DOGC Ch 18

As the sun set and dusk began to settle, Seorim opened the door and cautiously stepped out into the yard.

Amidst the quiet, the smell of burning kindling was the first thing to reach his nose. The aroma of wood being cooked, the sound of dry firewood crackling. The grandmother, squatting in front of the fire pit, held a piece of firewood in each hand, watching the flames as she pushed them inside.

The warm light of the fire reflected over the grandmother’s small shoulders, dyeing her back an orange hue.

Seorim found himself watching the scene for a good while, then quietly approached her.

“Grandmother, I…”

A small flame shot out of the fire pit before quickly dying out. The grandmother pushed the escaped piece of firewood deeper in with a wooden stick and spoke.

“Are you leaving now?”

Her tone was serene, as if she already knew what he was going to say. When Seorim blinked his eyes in surprise, the grandmother turned around and gestured with her hand.

“My pretty child, it’s alright. You don’t need to say anything more. Come sit here.”

Seorim silently approached and, following her gesture, carefully sat down beside her. The grandmother turned to face the front again and placed another piece of firewood on the fire.

“Those who have to go, have to go. Why would young folks like you coop yourselves up in a backwater countryside village like this.”

The flames crackled, flaring up once more. Seeing this, the grandmother lightly tidied the pile of firewood with her hand, then straightened the hem of her skirt.

“He came to get you, didn’t he.”

“…Yes.”

“When you go, don’t get yourself beaten up. And eat plenty of food.”

The grandmother fumbled around inside the inner pocket of her jeogori. What her wrinkled hand pulled out were two crumpled ten-thousand won bills. Reflected in the light of the fire pit, the edges of the worn banknotes shimmered.

“Here, buy yourself something to eat on the way up with this.”

A darkish hand found Seorim’s and firmly pressed the bills into it. The crumpled banknotes resembled the grandmother’s forehead. They were imbued with the passage of time, and somehow felt affectionate.

He felt something round swelling up in his throat. He pressed his lips together firmly to keep it from coming up.

“Grandmother, it’s okay. I couldn’t even pay you much for the stay.”

“I got it all from him. You’re not a single body, so you can’t be going hungry.”

You’re not a single body, so you can’t be going hungry.

The grandmother had never let on that she knew about the pregnancy. She had just been watching. Come to think of it, even when he first arrived at the guesthouse covered in wounds, she had not pried further into his circumstances.

She had simply applied medicine and prepared meals for him. Quietly, with her slender back, she had shielded him from the wind. She had become a place where he could rest comfortably.

“Are you leaving when the sun comes up tomorrow?”

“Yes, I have to go all the way to Seoul, so I’m planning to leave early. That’s why I thought I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye in the morning.”

“I should at least send you off with a meal… I don’t know what I have to make for you in the morning.”

The grandmother tossed a few more branches into the fire pit, then let out a small breath while sitting by the fire. Seorim watched the small, rising flames and carefully opened his mouth.

“Thank you, Grandmother. For saving my life.”

His voice was small but clear. It was a sentiment that had been held back for longer than he had realized.

The hands that had provided him with meals and applied medicine on days when he had nowhere to lay his body. Those hands had truly brought his life back from the brink. As he slowly lowered his head, the grandmother turned her body and cupped Seorim’s cheek with her rough hand.

“You look just like my Ah-rang, who passed away first. Your eyes, your nose, you’re so handsomely put together.”

“…”

“Thank you so much for keeping this old lady company. I’m the one who’s more thankful.”

Hearing those words, his chest ached with a sudden pang. The grandmother spoke calmly, but it seemed as though all the emotions contained within her words had ridden the flames and fallen silently.

His eyes grew hot without him realizing it. Even when he clamped his lips shut, a rush of emotion welled up from the bridge of his nose.

He tried to say something, but couldn’t draw a proper breath and stopped, and at the end of that held breath, a tear fell first.

The welling tears flowed down his chin without giving him a chance to cover his face.

“Don’t cry. You’ll just wear yourself out.”

To her gentle comfort, which lasted until the very end, Seorim spoke in a choked, mumbling voice from crying.

