Chapter 139
With those words, the two slowly walked towards the parking lot.
After walking a bit, they reached the place where Seo-jung had first met Cha Yoon. It seemed the production team had taken one of the cars, as one of the parked cars in front and back was missing. And as luck would have it, the missing car was the one Seo-jung had driven.
Do we have to ride in Cha Yoon’s car? As his calm heartbeat began to quicken slightly, he heard:
“Seo-jung hyung.”
Turning his head at the sound of his name, he saw Cha Yoon pointing at the sky, just as he had done at the X House.
“The weather’s nice, shall we walk to the restaurant?”
“…”
“Looking at the address, it doesn’t seem too far from here.”
What do you want to do? Cha Yoon asked, as if he would follow Seo-jung’s decision. Seo-jung blinked slowly. He noticed that this was Cha Yoon’s consideration for him. He couldn’t help but understand that it was Cha Yoon’s way of saying he understood Seo-jung’s anxiety and deep guilt, and that he would wait until Seo-jung was okay.
Seo-jung knew too. That trauma doesn’t disappear just by avoiding it. That it’s ultimately an issue one has to overcome on their own. But he was still too scared and overwhelmed to face it properly, remaining in the same place.
Nevertheless, Cha Yoon didn’t push Seo-jung. Instead, he naturally reached out his hand, as if saying he would wait until Seo-jung could stand up on his own.
Suppressing his heavy heart, Seo-jung finally nodded. While grateful for Cha Yoon’s consideration, the deep understanding contained within it heavily shook his heart.
“Let’s go quickly.”
Cha Yoon nodded as soon as he understood Seo-jung’s answer. The two walked towards their destination, matching their pace.
***
As Cha Yoon had said, the restaurant wasn’t too far. When they opened the door, they saw the interior of the restaurant with a distinctly exotic atmosphere. A staff member who had been waiting greeted the two and guided them to their seats. In the restaurant with no other customers, the two sat facing each other and checked the menus placed in front of them.
“What are you going to eat?”
“I’ll have this.”
Seo-jung pointed to the text written on the menu. Cha Yoon nodded after checking where Seo-jung’s finger was pointing and called the waiter. After finishing their order, Cha Yoon naturally set the table.
A while later, the food they ordered arrived. The waiter placed the food on the table and stepped back.
“Enjoy your meal.”
“You too, hyung.”
Hearing Cha Yoon’s voice, Seo-jung picked up his spoon. But a problem arose. Whether it was because of too many spices, as soon as he took a bite, all kinds of flavors vibrated in his mouth. Seo-jung frowned after taking a spoonful of the clear soup. Cha Yoon immediately caught this.
“What’s wrong? Does it not suit your taste?”
“Ah, the spice smell is a bit strong.”
As Seo-jung reached for his water glass, Cha Yoon poured and handed him water as if he had been waiting to serve. Seo-jung emptied the glass of water in one go. Just one spoonful of soup, and a whole glass of water. Even though he hadn’t eaten much, he already felt full. Unable to muster the courage to eat more, he couldn’t pick up the spoon he had put down. That’s when he heard Cha Yoon’s voice.
“Let’s switch with mine.”
“What?”
“Mine doesn’t have that smell, so let’s switch. I haven’t touched it yet.”
Whether he had touched the food or not wasn’t important. How long had they been together for Seo-jung to care about such things? Rather, Seo-jung hesitated because:
“You don’t like spices much either, Cha Yoon-ssi.”
“Still, I can eat it better than you, so give it to me quickly.”
“…”
“I deliberately ordered something different from you just in case, so we could switch if you couldn’t eat it. So it’s fine.”
Cha Yoon, who said this had been his plan from the start, held out his hand as if urging Seo-jung to switch with him. But Seo-jung still just stared at that hand blankly, showing no sign of movement.
Finally, Cha Yoon took the initiative. He placed the bowl that was in front of him in front of Seo-jung and brought Seo-jung’s bowl, which was vibrating with the smell of spices, in front of himself.
