He grabbed Sa Gong-hyun’s hand that hung down. He gently held the edge of his hand. His hand was ice-cold, as if someone had stolen his body heat. Jae-young willingly shared his own warmth without hesitation.
Sa Gong-hyun sat down on a chair on the terrace and put a cigarette in his mouth. His foot, connected to his long crossed legs, moved slowly up and down.
The air cutting through the deep dawn was dry and profound. It was a dawn that matched quite well with the hazily scattered cigarette smoke. Jae-young blinked absently as he faced the cool breeze.
“I think it’s nice that it’s not cold even though it’s night. The wind is gentle and cool, it feels like we’re on a trip somewhere. You probably can’t feel that, right?”
He smiled brightly toward Sa Gong-hyun. He didn’t smile back at Jae-young. Even his foot, which had been moving slightly, had already stopped. He looked at Jae-young with sharp eyes and took a deep drag of his cigarette.
So Jae-young didn’t speak to him anymore. He turned his gaze to Ver, who had placed his front paws on the edge of the terrace and was wagging his tail.
There was a staircase connecting the terrace and the yard right next to them, but Ver didn’t try to come up.
Slowly approaching Ver, Jae-young crouched down in front of him. Even though he was squatting, the height of the terrace meant their eye levels didn’t match.
“Did Ver wake up from sleep too?”
Ver stuck out his tongue and panted heavily. That appearance seemed like he wanted to play, or perhaps wanted to be touched. Actually, that was just how Jae-young felt; he didn’t really think the dog was breathing heavily with such intentions.
Unlike last time, the dog’s eyes looked innocent. He wasn’t taking an aggressive stance either. Jae-young wondered if it was okay for him to change so suddenly.
Was it because he was a dog? Or did he only guard against people he was seeing for the first time? If not that, then perhaps he considered Jae-young harmless since his owner had let him into the house without concern.
From what he’d observed, Ver didn’t seem to have any reason to be mistreated. Seeing how much he liked people, it seemed like the previous incident happened because he wasn’t properly trained. Swallowing heavily, Jae-young recalled Sa Gong-hyun’s words.
Suddenly feeling sweat gathering in his palm, he rubbed his hand against his pants. Suppressing his nervousness, he brought his hand close to Ver’s nose.
He didn’t make a single sound, afraid the dog might suddenly turn and bite him. He was mindful of every noise, down to the sound of his shoe sole scraping the terrace floor.
He felt breath on his palm as if the dog was sniffing. The way Ver moved his head from side to side and pawed at the terrace floor with his front paws seemed like he wanted to smell more. Despite swallowing heavily, Jae-young moved his hand even closer.
Ver’s moist nose touched his palm. After sniffing Jae-young’s scent, Ver stuck out his tongue and licked his palm. It felt strange. Too wet, slick, and moist.
“Hyun-ssi, look. Ver is…”
Jae-young turned his head back with a brief smile. The cigarette smell had faded, and Sa Gong-hyun was sitting with his eyes closed, his face serene.
Of all things… even sleeping, he looks handsome. Chewing on his slightly peevish inner thoughts, Jae-young looked down at Ver. Their eyes met, the dog’s gaze clear.
“Ver, your dad is sleeping.”
No longer giving attention, he withdrew his hand. Ver lowered his front paws and began wandering around the terrace. Jae-young stood up, slowly surveying the yard.
He went inside the house and found the room Sa Gong-hyun had come from. He picked up a blanket from the bed and scanned the surroundings. The room was as empty inside as the bedroom where Jae-young had lain. Yet somehow it felt suffocating.
“What… There’s no window.”
He’d felt something stifling and stuffy, and now he realized what that discomfort was. Above the bed’s headboard, instead of a window, hung a single frame.
Jae-young gently picked up the edge of the frame. Though the frame wasn’t large enough to cover a window, he checked just in case.
When he lifted the edge of the frame, there was a wall behind it instead of a window. He pressed firmly on the wall once. It felt less solid than expected.
“Was it blocked off?”
It was strange. The house didn’t seem poorly constructed, but this room specifically had no windows.
How can someone live without sunlight? Does he have some mental illness? Numerous suspicions flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed them. It wasn’t his concern.
Frowning, Jae-young finished scanning the room and returned to the terrace. He covered Sa Gong-hyun with the blanket and gazed blankly at his closed eyes.