“I’ll come to see you. I’ll come to eat your food again.”

“Don’t be silly, why would you come all the way to this remote countryside. There are so many tasty things and fun things in the city.”

Even as she said that, her voice was thick with disappointment. He truly wanted to come back. The fact that he had a place where he could hide and breathe with an easy heart, just to eat a meal, to listen to her stories, was something he was so incredibly grateful for.

So, although it was very late. This time, he wanted to be sincere.

“I’m Seorim, Grandmother. Baek Seorim.”

What meaning could a fake name or a false background have in front of this person? He never knew that revealing his name to someone could be this overwhelming.

“Right, Seorim. It’s a pretty name.”

“I’ll definitely come back.”

“Come when you have the baby. I’ll grill some tasty croaker for you, and I’ll make you some savory seaweed soup.”

The grandmother no longer stirred the firewood. The fire was now doing its job on its own.

From a distance, the sound of night insects chirping faded. Seorim lifted his head, looked at the stars shining clearly in the sky, and then stood up.

As he walked away, he looked back once more. The grandmother was still sitting in front of the fire pit, and the blazing light was gently keeping watch by her side.

It felt like that image would remain in his heart for a very, very long time.

“Thank you so much…”

That it was this guesthouse he came to that night. That the person who opened the door without being asleep was the grandmother. In a small voice, Seorim muttered as if to himself.

🦅

The road was submerged in the damp air of the early morning.

The sky was a pale shade of gray, and the sunlight barely showed any sign of its presence from beyond the horizon. Warmth would occasionally spread across the misted-up glass windows before vanishing.

Beyond the car window, fields and the shadows of mountains slowly drifted by. Seorim, sitting in the passenger seat, had his hands gathered on his lap, lost in thought.

The village he had just been staying in was receding into a dot. Now on the road back to reality, the scenery was gradually changing towards the city, but his heart, unable to keep up with the pace, was in turmoil.

Yeonho, holding the steering wheel, glanced at Seorim and then opened his mouth.

“Will you be alright? Just going to Seoul like this.”

“It’s better than the company going bankrupt.”

“It seemed like you liked it. The guesthouse in the seaside village.”

At Yeonho’s words, Seorim quietly gazed out the window and raised the corners of his mouth. Good moments came to his mind vividly. The sound of the waves that he heard every morning when he opened the window, the alley he walked under the sunlight, and the grandmother in the guesthouse kitchen.

Peaceful and safe, all of those things remained vivid. But that time could not last forever. The days in Haenam had been good, but that place was, in the end, a refuge.

“How could I keep living there. I have a baby, too.”

“If you wanted to, I would have built a house.”

“For what? To really become a fisherman?”

“What’s to stop me.”

Ryu Yeonho had to go back to Seoul. In any case, now that he had let him into his heart, he desperately wanted to avoid clinging to his coattails and blocking his path forward.

Perhaps due to the lingering regret, he had barely been able to sleep the previous night. As Seorim rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawned, Yeonho took his hand with the one not on the steering wheel.

“It’s a long drive, so get some sleep.”

“Mr. Ryu Yeonho, you drove all the way to Haenam, didn’t you?”

“Who else would drive for a guy who went off the grid.”

How would people react if they knew he had gone off the grid, gone down to Haenam, and stuck right by an omega’s side. No matter how he thought about it, this guy next to him was definitely a lunatic.

“How long will it take?”

“About six hours.”

The thought of being trapped in a car for six hours felt suffocating. Of course, since there was someone who had to hold the steering wheel for that entire time, he could not whine out loud.

Seorim, who was slowly blinking his eyes to stay awake, suddenly asked.

“By the way, how did you find me?”

“I guess the baby called for me. To come and take responsibility.”

“Did you find me with money?”

“You have no romance, Baek Seorim.”

It seemed there was nothing money couldn’t do after all. Still, seeing as it took some time to find him, he supposed he had done a pretty good job of hiding.

After that, neither of them said anything for a while. The car was quiet, and the scenery on the road flowed by like water.

