“Yes.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
With that, Kang Jihyeok disappeared like the wind. Left alone on the bed with the shopping bag, Yeonwoo curled his hand into a fist. His heart was pounding. What had just happened? The fact that he’d played a little trick on him was surprising enough — but the hand that had stroked his hair had been so warm that his heart was going completely wild. Heat rose to his face on its own. He knew he needed to calm down, but he kept vividly picturing the smile Kang Jihyeok had worn and the hand that had touched his hair.
The kinder Kang Jihyeok was to him, the more he dreaded being thrown away. He wanted to stick close to his side and never pull away. Their first meeting hadn’t exactly been great — but even so…. Having tasted that sweet warmth, he didn’t want to let it go.
“This is my last chance.”
He was going to be absolutely impeccable at waiting on him at meals. And through that, he’d make Kang Jihyeok want to keep him close. I’ll become his hands and feet. You can do this, Cha Yeonwoo! Get it together! Yeonwoo clenched his fist tight.
I’m going for it!
With that resolve, he opened the shopping bag. Even if something terrifying came out of it, he could handle it. It would be pretty heartbreaking if it was nothing but underwear…. But well, what could he do. He didn’t have a choice.
Or else… a skirt? That was possible too. He seemed to recall hearing that there were people who enjoyed dressing men in women’s clothing. Kang Jihyeok didn’t seem like that type of person, but…. You never knew, so he decided to steel himself mentally. Yeonwoo made up his mind not to be surprised no matter what was in the bag.
“Huh?”
But against his worries, what was inside the shopping bag was something Yeonwoo had never once worn in his life. An ivory-colored hoodie and jeans. They could be called ordinary — but to Yeonwoo, who had never once been allowed to wear something he actually wanted, they might as well have been something out of a dream. He’d always wanted to wear clothes like this, but everything given to him had either been ill-fitting, expensive and stiff, or worn-out and falling apart. He’d never been able to ask for clothes, and the chance to say what he wanted had never been given to him. So it didn’t quite feel real that these clothes, sitting right here in front of him, could truly be for him.
Could this be a dream? He quietly raised a hand and pinched his cheek lightly. The small sting that came told him it wasn’t.
How did he know?
He’d genuinely wanted to wear something like this.
Even if a hoodie was a perfectly ordinary thing, the color was exactly what he would’ve chosen.
“It’s really pretty.”
For Kang Jihyeok, it might have been nothing more than a small, thoughtless kindness — but not to Yeonwoo. He buried his face in the soft hood. He breathed in as deeply as he could, and — impossible as it should’ve been — it seemed like the faint scent of Kang Jihyeok clung to it.
He seems like a decent person — no, actually a really good person.
Kang Jihyeok was most likely not the you fucking disgusting pervert that Assemblyman Cha and his children had described. No — he definitely wasn’t. Someone this thoughtful and warm — how could he be that kind of awful person?
Out of everything they’d said, there was only one truth. Kang Jihyeok was someone far beyond what he deserved, and he should count his blessings for having been handed over to him. That was all.
“I should throw the notebooks away.”
Yeonwoo decided to throw away all three of the notebooks he’d treasured and carried with him. There was no point holding onto them anymore. The Kang Jihyeok he’d met in person was a completely different person from the you fucking disgusting pervert written in those pages. The notebooks were useless now. There was no need to read them to mentally prepare himself. Because Kang Jihyeok was not that you fucking disgusting pervert!
Yeonwoo glanced at his worn-out bag. Thankfully it was still sitting right where he’d left it. He wanted to throw it out right this second, but he held himself back. Those notebooks needed to be disposed of somewhere secret, somewhere no one would ever find them.
Should I rip them to shreds? Leaving them here at the hotel and then getting a call about it later would be a disaster. He’d keep them bundled up and throw them away somewhere discreet.
In no time his mood had lifted, and Yeonwoo wriggled into the clothes. They fit perfectly. Wearing the ivory hoodie, he almost felt like a genuinely ordinary person.
