“Talking about sugar daddy and shit. Really, you only see what you want to see.”
Seungyeon raised his middle finger toward the invisible Go Won. Sponsor or whatever, he didn’t need such things. No, even if he needed it, Go Won was declined on this end.
“What confidence does that gangster ahjussi have anyway?”
Of course, he was handsome. He’d admit that. Just looking at his appearance, he was cool even from a man’s perspective. If judged purely on looks, Go Won was number one among all the people Seungyeon had seen in his entire life. Yoon Taerim and Jung Sanho were handsome too, but Go Won was, how should he put it, a bit different in texture from them. He was a traditional handsome type, and perhaps because of his professional atmosphere, intimidation and languidness flowed simultaneously. It was similar to how his heart pounded when seeing a suspension bridge. It was ambiguous whether this trembling came from threat or being enchanted by his face.
“Goodness. Does he think I’ll be enchanted by that ahjussi’s face?”
Seungyeon shot up from his seat. There was nothing more to look up on the laptop, and if he thought more here, it was obvious he’d just uselessly appreciate his face. Rather than waste more time, he might as well eat a spoonful of rice in that time.
Seungyeon shuffled his steps. When he pushed open the door and came out, the living room bathed in morning sunlight came into view. Seeing the empty sofa and turned-off television, he felt his mother’s absence. With his mother who used to cover all kinds of broadcast channels and OTT platforms gone, the inside of the house felt too quiet.
Come to think of it, was Mom doing well? Though he’d never heard when she’d come, he wondered if she might come around lunch. Was it because he had no proper way to contact her since he lost his phone? Like a child left at the water’s edge, his mother’s whereabouts bothered him for no reason.
Even while taking out and drinking water in the kitchen, he pondered how to contact his mother. He’d long since given up hope of getting his phone back. Not only did he not want to face Go Yeongbin again, he didn’t even know where that place was. At least would Jung Sanho know?
“I need to deal with that fucking bastard Go Yeongbin too.”
Jung Sanho told him to just trust him, but Seungyeon was planning to implement justice in his own way. Just stay quiet and take it? No way. I absolutely can’t stand it. The implementation of justice in the Republic of Korea was in his hands. Even if he left private sanctions to Jung Sanho, he was determined to achieve public sanctions with his own hands.
Seungyeon gulped down water while hardening his resolve. After emptying one bottle and wiping his lips, he flopped down on the sofa. Looking up at the pure white ceiling, he muttered without realizing it.
“I miss Mom……”
What is Mom doing right now? She’s probably eating something delicious with Auntie Misuk, right? Seungyeon, who had been wiggling his toes, suddenly sat up. He roughly arranged his disheveled hair any which way and got off the sofa.
Lazing around here like this will only make me depressed. Staying holed up at home just because he couldn’t make contact didn’t suit his temperament. Seungyeon enthusiastically began preparing. After bathing and changing clothes, he firmly tied his sneakers too.
Walking aimlessly with the thought of just going, a certain memory suddenly came to mind.
Among the many conversations shared while cracking peanuts with his mother, there was naturally talk about Auntie Misuk too. He brilliantly recalled that she lived in a two-story detached house under her own name, and that Rosa Beauty Salon in the building across from it did gray hair dyeing fantastically well.
‘A new tenant moved into the first floor, and that young wife got pregnant right after moving in. These days, Misuk unnie lives for the fun of taking care of her.’
Saying that, his mother diligently cracked peanuts. Carefully retracing those memories, Seungyeon set his destination.
For now, it seemed good to just go to the vicinity and ask around. Auntie Misuk was well-connected in her neighborhood. So if he went to the neighborhood and asked the residents, he’d be able to find the auntie’s house right away.
Though there were several close calls on the way, Seungyeon cleverly found the route. Moving without a phone was harder than expected, but it wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t do it. Seungyeon, who had capably eaten lunch on the way, looked around while drinking an iced Americano for dessert. For now, it should be somewhere around here……
A bright red sign entered Seungyeon’s vision as he looked around diligently. In front of the ‘Rosa Beauty Salon’ he’d only heard about, he felt some emotion. Half the thought was ‘This really works?’ and half was the thought that indeed, there wasn’t a single thing Mom said that should be ignored. Across from the operating beauty salon was a two-story house surrounded by a low fence. That’s it. Seungyeon energetically approached the door and pressed the doorbell.
