Today was August 20th. Grumbling inwardly that they’d sent the text remarkably fast, Yoonjo hurriedly entered the school homepage and finished the dormitory application. The maintenance fee was about 50,000 won more expensive than last semester. Still, as a scholarship recipient, he would get some discount. Yoonjo, who had been mentally calculating the living expenses he’d need for next semester, turned his head at a gaze he suddenly felt.
“What?”
“I was wondering what kind of text would surprise you like that.”
“Ah…. This is, you know. Dormitory move-in application. The deadline is today, but who sends a text on the day of….”
Having said that much, Yoonjo finally recalled one fact he’d forgotten. Seonwoo’s eyes looking at him were no different from usual, but somehow he felt stuffy inside.
The vacation is ending.
Summer vacation, which he’d always considered short, had passed particularly quickly this year. That was probably because of Seonwoo right in front of him.
Unlike Yoonjo who had to return to Seoul, Seonwoo was someone who had no reason to. Above all, Yoonjo didn’t want to forcibly drag him out into the world. Just looking at what happened at the hospital a while ago, he could tell.
Yoonjo, who briefly moved his lips, soon continued speaking with an indifferent expression.
“Where… would there be? Really. Isn’t that weird? Anyway, I just finished the move-in application a moment ago.”
Yoonjo turned his phone around to show Seonwoo the date.
“Look here. Does it make sense that the deadline is today….”
Seonwoo, who had briefly given his attention to grumbling Yoonjo’s lips, quietly looked at the phone again. Seonwoo’s face was no different from usual. It was an expression quite contrasting with Yoonjo’s, whose heart kept falling plop, plop to the floor.
Only after a long while did Seonwoo’s mouth move. Not knowing what words would come out, he became frightened with a thud. Yoonjo, who sprang up from his seat, strode outside the pavilion.
“Hyung! Now that I think about it, I forgot to add creamer to the coffee. I’ll go get it quickly.”
“…It’s instant mix coffee though?”
“Originally, if you add two spoonfuls of creamer to instant mix coffee, it’s super delicious.”
Seeing Yoonjo put on his shoes and step down to the ground, Seonwoo suddenly said.
“Looking at you walk, I guess your leg is all healed now.”
His feet stopped on their own. The sound of dirt and sand being stepped on rustled briefly. Blazing sunlight stuck heavily above his head as his back got damp. Without realizing it, Yoonjo pushed the area around his cheeks with the back of his hand.
“The doctor… said not to overdo it….”
“Not overdoing it means you’ve healed enough to walk.”
“…Yes.”
The hesitation lengthened and the answer came out a bit slowly. Seonwoo turned his body halfway to meet Yoonjo’s eyes. He pointed with his thumb toward Yoonjo’s house and said.
“Go in. You need to tell Grandma and Grandpa that you’re okay.”
“They probably already know. They know very well that I’m sturdy…. Can’t I just stay with you a little longer, hyung?”
“No.”
At the firm rejection that came back, Yoonjo pressed his lips tightly shut, then soon approached Seonwoo a bit more.
“Our house still doesn’t have air conditioning. I’ll really quietly! stick flat to the floor at your place and then peel off and leave.”
“That’s not even my house.”
“That’s true….”
“Let’s go in. Outside is hot after all.”
Seonwoo came down from the pavilion as if to take Yoonjo home. Yoonjo sneakily grabbed the hem of Seonwoo’s clothes standing next to him.
“I’m all healed, so give me a reward to commemorate that.”
“……”
“I healed up healthy and well.”
Yoonjo cautiously rolled his eyes upward as if gauging the situation. After a moment, Seonwoo extended his arm. Yoonjo, who was burying his face in his embrace, suddenly grabbed the clothes on his chest tightly. Lifting his tiptoes, he momentarily pecked Seonwoo’s cheek and quickly backed away.
“This is a real reward!”
“…Ji Yoonjo.”
“Just because you do this, do you think I’ll brush everything off and go ah! I knew it wouldn’t work after all! Did you think I’d be like that? Absolutely not. I told you. I’m amazing at clinging persistently!”
Yoonjo, who had been worried Seonwoo might say something, rolled into the pavilion. He gulped down the half-melted coffee in one go, then hurriedly returned to Seonwoo. Then he pressed the empty cup into Seonwoo’s hand.
“This is Grandma Sunja’s cup, so take it!”
Yoonjo, who waved his hand as if he’d really leave, passed through the gate as is and entered the house. He deliberately made his footsteps gradually quieter to give the feeling of disappearing far away, then stood still. Even holding his breath, Yoonjo concentrated on listening outside, focusing on the sound of movement—tap tap.
Eventually all sounds disappeared, and only the midsummer cicada sounds remained as he plopped down.
“Huung….”
A crying sound came out on its own. At most, about a week remained. When he should have been on his best behavior even if it wasn’t enough, he’d made a scene. At that fact, Yoonjo pounded the ground and rolled around on the floor. Dirt and dust stuck all over his clothes, but that wasn’t what was important to Yoonjo.