If I’d grown up in the orphanage the whole time, I could’ve always looked like this, couldn’t I?
Someone who didn’t know the situation might point a finger and call it ungrateful. But for Yeonwoo, just the thought of the time he’d spent with Assemblyman Cha was enough to make his hands shake with fear and dread.
No — don’t think about that right now.
This wasn’t the time for those dark thoughts. Yeonwoo took a deep breath. He needed to get his head on straight from here on out.
He opened the door carefully. Kang Jihyeok, who had been sitting on the sofa, looked up. He was dressed similarly to yesterday, but differently.
“Mister.”
“Yeah, all dressed?”
He slipped the phone he’d been holding into his pocket and walked over slowly.
“Looks good on you.”
“Really? Thank you.”
Yeonwoo gave a little spin in his new outfit, then looked at Kang Jihyeok again as if to ask well, how is it?
“You look like a little sparrow.”
…A sparrow? That’s a compliment, right? Not teasing me for being young and small? Actually, even if it was teasing, it didn’t matter. What did it matter if he teased him or hit him? He was Kang Jihyeok’s possession.
“I’m really grateful. How did you know this was something I wanted to wear?”
It was something he really wanted to say to him. For Kang Jihyeok, it was probably just a thoughtless purchase — but not for him. He pressed all the gratitude he felt for the clothes deep into his chest and looked up at Kang Jihyeok with a smile.
“I heard.”
“Huh? From who?”
There wasn’t anyone who would talk about him. The only person who came to mind was Assemblyman Cha — but there was no way he’d know what kind of clothes he wanted to wear. No way he could, either. And Assemblyman Cha wasn’t the type to make small talk like that with Kang Jihyeok to begin with.
If not Assemblyman Cha, then who did he hear it from? Yeonwoo blinked. He was confident he could nod along to anything Kang Jihyeok said without questioning it — but he was still curious…. If he asked, would he tell him?
“Should we go get breakfast now?”
“Yes.”
Can’t be helped. He’d have to ask next time, or just let it go. What mattered was that he’d bought him clothes.
Yeonwoo trotted ahead. He needed to get to the door and open it quickly. But Kang Jihyeok was faster. He strode ahead and took hold of the handle himself. And then he even held the door open for him, as if telling him to go on out.
Oh no.
I couldn’t even open the door for him. Next time, I absolutely have to get there first.
Yeonwoo dashed ahead and pressed the elevator button. It was just pressing a button, but he was grateful he’d at least managed that much. He glanced back at Kang Jihyeok quickly, and Kang Jihyeok smiled at him.
“Good job.”
Before long, the elevator arrived. Yeonwoo gestured toward it as if telling Kang Jihyeok to get in first. The corners of his mouth were still lifted high. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Maybe even enjoying himself. Yeonwoo pressed a hand to his chest in relief.
“We’ll be taking my car — is that okay?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
The moment the answer left his lips, something flashed through Yeonwoo’s mind. How could he have forgotten something that important? This was unbelievable.
I don’t know how to drive — what do I do?
He hadn’t even been allowed to go to school because it cost money — there was no way he’d know how to drive. Should he ride in the car Kang Jihyeok drives? And do nothing? That felt a bit…. Wasn’t that strange? What could be more absurd than a possession sitting in the passenger seat while the owner drives? Very strange. But he couldn’t take the wheel if he didn’t know how to drive. W-what do I do? Should I tell him the truth right now?
“Um, Mister.”
“Yeah?”
Looking at that smiling face, tilted slightly as if telling him to go ahead and speak, the words wouldn’t come out. What if he said something like — how could you not even know something that basic? Even so, it’s not like it was my fault.
What do I do? He’d made up his mind to wait on him perfectly, and already he was hitting a wall like this. Yeonwoo’s mouth went dry.
“Um, actually.”
“Yeah?”