The gradually warming sunlight became a heater. The rhythmic vibrations of the road served as a lullaby. Belying his efforts to fulfill his duty as a passenger, Seorim’s eyes blinked shut.

At first, he had only intended to close his eyes for a very brief moment because he was tired, but his uncooperative consciousness soon drifted away lightly.

Waking with a start and then falling back asleep, opening his eyes briefly then dropping his head. With his lips parted, catching his breath, Seorim dozed off like that several times.

By the time he regained consciousness, quite a bit of time had passed. His eyes were not fully open, but his mouth opened first.

“…I’m hungry.”

His hoarse voice was in a half-asleep state. He wondered if that sound had really come from his own throat. To wake himself up, Seorim vigorously rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.

“Grandmother, haam, gave me pocket money to buy something delicious.”

“Should we stop at a rest stop?”

In a tone that was swallowing a laugh, Yeonho tilted his head towards Seorim.

“Yes.”

At Seorim’s answer, Yeonho turned on the blinker. The car smoothly pulled off to the right and then entered the rest stop access road along a gentle curve.

The view outside the window changed. Instead of the endlessly stretching road, advertising flags fluttering in the wind came into view.

The car came to a stop in a parking space. The silence after the engine was turned off enveloped the inside of the car. When he opened the door, Seorim flinched, surprised by the colder-than-expected outside air.

“Is it cold?”

“Yeees.”

“It’s because you’re not fully awake yet. Want my coat?”

Seorim shook his head from side to side and got out of the car. Yeonho, with his hands stuck in his coat pockets, matched his steps beside him.

The area in front of the rest stop was moderately busy. A group that had just gotten out of their car and a group heading back to their cars with food in hand mingled and crossed paths. Faced with the crowd, a sense of fear lingering in his subconscious peeked its head out.

Yeonho naturally wrapped an arm around Seorim’s tense shoulders. For some reason, that was comforting.

He couldn’t tell if the omega’s instincts were relieved because the alpha it recognized as its mate was nearby, or if Baek Seorim considered Ryu Yeonho to be safe. Perhaps it was both.

The two of them went up the stairs and arrived in front of a food stall. Yeonho, scanning the inside of the stall’s glass display, asked.

“What do you want to eat.”

“Potatoes, and tteokbokki.”

“What else?”

“Bungeoppang, with custard cream, not red bean. I want a hot bar too, and, um, octopus bread and sausage.”

“Did you starve yesterday.”

What was he supposed to do, he was starving to death.

It seemed like just yesterday that he couldn’t even touch food, but pregnancy was truly a frightening thing. It felt like he could devour all the foods he had listed.

Seorim, who was staring up at Yeonho, held out two banknotes. It was the pocket money the grandmother had given him the night before. Of course, it was a sum far too small to pay for all that food.

Seeing the fluttering bills, Yeonho asked in a low voice.

“Are you buying?”

“Mr. Ryu Yeonho, you’re unemployed.”

“You’re so considerate.”

Instead of taking the money, Yeonho took his own card out of his wallet. While he listed the long order to the clerk at the counter, Seorim put the banknotes back in his pocket.

Saved some money. I should use it as emergency funds later.

Before long, the ordered foods started to come out one by one. Tteokbokki, potatoes, octopus bread, a hot bar, sausage, and even custard cream bungeoppang.

Seorim, with a hot bar in his mouth, gathered the food as it came out. With his hands full of cups holding the food, he also tucked a paper bag under his elbow.

Yeonho, with a coffee in one hand, took the bowl of potatoes and the octopus bread that Seorim hadn’t managed to carry.

During the short moment it took to walk to the car, Seorim diligently chomped on the hot bar. Thanks to eating it quickly, only about half of it was left.

Yeonho opened the passenger door for him and said.

“Eat slowly. I’m not going to take it from you.”

“What do you want to eat?”

“Bungeoppang.”

It was so unfitting for that face to pronounce the word ‘bungeoppang’. He looked like he only ever ate alcohol and salad.

