He was about to leave his shift at the whiskey bar where he worked as an employee when a text message arrived from Chahyun.
[Chahyun-ssi: I love you]
10:16 PM
After checking the message, Yiyoung grinned with delight but tilted his head in puzzlement.
‘Suddenly?’
Bae Yiyoung’s boyfriend, whom he’d been dating for nearly four months now, was stingy with expressions of affection. Though never indifferent, perhaps due to his cautious personality, he had never once said the words “I love you” that couples would normally exchange. Chahyun’s first confession felt unfamiliar and embarrassing, and Yiyoung’s smile became subtly contorted.
Feeling his palms tingle all over, Yiyoung giggled and placed both thumbs on the text keyboard. After briefly debating whether to write “Me too” or “Me too (formal),” he sent a completely different reply.
[Are we dropping honorifics now?]
10:16 PM
As he stared intently at his phone screen, anticipating what response would come back, the owner of the whiskey bar let out a light snort.
“From that expression, it’s Moon Chahyun again.”
Though it sounded dismissive at first glance, his face clearly showed he was pleased.
It was the owner who had set up Chahyun and Yiyoung. Strictly speaking, Chahyun, who was acquainted with the owner, had come here for a drink and met Yiyoung.
The owner repeatedly emphasized that if not for him, Moon Chahyun would have had no reason to come to such a modest bar, so it was all thanks to him that the two had met.
The owner asked teasingly.
“What’s so great about that taciturn guy?”
“He’s not really like that. If you look closely, he’s very affectionate.”
Of course, by conventional standards, Chahyun was taciturn.
Even though Chahyun was a handsome man with a cool impression, his expression was usually stiff even in front of Yiyoung, and sometimes he was almost excessively quiet. However, his actions were incredibly affectionate.
Though the owner showed a slightly displeased look, he nodded obediently.
“He’s definitely like that with you. It’s amazing to see that rude bastard act all coy and devoted in front of you.”
“Chahyun-ssi is rude?”
Yiyoung asked back in surprise at the assessment he couldn’t relate to at all. He had actually thought the opposite.
Rather, the man called Moon Chahyun was so excessively refined and polite that he maintained formality even with his same-age lover. Because of this, he sometimes felt distant, but such gentlemanly behavior couldn’t be criticized.
But rude? When Yiyoung showed his disbelief, the owner laughed helplessly.
“He’s become human now. When he was twenty, he was arrogant and had prince syndrome. A total elementary schooler.”
It was hard to imagine now. If it was an embarrassing childhood, he could say it like that. But Yiyoung’s expression brightened at this past version of Chahyun.
“Really? He must have been so cute.”
“Cute, my foot. Because of that, his big sister was constantly clutching the back of her neck every other day.”
The owner said he was high school classmates with Chahyun’s big sister and still remained close with her. Thanks to that, he seemed to know Chahyun’s growth process to some extent.
Come to think of it, since the owner was in his early forties, Chahyun must have quite an age gap with his big sister. According to the owner, Chahyun also had an older brother around the same age as his big sister.
Yiyoung grinned and thought.
‘I thought he was just mature, but he unexpectedly seems to have a youngest child side to him.’
Someday, he hoped Chahyun would show him a bit of that side too. Then he felt it would seem like he’d become much closer to Chahyun. Right now, Chahyun only seemed like an older lover, so he was being a bit cautious.
‘I want to get close quickly.’
Though they were lovers, Chahyun was also a same-age friend, so he wondered when they could be comfortable with each other. Even after four months of dating, they were still using honorifics with each other, so the road ahead looked long. Yiyoung was also introverted, so closing the distance wasn’t easy.
‘It would have been better if one of us had a more outgoing personality.’
Yiyoung let out a light sigh, then adjusted his bag and greeted the owner.
“I’m leaving first. See you next week.”
“Yeah. Rest well over the weekend, and see you Monday.”
Yiyoung nodded and left the bar.
***
Yiyoung climbed the underground stairs of the whiskey bar while looking at his phone again.
