DOGC Ch 23

“Are you shy now after you’ve seen everything there is to see?”

“Don’t say such strange things.”

Yeonho said nothing more and turned his back. His broad, sturdy shoulders came into full view. A drop of water trickled slowly down the nape of his neck, revealing the firm lines of muscle underneath. As he rinsed himself with the showerhead, Seorim tried his best not to let his gaze waver.

“Is the water temperature okay?”

“Your hands are warmer.”

It was a comment he should have let pass without a thought, but the sudden huskiness in the voice made his chest tingle slightly. Seorim worked up a lather on his fingertips and carefully placed it on Yeonho’s hair.

Yeonho closed his eyes without a word. He could see his dense eyelashes tremble with every breath he took. His forehead, his temples, and the elegant line of his hair. The movement of his hands rubbing in the shampoo slowed a little.

His looks were certainly anything but ordinary. He had a face that seemed capable of bewitching anyone in the world if he so chose.

“Why did you stop.”

“……No, I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

Seorim started moving his hands again. It felt as if Ryu Yeonho’s body heat and his own were mingling in the steam that filled the bathroom. His face grew warm and flushed.

He pressed gently with his fingertips to work out the lather. The stream of water ran down the nape of Yeonho’s neck to his shoulder line.

“You have no strength.”

“It’ll hurt if I’m rough.”

“As if it would, if it’s you.”

After rinsing out all the shampoo, Seorim turned to face the direction Yeonho was looking. In the steam filled bathroom, their foreheads and the tips of their noses grew close. Yeonho’s right arm came up and lightly grasped Seorim’s waist.

“Y, you shouldn’t move. It’s slippery.”

“I told you, you can just hold onto me.”

“We’ll fall together.”

While retorting, Seorim took out a towel and began to wipe Yeonho’s face and hair, enveloping them. The warmth of his skin, felt through the towel, made his chest flush in unison.

Neither of them said anything. But in the subtle quietness, he felt something deepening. The steam and moist air filling the bathroom, each other’s breath and body heat. Everything filled this moment, constantly creating a precarious atmosphere.

Just as Seorim was wiping the last of the water along his jawline, Yeonho’s eyes slowly opened. His light colored eyes gazed quietly at Seorim.

“It’s not bad, being washed by someone else. It’s more comfortable than I thought.”

“You’re a grown man, what’s so good about it.”

The bathroom was too hot, and Ryu Yeonho was too close. It was the moment Seorim averted his gaze and pulled the towel away from his face.

The right hand pulled Seorim in strongly. His body naturally collapsed onto his lap. With Seorim sitting on his thigh, Yeonho pressed down on his slender nape with his hand.

“Hgh, eup.”

He thought their lips were just meeting, but then they were completely devoured. A wet tongue traced Seorim’s lower lip before parting it and delving inside. In an instant, the two masses of flesh were entangled.

Moisture, whether it was the rising steam or beads of sweat, formed on his spine. His vision was blurry and dizzy. As if with clear intent, Yeonho was subtly—but continuously—releasing his pheromones.

Unconsciously, Seorim raised his arms and hugged the back of Yeonho’s head. The way his tongue curled around his, then playfully swept over his teeth, was agonizing. Seorim gulped down saliva he could not tell whose it was and awkwardly matched his breathing.

I want to do more. It felt so good that he could feel his mind turning hazy white.

Just as his hand unconsciously reached out and caressed Ryu Yeonho’s jawline, a sound that pulled the two of them back to reality spread through the air.

Waaaaah—!

The world that had existed only for the two of them until just a moment ago was instantly torn apart by a single cry from Haenam. Seorim froze, sucking in a breath. It took exactly half a second for his eyes to widen like saucers and his mind to clear.

“Haenam is awake.”

The crying from outside the bathroom was long and sharp. He could be hungry, or fussy from waking up, or maybe anxious because his guardian was not immediately in sight.

Seorim quickly pulled away from Yeonho’s embrace and grabbed a towel. Water splashed with every step he took.

“I’ll hold him. You finish up and come out.”

He heard some words from behind him, but Seorim was already flinging open the bathroom door and heading out. As the steam escaped and cold air rushed in to take its place, reality finally found its footing.

