special. After all, it was the occasion to meet the first boyfriend of Jang Yeonhu, the man who ‘had been’ Jaekyung’s sucker. He absolutely couldn’t just go out like this.
He needed to polish his appearance even more meticulously than usual. To thoroughly engrave in that arrogant Yeonhu’s mind that he would regret it and realize that Jaekyung was truly the only one for him.
If he had known this would happen, he should have gotten up right away when the alarm went off early this morning. If he had known that saying “just ten more minutes” would turn into a full two hours…
“Why do I have so few clothes? I should have gone shopping earlier.”
While carefully selecting a shirt and styling his hair, time raced by in leaps and bounds. By the time he finally left home, it was nearly one o’clock. To make matters worse, the city center was completely jammed due to the weekend lunch rush. While driving to the restaurant Yeonhu had reserved, Jaekyung must have struck the steering wheel numerous times.
Of course, this wasn’t the first time he’d been late for an appointment with Yeonhu. There were countless instances where he made Yeonhu wait for two or three hours like a punishment even after being the one to suggest meeting first, or when he stood him up saying his mood had suddenly changed, but today was different. This was a meeting to meet Yeonhu’s boyfriend, of all people. He wanted to be perfect in every way.
The meeting place was a one-table restaurant run by a famous chef alone. As if they had rented it for the entire day, the entrance reservation panel, which would normally have been filled with several names, only had “Mr. Jang Yeonhu” modestly written as the sole name.
“Jaekyung, you’re here?”
“Ah, hello!”
When Jaekyung boldly entered, arriving a full hour and ten minutes late for the appointed time, Yeonhu and his boyfriend were already in the middle of their meal. Despite being the one who was late, Jaekyung felt irritation rising steadily. Until now, no matter how late he was or where, Yeonhu had never started eating before Jaekyung arrived.
“What’s this? Why are you eating already?”
That’s why a sharp rebuke came out first, rather than an apology for being late. Yeonhu’s boyfriend, perhaps feeling tense, fidgeted nervously and blinked continuously, while Yeonhu, who directly received the irritation, didn’t seem surprised and just smiled faintly, brushing it off.
“I couldn’t let our Eunseong go hungry waiting for you. Right, Eunseong?”
“Uh, well… um… I’m sorry! I overslept and couldn’t eat breakfast, so Yeonhu hyung…”
This was just repeating the same situation as last time at the office. Discreetly biting the inside of his cheek, Jaekyung forced himself to relax his face and spoke.
“No, it’s fine. I’m the one who was late anyway. Sorry for making you wait.”
Had they told the restaurant in advance that another guest was coming? As soon as Jaekyung took his seat next to Yeonhu, the food started coming out in succession.
Due to the late meal, they decided to have a proper conversation after eating. Although it was a restaurant they always visited together and the food was what Jaekyung always enjoyed, today his mouth felt particularly dry. What made it worse was that Yeonhu’s gaze, which would normally cause a fuss asking if the food was bad or if they should go somewhere else whenever Jaekyung’s fork slowed down even slightly, wouldn’t leave the face of the youthful man sitting across from him.
Jaekyung, who was almost butchering the yuzu-marinated sea bass steak with his knife, finally put down his utensils without finishing his meal. Coincidentally, it was exactly when Yeonhu and his boyfriend had finished their petit fours.
Asking for ice water instead of the hot tea served as a palate cleanser, Jaekyung tilted his chin and broached the main business, asking them to introduce each other properly. Yeonhu, smiling shyly, took his boyfriend’s hand on the table and blithely said,
“Say hello, Jaekyung. This is my boyfriend, Choi Eunseong.”
Judging by his nonchalant attitude, he clearly had no idea about Jaekyung’s boiling insides.
“You’ll support us, right? No matter what others say, you’re my closest friend.”
“Of course, naturally. You two look really good together. Congratulations.”
He couldn’t make a fool of himself by getting visibly upset in front of the seemingly blissfully happy Yeonhu. Jaekyung calmly smiled back while grinding his teeth inwardly. Who did you have your first kiss with, and who did you have your first sex with? If he could, he would have liked to splash the half-full glass of ice water in that smug face. Friend? What bullshit, go fuck yourself.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
