- Commonalities of First Love (6)
“How was your day, Seowoo-ssi?”
“Um…”
My head turned at the sudden question. Since I had been staring at the baked potato the whole time, my answer came out slightly delayed.
“It was good. Also fascinating. It’s not that I’ve never traveled before, but it was my first time using a furnace.”
I’ve been camping with Jihan’s family several times, but the atmosphere was different today. If camping is closer to a well-organized recreational activity, what we did today felt more like living a day in the countryside.
“I think I fumbled around a lot because there was so much I didn’t know, but thankfully everyone helped me.”
After thinking for a moment, I added.
“…It also feels like I played a year’s worth of mini-games today.”
“Hahaha!”
Bae Dojin, who was sitting across from me throwing firewood into the bonfire, smiled and said.
“Seowoo isn’t very good at mini-games. I should say he’s weak at doing things spontaneously.”
“Among the four guests, I think his physical strength and power are also like that?”
I pouted slightly and replied quietly.
“…That’s not me being weak, it’s Jihan being strong.”
The competition to decide which room we’d sleep in tonight was ssireum (Korean wrestling), and unfortunately, my opponent was Jihan. The match was decided after I barely lasted 5 seconds before being flipped over, and Jihan went on to win the entire tournament, getting the largest room.
‘I benefited too since two people share a room.’
Despite consistently training my physical strength since before debut, I couldn’t last even 10 seconds against Jihan, which somewhat hurt my pride.
“I’ll win tomorrow’s mini-game.”
“He looks gentle but is secretly competitive.”
That’s obvious. Who in the world doesn’t want to win?
Turning my head again, I stared intently at the innocent baked potato. Looking at just the black outer skin, it seemed badly burnt, but when I peeled off the dark skin, yellowish flesh was revealed.
When I reached out for the half-peeled potato, Jihan made a hissing sound through his teeth.
“Wait.”
“…”
“You haven’t finished peeling it. How can someone who burned their hand be so fearless?”
“It doesn’t hurt…”
I had slightly burned my hand while making sujebi (hand-pulled dough soup) for dinner, and since then, Jihan had been nagging me whenever I tried to use my hands.
It was just my skin being slightly surprised by the hot steam rising from the pot, and it quickly subsided after I wrapped it with a cold towel.
‘Overprotective.’
Finally, I waited until Jihan completely peeled the potato and let it cool before eating it. As soon as I took a bite of the fluffy potato, a satisfied smile formed on my face.
“Jihan-ssi is really used to taking care of others. Looking at this, you seem more like siblings than friends.”
One of the regular panelists who was chatting with Bae Dojin burst into laughter looking at me. She also pointed to the area around my cheek, saying something was on it, and following her guidance, I fumbled around and wiped it with the back of my hand, leaving a smudge of soot.
“We might as well be siblings. I was born before Seowoo.”
“Only by three days!”
I added, fiddling with the potato.
“It would be nice if we were real siblings though.”
Then I wouldn’t have fallen for you. I wouldn’t have felt that strange sensation of being all alone in the world after my mother passed away.
While I was momentarily lost in those thoughts, suddenly a gentle hand wiped my eye.
Surprised, I turned around with wide eyes, and Bae Dojin raised both hands, looking a bit embarrassed.
“Sorry. I thought you were crying.”
“There’s no reason for me to cry.”
“Right. I wonder why I thought that.”
Was it just a mistake, or was he exceptionally perceptive? I briefly thought it might be the latter.
Another panelist watching us two spoke up.
“Come to think of it, Bae Dojin-ssi and Yoon Seowoo-ssi did radio together, right? ‘Bae Dojin’s Moonlit Night.’ I’m a regular listener.”
It wasn’t just empty words, as the following conversation was quite detailed. She remembered not only the impressive stories and songs I had recommended, but also precisely recalled that I sang Arcus’s ‘Dear my Dorocy’ on the last day.
“It wasn’t my first time hearing the B-side track, but it felt like listening to a new song. Would you say it’s more lyrical when Seowoo-ssi sings alone?”
When she asked if I could sing it once, surprisingly, it was Jihan who answered.
“Can I sing with you? I’ve been practicing too.”
Since I liked Jihan’s voice, I was naturally pleased.
