#75
There was still something he hadn’t told his longtime friend and only confidant.
He couldn’t keep hiding it forever, just as Yul had done with him, but it was difficult to bring up.
After hesitating for a long time holding his phone, he opened the messaging app, pulled up a chat window, and quickly moved his fingers.
[Hey, Do-hyun.]
Ho-woo tried to speak playfully as if it were nothing special, but what came out was a stiff-looking call. To make up for it, a white bear emoticon that followed shook its maracas incessantly.
[????]
Responding to the sudden call with question marks, Do-hyun soon sent consecutive messages.
[What]
[Craving alcohol on the weekend?]
[Should I bring some beer?]
It’s not that he didn’t want a drink for his complicated mind.
Ho-woo reflexively glanced at the wall adjoining Yul’s house. Yul, who had returned from the sea with him, had gone home, so he would be beyond that thin wall.
In the current situation, having Do-hyun come over didn’t seem like a good choice.
[No, I’ll come over.]
[Huh? You said it’s more convenient for me to move. You never budge even when I invite you over. Then I’ll be waiting.]
[I’ll leave in about 10 minutes.]
[I’ll have drinks ready to match your arrival.]
Since it was more convenient for Do-hyun, who had a car, to move than Ho-woo who didn’t, their meetings always took the form of Do-hyun bringing alcohol to Ho-woo’s house.
Ho-woo roughly dried his wet hair with a towel and put on fresh clothes. The clothes he had worn today were damp with salt and felt unpleasant to put on again.
He put his worn underwear and clothes into the washing machine and was about to wrap the pager, which was now becoming a habit, around his wrist when he paused.
It was because he remembered the man who had found his exact location even though he hadn’t mentioned having an appointment today.
This was the only thing related to him.
After pondering for a moment, Ho-woo placed the pager he had picked up on the bedside table. If it made him uncomfortable, it was better to exclude it.
Finally tidying his appearance, Ho-woo left the house, trying to minimize any noise.
Even though he wasn’t going out to do anything wrong, he found himself being cautious about his behavior. Arriving at the elevator with even his footsteps muffled, Ho-woo pressed the down button.
At that moment, he felt a small vibration from the phone in his pocket.
[Ho-woo.]
It was a message with just the name written without any other content. However, Ho-woo reflexively looked back.
The person who had sent the message with perfect timing, as if knowing Ho-woo was sneaking out, was Oh-yul.
Being a corridor-style apartment, he could see at a glance his tightly closed house door and the neighbor’s door. However, the tightly closed doors were quiet. There wasn’t even a hint of someone about to open a door and come out.
A coincidence?
The timing was too good to dismiss it as mere coincidence.
[Don’t stay up too late.]
Contemplating whether to reply to the following message, Ho-woo pushed the phone into his pocket without replying, his face slightly hardened.
Do-hyun’s house, which took 30 minutes by car and a bit longer by public transport, was located closer to the city center than Ho-woo’s house.
Ho-woo frowned as he noticed dark clouds starting to gather in the sky outside the window.
The clear weather had turned cloudy, looking like it might pour down heavy rain at any moment. Come to think of it, the rainy season was approaching soon.
One or two droplets fell on the transparent window with a plop, and soon it poured down heavy rain. It would have been nice if it had held off until he reached Do-hyun’s house, but the sky showed no such kindness to Ho-woo.
Finally, Ho-woo, who had gotten off at the bus stop with a troubled face, waved his hand big at a familiar figure trudging along from the direction he needed to go.
“Perfect timing, right?”
Ho-woo nodded slightly at Do-hyun’s words as he handed over the umbrella he was holding with a triumphant face. He was about to contact Do-hyun to come pick him up anyway.
“I was about to contact you to come get me if you weren’t here.”
“As if I wouldn’t be.”
Do-hyun grinned and playfully shook the umbrella slightly. Thanks to that, Ho-woo, who got splashed with the water that had been on the umbrella, wiped the water that had splattered on his cheek with his hand and opened the umbrella. The sound of rain pouring on the umbrella was cheerful.
“So, what’s up?”
Do-hyun asked lightly as he made splashing sounds stepping in puddles. It was easy to notice that Ho-woo’s face was dark even though he tried to smile. It was the privilege of someone who had been watching for a long time.
“I’m dating Yul.”
“I thought so.”
Do-hyun, who had guessed that Oh-yul would have been next to Ho-woo since he had answered quickly to his question on the weekend, responded calmly.