The baby’s crying continued sorrowfully. Seorim roughly wiped himself with the towel and hurried to the room where Haenam was.

“Oh my, you’re awake.”

With a sigh, a pang of regret for wanting to stay in that moment a little longer brushed against his heart. It was a day that made him deeply realize the saying that parenting, in many ways, is a battle of patience.

— Haenam’s Growth Diary, Chapter Five

It is almost a year since Haenam was born.

This clever little guy sometimes does something that resembles expressing his intentions.

The day before yesterday, he saw the ring on my hand and waved his hands, saying, ‘Bbaa, jo.’ I think he probably meant, ‘Appa, give me this.’

This is something appa’s appa gave him.

I love you very much, but I cannot give it to you.

🦅

The paintings he had drawn every week in class, and whenever he was bored, had piled up and now filled one side of the studio. There was a wide variety, from canvases and sketchbooks to paper and charcoal drawings.

What started as just a few pieces had at some point taken over the floor, and just the ones leaning against the wall were enough to hold a small exhibition.

‘At this rate, the whole studio is going to be full.’

‘I know, right.’

‘Should I throw them away?’

Yeonho glanced once at the pile of paintings and answered.

‘Why throw away something so valuable. You can just send them somewhere.’

‘Where would I send them?’

‘I have a vacation villa. In the Gangwon-do area.’

Having a lot of money was a very convenient thing. Relying on Ryu Yeonho’s words, Seorim decided to send all the completed paintings to some unknown place called a villa. The very next day after their conversation, several workers came, carefully wrapped each painting, and cleared out the studio.

It had been a few months since he had organized the paintings that one time. Before he knew it, paintings had piled up again. It was a natural result, as his daily routine of painting during class and whenever he was bored continued.

“Oh.”

Sohee, who had just opened the studio door, shifted her gaze to the wall. Leaning there in a line were the paintings Seorim had created over the past while.

“It’s getting crowded again.”

Carefully setting a fallen canvas back up, Sohee looked up at Seorim, who was seated.

“You have a child, how do you paint so diligently. You’re working really hard, Mr. Seorim.”

“It’s because it’s fun. The nanny looks after the baby more often than not.”

“It’s rewarding. From a teaching perspective.”

Sohee’s gaze stopped on one of the paintings placed near the wall. It was an oil painting of a child sitting with his back to a window in a small room where warm light seeped in.

“This is really well painted. It’s a waste to just stack them up. To think there are so many like this.”

“I just, as I gathered them……”

“You didn’t throw away the ones you painted before, did you?”

“I sent them somewhere else. They were taking up too much space.”

Sohee nodded her head slowly, as if mulling over Seorim’s words. Then, as if something suddenly came to mind, she fumbled in her bag.

“Ah, a few months ago, I took one of your paintings, Mr. Seorim, remember? The one of the seaside village.”

“Yes.”

“The tickets for that special exhibition are out.”

Leaning her body far over her bag, she unzips it and rummages inside. After pushing through various items like notebooks and pens with her fingers, Sohee finally pulled out a thin gray envelope.

“You have to come and see it. Artist Baek Seorim’s painting is hanging there too!”

Artist Baek Seorim.

The title, heard for the first time, stuck in his ear. The words felt so unfamiliar that for a moment, Seorim could not answer and just stared down at the envelope Sohee held out. The texture of the paper against his fingertips felt strangely awkward.

An artist. He could not grasp the reality of it at all—that there were paintings of his exhibited side by side somewhere, with his name attached to them.

As Seorim silently fiddled with the envelope, Sohee added with a bright smile.

“Come with the Executive Director, too. He’ll love it.”

“Yes.”

“There’s a nice restaurant nearby, too. It’s perfect to have a meal and then slowly look around the exhibition.”

‘It’s near Samcheong-dong. The galleries and restaurants are all gathered there, so the atmosphere of the street is nice, too.’ While she enthusiastically continued her explanation, Seorim nodded his head with a slightly dazed expression.

He heard her words, but his mind was lost in a different fantasy. Inside a small gallery, a single painting in a frame on a white, quiet wall. Below it, a small caption with the name ‘Baek Seorim.’ Perhaps someone might stop and gaze at that painting for a long time.