Before it was time to go to Seoul, he had to do something—anything—to Seonwoo. Literally ‘anything.’
Yoonjo, who had been lying on the floor scattering only tears, was finally able to get up only after meeting his grandparents who had returned after finishing the afternoon field work.
***
Yoonjo, who had tightened the chin strap fixing his straw hat a bit more, rubbed his face with a towel. His face drenched in sweat still only looked red.
“Yoonjo-ya! Rest a bit! Your leg will hurt again!”
At Grandma’s nagging to sit and rest, Yoonjo limped out of the field and plopped down in the nearby shade. Though he’d generously applied sunscreen he’d brought in advance to his arms, it didn’t show much effect since he was already tanned as much as he could be. After applying it all on his arms, Yoonjo, who moved smoothly like a ghost, applied sunscreen to Grandpa’s arms and face, then to Grandma’s arms and face.
Though they scolded him asking why he was doing such a bothersome thing, the two didn’t actively refuse. They just repeatedly told him to sit down and massage his legs.
Eventually chased back to the shade again, Yoonjo patted his face with a towel and muttered.
“I miss hyung….”
Making a mockery of his past self who had vowed to do something—anything—Yoonjo couldn’t even see Seonwoo’s shadow. There couldn’t be a shadow. Because Seonwoo wasn’t in the village.
He had no idea where he’d gone, not even showing his nose. At this point, reasonable suspicion arose that Seonwoo was avoiding Yoonjo, but he didn’t restrict coming and going from the house.
「Hyung, can I go see Dongtae?」 8:23am
「Yeah. Open the door and go in.」 9:44am
「Hyung, Dongtae?」 7:28am
「Yeah. Open the door.」 10:20am
「Dongtae?」 4:09pm
「You can take him for a walk.」 4:11pm
The conversations were generally like this. Though he brought up Dongtae as a topic thinking he should at least start some conversation, Seonwoo only left requests to walk him and feed him. He wondered what Seonwoo was thinking going out leaving only Dongtae alone. Regardless, Dongtae wagged his tail vigorously every time Yoonjo went. It was quite different behavior from the owner’s indifference. As expected, the dog was smarter.
That said, he couldn’t just wait at home until Seonwoo came. First, because the house was empty so a guest couldn’t stay freely, and second, because air conditioning had been installed at Yoonjo’s house. It was a gift that wasn’t a gift from Seonwoo.
It felt like he was completely eliminating any excuse to go to the next-door house, so Yoonjo felt gloomy even after receiving the gift.
It had already been almost a week since he hadn’t seen Seonwoo like this. He had to go up to Seoul tomorrow, and it stung inside to leave without even properly saying goodbye until the end.
“Ah…. I miss hyung….”
If things came true just by saying them, perhaps wishes wouldn’t be necessary in the world. Nevertheless, Yoonjo pointlessly expressed his longing out loud. After repeating the same words for a long time, Yoonjo picked up his phone.
Eventually he found Seonwoo’s number and pressed the call button. As much as the signal tone that continued at length, Yoonjo’s insides burned up. The sound that had been continuing for a while cut off abruptly and went to voicemail. Somehow he felt defiant.
“Just one more time. Just once.”
Yoonjo, who moved his hand as if spinning a game roulette, immediately put the phone to his ear. At the signal tone—trrring—his heart also pounded along with it.
– Yoonjo?
“Hyung. Can you talk?”
The other side of the speaker felt strangely noisy. Between the murmuring conversations, Seonwoo quietly answered.
– Not now, in… about an hour. I’ll call you.
“…No. You seem busy, so go ahead with your work. You seem really busy these days, hyung. And… thank you for the air conditioner. I’m not saying I’ll just gulp it down, but I’ll work hard to make you meals. Or even do the dishes…. Anyway.”
At his rambling, Seonwoo laughed briefly. That insignificant vibration passed through the phone and reached Yoonjo.
– I am busy. It’s a bit hectic too. Did you see Dongtae today?
“You care more about Dongtae than me… which is right, but still, can’t you ask about me first? And how can someone who’s an owner leave their dog alone like that? I told you. I’m going to make Dongtae my dog. I’m going to marry Dongtae.”
At Yoonjo’s words, Seonwoo laughed a bit louder. This time the sound of laughter was clear enough to be heard distinctly.
“So, be careful. If I don’t see you today either, I’ll snatch Dongtae away, hold a wedding ceremony with him, and greet you.”
– That would be a bit troublesome.
“Why? You think I can’t marry a dog?”
– No. It’s because you’re saying you’ll marry another so… no, that’s not it. Um… another living being. Marriage is still too early.
“You’re saying things even our Grandma and Grandpa don’t say…. Anyway, if you don’t like that, you absolutely have to see me face-to-face today.”
Couldn’t he harbor some expectation? Since Seonwoo was responding so well to his words, the expectation that he’d visit at least once bloomed in his heart.
A silence that was short if short, long if long, passed. Finally, an answer came back from Seonwoo’s side along with laughter.
– It doesn’t seem possible for a while. I’ll contact you later. For now… let’s hang up.
