—Eunho student, right?
What woke him from deep sleep was a phone call that rang vigorously from early dawn. Sunday morning. On a Sunday when he should be sprawled out until late, Seo Eunho answered the phone half-asleep. Tae Shinwoo, who had been sleeping beside him, also blinked his eyes.
“…Who is this?”
His voice, completely devoid of sleep, cracked. He didn’t hang up because the other party had suddenly called his name and somehow the voice sounded familiar, but otherwise he would have almost spewed curses the moment he opened his eyes.
—This is the landlord of 84 ○○-dong. Is this the number of Eunho student who lives there?
“Ah, ah, yes. That’s right.”
It was extremely fortunate he hadn’t done that. Because it was a call from none other than the landlord.
Since he was young, Seo Eunho had lived in that house all along. The landlord had been considerate all this time, never raising the monthly rent once.
—Phew. I’m glad I could reach you. I was calling to ask when you’re moving your stuff out.
“What? My stuff?”
—The moving date is approaching, but you took the deposit in advance and haven’t moved your things out, so I got anxious and called. I can’t reach your father.
Seo Eunho’s eyes, which had been full of drowsiness, snapped wide open. That was also when he bolted upright. Tae Shinwoo, who had been looking at him with eyes that had woken up before he knew it, also sat up. He seemed to be concentrating on the phone conversation audible from the other end of the phone, but Eunho didn’t have the presence of mind to stop him or not.
“What do you mean by that…? You’re saying he took the deposit?”
The flustered tone was evident in his suddenly cracked voice. The landlord seemed even more flustered by that.
—You, you didn’t know?
“Ah…”
—What, he took only the deposit without saying anything and just disappeared? That bastard of a father?
A resounding voice pierced into Seo Eunho’s ears as he failed to collect himself. Seo Eunho, who had been chewing over his words in a daze, let out an empty laugh for a moment. Finding himself in an absurd situation, laughter came out first without him realizing it.
—Oh my. What to do about this. He said it was urgent so I let him take it… What do we do? Where are you right now? Do you have a place to go? Oh, if there weren’t people moving in, I could do something for you…
The father had taken the deposit and disappeared, but the landlord was worrying about him. Seo Eunho swallowed a sigh while rubbing his forehead. His solar plexus hurt as if it were being squeezed tight.
“It’s okay, ahjumma. I… today, I can move it out.”
—It’s not about the stuff, I’m worried you won’t have a place to stay…
“Ah, no. I do. So, you don’t need to worry.”
Seo Eunho answered while trying hard to seem okay. Even so, the landlord’s worry didn’t subside, but in reality, since people were already moving in, there was nothing he could do.
Seo Eunho ended the call saying he would go move his things out by today as his final words. It couldn’t help but be too absurd of a call to use as an alarm.
“What is it?”
As soon as the call ended, Tae Shinwoo asked. Seo Eunho hesitated and kept his mouth tightly shut.
Actually, since he’d been listening right next to him, he must have heard the phone conversation. Though he’d answered ambiguously from the point when he belatedly became aware of Tae Shinwoo, he knew it had been a useless act.
But it was embarrassing. Even though Shinwoo already knew all his circumstances, it was too shameful to actually show that he’d been abandoned so helplessly like this.
“Seo Eunho.”
Tae Shinwoo lightly patted Seo Eunho, who kept his mouth shut, and called his name once more.
When he heard the news that his father had abandoned him and left, laughter had come out, but strangely, at Tae Shinwoo’s voice calling him, a surge of emotion welled up in an instant.
At first he couldn’t understand what this feeling was. Something he wanted to hide if possible had been discovered, yet even if he couldn’t pretend it was nothing, wanting to cry?
It was impossible. So Seo Eunho held it in firmly. But the surging emotion didn’t subside easily.
“…Father.”
But he couldn’t keep silent forever. Seo Eunho finally opened his mouth after enduring until he could at least pretend his voice was calm. However, his trembling voice couldn’t quite be hidden.
“I’ll send someone to move your stuff. Just stay home.”
Tae Shinwoo didn’t wait for Seo Eunho any longer. A notification fell toward Seo Eunho, who was struggling to even get out a single word.