The smell of oil and appetizing food mixed and floated inside the car. After finishing the steaming hot bar, Seorim picked up the tteokbokki. He also opened the lid of the octopus bread next to it.

Yeonho watched Seorim chew distractedly while taking a sip of his coffee. When their eyes met, Seorim put an octopus bread in his mouth and said in a muffled voice.

“It’s been so long since I’ve eaten something like this. Food from a stall.”

“I guess so. Do you like it?”

“It’s delicious.”

“You’re a kid too, you know.”

Seorim did not answer and offered Yeonho a bungeoppang. Then he dipped a piece of tteokbokki and put it in his mouth. His cheeks puffed up roundly from chewing various foods.

“You look like a squirrel.”

Yeonho tilted his head, reached out, and poked Seorim’s cheek. Seorim paid him no mind and focused on his meal.

“Are you storing food?”

“I’m hungry.”

“At this rate, you’ll be rolling around soon. All chubby.”

Not stopping at poking his cheek, he fidgets with the soft skin with his index and middle fingers. It was a little annoying, but the tteokbokki was more important, so Seorim let Yeonho be.

“I’ll roll you home safely.”

“At least you’re taking me home.”

“I have to fatten you up and eat you.”

Seorim-tang, Seorim-bokkeum, Seorim-muchim. He was muttering like that to himself, so I thought he was a madman. Seorim, who was looking at Yeonho with horrified eyes, bit into a bungeoppang.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“I’m full just from watching you eat.”

“Here.”

Seorim took a new bungeoppang from the bag and placed it in Yeonho’s mouth. He obediently accepted the food.

Once the meal was more or less finished, Seorim leaned back deeply in his seat and let out a small breath.

Except for the bungeoppang and a few pieces of potato, he had eaten almost all the food. A pleasant feeling of fullness, like floating among the clouds in the sky, spread throughout his body.

As Seorim went limp in the passenger seat, Yeonho started the engine. The car got back on the road. It was a leisurely departure, as if stretching.

Under the considerably cleared sky, thin rays of sunlight poured into the car.

He decided not to think about anything for a while. Leaning his forehead against the car window, Seorim was quietly flowing onward to the next thing, along with the scenery.

🦅

“Wake up.”

A low, calm voice resonated inside the car. Seorim flinched slightly and then carefully lifted his eyelids.

“Sleep well? My little squirrel.”

The surroundings had changed again. Fluorescent lights illuminated the area instead of sunlight, and the sound of an engine reverberated low over the concrete floor.

It was an unfamiliar place he had never seen before. Am I still dreaming? Puzzled, Seorim, still not fully awake, looked out the window and asked.

“Um, uh, where is this?”

“Home.”

Yeonho answered curtly and reached his arm over Seorim’s shoulder. Click, as he pressed the button, the sound of the seatbelt unbuckling spread through the car’s body. Seorim leaned his upper body forward and asked.

“This isn’t home.”

“It is home, my home.”

Did ‘my home’ mean a house that Ryu Yeonho owned separately? While Seorim sat there blankly, unable to grasp the situation, the engine was turned off.

Yeonho got out of the car, came around to the passenger side, and helped the awkwardly seated Seorim out.

The underground parking garage was silent. Only the dull sound of a ventilation fan could be heard from afar. Seorim, with a dazed expression, looked around his surroundings once.

It was a refined space where luxury sedans were lined up. The walls and floor were gray. It had an artificial scent, completely different from the dusty smell of earth in the countryside village or the mansion’s backyard.

“Why did we come here?”

“Where else would we go if not here.”

As if he were a guardian, Yeonho took Seorim’s hand and started walking.

“The mansion…”

“The mansion is gone, now.”

When he entered numbers into a keypad, a glass door opened. After passing through a corridor connected to the interior, a large elevator revealed itself.

What does he mean, the mansion is gone. Did they sell it because of financial difficulties? But it seemed like a very meaningful building.

He remembered Chairman Ryu occasionally boasting about the mansion. As the conversation continued, the questions only grew deeper.

Seorim looked at Yeonho’s side profile as he pressed a button and asked.

“Why is it gone?”

“Because it all burned down.”

