The sky, which had been wearing a gloomy expression and issuing warnings all along, seemed to have failed at moderating itself. It poured down in a downpour from the very start, and now strong winds were joining in as well.
Thanks to that, we’d instantly turned into a pair of drowned rats. There was no telling when the rain would stop. With things as they were, simply taking shelter for a moment wouldn’t cut it. It seemed better to wash up properly and find a place to rest for the night, so we ended up heading to the business hotel that had apparently opened recently near the stream.
“You’re saying there’s no room?”
Having finally made it to the hotel, I stared at the front desk employee with a dumbfounded expression at what I’d just heard.
“It’s not that there are no rooms at all — it’s that our hotel is hosting an academic conference today, so all the twin bed type rooms have been fully booked. The only room type currently available is the double bed type.”
That’s basically the same thing.
Two grown men sharing a single bed. The only times I’d shared a bed with a man past the age of twenty had been for that. Even with Choi Seol, we’d slept in the same room before, but never under the same blanket.
“Then please add an extra bed.”
“I’m sorry, but the room currently available for booking can’t accommodate an additional bed.”
“So you’re saying a bigger room would be possible, then.”
“Sir, every room type at our hotel, including our largest, is fully booked as well. The bed in the room you’d be booking is a size that two adults can comfortably sleep in together without any issue, so it shouldn’t be uncomfortable. If you’d like, I can have an extra blanket sent up.”
That’s the thing, the blanket isn’t the problem here.
Even with two people lying close together, there was a massive psychological difference between separate spaces and one shared space. I turned my gaze toward the sofa where Choi Seol sat some distance away. It was probably a seating area set up in the lobby for waiting guests, but with both our clothes soaked through, even sitting there felt like something to be self-conscious about.
Fortunately, the staff’s customer service was excellent. The moment we’d stepped into the lobby, employees had brought us towels to dry off with, and they’d even been considerate enough to let Choi Seol sit while I checked in. On top of that, a warm cup of tea had been placed in front of him. Seeing that there was no tea in my hands, it seemed that one was a special service reserved just for Choi Seol.
“Hold on a moment. I’ll go ask my friend.”
There was nothing better than “friend” for explaining my relationship with Choi Seol to outsiders. Since he didn’t seem to care about terms of address anymore either, I’d grown fairly shameless about using the word myself. Besides, I had no idea what other word to use to define our relationship anyway.
“Choi Seol.”
Only when I called his name did Choi Seol finally lift his head. His gaze looked hazy and unsettled, as if his mind had wandered off somewhere. He’d been like that ever since the rain started. What the landlord had told us must have been quite a shock to him.
“There’s a room, but apparently there’s only one bed. They said they’ll give us a separate blanket, but if that’s going to be too uncomfortable, maybe we should get a second room instead—”
“I don’t mind.”
It felt like the first time I’d heard his voice in a while. As I stood there blankly, Choi Seol slowly rose to his feet.
“I don’t mind, so let’s just stay together.”
For a moment, it felt like the air around us stirred. It had to be my imagination. Even if anyone had been nearby, the distance was too far to hear, and Choi Seol’s voice had been quiet enough that I’d had to strain to catch it. And yet, the fact that I found myself glancing around self-consciously was probably because the part of me that was receiving those words wasn’t particularly innocent.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
I told him to wait a moment and headed back to the front desk. After checking in and requesting whatever else we needed, Choi Seol and I went up to find the room number written on the key card. The whole time, Choi Seol simply followed behind me in silence. Right as the awkward silence was starting to weigh on me, we fortunately arrived in front of the room.
Just as they’d said it had opened recently, the room was clean and pleasant. There was no separate entryway — the bathroom and closet sat right on either side of the door — and the layout was such that the whole room was visible without taking more than a few steps in. Thanks to that, I ended up seeing the bed, the thing I’d been most worried about, right away.
“Well… it’s decent enough?”
Decent, my ass.
I’d deliberately said that for Choi Seol’s sake, but in my heart, I wanted to march straight back down to the front desk and grab the employee by the collar.
What about that looked sufficient. Calling a size where any slight movement would inevitably cause some part of your body to touch the other person “sufficient” was something that only applied to couples. There was no way they could have mistaken Choi Seol and me for that kind of relationship — it had to be nothing more than a sales tactic to somehow squeeze a customer who’d desperately wanted a twin room into their double room.
Of all days for an academic conference to be happening, making things difficult for people.
I bit the inside of my lip, searching for someone to blame, and glanced over at Choi Seol. He, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any interest in the bed size whatsoever. Watching him just standing there, no different from how he’d been outside or in the lobby, made me feel embarrassed for having made such a fuss by myself.
“You wash up first.”
Choi Seol finally reacted. He’d remained silent the whole time since the rain started, but he responded without fail whenever I called out to him. It felt like watching a big dog perking up its ears at its owner’s voice.
Though his stubbornness was nothing to scoff at either.
“You wash up first.”
Choi Seol simply echoed back exactly what I’d said. Having expected as much, I shot back without missing a beat.
“Just go ahead first. I take my time washing up anyway, so it bugs me if someone’s waiting on me. And I kind of want to soak in the tub for a while, since it’s been a while.”
Honestly, I wanted to wash up quickly too, but considering Choi Seol’s state, giving way seemed like the right call.
“Alright, I’ll wash up quickly and come out.”
