#42
“A victim… Me…”
Even though he felt nothing, being called a victim made Eunhong feel bad. He started biting his nails.
– However, because you mentioned that you have no memory of the incident, I contacted you thinking that confirmation and treatment are necessary before filing a report. This often happens in cases of unstable manifestation.
There was nothing to refute as it wasn’t incorrect. Eunhong frowned as he repeated to himself. I was a bit late… He could see Jaeha coming from afar with food. His bitten fingertip stung, and blood started to appear.
– …If we file a report, an investigation will proceed, and things will get complicated, so for now…
“I’m not in a situation where I can have a long phone call right now…”
– Ah, yes. For now, you need to come to the hospital at least once. We have excellent medical care in terms of psychological treatment…
“I’ll come after the holidays.”
– I look forward to meeting you, Ban Eunhong.
Han Jeonguk managed to secure a promise from Eunhong, who was trying to hang up. Eunhong quickly ended the call as he urged him, mentioning filing a report, as if he had assumed he wouldn’t show up. Just as he pressed the end call button, the driver’s side door opened, and Jaeha got into the car.
The car smoothly headed towards the East Sea. Although he had bought snacks, Jaeha, who had been urging Eunhong to try this and that, was now quietly driving at some point. Eunhong knew that he had keenly sensed his mood and was giving him time.
As Eunhong hastily ended the call from the hospital, he realized his emotions. Even though he couldn’t remember what happened that day and hadn’t done anything wrong, he wondered why he wanted to hide it. Eunhong realized he was afraid that Jaeha might be disappointed in him.
As he looked into himself, the very idea of going to the hospital became frightening. He was scared of finding out he had been involved with someone he didn’t know, even if they found the person who had sex with him as evidence, and he was also scared of his lost memories returning.
Why on earth did my thick skull forget everything, or is it fortunate that I can’t remember…? Eunhong berated himself, conflicted, and banged his head against the window.
“Who was that on the phone to make you like this?”
Jaeha spoke as if he knew nothing, but his eyes said otherwise. Eunhong laughed, still resting his forehead on the window. He tried to brush it off casually, but Jaeha glanced at him and added,
“I saw you answering the phone while I was walking back. Your expression too.”
For someone who claimed not to know, his face showed he knew everything. He tapped the steering wheel rhythmically with his long fingers.
“There’s not much that would make you look so down after a phone call. If so, there’s only one answer.”
“Jaeha.”
“I think I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not what you think. You’ll understand everything when you remember. None of it is your fault. It’s all… the other person’s fault.”
Eunhong closed his mouth. It was almost the first time Jaeha had directly mentioned the incident that day. Jaeha’s eyes, looking straight ahead, showed no particular emotion. His friend, who had probably never been damaged in any way in his life, looked flawless. Eunhong bit his lip, feeling his face flush for some reason.
“Everything will be okay.”
“…Yeah.”
Seeing Jaeha offer plain comfort with his lips firmly set made Eunhong’s stomach churn for some reason. His vision quickly blurred. Since manifesting, it was as if various parts of him were malfunctioning, or maybe it was because of the pheromones, but Eunhong would burst into tears at the slightest provocation. As he pressed his lips tightly to hold back tears, his phone in his hand lit up with an incoming message.
It was from Han Jeonguk, providing his office location and working hours. He said to come as soon as possible, anytime would be fine. Eunhong opened his calendar. It was already Monday, December 31st, the last day of the year.
He hadn’t realized how time had passed while having fun, and had momentarily forgotten that the world was still turning. After tomorrow, January 1st, when the vacation ends, he would have to go back to work, and now he had to meet people with his changed body.
Jaeha, who had been driving silently, nodded slightly.
“There’s a remote control in the glove compartment.”
Eunhong opened the glove compartment and rummaged through it following Jaeha’s instructions.
“A remote control?”
“Yeah, that’s right. That one.”
The car, which had left the national highway and was driving on a narrow road, had now turned onto an unpaved secluded path. Every time the wheels cut through the overgrown grass on the road, stones made loud noises as they were kicked up.
“There, that gate will open. Press it.”
In the direction Jaeha pointed, there was a large iron gate. When Eunhong pressed the button with a dubious face, the gate slowly opened with a ding! sound. It was like a castle gate. After passing through the opened gate and going a bit further on the winding road, a small white beach began to appear.
