Silence fell.
The space became quiet in an instant, unbelievably so considering it had been filled with noisy voices just before. Heavy, damp silence seemed to press down on the room, and for a moment even the sound of breathing couldn’t be heard.
“……”
Slowly, very slowly, Cheon Yijae lowered the hand that had been covering his face and faced Sim Seowoo.
His quiet gray pupils gave a feeling as if they’d momentarily lost their original color and faded to achromatic. Like something worn down by long, bitter winds.
Staring intently at those pupils that seemed to have ash settled in them, Sim Seowoo recalled the boy he met in his dreams. At the last words Cheon Yijae had just uttered, that boy’s voice suddenly overlapped.
‘Live outside.’
Though it was completely different from the young boy’s voice, Sim Seowoo unconsciously looked Cheon Yijae up and down. At the obvious gaze, Cheon Yijae remained silently still, then soon twisted his head to the side and asked.
“Before? Which before?”
“So, about 6 years ago, at the police station near Hoejin Mountain……”
Sim Seowoo hadn’t properly seen the boy who appeared at that place on that day—the moment when he was being investigated by the police for the cult group fire incident. He’d covered his eyes without any chance to see his face, and so much time had already passed that the memory had also faded.
But he tried comparing Cheon Yijae based on the appearance in his dreams.
Six years ago, Cheon Yijae would have been 15 years old. The ages seemed roughly similar, but Cheon Yijae’s current height was probably in the late 180cm range? With his long, slender legs and broad shoulders, it was difficult to easily imagine what he’d looked like as a small boy.
The boy in the dream had a very frail and small build……
As he was looking uncertainly, finding it difficult to readily match him with that boy, Cheon Yijae let out a “pfft,” laugh. It was a scoff at the mumbled soliloquy “If fifteen years old……” that Sim Seowoo muttered.
Perhaps realizing that he’d obtained information about him while staying at Heun for the past few days, he shrugged his shoulders and answered.
“You must not have heard this, but I was confined at Heun until I became an adult.”
“……?”
Sim Seowoo was flustered at the completely unexpected answer. It was also quite raw content, and to consider it just a simple metaphor, the jet-black string positioned on Cheon Yijae’s neck happened to catch his eye.
“It means they isolated a dangerous monster from the world. So after being dragged to Heun 7 years ago, I couldn’t take a single step outside until I could handle all evil spirits.”
“……The expression ‘monster’ is a bit.”
“It’s not wrong though, whatever. Everyone calls me that. Monster, or dog.”
“……”
Suddenly, the words the evil spirit at the movie theater last time said to Cheon Yijae came to mind.
‘Heun’s dog has come.’
Was it not a derogatory term randomly spat out to pick a fight with the opponent, but rather an already established expression? Sim Seowoo moved his lips a couple times before asking.
“But I heard you became Sojunim at 15 years old……”
“So they kept me tied up even more. Under the pretext that I shouldn’t damage the organization’s honor.”
Cheon Yijae answered nonchalantly and tilted his head at an angle. The earring that swayed with that action glinted gloomily, capturing Sim Seowoo’s gaze.
The appearance of it firmly embedded through his flesh looked somewhat different from before.
“After I became an adult, it became difficult to confine me like before, so instead they attached Do Seonhwa and Jin Gwangmin……”
Though it was under the pretext of assistance, in reality it seemed the team was created with the purpose of surveillance. Come to think of it, the entire time coming out of Heun to the house, the driver kept glancing at the back seat—was it not a gaze checking on Cheon Yijae’s mood but a look with a different meaning?
Sim Seowoo came to understand a little why Cheon Yijae had compared life at Heun to ‘confinement.’ Though he spoke indifferently, it was difficult to shake off the uncomfortable feeling of having dug up a needless past.
“Mm……”
With a low sigh, Sim Seowoo nodded. Anyway, since Cheon Yijae could only come outside after becoming an adult, that is, only last year, they wouldn’t have met 6 years ago.
He must have overreacted just because that one phrase overlapped.
Even as Sim Seowoo accepted it as his own misunderstanding, strangely he couldn’t take his eyes off Cheon Yijae’s jet-black hair. As he kept glancing at it, he said crookedly.
