SATURDAY 41

At that moment, Mr. Taeseon’s expression was….

I was so flustered that I wondered if I had said something wrong. Mr. Taeseon looked at me with a face that looked as if he were on the verge of drowning.

“…Why, what is it?”

I asked cautiously, wondering if he still disliked the idea of me entering that room. Then, as if he were being strangled, he loosened his tie a bit more and stammered.

“…That room is clean because it’s been cleaned continuously. You can move in even today. Let’s go in. Ah, yes, let’s just make sure to replace the water in the refrigerator with fresh ones… since it’s been sitting there for months.”

Thinking it would be cumbersome to go back and forth to the second floor, we had placed small hotel-style refrigerators in every room. It shouldn’t have mattered how many months the water had been there, but the fact that he insisted on changing it seemed to reveal Mr. Taeseon’s agitation.

“Yes, even if we don’t necessarily change it, ah.”

He eventually picked me up and entered the foyer. Since it was that time of day, the staff who were in the middle of their housework opened their eyes wide when they saw us.

Though everyone turned their heads away soon after as if nothing was happening, I could feel my face turning red.

“Um, Mr. Taeseon, please put me down….”

I said that and kicked my legs slightly, but Mr. Taeseon skillfully removed both of my shoes from my dangling toes, placed them on the floor, and passed by the staff without a word.

I hung my head low. I felt like they could see that even my ears had turned red. Mr. Taeseon quietly climbed the stairs. Almost immediately after going up the stairs, there was the master bedroom. A room that hadn’t been opened for a while, a space we had decorated piece by piece.

Standing in front of it while holding me, Mr. Taeseon remained silent for a moment before speaking with difficulty. Anxious pheromones flowed from his entire body. His expression was blunt, but I could tell how restless he was.

“Inyoung.”

“Yes….”

“I’m sorry.”

“…You can stop apologizing now.”

I don’t know how many times I’ve already heard him say he’s sorry. Even when I was in the hospital, Mr. Taeseon said he was sorry to me over and over the whole time. Sometimes he spoke with a desperate face, like a hunted man, as if something terrible would happen if he didn’t.

To be honest, it would be a lie to say there was no lingering resentment. Beyond resentment, I felt sorrowful. It was even more so when I realized this body didn’t belong to Inha. I wondered how Mr. Taeseon could fail to recognize me.

But then again, doesn’t he have no obligation to recognize me? I wondered if it was just my own self-consciousness.

Mr. Taeseon had already apologized enough. Now, I felt like I was fine… probably. Probably, that was it. It was okay.

So Mr. Taeseon doesn’t need to say he’s sorry anymore. It’s okay to stop now. Because he has said more than enough for what he did wrong.

“So, that’s enough…. It’s okay to stop now.”

When I said that, Mr. Taeseon carefully laid me down on the bed, skillfully pulled out the duvet, and covered me. I was a bit flustered and tried to get out from under the covers.

“I’m still wearing the clothes I wore outside….”

“We only came from the hospital to here. You were in the car the whole time.”

That was true. Since they were new clothes I changed into before leaving the hospital…. And they were comfortable enough to lie down in anyway.

I didn’t say anything more, lay on my side, and let all the strength drain from my body. I felt like I could fall asleep immediately if I closed my eyes.

Just then, Mr. Taeseon quietly reached out his hand. Toward my head. It would have been nice if I could have stayed still, but my body, which had learned of his violence, moved reflexively. Mr. Taeseon also flinched as he saw me jump significantly and recoil.

“….”

Ah, I didn’t mean to do this….

I quickly raised my head and said I’m fine. However, Mr. Taeseon already had a face that didn’t know what to do. Thinking about what to do, I moved aside a little and lifted the duvet.

“Lie down here.”

“….”

“Hurry.”

Mr. Taeseon hesitated and then quietly lay down beside me, very cautiously. Like someone who had borrowed the bed.

“Now, please stroke me like you used to….”

“….”

“It was because I was startled. I won’t be startled anymore.”

I quietly closed my eyes and waited for his touch. A warm and familiar hand. I hoped that hand would touch me.

“Why….”

When I opened my eyes at Mr. Taeseon’s cracked voice, he was making a very pained expression.

“Why are you worrying about me, Inyoung….”

“…Well, I’ve always worried about you.”

“….”

“Even when I was ‘Inha’….”

Mr. Taeseon, who squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them, reached out his hand quietly and very slowly. His trembling hand carefully touched my back. His large, long hand with thick joints touched my back.

His touch slowly caressed my back, then my cheek, shoulder, and arm. And… sometimes eyes convey more than words. Mr. Taeseon’s eyes were a deep abyss. A place where all sorts of emotional whirlpools raged and hid deep within.

The more I looked into his eyes, the more I began to feel an indescribable sensation. Gradually, I became submerged and gloomy. As if I had experienced something unbearably sad.