However, even after waiting several seconds, there was no response. Thinking he might have pressed it wrong, he pressed it once more. When that didn’t work either, he tried knocking on the door, but there was no sign of anyone at all.
Not only his mother, but Auntie Misuk was also someone known for being nosy, which made it even more puzzling. Did I come to the wrong house? Seungyeon raised his voice while knocking on the iron gate.
“Auntie Misuk! It’s Seungyeon! Are you inside by any chance?”
There was no proper response except for the clanging sound of the iron gate. Don’t tell me they all went somewhere together? Just as Seungyeon was hesitating, he heard the sound of a door opening with a rattle from behind.
Someone peeked their head out from Rosa Beauty Salon. The auntie, whose eyes met with Seungyeon who had turned around, looked Seungyeon up and down with a curious face.
“Who?”
“Hello, does Kim Misuk live in that house by any chance? She’s my mom’s friend.”
“Mmm. I know Misuk. But she won’t be home today. She had an accident yesterday.”
The auntie’s voice suddenly lowered. She glanced around as if talking about a secret and whispered quietly.
“Yesterday, why, right in front here.”
“An accident? What accident?”
“Well, was it yesterday evening? Misuk’s car overturned on the road right here. I tell you, with the 119 and police cars, the whole neighborhood was in an uproar? Misuk was also hospitalized. Unfortunately, there was also a passenger, so there were four or five victims…… Anyway, if it was wrecked that badly, it should be scrapped.”
“What?”
His heart dropped to the floor with a thud. Auntie Misuk’s Carnival vehicle that Seungyeon had last seen, and his mother’s face riding inside it, kept overlapping.
If Mom was riding in there, then what should I do?
He couldn’t lose his mother again. When he’d found her with such difficulty, he couldn’t let her go so futilely like this. Seungyeon rushed over desperately and grabbed her shoulders. Whether the flustered auntie looked at him with startled rabbit eyes or not, Seungyeon’s head was filled only with thoughts of finding his mother.
“Do you know which hospital she was admitted to?”
His insides twisted with anxiety. Even though he didn’t want to, ominous premonitions kept brushing past in his head.
***
Yoon Taerim’s car stopped in the parking lot. After turning off the engine and getting out of the car, he almost ran out of the parking lot and boarded the elevator. Throughout the trip to the lobby, the face of the person he’d just talked to on the phone floated around in Yoon Taerim’s head. The surprised and flustered voice, hard to forget even if he tried, kept bothering him.
As if assimilated by the emotion, Yoon Taerim also hurriedly moved his steps. Many people were walking around inside the lobby. Without time to feel nostalgia for the hospital operating busily as always, he headed to the meeting place. Just as he was looking around near a small cafe set up on one side of the lobby, the figure of someone running from the entrance across caught his eye.
Yoon Taerim raised his hand high and called his name.
“Seungyeon!”
Baek Seungyeon, who had turned pale, discovered him and approached quickly. Just looking at his face, his feelings could be felt completely. The beads of sweat forming on his forehead and even his panting breath incited anxiety. Baek Seungyeon grabbed Yoon Taerim’s sleeve without even a greeting.
“Where? Which way? Where should I go?”
Seungyeon looked around. At the question close to a plea, Yoon Taerim answered calmly.
“First, calm down a bit. At this rate, Seungyeon will pass out first.”
Though Yoon Taerim had spoken with good intentions, Baek Seungyeon’s reaction wasn’t like that. Baek Seungyeon, who had stopped for a moment, suddenly burst into tears. At the sight of him shedding chicken-poop-like tears, even Yoon Taerim, who rarely got flustered, became bewildered.
“Is, is my mom d-dying? Did she, hng, pass away?”
“No. That’s not what I meant. Don’t cry. Stop.”
Even when he wiped Seungyeon’s eyes, the flowing tears didn’t stop. At the sight of him crying so pitifully, Yoon Taerim’s bewilderment also grew.
“Your mother is fine. I checked earlier. So Seungyeon, stop crying quickly too. You have to go see your mom.”
Yoon Taerim rubbed and wiped Baek Seungyeon’s eyes with his thumb as he cried pitifully. Even while coaxing and soothing, his gaze didn’t know how to leave Baek Seungyeon’s face crying like a child.
“I didn’t think Seungyeon was like that, but you’re still a baby.”
