Taking sips of the latte that was already cooling little by little, Taeon was mentally going over the things he needed to do before getting off work when he heard his phone vibrate in his ear.
He thought it would be contact from Sunjeong who would arrive soon, but it wasn’t.
As soon as he saw the name displayed on the screen, Taeon was seized by an ominous premonition.
It was a call from the landlord who never directly contacted him except when writing contracts.
“Hello.”
He ended up answering the phone in a stiff voice without realizing it.
The landlord’s voice, well over her fifties, was very cheerful and bright compared to her age.
She clearly had a talent for delivering even bad news in just a cheerful voice.
In a voice an octave higher, she finally conveyed the news that the old, shabby building where Taeon resided—which was a nuisance because it rarely sold—had been sold.
She also conveyed just as brightly the news that the new building owner had decided to remodel the entire building and use it as commercial land.
When conveying the news that the move-out date was two months away, her voice lowered just very slightly. When saying she would cover both moving costs and brokerage fees, she regained her cheerful energy.
“Understood.”
The emotion that had come to Taeon now wasn’t despair or difficulty or anything like that.
It was just a familiar sensation. A calm sensation that came from the resolve to accept all of that—the many bad things given to Taeon’s life.
Things he could only say “understood” and accept.
Because there were many such things for Taeon, it was truly a familiar feeling.
The current situation felt exactly like a result of not properly grasping his own place.
The deposit for the house Taeon lived in was only 1 million won, and the monthly rent was merely 200,000 won. It was because this neighborhood was a lower-class area avoided by anyone who wasn’t born and raised here, and among those, it was particularly old and poorly secured.
At least Taeon’s gender, trait, and age offset all those conditions, so he could live there without concern. That’s why he wasn’t pleased about Sunjeong coming to the neighborhood, to his house. It was a dangerous place for Sunjeong.
He should have predicted this situation in advance. Thinking of the money he’d saved, moving would be possible, but there would definitely be disruptions to his future study plans.
He’d finally felt like he’d gotten on some new track…
In the end, it was back to square one.
Knowing how easily his heart crumbled before such situations, Taeon had never even considered things like new beginnings until now.
Once he got used to the energy of defeat densely permeating the air, that was enough, so he wanted to continue living just as he was born and raised.
Regardless of the situation, what needed to be done had to be done.
As he prepared to get off work and welcome Juseong who would replace him, Taeon’s heart felt overwhelmed. He could do work like this, but he worried whether he could comfort Sunjeong well in this state.
But he couldn’t cancel the appointment on a day like today and leave Sunjeong alone.
Taeon swallowed his dry saliva and barely organized his feelings.
What had happened truly couldn’t be helped. What was important was the next response. Even if he had to give up something, he muttered to himself not to give up on himself when he felt the sign of the door opening.
“Taeon.”
“Yoon Taeon.”
Juseong’s and Sunjeong’s voices crossed over each other, calling Taeon.
Before the voices of familiar people, Taeon barely managed to smile.
Looking at Sunjeong’s expression, far from being lonely, he seemed in a good mood. Seeing the smile nestled on his brightly laughing face, even Taeon naturally smiled.
“You two are going on a date.”
“It’s not a date though.”
Sunjeong spoke back as if counterattacking Juseong’s playful words.
The two often playfully exchanged words like this, but before Sunjeong saying it wasn’t a date, Taeon’s mood was slightly odd.
Literally, it wasn’t a date. Actually, when he contacted Sunjeong earlier, he had felt a bit excited, but recalling the landlord’s lively voice that was still vivid, it was clearly a word that didn’t suit Taeon at all.
“Anyway, have fun.”
At Juseong’s greeting, Taeon and Sunjeong said their goodbyes and set out.
“Did you think about what to eat?”
At Taeon’s words, Sunjeong made a thoughtful expression.
“Yeah. Chimaek.”
“Chimaek?”
“Let’s have fried chicken and beer.”
I want to eat something better together. Taeon thought this way, but Sunjeong’s expression when saying chimaek looked so bright that he didn’t stop him.
The chicken restaurant they went to, following Sunjeong’s confident guidance, was a place with very neat interior design.
Without even looking at the menu, Sunjeong first ordered one whole fried chicken and two draft beers from the owner. And capably added a cabbage salad on top.
“Please sprinkle lots of ketchup.”