Unlike Seo-jung, who frowned at having his food stolen in an instant, Cha Yoon had a triumphant expression as if he had won a victory.
“You must be hungry, eat quickly.”
Just as Cha Yoon, who had taken care of Seo-jung once more, was about to start eating with his chopsticks, the bowl disappeared from in front of him before he could even pick up the noodles. When he raised his head to find the missing bowl, he saw Seo-jung pushing the bowl aside.
Just as he was about to ask what he was doing, he was interrupted by the sound of the bell attached to the table. Soon after, a waiter who had heard the bell sound came to the table.
“Could you recommend a dish with less spice smell if possible? We both don’t really like spices.”
“All the menus below are generally well-liked by most people without much controversy.”
“Then please give us this and this. And please clear these bowls.”
After the waiter who took the order left, Seo-jung pushed the bowl that had been right in front of him to the center and lifted his side plate.
“What’s the need to forcibly eat food you don’t like? We can just order something else.”
“…”
“Let’s share this while we wait for the new dishes to be prepared.”
With those words, there was a clattering sound, and a side plate with fried rice was placed in front of Cha Yoon. Cha Yoon, who had been looking at the heaping mound of fried rice, soon raised the corners of his mouth.
In the early part of the meal, Cha Yoon’s one-sided voice continued with things like, “Hyung, you don’t like ripe pineapple, right? I’ll eat this for you,” and “This tastes good when wrapped in rice paper. Try eating it like this.”
Each time, Seo-jung flinched and looked around. But later, as if he had become accustomed to the atmosphere, he occasionally took care of Cha Yoon, saying things like, “Cha Yoon-ssi, do you want one more of these?” and “Should I order more mango juice? You seem to be enjoying it.” Thanks to this, Cha Yoon was able to leave the restaurant with a much more satisfied expression than when he entered.
The rest of the date was like any other date. After eating, the two found a cafe.
Was it because he was sitting face to face with Cha Yoon? The longer he looked into Cha Yoon’s eyes, the less Seo-jung cared about the cameras he had been so conscious of, or the gazes of others including the production team. He could only see Cha Yoon in front of him. The two spent time alone for a long while and only left the cafe when the day was starting to get dark.
Seeing the darkened sky, Seo-jung was a bit puzzled. The sky that had been bright when they entered the cafe had already set.
The setting of the day meant that the time given to the two had ended. It meant they had to return to the X House now. But their feet were reluctant to move. Regret. Yes, the emotion Seo-jung was feeling now was regret.
Certainly, today’s date wasn’t much different from the many dates Seo-jung had been on since entering the X House. But the fact that it was with Cha Yoon made it incomparably special.
This morning, when he found out Cha Yoon was his date partner, his bewilderment and worry had long since evaporated.
“It’s already night.”
And as if Seo-jung wasn’t the only one feeling this way, Cha Yoon’s voice was heard.
“There’s a beach nearby.”
“…”
“Shall we walk a bit before going back?”
Seo-jung understood that this was an extension of the promise he had made with Cha Yoon in the morning. Although the official date was over, this was a promise they had made beforehand, so wouldn’t this much be okay? His wavering reason finally surrendered, and at the same time, Seo-jung’s head moved.
“Alright.”
After walking a bit, the beach soon spread out before their eyes. The two walked along the beach after sunset at a much slower pace than usual. Their footsteps were tinged with the desire for this time to last even a little longer.
After walking for a while listening to the crashing waves, Cha Yoon suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“What’s wrong?”
Despite Seo-jung’s question, Cha Yoon bent down without giving any particular answer. And soon he picked up something and raised the corner of his mouth. What Cha Yoon had picked up was a small seashell. The reddish shell looked like a heart shape at a glance. As Seo-jung was looking at it with curious eyes, wondering how he had found that in the dark sandy beach, Cha Yoon placed the seashell he had picked up on Seo-jung’s palm. When Seo-jung looked at him as if to ask why he was giving this to him, Cha Yoon quickly provided the answer.