Could that really happen? Could it really, really happen?

Seorim unconsciously gripped the gray envelope in his hand a little tighter.

“I’ll do that. Thank you, Mrs. Sohee.”

“Not at all. I’m the one who is more honored.”

Sohee placed the pen she was holding on the desk with a light tap. The crisp sound echoed, as if waking the space.

Seorim carefully set the envelope aside and turned his body. On the white canvas, faint pencil lines awaiting today’s lesson were drawn. Sohee walked over and stood beside the easel.

“Today, let’s push the shading a little further. We’ll start by practicing capturing volume rather than color.”

The small chat ended like that. The sounds of a pencil scratching, paint being squeezed, and light breathing began to flow within the studio.

Time seemed to pass particularly quickly during art lessons.

After the class ended and Sohee left, a quiet settled over the studio. Seorim emptied the water container and wiped his hands with a small cloth. Only after he had untied his apron did the gray envelope, placed neatly on the table, catch his eye again.

The two exhibition tickets inside it.

Seorim smiled softly and stroked the envelope with his fingertips. It felt as if what was inside was not a ticket, but something that gave him permission to go a little further.

What should I say when I ask him to go with me.

Not too timidly, but also without showing that I’m too excited. Just casually tossing him the ticket would seem too insincere.

Just as he was pondering how to bring it up, a baby’s cry erupted from the small room.

A parent was a role that did not afford the luxury of such trivial worries. Seorim, startled, placed the envelope on the table and hurriedly made his way to Haenam’s room.

Haenam must have been hungry; he had kicked off his blanket and was pouting. His eyes were welling up, as if tears would fall at any moment.

“I’m sorry. Why were you upset?”

“Ooo, bba.”

Seorim, in a familiar motion, picked Haenam up and patted his back. The baby’s unique warmth quickly spread across his chest. As the crying gradually subsided, the child opened his mouth wide, mumbled, and tilted his head.

“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

By now, he felt he could tell what the child wanted just by looking at his eyes.

The routine he had repeated countless times had become second nature to his body. Seorim, holding Haenam in his arms, headed to the kitchen. The weight in his arms, growing day by day, felt strangely reassuring.

He warmed up the soft baby food made with zucchini, potato, and chicken. In the meantime, Haenam, who had been placed in his high chair, moved his head this way and that, following his hand, his eyes fixed on the baby food bowl. He must have been really hungry.

“Say ahh.”

After cooling the finely mashed, boiled ingredients, Seorim brought the spoon to the child’s mouth. The lips that had been firmly closed opened reflexively as soon as the spoon approached.

“You’re eating well. Good boy.”

One bite, then another.

He was staring blankly at Haenam gulping down the baby food through his small throat.

The characteristic mechanical sound of the electronic door lock rang out. Following that, the neat sound of dress shoes on the floor was heard not too far away.

Before Seorim could open his mouth, Haenam whipped his head around first. As if the child had instinctively sensed his father’s presence, his eyes widened and he gave an eye smile.

Soon, Yeonho appeared, looking slightly tired over his loosened necktie. Nevertheless, a faint smile spread across his lips upon seeing Seorim holding a spoon.

“It’s his mealtime, too.”

“You’re home.”

Yeonho walked over slowly and squatted down beside the baby’s table. Haenam, seeming excited, tapped his feet and opened his mouth towards the baby food on the spoon.

“He’s having chicken today. Lucky him.”

“The nanny made it before she left. There’s samgyetang in a pot for us, too.”

“I guess she boiled a chicken because it’s summer.”

Haenam ended up cleaning his plate down to the very last spoonful. After wiping the porridge from around his mouth with a tissue and giving him a little water, he gives a satisfied smile.

When a child is born, a strong sense of cooperation develops between the parents. Without exchanging words, the two found their respective tasks. Seorim went back to the room and laid the baby on the bed, while Yeonho warmed up the samgyetang.

The aroma of the richly brewed broth quickly filled the kitchen. Seorim, who had come back out to the kitchen, served the rice. Before long, a decent dinner table was set.

Taking a spoonful of rice, then another spoonful of soup, Seorim’s gaze kept drifting beyond the dining table. Looking at Yeonho’s face, the gray envelope he had placed there earlier kept catching his eye.

