So even when organizing and tidying, he thought he’d just roughly stuff things in as he grabbed them, but surprisingly his touch was more delicate than expected.
Among Dad’s belongings were many paper items like diaries and drawing books, and when moving those, Taejeong supported the corner parts on his palm so they wouldn’t get crumpled. Thanks to that, the items that had been mixed together haphazardly without distinction by type when delivered from the police station were now being organized in an easy-to-see manner at a glance.
On the other hand, Seonwoo wasn’t much help.
He spent all his time repeating the pattern of moving once and massaging his hand, then moving once more and massaging his hand. If Taejeong hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have been able to clean up not just until dawn but until the morning sun rose.
Each time Seonwoo did that, Taejeong would only glance at him once. He didn’t nag or rebuke him. He just seemed intent on quickly finishing this situation and returning to his room.
“……”
Gradually Seonwoo’s complexion worsened. The jaw he’d hit for self-harm extortion was fine aside from the tingling, but the pain felt in his hand wasn’t improving. It gradually worsened to the point where it seemed like something was wrong.
At some point, he felt his fingertips trembling finely. Having reached his limit ignoring the pain and spasms, Seonwoo headed to his room for a moment. When he opened the drawer, a pile of prescription medications was visible.
The medicine he took on discharge day was the first and last dose. These were things that had piled up after being neglected since then. Seonwoo tore along the dotted line of just anything he grabbed among them.
“What’s that.”
It was a voice so low that he couldn’t get used to it no matter how many times he heard it. When he turned his head, he could see Taejeong standing on the door frame. Why did he follow? Seonwoo, who became slightly annoyed, answered half-heartedly.
“Medicine.”
“Do I not have eyes that I’d ask that?”
There was no way the sensitive Taejeong wouldn’t notice that perfunctoriness. He strode over and snatched away the medicine packet held in Seonwoo’s hand. How very like his personality.
“Why are there so many types?”
“They said to take them all.”
“Who?”
“Your dad.”
“……”
From the moment the Vice Director was mentioned, Taejeong didn’t say anything. He just stood stock-still and stared at the medicine packet intently. Unable to watch any longer, Seonwoo spoke up.
“Some of them are psychiatric medications.”
“……Why are you taking those?”
“Like you said, since I’m a psycho, maybe my brain is also fucked up.”
“What are you even saying…… Forget it, just.”
Taejeong swallowed a sigh and swept up his forehead. Between his smoothly well-groomed forehead, deeply furrowed brows could be seen. Occasionally, Junyeong would come to mind, who’d say with a disgruntled voice that he seemed to have everything.
In Seonwoo’s eyes too, Taejeong was handsome. He was handsome, but the more he looked, the more fascinating it was that he didn’t resemble the Vice Director at all. The two were complete opposites even just by color. The Vice Director always wore a white gown and the clothes he wore underneath were also calm colors. The gentle image probably came from there.
On the other hand, Taejeong was, as you could see, dark from head to toe, so far from gentle, he was gloomy. Just when he’d think things might improve if only that hair was groomed, when his eyes met the gaze full of dark circles, his thoughts would change. He thought it would be impossible even if he was soaked in bleach and pulled out.
“……Don’t eat this.”
The only thing that seemed similar was that kind of arbitrary behavior. Taejeong acted as if he were Seonwoo’s attending physician. He tried to shove the medicine envelope deep into the drawer, but as if that wasn’t right, he grabbed the bundle of medicine in one fist and left.
Thud, thud, thud, his heels struck as if to break the floor. When going down the stairs, the sound echoed twice as loud. His large feet went down the stairs two steps at a time at a fast pace.
Taejeong, who headed to the kitchen, stood in front of the sink and suddenly started tearing the medicine envelope to shreds. Countless pills that escaped from the thin plastic fell through the drain holes.
Seonwoo, who had followed after him, just stood far away and watched. He was curious to see how far he’d go, so he had no intention of stopping him. Still, he said what he had to say.
“My hand hurts.”
“Endure that kind of thing with painkillers. Don’t whine like a bitch, you male bastard, it’s disgusting.”
“Where is that?”
“It should be around here somewhere. Search for it yourself.”
Seonwoo found this situation absurd to the point of being funny. Taejeong’s sudden behavioral change was like that. He was curious why this guy who didn’t blink an eye when a face bruised from his own fist was shoved in front of him was suddenly acting like this. To put it more clearly, it was the standard for provoking Taejeong.
While having such frivolous thoughts, he rummaged through the kitchen. Not long after, he could see emergency medicine stocked by type in a corner of the drawer. Seonwoo scanned the dosage instructions written on the package exterior. Ignoring the guidance to take 1 or 2 pills based on adult standards, he took out four pills.
He dumped them all in at once without water. The sensation of the slippery pills scratching past his throat was vivid, but he forced himself to swallow saliva and push them down. The pain was that severe.
A brief happening passed. The cleanup finished quickly and the stairs were clean as if nothing had happened. Seonwoo’s gaze stayed for a moment on the boxes arranged in a row in front of the shoe cabinet.
“The tutor was looking for you.”
“……”
“From now on, you’ll have class every Wednesday and Saturday. He said the time is in the afternoon, but I don’t know exactly when, and he’ll come starting this Saturday. Anyway, you should know.”
If he didn’t want to run into him, he could avoid that time slot. If Junyeong started searching for Taejeong with fire in his eyes, he couldn’t stop it, but until then he could at least pretend he hadn’t seen him.
“Why are you telling me that?”
At those words, Seonwoo pointed to the boxes.
“You helped me.”
The patient communal slippers were a bit big in size, so the instep was loose. Seonwoo tapped the front part of the slippers on the floor to adjust them. Because it would be troublesome if he fell again.
“You’re not coming back?”
Taejeong, who had been watching that appearance, asked. Seonwoo had been thinking of just moving the luggage and coming back. But hearing those words, he felt that wouldn’t be bad either.
“I don’t know either. But isn’t that good for you?”
Seonwoo knew that the people Taejeong didn’t want to run into included not only Junyeong but himself as well. He must have received as much help as he wanted. Now he was thinking of disappearing quickly.
Perhaps because of the cool dawn air, the moment he left the house, his breathing opened up. Thanks to downing four painkillers, the pain had improved a lot too. The impatience that had been grating on his nerves seemed to have disappeared along with it.
Thanks to that, he had the leisure to safely move the boxes two at a time. Standing in front of the gate in the middle of the night with delivery boxes stacked up while waiting for a taxi, he did seem like someone leaving forever as Taejeong said.
White breath was created and disappeared repeatedly. The taxi called through the app arrived after 15 minutes. Seonwoo loaded the boxes separately in the trunk and back seat with the driver’s help.
The driver glanced at Seonwoo’s face several times. Come to think of it, he didn’t have a mask. At this hour, loading luggage with a face that had been thoroughly beaten, he was perfect to be mistaken for a runaway youth.
Seonwoo had no intention of correcting the misunderstanding. If he was seen as someone difficult to talk to, he’d rather welcome it. While moving in the taxi, he wanted to rest comfortably.
“Is one more person getting in?”
It was when he’d climbed into the back seat and was catching his breath. The driver, who had been checking the rearview mirror, asked. Seonwoo’s gaze turned there. A large black figure was in the mirror.
It was gradually approaching. Proportionally, Seonwoo’s eyes narrowed. For it to be an illusion, the presence of that large build was too strong.
Finally, it was the moment the pitch-black mass disappeared from the mirror. The back seat door flew open. The large body approached as if covering Seonwoo.