“It’s a gift.”
“…”
“Thank you for hanging out with me today.”
“…”
“If you come to me later holding this, I’ll grant you a wish.”
Don’t lose it, because I don’t give this to just anyone. Seo-jung looked down at the seashell on his palm after hearing Cha Yoon’s words. The reddish shell seemed to glow strangely even in the darkness. As he was silently looking at his palm for a long time…
A transparent droplet fell on the seashell. What’s this? Seo-jung raised his head to look at the sky. At that moment, another droplet fell on Seo-jung’s cheek. It was rain.
It seemed Cha Yoon had also been hit by raindrops as he rubbed his eyes. While Seo-jung was flustered, the thin raindrops gradually thickened and fell on both of their bodies.
Cha Yoon, seeming to think this wouldn’t do, took off the jacket he was wearing and covered Seo-jung’s head with it. Then he grabbed Seo-jung’s hand. Seo-jung didn’t have time to think about shaking off Cha Yoon’s hand holding his.
“Hyung, let’s run!”
As soon as Cha Yoon’s words ended, the two started running hand in hand. Even as they ran frantically, leaping over the slippery sand wet with rain, Cha Yoon’s warmth was clearly transmitted through their hands.
After running for a while in the rain, they finally got into the car. The two sat down and caught their breath.
Even as he caught his breath, Seo-jung’s heart was filled with a strange emotion. The warmth he felt while running in the rain seemed to still remain on his palm. Even though they had been soaked by the rain, his hand still felt hot.
While Seo-jung was still lingering in that moment of running through the rain, Cha Yoon, who had turned to face him, removed his jacket covering Seo-jung’s head and checked his condition. Thanks to Cha Yoon’s measure, except for the wet ends of his pants, Seo-jung’s body was dry as if he had been under an umbrella.
“Are you cold?”
Come to think of it, Cha Yoon was the one who got wetter. Of course. All Cha Yoon had on his body after taking off his jacket was a white T-shirt. Nevertheless, Cha Yoon was only concerned about Seo-jung. As if his own body didn’t matter. Seo-jung shook his head.
“I’m fine. You’re the problem, you’re soaked.”
“I don’t care. As long as you’re okay.”
As if he couldn’t believe Seo-jung’s words that he was fine, Cha Yoon even turned on the light in the car and carefully examined him. Only after confirming that there were no particularly wet areas did he lean back. A smile of relief flowed across his face.
So Seo-jung had to take care of Cha Yoon. Seo-jung looked at the ends of Cha Yoon’s hair wet with rain, then took out a tissue from the glove compartment and handed it to him. Cha Yoon took the tissue and wiped the raindrops clinging to the ends of his hair.
“Ah, but that was kind of fun.”
“What did you say?”
Is this fun? Getting soaked like this. He was dumbfounded by the childish words. Despite Seo-jung’s expression of disbelief, Cha Yoon didn’t care.
“We’ve never done anything like this before.”
“…”
“Come to think of it, we did so many things we’ve never done before today. Getting caught in the rain together, going to a place like a workshop.”
Satisfaction was evident on his playful face. Seo-jung couldn’t take his eyes off Cha Yoon’s curved lips.
What brought Seo-jung back to reality was a call from the production team. Due to the unexpected rain situation, the production team decided to intervene.
“Looks like we can go home comfortably without driving.”
Cha Yoon shrugged his shoulders, turned up the heater temperature, and turned the wind direction towards Seo-jung, saying,
“So just relax and enjoy the heater while we wait to go home.”
Although he was saying it indirectly, it seemed to mean that Seo-jung didn’t need to worry because he wouldn’t have to take the wheel. Understanding the meaning of Cha Yoon’s words, Seo-jung slowly nodded.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
