PA 49

An awkward silence flowed between them for a moment. Just then, Gyeongchan appeared before them with a bright expression and shouted loudly.

“Ah, I’m thirsty. I’m so thirsty.”

“Hey, hey!”

With that, he gulped down all of Yejun’s beer, which had a lot left. Yejun let out a long sigh, chuckled, and then made eye contact with the server.

[Three more beers, please.]

[Yes, right away.]

Yejun looked at the Spanish menu, asking various things about the appetizers, and skillfully ordered new food.

“You’re really good at Spanish now.”

“Not at all. I still have a long way to go.”

“Oh, right, Yejun, you graduated from university in Spain, didn’t you? And you even graduated, which they say is so hard… I’m so proud of our Yejun. I mean, you had the skills to get into a Korean university, where would that talent go?”

“I worked hard, but I was also lucky.”

“Luck is a skill too.”

“Wooju hyung, don’t even mention it. This guy Yejun studied so fiercely when he was preparing for university and when he had to graduate.”

While Wooju and Yejun were talking, Gyeongchan, who had eaten almost all the food on the table, added with a click of his tongue. Still, Wooju let out a short sigh, as if he was worried about Yejun.

“I’m writing a movie screenplay these days.”

Yejun noticed Wooju’s inner thoughts, worrying about him not getting a proper job even after graduating from university here in Spain. Yejun smiled faintly and whispered to Wooju in a small voice, as if sharing a secret.

“Really?”

“You were worried because it seemed like I was just working part-time at a cafe even after graduating from university here, right?”

“Th-that is….”

Wooju was so struck by the directness of the question that he couldn’t bring himself to continue. Yejun had gone through all sorts of hardships in the early days of his career, only to leave Korea just before the team was about to dash towards peak popularity. Perhaps because of that, Wooju always felt a heavy sense of debt towards Yejun.

“So don’t worry too much.”

“In Spain? Or in Korea?”

Wooju pulled his chair closer to ask Yejun various questions, his expression noticeably brighter.

“Gosh, Wooju hyung! You really don’t have to worry about this guy Yejun. He won the grand prize at the Daesung Scenario Contest this time.”

Gyeongchan was already rambling on in Yejun’s place.

“Really? Then why didn’t you say so?”

“I was going to tell you if I won, but I missed the timing, I guess….”

At Wooju’s chiding, Yejun scratched the back of his neck as if embarrassed. They talked about this and that, drinking until the sea and sky turned black and their boundary could no longer be distinguished.

“Ah… I’m pleasantly tipsy, it feels good.”

“Do you not usually drink much?”

“Ah… neither Yejun nor I are particularly fond of drinking, so we don’t drink that often. Still, we drank quite a bit today, but maybe because of the sea breeze, I’m not getting drunk, and it feels just right.”

Gyeongchan said in a languid, drawn-out voice as he picked up the last nacho. At the same time, Gyeongchan’s phone kept vibrating, and Yejun, who was watching from the side, looked at the phone screen and then hit Gyeongchan’s back, urging him.

“I think you’ve been getting calls for a while now, isn’t it your father?”

“Yeah, my dad….”

“Answer it quickly.”

“Ugh… he’s going to nag me again.”

“Still, answer it.”

Yejun urged him on by tapping the leg of the chair Gyeongchan was sitting on. Gyeongchan took a deep breath, answered the phone, and went outside the pub.

“That brat Gyeongchan, how much can his father nag that he avoids his calls?”

“The nagging alone is at least thirty minutes?”

“Ah… I see why he’d avoid it.”

Wooju chuckled and muttered in a small voice. Wooju watched Yejun drink his beer and asked cautiously.

“I… I’ve been curious about something for a while.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

After hesitating for a moment, Wooju carefully began to speak.

“Seven years ago, Cha Junhyuk came to the dorm looking for you.”

“…He did?”

“By any chance, what was your relationship with that kid, Cha Junhyuk?”

“……”

Wooju remembered the day Junhyuk came to the dorm. His gaze seemed too earnest and desperate for someone who had simply come to find a friend. Wooju hoped to God that there was nothing entangled with Junhyuk.

“Yejun.”

“……”

It’s all okay now, right?

Wooju was always curious if Yejun was really okay. He brought up Junhyuk’s name, which he hadn’t mentioned once in the past seven years. Then, without saying anything else, he lifted his head and looked at Yejun quietly.

Ah… I don’t know either.

Yejun kept his eyes lowered and said nothing for a long time. Wooju did not rush him for an answer either. He just waited quietly.

However, contrary to Wooju’s expectations, at the first mention of Junhyuk’s story, Yejun’s pupils trembled faintly, and the corners of his eyes gradually grew moist.

Ah….

It was only then that Wooju felt like all the puzzle pieces were fitting together. The real reason Yejun wasn’t coming back to Korea wasn’t because of Sanghyeon. It was because of Junhyuk.

