“Did you have lunch?”
“Yes.”
“That’s too bad. I was going to eat together.”
The expression was benevolent, but there was no sincerity in the words. However, Seonwoo had also skipped meals from last night’s dinner, let alone lunch, so they were both the same.
“Why are you wearing a mask?”
“Just because.”
Seonwoo adjusted his white mask. Whether his face was small or the size was large, it was loose and kept trying to slide down.
“If you have signs of a cold, you can’t visit.”
“……”
Seonwoo’s eyes narrowed. He had no intention of arguing with the Vice Director from early morning. Seonwoo raised his index finger and conspicuously pulled down the mask.
Centered around the boundary between his cheek and jaw, bruises were mottled as if purple paint had spread. Even at a rough estimate, they weren’t wounds that would disappear in a day or two. However, the Vice Director wasn’t surprised.
“Taejeong did that.”
“……”
“Should Ahjussi scold him?”
“I’ll take care of it myself. More importantly, shall we go in together?”
Seonwoo, who had been listening half-heartedly, spoke up. He changed the subject, worried that if he kept his mouth shut, sparks might fly in unnecessary directions.
“No? Right now I came to see Seonwoo.”
“……”
“I can see Ahjussi every day even when it’s not visiting hours.”
Seonwoo truly had nothing to say. He had not even a speck of interest in the other person, so he had no will to continue the conversation.
“Do you think I deliberately prevented you from meeting Seonmin?”
“Yes.”
“What benefit would I have from that?”
“I don’t know that either.”
At that, the Vice Director smiled at the corners of his mouth and laughed gracefully. Where in the conversation they just had was there any room for laughter?
“We have a long way to go, Seonwoo-ya.”
“……”
“Ahjussi has no intention of being hated by Seonwoo.”
“……”
“We should treat each other kindly. We’re family who met somehow……”
Was it because of his precise pronunciation and low, calm voice? Even without interest, he had the power to make one focus their attention.
“Do you think of me as family?”
“Of course.”
“What if Mom never wakes up?”
“Even so, I have to take responsibility. We’re family.”
The more the Vice Director showed blind responsibility, the lower Seonwoo’s trust fell. There was no such thing as kindness without a price in this world.
Considering the intensive care unit costs that changed units daily, including Seonwoo’s lodging, he couldn’t be optimistically happy about it.
No matter how much they were family, when it came time to pay the hospital bills, their attitude might change completely. Even if this person he’d lived without knowing existed said he’d take full responsibility, Seonwoo didn’t feel any sincerity.
The Vice Director looked at the mask and recommended that he get examined to see if there was anything wrong with his head before leaving, but Seonwoo flatly refused and entered the intensive care unit.
Having passed merely a single glass wall, after changing into protective clothing, it felt like entering a different world. His mother, seen up close, was very different from the appearance Seonwoo was familiar with.
Skin pale as a wax doll. Unhealed abrasions. Deep facial wrinkles. Hair greasy in clumps. On top of that, because of the medical devices attached in a row and the patient gown, when he first came to visit, he hadn’t recognized her right away.
The nurse in charge was wearing much more systematic protective gear than Seonwoo. After explaining the visiting procedure, she told him that there were cases where patients who had been in a coma remembered what family members said beside them when they woke up.
“So you should talk to her a lot from beside her too. Your mother will be listening to everything.”
“……”
“It’s okay to talk about what the weather was like today, things like that. Don’t think about it too difficultly.”
When Seonwoo didn’t respond, the nurse added words as if to encourage him. She must have thought he was hesitating because this was a difficult thing for a young student to handle. However, Seonwoo simply had nothing to say.
He should tell her not to worry because he’d taken care of everything that had been neglected after the accident. But he couldn’t do that because he lacked the courage to face those things and had pushed them all back. He didn’t want to lie to his mother.
So what should he talk about? Visiting hours in the intensive care unit were only 5 to 10 minutes. To some it might feel very short, but for Seonwoo to fill all that time with monologue was impossible.
Formal words like “I’m doing well so don’t worry” or “please recover quickly and wake up” didn’t suit Seonwoo’s personality. A normal conversation would be better. Seonwoo thought for a moment and opened his mouth.
“There’s a kid I’m living with, and he seems kind of crazy.”
For a moment, a familiar scene he’d seen since childhood came to mind. Seonwoo was leaning against the living room sofa, and his mother was sitting with her back turned at the kitchen table.
When he’d talk about frivolous topics, the hand tapping the laptop keyboard wouldn’t stop, but he could still hear the voice that would immediately respond as if properly listening to Seonwoo’s words. More than you?
“I don’t know about that……”
See? He hit me. I even got a nosebleed. He’s really hot-tempered. He spoke whatever came to mind as if reporting what happened at school. He thought he hadn’t said much, but before he knew it, the nurse who had approached told him that visiting hours had ended.
ლ
“Ah, Seonwoo. You’re here?”
When he arrived home, the housekeeper in charge of housework greeted Seonwoo. She waved her hand calling him over, so he headed to the kitchen. Through the corridor window, he could also see her husband tending to the garden.
“The teacher just came. Can you carry this with me?”
What was placed on the table was a wood tray with handles on both sides. On a large white plate, various fruits were arranged appetizingly. Next to it were two glass cups containing tea bags.
“When did he come?”
“Not long ago. About 10 minutes?”
He checked his phone, but there were still 20 minutes until class time and there were no separate messages.
“Okay. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Oh my, what good manners!”
At the simple greeting, the housekeeper was extremely moved. Thinking about the personalities of the Vice Director and his son who lived in this house, it was understandable why she reacted that way.
Seonwoo walked slowly enough that the contents of the glass cups barely shook. He was originally this speed anyway, but he had no intention whatsoever of hurrying his steps. It wasn’t him who failed to keep the time appointment properly.
As if proving a stranger’s intrusion, the door was wide open. When he reached the doorway, the man sitting in front of the desk waved his hand and greeted Seonwoo.
His bangs with a moderate curl were parted cleanly in a 5:5 part. Below the bangs that must have taken time to arrange, round glasses that looked thin and light could be seen.
“Wasn’t it at 2 o’clock?”
“Since it’s the first day, I came early. Hurry up and come sit down.”
The man pointed to the empty chair beside him. He somehow seemed more familiar with this house than Seonwoo.
On the desk that had been completely empty until morning, books that appeared to be the man’s were scattered about. Every one of them was thick and worn, with titles written in complicated English that were hard to make out.
“Shall we start with a simple self-introduction? My name is Choi Junyeong and I’m a first-year in the main course. Um, think of it as third year of university. I heard you’re the same age as Taejeong, so just comfortably call me hyung.”
“I’ll call you teacher.”
“Ooh…… You’re really drawing a line here. What’s your name?”
“Song Seonwoo.”
“Yeah. But why aren’t you taking off your mask? Are you trying to look cool?”
“Yes.”
“Well, everyone wants to do that at that age. But since it’s the first day, show me your face once.”
It seemed like he’d be annoying until he showed his face. In the end, Seonwoo pulled down his mask halfway to show the inside. Sure enough, Junyeong’s expression became subtle as he looked at the blotchy bruise marks.
“You’re not like… a delinquent or anything, right?”
“Yes.”
Seonwoo answered indifferently and picked up a pear to eat. Junyeong nagged him not to eat with his hands and to use a fork, but he didn’t even pretend to listen. When Junyeong tried to stab it with a fork and hand it to him, he just pulled the mask back up.
“I’m bad at studying, so don’t expect anything. I only worked hard on practical skills.”
“No, you have to try everything. Don’t worry too much from the first day.”