This time, Choi Seol obediently went along with what I said.
“You can take your time. Oh, right. Leave your clothes outside. I asked at the front desk earlier and they said they do laundry service. I’ll have them picked up, so take the bathrobe in with you instead. There are slippers here too. I’ll leave these outside, put them on when you come out.”
I’d just opened the closet across from the bathroom, taken out a bathrobe, and handed it to Choi Seol, then torn open the plastic packaging on the slippers, when—
“Take yours off too.”
I’d misjudged my strength and torn the plastic, and the slippers clattered to the floor. Choi Seol bent down, gathered the slippers neatly, and set them by my feet, adding,
“You’ll catch a cold if you stay in wet clothes.”
“Ah, right, I should. I’ve got to send my clothes to be laundered too, anyway.”
Only after hearing my answer did Choi Seol head into the bathroom. The moment the bathroom door closed, I dropped the smile I’d been keeping up the whole time. The awkwardness was already hard enough to bear as it was, and the situation wasn’t doing me any favors in finding calm again. As I let out an unguarded sigh, my eyes landed on the white slippers neatly set at the edge.
Let’s hurry and send the clothes off first. Thinking about it now wasn’t going to solve anything anyway, so I had to handle what needed handling first. I put on the slippers and, following what the staff had told me, opened the bottom drawer of the closet. Inside were a laundry request form and a cotton bag for the clothes, sitting side by side. Checking the list, I was relieved to see that socks and underwear could be sent too.
I hadn’t expected to be heading back within a day, so we’d both come as lightly as possible, planning to just borrow some clothes once we got to Choi Seol’s place — meaning neither of us had brought any spare clothes. It was a bit regrettable, but since there was a way to solve it, it wasn’t too disappointing. Though it would cost quite a bit of money.
Thinking about how much money I’d spent today, including the hotel fee, helped settle the storm Choi Seol had stirred up in me somewhat. Let’s hurry and drop him off at home and get the money he owes me back. Reality really was good at waking a person from a daydream.
“Ah… there’s no shoe section.”
No matter how carefully I scanned the checklist, shoes were nowhere to be found. Shoes were the most urgent thing right now. Clothes I could roughly dry and wear, but with another full day of walking ahead tomorrow, damp shoes were a guaranteed way to ruin my mood. It seemed like I’d have to ask the staff separately about it.
I straightened up from where I’d been crouching and stood to look for a phone to call the front desk. At that same moment, the bathroom door opened. Glancing back without thinking, I saw Choi Seol standing in the doorway with a towel wrapped around his waist, holding his neatly folded clothes. My eyes traveled, on their own, from top to bottom.
“Where’s the robe?”
“…..”
“Ah, right, you haven’t washed up yet.”
I quickly fixed my crazed stare and took Choi Seol’s clothes from him.
“Go wash up already.”
“You still haven’t changed your clothes.”
Could he please stop paying attention to my clothes for once?
“Mm, yeah, I was going to call the front desk and then change. Go on, get in there.”
I practically shoved Choi Seol, who looked like he wanted to add something more, into the bathroom and kindly slid the door shut behind him myself. Even then, I didn’t step away from the door right away. Holding my breath carefully and listening, I soon heard the sound of water running. Only then did I let my breath out again.
It’s midsummer, calm down and think about the money.
I calculated the money I was owed in my head, taking a deep breath to settle my racing heart after seeing Choi Seol. Just then, a heavy scent tickled the tip of my nose. Following the source with my eyes, I noticed Choi Seol’s clothes, which I was somehow clutching tightly to my chest. Glancing at the bathroom door, where the sound of running water still continued, I brought the clothes to my nose, and just as I’d expected, the scent I’d just caught grew stronger.
It was a scent made all the more nostalgic by the mix of rain in it. There hadn’t been any perfume at the countryside house, so it had to be his natural scent. My heart suddenly started pounding. I quickly pulled away from the clothes and stuffed them into the laundry bag I’d just found.
Nostalgic, huh. Sniffing someone else’s clothes and reacting like that felt downright perverted. Suddenly, the damp clothes clinging to my skin became unbearable. As I walked toward the table by the window to call the front desk, I peeled off my wet t-shirt. After a bit of a struggle, I tossed my pants off too, and picked up the phone wearing nothing but my underwear.
“Hi, I requested laundry earlier. Yes, that’s right. Could you come pick it up now? And could the shoes be laundered too, by any chance? Even just drying them would be great. And…”
But then, without realizing it, my head turned toward the bed. For some reason, the sound of the shower felt like it was coming from somewhere too close. That was the only reason I’d looked.
“…I also need more blankets, please…”
“Sir?”
The employee on the other end of the line seemed to be saying something, but I couldn’t hear it. All I could hear was the sound of water. And then, I saw it.
Beyond the bedroom, a transparent glass wall, and beyond that, the view inside the bathroom, and there, Choi Seol, standing.
“The wall…”
My thoughts ground to a halt, and everything began moving in slow motion. Steam from the hot water was filling the bathroom in a hazy white, but even through it, Choi Seol’s bare body, eyes closed beneath the falling water, was etched clearly into my mind, every curve sharp and vivid.
“Why is the wall… see-through…”
…is it?
“The wall, sir? Sir!”
That was when it happened. Choi Seol, opening his eyes, slowly turned his head toward the glass wall. Our eyes met.