“I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding you had, but if you understood my story, why don’t you leave Heun now? Since you’ve returned to this house, you can just stay here all along.”
The round song started again.
It seemed to have reached the fourth verse by now. He was persistent without getting tired, and even added variations bit by bit, making it gradually admirable. Could this perhaps be workplace harassment? But Heun would be a place that couldn’t be reported to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
Sim Seowoo felt regretful inwardly and turned around again, and at his action of continuing to pack his things, Cheon Yijae’s expression crumpled fiercely.
“Are you ignoring what I’m saying?”
“Mm. Shall I give you another cup of warm tea?”
“Do you think I don’t know your intention is to make me shut up?”
If you know, couldn’t you just stop talking……
“It’s written all over your face.”
Sim Seowoo turned his head. As he completely turned his back on the other person while hiding his expression, he heard the sound of Cheon Yijae letting out a “ha,” sigh, but he let it flow past through one ear.
Actually, Sim Seowoo often heard from people around him that ‘your expressions change so little that your thoughts can’t be read,’ but Cheon Yijae clearly grasped what was inside. His perceptiveness seemed quite good.
And conversely, Cheon Yijae also seemed to be experiencing being blatantly ignored for the first time, showing a dumbfounded reaction. They mutually stimulated each other’s bewilderment.
“You, there’s a limit to ignoring……”
Eventually, as if Cheon Yijae’s patience had reached its limit, he lowered his voice deeply. His voice, which had become much fiercer, rang through the space quite imposingly.
Speaking as if growling, Cheon Yijae strode toward Sim Seowoo and tried to firmly grab his shoulder to turn him around, but just before that, Sim Seowoo first turned around with a sigh. Then he suddenly brought his hand close to Cheon Yijae’s mouth.
“Ah—”
A white chocolate slipped right into Cheon Yijae’s mouth, which had happened to open to call him.
It was white chocolate that Sim Seowoo had bought to eat when tired during the last exam period. He’d discovered it while organizing his desk, and coincidentally since the unwelcome guest, no, honored guest who came into the room kept acting sharply, he fed it to him with the purpose of calming him down. Doesn’t it say sugar is good when you’re sensitive?
“I’m grateful you’re worried, but it’s a bit much to cancel an employment contract made just a few days ago. Sojunim warns about the ‘site,’ but since I haven’t experienced it yet, I think it’s too early to make any judgment. I have a policy of not judging before experiencing it directly.”
“……”
“So please wait just a moment while eating chocolate. I’ll finish organizing soon.”
Sim Seowoo calmly finished speaking and looked at Cheon Yijae. Surprisingly, he had frozen stiffly with a start and was only blinking his eyes.
Cheon Yijae seemed flustered by Sim Seowoo’s reaction of accepting his words as worry, and also seemed surprised by the action of pushing chocolate into his mouth. It seemed like he’d even held his breath and frozen the moment the finger came close enough to touch his lips.
Actually, to Sim Seowoo, Cheon Yijae’s threats only seemed like feigned wickedness. Not only did his words ultimately interpret as containing worry, but after seeing his softened eyes after drinking the chamomile tea a while ago, he didn’t feel very scary either. It might be the influence of his impression briefly relaxing gently while holding the mug remaining quite clearly in his head.
So this time too, he gave him chocolate thinking he might quiet down if fed something……
‘The effect of chocolate was tremendous.’
Sim Seowoo was inwardly impressed.
Still, the thought came that there was no need to go as far as feeding him like handling a small child. Did he pick up a habit from looking after children at the cult facility in the past?
He might explode soon.
Sim Seowoo moved as quietly as possible to pack his things, and Cheon Yijae barely seemed to come to his senses only when the chocolate in his mouth had melted about halfway, letting out a low sigh.
Pressing his forehead with a hand where tendons stood out sharply, he ground out coldly.
“What the hell am I even doing?”
Though it was a voice that felt genuinely angry this time, Sim Seowoo was just surprised that Cheon Yijae still hadn’t spit out the chocolate. Although he was mercilessly crumpling his expression at the sweet taste coloring his mouth……
Ring ring ring—
However, just before the precarious current in the space could burst, Sim Seowoo’s phone rang. Not only that, but Cheon Yijae’s phone also vibrated.
