‘He must have become fucking pathetic.’
Since he would have taken care of his body for the sake of the people waiting for his safe return, it seemed better for Yeo Dowoon not to be shackled by that burden.
Ah. It seems reality has become this burdensome already.
It felt like it was just recently that he had thought he wished he had a family too, that he was curious about the sense of stability that could only be felt in a family’s embrace.
“Man. Where are you pretending to be an old fogey.”
When Kwon Jeonghoo recited it like a joke, Yeo Dowoon raised his eyes sharply.
Then he quickly came down from the pavilion and brushed off his pants. The downpour still hadn’t stopped, but every minute and second was extremely precious to just sit like this and chat away.
The long umbrella spread widely and covered Yeo Dowoon’s face.
“Not an old fogey, just old.”
“What makes you old?”
“When did you make a fuss telling me to act my age…. Why are you changing your words again?”
If he tried to keep up with Kwon Jeonghoo’s whims, his crotch would end up torn to shreds.
Despite Yeo Dowoon’s reproach, Kwon Jeonghoo tilted his head back nonchalantly. Staring intently at the spiderweb dangling attached to the pavilion ceiling, he tapped his own knee and suggested.
“Come sit on my lap.”
“Pardon?”
“You look so young today in particular.”
“And so?”
“I need to hug you tight.”
Yeo Dowoon shuddered thinking Kwon Jeonghoo had gone crazy in broad daylight. Feeling difficulty as if facing an ordeal, he soon coldly refused.
“No thanks.”
“It’s not even like I’m saying I’ll kiss you, so why.”
“How many times do I have to tell you. I said I don’t want to cross the line with Captain.”
“It’s okay with other people who aren’t me?”
“……”
As if the counterattack had hit quite painfully, Yeo Dowoon felt awkward and dragged out his answer. He knew it was a childish decision, but he wanted to run away to the car, leaving behind Kwon Jeonghoo who was repeatedly pulling tricks.
“Dowoon-ah.”
Kwon Jeonghoo’s suit pants gradually got wet from the rain. Because his legs were so long, the area around his knees was exposed to the rainwater. Yeo Dowoon thought the sound of the rain was really too much.
It didn’t cover up or wash away Kwon Jeonghoo’s voice.
“There’s no one to blame you for crossing the line with me.”
At the same time, he felt he was despicable.
Opening the gap created by the cold from the downpour and extending affection, even when he tried to maintain his resolve, he was swept away by him to an uncontrollable extent. Kwon Jeonghoo instantly jumped over his hurdle.
“There are people who would blame you for not crossing the line.”
Kwon Jeonghoo wiped his soaked knees and raised his legs. What meaning the last sentence he spat out contained—Yeo Dowoon couldn’t help but naturally realize it even if he didn’t want to know.
“Hyung is frustrated, Dowoon-ah.”
Kwon Jeonghoo squeezed his body right into the umbrella. He draped his arm over Yeo Dowoon’s shoulder and subtly put weight on it. As his heavy build leaned over like flowing water, Yeo Dowoon quickly put strength into his ankles.
Kwon Jeonghoo spoke in a praising tone as if he found it admirable that he didn’t collapse his center of gravity.
“You used to be feeble before, but you’ve improved a lot?”
“When was I ever feeble.”
“There were times when you couldn’t hold it and staggered.”
…That’s true.
On days when Kwon Jeonghoo made up his mind and pounced on him, no matter how much he tensed his thigh muscles, he couldn’t keep his center. He could barely avoid the situation of tumbling down with a crash, but his pride was always hurt and he would fume.
“How can you still be milking a story from 10 years ago. It’s been enough time for mountains and rivers to change.”
Yeo Dowoon scolded him as if treating Kwon Jeonghoo like an immature child instead. Whenever days came when the past was forcibly pulled up like this, irritation always surged up more intensely than nostalgia.
However, Kwon Jeonghoo chattered on without rest as if unfolding a bundle of memories.
“10 years ago, you came all the way to my room first and whined asking to be hugged.”
“Who did? Me?”
His thick voice interlocked with the rain sound and built harmony. A thud-thud-thud-thud vibration arose from the umbrella.
“Smiled foolishly saying it would be nice if I gave you an arm pillow. And if I didn’t, you wanted to at least share a pillow.”
“…I think that was someone else, not me. Aren’t you mistaken, Captain?”
It wasn’t that he was denying it out of embarrassment—Yeo Dowoon really didn’t have such memories. But no matter how absurd he found it, Kwon Jeonghoo leisurely continued his fabrication. The distortion grew in volume steadily.
“On days when we each went on business trips to other regions, you grabbed my pant leg and cried saying you wanted to sleep with hyung.”
“Forget a pant leg, I’ve never even grabbed a single sock, so what on earth are you spouting?”