“Yejun….”

“I, I.”

“Yes, go on, tell me.”

A large teardrop that had been precariously clinging to the corner of his eye finally trickled down Yejun’s pale cheek. His thin shoulders shook sorrowfully. Yejun was someone who had avoided any talk of Junhyuk at all costs. It seemed as though all of Yejun’s tears, held back for so long, were bursting out at once.

“Ah, ah….”

“Yejun.”

“Ah… why am I like this? Like a fool…. It’s been seven years… but still, still….”

“Yejun, cry. Just cry it all out, let it all wash away.”

Wooju patted Yejun’s shoulder and waited patiently until he had poured out all his sadness and sorrow.

It had been seven years since he left him. But Yejun still found that in the everyday moments of his life, the image of Junhyuk would rise up, overwhelming his heart. As he recalled the time he had spent with him, he felt his chest fill with a stiflingly painful emotion.

The moment their eyes met as they lay on the green grass was seared into his memory, impossible to forget. He had been so happy in those moments, held in Junhyuk’s firm embrace while taking in his gentle smile. He felt so pathetic for being unable to escape from that past time.

It’s been seven years.

Yejun thought that with the passage of time, his own image would have completely disappeared from Junhyuk’s mind. No, he was sure of it. He clenched his two fists and managed to swallow the stifling sobs that were rising up.

“Yejun….”

Junhyuk would have surely found out where Yejun was. And yet, he had never once come to find Yejun until now.

“Yejun! You, you, why are you crying?”

Gyeongchan, who had discovered the crying Yejun, ran over in surprise.

“Yejun!”

“Gyeongchan, I’m okay. So….”

Yejun barely managed to soothe his heart, which was filled with sorrowful sadness, and hurriedly wiped away the tears that kept streaming down his cheeks. He tried to stop crying and calm down, but his ragged breaths would not settle. And then, he finally confessed the true feelings he had hidden deep in his heart.

“I don’t know what it is, but just cry your heart out.”

Wooju, who had learned of Yejun’s true sadness, felt like his heart was going to burst.

Cha Sanghyeon and Cha Junhyuk….

Wooju, who knew the relationship between the two well, couldn’t bring himself to place a hand on Yejun’s trembling shoulders.

“Hyung… what do I do? I want to erase what happened back then like a blank sheet of paper, but I just can’t forget.”

“Yejun….”

Without offering any explanation to Gyeongchan, who was sitting next to Yejun, Wooju pointed to the tissues on the next table. Gyeongchan, taking the hint, pulled out several tissues and handed them to Yejun. The two of them, Wooju and Gyeongchan, sat quietly without a word, leaving Yejun alone to cry his heart out.

☂︎

Perhaps because he had drunk too much for the first time in a long while, his head felt like it was splitting, and his throat was raw as if it were on fire. Every time he tossed and turned to find a comfortable position, his brain rattled around inside his head like an empty can.

“Ugh….”

Unable to bear the splitting headache any longer, Yejun whimpered and pushed himself up. It was clear that if he moved even a little too fast, his brain would start rolling around in his head again.

“Where did I put the painkillers?”

Yejun held his throbbing head and searched through the drawers. He barely managed to find the last remaining painkiller and walked to the kitchen. After taking the medicine in a daze, Yejun sprawled out on the plush sofa in the living room in the shape of a star.

How much time had passed?

“Yejun!”

Someone was calling Yejun and continuously ringing the bell. Yejun felt his whole body was as heavy as water-soaked cotton, and he couldn’t move at all. Annoyed by everything, he covered his ears and tried to go back to sleep.

“Yejun, I said get up!”

His body wouldn’t listen, but Yejun’s mind was already awake. With Gyeongchan’s shouts and the loud banging on the door added to the mix, Yejun could no longer lie still.

Ugh… seriously.

Yejun muttered complainingly and managed to get up.

[Hey, you crazy bastard, you’re too loud! Will you shut up right now?]

Finally, the neighbors started yelling, even louder than Gyeongchan. Gyeongchan, unfazed by the neighbors’ complaints, continued to call out to Yejun.

“Yejun, are you up? Lee Yejun!”

“W-wait a minute….”

Yejun felt a wave of dizziness and staggered, but he hurriedly made his way to the front door, urgently making his presence known. Only then did Gyeongchan’s boisterous shouting quiet down. As soon as Yejun opened the door, Gyeongchan quickly entered the house and said.

“The sun is high in the sky, why did you sleep for so long?”

“Why did you have to wake me up so loudly? My head is already throbbing….”

Yejun pretended to be nonchalant and chided Gyeongchan, but he couldn’t look him directly in the eye.

“Your head hurts a lot, right? I was worried because you drank so much yesterday.”

Gyeongchan walked into the living room with his characteristic sly smile.