Burned down.

“…What?”

“I burned it. I didn’t need it.”

He burned that mansion?

A series of question marks popped up in his head. Even though they had clearly exchanged questions and answers, he could not grasp the situation clearly. According to what Ryu Yeonho said, it meant that he had set fire to the mansion with his own hands.

Is he serious?

He felt at a loss for what more to ask. Seeing Ryu Yeonho’s personality, the possibility of it being a lie was low. Now that Chairman Ryu was dead, perhaps the large mansion was no longer needed. But to go as far as to burn it.

While Seorim was having all sorts of thoughts, the elevator arrived at the 39th floor. Strangely, there was no hallway on the floor, and only a single large door stood there by itself.

“If you have anything else you’re curious about, ask.”

“Where is Yeonwoo staying?”

“I left him with a cousin for a bit. There was no one to look after him. He’ll probably stay there for the time being.”

Should he be relieved that he was out of that harmful environment, or should he feel sorry for him for losing his home? Were these cousins normal people? Surely there were good people among the Ryu family members. He could only hope that those who were decent were decent guardians.

When Yeonho entered the password, the metal door opened, and Seorim came face to face with the space called ‘Ryu Yeonho’s home’ for the first time.

The home was not as heavy or as glamorous as he had thought, but an atmosphere that seemed to press a person down lingered in the air.

A long hallway followed along the dark gray wallpaper. Seorim, who was walking behind Yeonho, stopped when he saw a painting hanging on the wall.

Deep purple and bluish-gray were tangled together, seeping into the thinly hung, frameless painting. It was a piece made with a marbling technique. It was not particularly flashy, but it had a mysterious quality that drew the eye.

“Do you like paintings?”

“It wasn’t bad, so I bought it a while ago.”

The living room, which was revealed at the end of the hallway, had a cosmopolitan and neat impression. The overall tone was close to black. The sofa and the kitchen were mostly black, and the indirect lighting pouring down on them subtly reflected the light.

There was not much furniture, making the already large home look even more bare. However, in its place, the night view of Seoul visible through the floor-to-ceiling glass window dominated the space as if it were the master of this house.

He really is a person from a different world.

He could not even fathom how much money one would need to own a home of this scale in Seoul. And he was even living alone.

While Seorim stood in front of the window, looking down at the night view, Yeonho came out after putting away his outerwear. He stood behind Seorim and said.

“Is it awkward?”

“A little.”

His voice came from too close. Seorim, who turned around reflexively, was startled by Yeonho’s chin right in front of his nose and took a step back.

“Why are you so surprised. We slept hugging each other every night.”

“We didn’t hug.”

“You slept with your arm as a pillow yesterday, too.”

“That was only yesterday.”

Once he became conscious of it, his head felt like it was spinning. As Seorim averted his gaze by rolling his eyes, Yeonho grabbed the back of his head and lightly bumped their foreheads together.

“You talk a good game.”

A light kiss landed on the nape of his neck. Following that, lips descended upon one of his wrinkled eyes. After stamping two kisses, Yeonho whispered lowly into Seorim’s ear.

“Let’s go, I’ll show you the room.”

Seorim nodded his head a beat late. Yeonho then led Seorim and left the living room. The place where his steps stopped was the room opposite the wall where the painting hung.

Inside the door, it was a little darker than the living room. For lighting, a single indirect lamp was on, and a dark-toned bed, a side table, and black curtains hung down with a restrained feel.

“This is the bedroom.”

The bedroom also did not have much furniture. The size of the bed was quite impressive; it looked excessively large for one person to use. Though he was not sure how it would be for the large-statured Ryu Yeonho.

“I’ll have you know, I’m the type who doesn’t use separate rooms.”

“Then do I not have a room?”

“There are rooms. But we have to sleep together.”

Seorim stood on the threshold and looked inside the room. From the shelves and the bedding, there was a faint smell that was the same as Ryu Yeonho’s.

“…It’s bleak.”

“Then fill it with things you like.”

“It’s not my home.”

“Do you want to buy your own home?”