“Is there anything you absolutely need to take? Then let’s go together and just pack that. Other people will take care of organizing the rest.”
Could he be this kind? Seo Eunho thought he should have kicked out Tae Shinwoo, who had settled into bed last night with the strange excuse that he was tired from studying a lot.
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
Seo Eunho couldn’t say anything. It was like that for quite a while again. His lips just trembled repeatedly several times before finally opening. A slow, anxious voice, unlike Seo Eunho, mixed with all sorts of thoughts, slipped out between his lips.
“I can’t stay here forever, so if I just find a house…”
“Just keep staying in this house.”
However, Seo Eunho’s words couldn’t even be finished. Because Tae Shinwoo suddenly cut him off mid-sentence and shook his head firmly.
“Is it burdensome?”
Tae Shinwoo asked. Seo Eunho immediately shook his head.
The truth was, he didn’t think he should have kicked Tae Shinwoo out. Rather, it was the opposite. Seo Eunho thought it was extremely fortunate that Tae Shinwoo hadn’t gone home last night, that he was by his side at this moment.
If that hadn’t been the case, he would have been confused, not knowing what to do. He would have been hurt thinking he’d really been abandoned.
“…Is it okay?”
Seo Eunho asked slowly with a contorted face. Tae Shinwoo looked straight at the face like a child who didn’t know what to do.
“It’s okay. Anything.”
His head dropped deeply. Tae Shinwoo reached out his hand and pulled Seo Eunho in. Somehow he ended up in Tae Shinwoo’s embrace, but Seo Eunho didn’t push him away. Rather, it was Seo Eunho who was willing to be in this embrace.
***
Most of the stuff was thrown away. There was nowhere to take the old furniture or dishes. The same went for clothes. All the clothes he wore had long since been moved to the house Tae Shinwoo had prepared.
What Seo Eunho packed were just a few photos. He didn’t even know they existed, but he found them while moving things. Two photos of his mother and five photos from his childhood.
It was absurd that after living in this house for such a long time, the stuff to pack was only seven photos, but it couldn’t be helped. Both his father and himself had just wandered outside ever since his mother passed away.
“Cute.”
Tae Shinwoo, who quickly took two of the few photos, laughed as if it were interesting. They were a photo of his back captured while running with his chubby baby bottom showing as is, and a photo from the same day of him sitting with a blank expression wearing a puffy diaper and pants.
When that photo was taken, what was Mom thinking? Was she smiling while looking at him?
Since she was a person no longer in this world, he couldn’t ask, but somehow it seemed like she must have been smiling. The thought that he hoped she had suddenly came to him.
“I think we’ve moved everything, shall we go?”
Tae Shinwoo, who had been laughing for a while, naturally pushed the photos into his bag and pulled Seo Eunho’s hand. Neither taking the photos nor holding his hand were agreed-upon matters, but Seo Eunho didn’t make an issue of anything.
“Yeah.”
Because he didn’t want to. Seo Eunho put strength in his fingers and slowly clasped Tae Shinwoo’s hand in return. He pretended not to notice the gaze directed at him. The tightly held hand made his heart comfortable.
There was no problem at all. Independence just came a little early. It was the moment he’d longed for. His father had abandoned him first. Seo Eunho no longer had a father.
“……”
That fact didn’t feel quite real. He thought he’d be a little lonely since his family was completely disappearing, but that wasn’t the case.
It was because Tae Shinwoo was beside him. Because he was together by his side. That’s why Seo Eunho wasn’t lonely. That’s why he was fortunate.
He wanted to be greedy after all. Seo Eunho smiled briefly at Tae Shinwoo, who put even more strength into the hand he held than himself, and thought. He just wanted to be by his side. It seemed like he wouldn’t need to worry about anything. Because Tae Shinwoo would solve everything.
Seo Eunho liked Tae Shinwoo so much. So he wanted to trust Tae Shinwoo. No, he decided to trust him.
The contract period, which had now become meaningless, was slowly coming to an end. Then the relationship between Tae Shinwoo and himself would enter a new phase.
At that time, Seo Eunho resolved that he would jump over that line that had now become completely faint. To muster up just a little courage.
Actually, I like you. Aren’t you the same?
He would be the first to bring it up like that.