“Are you sick?”

Yeonho asked, seeing Seorim’s restless state.

“No, it’s not that. I have something to give you.”

“Besides food?”

“……Technically, I didn’t give you the food either.”

“You look exactly like you do when you’re waiting for his baby food.”

Suddenly, Seorim put down his spoon and shot up from his seat. While Yeonho stared with surprised eyes, Seorim’s shadow disappeared like an arrow to the side of the table.

It might sound like a complaint from someone well fed, but this house was truly unnecessarily large. Seorim walked with quick, short steps to the studio and returned with the gray envelope like a trophy. Yeonho was still staring blankly at Seorim, unable to put down the chicken from his chopsticks.

“I’ll give you this. I was originally going to give it to you after we finished eating, but I just…… wanted to give it to you now.”

He could feel his own face, smiling as he held out the envelope, flush with warmth. No matter how hard he tried to press down on the corners of his mouth, he could not stop them from turning up.

“What is this?”

“Open it.”

Yeonho lifted the envelope and shook it lightly with one hand. There was almost no weight, so only the brisk sound of paper hitting the envelope could be heard. He opened the envelope wordlessly with his index finger and took out the tickets.

Yeonho’s gaze went down as he felt the thin, smooth texture unique to paper with his fingertips. A brief silence fell as he read the contents of the ticket. The way his eyes moved, following the text, looked unusually serious.

“An exhibition.”

“I told you before. That Mrs. Sohee took a painting. They said my painting is hanging there too.”

“Ah, that.”

Seorim watched the muscles in Yeonho’s face move. The corners of his mouth curving, a different light in his eyes, and a gentle aura settling in his eyes. It was the expression Ryu Yeonho showed when he felt interested and amused.

“Are you happy? That your painting is up.”

“Yes. Really. It’s all thanks to you, Mr. Ryu Yeonho.”

“You’re the one who did well.”

Yeonho nodded his head slightly, then, with his fingertips, he stacked the tickets one on top of the other, aligning the corners neatly. And then, as if handling something very precious, he slowly put the tickets back inside the envelope.

“I’m honored to receive such a precious thing.”

“Will you go with me?”

“Let’s go tomorrow.”

Seorim’s eyes widened slightly, then he showed a bright smile. The corners of his mouth twitched as a laugh bloomed. Both the hand that accepted the tickets and the answer that he would go somehow felt like a gift.

He could not even remember the last time he had felt this kind of emotion, it was so long ago. He would probably have to go all the way back to a very distant childhood memory.

Feeling so good, Seorim picked up his spoon again and scooped up a spoonful of samgyetang broth. Beyond the bowl from which steam was rising, he could see Yeonho nonchalantly scooping soup.

It felt as if even the air above the dining table had been warmed.

🦅

The next evening, as soon as Yeonho got off work, the two headed straight for the art museum. Before entering the exhibition hall, they had a simple dinner at a nice restaurant nearby.

Seorim was holding his utensils but could not properly eat his food. The whole time he was sitting at the table, his heart felt so thrilled, as if it were constantly floating up into the air. The fact that he was going to see his own painting hanging in an art museum still did not feel real.

Since it was late, the museum parking lot was quiet. It being a weekday evening and close to closing time, the parked cars were few and far between.

Yeonho parked the car in one of the amply empty spaces. When the engine was turned off, a quiet settled in the car, and in that silence, it felt as if only Seorim’s heartbeat could be heard clearly.

“Why are you so nervous. Are you going to take an exam?”

“It’s not that, but it’s just, a lot of people have seen it.”

“They must have thought it was worth hanging, so they asked to hang it.”

The two men got out of the car and walked side by side.

It was a street where the wind was also quiet, being far from the city center. The short pathway leading from the parking lot to the exhibition hall had almost no foot traffic, so the sound of their heels clicking on the ground rang out clearly.

Seorim followed alongside Yeonho, pressing the ticket inside the envelope to check it. His heart was pounding tumultuously somewhere between excitement and nervousness.

“Are you cold?”

“It’s summer, are you worried about me being cold?”

“Then why are your hands trembling like this.”

Along with the laughter tinged words, he gently took his hand. Seorim liked the warmth, so he quietly intertwined their fingers.