Come to think of it, what would happen from now on. He had followed him up to Seoul for now, but he had not decided what he would do to live. He had Ryu Yeonho’s child in his belly, and it seemed he wanted him to give birth to it.

It did not seem likely that he would end up marrying him just because he was carrying his child. Seorim was also well aware that Ryu Yeonho was a person who lived in a different world.

Then what would happen after he had the child. Would he live as his lover or his mistress? Now that he had let him into his heart, he was not confident he could endure such treatment. He did not want to live as a doll without color or emotion anymore.

“…It would be nice to buy one.”

“For investment purposes?”

“For whatever.”

If he said this, Ryu Yeonho might say that since he went through the trouble of giving birth to a child mixed with his blood, he would give him a house. He did not want to hear it. He did not wish for it.

“If you want one, I can buy it for you, but still, try to get attached to this place.”

Ryu Yeonho’s gaze, which he briefly met, looked somewhat complicated. He said he would show him other places and left the room first. Seorim took one last look at the bedroom’s appearance before following him.

There were three bathrooms, including a small one attached to the bedroom, and two empty rooms with nothing in them, one large study, a dressing room, a kitchen, and a terrace.

The house was so big that just looking around it was a task. It was absurd that the number of rooms being used and the number of rooms sitting empty were similar. Moreover, because there was not much furniture, the rooms looked even less faithful to their functions.

“If you need anything, tell me. Use any room you like.”

“You must be, really rich.”

“I am, I suppose.”

Yeonho sighed and sat down, leaning his back against the sofa in the living room. Having been in the driver’s seat for a long time, he also looked quite tired. Seorim also sat next to him, his knees together. In this unfamiliar space, being next to Ryu Yeonho felt the safest.

“The rooms are too empty.”

“I think so too.”

“Why did you buy it? This house. You’re alone.”

“I didn’t buy it. If it were my money, I wouldn’t have wasted it on a place like this.”

It seemed his economic sense was screwed on straight. The Yeonho that Seorim had seen also did not give the impression of being a chaebol who would waste money meaninglessly on useless things. Unless he was doing something strange.

“My late mother left it to me. It felt wrong to sell it, so I’m just living here.”

“Ah…”

A mother who would leave an officetel of this size. He became curious about what kind of person she was. Chairman Ryu did not have particularly outstanding looks, so his mother must have been very beautiful. And Ryu Yeonho probably resembled her a great deal.

“Are you hungry?”

Yeonho asked, tilting his neck back to rest on the back of the sofa. Not knowing whether he was hungry or not, Seorim looked down at his own lower abdomen and said.

“Is there anything to eat?”

“Something simple. If there’s something specific you want to eat, we can order it.”

“Um…”

Seorim quietly watched Yeonho’s side profile. He definitely looked more tired than usual.

“You can just rest.”

“But I’m hungry.”

“Then, ramyeon.”

The menu item popped out of his mouth without him realizing it. He had never thought he wanted to eat ramyeon, so was the baby in his belly speaking for him? After answering himself, Seorim wore a dazed expression, and Yeonho glanced at him and smiled faintly.

“Ramyeon?”

“I don’t know. I suddenly feel like I want to eat it.”

“Not bad. We’ve been eating too healthily all this time.”

Do they order ramyeon too? Seorim looked towards the kitchen and asked.

“How do we eat the ramyeon?”

“By boiling it.”

“Who?”

“Either me or you.”

It seemed they were not ordering it. Since the homeowner looked considerably tired, Seorim got up from his seat. Yeonho remained buried in the sofa, not moving.

The kitchen was structured parallel to the living room.

Seorim carefully looked up at the cupboards, then lightly opened a door. Individually packaged ramyeons, lined up in an orderly fashion, came into view.

“There’s more ramyeon than I thought.”

“I eat it sometimes. For hangovers.”

“It doesn’t suit you.”

“What do you think of me that you say everything doesn’t suit me.”

Because you just don’t look like you would. Thinking that to himself, Seorim took out three bags of ramyeon from the cupboard. Washing a pot, pouring water, and turning on the gas stove all followed in a natural sequence.