The small crescent-shaped beach, blocked on both sides by cliffs, was quietly spread out between forests like a secret fortress. At the entrance of the white sandy beach, there was a pine forest and a small wooden building. A long, dark-colored deck stretching out to touch the sea caught his eye.
“What is this place? Is this your family’s private property too?”
“Can’t buy the sea.”
“What’s that gate for?”
Just bought up to that land, he muttered, then grinned like a mischievous child. Dumbfounded, Eunhong forgot his worrisome thoughts and stuck his head out to look at the beach.
Jaeha lowered the window and explained about the beach. It was a small beach with inconvenient access, so they bought the nearby land and started rebuilding the road. The original owner had been running a pension with a camping site, but due to poor accessibility, they were able to buy it all at a reasonable price. Now, only the caretaker occasionally comes and goes.
“I asked them to stock up some food in the management office… I wonder if they’ve already been here.”
Except for the small wooden building, the closed beach with nothing else was truly quiet.
“It seems like there’s no one here but us.”
At Jaeha’s murmur, Eunhong also stuck his head out and looked around the beach. Who would have thought that the saying “not even an ant within a 2km radius” could sound so strange? Somehow, the quiet beach looked suggestive. His wandering gaze landed on Jaeha’s face, concentrated on reversing the car. When their eyes met, he smiled gently. Somehow, he felt bewitched.
“We’re here.”
At the whispered words, he turned his head, creaking like a rabbit released from a trap. The car had already reached the end of the deck. Thanks to the deck built to go deep into the sandy beach, the car seemed to be floating on the white sand.
At that moment, Jaeha unfastened his seatbelt and suddenly approached Eunhong. His arm reached all the way to the passenger door. Thinking he was going to hug him, Eunhong tensed up, straightening his back.
“When you get out, press this to pull the seat forward. Got it?”
However, he calmly showed him the button and then withdrew without lingering. Eunhong nodded like a fool.
“We’re going to sleep in the car today. Trying out car camping.”
“We’re sleeping together here?”
“Yeah. It’s spacious when you fold down all the back seats.”
…Will it be okay? Eunhong muttered as he got out of the car. As Jaeha had said, he pulled the front seat forward and closed the door. Jaeha, either not hearing Eunhong’s words or ignoring them, flashed a smile and ran towards the management office.
Eunhong stood awkwardly, looking at the empty beach. His reddened face stood out against the white sandy beach. He awkwardly put his hands in his pockets, brushing away the heat from his face in the cold wind.
***
Opening the backdoor while facing the sea, the large SUV itself became a tent. After reclining all the back seats to make it flat and laying down a heated mat, a fairly warm bed was created. Eunhong sat at the edge of the trunk and opened a can of beer. He quietly watched Jaeha struggling to start a fire after spreading out the items he had taken from the car, and finally burst into laughter.
“They’re all new, aren’t they? You had Secretary Kim do this, right?”
His expression as he turned around was filled with bewilderment. Looking closely, it seemed he didn’t even know how to use them properly. There was undisguised dismay in his expression as he looked at Eunhong. Come to think of it, there was even black charcoal smudged on his straight, white nose bridge.
“Where did you see this and prepare it? When did you buy it?”
“I saw it on TV. It looked fun, so I wanted to try it with you. I did some research, but… I actually didn’t get to practice.”
Jaeha, uncharacteristically, trailed off as he made excuses. The truth was that he had seen it on TV at some point and had made a list for Secretary Kim. In fact, there wasn’t even a list; he had just said he wanted to try car camping and asked for everything necessary to be prepared. The equipment was top-notch, but he didn’t know how to use it, so he felt ridiculous, his ear tips turning red.
“Why do you need practice for having fun? Let me see. Let’s do it together.”
He must have been serious about starting the bonfire because as Eunhong approached, Jaeha’s face was even more of a mess. Eunhong put down his beer can and rolled up his sleeves. He gently pushed Jaeha, who was standing awkwardly holding firewood, with his hip and squatted in front of the fire pit.
“Put the firewood in and give me the torch. Where’s the charcoal?”
“Um, charcoal? The black stuff… Here it is.”
Jaeha, his face slightly red, obediently lowered his eyes and brought whatever was asked for. With his usually sharp demeanor, every time he showed this kind of gap, looking clueless about the ways of the world, Eunhong found Jaeha cute. Really… he often worried if he might get scammed somewhere.
