43
Yeon Ji-ho simply laughed off Set’s curiosity about what a blind date was. He could explain what the internet was anytime, but he knew now wasn’t the right moment.
The two decided to rest before having a meal. Not only had Yeon Ji-ho been briefly kidnapped, but both of them hadn’t slept at all since the previous night, trying to bring Shango here.
However, they headed to Caravan No. 1 right next door instead of the house. Due to the risk of infection, it was difficult to stay together in the house, and it was also awkward to move the sick Shango carelessly.
Entering the spacious German caravan, Yeon Ji-ho turned on the lights with a click and said,
“It would take some time to clean up the pension… We can use the caravan right away. Is this okay with you?”
Although it was a relatively large caravan, it felt a bit cramped compared to Set’s height. Set, who had to duck his head to enter, looked around the interior for the first time and marveled,
“So this is… a house that can move.”
“Ah, yes. To be precise, it’s called a ‘trailer’. It can’t be driven directly; it needs to be pulled from the front to move.”
There was a time in the past when the pension business was thriving while Yeon Ji-ho’s parents were still alive. Yeon Ji-ho, who often helped his busy parents by guiding guests, checked the caravan’s interior one by one with familiar gestures. After finishing the arrangement, including the rustling bedding, he spoke.
“Let’s sleep for a bit. Set, you haven’t slept at all until we got here, right?”
After he and Isquis were taken by Hadad, Set must not have rested properly while following them. Yeon Ji-ho looked at him with concern and lifted the blanket on the caravan bed.
“No, I’m not that tired. I can manage.”
“Still, let’s sleep for now. I’ll wake you up.”
At Yeon Ji-ho’s repeated urging, Set reluctantly crawled into bed. Unlike sleeping in a tent in a cave, a soft and comfortable bed welcomed him.
Set, lying on the bed, looked up at Yeon Ji-ho still standing beside him and asked with an uneasy look,
“…Ji-ho, what about you?”
“Yes?”
“Shouldn’t you sleep too?”
Ah.
Yeon Ji-ho, opening his mouth slightly, nodded. Then, he headed to another bed on the opposite side of where Set was lying. He sat there, facing Set across from him.
“I’ll sleep here.”
“…I see…”
Set hesitated with a somewhat disappointed look, but eventually closed his eyes without saying anything more. Yeon Ji-ho also lay down on his share of the bed and burrowed into the blanket.
It was a peaceful midday rest. Although they had turned off the lights in the caravan before lying down, they couldn’t block out the faint sunlight coming through the curtains. Yeon Ji-ho kept tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
After a while, he opened his eyes again. He had sensed something strange.
“…?”
As soon as he opened his eyes in bed, Yeon Ji-ho discovered a gray head suddenly popping up below. Startled, Yeon Ji-ho clutched the blanket and drew in a sharp breath.
“Set?”
“…Ah. Did I wake you? I’m sorry.”
“No, I couldn’t sleep anyway. But why are you here? Is the bed uncomfortable?”
Looking over to the other side, the bed was still disheveled from where Set had briefly lain. He had come over here and sat on the floor instead of staying in bed.
“That’s not it. …The bed is comfortable.”
“Then why?”
“Well…”
Set kept hesitating to speak clearly. As Yeon Ji-ho looked at Set with worried eyes, he finally confessed his true feelings.
“If we’re not close… I can’t sleep…”
“What?”
Set closed his eyes tightly, not believing he was saying such things. If his subordinate Apophis had seen this, he would have gaped with a stupid expression. For Set, this was what acting spoiled meant.
“Ji-ho, if I can’t hear your breathing close by, I feel anxious. It feels like I might lose you again.”
“But this is Korea… Hadad isn’t here either.”
“…Right. That’s true. I’m sorry.”
Set lowered his head with sunken eyes. He knew how unreasonable his anxiety was.
But ever since losing Yeon Ji-ho to Hadad, Set felt a strange anxiety gnawing at some part of his heart. He couldn’t easily fall asleep.
He felt somewhat better after leaving the other world and coming to Korea, but that was only until it was time to sleep. Set kept thinking he might lose Yeon Ji-ho to Hadad again for some reason.
In that world, all precious and shining things belonged to Hadad.
In truth, Set didn’t have anything particularly precious in that world. So even when the situation became increasingly difficult, or even when he was in danger of losing his life, he wasn’t this anxious. But Ji-ho. The one and only Yeon Ji-ho for him…
“I understand. This bed is a single, so it’s quite narrow, but come up here.”
Yeon Ji-ho reluctantly burrowed deep into the inner side of the bed. This made just enough space for one adult to barely lie down on the outer side. Of course, it was far from enough for Set’s build.
Nevertheless, Set climbed onto the bed with a pleased face, without even a single refusal. The bed swayed greatly. And at the same time, Yeon Ji-ho ended up being embraced in Set’s arms.
For the two to lie down together, Set had no choice but to hold Yeon Ji-ho in his arms.
“Is this better now?”
“…Yes.”
Holding Yeon Ji-ho in his arms and feeling his warm body temperature, Set realized he was getting sleepy easily, to the point where his previous anxiety seemed ridiculous.
Yeon Ji-ho was also patting Set’s broad back slowly, as if understanding him. Receiving such comfort, which he had never experienced even as a child, Set felt his heart being fully filled.
And in an instant, he fell asleep.