Arriving at the entrance, Seorim took two tickets out of the envelope. An employee greeted them cheerfully, checked the tickets, and fastened a thin band around their wrists.

“Thank you. Please enjoy the exhibition.”

The two men stepped into the exhibition hall. The exhibition space, with its high ceiling and gently falling lights, felt like a world where the flow of time had slowed down a little.

Starting with the artwork that had a caption with Sohee’s name, Seorim and Yeonho moved their feet and began to view the pieces. The classical music flowing from the ceiling made the artworks stand out.

Suddenly curious about what Ryu Yeonho thought of this place, Seorim looked back at him.

“Do you like looking at paintings?”

“Not really, I’m not interested.”

“Aren’t you bored?”

“It’s worth seeing. I’ve become interested because of someone.”

Seorim stopped in front of a painting with a faint smile on his lips. It was Sohee’s work. From a distance, it looked like a simple landscape, but the closer he got, the more the delicately layered brushstrokes and subtle colors came into view.

The sunlight, tilting over the horizon, scattered a golden light on a vast hill. As he looked at the painting for a long time, it even felt like he could feel the texture of the wind. It was as if he was standing in the center of the hill himself, facing nature directly.

It was painted so well. Seorim’s chest grew cold with an unknown sense of awe. What kind of heart did the person who painted this picture have when they held the brush. He keenly realized that his own paintings had not yet reached such depth.

He was envious, yet happy. The very fact that someone was painting such a good picture. And that this painting and his own were hanging in the same space.

Because the beauty before his eyes no longer felt vague, but like a clock that could be reached.

Could I, one day, fill an entire exhibition hall with my paintings?

Seorim, standing in front of the frame, slowly lifted his head. Under the high ceiling, he looked around at the works hanging on each white wall and imagined it. A scene where his name was attached to every nameplate in the quiet lighting.

It was an absurd thing. It was an undeserved thing, to the point of being embarrassing for having dared to imagine it.

“You’re lost in a daze.”

Suddenly, Yeonho, who was standing beside him, whispered into his ear in a low voice. Seorim, startled, flinched one of his shoulders. He felt as if he had been caught with a shameful diary he used to write in his youth.

As his face flushed red, he averted his gaze for no reason. Seorim tilted his head slightly and mumbled, pretending to look at another painting.

“You startled me.”

Yeonho’s laugh that followed at the end of his words was not mischievous, but carried a gentle and relaxed air.

The two men walked along the corridor of the exhibition hall. Seorim naturally focused on the paintings hanging on the walls. In some works, the roughly painted brushstrokes were impressive, and in others, the contrast of colors was so bold that he was moved to admiration.

“But the way this one uses color is…….”

Seorim trailed off in the middle of casually speaking to Yeonho. It was because something familiar had entered one side of his vision.

At first, it felt unfamiliar. Not a painting, but a scene he had seen before. The trace of a brush he had touched. A scene he had let flow from his heart. Seorim looked down at his own feet, which had stopped.

He was in front of the painting. In front of his own painting. He had come to the end of the corridor at some point.

“Landscape of a Seaside Village, Baek Seorim.”

Yeonho’s soft voice recited the title of the work and the artist’s name written on the caption. A certain evening in Haenam, the sea reflecting the sunlight, a boat sailing away in the distance, and the color of the sky blurring above it.

And below it, the name ‘Baek Seorim’ was clearly written.

The inside of his chest tingled strangely. An overwhelming emotion that surged up from somewhere softly caressed the inside of his throat as it passed.

He looked at the caption longer than the painting. It felt as if a very secret and quiet dream was hanging there.

“Yes, it’s my painting.”

Saying so, Seorim smiled. It was a smile that stretched out cautiously, yet clearly, from the center of his heart. Yeonho silently captured the beautiful joy spreading across Seorim’s face with his eyes.

On the white wall, someone’s dream was filling the empty space more brilliantly than the painting itself.

🦅

“Where did appa go?”

Seorim playfully hid his body behind the curtain. Haenam crawled on the floor, his round bottom wiggling. He changed direction with a thudding sound from his small palms, then snatched the edge of the curtain hanging before his eyes.

“Boo!”