Unless he had gotten his head beaten up somewhere, it was behavior that couldn’t be explained. The him from 10 years ago was almost cursing him while studying for the qualification exam, unable to withstand Kwon Jeonghoo’s nagging.
“Haa…. Please fantasize at a level that’s acceptable. I can only sigh because it’s ridiculous.”
If he was going to live as an Esper anyway, a high school diploma wasn’t essential either, yet didn’t he badmouth him over 200 times a day saying he was forcing all sorts of things?
After passing the qualification exam, his satisfaction reached its peak, but in any case, at that time he found him bothersome and annoying. He seemed like a human who liked tormenting people in various ways, so he didn’t want to deal with him.
“Fantasy?”
Kwon Jeonghoo, who had suddenly brought his sleek face close, asked abruptly.
“You call it a fantasy?”
“……”
“This wouldn’t even qualify as a fantasy, does it really seem like a fantasy?”
He whispered intimately. It would be a lie to say it wasn’t creepy.
The nose bridge that rose sharply like an iceberg and the eyes that stretched out with an utterly relaxed air. A shadiness that didn’t match his appearance oozed out.
“The fantasies I have while looking at you, you see.”
He touched Yeo Dowoon’s lips lightly and smiled, raising his stiffened mouth corners.
“I can’t tell you because you might run away if I let you know.”
“Yes, how nice that you’re so thoroughly meticulous.”
Yeo Dowoon, who answered bluntly, bit his hard finger then spat it out. Blue veins had already protruded on the back of Yeo Dowoon’s hand gripping the umbrella handle.
It was because it was Kwon Jeonghoo that he endured—if another bastard had pressed his lips playfully, he would have frozen and shattered their finger.
“Where did you park?”
Yeo Dowoon asked while struggling to suppress his anger. Kwon Jeonghoo’s answer was concise and short.
“Nearby.”
“Captain’s Volvo that I stole and came out with is 1 minute away, so it’s fine to go that way too. Since the rain isn’t stopping either, it would be better to go as quickly as possible.”
He walked while avoiding Kwon Jeonghoo’s intense gaze. Even so, his skill at tilting the umbrella so Kwon Jeonghoo wouldn’t get rained on was quite excellent.
Thanks to that, his left shoulder got increasingly soaked encountering the downpour repeatedly, but it was only a familiar sensation to Yeo Dowoon. When sharing an umbrella with ex-girlfriends, the shoulder thoroughly drenched with rain was a badge of honor.
“Wait a moment, Captain.”
In conclusion, they did come out to the crosswalk after finding the Volvo, but one problem occurred. This time it was because they ended up having a war of words over the driver’s seat.
“You’re going to drive, Captain?”
“I’ve told you several times I will. Toss the car keys this way.”
“You look like you didn’t sleep well either, so I’ll do it.”
Kwon Jeonghoo’s dark circles had come down so seriously that they were noticeable at a glance even compared to yesterday. Was it because of the sooty feeling giving a hazy impression—his already world-weary and lethargic-looking appearance was further intensified.
If it were just this it would be fine, but Yeo Dowoon was worried he might cause a fender bender.
“Don’t be stubborn. You don’t look like you’re in any shape to grip a steering wheel.”
“Car keys.”
“I’m saying you look like you’d send someone across the Sanzu River.”
When he advised without reserve, a chilly rebuttal immediately returned.
“I’m on my 13th year of accident-free driving, so stop talking and just get in. Should I personally open the car door for you?”
He didn’t accept Yeo Dowoon’s goodwill until the end. So Yeo Dowoon got in the car with 119 dialed on his phone. This was so he could report without delay if an accident happened.
“……”
But making his worries seem pointless, Kwon Jeonghoo displayed even gentler driving skills than usual. A firm angle was set in the forearm gripping the handle.
He was loosely leaning his opposite elbow against the car window while supporting his chin, and every time a signal came up, he glanced at Yeo Dowoon and spoke to him.
“Aren’t you going to ask where we’re going?”
It was a question Kwon Jeonghoo could reasonably be curious about.
Yeo Dowoon, who had been leaning his neck back using the seat as a pillow, impulsively opened the window. The rain seemed to have stopped already as the sky was full of blue. The clouds drifting along looked as soft as cotton candy.
Yeo Dowoon opened his mouth.
“As long as it’s not the base.”
Even to himself, it seemed like a pathetic answer.
“As long as it’s not the base, it doesn’t matter where we go.”
As long as it wasn’t that place, Yeo Dowoon felt like he wouldn’t get angry even if he yelled at him to get out of the car right away. Kwon Jeonghoo, who answered simply with “okay,” started concentrating on driving again.
The inside of the car with no radio playing had so little sound it was silent. The only things that could be heard were the noise of Kwon Jeonghoo turning the steering wheel and pulling the brake, so perhaps he was even more conscious of him.
