Seonwoo was simply tired of pointless scuffles. So he hadn’t put much force into the hand that batted Taejeong away. Yet for some reason, Taejeong was easily pushed back.
The hand that was pushed back like a paper doll, unsuitably so, was puzzling. He didn’t make a fuss about contact with Seonwoo like before either. Seonwoo ignored the unpleasantness he couldn’t understand the reason for and opened his mouth.
“When someone talks, listen to the end. Don’t go ahead on your own.”
“……”
“Why else? Because I feel exactly the same as you, so you know.”
Taejeong, who’d been looking elsewhere, suddenly turned his head. Questions spread in his pitch-black eyes.
“You also hate being in that house?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why did you worm your way in? If you’re not that bastard’s son, then what the hell is your purpose?”
Come to think of it, he wouldn’t know. Taejeong had no way of knowing what process led to coming to that house. The events so far passed through Seonwoo’s mind like a panorama. Seonwoo, who paused for a moment, spoke.
“Do I really have to tell you? It’s annoying to explain.”
“……”
For a moment, Taejeong squeezed his eyes shut. Soon he grabbed his head with both hands and began to express his anger in a different way. Under the rough touch, the hood he’d been wearing pulled down deeply was gradually being pulled off.
“Okay, wait. I’ll try to summarize it as much as possible.”
He had to organize the long story before Taejeong pulled out all his hair. Seonwoo fiddled with the back of his right hand. It was an unconscious action.
“There was a traffic accident.”
The sutures had almost completely dissolved, and there were no signs of infection, so he didn’t need to wrap the stuffy bandage anymore. Thanks to only attaching foam dressing with waterproof function, his activities were more comfortable than before.
When he came from receiving the most recent treatment, the attending physician said the sutures would be completely absorbed in two or three weeks. Even so, he said the recovery was unusually slow, and Seonwoo guessed it was probably because he hadn’t taken the prescribed medication.
Even after Taejeong had meddled, Seonwoo didn’t put the prescribed medication in his mouth. When he happened to feel pain at times like late at night, he bought painkillers sold at pharmacies.
The attending physician had found the slow recovery puzzling and even increased the prescription, but that never entered Seonwoo’s mouth. The medication he didn’t take was thrown in the trash each time.
Still, he consistently disinfected it. The reason the sutured area didn’t worsen and recovered, albeit slowly, was probably because of that.
“Dad died then too, I heard. I didn’t see it myself, so I only heard about it, but anyway, yeah. As you can see, only my hand is in this state, but Mom is in a coma so she’s still in the hospital. Naturally, it’s your dad’s hospital. Besides that, there were circumstances that made it impossible to go home, so your dad told me to come live there. He said he’d help because he knew my mom…… I’m in a position where I can’t trust it.”
He didn’t mention that the Vice Director had introduced them as family. That was truly a one-sided claim without any basis. Seonwoo thought that saying it would only add to the confusion.
“I never asked for tutoring either. I didn’t even know there was another family member like you. You know your dad’s personality best, don’t you? Deciding on his own and notifying. Still, I can’t leave Mom behind, so I’m living there while doing as I’m told.”
“……”
“There, the story’s all done. Satisfied?”
He omitted the tax evasion assistance charges placed on his mom, and the story of how his hand injury made his art school admission go up in smoke. Thanks to cutting off unnecessary branches, the story ended quickly.
However, directly explaining the misfortunes he’d experienced in succession to another person didn’t feel very good. Perhaps that’s why Seonwoo spewed out his words like pouring them out. It wasn’t something he did consciously or calculatedly.
But regardless of the story’s speed, all the key points were conveyed. He would sufficiently understand the circumstances of how this had to happen even though it wasn’t wanted.
“……Accident.”
“What?”
Then Taejeong said something in a low voice. The voice was too faint, so he couldn’t make out even half of it. Seonwoo, who leaned his body forward, asked back.
“That accident, when did it happen?”
