Chapter 78
“Why isn’t Teacher Yuwon here today?”
A girl with her hair tied in pigtails asked with wide eyes.
“He caught a cold, so he can’t come today.”
Even at Minhyeon’s gentle answer, the child made a whining sound. As if something didn’t please her, she twisted her body around.
“He’s coming tomorrow, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll read books with Teacher Yuwon tomorrow.”
The child hugged two books to her chest and ran toward the bookshelf. After organizing the books she had taken out to read back in their proper places, she lay down and began drawing pictures.
Minhyeon let out a deep sigh. Of course, most of the children here liked Yuwon more than him, but this girl particularly followed Yuwon around. She had to greet Yuwon first, and when reading books, she absolutely had to sit on Yuwon’s lap. But with that Yuwon absent, the child became noticeably dejected.
Actually, though he didn’t show it, Minhyeon was equally dejected. He hadn’t been able to contact Yuwon since morning.
When Yuwon didn’t show up at the orphanage even as time passed, he tried calling and texting him, but there was no response.
Could he be passed out from drinking too much yesterday? While imagining Yuwon sprawled alone in an empty house, he thought of the man who supposedly lived with Yuwon. Moon Jeonghyeok. Along with that man’s name firmly stuck in his head.
Though it was bitter that someone other than himself was taking care of Yuwon, it was still better than Yuwon being alone.
As he unconsciously shook his head to dispel the bitter feelings, a headache that had been quiet suddenly rushed in. Minhyeon frowned and pressed his temples firmly.
“Ugh…”
The severe hangover wouldn’t fade easily. From the moment he opened his eyes this morning until now, he had been in considerable pain from the occasional headaches and nausea.
His memories from yesterday weren’t complete either. He clearly remembered getting tipsy at the pork belly restaurant and going to a beer hall for the second round, but after that, his memory was completely cut off regarding what and how much he had drunk.
But there was one memory that remained vividly.
Yuwon appeared in his dream. In the dream, Yuwon took him home when he was unconscious and laid him on the bed. He undressed him so he could lie comfortably and stayed by his side until he fell asleep.
He thought he had had a really pleasant dream. Until he woke up in the morning and discovered the cup placed by his bedside.
Seeing the cup filled with water, his mind went blank for a moment. Could it have been reality, not a dream?
Minhyeon immediately picked up his phone and looked through his card usage history. No matter how much he searched, there was no record of payment for public transportation or a taxi the previous day. After confirming that, the back of his neck grew hot.
“Don’t go, please.”
“Hey, Kim Minhyeon. Let go of this…”
“Hng, don’t leave me alone…”
The scenes he had dismissed as dreams played back one by one in his head. For that moment, it felt like his hangover completely disappeared.
From then on, Minhyeon kept contacting Yuwon. If he had made a mistake last night, he wanted to apologize, and even if he hadn’t made a mistake, he wanted to hear Yuwon’s voice, which would be no different from usual. Only then would he feel at ease.
But Yuwon didn’t answer the phone and didn’t come to the orphanage. He had already sent several messages, but there was no reply.
Minhyeon quietly looked down at his still-silent phone, then shoved it into his pocket. Thinking he should try contacting him again a little later.
Just then, a boy who suddenly appeared grabbed Minhyeon’s shin.
“Teacher! Can I draw cars today? I can draw more than ten of them.”
Minhyeon, who had snapped to attention, looked at the child hanging onto him and said.
“Oh, yeah. Let’s draw cars today.”
As soon as permission to draw cars was granted, the child obediently sat in front of the floor desk. As if they had made a promise, the other children also quickly found their seats. Only the girl who had wanted to read books with Yuwon maintained her prone position silently.
Minhyeon distributed drawing paper to the seated children, then took out crayons from the drawer. After finishing the class while soothing the children who kept looking for Yuwon, he was exhausted.
Just as he was about to leave the villa right away, skipping lunch, Misook followed him out and stopped Minhyeon.
“Minhyeon.”
“Ah, Director.”
“You can’t reach Yuwon?”
Her face was dark with worry about Yuwon, who hadn’t been heard from.
“Yes. He drank quite a lot with me yesterday. I think he must have a really bad hangover.”
“Even so, that’s still concerning. I’m a bit worried that we can’t contact him.”
“I’ll go check on him once, so don’t worry too much.”
“Alright. Minhyeon, you go and check on him.”
