96.
#Say it. I love you.
Looking back, Hayun was running from the direction of the villa. Wondering what the rush was about, I stared blankly until he suddenly appeared right in front of me, breathing heavily.
“What are you doing here?!”
His voice rose unusually. Upon closer inspection, his face was deeply contorted.
“Just getting some fresh air…”
“You didn’t need to come out this far!”
He seemed particularly flustered. While pondering why he was acting this way, I inadvertently looked down as a wave brushed against my ankle. I was standing too close to the sea. At a glance, it might have looked like I was about to jump into the water.
Even so, why would I…
“Don’t scare me like that.”
Hayun wrapped one arm around Dawoon’s shoulder and pulled him close. Only after being suddenly pulled into his embrace did Dawoon let out a low groan. He now understood why Hayun had been so flustered.
“What kind of absurd thought did you have?”
As Dawoon spoke with a sigh-like tone, Hayun’s arm around his shoulder tightened. He just took deep breaths, as if not wanting to explain in words.
“I thought you had run away.”
After a while, he muttered. Dawoon let out a hollow breath at those words.
“Where would I run to from this remote place? I can’t even drive.”
“So you did think about running away.”
Hayun’s voice sank low. Dawoon didn’t answer. He couldn’t ease Hayun’s mind by saying it wasn’t true; his conscience pricked him. Moreover, Hayun’s arm around his shoulder was trembling slightly. It seemed he had truly thought Dawoon had disappeared. And that fact had made the great Jeong Hayun tremble.
Just because he thought Dawoon might have disappeared.
“Where would I even go?”
As Dawoon answered in a weak voice, Hayun finally let go of his arm and looked down at him. When Dawoon raised his head to meet his gaze, Hayun smiled faintly, but it was a strained smile.
If I really disappeared, he might have a harder time than I thought.
With this thought, Dawoon unconsciously reached out towards Hayun’s face. Just before his fingertips touched Hayun’s cheek, he hesitated, wondering what he was doing, but seeing Hayun’s eyes quietly watching him, he silently swallowed.
Dawoon’s palm slowly cupped Hayun’s cheek. He still didn’t say anything else. He just wanted to reassure the visibly anxious Hayun.
Hayun placed his hand over Dawoon’s hand on his cheek. Now, even if Dawoon wanted to remove his hand, he couldn’t. As he stood there, looking up at Hayun’s face, Hayun slowly tilted his head and leaned in. As the distance closed to an unbearable proximity, Dawoon’s eyes naturally closed.
Their lips met, and a careful, hot sensation pushed into Dawoon’s mouth. In that moment, his heart clenched tight. It wasn’t because he felt repulsed. It just… his heart hurt too much. Feeling his eyes start to sting, he pushed against Hayun’s chest with one hand.
“Stop it.”
Dawoon spoke more gruffly on purpose and turned away. He could feel Hayun approaching and standing beside him, but he didn’t look back.
“Where did you go so early in the morning?”
As Dawoon changed the subject, Hayun chuckled.
“Were you flustered when I wasn’t there?”
The person who had been panicking and at a loss just moments ago was now asking shamelessly. Although he hadn’t been flustered, Dawoon had indeed looked for him. He hadn’t thought about running away at all, despite Hayun’s worries that he might see it as an opportunity.
Well, logically, running away didn’t make sense. Dawoon couldn’t drive, and he didn’t know exactly where they were. Thinking about the route they had taken, it was clear this was a remote place where few people came and went. Besides, even if he ran away from here, he would have to go home when he returned, so what would be the point of escaping?
Jeong Hayun, who was more rational than anyone, had overlooked these facts and panicked just because Dawoon wasn’t immediately visible. That’s what Jeong Dawoon meant to Jeong Hayun.
‘I love you, Dawoon.’
Those words, which Dawoon had thought were crazy, suddenly pressed heavily on his heart.
It shouldn’t be true. Even if it is, how could I possibly answer?
He tried to suppress the surging emotions. Was it because he was away from his daily life? His emotions kept fluctuating unlike usual. He didn’t want to know what those emotions were. It felt like he shouldn’t know.
When they returned to the villa, there was a large paper bag on the living room table. A savory bread smell was wafting from it. It seemed Hayun had gone out to buy bread for breakfast. So this was why he had made such a fuss from early morning.
“If you’re going out to buy bread tomorrow too, let’s go together. I want to choose what I want to eat myself.”
