TWELVE 96

“Where did I put the carrier?”

I was sure I had left it in front of the dressing room, but it was nowhere to be seen. I searched for a while until Gi Seoin gestured toward the outside with his eyes.

“I moved it to the foyer.”

“Ah, I thought for a second I’d packed it in my dreams.”

“You did a good job packing.”

Approaching me with a grin, the fellow wrapped a muffler around my neck.

“Are you nervous?”

“Why would I be nervous when we’re going to play?”

I felt a prick of guilt and shifted my gaze to the side. I caught sight of myself and Gi Seoin reflected in the mirror. He was beaming as he meticulously tied the knot of the muffler.

“Not nervousness, but excitement. I chose the wrong word. There, is it uncomfortable?”

The fellow grabbed my shoulders and gently turned my body. I found myself facing my reflection in the mirror and touched the muffler Gi Seoin had wrapped for me. It was cozy. The shape of the knot was clean and pretty.

“Our Seoin has such clever hands. Where did you learn how to tie a muffler?”

“Well, I don’t remember learning it.”

“I usually just wrap it around haphazardly because I don’t know how to tie it.”

Originally, I didn’t enjoy wearing mufflers because I hated the feeling of my neck being constricted. However, lately, Gi Seoin kept fussing that I’d catch a cold, so I just let him do as he pleased. Since I wore it often, I suppose I’d grown accustomed to it; it didn’t feel particularly stifling.

“Aren’t you wearing a muffler?”

Speaking of mufflers, that missing birthday gift came to mind again. I still hadn’t been able to bring it up.

Gi Seoin shook his head.

“It’s not that cold.”

“What? Then what about me?”

“You catch colds easily, so you have to wear one.”

We’d only be in the car or the hotel anyway.

Even so, if I caught a cold, I might end up having to walk around with a thick duvet wrapped around my whole body next time. I’d better secure the muffler without any complaints.

By the way, what do we do at a hotel for three days and two nights?

‘Let’s go on a trip.’

It was the day we met the aunt and her husband. While having dinner after returning home, Gi Seoin brought up a trip out of the blue.

‘A trip? What for?’

‘To change the mood and welcome the New Year. Considering your condition, how about three days and two nights at a hotel instead of a tourist spot.’

‘Hmm, shall we? But is staying only in a hotel considered a trip?’

‘They call it a hocance.’

‘Right. I know that too, hocance… Then when are we going?’

‘The 31st.’

‘Oh, so we’re welcoming the New Year there.’

‘We’ll welcome the New Year and rest for one more day.’

‘Great!’

It was different from the type of trip I knew—walking around tourist spots and eating at famous restaurants—but if it was with Gi Seoin, I had no reason to refuse.

As Gi Seoin said, I did need a change of mood. During the kidnapping incident, fatigue had built up both physically and mentally, and even after that, there hadn’t been a single day of comfortable rest. I was more worried about the fellow than myself.

Even after I returned, Gi Seoin lacked time even to close his eyes because of my affairs and his own. I only found out recently that he had been working every night after putting me to sleep. I would have never known if I hadn’t woken up in the middle of the night because I was thirsty.

He claimed otherwise, but to my eyes, the fellow had lost weight. I now fully understand his feelings when he acted as if the world were ending if my weight dropped even a little.

Even if one ate three meals a day, using that much energy meant the body would wear down. Gi Seoin desperately needed rest.

I figured that if we went to a hotel, we’d buy all our meals and wouldn’t have to do housework, so we could rest properly.

“Actually…”

The fellow spoke as he helped my arm into the coat he’d taken out last.

“I thought you’d say you wouldn’t go.”

“At any other time, I probably would have said no.”

I slipped both arms into the sleeves and turned around to face him.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve never done it, but I don’t know how it’s different from resting at home, and the accommodation fee feels like a bit of a waste…”

I looked at Gi Seoin, who was straightening my coat collar. For my outfit, the fellow had to stay attached to me to refine it, but he was perfect with nowhere that needed fixing.

“But because I think everything I do with you will be good, I wanted to go.”

“Really?”

Gi Seoin smiled broadly. Ah, when he smiles like that, my heart hurts.

“Yeah. And I wanted you to rest a bit. You’ve been overdoing it lately.”

“Not really. I’ve never thought of it as being hard.”

“If you don’t think it’s hard, does that mean you’re not resting? You’ll die young if you keep that up.”

I reached out and touched Gi Seoin’s already neat hair, pretending to tidy it for no reason.

“There’s a saying that beautiful people die young. You’re a beauty, so you have to be careful.”

“I won’t die and leave Woo Seungkyung behind.”

“You’d better not. I came back alive too, because of you.”

“Because of me?”

“Yeah. Because our Seoin can’t do without me.”

“That’s true, I can’t do without you.”

Gi Seoin suddenly hugged me tight and rubbed his cheek against mine. I hugged the fellow back and reached out one hand to stroke the back of his head.

His behavior and his hair were so soft; he’s just like a puppy or a cat. If he was closer to a cat before, these days a puppy suits him better.

“So when you rest, you have to rest properly. Got it?”

“Rest with me.”

