TWELVE 82

“I missed you, Seoin.”

“….”

“I missed you so much, I thought I had to survive somehow.”

Gi Seoin looked at me without a word. In his deep eyes, I could clearly feel the longing he had held for me.

He caressed my eyes, nose, lips, and cheeks with his fingertips. His brushing touch was cautious. It was as if he was worried I might break at the slightest movement.

He interlaced his fingers with mine and kissed each finger one by one, then suddenly paused.

“What is… this?”

His eyes, which had been softly relaxed, turned sharp in an instant. I wondered what he was looking at, and then I realized with a start when I saw the burn mark on the back of my hand. It was a wound from where Jeon Juseok had stubbed out a cigarette.

“That… it just happened. I have plenty of other injuries besides this one.”

“This isn’t just an accidental injury mark.”

His voice was thick with compressed rage.

“Did Jeon Juseok do this?”

Even though I didn’t answer, Gi Seoin bit his lower lip as if he had already heard the truth. I could feel a trembling from our joined hands.

He tightened his grip for a moment before letting go of my hand entirely and exhaling a heavy sigh. His eyes, which he closed tightly and then opened, were bloodshot and red.

I had thought it was unexpected that I couldn’t find any sign of anger from him when we reunited, when we gave statements at the police station, or on the way home. Given his personality, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to fly into a rage and lunged at Jeon Juseok.

I wondered if it was because he had become an adult. Or was the relief of our reunion greater? Or perhaps he was so dazed he couldn’t even get angry. Whatever the reason, I had considered it a relief.

I realized at this moment that it was all my misunderstanding. It wasn’t that Gi Seoin wasn’t angry; he was holding it back with all his might.

“Do you want to go to the hospital even now?”

Gi Seoin asked in a voice heavily suppressed of emotion. I shook my head.

“Tomorrow. Today, I want to be like this with you.”

I buried my face in his chest. I needed his body heat, and I was desperate for his scent. Also, I wanted to make him feel that I was truly in his arms.

Gi Seoin hugged me with both arms as if binding my back and the back of my head. His ragged breath settled on the crown of my head.

“Woo Seungkyung.”

His voice, already deep, sank even lower and felt like an echo.

“Yeah….”

“I told you that I would become unhappy because of you, didn’t I.”

‘Gi Seoin, you’ll become unhappy if you’re with me.’

You still remember those words. My chest ached.

“I endured because I was afraid you would misunderstand like that again.”

“….”

“The only time I become unhappy is when you aren’t by my side. Make sure you know that.”

“Yeah…. I’ll make sure to know that.”

I tilted my head slightly to look up at him. Gi Seoin had already been looking at me. He probably hadn’t taken his eyes off me for a second. Because that’s how he is. Who am I to deserve that?

“I’m sorry for making you worry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Worrying about Woo Seungkyung is my mission, anyway.”

“A mission? That’s grand.”

Come to think of it, Gi Seoin’s feelings toward me were always grand. They were never light, trivial, or small, not even once. I know that now. Because I know, I felt even more sorry toward him. It felt like I was too small and shabby to fully absorb his heart.

“Grand things suit Woo Seungkyung.”

“Me? Not you?”

“You.”

Gi Seoin, responding briefly, cupped both my cheeks and lowered his lips to my forehead, the bridge of my nose, and my earlobes. The moment his lips touched my ear, I unintentionally twisted my head.

“It tickles.”

When I laughed, his expression softened at least a little. Suddenly wanting to see his smiling face, I grabbed his cheeks and pulled the corners of his mouth up with my thumbs.

“What are you doing?”

“Because I want to see you smile.”

Then, he smoothly curled up the corners of his mouth that had been forcibly pulled.

“Like this?”

“Yeah. You’re handsome. You’re prettiest when you smile.”

“Am I handsome, or am I pretty?”

“You’re both, but ‘pretty’ actually suits you more.”

Gi Seoin’s smile grew even deeper. I knew he secretly liked compliments. Well, who in the world dislikes compliments? They say even dolphins dance when praised.

“The more I look, the more amazing it is. How can you look like this?”

I toyed with Gi Seoin’s nose and lips. Even his texture felt good.

“You’re like a fairy made of soft porcelain, Gi Seoin.”

“Soft porcelain doesn’t even make sense to begin with.”

“I’m saying that’s what it’s like to express it. Don’t you know the feeling, the feeling?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to know. Only I will know.”

I thought he would get sulky if I said it was a secret, but Gi Seoin beamed.

“Fine. I have something only I know too, so it’s fair.”

“What is it that only you know?”

