#8
The person standing at a distance, busily typing something on their phone, suddenly looked up at the group calling out to them.
“You’re the new student who joined after our level test, right? We usually don’t accept new students then, so I remember because it was unusual. You’ve been dozing off without saying a word since earlier, so we couldn’t even talk to you. Have you eaten anything?”
“Come on! We’ll order you some doenjang jjigae at least.”
The group disappeared into the restaurant first. The person left standing alone quickly sent the message they were composing on their phone.
[Driver Yoon just picked him up. Drunk. Nothing unusual.]
As they were about to put the phone in their pocket and head to the restaurant, it suddenly vibrated. Startled, they took out the phone again to check the screen.
A reply had arrived. It was the first time they had ever received a response, as usually they only sent one-way reports.
[Who sent this message?]
[<Forwarded message: This is Donidwaejisikdang on Yeonju-ro 11~>]
Lost in thought while looking at the reply, they suddenly realized something. They remembered the person who had taken Hyeon-woo’s phone and typed the address for him. It must have been the message sent by that person wearing a black beanie.
They hurriedly opened the keyboard and quickly typed out the personal information of the individual they had already investigated.
[Age 21, enrolled in a college prep academy for 1 year and 2 months, aiming for Korea University, Architecture major, Beta, has a girlfriend of 2 years, serious relationship.]
After sending it, they anxiously waited to see if another reply would come, but fortunately, that was the end of it.
Finally putting the phone in their pocket, the man walked towards the restaurant.
*
“We’ve arrived.”
Hyeon-woo, who had dozed off, woke up to Driver Yoon’s voice shaking his shoulder.
“We’re here…?”
“Yes.”
Driver Yoon opened the back door and waited for Hyeon-woo to get out. Forcing his blurry eyes to focus, Hyeon-woo got up and stepped outside. The ground seemed to sway like waves, making him dizzy.
Looking down, Hyeon-woo saw the spotlessly clean toe of a black dress shoe. Following the shoe up with his gaze, he found the butler standing before him with a stern face.
“Oh…! Butler!”
The butler’s eye wrinkles deepened at the sight of Hyeon-woo grinning foolishly and reeking of alcohol.
“Just how much did you drink…!”
“What’s wrong~ I had dinner with my academy friends today. Tae-geon allowed it, you know?”
“……”
The butler fell silent at the mention of the young master’s permission.
“By the way, I heard Jerome’s teacher came today?”
“Yes, she did.”
The butler looked disapprovingly at Hyeon-woo, who was managing to say everything despite his slurred speech. Although the butler had stopped speaking formally to Hyeon-woo at some point, his strict attitude remained unchanged. However, Hyeon-woo no longer found the butler’s demeanor unpleasant.
“She’s still in the reception room. It seems she fell into the stream while touring the mansion grounds with the young master, so her clothes are all wet. We tried to offer her a change of clothes, but we didn’t have anything suitable, and she said she’d wait until they dried.”
“Ah….”
Hyeon-woo nodded. Come to think of it, it was unlikely that the mansion would have clothes that fit the teacher, who was a full span shorter than him and had a much smaller build.
“…None of my clothes would fit her either….”
It seemed she had slipped on the moss-covered stepping stones. Although the weather had become much warmer, knowing how icy cold the stream water in Neungra Mountain could be, Hyeon-woo felt worried.
“What if she catches a cold.”
The butler looked at the mumbling Hyeon-woo with an exasperated expression. He hurriedly led Hyeon-woo to the reception room, as if to see how he would react after seeing the state Jerome’s teacher was in with his own eyes.
When the butler opened the reception room door wide, Hyeon-woo froze at the sight before him.
Jerome’s kindergarten teacher, who had been burying her face in the sleeves of Tae-geon’s coat draped over her body and inhaling its scent, jumped up in surprise at Hyeon-woo’s sudden appearance.
“J-Jerome’s father…!”
“……”
To say she was wearing Tae-geon’s blazer would be an understatement. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say her entire body was enveloped in Tae-geon’s coat. Seeing her in this state, Hyeon-woo’s stunned mind quickly flashed back to an actress’s interview he had seen on TV recently.
‘He draped the coat he was wearing over my shoulders. At that moment, I felt something like a deep sense of security as I was enveloped by a warm and comforting pheromone I had never smelled before. That’s when I knew. I realized this person was my destiny.’
For a moment, Hyeon-woo felt dizzy.
The butler, who had stepped aside to a corner, watched the confrontation between the two with a nervous heart.
“…Hello, teacher.”
