143
Flash.
Yeon Ji-ho opened his eyes unconsciously and turned his head towards the ringing sound.
-Ring! Ring ring!
It was coming from an antique-looking telephone on the bedside table next to the bed in the room. What he thought was a decorative piece due to its vintage appearance was actually a functioning telephone.
As Ji-ho reached out from under the blanket to answer the phone, a thick arm wrapped in taut muscle beat him to it. It was Set.
“Hello,” Set answered in a deep voice, seeming quite familiar with it. With his eyes lowered, he listened for a while without saying anything, then just nodded and hung up abruptly.
He then turned his head, noticed Ji-ho was awake, and approached with a warm smile. Set’s fingers gently cupped one of Ji-ho’s cheeks.
“Awake, Ji-ho?”
“What was that… just now?”
“It’s almost check-out time, they say.”
“…!”
Surprised, Ji-ho tried to jump up from under the covers but realized the heaviness of his body and flinched. Instead, Set approached, startled, and helped support Ji-ho’s waist to sit up.
“We, we need to hurry and wash up before leaving…!”
“Ji-ho. There’s no need to rush. You’re already clean.”
“…Pardon?”
How could he be clean when he had just woken up from sleeping? As Ji-ho looked at him with wide eyes, Set tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
“I thoroughly washed you just 4 hours ago.”
“…”
Ji-ho was at a loss for words. Judging by the lack of memory, it seemed Set had carried and washed him while he was briefly unconscious. Ji-ho’s face turned bright red with embarrassment.
“You don’t remember? But Ji-ho, you clearly moaned…”
“Stop! Stop, I get it!”
As Set said that, a scene Ji-ho thought he didn’t remember briefly flashed through his mind. He had been struggling to keep his eyes closed, but when he peeked due to the persistent sensation on his body, Set was holding him in the bathtub…
Ji-ho decided to stop recalling. No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t seem like good education for Bael in his womb.
Since they hadn’t brought separate clothes, Ji-ho prepared to leave wearing what he had worn when they arrived – just a loose, thick cardigan and baggy pants. Set approached and wrapped a scarf around Ji-ho’s bare neck.
The two held hands tightly as they passed through the hotel lobby and went outside. There, a world that had turned pure white overnight awaited them, which they hadn’t seen due to having all the curtains closed in the hotel room.
“It looks like it snowed all night.”
In a normal year, snow should have fallen much earlier, but this year it had come unusually late. Ji-ho, who got to experience the first snow of the year with Set, held his hand even tighter and turned his head to meet Set’s eyes, smiling brightly.
“We’re seeing this year’s first snow together, Set.”
Set momentarily paused at the sight of Ji-ho smiling brightly at him against the backdrop of the white world. In Ji-ho’s belly was the fruit of their union, and in his eyes was only Set.
That image, that moment, suddenly felt like a miracle to Set. It was like a scene from a fairy tale.
Set unconsciously reached out and embraced Ji-ho. At first, Ji-ho seemed a bit awkward being suddenly pulled into his arms, but soon raised his hands to hug Set’s waist in return.
“Didn’t we already see snow in Asterra?”
“Ah, that’s right!”
Ji-ho, who had encountered snow while heading north to find the Village of Time, exclaimed as he recalled that moment. Although it wasn’t that long ago, so much had happened since then that it felt like ancient history.
“In Asterra, there’s a legend about the snow falling in the north.”
“A legend?”
“They say if you take your loved one to the north and encounter the snow, the Snow Goddess will bless you to be together forever.”
“There’s a similar story here too. Something about first snow bringing lovers together.”
As Ji-ho finished speaking, Set hesitantly tried to say something sweet. In Asterra, whenever couples accidentally encountered the northern snow together, everyone would talk about that romantic superstition with love-struck eyes.
So Set, inexperienced in romance, was about to whisper sweet nothings to Ji-ho, imitating what he had glimpsed of others’ behavior…
-Trrrr.
Ji-ho’s phone in his pocket rang. For some reason, Set instinctively hoped Ji-ho wouldn’t answer.
But after checking the caller, Ji-ho immediately touched the screen to answer, and at the same time, several voices that sounded like they were about to burst came through from the other end of the phone.
-I’m hungry, I’m hungry, I’m hungry, I’m starving to death!
-Shut up! If you’re that hungry, I told you to go eat the trees outside!
-That doesn’t taste good, ahhh! Shango, Shango is throwing trees!
The noisy conversation between Isquis and Apophis raged on the phone. Meanwhile, Ji-ho checked his phone screen once more. The caller was definitely listed as ‘Uncle Seon-rok’.
But the voices coming through were only those of Isquis, Apophis, and Shango. Ji-ho carefully brought his mouth to the microphone and called out to them.
“…Apophis?”
-Ji-ho?! Is that you, Ji-ho?!
“Yes, but…”
-When are you two coming back?!
Ji-ho tilted his head at the urgent and desperate cry. There was no reason for them to be looking for him so urgently.
Ji-ho had been preparing for this date for days, and he had kindly explained to those staying at home how to order delivery or takeout if they got hungry, even telling them about the restaurants.
-The stores! All the stores are closed because of the snow!
“Ah…”
Ji-ho unconsciously let out a groan. Right, if it had snowed this much in Seoul, how much snow must have piled up in Hwangdo Village, a rural area in Sancheon City?
The surrounding stores, not very passionate about business, usually closed completely when it snowed or only served dine-in customers, not doing takeout or delivery. Moreover, it would have been difficult to go out walking carelessly due to the snow. Snow removal usually didn’t reach the hillside where the pension was until the afternoon.
That’s why they seemed to have gone to Uncle Seon-rok’s place nearby to send out a distress signal. Ji-ho’s expression quickly turned to worry.
“Are you very hungry? Haven’t you eaten anything since yesterday?”
-I’m fine, but these two guys are completely cra-
Click.
Set’s finger suddenly appeared and pressed Ji-ho’s screen, hanging up the call. Surprised, Ji-ho looked up at Set, who said with a very indifferent face:
“They won’t die from starving for a day.”
Set even clicked his tongue briefly. On the battlefield, it wasn’t uncommon to go without food for not just a day, but up to a week, lying in ambush in the sand. Set judged that these guys were throwing tantrums because Ji-ho was too kind, and turned his head away abruptly.
“But still… With the snow, there probably aren’t any restaurants open nearby to eat at. Uncle Seon-rok said he had plans today too. They probably don’t have many ingredients left at home either…”
But when Ji-ho couldn’t hide his worry, Set couldn’t resist him. In the end, they tried to return to Sancheon immediately, but learned that all transportation was nearly paralyzed due to the unexpected heavy snowfall.
“This won’t do.”
Ji-ho finally pulled out his hidden ace. First, he packed five bowls of galbi-tang, good for a winter day, from a nearby restaurant, then entered a deserted alley holding plastic bags with steam rising from them.
In the middle of the alley was a wardrobe with a “Large Waste” sticker attached. Ji-ho kept glancing around to check if anyone was there.
Finally, confirming that no one was around, Ji-ho closed his eyes and muttered something. At the same time, a faint blue light burst out from between the not-quite-closed wardrobe doors.
Ji-ho immediately flung open the wardrobe door. Then, holding Set’s hand tightly, he jumped into the wardrobe.
Creak, bang.
The wardrobe that had swallowed the two closed by itself, though no one had shut it. Snow began to pile up softly on top of the now quiet wardrobe.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
