“It’s the drama Grandma likes.”
It was a drama that aired only twice a week on weekends, but Yoonjo’s grandmother never missed a single episode. Yoonjo now threw off his shoes and bent his knees, swaying them back and forth.
“Yoonjo-ya, drink some water.”
What the supermarket grandmother handed over was a glass cup with a red milk logo drawn on it. Inside was barley tea with ice floating on top. Yoonjo jumped up from his seat, grabbed the cup with both hands, and bowed his head.
“Thank you.”
“Hey there, Yoonjo-ya.”
“Yes?”
“Living in Seoul must be nice. Your face has gotten all smooth and fair.”
Yoonjo, who had been touching the slippery glass cup, grinned and took a sip. The savory barley tea coolly washed over his parched mouth.
“How have you been doing?”
“It’s about time to close up shop. You know how it is.”
“Aw. You’re still so healthy though, Grandma.”
“Oh my, how sweet. Hey, Yoonjo-ya. Want to have a nice cold Jjujjuba before you go?”
At the mention of Jjujjuba, Yoonjo’s head shot up.
“For free?”
“Yep.”
“Yes!”
Grandfather’s words that if you like free things all your hair will fall out briefly crossed his mind, but Yoonjo just smiled and showed an excited face. The supermarket grandmother who handed over a blue Jjujjuba went inside to greet a customer who had come in.
Yoonjo lay face down, just wiggling his feet, and put the soda-flavored Jjujjuba in his mouth. Looking at the time, it was still only 3 o’clock.
“We could’ve met during the day though….”
Seonwoo had said to meet in the afternoon since his conversation with that ugly guy from Seoul, Seo Yeongyeom, seemed like it would take a while. When they’d met at lunch, it seemed like the conversation had ended, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Yoonjo stuck out his lips.
“What could it be about….”
He was just curious why Yeongyeom kept hinting at taking Seonwoo back to Seoul. Yoonjo chewed on the opening of the Jjujjuba while searching for information about Seo Yeongyeom, then soon closed the screen and lay face down.
“There’s no Wi-Fi here and the internet is fucking slow.”
It was Seoul speech. Yoonjo lifted his head that had been deeply bowed and looked at the spot where the sound came from. It was a man with a slender yet cool impression—Seo Yeongyeom. He was irritably fanning himself with his hand when he spotted Yoonjo and suddenly scrunched up his face.
“Kid. So you were here.”
That’s why Seonwoo wanted to come… Yeongyeom muttered and looked at Yoonjo who was glaring at him as if ready to bite him at any moment, then let out a snicker. It was because he thought the kid was really young and green. At that sight, Yoonjo clenched his fists and retorted.
“Are you proud of being old? Must be nice for you, the road to hell’s gate is faster than mine.”
“There’s an order for coming, but no order for going.”
“I wonder if you even know that. Do you know that if you’re even one year older, your recovery ability decreases?”
“This little thing talks back so sharply.”
“You’re eight years older than me and you’re acting like an elder. Must be so fucking nice to be old.”
Yeongyeom let out sighs of “ha, ha,” rubbed his face, then muttered.
“Eight years difference from me? This shameless bastard. A guy nine years younger than him….”
Yeongyeom, who had been muttering to himself, looked at Yoonjo crookedly. The kid was young, but he looked annoying going “hyung, hyung” and acting all coy in front of Seonwoo. Seeing that he could spout rough words freely, he seemed like a guy with a proper head on his shoulders, but in front of Ki Seonwoo he was no different from a puppy wagging its tail. That suddenly annoyed him.
“Do you even know what that guy does for a living?”
“I know he’s a fucking handsome and cool actor. What’s your relationship with hyung anyway?”
“……”
Yeongyeom’s mouth, which had been answering Yoonjo’s words without hesitation, shut tight. He licked his lips, then ran his hand through his hair and weakly replied.
“We lived together in the same house.”
“Ah… Well, housing prices in Seoul are expensive. They say people share houses too.”
They seemed close, and he was also the owner of the name Seonwoo had called when he was sick… He rationalized it to himself, but somewhere in his heart felt heavy. Yoonjo squeezed the Jjujjuba wrapper for no reason and shoved the sweet ice cream into his mouth.
Yoonjo, who had been glaring at Yeongyeom, heard the sound of a car door opening from a vehicle parked not far away. Ki Seonwoo with a somewhat tired-looking face was there. His eyes naturally widened, wondering why they came in the same car.
Seeing Seonwoo approaching, Yeongyeom quickly bent down to Yoonjo’s ear and whispered. He thought this much mischief would be okay.
“We lived together. Don’t you understand what I’m saying?”
“Uh….”
Wondering what he had just heard, Yoonjo was about to turn his head when he frowned at the sudden blinding sunlight.
It was because Seonwoo, who had approached before he knew it, had pulled Yeongyeom away almost pushing him aside. Yoonjo made a shade with his hand and could finally see Seonwoo’s face properly. The area around his eyes was tinged red and his face looked more exhausted than usual.
