Chapter 133
His skin, which hadn’t received proper sunlight all winter, glowed with a whiteness bordering on transparency, and his jet-black hair contrasted with his pale skin, creating a mystical atmosphere. The moment his obsidian-like black eyes met Hyeon-woo’s gaze, Hyeon-woo felt as if he couldn’t breathe, like a fish pierced by a harpoon.
That sensation lingered, refusing to fade from memory.
Hyeon-woo felt not just affection and attachment towards Tae-geon, who was learning about the world through him, but even a sense of humanitarian mission. It felt as if his reason for existence was solely for Tae-geon. His will to live surged more fiercely than ever before. His chest and mind boiled with an inexplicable heat.
I’ll stay by your side.
I’ll protect you.
I’ll always be with you.
Numerous promises were etched over and over on his pounding heart.
Was it nostalgia for those cherished times when they wholly belonged to each other? Or was it lingering attachment to empty vows that had turned to foam? Hyeon-woo couldn’t ignore this mansion that exuded the same scent as back then. His yearning for the truth deepened with each passing day.
However, there was no certainty about when Kwon Hak-gyu would visit this place again, or if he would return at all. Just as Hyeon-woo had resigned himself to an indefinite wait, Kwon Hak-gyu appeared before him again, about a month later.
Late at night, as Hyeon-woo was taking his suppressants, he heard the same car exhaust sound from the previous dawn. Approaching the window and pulling back the curtain, he saw a familiar car arriving in front of the mansion. He observed the silhouette of the person getting out of the driver’s seat.
Yes. It was definitely the one he had been waiting for.
It was Kwon Hak-gyu, appearing again after a month.
*
Screech-!
The suddenly braked tires screamed as they scraped the asphalt. Kwon Hak-gyu, who had hurriedly stepped on the brakes, felt his heart drop.
As always, he was on his way home secretly in the early dawn after finishing work. Just as he left the mansion and reached the entrance road lined with streetlights on both sides, he nearly had a major accident due to something standing firmly on the road.
Opening his tightly closed eyes and focusing ahead, he saw a black figure blocking his path with arms spread wide. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a ghost but a person. That was frightening in its own way. A person at this time, in this place…
As Hak-gyu’s heart pounded, he carefully scanned the figure before him, and his heart sank once again.
“…!”
Hak-gyu thought he had finally gone senile, driven mad by his sins. Otherwise, how could Han Hyeon-woo, that child, be here?
However, as if to wake Hak-gyu from the notion that this was neither senility nor hallucination, the figure approached the driver’s seat and spoke in a clear voice while knocking on the window.
“It’s been a while, sir.”
Hyeon-woo was holding a lantern in one hand.
“I’ve been waiting here just for you, sir.”
*
They sat side by side on a moss-covered wooden bench. A white marble fountain could be seen through the dense foliage. Its corroded state in many places was a testament to the years of neglect without proper maintenance.
Hyeon-woo looked around at the desolate surroundings. It must have been a beautiful garden originally. But now, the mansion seemed like a beast’s castle entirely under a curse.
Kwon Hak-gyu’s face was filled with confusion. Hyeon-woo, whom he thought had emigrated to America, had appeared before him like this, so Hak-gyu must have been just as confused.
Under the moonlight, after sitting in silence for a long time, it was Hyeon-woo who first broke the silence between them.
“…I’m sorry, sir. You must have been very surprised.”
“……”
“I did it because I was curious about something. I know you’re busy, so I’ll ask my question quickly.”
Hyeon-woo’s voice sounded firm as he continued.
“I’ve been working here for about three months now. Actually, I saw you at the mansion last month too. You went into the east wing then too, right? As you know, that area is off-limits to employees.”
“……”
“The manager said there was no one there, but that’s not true, is it? There is someone, right? I’m curious. Why did you go into the east wing, what exactly is in there.”
“……”
“I want to know. Please tell me.”
Kwon Hak-gyu’s eyes sank deeply as he realized that Hyeon-woo’s desperate question wasn’t born of simple curiosity.
Hyeon-woo once again felt the weight of the heartless years that had passed as he looked at Kwon Hak-gyu’s wrinkled face and whitened hair, which showed much more maturity than he remembered.
After a long while, Hak-gyu finally opened his mouth. However, what came out wasn’t an answer to the question.
“Hyeon-woo. Are you happy now?”
“…Pardon?”
At this sudden talk of happiness, Hyeon-woo furrowed his brow, and Jerome instantly came to mind.
What was once merely a justification for atoning for his sins had become his reason for living, and was now his everything.
Every day watching Jerome grow was happy. How joyful it was to fall asleep with expectations for tomorrow – for Hyeon-woo, who had fallen to the depths of despair, it was a daily life too precious to measure.
Hyeon-woo stopped trying to read Kwon Hak-gyu’s intentions behind the strange question and answered honestly.
“Yes, I’m happy.”
For some reason, Kwon Hak-gyu’s eyes seemed to sink even deeper at this response. Hyeon-woo waited patiently for the next words. After maintaining a long silence, he finally spoke in a firm voice.
“Then I have no story to tell you.”
“What?”
“……”
“What do you mean by that?”
Hyeon-woo’s face filled with bewilderment as he stood up, following Kwon Hak-gyu who was rising from the bench. What correlation could there possibly be between the truth the east wing was hiding and his own happiness?
“If I had answered that I wasn’t happy, you would have had a story to tell?”
Hyeon-woo retorted somewhat defiantly, unable to comprehend the situation, but Kwon Hak-gyu remained silent and headed towards the car parked in a corner of the bushes. While Hyeon-woo was taken aback by this unexpected response, the sedan had already started.
“Wait a moment, sir!”
He urgently knocked on the car’s hood. But the sedan increased its speed and smoothly exited the forest, leaving Hyeon-woo behind.
A hollow laugh escaped Hyeon-woo’s lips as he watched the back of the departing car with a dumbfounded expression.
As if mocking Hyeon-woo left alone, the screeching sound of an owl echoed through the darkness-engulfed forest.
Kwon Hak-gyu, who disappeared like that, showed up at the mansion again a month later, once again perfectly timed with Hyeon-woo’s heat cycle.
He couldn’t even guess what in their conversation had upset him. Nothing had been resolved, and the questions about the east wing only deepened day by day.
Determined to get answers this time, Hyeon-woo ran with all his might to block the path of the departing car, just like before.
“Sir! Just a moment!”
However, the car easily changed direction to the opposite lane and smoothly drove away, avoiding Hyeon-woo. Being treated like this not once, but twice, sparked unnecessary defiance. Hyeon-woo stared intently into the darkness where the car had disappeared for a long time, panting heavily.
*
“Ouch, it stings.”
His neck, which had brushed against the collar of his uniform, hurt. In the middle of changing clothes, he went into the bathroom to examine his stinging neck in the mirror.
The skin that had been exposed to the hot sun all day while playing with Jerome at the beach was not just red, but peeling like scales. He had been diligent in reapplying sunscreen to Jerome but had neglected his own body, and this was the result.
After applying ointment to the stinging area, he came down to the dining room to have breakfast when Manager Okhee appeared.
“We’ll have guests from outside today.”
The employees who had been focused on their meals looked at the manager with curious faces at these words.
“Please pay special attention to the entrance road, main hall corridor, and reception room. That’s all. Enjoy your meal.”
Hyeon-woo was inwardly surprised at this. It was the first time during his work here that an outside guest was visiting so openly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