Was he sad because he experienced my death, or was I sad because I was turned away by him? This kind of weighing is meaningless, but it pops into my mind from time to time. It was the reason why I couldn’t just resent him blindly.

“Mr. Taeseon….”

Thinking he would say he was sorry again if I stayed still, I managed to open my mouth to say something.

“Nyeng-eng-eng-eng-eng-eng-eng-eng!”

A sound that seemed like something was shouting while running busily approached quickly with a wobble, and soon began to be heard from in front of the door.

“Waaa-aaaaaa!”

“….”

“….”

An incredibly angry Lili cried outside the door. Mr. Taeseon cleared his throat with a “Ahem…” and withdrew his hand from me, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of going out to check.

“Just rest like this. He’ll leave when he gets tired of doing that.”

“Aack! Aak! Aark! Aaaa-ok!”

On the other hand, I thought I had to bring Lili in.

“…I don’t think he’s going to leave.”

“Aack! Niyaaa-ak! Aaaaaaaaa-ak!”

“…See.”

“….”

“Ky-aa, woo-woong! Kkiaa!”

At Lili’s increasingly loud cries, I raised my upper body. Mr. Taeseon also got up and quietly grabbed my arm.

“I-I’ll go out. I think I need to bring him in.”

“You… should rest. I’ll call someone to take him away.”

“It’s okay. It’s not like Lili makes things difficult.”

In the meantime, Lili was crying more and more sorrowfully. I climbed out of the bed on the opposite side from where Mr. Taeseon was lying and approached the door. As I hurried to open the door, Lili, who had been pressing his body almost flush against the door, slid down and let out a shriek.

“Yaaaa-aa!”

“Yes, yes, Lili, I’m sorry. You were surprised because I suddenly disappeared, right?”

I quickly picked Lili up and said while stroking under his chin.

“Woong!”

Then Lili answered plausibly, as if he understood my words. When I returned to the bed holding Lili, Mr. Taeseon was sitting with one hand propped up, his upper body raised. The moment he saw Mr. Taeseon, Lili immediately puffed out all his fur into spikes.

“Kyaaaa-ak.”

Furthermore, a fierce hiss followed. Lili’s pupils moved dangerously, and the moment he felt he was close to Mr. Taeseon, he sprang out of my arms and lunged at him.

“Kiya-ak!”

Lili let out a sound close to a scream and swung his front paws wildly, but Mr. Taeseon ducked his body to the side and avoided it effortlessly. The small body that landed with a thud on the bed jumped up again and attacked Mr. Taeseon. The battle between the 두 proceeded for a moment.

Fortunately—though I felt sorry for Lili—Mr. Taeseon was not hit by that attack even once.

A very angry Lili stared at Mr. Taeseon with his pupils dilated, making a “Sh-aaa-ak” sound.

I, who had been stomping my feet, unable to even intervene in the fight, finally picked up Lili, who was arching his back intensely, and tapped him on the bridge of his nose.

“Ky-ak.”

As the dilated pupils gradually narrowed as if puzzled, Lili looked at me with a face more innocent than anyone else’s. It was a pair of eyes that made it hard to believe he had been attacking Mr. Taeseon so viciously until just a moment ago.

“Lili.”

I hugged Lili tightly. Lili’s body and tail were still in a puffed-up state.

“Lili, it’s okay. Mr. Taeseon is now….”

I looked at Mr. Taeseon once as I spoke. He had a soft face as if to reassure me, as if asking when he had ever fought with a cat like that.

“He doesn’t torment me anymore. So it’s okay.”

Mr. Taeseon looked at me with a complicated gaze. He moved his lips for a moment, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.

Miraculously, as if he understood my words, Lili did not attack Mr. Taeseon after that. However, he still glared at him with a look that said he still didn’t like him. It was just amazing that a cat could glare at a person like that.

I tried to wash up before trying to get some sleep, putting Lili down. There was nothing in the master bedroom bathroom, so I went in after taking off all my clothes, but had to quickly put on a robe and ask Mr. Taeseon for help.

Mr. Taeseon came inside and took out bath products from a built-in storage cabinet made to be inconspicuous. I was certainly the one who suggested making it like that, but I had forgotten because I hadn’t used it for a while. Mr. Taeseon neatly arranged the shower gel and shampoo he took out behind the showerhead.

I had laughed off Mr. Taeseon’s worry that if we made the storage built-in, it wouldn’t be easily visible, saying, “Oh, come on.” However, the one who actually couldn’t find it was me.

When I laughed out of absurdity, Mr. Taeseon also gave a bitter smile and said.

“Because it hasn’t been used for a while….”

“…Yes.”

An awkward silence flowed for a moment, but I smiled slightly as I looked at the shower gel.

“This is a scent I like.”

Mr. Taeseon smiled bitterly.