- Exploration
He’d browsed the rest of the place with relative ease, but for some reason, the study gave him a little pause. Perhaps because it was the space where Gyo-eon handled his work.
Hae-yul poked his head through the slightly open door and peered inside. Despite being a personal space, it had almost no sense of being lived in.
“Is this place seriously a model home or something?”
Muttering the joke to himself, Hae-yul slipped quietly into the study. A large bookshelf ran along the wall from the very entrance. What kind of books would be in the study of the man who was the gwang-gong’s father from Faint Fragments — someone who had lived a life far removed from the ordinary?
Economics or law books, or maybe the autobiography or original-language work of some notable figure — that’s what he’d expected most of it to be. Hae-yul scanned the shelves with rare curiosity. And then he found books on subjects entirely different from what he’d anticipated.
Rare Diseases of Secondary Sex Characteristics, On Defense Mechanisms in Response to Secondary Sex Expression, Imprinting Theory. Beyond these, books related to secondary sex characteristics filled the shelves.
“What the……”
Had he once dreamed of becoming a doctor or a researcher in secondary sex traits? That was the kind of thought it provoked — there were that many books on the subject. He’d expected mostly dry, serious titles……
Hae-yul looked around the shelves with mildly surprised eyes, and then spotted a single book sitting on the desk. Just as he was about to make out the title on the cover of the finely bound hardback, his phone rang.
“Ah!”
Without having done anything particularly wrong, he startled like a guilty thief and nearly leapt out of his skin on the spot. Catching his breath, Hae-yul hurried out to the living room.
He pulled out the phone still sitting in the shopping bag and checked it — the caller ID read “50 billion if you don’t answer.”
“Ah, damn. I was supposed to talk about this ridiculous contact name too and completely forgot.”
Hae-yul clicked his tongue in displeasure and answered the call.
“Yes. Why are you calling?”
— You picked up quickly. I was just wondering what Ju Hae-yul was up to.
“Why on earth would that be any of your business? It’s barely been any time since you left——”
Absurd. It had been what, thirty minutes since Gyo-eon went out? Why does he need to know what I’m doing? No — more than that, the way Gyo-eon asked felt like he was acting as though they were somehow a couple, and it rubbed Hae-yul the wrong way.
That was the kind of question you’d ask a partner, wasn’t it?
— What are you doing?
Hae-yul answered the repeated question in a sulky tone.
“Just looking around the place a bit.”
— Good. Was there anything worth seeing?
“Well, there are a lot of rooms, but nothing in particular to look at. Although the study had all sorts of books, so I took a look around in there.”
The voice that had been prompting him just moments ago cut off entirely. Hae-yul found the reaction puzzling.
Had he not expected him to go into the study?
If it was a room he wasn’t supposed to enter, he would have said so separately. The fact that Gyo-eon’s reaction was unusual left Hae-yul feeling self-conscious, and he absently picked at the handle of the shopping bag with his fingertips.
“……I just wandered in while looking around — was that somewhere I wasn’t supposed to go?”
— No. If it were a space you needed to be careful about, I would have locked it or told you in advance. Feel free to look around.
“It’s just that you went quiet for so long after that — I thought I’d done something wrong.”
— Hmm. How should I put it.
Gyo-eon made a low sound in his throat and continued quietly.
— It just feels a little strange to think of Ju Hae-yul being in the space where I work.
Hae-yul blinked quietly. It was because the words sounded a little odd to him. Gyo-eon’s attitude has been peculiar since earlier, hasn’t it? What were they, really, that he could say something that embarrassingly familiar so casually? It’s not like we’ve known each other that long.
Even if circumstances had led to them living together for a while, that didn’t mean the lines drawn between them had been erased.
“……Well, it doesn’t look much like a workspace — there’s no paperwork or anything on the desk.”
Instead of pushing back, Hae-yul deliberately changed the subject. At that, Gyo-eon gave a small laugh.
— I usually handle work on a tablet or PC.
“Ah, right. That makes sense. Anyway, I’m fine on my own, so go take care of your business.”
— Yes, I will. I won’t be late, so just relax. Feel free to look around the study too. And the books on the shelves, feel free.
“Okay, okay. I’ll relax, freely, comfortably, to my heart’s content! So go do your work.”
Hae-yul furrowed his brow at the repetition. Gyo-eon laughed to himself at whatever he found so amusing and said he’d see him later before hanging up first.
“Just how relaxed do you want me to be? What, should I just strip down naked?”
Feel free — how many times had he emphasized that. Even without saying it multiple times, Hae-yul would have been perfectly comfortable on his own.
Hae-yul clicked his tongue and settled onto the sofa in something close to a lying position. It seemed Gyo-eon was, in his own way, trying to make Hae-yul feel less awkward about the space — but ironically, that was only making him more uncomfortable.