Yoonjo wanted to hold Seonwoo’s hand for no reason and wiggled his fingers unnecessarily. He opened and closed his mouth, but the words from Seonwoo’s side came a bit faster.
“You said you’re leaving. Why are you fighting with the kid?”
“I’m going. How long are you going to stay in this backwater anyway?”
Seonwoo looked at Yoonjo for a moment, then stroked his hair and replied.
“Go back before I tell the agency.”
“Can you even do that? If that happens, it’ll just be admitting the relationship between you and me.”
As the atmosphere was getting heavy, Yoonjo grabbed Seonwoo’s wrist and quietly pulled him back, then stared intensely at Yeongyeom. He looked ready to rush out and bite him if necessary.
“Mister.”
“Hey, who are you calling mister….”
“Hyung told you to go. He said he doesn’t want to. Why can’t you understand when someone says something once? Are your ears deaf? Or does getting that old mean your eardrums are half-torn so sound waves don’t pass through well?”
“If you knew that Ki Seonwoo behind you is nine years older than you, you couldn’t say that to me.”
Yoonjo frowned as if asking what nonsense he was talking about, then replied nonchalantly.
“Ah, what bullshit. Obviously hyung’s cells are different from yours from the start. This side is the celestial realm, that side is the underground realm. Got it?”
As soon as the words ended, Yoonjo could hear laughter from behind him. When he raised his head, Seonwoo was fiddling with Yoonjo’s ear and replied.
“That’s what the kid says. Seo Yeongyeom.”
“Unbelievable.”
Yeongyeom, who had licked his lips as if wanting to say more, let out a sigh instead of answering. Then he looked back and forth between Seonwoo and Yoonjo for a moment, and disappeared without even leaving the common greeting, not looking back.
Yoonjo watched the pitch-black car disappear while kicking up dust and tightly gripped the wrapper. He couldn’t bring himself to turn around. Because Seonwoo’s hand was still on the edge of his ear.
His body scent flew over on the hot wind and clung to him. He felt like he would lose his mind from the white, delicate fingers tickling his ear. Yoonjo couldn’t endure his heart pounding like it would burst and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Seonwoo hyung.”
It was the second time calling him by name. Yoonjo, who had always just called him hyung, wanted to call his name today.
“Yeah.”
“That mister said earlier…. that you two lived together.”
“…We did.”
“Seonwoo hyung. Did you two really live together?”
Yoonjo, who barely managed to speak as if squeezing it out of his throat, felt uncomfortable inside. Living together meant…. Did that mean Seonwoo might like men? That couldn’t be….
Yoonjo, who had been continuing his ominous thoughts, slightly turned his head at the sound of stifled laughter. All he could see was Seonwoo’s shoulder, but he quietly waited for an answer. A faint vibration kept coming from behind, as if holding back laughter. Only after a while did an answer come from Seonwoo.
“We lived together. Um… Yeah. We did live together.”
If you could call temporarily living together for two days because the water pipes burst at the dorm assigned by the agency “living together,” then yes, they lived together.
“Ah…. I see….”
Yoonjo poked at the tip of the Jjujjuba wrapper he was holding and deeply furrowed his brow. He felt stuffy inside for no reason and felt like tears would come out. Yoonjo, who had deeply bowed his head, fiddled with the rustling plastic and put the Jjujjuba in his mouth.
Until just a moment ago it had tasted sweet and cool like soda, but now it was so terrible he couldn’t even tell what flavor it was. No, he couldn’t taste anything at all. Strange emotions kept surging up from inside as if they would burst out. Yoonjo stubbornly kept the Jjujjuba in his mouth and stayed still.
People who lived together.
Earlier he had dismissed it as just the concept of roommates, but judging from Yeongyeom’s attitude, it didn’t seem like that. No…. In fact, those two people likely shared a deep time together that Yoonjo didn’t know about. Otherwise, why would he have called that name so wistfully when he was sick?
Could they be in that kind of relationship? But no…. The partners in the dating rumors that occasionally popped up about Ki Seonwoo were definitely female celebrities. Sometimes they were filming staff, but even when the profession of the dating rumor partner changed, the gender was always female.
When he sucked on the ice cream, the already melted, lukewarm liquid left a sticky trace and disappeared down his throat. Yoonjo, who had squeezed the wrapper as if to tear it, made a tearful face because he couldn’t taste anything until the very end.
Usually he loved it so much he would devour up to three of them in one sitting, but now he didn’t even know why he was putting this in his mouth.
His vision wavered. Yoonjo fiddled with the ice cream wrapper and licked his lips.
“Hyung, Seonwoo hyung.”
“Yoonjo-ya, what is it.”
“……”
“…Wait.”
Yoonjo’s state was strange. Seonwoo hurriedly tried to turn Yoonjo’s shoulder, but no matter how much strength he put into pulling, Yoonjo wouldn’t budge. Eventually Seonwoo sat down in front of Yoonjo. Even so, Yoonjo kept his head deeply bowed without saying anything. Only the rustling sound of the wrapper in his hand and the sound of the old fan were clear.
“Yoonjo-ya, why are you crying?”