10:20 PM—Chahyun hadn’t checked Yiyoung’s message. Somewhat bewildered, Yiyoung stopped on the stairs and called him.
‘Didn’t he text because he arrived?’
Though they hadn’t made specific plans, he assumed Chahyun would be there as usual. The weather had been gloomy all day as if it might rain. Chahyun frequently came to meet Yiyoung at his closing time, and especially on rainy days, he never failed to show up.
That Chahyun didn’t answer the phone.
Is he busy? With a disappointed expression, Yiyoung put his phone in his pocket and finished climbing the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, drizzle could be seen falling outside the building’s entrance. Near the entrance stood two people who seemed to have come in briefly to avoid the rain. One of them looked at the road and said.
“Looks like there was an accident over there.”
Yiyoung blinked involuntarily.
Come to think of it, he had faintly heard unusual car horn sounds and an ambulance siren from inside the bar earlier. However, Chahyun had sent a text right after, so he quickly lost interest.
“I know, right. I didn’t think such a big accident could happen downtown.”
Only then did he faintly hear light honking from cars changing lanes on the congested road and sounds like a police officer directing traffic. Then suddenly, the back of his neck felt cold.
“……”
Yiyoung came out of the building with a stiff face. Truly, across the road, a commotion that could only be described as pandemonium was unfolding. A police officer standing in the middle of the road, which was no different from a parking lot, waved his traffic control baton and shouted.
“Detour! This section is under control!”
Meanwhile, the sidewalk closest to where the ambulance and police car were parked was crowded with onlookers. Yiyoung slowly walked toward where the crowd had gathered and thought.
‘No way, it can’t be. It hasn’t even been five minutes since he sent the text……’
Nevertheless, Chahyun’s text, which had only made him flutter until just moments ago, felt endlessly ominous.
Not caring that the drizzle was dampening his face and clothes, Yiyoung gradually quickened his pace. Meanwhile, his heart pounded frighteningly and his breathing grew rough. Yiyoung squeezed through the murmuring onlookers.
“Excuse me. Just a moment, I’m coming through.”
Finally reaching the sidewalk boundary, he could see the scene of a multi-car pileup up close. Among the three accident vehicles, only the luxury sedan caught between the truck and the large van was particularly severely crushed. Seeing the sedan, Yiyoung opened his mouth wide and let out a low gasp.
“Ah.”
It was Chahyun’s car. Yiyoung hurriedly stepped down from the sidewalk blocks.
A police officer controlling the scene spread his arm in front of Yiyoung to stop him.
“It’s dangerous. Step back.”
“Um… I think someone I know is there. That car, it’s someone I know’s car.”
Though he couldn’t be certain without seeing the license plate, Chahyun’s car was a model he’d never seen anywhere else, so it was distinguishable. Sure enough, a paramedic who looked inside the car shouted.
“Late twenties male, unconscious! Bring the stretcher!”
Soon the driver, who had lost consciousness with his face covered in blood, was transferred to a stretcher. Yiyoung’s eyes widened in shock as if he’d been hit on the back of the head.
“Chahyun-ssi!”
Even from a distance, his face and build were recognizable at a glance. When he tried to run over immediately, the police officer put strength in his arm to block him and warned again.
“I said step back.”
“I know him! Moon Chahyun, twenty-eight years old. And also… he works at Moongang Group.”
Yiyoung pointed at Chahyun over the police officer’s shoulder while urgently speaking, then suddenly shut his mouth.
That was all he could say to prove to the police officer that he knew Chahyun. Name, age, company. For a moment, Yiyoung was dazed.
‘I don’t know anything about Chahyun-ssi.’
As he froze at that newly realized fact, the police officer stared at Yiyoung with a questioning look. Then he soon softened his stern expression and answered in a gentler tone.
“Even so, you can’t pass through here. All the injured are being transported to Dongbu Hospital, so go there.”
He was referring to the municipal hospital not far from here.
The ambulance carrying Chahyun left the accident scene. Yiyoung snapped back to his senses and ran toward the hospital, occasionally looking back at the road. A taxi was finally caught only after reaching the section where traffic was clearing.
