SWAP 62

It was a location-sharing app that tracked where a registered partner was currently located via GPS. If someone were to ask why this was installed on his phone, the story was actually so old that Seoul was confused about where to even begin explaining.

The start had certainly been his own doing… If he traced it back, he had to return to the time he filmed his first criminal investigation drama.

The role Seoul played back then was a juvenile offender named “Han,” who was linked to the main case. He was a shameless person who neither understood the hearts of others nor wanted to understand them. To gather and tame runaway youths who had nowhere to go and use them for his own tastes, he managed the children through a location-tracking app.

Of course, since he had no intention of seeking consent, the setting was that the parties involved were forced to share their every move in real-time without even knowing it. Through that role, Seoul learned for the first time that such apps existed. Nowadays, they are used for relatively diverse reasons, but back then, it was an application used like an event only by a small number of couples.

“This is fascinating. It says you can find out immediately just by turning on the app.”

In the drama, it was used for evil, but regardless, it was a new piece of technology. Finding it amazing that they could check each other’s locations so simply, he had set aside the script he was reading and added an explanation. However, Saheon, who was sprawled on the bed with his eyes closed, gave a lukewarm reaction.

“I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be more comfortable to just hire a few people to put them under surveillance?”

“No, I’m saying it’s sharing, not surveillance.”

“What’s the difference?”

When he babbled out an explanation with a curious mind, a terrifying alternative came back. Since he knew it wasn’t just a sound thrown out as a joke, he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut. What was the difference between monitoring someone’s location and sharing it? Naturally…

Blink, blink. Seoul, who had been contemplating for a moment while his eyelashes fluttered, soon nodded slightly in agreement. Right. Come to think of it, there’s no difference.

“Hmm, well… even between lovers, it would be a bit scary. It means where I am is being dug into in real-time.”

The fact that it would be displayed immediately with just the flick of a finger. It meant even schedules one might not want to share with a partner would be entirely exposed, so there was the possibility of abuse. No matter how much of a couple they were, there was no need to know everything. It was at the moment he reached that conclusion and picked up the script again.

“What about that is scary?”

“Huh?”

Saheon, who had been quietly closing his eyes, was now looking down at Seoul, who was sitting leaning against the bottom of the bed with a crooked gaze. Like someone who had just heard the world’s greatest nonsense. Without even smoothing his deeply furrowed brow, he spoke coldly.

“You said they’re lovers. Isn’t sharing each other’s daily lives a basic thing? Location is a part of that. It’s better than just guessing all day where they are, what they’re doing, and who they’re meeting. If the location is identified, it’s a relief. If you miss them, you can go see them immediately.”

“…”

“Why, Lee Seoul. Not you? Are you not curious at all about what your lover is doing, and have no interest? Who knows what might happen in the brief moment you look away. What if an accident happens? Are you going to just wander around every nearby emergency room without even knowing which hospital it is? While your lover is at their last breath?”

It was a leap of logic no different from a blind firing.

In an instant, Seoul, who had not only become trash who didn’t even care about his lover but was also someone who would wander around emergency rooms, moved his lips with an absurd expression. Confused about where to start denying this, he gaped before finally opening his mouth.

“No… why suddenly go all the way to the emergency room? I, I’m interested too. I’m curious. They’re a lover, after all…”

“You said it was scary.”

“Th-that, rather than it necessarily being scary… I just said it.”

His last words were almost a crawl. Just a moment ago, he had naturally considered it a scary situation, but after hearing Saheon’s argument, he wondered if he had reacted too sensitively. Right, it’s not some other person but a relationship where they like each other, so they could share that much. There’s nothing particularly to hide, and if it provides relief, then it’s a good thing.

Furthermore, isn’t Korea a country that ranked first in traffic accident mortality among OECD countries? That example of what if someone is taken to the emergency room while apart for a moment wasn’t entirely a pipe dream. Since one never knows what will happen to a person. To find someone quickly, it’s right to grasp their location in advance. It’s also good to be able to see them quickly when you miss them…

Without being able to argue back, Saheon, who had been staring intently at Seoul as he began to agree with a docile face, asked abruptly.

“How accurate is that?”

“What?”

“The app.”

“Uh… it says it’s displayed on a map, but I don’t really know either.”

“Can you see movement in real-time too?”

“Wouldn’t it be like that? That’s how it was written in the script.”

Since they hadn’t even entered the script reading yet, Seoul hadn’t seen the actual working screen. When he said he’d only know once they entered the main filming, Saheon, who pulled the corners of his mouth into a strange expression, asked.