At Sunjeong’s bright voice saying this, now Taeon’s mood also began to gradually improve.
Taeon had already learned from experience what days without this cheerfulness—like sunlight he didn’t want to transfer even a single speck of his own darkness or shadow to—were like, so he was starting to become a bit afraid.
Soon, one glass of draft beer was placed in front of each of Taeon and Sunjeong.
Without anyone suggesting it first, the two simultaneously lifted their glasses. Then they lightly clinked them.
Sunjeong, still with a grinning face, gulped down the beer refreshingly. Taeon, who had been staring at that sight, also soon drank his beer. The stinging carbonation of the cold beer pleasantly grazed his throat.
“Yoon Taeon.”
The smile on his face remained, but the voice calling Taeon was cool.
What is he trying to talk about?
Taeon opened his mouth in a slightly tense state.
“Yeah, Go Sunjeong.”
It was a playful voice full of intent to dilute Sunjeong’s stiff address, but Sunjeong wasn’t easy.
“Something’s going on with you right now.”
“What do you mean something.”
After speaking, he thought, Oh no. He’d been so flustered upon hearing Sunjeong’s words that he’d quickly opened his mouth to answer in denial, but if it were the usual Taeon, he wouldn’t have spoken this way.
As expected, Sunjeong was staring at Taeon with an even more suspicious expression at his quick answer.
“Something’s definitely going on. I know you, Yoon Taeon.”
“…”
How do you know me? He didn’t feel like making such a common rebellion at all.
Because Sunjeong really did know Taeon well.
“I even notice changes in the speed you blink your eyes, so answer properly. What’s going on that you’re so depressed right now?”
“…”
The liveliness at the café, the brightness at this restaurant—Sunjeong had stubbornly created it all while knowing everything. Taeon’s heart welled up at realizing this fact. He felt a bit sorry and also upset.
What Taeon could do was probably only to speak as honestly as possible about what had happened now.
Taeon, who moistened his throat again with beer, fabricated as nonchalant a voice as possible and opened his mouth.
“The landlord told me to vacate the room. So I’m moving.”
“Vacate the room, and move?”
“…Yeah.”
“That wouldn’t be enough to make you, Yoon Taeon, that depressed. Strange?”
A voice as if knowing everything. It probably wasn’t that he really knew everything, but Taeon’s conscience throbbed.
“If I move, I’ll have to raise the deposit. Because it’s at the minimum right now.”
Only after Sunjeong also drank beer did he open his mouth again.
“The monthly rent now doesn’t make sense for the market rate either. I’ll have to raise it much more…”
Before Sunjeong’s sharp words accurately analyzing facts Taeon had never mentioned, Taeon closed his mouth. Perhaps Sunjeong always stood one step above Taeon.
“Even though the café salary is good, it won’t be as much as when you did manual labor.”
“…”
“You have to open a savings account, pay off the debt quickly, and you decided to study, so there are many places for money to go, so you’d be anxious.”
The last words were probably a soliloquy.
Since his voice had clearly lowered.
Taeon was surprised. He’d never directly mentioned to Sunjeong the debt created because of his biological father. If Sunjeong knew that Taeon, living like this, even had debt, he wouldn’t be able to bear it.
However, the debt collector who’d first come in fiercely had become docile at some point, the interest had also drastically decreased on its own, and now he was just gradually paying back the principal.
He’d thought it strange why he suddenly became like that, but since it wasn’t bad for him, he hadn’t thought deeply about it.
Could it be, no way, Go Sunjeong…
Before Taeon could be seized by the question that suddenly flashed like lightning in his head, Sunjeong opened his mouth first.
“Yoon Taeon, you’re thinking of backing out again.”
At Sunjeong’s words, Taeon was momentarily speechless. Because thoughts that he didn’t seem like someone who should be studying, and that living as before might be more comfortable after all, were gradually dominating his consciousness.
“You’ll want to stop studying and learn skills again. To feed at least one person well.”
“…”
During the conversation, their beer glasses had somehow become completely empty.
Unlike before, Sunjeong ordered two draft beers from the staff in a calm voice.
Until the beer came back, Sunjeong said nothing in particular. Were they words hard to say without alcohol? Taeon felt slightly tense. At the same time, he was also surprised that the gaze staring at him was firm even without saying anything.
Taeon was still just Taeon, but it felt like Sunjeong kept growing one span more.