“Alright, alright.”

Even if the fellow didn’t act spoiled like he was doing now, I could rest with him as much as he wanted. I was ready to do anything together with him. At the moment Jeon Juseok pointed the blade at me, in that instant when death flashed before my eyes, I realized. My true heart’s desire to love without regret.

“What time is it?”

After holding the fellow for a long time, I remembered today’s schedule and asked. Gi Seoin lifted his wrist to check his watch.

“We should leave now.”

“Let’s go. You said you put the carrier in the foyer?”

“Yeah.”

I led the way toward the foyer.

In front of the door, there was a brief scuffle with the fellow over who would pull the carrier. The result was predetermined, but I lost as expected.

“Why is a hotel room divided into several rooms?”

My mouth hung open as I looked around the room Gi Seoin said he had reserved. The hotel room was grand beyond anything I could have imagined.

The only accommodations I’d ever been to were motels or inns. Even those were in terrible condition because I’d looked for cheap places to stay when I went to local sites for manual labor. Not only were they dilapidated, but you couldn’t even expect a shred of cleanliness.

But here, like a house, the living room, bedroom, and dining area were all separated, and while looking through all these spaces, not even a single speck of dust caught my eye.

Also, wherever I went, even in the bathroom, I could look down at the panoramic view of Seoul and the Han River through the window.

“You know, this place looks like somewhere a president would stay.”

“Do you like it?”

“A lot, a lot.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried. I thought you might be bored since it’s similar to the house.”

“What does this place have more of than the house?”

I was half-joking and half-serious. The house we moved into still only had the minimum household items necessary for living. This place felt even more like where people actually lived.

At any rate, Gi Seoin looked satisfied since I liked it.

“If you like the interior here, shall we do the house in this style?”

“Do it according to your taste, Seoin. I like that. I don’t know much about it anyway. But there were drinks in the refrigerator. Am I allowed to drink them?”

“Drink whatever you want to drink. Or shall we order room service? We have to eat anyway.”

Gi Seoin brought over a pamphlet. I looked through it for a bit, but after becoming stunned, I handed the right of choice over to the fellow.

Even if I read it, I didn’t know what was what, and seeing that a single sandwich cost over 50,000 won, I simply couldn’t choose with my own hands.

“It’s too difficult. You order for me.”

At that, Gi Seoin chuckled.

“Alright. Is there anything in particular you want to eat?”

“Not really…”

“Western? Korean? Chinese or Japanese?”

“Korean. No, wait. Do I have to carve meat when I come to a place like this?”

“You can eat whatever you want to eat.”

Saying so, Gi Seoin laughed again. Since the fellow, who usually wasn’t one for laughter, kept grinning, I wondered if I had something on my face.

“Why do you keep laughing?”

“Because you’re cute.”

“What is, me?”

He didn’t answer and let out another laugh. That was answer enough. There are other things to be cute. What on earth is so cute?

“Now that I think about it, your taste is quite peculiar, Gi Seoin.”

“Didn’t you say once that my taste was sophisticated?”

“Mostly, but your eye for people is a bit…”

“Why.”

The fellow, who had been diligently scanning the pamphlet, raised his eyes to look at me.

“Because I love you?”

“…Hey, why would you say something like that while picking out food.”

I was startled. By now, we commonly said things like “I like you” to each other, but we rarely said “I love you.” We are… lovers, not friends, so it’s not like he said something he shouldn’t, but my face burned for no reason.

“Your face turned red.”

Gi Seoin, who placed the pamphlet on the table as if tossing it, leaned down to his waist and peered into my face. I turned my head away.

“Don’t look.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you hate it because I said I love you?”

“Of course I don’t hate it!”

Fearing he might misunderstand, I snapped my head back to look at Gi Seoin, only to realize too late that I had fallen for his trick.

As if to prevent me from turning my head away again, the fellow cupped my cheeks with both hands to fix me in place.

“I’ll say it often from now on. Until you can just let it slide past your ears.”

“Hey… how could anyone let words like that slide?”

“I hope so.”

“What?”

“I hope everything I give you becomes a natural, ordinary thing to you.”

“Are you saying you want me to become ungrateful?”

I knew that wasn’t what he meant, but because I was shy, the words came out jokingly. Fortunately, Gi Seoin laughed as if it were amusing.

“Yeah, I want you to become ungrateful.”

“I think I just need to try a little harder.”

“Sexy.”

Really, what is wrong with you today?

“Suddenly?”

“Woo Seungkyung making an effort is sexy, isn’t it?”

“Then what about living haphazardly and roughly without trying?”

“That’s sexy too. A relaxed appearance.”

“You’re really…”

It’s not familiar to my mouth, but I thought I should try it too.

“You really love me.”

At my words, Gi Seoin’s cheekbones rose even higher.

“Yeah, I really love you.”

“Me too…”

The inside of my chest was so ticklish. It’s because of these words. I’d better take them out of my chest quickly.

“I love you, really…”

We were supposed to order food.

While lying pushed back onto the sofa, I glanced at the pamphlet sitting alone on the table and closed my eyes. I suppose we can just eat later.