Seonwoo, who had been sitting in the middle of the back seat, was naturally pushed to the side. With that build pushing in ignorantly, it couldn’t be helped.
In an instant, the space became narrow. Seonwoo was looking at Taejeong with an expression where it was unclear if he hadn’t grasped the situation or if he was dumbfounded.
“Shall I depart?”
The taxi driver asked for confirmation. Seonwoo reflexively turned his head. Their eyes met through the rearview mirror. When Seonwoo didn’t object, the taxi driver stepped on the pedal.
“……”
“……”
Seonwoo’s gaze had returned to its original place. He was staring intently at Taejeong as if interrogating a suspect. Seonwoo didn’t seem surprised by the sudden situation nor did he look angry. It was a face no different from usual, so it was impossible to know what he was thinking.
“Hey.”
“Don’t ask.”
It was Seonwoo who broke the silence. Taejeong, who had been continuously turning his head and not showing his face, reacted immediately. A clear warning was buried in his low voice. But it didn’t work on Seonwoo at all.
“Why did you follow me?”
“I said don’t ask, fuck.”
Taejeong unnecessarily deflected with profanity. He was doing that because he had nothing to say. Seonwoo didn’t kick out Taejeong who had arbitrarily boarded. He just stared quietly as if observing a subject he was seeing for the first time in his life.
At that moment, the taxi turned a curve and Seonwoo’s body tilted slightly. The edge of his shoulder touched Taejeong’s forearm. The arm muscle was hard as a rock, so to Seonwoo it was no different from a collision.
“Don’t rub against me.”
Taejeong pushed him away in disgust. Regardless, Seonwoo, who returned to his place, said calmly.
“You’re touching because your build is big. If you don’t like it, scrunch up your body a bit.”
On Seonwoo’s left, two boxes were taking up space. So he was sandwiched between Taejeong and the boxes. The distance between the two couldn’t help but be close.
Even considering that, Taejeong’s body was excessively large. The taxi Seonwoo called was a common sedan type. Even though it absolutely wasn’t a small car, the top of his head was so close to the ceiling it seemed like it would touch or not. He kept grazing precariously, and the moment they passed over a speed bump, a thud sound finally occurred.
“Oh my, I’m sorry. The speed bump was higher than I thought. Is your head okay?”
“……Yes.”
The collision sound was quite loud, but Taejeong just frowned once. The top of his head was still touching the ceiling and his shoulders were crushed against the window. It was a state where Taejeong had scrunched up his body as much as he could in his own way.
“But you’re really tall, sir. Are you perhaps an athlete?”
“……”
“Yes. We’re on the same baseball team. We have training camp starting tomorrow so we’re going to move luggage in advance. We’re the youngest on the team.”
“Ah, I see. I thought two students were running away from home or something, haha. You have a wound on your handsome face…… Do they still enforce discipline and stuff these days?”
“He just got hit by a baseball. He doesn’t have a position yet so he’s just picking up balls.”
“That’s how everyone starts originally. At first, everyone picks up balls, right? Seeing how diligent you are, you’ll be running on the field soon, won’t you?”
“Yes. We should.”
Even when the driver talked to him, Taejeong remained silent with his mouth shut, so Seonwoo continued the conversation instead. Taejeong looked at Seonwoo, who spouted lies smoothly without changing his expression, as if looking at an alien.
It was rather Seonwoo who didn’t understand. He’d kindly given him space to be alone, but he voluntarily followed and was suffering unnecessarily. What’s more, Taejeong didn’t even know where the destination was. Without even putting on a coat, in just his black tank top, and with his mouth shut, he looked isolated alone.
As soon as Taejeong got in, the driver turned the heater on strong, so the air inside the car was stuffy. Seonwoo was about to open the window, but seeing Taejeong’s bare skin, he just left it.
“……”
His sleepiness must have completely disappeared, but because of the shadow cast along his bangs, he looked languid. Looking out the window with an appearance enhanced by that atmosphere, he seemed like a person with an untold story.
To Seonwoo, the moment visible before his eyes, or this space itself, didn’t feel real like a dream that remained hazily in memory. The scenery visible beyond the glass window passed slowly yet quickly, like film photographs full of shake connected one after another.
That scenery continued to repeat while the taxi moved. Seonwoo watched it, forgetting even to blink. Was he looking outside like this back then too? The memories of the time of the accident or before still remained only hazily.
However, he could somehow feel that it had been a peaceful state like now. Why was that? Seonwoo couldn’t take his eyes off Taejeong, who never once looked this way. It was as if he was trying to find that answer from Taejeong.
The destination was a building on the roadside. The semi-basement visible right from outside was his father’s studio. At the building entrance was a black iron railing, and if you went down the stone steps beside it, you could see the entrance.
He pressed the familiar door lock and opened the door. The cold air trapped in the sealed space poured out all at once. The damp mold and dust smell inside came a beat late.
“……”
Seonwoo hesitated for a moment, stopping in the position of having opened the door. Seonwoo couldn’t easily enter that space, which was as familiar to him as home. So he tried to just open the door and bring the boxes first.
However, Taejeong, who had already picked up all the boxes at once, was coming down the stairs. They really didn’t mesh well. Seonwoo looked at Taejeong with displeased eyes.
Suddenly, he noticed that the hands gripping the boxes and the ends of both shoulders were tinged red. It was natural since he was wearing only a sleeveless shirt in this season. Seonwoo couldn’t ignore the frozen skin and eventually entered the studio first and held the door.
Even in the darkness, he groped the familiar wall and turned on the light. The space that had been dimly visible brightened and the interior came into view at a glance.
The studio had a large window on the left centered on the entrance. Beyond the glass, the stone steps the two had just descended and the road could be seen. In the center of the studio, two horizontally long desks were placed side by side. Everything on the desks was neatly organized. It was his father’s habit to do at least minimal organizing whenever he left.
However, because the time Dad had anticipated was only a few days, the detailed parts couldn’t be helped. The canvas paper was turning yellow from the edges and gradually fading, and from the drawer containing various paints came a heavy smell as if oil had dried up.
Seonwoo headed to the room in one corner of the studio. When he opened the door, there was a small room of about 4 pyeong. A folding mattress was organized against one wall, and around it were minimal eating utensils like a mini refrigerator and microwave.
Dad would prepare snacks for students here himself, and when an exhibition was approaching, he would work day and night, taking short naps.
On the wall near the entrance was a small shoe cabinet, and on the top shelf were two pairs of slippers decorated with cute ornaments.
The ones decorated in pink and blue tones were Seonwoo’s, and the yellow and green tones were Mom’s. They were decorated with accessories Dad had bought himself.
Seonwoo, who sat on the floor, took off the loose patient slippers and changed into the indoor slippers. The fit that was just right for his size was familiar. His feet, which had been overworked for several days, became comfortable as if it were a lie.
“……”
There was a mountain of work to do. He should slowly get up and start organizing and tidying. However, Seonwoo lay down on the floor while wearing the slippers.
Since he was doing so at the entrance, his long legs were half sticking out. Both legs were hanging limply and there wasn’t even the slightest movement, so from outside it looked like an unseemly crime scene.
From some point on, Taejeong had been standing nearby without any sign. He didn’t make any footsteps and didn’t call out to wake up the lying Seonwoo. He did so until their eyes happened to meet when Seonwoo turned his head.
Seonwoo thought that Taejeong, whose entire body was dark like a shadow, really looked like a grim reaper. His gaze toward him was quite displeased. Because it seemed like he was rebuking the sight of him lying lazily, he readily answered.
