#052
‘It’s not possible?’
It was hard to understand. No matter how much he thought about it, there was no reason for him to refuse. His heart pounded loudly. He felt like the sound might be audible to the other person.
“Why is it not possible?”
He tried to ask casually, pretending it didn’t matter. And immediately regretted it. Or not. Perhaps in this situation, it would be better to react strongly, as if bewildered.
Yeon Tae-soo didn’t answer right away. The reason for his hesitation was unclear. Was there some reason he couldn’t show Old Man Chang?
“…Has he passed away, perhaps?”
Thinking there could be no other answer, he asked. Yeon Tae-soo looked at him with a briefly bewildered expression, then shook his head.
“No, it’s not that. He’s safe, I tell you.”
Yoo Seong-woo felt an involuntary sense of relief. Not because he could use Old Man Chang, but just… knowing that the man he had briefly connected with was safe seemed to slightly ease the frozen tension.
“That’s a relief.”
As he let out a sigh, Yeon Tae-soo stared at him intently. His gaze lingered on the side of his face.
“Then… if he’s alive, why can’t I meet him?”
“I never said you can’t meet him. I said it’s not possible.”
Was it his imagination that Yeon Tae-soo’s words sounded bitingly cold?
“I mean I can’t allow it.”
His words seemed to be tinged with coldness, yet maybe not. His expressionless face was the same as always. If only he could read his expression, but of all times, his emotion detection function was malfunctioning now.
“May I ask… why you can’t allow it?”
Yeon Tae-soo didn’t answer. He just slightly relaxed his expression. Seeing him smile ever so faintly, Yoo Seong-woo’s heart strangely softened.
So Yoo Seong-woo couldn’t ask further. He couldn’t press the man who wasn’t answering. He only wondered why he was making such an expression.
Why do you look like you’re about to cry? Why do you have such a sad expression?
Even after Yeon Tae-soo left the room, telling him to rest, Yoo Seong-woo couldn’t easily erase that face and those eyes from his mind.
***
The three-day party had ended. It was long enough for most of the residents of Haeya-dong to have visited Eden at least once.
That wasn’t all. Quite a few tourists who had heard of Eden’s fame came from outside. Thanks to this, Haeya-dong even enjoyed a brief, unexpected tourism boom.
Even before the party, Eden had spent more money than usual to prepare for it, and all that money flowed to those working on the muddy streets, getting oil on themselves.
Among the merchants, there was talk of how nice it would be if Eden held such events frequently. And above all, the golden, splendid palace named after heaven was not something one could easily forget after seeing it once.
It was easy for the eyes of those looking up at the towering Eden to change in just a few days. The people of Haeya-dong truly began to admire Eden.
And regardless of the situation on the streets, Yoo Seong-woo was still busy.
There were still many gambling addicts coming in with severed fingers or stabbed stomachs. There was also a small but steady stream of animal patients.
While caring for them, Yoo Seong-woo kept an eye on the big men guarding him.
If the same people always followed him, he might have thought of a way to persuade them, but the men following him changed every day. There was no pattern.
Still, since manpower couldn’t be infinite, there must be some rotation. Yoo Seong-woo decided to stay calm. For now, he needed to identify those he had contact with and see if they could be used.
‘Would you like to have a meal together?’
He had been rejected once, but wondering if the other men might be different, he made the suggestion. That was the beginning of the trouble.
‘It’s just… I feel a bit lonely eating alone. It’s dreary.’
He had even bought an electronic mask just in case. But the men adamantly refused. And a few hours later, Yeon Tae-soo came.
“Let’s eat, Dr. Yoo.”
Yoo Seong-woo, who was tending to a hamster patient, looked up. Suddenly, a meal? What’s this about a meal? He gestured for him to wait a moment.
After putting a cast on the hamster’s paw, which was smaller than a fingernail, and carefully explaining the precautions to the grateful owner, and firmly refusing a gift while seeing them out of the hospital, Yeon Tae-soo waited patiently.
“What’s this sudden meal about?”
Though he had done all sorts of things with Yeon Tae-soo, he rarely remembered eating with him. Only after showing his face without the mask did they eat together a few times.
And above all, he didn’t seem to enjoy eating. Even when Yoo Seong-woo was eating, he would often just stare blankly.
As he stared silently, Yeon Tae-soo hesitated for a moment, then averted his gaze slightly and said,
“I heard you asked the guys to eat with you.”
“Yes.”
Did he do something to be misunderstood? He had only asked the men to eat together. Thinking back on his words, he hadn’t said anything unnecessary.
“Why eat with them when you can eat with me?”
“…Pardon?”
He didn’t hear properly because the voice was uncharacteristically small. He understood the content, but couldn’t comprehend it immediately.
“What do you mean?”
When he asked blankly, Yeon Tae-soo’s face, which had been looking at distant mountains, suddenly contorted. His ears were red.
“I’m saying, why eat with other guys when I’m here. It’s irritating.”
Yoo Seong-woo finally understood the implication in his words.
Jealousy.
His emotion detection function, which seemed to be malfunctioning, was working this time.
To gain his favor, he should immediately apologize and suggest having a meal, but strangely, Yoo Seong-woo’s face also flushed and he couldn’t speak.
Wasn’t this a person who could change bed partners daily if he wanted? And he actually did so. So why would he have a reason to be jealous of him? Isn’t jealousy something people do when they have nothing to want for?
