MW 24

[The next stop is Hangang University.]

As soon as the school’s name was announced, Yijae pressed the stop button. It was only one stop, a manageable walking distance. He got off the bus with hurried steps, and the cold air hitting his cheeks made him let out a murky breath.

“Cough, cough! Haah, ha.”

The air entering his lungs made the cough he had been holding back burst out. He moved to a place with no people to catch his breath, his body trembling from the cold wind seeping through his open clothes.

He straightened his clothes and hurried on, then took out his phone to check the time. Looking down at the screen that wouldn’t turn on even when he tapped it, he realized he hadn’t charged it since the battery died and winced slightly.

Careful of the icy roads from the snow that had fallen over the weekend, Yijae moved with an anxious pace.

Finally arriving at school and passing through the main gate, Yijae saw the students bustling about and hurried to follow them.

Now, with a runny nose as well, he was sniffling as he headed towards the business administration building when a hand wrapped around him from behind, making him straighten his head.

“Yijae, hi.”

A nice smell. Yijae knew who the owner of this faint scent was just by following his nose. His face gradually darkened, and he held back the tears that threatened to fall.

“Yijae?”

“Ah, hello.”

Seeing Jaeha turn him around, Yijae quickly hid his face with the scarf. Then, he was startled to realize that the scent coming from the soft fabric wrapped around his face was Jaeha’s.

“Ah, this, I-I’ll give it back. I forgot and….”

He had used it as if it were his own without even asking for the owner’s permission. Jaeha, seeing Yijae’s extreme panic as he tried to unwind the scarf, took his hand and said.

“It’s okay. It suits you better than me, so Yijae, you should wear it.”

But it must be a really expensive and nice thing. In response to Yijae’s hesitance, his lips twitching, Jaeha bent down to meet his eyes and asked.

“Did you cry? Your eyes look a little swollen.”

“Ah, no. I just slept a lot….”

“Is that why you didn’t answer my calls?”

So he had called. Yijae gripped the dead phone in his pocket tightly. Jaeha, who had been asking playfully, saw Yijae’s stiff expression and his smile faded.

“It’s okay, it happens when you’re busy.”

Jaeha observed Yijae, who seemed particularly down today, and forced a bright tone.

“Yijae, are you free today?”

“……Is it because of the assignment?”

Yijae, who had been holding his breath to suppress a cough, looked up. His eyes took in the gentle face looking at him, and he bit the inside of his cheek hard. He couldn’t talk to him like this anymore. It was time to stop…. He had to put an end to it.

“It’s not that, I moved today. I was wondering if you’d be okay with coming over to my place to eat together. I noticed last time you seemed to like pasta. I can make it for you….”

“If it’s not for the assignment, isn’t there no reason for me to go to your house, sunbae?”

Jaeha fell silent at the unexpected rejection. Yijae’s heart ached as if someone had squeezed it as he watched his flustered expression. Biting the inside of his cheek hard, he stared wide-eyed to keep the tears from falling and said.

“You don’t have to be so nice to me anymore. I would appreciate it if we just worked on the assignment on the scheduled days and you didn’t get involved in my personal life anymore. I’m sorry, I have to go to class now.”

Yijae quickly finished speaking and turned his back on Jaeha. Hot tears streamed down his face as he escaped the scene. He wiped his face roughly with his sleeve and thought to himself.

‘You did the right thing. It’s for the best, for everyone.’

Jaeha was only pitying him anyway. It was right to end this before he noticed his ugly feelings.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

Yijae returned home in a gloomy mood and immediately started charging his phone. The black screen lit up, and when he went into his messages, he saw that, just as Jaeha had said, there were numerous messages from him.

Yijae. Can we meet now? I’ll come to your place.

I hope nothing’s wrong. Please contact me when you see this text. I’ll be waiting.

Contact me, even if it’s late. I’m worried.

They had only met a few times. But because of his kindness, Yijae kept getting his hopes up and becoming greedy.

“No. We decided not to be like this.”