“…Set?”
“…”
“Huh.”
He must have been quite tired after all. Seeing him fall asleep so quickly once his anxiety subsided a bit.
Yeon Ji-ho looked up at Set, who had fallen asleep while tightly embracing him, with a wry smile. Set’s tall nose bridge was pointing straight at Yeon Ji-ho.
In his narrow but somehow comfortable embrace, Yeon Ji-ho also fell into a deep sleep. It was an incomparably sweet sleep compared to the brief rest he had managed in the carriage with Hadad.
***
Set and Yeon Ji-ho, who woke up only when evening came, returned home together. They needed to check on Shango’s condition, and they were also getting hungry.
Although simple cooking was possible in the caravan, all the ingredients were inside the house. Yeon Ji-ho sent Set, wearing a mask, to check on Shango, while he went to the kitchen alone.
“Wow… I didn’t realize our house was this nice.”
Yeon Ji-ho, who had struggled to cook in inn kitchens or over campfires, was delighted to see the gas range lighting up with a click. He felt he could finally cook properly now.
The first thing Yeon Ji-ho took out was rice.
“Let’s start with porridge for Shango.”
Since there were quite a few dishes to cook today, Yeon Ji-ho deliberately muttered out loud. It was easier to cook without getting confused this way. After soaking a mix of glutinous and regular rice in a glass bowl for a while, he took out other ingredients one by one.
He decided on beef soup for Set and himself. After organizing radish, anchovies for stock, and beef for the soup, the basic preparation was done. It was a simple dish that would be finished by first stir-frying the radish and beef, then adding the anchovy stock.
Just as he finished boiling the soup and was about to move on to the porridge, Set came out of the room. As instructed, he had taken off his mask, went to the bathroom first, and then approached Yeon Ji-ho.
“Shango’s fever has completely subsided, Ji-ho.”
“What?! Already?”
Of course, Soo-cheol, who was a doctor, had briefly visited before Yeon Ji-ho and Set woke up. But it shouldn’t be possible to recover completely just because a doctor visited a few times…
“He was always healthy to begin with.”
“Oh, what should we do then? I started making porridge assuming he was still sick.”
Yeon Ji-ho continued stirring the porridge while speaking. Set glanced into the pot and said in a tone suggesting it wasn’t a problem,
“He eats anything, so it’s fine.”
“Hmm… Shall we prepare to eat first? The cooking is almost done.”
As Set and Yeon Ji-ho were setting the table and preparing for the meal, there was a click. The door of the small inner room opened.
Shango came out hesitantly, wearing the clothes that Yeon Ji-ho had bought for Set at the market last time. There was no choice as it was the only outfit that fit him.
“Ah! Shango, has your fever gone down?”
Shango was also wearing a mask, presumably put on by Set. Shango silently raised his eyes and nodded, and Yeon Ji-ho carefully said,
“I’ll bring your meal to your room. It’s okay to rest more in the room.”
“…”
But this time, Shango raised his head and didn’t give any answer. Finding this strange, Yeon Ji-ho looked at Set, who spoke instead.
“Shango doesn’t like eating alone.”
“Really? Why?”
Yeon Ji-ho tried to recall the contents of the novel, but well, he couldn’t remember anything. Of course, Shango’s part in the novel was very small.
“He says he always ate alone when he was taken as a slave. Because he was different from others.”
Shango, wearing a mask, hesitated without coming closer. He seemed to know about the infectiousness of his disease. However, he didn’t want to go back to the room.
“Then how about this? Let’s eat outside. It’s cool now that the sun has set.”
There were many outdoor tables prepared for guests outside, and they could eat at an appropriate distance. When Yeon Ji-ho suggested this with a smile, Shango’s eyes sparkled.
Set didn’t seem to like it very much, but he eventually started moving the prepared dishes one by one.
“You know, Set.”
As the meal began shortly after, Yeon Ji-ho stared at Shango, who was buried in darkness. With his dark skin, he was particularly invisible in the darkness.
Then suddenly, Shango, who was eating, raised his eyes. In the darkness, pumpkin-colored eyes turned towards Yeon Ji-ho, and a shy smile seemed to seep into those eyes.
“Why doesn’t Shango talk much?”
When Yeon Ji-ho looked at Shango without continuing his meal, Set also put down his spoon. He answered calmly.
“When he was trapped in a box as a slave, he says no one could see him if he hid in the darkness. Among those unusual Gorgon beasts, he had the most striking appearance, so he probably wanted to hide.”
“I see… There are no dark-skinned people in the Asterra Empire, right?”
“Not just the Asterra Empire, but all countries are like that. Why, Ji-ho? Aren’t there no dark-skinned people here either?”
Yeon Ji-ho hesitated before speaking.
“That’s because this is Korea. Other countries are a bit different.”
“…Are you saying there are people who look similar to Shango?”
“Yes.”
At that moment, Shango, who had been hunched over eating porridge, suddenly stood up and started approaching them. As the large figure came striding out of the darkness, even Yeon Ji-ho flinched involuntarily.
“Looks like Shango heard.”
At that moment, Shango knelt in front of Yeon Ji-ho. He raised his pumpkin-colored eyes and quietly looked up at Yeon Ji-ho.
With just that gaze, it was clear. No, it couldn’t be clearer.
How desperately Shango wanted to meet others like himself.
