His face was cold, but his lips were curled into a strange smile. A sudden gust of wind made Nunbi shiver. It was clear he’d caused a misunderstanding. The worst outcome would be if Woonjeong thought Nunbi was watching him on the monks’ behalf. Nunbi had never done anything so cowardly in his life.
“I — I asked because I’m worried.”
Nunbi stumbled over the words and blurted it out without thinking.
“I’m worried, so I asked. Why else would I ask.”
It was a hasty cover. But wasn’t going down the mountain at this hour sheer madness? Wasn’t calling a taxi to go into town equally insane? There had been a genuine fear that Woonjeong might run off and never come back. That was the worry, more or less.
“You’re worried about me?”
Woonjeong asked a moment later.
“Not fed up with me?”
Nunbi snapped his head up. And stared. Because the face that had asked not fed up with me was completely different from the one he’d been looking at a moment ago. It was strange. Woonjeong in the blue of the rainy night — that bright face again. He couldn’t put a name to it. But something that had been making Nunbi uneasy all this time — some quality in Woonjeong’s expression — had been cut away in an instant, without a trace. As if it had melted. As if it had simply vanished.
“Well…. In a situation like this, of course you’d worry. Did you not see them blasting through the mountain on your way up? How do you plan to get out of here — it’s stranger not to care, to just let you go stumbling off on your own and get what’s coming to you.”
Nunbi’s lips moved soundlessly for a moment before he managed to say that. It wasn’t as if he thought Woonjeong actually had any redeeming qualities beneath that strange personality — but telling someone to get lost was a bit much. And the more he said it aloud, the more genuinely worried he felt. The Woonjeong looking back at him seemed, for a moment, to have stopped breathing. Eyes that didn’t waver, fixed on him — as if etching Nunbi’s face, every feature of it, directly into his pupils.
“You’re kind?”
He asked quietly. It wasn’t really a question — more like something said to himself. Before Nunbi could make heads or tails of it, Woonjeong smiled on his own, something loose and easy. His body had angled forward just slightly, and in the gap it opened, a pale stretch of neck was exposed. Nunbi sat there not knowing what to do with himself.
“You are kind, aren’t you.”
This time it was a question. Nunbi couldn’t figure out why he’d need to ask it twice, and found his lips moving on their own without quite meaning to.
“Well…. I don’t think I’ve ever been told I’m not.”
“Right, you don’t look it either. Though stupid — that one I could see.”
“You’re really something.”
Nunbi flared up and went quiet. Woonjeong pushed his slightly rain-damp hair back. For some reason he looked irritated again. Nunbi felt completely at a loss and let out a small sigh. What is his deal. Well — compared to a moment ago, his expression had eased considerably, so Nunbi felt a small, involuntary flicker of relief. So he’s not running away then?
“If I were running away, I wouldn’t bother coming to you first to ask you along.”
Woonjeong added that as if he’d read Nunbi’s gaze. Nunbi startled and dropped his eyes quickly — realizing too late that he’d been staring at Woonjeong’s profile like he wanted to bore a hole through it.
“You and I aren’t quite at the eloping stage yet.”
“Hey! What are you even saying, that’s—”
Even in the dark, Nunbi’s neck flushed hot at that teasing voice. There were limits to how far a joke should go. Woonjeong, for reasons of his own, just sat there with that faint amused look on his face even as Nunbi glared at him with narrowed eyes.
“Still can’t tell you the way, though.”
Nunbi added that. Running away or not, it seemed Woonjeong genuinely meant to slip out into town at this hour. And Nunbi thought that was not a thing that should happen.
“Fine. Do as you like.”
Woonjeong let out a long breath. Then he rose to his feet in an easy motion. In that moment, Nunbi felt a small flicker of hope. Is he just going back? Please — just listen and go back quietly. That would be good.
“What a shame. I was only going to take you for a look around town — but if you don’t want to, nothing to be done.”
But Woonjeong left Nunbi sitting there with that hope and simply reached down, picked up the umbrella he’d dropped carelessly at his feet, and snapped it open. Then he began to walk out of the side room as if his business here was finished. The direction he turned was not toward the annex.
“Oh well. Even if we can’t hang out tonight. I can always call a taxi again anytime. I’ll let it go this time.”
There was laughter in the voice that drifted back. Nunbi was alarmed. Of course. There was no way Woonjeong was going to listen. Even after being told he couldn’t have directions, was he really going to go alone? He didn’t know how far a taxi would come, but at the very least Woonjeong would have to walk quite a way after leaving the temple….
“W — wait.”
The rain was coming down hard. In that instant, Nunbi jumped to his feet and called out after Woonjeong before he could stop himself. This time it was out of genuine worry.
“Are you actually going? In the rain — you’re going to walk all the way to the highway exit?”
He called it loud enough to carry over the hammering rain, but Woonjeong answered as if none of it registered.
“If you’re worried, come along.”
“I told you, I don’t want to.”
Their eyes met again. A look that went back and forth through the air like something without an answer. Just a steady, searching gaze. Probing. Circling. A moment passed. When that look faded, Woonjeong beneath the umbrella simply tilted up one corner of his mouth.
“Got it. You don’t want to.”
A flat answer. Nunbi swallowed.
“But Nunbi — I’m just curious—”
There’s really no stopping this man. Just as Nunbi was thinking that,
“Why do you worry so much? It’s not your problem.”
Woonjeong asked.
“Whether I go out and slip on the wet road or fall flat on my face, you can just tune it out — you said your piece, you did your part. That’s enough, isn’t it? Isn’t it?”
Is that so. Nunbi hesitated. But still….
“….”
What am I supposed to do when I don’t want to just leave him like that. If Woonjeong went out tonight, he was going to end up in some stupid mess. Nunbi had only been trying to stop that from happening. He’d done what he could. And the one being stubborn was Woonjeong.
“Nothing left to say?”
Woonjeong asked, and the boy pressed his lips together tight. He didn’t want to go tell the monks and be a tattletale. He didn’t want to upset Woonjeong either.
“Just a moment.”
Woonjeong was already making his way out of the side room. This absolute maniac — he probably doesn’t even realize I’m doing him a kindness. Woonjeong, who clearly hadn’t caught on, didn’t look back once even as Nunbi fretted and scrambled to stall him.
“Wait — I said wait a moment!”
He couldn’t yell properly because he was terrified of being overheard, so the sound came out pinched and desperate. I’m not even the one in the wrong here. There was no way Woonjeong couldn’t hear him, and yet he was completely ignoring everything behind him. Pretending not to hear. In that moment, something surged up in Nunbi.
“Hey! Someone’s calling you!”
Why is he like this.
“Why do you always just do whatever you want?”
Nunbi raised his voice without meaning to, then caught himself and dropped it fast. His heart was pounding hard. He was angry, his head was spinning. Even his forehead felt warm. Did I get that worked up? Woonjeong finally turned back to look at him. The rain was loud. For a moment nothing was said, and Nunbi stood there seething on his own.
Woonjeong had the umbrella over his head. Under that white umbrella, with raindrops pattering down from it, only the curve of his upturned mouth was visible. A white jaw. Oh, there’s a mole on his neck. That pretty, luminous face, and yet the smile on it was not a gentle one at all.
“…You’re laughing?”
His chest ached faintly. Nunbi realized too late that Woonjeong was enjoying every bit of this. He looked like he was having fun. Exactly the same as all those other times Woonjeong had rattled him, clearly pleased with himself each time.
“You’re genuinely not right in the head.”