As Seorim showed his face, Haenam threw both his arms up and giggled. Sounds with clumsy pronunciation flowed from his mouth, and his eyes curved into half-moons, pressed by his smile.

“Should we do it again? Is Haenam going to find appa again?”

Haenam answered with a laugh that seemed as if he would run out of breath, his body leaning back.

It was then.

“What are you two having so much fun with.”

Yeonho’s voice was heard from the living room. He approached and picked up Haenam, who was sitting on the floor.

“He likes playing hide-and-seek.”

“Is it fun?”

“Why would it be fun for me.”

“Your laughter was louder.”

Seorim let out an awkward laugh in embarrassment. Saying that it was because he was playing with the baby, he trailed off with a mumbled sentence, and Yeonho walked over to his side and sat down, meeting his eye level. As he picked up the doll Haenam had been chewing on, he added a word.

“Let’s go somewhere this weekend.”

“Where?”

“The villa.”

When he says villa, does he mean the place where he always sends the paintings? Seorim asked with a puzzled expression.

“Why?”

“Just to get some rest. It seems like we haven’t gone anywhere since the baby was born.”

The sound of the baby lying on the floor, babbling to himself, could be heard. Seorim stopped talking and looked back.

“What about Haenam?”

“We’ll leave him with the nanny.”

“Uhm…….”

Haenam was now reaching his arms towards the doll in Yeonho’s hand. In his mind, a scene of Myungja aunt playing with Haenam surfaced. It was a sight he had seen often, so there was no feeling of awkwardness or anxiety.

Seorim hesitated for a moment before nodding his head.

“Okay.”

He answered briefly and turned his gaze to Haenam. He looked at the child for a moment before the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. Yeonho watched him quietly, then without a word, lightly covered the back of Seorim’s hand.

That evening, Haenam fell asleep faster than usual. After confirming the child’s even breathing, Seorim carefully closed the bedroom door and came out to the living room. It was a day no different from usual, but in a corner of his heart, there was a flicker of excitement for the weekend that would be a break from the same old routine.

And so, the weekend arrived.

Under a clear sky, the air was tinged with the midday sun, and the wind that brushed through his hair wrapped around his skin refreshingly.

Yeonho opened the trunk and neatly loaded two small travel bags. Seorim glanced over at the elevator, then checked his phone one last time. A message from Myungja aunt had arrived, saying, ‘Have a good trip.’

Feeling a little relieved, he opened the passenger side door. As Seorim fastened his seatbelt, he hesitantly opened his mouth to Yeonho.

“What do we do about Haenam being alone.”

“Anyone who sees us would think we left the kid all by himself.”

“Still, he’ll keep looking for his appa.”

“One day is fine.”

The car pulled out of the parking lot. Seorim looked at the alley in front of their house passing by the window and let out a sigh for no reason. Perhaps that bothered him, because Yeonho glanced at the rearview mirror and spoke in a baffled tone.

“Are you Haenam’s appa, or Baek Seorim?”

“Huh?”

“You’re not even thirty, why are you so restless about the kid. Just think more comfortably.”

He placed one hand on the gear stick and added nonchalantly.

“It’s okay. Nothing will happen. Even if you rest for a day.”

It was the first time he had been away from Haenam for more than a day since he was born, so he was concerned. After hearing Yeonho’s words, Seorim bit his lip for a moment as if to compose himself.

Soon, the car was filled with light conversation. Trivial and private talks, like what toys Haenam liked these days, or how much he cried last night.

As time flowed like that, the scenery outside the car window also changed little by little. The tall buildings dwindled, the commercial districts receded, and the greenery on both sides of the road deepened.

Fields and low mountain ridges filling his vision, and the occasional bus stop at the entrance of a village. By the time they entered a remote forest somewhere in Gangwon-do, the wind had also changed, becoming softer.

The car continued to drive along an unpaved road. The sound of gravel crunching under the tires was heard faintly. Occasionally, sunlight would filter down through the leaves, creating dappled light inside the car.

When Yeonho turned the steering wheel one more time, a villa revealed itself between the trees. Compared to the mansion where Chairman Ryu had resided, its scale was on the smaller side, but it was similarly a magnificent two-story Western-style building.

“We’ve arrived.”