Just as Misook, who seemed relieved, smiled faintly and patted Minhyeon’s shoulder.
“Ah, here it is! Dream Wing Orphanage!”
A rough voice came from beyond the entrance. At the appearance of a stranger, Misook and Minhyeon’s expressions hardened with wariness.
***
Though it was well past time to wake up, Yuwon didn’t open his eyes. It would be more accurate to say he couldn’t open his eyes.
Jeonghyeok quietly looked down at Yuwon lying beside him, then raised his head at the sound of a small vibration. Yuwon’s phone was ringing.
Kim Minhyeon’s name was displayed on the screen. How many times was this already? Calls had been coming continuously since early morning.
Jeonghyeok sighed as if annoyed and took the phone to the living room. When he pressed the call button, the persistently ringing vibration stopped.
“Hello.”
“Oh, ah… Hello.”
The voice that had joy in it was colored with disappointment in that brief moment. Seeing Minhyeon’s heart, which had expected Yuwon’s voice, so clearly, Jeonghyeok let out a short hollow laugh.
“I don’t know if you’ll remember me. I’m Kim Minhyeon, whom you met in front of the tteokbokki restaurant that time.”
“I remember.”
“Ah, yes. Could you please put Yuwon hyung on the phone?”
Though he could have complained about someone so boldly answering another person’s phone, Minhyeon was quite polite. It was a very courteous attitude, like addressing someone much older than himself. But even so, it was equally displeasing.
Jeonghyeok didn’t hide his sarcastic voice as he spoke.
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“If you have something to say, say it to me. I’ll pass it along.”
Minhyeon seemed flustered and couldn’t easily continue speaking. It was understandable that he’d be flustered. Jeonghyeok also knew how childish his current behavior was.
But his mouth moved on its own. All his attention was focused solely on preventing Yuwon from meeting Kim Minhyeon.
As he silently waited for an answer, Minhyeon’s voice came through intermittently from the quiet other end.
“Ah, hyung didn’t come to the orphanage today without any contact. I was wondering if something had happened…”
Just listening to the breathing mixed with his trailing words conveyed how much he was worried about Yuwon.
“There’s no need to worry. Nothing happened. If that’s all you called about, I’ll hang up now.”
“Ah, wait a moment!”
At Minhyeon’s urgent voice, Jeonghyeok, who was about to hang up, waited for him briefly.
“I’m in front of the house right now. I have something I absolutely must tell him, so could you please ask him to come out for a moment?”
“I just told you to tell me.”
“No. It’s something I must say face to face. Please.”
It was a somewhat resolute tone. He could feel the stubbornness that wouldn’t back down unless he was perfectly convinced, not just moderately persuaded. What a truly bothersome existence.
Jeonghyeok rubbed his dry face once and replied like a sigh.
“Fine.”
As if bewildered by the readily given answer, Minhyeon stammered before finally mumbling his thanks.
After hanging up, Jeonghyeok went back into the room. Yuwon was still breathing faintly, deep in sleep.
He could see the shoulders peeking out above the blanket rising and falling. Imagining the body beneath that wore not a single thread, Jeonghyeok finally moved his steps.
Jeonghyeok took both Yuwon’s phone and his own phone and left the bedroom, firmly closing the door. After entering the dressing room and putting on whatever clothes he grabbed, he left the house.
When he arrived on the first floor and passed through the lobby, he could see the familiar back of a man in front of the entrance.
“Kim Minhyeon-ssi.”
“Oh… hello.”
A sense of dismay crossed Minhyeon’s face when he spotted Jeonghyeok. Being so transparent, really. Jeonghyeok clicked his tongue inwardly while smiling brightly.
“Yuwon says it’s a bit difficult for him to come out right now. What should we do?”
“Is it because of a hangover?”
“That’s right. I don’t know who made him drink so much, but he was completely wasted.”
Though he was clearly smiling, there was something cold in his tone, and Minhyeon smiled awkwardly as he spoke.
“Ah, it can’t be helped. I’ll have to talk to him when we meet at the orphanage tomorrow. I’m sorry for making you come all the way down here because of me…”
Just as he was about to say sorry and turn around, Jeonghyeok’s words came first.
“No.”
The mask-like smile had already disappeared.
“Yuwon won’t be going there anymore. He won’t have any reason to see Kim Minhyeon-ssi anymore either.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