Yijae tried to pull his wavering heart together again and shook his head. It was then. Slam, the door opened and someone entered Yijae’s room. He felt his heart drop, thinking it was Dohae again.

“Long time no see?”

But the person reflected in Yijae’s pupils was not Dohae, but Dohyeon.

“Fuck, you got even prettier while I was gone, huh?”

Yijae shifted back uncomfortably at the gaze that scanned him up and down.

“Why’s your neck all fucked up again?”

“……Ah.”

Yijae raised a hand and rubbed his neck, where an ugly wound remained. At that, Dohyeon clicked his tongue and spoke again.

“It’s obvious even if you don’t say it. It’s Gu Dohae’s doing, right? Such a fucking bitchy personality. But still, he and you were born from the same womb.”

Dohyeon was well aware of the fact that Dohae was Yijae’s biological twin. He twisted his lips into a smirk, chuckling as he slowly approached.

“Hey, it’s been three years, aren’t you going to say hello?”

As his hand touched his body, Yijae recalled a memory he had forgotten. How could he forget the nightmare of that night?

After that day, Dohyeon had left to study abroad in the U.S. It was also the day that Dohae, seeing him pack his bags in fear of being assaulted by Dohyeon, had threatened him with his mother’s life for the first time.

Yijae retraced the day that had been the beginning of all his misfortune in his memory, his body trembling involuntarily. He curled his fingertips and lowered his head. Dohyeon swallowed, his eyes fixed on the exposed white nape of his neck, and licked his lower lip.

“Fuck, you’re so fucking turni….”

“Dohyeon!”

“Ah, you scared me. Mom?”

Dohyeon, who was reaching for Yijae, frowned at the sudden loud voice that called him. He turned his head and, spotting Ms. Lee watching him from the entrance, let out a chuckle.

“Ms. Lee, have you been well?”

“You really! You should have told me you were back in Korea!”

“I wanted it to be a surprise. Oh. Our Ms. Lee, you’ve gotten prettier while I was gone.”

With a slick smile, Dohyeon wrapped an arm around Ms. Lee’s shoulder and turned around. In the moment she couldn’t see, he winked at Yijae, smirked, and rubbed his lips as he exited the room.

‘How is Dohyeon in Korea? He’s back for good? Then from now on, here….’

The moment he saw Dohyeon, Yijae’s mind went blank. What should I do now? If I stay here, I’ll run into Dohyeon more often, just like now.

He couldn’t breathe, as if someone had placed a rock on his chest. He dug his nails into his neck, and the wound that had just barely healed burst open, leaking blood. But oblivious to the pain, Yijae scratched his neck hard several more times.

Coming to his senses belatedly, Yijae righted his head and picked at a hangnail in anxiety.

“I-I need to make money. I need money….”

He needed to have money on hand just in case. Yijae turned on the screen of his phone, which was connected to the charger, and was about to go to a job search site when he paused. His gaze fell on one spot.

A message from the wedding hall manager he had worked for on Saturday caught his eye.

Yijae, I got your message. If the wedding hall is difficult, are you interested in a different kind of work? A friend of mine’s place is short on staff right now. The pay is about three times that of the wedding hall, and they give a lot of tips, so it’ll be good for saving money. Let me know if you’re interested.

Three times the hourly wage meant he could earn at least 100,000 won a day. He was worried about what kind of work it was, but this was no time to be picky.

Besides, it wasn’t the wedding hall, it was a different place, so he wouldn’t run into Yoonchan. Taking a breath, Yijae sent the manager a positive reply.

As the notification confirmed the message was sent, he let his shoulders slump and muttered to himself.

“I just have to be careful. It’s been fine until now. Right. As long as I’m careful, it’ll be fine….”

Not long after he sent the reply, he received a message back from her, saying she wanted to meet. Yijae got up, got dressed, and left the house.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

“Oh, Yijae! Over here!”

From a distance, the manager spotted Yijae and waved her hand enthusiastically. He quietly entered the cafe and approached where the manager was, bowing his head.