When the engine sound died down, the sounds of the wind and chirping birds filled the space instead.

The villa that unfolded before Seorim’s eyes after he got out of the car looked as if it had popped right out of a fairy tale.

The garden was well-tended and neat, and small, round lights were embedded low along the gravel path. Thin vines climbed the white exterior walls, giving it a feeling close to nature.

“Wow…….”

If it was such a pretty house, he wanted to bring Haenam next time. Leaving Seorim standing blankly in admiration, Yeonho nonchalantly opened the trunk.

“So there was a place like this.”

“There are a few. Villas owned by the Taehwa Construction family. They were built a long time ago.”

“Is no one here?”

“The caretaker lives nearby.”

Yeonho reached his hand deep into one side of the trunk and pulled out a large icebox. Seorim glanced at the icebox and asked.

“Do you know how to grill meat?”

“I also know how to make kimchi jjigae.”

“Really?”

“Did you think all I do is cut steak and drink whiskey.”

Come to think of it, Ryu Yeonho was a person who ate a wider variety of things than he looked. He looked picky and like he would have a complex palate, but he ate well anywhere, and he had seen him accept unfamiliar foods without resistance several times. He also seemed like a person who was surprisingly resourceful despite his background.

Yeonho, having taken out all the luggage from the car, pointed to the side of the main building with his chin.

“Everything we’ll use is in the annex. They said the main building isn’t cleaned up yet, so let’s go in at night.”

“Cleaned up?”

“They said the servants were on vacation until yesterday. The annex is fine too.”

At the end of the direction he pointed, a cozy single-story building could be seen.

“I’m hungry.”

“Let’s quickly tidy up and eat.”

The two men each took their luggage and went inside the annex. The moment the door opened, the deep scent of wood that had seeped into the room rushed to the tip of his nose.

The well-organized interior was a simple structure, consisting only of a small living room and kitchen, and one bedroom and bathroom. A fireplace was attached to one side of the wall, creating an atmosphere like a cabin in the woods.

Seorim opened his carrier in a corner of the wooden floor and took out clothes and toiletries. In the meantime, Yeonho moved the food from the icebox one by one. Vacuum-sealed packs of meat, a few well-prepared vegetables, salt, and so on were placed side by side on a tray.

“There was a grill outside.”

As Seorim said this, looking out the window, Yeonho, holding a pack of meat in his hand, replied.

“Just need to oil it. I’ll light some charcoal later.”

One by one, the prepared ingredients filled the tray. The appetizingly seasoned meat and vegetables like paprika and mushrooms stimulated his appetite. Seorim trailed after Yeonho, who was carrying out the ingredients that would become their daily bread.

“Do you like beef or pork?”

“Pork.”

“Why? People usually like beef.”

“What do you like.”

Yeonho sat down in front of the barbecue grill set up in a corner of the yard. After sweeping the grill cover once with the back of his hand, he chose a suitable spot inside and poured in a handful of charcoal. Seorim watched him from behind and answered.

“I like pork.”

“You like pork too, so why are you telling me to like beef.”

Yeonho laughed as if he was dumbfounded. He was holding a torch in his hand. With a click, the sound of pressure building, a blue flame bloomed from the end of the torch.

“I haven’t eaten beef much. You must have eaten it often, Mr. Ryu Yeonho.”

“You get tired of it if you eat it a little.”

“I wouldn’t know, since I’ve never experienced it.”

“You can experience it today, then. Let’s put some more weight on you.”

Seorim looked down at himself without replying. His gaze fell along his side profile, revealed under the hem of his shirt, slightly puffed up by the wind. He definitely seemed to have gained much more weight than when he was living at the mansion.

“I think I’ve gained more weight than before. A lot.”

“You’ve become soft.”

“Is this better?”

“Much better……. I don’t feel bones touching anymore either.”

He knew what the words ‘bones touching’ meant without needing an explanation. Crazy bastard. Seorim narrowed his brow as he looked at the piece of wood that had started to burn.

Yeonho moved the tongs in his hand and picked up the meat from the plate. The well-prepared, rosy-red meat was spread out neatly on the grill.

Chiiik—.

With a loud sizzling sound, juices began to well up on the surface of the meat. The savory smell immediately stimulated the tip of his nose. Yeonho placed a few more pieces of meat on the grill and opened his mouth.