While waiting for the water to boil, he also found a ladle and chopsticks. Thanks to everything being well-organized, the necessary utensils were easy to spot.

He broke the noodles and put them in, and after pouring in the soup packet, the unique salty smell of ramyeon soon wafted up. It spread throughout the entire house in an instant.

Yeonho, who smelled the ramyeon, walked over to the kitchen. He glanced at the pot where the noodles were bubbling and spreading out, then poured water into a cup.

“Isn’t that a lot?”

“I was afraid two bags wouldn’t be enough.”

“You can eat… well, you’ll probably eat it all.”

It was a little unfair. Since Ryu Yeonho was big, he thought two bags would not be enough, so he had boiled one more.

Seorim turned off the heat and divided the broth and noodles into two ceramic bowls. Yeonho was setting out spoons and chopsticks for two people on the dining table.

The two of them sat facing each other at the table. Yeonho first lifted the noodles with his chopsticks, cooled them once, and put them in his mouth. There was no sound as he ate the noodles. Seorim followed his lead and quietly picked up a few strands of ramyeon.

“What are you going to do tomorrow?”

“I have to go to the company.”

“What about me?”

“What do you want to do?”

What I want to do.

Ryu Yeonho was the first person to ask him such a question. He thought he would probably be the only one in the future as well. Seorim lightly dipped his chopsticks in the broth, took them out, and answered.

“I haven’t thought about it yet.”

“Then think about it. You have a lot of time, so take it slow.”

Yeonho took a sip of the water in his cup and then added.

“You can go out, but don’t run away from home.”

“I have nowhere to go anyway.”

“When you have nowhere to go, you make a place and go there, don’t you.”

At Yeonho’s words, Seorim stopped his chopsticks. A bit of a smile emerged as it seemed like a residue of resentment was showing in his indifferent tone.

“I won’t. Run away from home.”

Yeonho silently scooped up the broth with a spoon and took a bite. For a moment, only the sound of utensils clashing and food being swallowed flowed over the dining table.

Yeonho, who had wiped his mouth with a tissue, suddenly opened his mouth.

“Try learning to paint.”

Seorim, with his chopsticks in hand, stared blankly at Yeonho. It seemed he clearly remembered the conversation they had in the room at the guesthouse.

“Is that okay?”

Is it really okay? He asked without realizing it. It was less a question of whether it was okay to learn to paint, and more a question of ‘Am I a person who is allowed to do something for myself?’

Yeonho, with a blank expression, dipped his spoon into the broth and said.

“I’ll get you a teacher.”

At those words, Seorim slowly lowered his head. His breath deepened just a little, and a gentle tickle bloomed in his chest. He was cautiously happy. A shallow flutter of excitement.

Before long, both of their bowls revealed their bottoms. Seorim lifted his empty bowl and gently stacked it on top of Yeonho’s.

Click, the sound of the ceramic bowls touching rang out softly. That sound became a signal, and Seorim hesitantly opened his mouth.

“Ah, um.”

“Yes.”

“I want to see Yeonwoo.”

The child who had saved him from the mansion where a fierce wind blew that night. Yeonwoo, who had trembled like an aspen tree and shed tears. He wanted to see that youthful face that resembled a pure white snowflake.

Had he been hurt too much. Had new flesh grown over his wounded heart.

“Yeonwoo will be happy.”

“Did you talk about me?”

“A lot. He kept asking where hyung-ah was.”

He was not even his real younger brother, but he felt a fond affection for him. Seorim, forgetting to even drink his water, cupped the glass with both hands and asked.

“He’s doing well without being sick, right?”

“Well, ask him yourself.”

Seeing his relaxed expression, it was a relief that there did not seem to be any major problems.

After the conversation ended, the two naturally started to clean up the dishes. Seorim stood up, holding the bowls and cups from the table one by one, and Yeonho walked towards the sink.

“Go brush your teeth.”

“I can do it.”

“It’s fine.”

Yeonho said, as if tossing the words out, and turned on the tap. There was no reason to refuse when he was offering a favor. Seorim carefully placed the used dishes next to the sink.