Although he strongly disliked the partner, what could he do? If the person involved liked them. When someone is wearing rose-colored glasses, they won’t hear anything said from the side.
“You’re not very surprised?”
“I expected it from the time you were sticking together enough to answer immediately on the weekend.”
“…Really? Couldn’t it just be because we’re neighbors?”
“If you’re sticking together even after experiencing something like that, the answer was already there, wasn’t it?”
“I guess so.”
Do-hyun’s house was a newly built apartment not far from the bus stop. Before they could exchange many words, they quickly arrived at the apartment, and Ho-woo tidied up the dripping umbrella.
“Did you come to tell me that?”
Couldn’t you have done that over the phone? At Do-hyun’s following mutter, Ho-woo remained silent for a moment.
This wasn’t something to talk about here. It seemed like he could bring up the topic more easily only after entering the house and stuffing at least one can of beer into his stomach.
“Let’s go in first.”
The new building’s elevator was fast too. Unlike the rattling elevators of old apartments, they arrived on the high floor in an instant with almost no feeling of ascending, and Ho-woo, getting off the elevator, headed familiarly towards Do-hyun’s house.
“Aren’t you at the height of happiness, having just started dating?”
I thought so too.
Ho-woo pressed the passcode instead of Do-hyun. His friend, who had even revealed the passcode saying he could come anytime although he didn’t visit often, quietly followed into his own house.
“Is there some problem?”
“There is.”
Ho-woo, who had naturally sat at the dining table, was about to open a grapefruit-flavored beer can when he swallowed a sigh. It seemed like he needed something with a higher alcohol content than this.
“Do you have anything else at home?”
“Huh? You like that, don’t you. Something else?”
Well, there is. Do-hyun trailed off, giving a very strange look. Ho-woo pushed away the can and requested, “Give me something stronger,” and Do-hyun’s expression twisted even more.
Since Ho-woo liked alcohol but didn’t like getting drunk, he neither touched nor drank much of high-alcohol content drinks.
A guy who doesn’t even drink soju saying it tastes bad is asking for strong alcohol? Do-hyun clicked his tongue, recalling the face of the man who was clearly the cause in a corner of his mind.
He took out a carefully stored bottle of whiskey and filled a glass with ice. Although it was quite expensive and he had been saving it, he didn’t feel too sorry about it.
The problem was that something had happened to make Ho-woo request alcohol.
“Drink slowly.”
Although he had filled it with ice, it would take time to melt, so he handed over the glass with a stern warning, but Ho-woo downed it in one go.
“Hey! What are you going to do tomorrow!”
Do-hyun shouted in panic. Ho-woo bit his lips hard at the feeling of the strong alcohol burning and scraping down his throat.
The stinging pain cleared his mind.
“Phew…”
“Did you cheat on him right after starting to date? Or did he say to break up? Or are you two-timing?”
Do-hyun asked, recalling things Ho-woo had experienced when dating in the past. However, since none of these were correct, Ho-woo slowly shook his head.
“No, it’s something more important than that.”
It was perhaps an issue that could change his entire life.
Ho-woo took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling deeply.
He had come to talk, so he should just speak frankly, but his lips still hesitated and wouldn’t open.
“One more glass.”
“……”
Do-hyun silently filled the glass with whiskey and sat across from him, staring at Ho-woo with a serious face.
Ho-woo, who again downed in one go the glass half-filled with whiskey, finally opened his lips and spoke calmly.
“I became a guide.”
It was a statement with all context cut off, but Do-hyun’s eyes widened. It wasn’t a statement that could be taken as a frivolous joke in this situation.
Because a heavy truth was contained in those short words, he gaped for a moment with a blank face before finally throwing out one word.
“How?”
The period for natural manifestation had passed. Ho-woo had long lost the infinite potential held during the growth period.
How on earth?
Do-hyun’s eyes filled with confusion at the incomprehensible situation.
“Well…”
Ho-woo calmly explained what had happened to him. Everything from the moment he first met Oh-yul to what had just happened, without hiding anything.
Do-hyun, who had been quietly listening to Ho-woo’s calm explanation, jumped up from his seat in anger and shouted.
“Anyone can see it was a planned approach!”
“…You think so too?”
“If you became a guide when you first met, doesn’t that mean he moved in next door with everything planned?”
Do-hyun ranted that all of it, the kindness and gentleness offered, was calculated.