“How much Woo Seungkyung sparkles.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“You’re so dazzling that I can find you no matter where you are.”

As if it wasn’t a metaphor, Gi Seoin really did find me. Now that I think about it, how did he find me? While my side of the story was revealed through the statement, I hadn’t yet heard how Gi Seoin knew about my situation and even reported it.

“But really, how did you know? That I was captured and taken there.”

The moment I asked, his hand that was fiddling with my waist stopped. I didn’t miss the flicker of embarrassment in Gi Seoin’s eyes for a split second. I deliberately stared at him more intently.

“What is it, Gi Seoin? I asked how you knew.”

“…Actually.”

Starting with a prefix, he only moved his lips again.

“What? You’re making me anxious.”

“I’m sorry.”

Gi Seoin. What’s wrong?

“I mean, for what.”

“Actually, your cell phone… I made it so I could track its location.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry for hiding it.”

Honestly, because it was such a very Gi Seoin-like thing to do, I wasn’t angry, but I was flustered.

“Since when?”

“As soon as I bought it to give to you.”

Ah, right. When I was suddenly hospitalized after being attacked by a homeless person, the cell phone I originally used disappeared. Afterward, Gi Seoin bought me a new cell phone.

It was already unboxed, but I had never particularly suspected anything. Who would have known?

“But my phone was with Jeon Juseok…, ah.”

I pressed my hand to my forehead.

“Did Jeon Juseok keep carrying my phone around? Is that how you came there?”

Gi Seoin nodded. But there was still a question remaining.

“Then why didn’t you find me sooner? If you saw that Jeon Juseok had it, you would have known it was strange.”

“The power was off after the last message. Then the location doesn’t show up. Then today, the power suddenly turned on and a signal was caught. I didn’t know who had it, but I moved blindly following the signal. Then Jeon Juseok was there, and I had a bad feeling, so I reported it.”

“Sigh…. I see.”

I was speechless. To think Gi Seoin found me in such a way. I had imagined that someone coincidentally saw the scene of me being taken away and told him, and believed that a stroke of luck had fortunately saved me.

Anyway, since the result is a happy ending, should I just let it go? Ridiculously enough, I really wasn’t angry.

“I’m sorry, Seungkyung.”

Despite that, Gi Seoin seemed dejected, as if he had been scolded by me.

“I did it because I was anxious after you were hurt. At first, I was going to tell you, but I thought you’d be disgusted by me, so in the end, I couldn’t say it. For fear of being hated by you even more….”

“Gi Seoin.”

Wait.

I interrupted him on purpose.

“You’re funny.”

I’ve heard enough; let’s get the facts straight.

“When did I ever say I hated you?”

“I just… felt like you would.”

“Why would I hate you?”

I always thought he acted stubbornly and however he pleased without minding me at all. But it hurt my heart to know that inside, he was afraid of being hated by me. It felt like Gi Seoin had come to think that way because I had pushed him away for a long time.

Fine. What’s the use in scolding him? Thanks to that, we met again, so it was a good thing. Moreover, thinking back to the homeless person incident, I think I would have considered a similar method if I were Gi Seoin. Though I probably wouldn’t have actually executed it.

“Come here.”

I raised my upper body and opened my arms toward Gi Seoin. Gi Seoin seemed to hesitate, then hugged my waist.

He was quiet with his forehead leaning against my chest. How cute. I quietly stroked the back of his head.

“I’ve never hated our Seoin. So don’t worry about things like that. This time, because you did that, I didn’t die and survived. That’s all that matters, right?”

“Woo Seungkyung, you’re not mad?”

“I’m not mad, I’m not mad. Good job, our Seoin.”

When I patted his back firmly, he lifted his face that had been hidden in my arms. I showered his smooth forehead with kisses.

“Now you’re not worried, right? I don’t hate you, do I?”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you acting like a baby? How cute.”

Goodness! He was so lovely that a sigh escaped me. I wanted to pinch his cheeks, but that would hurt, so I just stroked them.

“But….”

Gi Seoin, who had been just staring at me quietly, spoke up.

“Did I really do well?”

“Yeah. You did well, you did well. You’re smart.”

“Then can I do it again after we buy a new phone?”

Oh boy.

I should have only complimented him a little.

But then, isn’t there nothing that ruins one’s cool more than a man immediately taking back what he just said? I forced a smile and nodded.

“Sure, do it! Our Seoin, do whatever you want!”

Whatever. It didn’t matter. Anyway, from now on, I’m going to stay by his side all the time so that Gi Seoin never has to look for me again.