“There might be centipedes here.”

“Really?”

“I’ll catch them for you if they come out. They say it’s good for your health.”

Is he saying he’ll catch them for me to eat?

“Please stop saying such strange things.”

Sizzle, sizzle, the meat and vegetables cooked simultaneously on the grill. The meat, which had been pinkish, quickly took on a brown hue along its grain and released savory oil. The mushrooms and paprika placed next to it also cooked, emitting their own sweet fragrance.

Yeonho took out scissors and cut the cooked meat with neat, sharp movements. The pieces, revealing their pinkish insides, were placed prettily in a bowl.

“We can eat now.”

Seorim carefully picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, looked at the steam rising from it once, and put it in his mouth in one bite.

Chewy and tender. The meat juices that spread throughout his mouth were so incredibly sweet. It was no exaggeration to say it was the most delicious meat he had ever tasted.

Seorim mumbled with a dreamy expression, cupping his cheeks.

“It’s delicious…….”

“It looks like it. Eat more.”

Seorim, his face still showing lingering admiration, accepted and ate the meat that Yeonho had newly cut for him. With every bite, his eyes grew wider and the corners of his mouth went up. Eating delicious meat in such a beautiful place, an unfamiliar sense of fulfillment washed over him uncontrollably.

“I miss Haenam, but it’s also nice being just the two of us.”

“Is your mind a little more at ease?”

“Yes. The change of environment was hectic, but this feels like resting.”

In fact, it was more than just a feeling of rest; it was a luxury he would not have even been able to imagine a few years ago. It was to the point where he wondered if this was when you used the expression ‘walking on clouds.’ Is it okay for someone like Baek Seorim to enjoy such happiness?

Yeonho, who saw Seorim putting meat into his mouth one after another, replied leisurely.

“That’s good. I brought you here for that.”

Seorim, who had been chewing a mouthful of meat, burst out laughing. Since the atmosphere was good, his expression also became much softer than usual.

The two ate the meat, exchanging conversation like that, and by the time the pieces of meat on the plate had disappeared one by one, the sun was already setting.

The red sunset slowly receded between the flickering flames. In front of a small bonfire lit in one corner of the yard, the two sat side by side. The sound of crackling flames and the rustling of leaves in the wind filled the dark night.

Seorim looked at the embers with a blanket over his lap. Tadak, tadak. Even this quiet sound of fire added to the atmosphere.

“I feel like my stomach is going to burst.”

“Me too. It’s been a while since I ate so much.”

Seorim quietly took a breath, feeling the texture of the wind brushing past his cheek. The fact that he was grilling meat over a charcoal fire and spending a night like this sitting next to someone, this kind of peacefulness was unfamiliar and warm.

He suddenly found it hard to believe that the daily life that had felt so far away was finally coming to him. To the point where he could not tell if all of this was real, or a dream he had not woken up from.

While he was lost in thought like that, Yeonho brushed himself off and stood up. When he struck the edge of the bonfire with a metal rod, the embers flared up and then died down.

Having tidied up the bonfire, he spoke in a gentle tone.

“Shall we go inside now?”

“To the annex?”

“No, the main building.”

Suddenly going to the main building? A look of bewilderment flickered in Seorim’s eyes.

“Didn’t you say we couldn’t go in today?”

“I think they’ve finished cleaning.”

“They must have gone to a lot of trouble because we came suddenly.”

“That’s what I pay the caretaker for, what of it.”

Yeonho brushed the remaining ash and dust from his fingertips and tapped Seorim’s shoulder.

“I’ll just wash my hands and go. You go on ahead.”

“Okay.”

Seorim removed the blanket from his thighs and stood up from his spot. His steps were light as he left the bonfire site and headed towards the main building. As he passed the stone steps along the laid grass and reached the front door, the dry night air gently pushed his back.

When he turned the doorknob and stepped inside, the warm indoor air brushed against his cheek. And in the very next moment, his heart sank at what his eyes rested on.

Along the hallway from the entrance, familiar paintings were hanging on each and every wall.

“Uh…….”

Seorim, who let out a breath resembling a groan without realizing it, stopped dead in his tracks.