At those words, Hayun turned around, slightly raised the corners of his mouth, and reached out to ruffle Dawoon’s hair.
In truth, the bread didn’t matter at all. Dawoon just didn’t want something like today to happen again. He didn’t want to see Jeong Hayun’s unexpected weak side again. Jeong Hayun always had to be stronger and more upright than anyone else. That way, Dawoon would feel less sorry.
***
After finishing a simple breakfast, Hayun asked if Dawoon wanted to go for a drive. Dawoon agreed, not wanting to stay at the villa all day.
“Shall we do some sightseeing?”
Hayun asked, handing over a Jeju Island tourist map. He must have brought it when he went out to buy bread in the morning. Unfolding the map and scanning it, there were many places marked, but none that piqued Dawoon’s curiosity enough to want to visit.
“Do as you like, hyung.”
Dawoon answered halfheartedly, and Hayun chuckled as if he had expected that response, then started the car. At that time, Dawoon thought they would just drive around aimlessly. He didn’t expect Hayun to actually want to properly explore famous tourist spots.
The first place they went was a media art exhibition hall. They arrived early and entered as soon as it opened, so there weren’t many people. Thanks to that, they could look around leisurely. Hayun certainly knew Dawoon’s tastes well. Although Dawoon had entered without much thought, he soon became absorbed in the ten or so diverse media art exhibits creating light and sound in the grand space of about 1,400 pyeong. He was so engrossed in following the flow of light that he didn’t even notice Hayun taking pictures of him.
After leaving the media art exhibition, the next place they headed to was an aviary where they could touch and experience hawks, owls, parrots, and other birds up close.
“We’re not kids, why are we here?”
When they first entered, Dawoon had said this was a place you should bring children to, and that Haram would probably like it if they brought him next time. However, as they looked around and he fed a small parrot that climbed onto his hand, he enjoyed it like a child.
“Did you see that just now?”
Dawoon excitedly turned to Hayun and shouted after seeing a lovebird climb onto his palm to eat and then leave. Hayun nodded with a smile. It had been a really long time since he had seen Jeong Dawoon smile so brightly in front of him. Even though Dawoon was over twenty, not Haram, he still had childlike aspects. Usually, he tried to act more mature, conscious of Haram.
“Hello. Hello.”
A parrot as big as an arm looked at Dawoon and Hayun and repeated the same words.
“Huh? Did it just say hello?”
Dawoon approached the parrot with wide eyes.
“Hi.”
When Dawoon greeted it, the parrot tilted its head and replied, “Say it.”
“Wow, it talks! What else can it do?”
Dawoon asked as if the parrot could understand him.
“Peek-a-boo.”
As if it had been waiting, the parrot said something different, and Dawoon’s eyes grew even wider. Then he burst out laughing.
“Something else, say something else.”
He couldn’t leave the talking parrot. Meanwhile, other passing children gathered in front of the parrot.
“Hello. Hello.”
As the parrot repeatedly spoke, the children were amazed. Among those children around ten years old, Dawoon also smiled with the same expression. Even after the children were called away by their parents, Dawoon didn’t think of moving from there. Hayun didn’t hurry him either. Since Dawoon was enjoying himself, Hayun wanted to let him watch as much as he wanted.
“Say it, peek-a-boo, hi, hello. Is that all it can say?”
After watching for a while, Dawoon seemed to realize that the parrot’s words were set. Hayun, who had been silently watching until then, held out food to the parrot and said, “I love you.” The parrot, after eating the food, tilted its head and then turned to look at Dawoon, not Hayun.
“I love you. I love you.”
Dawoon froze at the parrot’s sudden confession. He looked back and forth between Hayun, who had taught the parrot that phrase, and the parrot, his expression hardening slightly as he turned his head away.
“You’re not going to repeat that one?”
Until now, Dawoon had repeated everything the parrot said, trying to hear the same words again. But this time, he tried to ignore it.
Because if I say it, it would feel like I’m saying it to him, not the parrot.
Hayun guessed why Dawoon was turning away.
“Say it. Say it. I love you. I love you.”
As if it had been waiting, the parrot repeated the two words. Glancing back, Hayun saw that Dawoon’s nape and earlobes were turning bright red.
“Let’s go now.”
As Dawoon turned abruptly, a gentle smile spread across Hayun’s lips.