“Then I’ll wash up first.”

“Okay.”

After the brief conversation, Seorim entered the bathroom.

He closed the door and stared at his own face in the mirror. His cheeks were a little flushed, and his eyes were comfortably relaxed. Was it because he was satisfied after eating ramyeon?

After lightly brushing his teeth, he came out to the living room while drying his face with a towel.

Yeonho was still finishing up the dishes. Seorim, trying not to walk noisily, quieted his footsteps and approached the sofa.

The moment he leaned his body against the soft sofa, his back and thighs sank deep. As he took a deep breath, his tense muscles gradually relaxed. The indirect light on the ceiling was dimly lit, creating a mellow atmosphere.

Beyond the glass window, the lights of Seoul twinkled in the distance. Seorim took off his socks and pulled his toes up onto the sofa. And he slowly blinked his eyes.

The living room was moderately warm. His eyelids quickly became heavy once again.

He said we had to sleep together.

It seemed he was going to break the rule, which was not quite a rule, that Ryu Yeonho had stated on the first day he came to the house. Seorim silently closed his eyes on the sofa.

🦅

Faint sunlight was streaming in through the gap in the parted curtains.

Seorim’s eyes snapped open. He could feel the soft touch of the blanket on his arms and legs. When he turned his head to the side, the neatly organized bedroom came into view.

He was sure his last memory was of falling asleep on the sofa, so it seemed Ryu Yeonho had moved him afterwards. And he had slept for so long without even realizing it. Ryu Yeonho had done all the troublesome things, yet it was a mystery why he felt so tired.

Ryu Yeonho was not there. The room, the house, every space was quiet. To go to work the very next day after returning from Haenam, he had, upon fresh consideration, truly remarkable stamina.

Seorim blinked his eyes like that for a while, then slowly pushed his upper body up. He was just left alone in the house, but he felt as if he were all alone in the world. It was probably because this space was still unfamiliar.

He got out of bed and threw the curtains wide open. Bright sunlight shone in from the large window. He thought, it really is spring now.

He was thirsty from sleeping so deeply during the night. It was the moment he opened the bedroom door to get a glass of water.

Ding-dong—.

The sound of the doorbell ringing was very clear. Seorim reflexively turned his head towards the front door. Who is it at this hour. He had not heard from Ryu Yeonho that another housemate or a guest would be coming.

Should he open the door? Didn’t you normally have to go through a communal entrance first in a high-end officetel like this?

His shoulders tensed at the thought that he might have to greet someone in an unfamiliar space. Seorim cautiously went out to the living room and checked the intercom.

— Hello, Mr. Baek Seorim. I’m from the secretary’s office.

“The secretary’s office?”

— Executive Director Ryu Yeonho sent me.

Judging by the fact that she even knew his name, it seemed she really was a person sent by Ryu Yeonho. Seorim quietly looked at the woman’s face reflected on the intercom screen, then walked towards the front door.

After hesitating for a moment, he opened the door, and a young woman in a neat suit bowed her head. In her hands, she held several shopping bags.

“The Executive Director asked me to deliver these to you.”

Not only were there shopping bags, but he could see several large boxes stacked behind her as well. The secretary moved the boxes inside the house with practiced movements.

Seorim tilted his head slightly and looked into the shopping bags he had been handed. Inside, packaged clothes were neatly arranged.

“The clothes were ordered to fit your size. Shoes, a mobile phone, and a card were also prepared. The card has been placed in a wallet for your convenience.”

“What is all this?”

“He conveyed a message that he hopes you will not experience any inconvenience while staying here.”

In a business-like tone, the secretary told him which were the clothes and shoes, and where the mobile phone was.

“If you need anything else, please contact me here. I will prepare it immediately.”

She held out a business card. Taehwa Construction Management Planning Office, Office Head Choi Eunhwa. Below it seemed to be her contact number. Seorim dazedly accepted the business card and said.

“Ah, yes. You’ve worked hard.”

“Not at all. Please feel free to tell me if you have any questions or any miscellaneous errands you need done.”