But how were we going to divide the parts? Since it was originally sung by five people, we would need to coordinate in advance to split it between two…
“Just sing.”
Jihan shrugged.
“I’ll match you.”
With my gaze fixed on the crackling bonfire, I opened my mouth. As I sang the song that had become so familiar from countless practice sessions that I could sing it in my sleep, Jihan’s voice smoothly joined in after a few phrases.
– In truth, this place is just sweet on the tip of your tongue
A gentle fantasy only for today
The real miracle is inside you, yes
A world where only you are real
When his low voice added harmony as if supporting me, it was amazing how the song became rich even without accompaniment.
‘Did he prepare for this?’
Since there was no such part in the original song, he must have prepared it on his own after listening to my radio performance.
Imagining Jihan deeply contemplating how to add harmony while listening to the song alone made him seem oddly cute.
After sharing a late-night snack and chatting for a while, the night deepened. My eyes, which had been counting the countless stars in the sky, began to droop.
“Let’s go in and sleep now.”
As we trudged into the room, I saw a camera set up at the doorway and bedding.
While Jihan looked around and prepared for bed, I spread out the bedding. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the colorful, tacky floral patterned pillows and thin blankets.
‘This isn’t anemoia after all.’
Our next promotional song, “Anemoia,” referred to nostalgia for a time and place you’ve never experienced. Since it was a term I’d never heard before, I was confused about the concept, but if I said it was a word born to explain the emotion I was feeling now, I could understand.
I wasn’t born and raised in a mountainous region, and I didn’t have a grandmother who provided such blankets, yet I felt exactly like I was visiting my grandmother’s house.
Jihan, who had pushed open the wooden and paper door to enter, looked back and forth between me and the blankets.
Then he bent down and…
“What are you doing?”
I stared with bewilderment at the bedding that had been instantly pushed together.
“Why are you putting them together?”
“I have a reason.”
“What reason?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
I tried to push them apart with my foot, but Jihan grabbed my shin and stopped me. His hand was so large that my leg fit entirely within his grasp.
“Lie down quickly, I’ll turn off the light.”
I was about to protest, but then I saw the red light of the camera blinking in the corner and stopped.
Right. It’s not like we’re doing anything wrong, and we’ve slept closer than this countless times.
If it were the usual Jihan, he would have insisted that this much closeness between us was natural, and that separating the bedding would actually be more like creating unnecessary distance.
‘He must have a reason.’
When he says that, I’ll definitely learn the reason later, even if not immediately. He’s not the type to lie to me.
As I curled up under the thin blanket and closed my eyes, drowsiness washed over me. It was natural to be tired after being busy all day.
But just before falling completely asleep.
Bang!
My eyes flew open at the loud sound from somewhere. I could barely see anything with my eyes still hazy from shallow sleep.
‘What was that?’
Did something fall? But there was hardly any furniture in the room. Besides, the sound was extremely loud. Yet somehow it also seemed distant.
Before I could fully calm my startled mind, the same sound rang out again.
Bang!
At that moment, my body, stiff with surprise, was pulled somewhere. As the familiar cypress scent brushed my nose, my head was buried deeply.
“It’s okay.”
Jihan, who had reached out to embrace me, patted my back.
“…It’s okay, Yoon Seowoo. I’m here.”
“The sound…”
“They say it’s to scare away wild boars. They make sounds like gunshots to frighten them. The village head told me earlier.”
Last year, wild boars came down from the mountain and destroyed the fields, so they make noises every night before harvest.
“I thought you’d fall asleep right away, but you woke up.”
I just nodded at his explanation that he was going to tell me later if I woke up, thinking I might not be able to sleep if I worried about it. Soon, his large hands came and gently pressed against both my ears.
As his warm palms enveloped my head, all the sounds in the world disappeared. Only my heartbeat, beating a little faster than before, pulsed between the lines of his palms.
“Are you scared?”
I’m not scared because you’re here.
“I’ll block it more tightly, so go to sleep.”
“…Okay.”
Even at times like this, the fact that you say it’s not love—perhaps I bear some responsibility for that too.
With that thought, I squeezed my eyes shut. For now, the big and small problems between us didn’t seem to matter.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that falling back asleep happened faster than my heart calming down from the excitement.
It was a night where I couldn’t hear any more sounds.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
