Chapter 26
When he opened his eyes, it was already dark outside. He wondered if it had become night in the meantime, but when he checked the time, it was still 7 o’clock.
Yuwon raised his stiff body and looked around. Jeonghyeok was nowhere to be seen in the dark room. There wasn’t even a trace of him having lain in the neat space beside him.
He vaguely remembered doing it on the sofa until he was exhausted and then coming into the bedroom. Only after Jeonghyeok had drained his energy one more time while he was face down on the bed did he finally let Yuwon go.
After that, he had fallen into a deep sleep and had no memory of anything. Seeing that his body, which had been soaked with sweat, and his damp buttocks weren’t uncomfortable, it seemed Jeonghyeok had taken care of the cleanup afterward.
Yuwon roughly put on clothes and opened the bedroom door. He could see Jeonghyeok’s back in the kitchen that he faced directly. Though he couldn’t see well because it was hidden by his broad back, he was definitely cooking.
“Ajeossi…?”
When he called out carefully, not believing it, Jeonghyeok glanced back.
“You’re awake.”
“No, what are you doing?”
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
He asked because he couldn’t tell even by looking. Yuwon tilted his head and peered over Jeonghyeok’s shoulder to examine the identity of the food. So this was…
“Udon? Or noodles?”
“It’s pasta.”
“Ah, pasta…”
Yuwon hid his troubled expression and nodded. Where was there such bloated pasta? He couldn’t understand but pretended to understand for now.
Jeonghyeok, who had been boiling pasta bubbling in a deep pan, turned off the induction cooktop as if it were done and said:
“Get a fork and go sit down.”
“…Yes.”
When he set the table and sat down, the mysterious pasta was placed in front of Yuwon. After glancing at Jeonghyeok sitting across from him, he muttered quietly “I’ll eat well” and picked up his fork.
He scooped up an appropriate amount with a worried heart and put it in his mouth, and surprisingly, it was delicious. Maybe it was because his expectations were so low. There was a bit too much water, but it tasted like thick and spicy oil pasta.
Yuwon widened his eyes and said:
“Ajeossi, you cook well.”
“No need to lie.”
“Really. It looks a bit strange on the outside, but it tastes good.”
“So you’re saying it does look strange?”
When Jeonghyeok chuckled and spoke, Yuwon shut his mouth. Was he too honest? But seeing Jeonghyeok’s smiling expression, it didn’t seem like he had made much of a mistake.
The two ate pasta silently for a while. Yuwon, who was hungry because he hadn’t eaten much at lunch, was particularly combative.
Jeonghyeok looked at Yuwon with his mouth full of food and asked:
“What are those guys’ names?”
“What?”
“The guys who made you drink.”
It was the same question from earlier. Yuwon answered after swallowing the pasta with a gulp:
“Yoon Jaejoon and Choi Seongcheol.”
“If there are any other bastards I should know about besides them, tell me.”
“There aren’t any, besides those two.”
When he readily shook his head, Jeonghyeok’s eyes narrowed. It was a face that seemed to ask if there really weren’t any, not believing him.
Of course, there were several friends he had been close with during school. Friends with whom he walked to and from school together and shared trivial conversations during every break.
Contact with them had virtually been cut off since he went to the military right after graduating high school. It would be more accurate to say Yuwon had deliberately avoided them.
When they were students, everyone wore the same uniform and lived in the same class. Thanks to school meals, they naturally ate the same food twice a day, and from morning to evening, they lived the same daily routine according to set times.
But when they turned twenty, everything diverged drastically. The houses they lived in, the universities they attended, where they worked part-time jobs, how much they worked. What kind of future they envisioned. From very trivial parts to big life-changing issues, differences began to emerge in everything according to their circumstances.
He hated that wall of reality that he kept feeling even when he didn’t want to acknowledge it. With Jaejoon and Seongcheol, who were the only ones who knew his flaws, he could honestly pour out his petty feelings and sad situations over a drink, but in front of other friends, he had to put on a mask and perform pathetic acting.
“What do your parents say? Don’t they nag you about not going to college?”
The first drinking session he had after turning twenty. Though it was a question asked with a light heart, he loathed himself for breaking out in cold sweat and keeping his mouth tightly shut.