Lying as flat as possible on the sofa, the sharpness inside him seemed to settle a little.
He stayed like that for a while. Then, out of nowhere, the silence of the space began to feel suffocating. Hae-yul sat up and looked for the TV remote. He found a reasonably noisy channel and turned it on, then looked down at the phone Gyo-eon had given him.
Wait. I can just change the contact name myself, can’t I? He gave me this phone to use freely — why should I be unable to freely change a single contact name.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Being told to make himself comfortable surely included something like this. With that reasoning, Hae-yul changed Gyo-eon’s saved name on the phone.
[Kwon Gyo-eon]
Changing it to a clean, normal name made it so much easier to look at. Of course, Gyo-eon might pull something petty about it — but this time, Hae-yul was confident he wouldn’t lose to his ridiculous logic. Just to be safe though, he figured he’d casually mention over dinner that he’d changed the name.
Hae-yul smiled in satisfaction, then tilted his head.
“Oh, I wonder if the number changed when the phone was replaced?”
Somehow, it felt like Gyo-eon would have changed his number too.
“Of course he did.”
Hae-yul confirmed the new number and muttered flatly, then sent a message to everyone saved in his phone letting them know about the change. After that, he stared at the phone for a moment, thinking something over, before his fingers began to move.
Since he was sending messages anyway, it seemed like a good idea to also call the study café and the convenience store owner to let them know about his situation and his decision.
— Hello?
“Ah, it’s me, Hae-yul.”
— Oh my, Hae-yul. You changed your number? I heard something happened. Are you doing okay?
Hae-yul called the study café owner first and calmly explained his situation and decision. Fortunately, the study café owner seemed to understand his decision, mentioning that she could just put her son to work — the one who’d been lounging around the house since quitting his job.
The call ended on a warm note, with her saying she was grateful for all his hard work and asking him to come by when he had time. Hae-yul felt an inexplicable sting at the tip of his nose and sat there fidgeting with his phone for no particular reason before calling the convenience store owner.
When he said he’d have to quit the part-time job, the convenience store owner was flustered at first — but the moment Hae-yul carefully brought up what had happened with Myeong-gyu, the owner exploded.
— What? Is that guy out of his mind? If something like that happened, you should have told me sooner!
Whether it was because he’d worked there so long and through so many different shifts that the bond had grown deep, the convenience store owner raged on his behalf like it had happened to him personally.
— What a rotten world, I tell you! I have no idea where these lunatics keep coming from. Just consider it stepping in a pile of manure and shake it off! No wait, you can’t just shake it off. Someone like that needs to be properly dealt with. I know a lawyer — want me to introduce you? Don’t worry about the cost.
Hae-yul declined, saying he already had help and was doing fine, and the convenience store owner added gruffly:
— Well, that’s a relief. Anyway, don’t worry about finding another job. If push comes to shove, I’ll rope in the whole family. Come by the shop sometime — it feels wrong just letting you go after all that time. That said, Seong-hyeok’s going to be disappointed. Well, you go to the same school, so you’re bound to run into each other now and then, right? …Yes, welcome! Alright, I’ll hang up for now. Take care, yeah? See you next time.
True to his no-nonsense personality, the call ended quickly. Though perhaps because he was leaving a part-time job he’d worked at for so long, Hae-yul felt strangely unsettled. He felt genuinely sorry toward both owners. Still, the fact that it had ended without incident was a relief.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Hae-yul startled when the phone in his hand suddenly rang loudly. He looked down — the caller was Lee San-ha. It seemed he had seen the message about the number change and called immediately.
When Hae-yul picked up, San-ha’s loud voice came through:
— Hyung! What’s going on all of a sudden? Why did your phone and number change? Did something happen?
“Something did, but it’s a bit much to explain over the phone.”
— Then let’s just meet up! You haven’t forgotten we said we’d grab a meal before the semester starts, right? When should we meet? When are you free?
San-ha pressed him eagerly, as if he’d been waiting for the chance.
“I’ve quit my part-time jobs, so I should have plenty of time.”
— Huh?? Hyung quit his jobs? What on earth happened…… Forget it, let’s meet tomorrow at the latest! ……Yun U-jae says he’s free too!
It seemed the two of them were together again today.
“Alright, I’ll head to Bon Appétit by 1. See you tomorrow.”
— Yes, see you tomorrow!
The moment the call ended, messages from San-ha started arriving one after another. Hae-yul shook his head as he read them — most of them said something about being excited for tomorrow’s plans.
Although, now that plans had been made so suddenly, he hoped Gyo-eon wouldn’t say anything ridiculous about it.
“What business is it of his if I make my own plans?”
They were only temporarily living together — there was no need to report his every move to Gyo-eon and get permission. A casual heads-up would be plenty. Hae-yul shrugged and flipped through the TV channels.