Hyeon-woo managed to compose himself and greeted the teacher politely.
“Ah, hello.”
“I’m sorry for greeting you so late… I had another appointment today.”
“No, it’s fine!”
Every time the teacher waved her hands, the oversized sleeves of Tae-geon’s coat fluttered. Hyeon-woo’s gaze fixed on them.
He had felt fine outside in the cool air earlier, but maybe it was because they were indoors now. His alcohol-flushed mind felt hot. He felt like he might lose his ability to speak if he let his guard down any further. Barely holding onto his reason, Hyeon-woo spoke kindly.
“…I heard your clothes got wet. Would you like to change into something of mine?”
“Oh, it’s okay! They’re mostly dry now, so I was about to leave.”
The teacher hurriedly started gathering her things.
“…You’re going to leave… wearing that?”
“Yes, oh, yes! I thought I should return it after washing it…. It got quite dirty from me wearing it while wet all this time.”
“…All this time….”
Hyeon-woo mumbled blankly before quickly adding,
“Teacher, let me get you my coat. The one you’re wearing now is too big and must be uncomfortable. It doesn’t look very good either.”
“No, it’s fine-”
“Please do as he says, teacher. Laundry is this old man’s job, so please don’t worry about it.”
With even the butler, who had been standing back, now supporting Hyeon-woo, the teacher had no choice but to comply and was about to take off the blazer she was wearing.
Just then, Tae-geon, who had returned late after putting Jerome to bed, appeared in the reception room. Hyeon-woo approached Tae-geon, who was raising an eyebrow at the strange atmosphere surrounding Hyeon-woo and the teacher, reeking of alcohol.
“The teacher says she’s leaving now. Let’s see her off, honey.”
Everyone, including the butler, the teacher, and Tae-geon, stared at Hyeon-woo in shock at that last word, spoken while affectionately linking arms with Tae-geon.
Hyeon-woo turned to the butler and said,
“Oh, butler! Could you please bring one of my coats?”
“Yes, of course.”
The butler, who had responded to Hyeon-woo with utmost politeness, left the room.
“Teacher, please come this way. I’ll show you out.”
Hyeon-woo stepped forward, leading Tae-geon, who had frozen in bewilderment.
As they stepped outside the mansion, Driver Yoon, who had apparently been contacted by the butler in advance, was waiting with the car and opened the back door to greet the teacher.
“I’ll take you home, ma’am.”
Just before the teacher got into the car, the butler appeared with Hyeon-woo’s cardigan and offered it to her. However, the teacher adamantly refused and handed Tae-geon’s coat, which she had taken off earlier, to the butler.
“…I think I’ve been very rude…”
The teacher, embarrassed for numerous reasons, couldn’t lift her face in front of everyone.
“Because I, I foolishly fell in the stream, and also…”
The unspoken words – that she had coveted someone she shouldn’t have – didn’t need to be said aloud to be understood.
Hyeon-woo noticed the teacher’s gaze moving back and forth between Tae-geon’s and his own empty ring fingers in confusion. Add to that Jerome’s blue eyes, and she must have subconsciously assumed there was a separate biological father, never suspecting that Tae-geon, called uncle, and Hyeon-woo were in that kind of relationship.
“Please continue to take good care of our Jerome.”
Hyeon-woo took his cardigan from the butler and draped it over her shoulders. He didn’t want to deeply reproach her when she was genuinely embarrassed and at a loss for what to do.
“It gets cold at night. Please wear this.”
“Thank you…”
The teacher’s face looked more at ease as she nodded her thanks for Hyeon-woo’s warm kindness. Soon, the door closed and the car started.
As Hyeon-woo watched the sedan’s taillights disappear into the distance for a long time, Tae-geon’s arms, which were about to embrace him from behind, were thrown into empty air. Hyeon-woo harshly pushed Tae-geon away and snorted as he walked off.
Tae-geon, who had been looking at Hyeon-woo with a puzzled expression at his sudden change in attitude from the affectionate “honey” earlier, was approached by the butler who gave him a meaningful look. Urged on by the butler’s repeated chin gestures telling him to follow quickly, Tae-geon hesitantly approached Hyeon-woo.
“…Are you angry?”
“……”
Without even glancing at Tae-geon, Hyeon-woo abruptly changed direction and walked the other way. Each time, Tae-geon desperately followed Hyeon-woo like a puppy afraid of being abandoned.
“Don’t follow me!”
Hyeon-woo shouted.
“Tell me why you’re angry.”
“You’re asking because you don’t know?”
“……”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