Avoiding them wasn’t that difficult. He didn’t answer their calls and didn’t attend gatherings, so they naturally drifted apart. That was the end of it.
“Besides school friends, wasn’t there anyone you were close with there?”
Jeonghyeok asked once more. Though he referred to it as “there,” it was immediately understandable. Yuwon pretended not to know and picked at his pasta.
“There was one person…”
Something passed over Yuwon’s face as he didn’t finish his words, but it was very brief. Jeonghyeok’s brow instantly furrowed.
It was an expression he had never seen before. Sadness? Longing? No, it was a sentiment a bit darker than that. Jeonghyeok silently waited for Yuwon, who was hesitating.
“I haven’t seen them in a long time.”
“Why?”
“They got adopted. Once they leave, you usually don’t see them. It’s like being reborn as a new person.”
Toward the end, his voice lacked strength. No matter how much you try to hide something, there are things that can’t be hidden. Yuwon’s expression and tone right now were like that.
He misses them. Looking at Yuwon’s momentarily empty eyes, it was easy to gauge.
Jeonghyeok clenched his jaw tightly. Why are there so many bothersome bastards?
“What’s their name?”
Even at the persistent interrogation, Yuwon only chuckled.
“What would you do knowing?”
“I feel like I should know.”
“…I forgot.”
“Liar.”
“Really. Anyway, their name probably changed when they got adopted, and there’s no point in remembering the old name. I just forgot.”
A bitter smile spread across Yuwon’s lips.
Seeing that, he felt irritated for no reason. I want to know what makes you so troubled and hurt. Not that I would do anything about it, but I just wanted to know. Because it’s Kim Yuwon’s story.
But he couldn’t hope for too much from the beginning. There was plenty of time, so he could learn gradually.
Jeonghyeok tightened his grip on the fork and asked:
“…Was it very hard there?”
“The Director was a good person, so I endured it. As for the kids, well, they were all different.”
“What good does it do if they’re a good person? They connected you with a bastard like Boss Park.”
Yuwon had even been bullied by that Boss Park guy. From Jeonghyeok’s perspective, he couldn’t understand that Director who had introduced Boss Park to Yuwon.
“That couldn’t be helped. Boss Park occasionally made donations to our orphanage.”
“Donations?”
Yuwon nodded and continued:
“I can’t believe it either, but about once a quarter he would send packages of meat and sometimes let us eat out. From what I heard from the noonas, it was some kind of program linked with the district office. He probably got something out of doing that.”
That made sense. There was no way that guy would donate without any reason, and he was definitely putting on a show because he got some benefits.
Jeonghyeok clicked his tongue briefly and put down the fork he was holding.
“I was the eldest there, and right after I was discharged, Boss Park specifically picked me out and said he wanted to work with me. It was probably just because I was easy to use. He had observed me for a long time.”
Yuwon went to Cheolpan-jip knowing all these facts. Because doing so was what was best for the Director.
“So you went over readily?”
The expression “went over readily” made him chuckle. Because it was accurate. At the Director’s word, Yuwon had really gone readily to work under Boss Park.
“I had no choice. To me, the Director is a friend, a teacher, and… someone like a mother.”
“Still now?”
“What?”
“I’m asking if that person is still that kind of existence to you.”
Still? The Director would be that kind of existence to him for life.
Jeonghyeok leaned forward toward Yuwon, who couldn’t give any answer.
“Don’t do that.”
“……”
“While living in my house and spending money I give you. Don’t harbor such feelings for other people.”
Though it was still a low voice, it was a tone tinged with playfulness. As if asking where he was following other people when he was his guardian, he seemed to be acting petty.
Yuwon smiled gently. Because his rough words, knowing nothing of affection, somehow felt trustworthy and reassuring.
Before being a lover with whom he had just been intimate, ajeossi had given him food to eat and a house where he could rest comfortably. So ajeossi’s words were right. He was currently his guardian.
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
Even at words that seemed somewhat threatening, Yuwon smiled gently. Though his demanding face was quite fierce, there was no way he would be frightened by it.
“Yes.”
The whispered response was warm. Only then did Jeonghyeok pick up his fork again.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