“…Sleep well.”
He looked just like a photograph. The surrounding air was too desolate to call it a pictorial. He resembled a count living alone in a dreary mansion that no one cared for.
After standing there for a while observing Sa Gong-hyun, Jae-young slowly turned his body. He sat down on the stairs connecting the terrace to the yard. Ver, who had been wandering around, lay down beside the stairs, pressing his body against them. Parting his lips, Jae-young exhaled a long breath and leaned his upper body back.
The night sky was visible. No stars could be found anywhere, and a solitary moon shone dimly in the darkness.
Looking for stars buried in the darkness, Jae-young recalled the camera he had discovered earlier.
The reason why cameras existed on the second floor when there were none on the first floor. Pondering this reason, he heaved a deep sigh. If he had known from the beginning that there were cameras on the second floor, he would have sought other methods before searching the first floor.
Although it was the optimal situation to thoroughly inspect the house, knowing that something was monitoring him somewhere inside, he couldn’t move rashly.
Unwittingly, an irritated breath escaped through his teeth. He stretched his arms out to both sides.
Having stayed up until this hour, drowsiness overcame him. Jae-young finally allowed his eyelids to close.
The weather was good, so he didn’t think he would catch a cold sleeping outside. In truth, he might feel colder when dawn broke, but he breathed easily.
Jae-young fell asleep just like that. Unaware that Sa Gong-hyun, who had been keeping his eyes closed all along, had reopened them.
***
When he opened his eyes, Jae-young was lying on a bed. Moreover, in that room where he had previously had relations with Sa Gong-hyun, alone.
He lifted the blanket and got up, moving his feet out of bed. His soles felt the cold air. After roughly running his hand through his hair, he tilted his stiff neck backward to stretch it.
There were no particular sounds from outside. What time is it? He searched for his phone, then belatedly remembered it was in his coat.
What should I do now? His head hurt. He couldn’t freely look around the house. To finish cleanly in one go, it seemed like he needed a camera that could record for a long time rather than a specialized one. Since the camera was at Seung-kwon’s house, he needed to find a place where he could hide it secretly.
Jae-young rubbed his eyes and got up from where he was sitting. He opened the door and looked around the living room.
Sa Gong-hyun was probably not at home. He had mentioned being busy these days, and there was a previous instance where he had gone to work leaving Jae-young alone, so the likelihood was high.
Now he understood why Sa Gong-hyun had left him alone in the house back then. Besides not knowing where the ledger was kept, there were cameras secretly installed. He probably would have been exposed quickly before properly searching the rooms.
With an irritated expression, Jae-young crossed the threshold. As he had felt before, Sa Gong-hyun’s house was surprisingly empty. All the places were conspicuous for placing cameras. Though the color might blend in at a glance.
Maybe I should give him a gift. Like a plant pot. There were many skilled people around Seung-kwon, so producing one probably wouldn’t be too difficult.
Wealthy families often kept ledgers in their studies. The place they stayed longest apart from when sleeping. Judging from the camera locations, the study was likely on the second floor. There was also a high possibility it was close to the bedroom.
No matter how he thought about it, giving a gift suitable for placement in the study was appropriate. Moreover, since he didn’t know the exact location, he needed to aim for a time when the relationship deepened and he could step in at least once.
What would be a good gift? It seemed better to decide after consulting with his group about the list.
Looking around the first floor, Jae-young found the bathroom, quickly washed his face, and came out. He also fixed his hair and found a toothbrush to finish brushing his teeth.
Returning to the living room, he picked up the coat he had left on the sofa. He took out his phone and checked the time. It was a little past 9 o’clock. Just as he was about to leave the house, the front door, which had been closed, opened with a click. Sa Gong-hyun entered, wet with moisture.
Jae-young stared at Sa Gong-hyun with round eyes. Apparently, he had been out exercising.
“Where are you going?”
Sa Gong-hyun asked naturally, waking Jae-young up. Jae-young, who had been awkwardly blinking with wide eyes, moved his lips.
“…I was going to go home. I thought you’d gone to work and left me again.”
When the dumbfounded response followed, Sa Gong-hyun laughed briefly. His lip corners, which didn’t extend freely and awkwardly lengthened, were noticeable.
“I have no intention of letting Do Jae-young-ssi go.”
“What?”
“Do you have a prior engagement?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