“You said it’s something that already exists.”

“Yeah. I was planning to take a look anyway…”

He had thought about downloading it in advance for reference research before the reading. Seoul, picking up his phone, began to tap the screen diligently. As soon as he entered the keyword “location tracking,” he clicked on the app with the highest number of downloads among the results listed, and a login screen appeared along with the installation window.

He created an account, and several agreements to terms followed. Thinking there must be many because it was related to privacy, he pressed the agreement buttons mindlessly. Soon a map window popped up. When he showed the screen where an icon with his name written on it was peeking out above Saheon’s house, Saheon handed over his own phone, saying he couldn’t tell with just this.

“Invite me and link them.”

“The two of us?”

“Yeah.”

At that request, Seoul, who sent the invitation code without any particular question, unlocked Saheon’s phone. Since they had shared each other’s phones without hesitation since they were young, he had memorized patterns and passwords as if they were his own. After clicking the arrived code to install the app and creating an account, an icon was created with a flash. Unlike before, two names were floating in the same place. Seoul turned his head with a fascinated face.

“If you press this icon, even the address pops up?”

“So it does.”

“I don’t know about moving… Should I try going home now?”

“Sleep and go tomorrow. You said you have a schedule in the evening. We can see then.”

Ah, right. Since Saheon was reciting the schedule he himself had forgotten, Seoul, who was nodding, slightly lifted his gaze. It didn’t particularly have any special meaning, and it was just that their eyes met, but Saheon, whose expression changed to something somewhat hurt, asked bluntly.

“Why. Are you scared? Because I know your location?”

“…Why would that be scary? I told you what I said earlier was just talk. You’re nitpicking again.”

“I’m going to click this whenever I feel like it. I’ll check in real-time which filming set you’re at, and which province you’ve been dragged off to.”

“Go ahead… You know my whole schedule anyway.”

Despite the fact that he had just reminded him of tomorrow evening’s schedule, he was constantly talking nonsense. When he just pushed the cushion next to him into his arms, saying what on earth was there to be scared of, Saheon, who finally let out a chuckle, whispered in a relaxed voice.

“Yeah. I’m going to look, so don’t delete this, then.”

“Do whatever you want.”

Teasing and nitpicking over trivial things was a common occurrence. That was why he had easily permitted it this time as well, and the app installed at that time continued to occupy a corner of Seoul’s app folder, following the phones he changed thereafter. Since he had merely not deleted it and hadn’t particularly opened it since then, he didn’t even know the fact that Saheon had been updating it every quarter and pressing the terms agreement buttons in his stead. It was an episode completely erased from his memory.

So, the time he came to remember it again was several years later.

While embracing that slightly broken boy, Seoul launched that app with his own hands.

I’m here. I’ll stay right here and wait without moving an inch. So let’s try taking even just a few steps out. If you keep acting like this, I’ll be really upset… When he poured out incoherent words while trembling, Saheon, who was watching him, opened his mouth with an expressionless face. Seoul-ah, you say that and then again…

“…Lee Seoul?”

How long had he been standing there blankly?

When he lifted his head at the voice he suddenly heard, he saw Saheon standing not far away.

Seeing Saheon, who was soaked through with just a hood thrown over his head without a chance to block the falling rain, the spirit that had half-slipped away snapped back in an instant. As he ran over while clutching the phone whose screen had gone dark and holding the umbrella tightly, Saheon waited in that spot even while making a face that wondered what was happening.

Finally arriving in front of Saheon, Seoul quickly held up the umbrella.

The pitter-pattering rain stopped above Saheon’s head.

“Why did you come out? I said I’d be back quickly.”

Then, Saheon, who habitually ducked his body slightly, spoke as he naturally snatched the umbrella from Seoul’s hand. His tone was displeased, but the gaze looking down was strangely satisfied.

“Just, the rain was falling too hard.”

“Then you shouldn’t have come out even more. You’re getting hit by rain too.”

“I came out using an umbrella.”

“Even so. Look at your ankles, they’re already wet.”

When he himself was wet down to his toes.

Looking at Saheon, who was checking his own ankles where only a few water droplets had splashed, he swallowed his surging emotions. At that moment, Seoul suddenly thought of himself after the program ended. Of himself, who would be left all alone and soaked, without this guy.

“…”

Would that be possible?

The aftermath of the firmly reached conclusion became scary for the first time, and he gasped for breath.