‘Your function as an entertainment android is stronger than I thought…’
He didn’t know why only this part worked properly. Of course, that’s probably why he received Yeon Tae-soo’s protection.
“What do you like? I noticed you ate jeyuk-bokkeum well before. And kimchi-jjigae.”
His hands, wandering around the animal hospital and touching this and that, seemed oddly out of place. Yeon Tae-soo muttered a small curse, “Ah, shit.” He even scolded himself harshly, thinking he should have suggested something expensive, calling himself an idiot.
Is there anyone who dislikes jeyuk-bokkeum and kimchi-jjigae? Putting aside such doubts, Yoo Seong-woo nodded.
“Yes, I like them.”
Somehow, he thought they might taste even better today. Because Eden’s chef is skilled. Yes, that’s all.
Yeon Tae-soo’s gaze, which had been wandering to distant mountains, returned to him. He smiled faintly. It was a brief smile, but it was vivid.
Feeling his body temperature rise, Yoo Seong-woo stood up, saying he would tidy up. Yeon Tae-soo told him to take his time and sat in the guardian’s chair. The fact that it was 4:30 in the afternoon, too early for dinner, was not mentioned by either of them.
In Yeon Tae-soo’s hand was a camellia flower he had carved, but Yoo Seong-woo didn’t bother to take it away.
***
After the day they ate jeyuk-bokkeum and kimchi-jjigae, Yeon Tae-soo started guarding him instead of the men.
Even though he seemed very busy, he volunteered to be Yoo Seong-woo’s escort. It seemed he was also constantly receiving calls from the military police. He took all such calls right next to Yoo Seong-woo.
Suddenly, Yoo Seong-woo realized that he was hiding almost nothing from him anymore. He didn’t go out to take phone calls but received them right in the hospital. He shared Eden’s internal situations or conversations with the military police as if talking to himself.
At some point, Yoo Seong-woo realized he had entered Yeon Tae-soo’s line. It was both a fence and a protective shield that he willingly provided.
Yet the reason he felt distant was probably due to himself.
While constantly thinking about escaping from him, it’s not pleasant to become closer.
Sensory Sensor Abnormality – Blocking Warning: D-7
He had ordered Centimeneide, a drug that could treat the sensory sensor, but strangely, he wasn’t getting a positive response from President Min, who supplied the medication. Tomorrow was the day she was supposed to come, so he would probably be able to get the medicine then.
It was unlikely, but he had to consider the possibility of not being able to get the medicine.
If so, he had 7 days left. If he couldn’t escape within that time, the outcome was obvious.
“Dr. Yoo, this little one keeps pouncing on me?”
A kitten, scheduled to be hospitalized for a day, was clinging to Yeon Tae-soo’s leg, playing. Strangely, animals seemed to like that man.
“…Didn’t I tell you not to take it out of the hospitalization room?”
“But it kept crying, what could I do?”
“Cats naturally cry.”
Yoo Seong-woo picked up the kitten bravely biting Yeon Tae-soo’s leg and put it back in its original hospitalization room, locking the door. The kitten meowed in what seemed like dissatisfaction.
As he was drawing the blinds to let the kitten rest and letting out a small sigh, Yeon Tae-soo’s face was reflected in the transparent glass door of the adjacent hospitalization room. He had somehow come close. When he turned around, their faces were right in front of each other.
“Do you have any worries these days?”
Yoo Seong-woo didn’t know how to answer Yeon Tae-soo’s question. If he said he had worries, he would tell him to share them, and if he said no, it felt like he would be caught lying.
“You don’t have to say if you don’t want to.”
Yeon Tae-soo said, drawing closer. Those words were so kind and sweet that Yoo Seong-woo almost spilled everything. It was a dangerous kindness. It was also kindness that came from his mistaken belief that he was human, and from not knowing that he had seduced him with his entertainment android functions.
“You don’t have to, but if you ever need to use me for something, tell me then.”
How many people would the king of Eden tell that they could use him? Yoo Seong-woo knew how great a privilege he was receiving. The greater the privilege, the greater the guilt he bore.
Their faces drew closer. He couldn’t avoid him. To be honest, he didn’t want to avoid him.
This shouldn’t happen, this mustn’t happen. Shouldn’t he be pushing him away as much as possible? The self-reproach was weak, and the attraction was strong.
Yeon Tae-soo kissed him. It was an uncharacteristically simple and light kiss. Just a brief touch of the lips before parting. That short kiss made Yoo Seong-woo impatient. If only he would do a little more… Yeon Tae-soo also seemed to be exercising extreme self-control, his hand against the wall clenched into a fist.
Just as the atmosphere had become indescribably heated, there was a thud at Yeon Tae-soo’s feet, and Popo beeped.
– Popo is not a ball! Don’t kick me!
It seemed Yeon Tae-soo had accidentally touched Popo at his feet. Popo bumped its round body against Yeon Tae-soo’s leg repeatedly, as if angry. Seeing its antenna quivering, it seemed to have identified Yeon Tae-soo as an enemy. Yoo Seong-woo was dumbfounded. It had run away when a crazy patient attacked before.
At the same time, the cat in the hospitalization room meowed sharply, “Waaaoong.”
Yeon Tae-soo and Yoo Seong-woo, who had been staring at each other blankly, burst into laughter simultaneously.
Amidst the small commotion, Yoo Seong-woo thought he felt just like a human. A human who could sit side by side with him, laughing and talking, without secrets.