It was an out-of-the-blue question. But that was within the range Seonwoo could answer.
“Last winter. On Christmas Day.”
It was fortunate he had no memory of the accident. If he’d fully remembered that moment, he wouldn’t have been able to speak about it so nonchalantly as if it were someone else’s business.
“Is that all you’re curious about? Nothing more?”
“……”
“If not now, I won’t tell you, so if you have something, say it quickly.”
Judging by that personality, he thought Taejeong would persistently interrogate until he was satisfied. But even waiting silently, there was no response.
“You really don’t have any……”
Seonwoo couldn’t finish his words. At the same time, his eyebrows curved downward and his mouth opened slightly. His already drooping eyes seemed to droop even lower because of the expression.
“Hey, why are you sweating so much……”
The face that had clearly been fine just moments ago was covered in cold sweat. Taejeong had a face as if he’d seen a ghost. Both eyes were directed at Seonwoo, but it seemed like he was looking at something else beyond him.
Suddenly sweating that much? It was the moment when startled Seonwoo unknowingly reached out his hand. Taejeong, who’d been frozen, jerked his body up as if he’d been electrocuted.
Screech—with an unpleasant friction sound, the sofa was pushed by the recoil. The ceiling light shone down on Taejeong’s head, from which the hood had been completely removed. From Seonwoo’s direction, it was backlit so his face couldn’t be seen well.
There wasn’t even time to ask what was wrong. Taejeong left his seat urgently. By the time Taejeong, who’d walked with long strides, disappeared beyond the corner, Seonwoo belatedly followed, thinking ‘oh no.’
But when he arrived there, Taejeong was already nowhere to be found. There were three elevators nearby. All three were operating and each was moving to different floors. From that, he couldn’t infer where Taejeong had headed.
“……”
Nothing changed just by staring. Seonwoo gave up on finding Taejeong and returned to where he’d been. The Boston bag was still on the floor, and even the zipper bag containing the toothbrush had been left on the table.
It was heavy, so he didn’t want to carry it back. But it was also a situation where he couldn’t just throw it away. Seonwoo headed to the front desk carrying the bag that was difficult to deal with.
When he explained the situation, the staff guided him according to the manual. They answered that while delivery to the guest room was impossible due to security policy, it was possible to store it until he came to retrieve it himself.
“Then please do that.”
“Yes, I understand. What is the guest’s name?”
For a moment, words wouldn’t come out so Seonwoo moved his lips. So he forced his mouth to move.
“Ju Taejeong.”
The homeowner’s son, the kid who lives in that room, that guy. Seonwoo had consistently avoided calling Taejeong’s name. There was no reason. It was just an action stemming from his unconscious.
Seonwoo gave his contact information and handed over the bag. The zipper bag was inside it too. Whether that would become luggage that uselessly took up space or not was for Taejeong to decide.
There was nothing more he could do. Seonwoo left the hotel before the staff found him suspicious. He’d come all this way but didn’t even break even. What he’d originally intended to say to Taejeong wasn’t personal matters.
Just go live outside so we don’t run into each other. I can’t leave. He’d planned to convey these words wrapped up in his own way. But without even a chance to bring up the story, Taejeong had disappeared from his seat.
Taejeong’s reaction kept bothering him. Why had he asked about when the accident happened, and why had he been so terrified after hearing that answer? There were more than one or two thoughts that complicated his mind.
Another unanswerable question had increased. But Seonwoo now knew the second-best option. If he couldn’t solve it, he could just turn away from it.
He went to a nearby bus stop. There, he boarded the first bus that arrived. He didn’t bother checking whether it was the right route going home.
The wrong bus quickly moved away from the stop. Seonwoo focused on the constantly changing scenery outside so the noise in his head would disappear.
Wherever he went, it was a succession of places he was seeing for the first time. The low vibrating engine sound, the sound of doors opening and closing, the voice announcing stops. The noises he’d grown familiar with became distant at some point.
