Evan finished parking and leaned forward onto the steering wheel. He slowly turned his head to look at sleeping Siwoo. At the sight of him sleeping slightly tilted toward the window, Evan couldn’t look anymore and buried his face in the steering wheel.
His languidly closed eyes, his gentle breathing sounds, even his slightly parted lips—he was far too defenseless. It was nice that he showed such a comfortable appearance in front of him, but that made it even more frustrating. He shouldn’t be like this.
How many seconds had passed since he buried his face in the steering wheel? Evan’s gaze, unable to resist temptation, reached Siwoo again. One hand that had been supporting his head moved toward Siwoo at some point. He was at a distance where he could reach him just by fully extending his arm.
When he moved his hand slightly, he could see Siwoo’s face. And when he moved it a little, that face was hidden by his hand again. Like that, Evan’s hand stopped in mid-air and couldn’t reach Siwoo. Instead, what he chose was his phone.
“This is Evan. I need Siwoo’s house password.”
Evan, who chose to contact his manager rather than wake sleeping Siwoo, quietly listened to the words pouring out incoherently the moment he revealed his identity.
Why do you need the password? Where is Siwoo? What happened? I’ll go. It was an array of such words.
“He’s drunk and sleeping in my car right now, and we’re currently in the underground parking lot.”
At the words to hand Siwoo over immediately, Evan rubbed his forehead with a troubled expression. If he was going to do that, he wouldn’t have called. He called because he didn’t want to wake him.
“Just tell me the number. If you can’t trust me, you can change it first thing tomorrow.”
He ended up cutting off the manager who kept saying how drunk was he, how was his condition.
“He doesn’t usually drink enough to get drunk outside. Did he say things like ‘I know you but you don’t know me’ or ‘Do you know how it feels to wake up in a semi-basement room?'”
For something that could be simply resolved by just telling him the password, Siwoo’s manager was truly talkative.
“It seems so.”
Honestly, what Evan had heard so far could be summarized into three things: ‘Yechan became handsome,’ ‘plum,’ and ‘take off.’ But he just answered vaguely in a roundabout way.
“Oh my, he must be really drunk. If he wakes up in between while sleeping and does that, he’s really drunk…”
Only then hearing him tell the password, Evan ran his hand over his face. Hearing the six-digit number the manager called out, Evan couldn’t say anything. As his fan, he could tell the moment he heard it. That six-digit number was the date of Siwoo’s last broadcast.
Ending the call with a request to take care of him, Evan felt bitter as he got out of the car and opened the passenger door. The person who sent people to heaven and hell in a very short time was sleeping deeply without a care in the world.
“Coco.”
“Kim Siwoo.”
He called his name several times, but his expression as he moved Siwoo, who didn’t budge, was more serious than ever. It would have been much easier to just carry him on his back or in his arms. But because of potential watching eyes, Evan chose to support the deeply sleeping Siwoo.
What could he say seeing him completely leaning on him with his eyes closed but still forcing himself to walk somehow? From now on, if he says he’s drinking somewhere, he wants to keep his eyes peeled and stick to him. The moment he entered his house after coaxing and soothing Siwoo, who tried to sit down whenever he stopped even a little, Evan had to quickly inhale.
“Meow.”
Evan’s actions froze as he was drinking cold water from the water purifier after laying Siwoo on the bed and only removing his shoes, socks, and belt.
The sound of a cat heard in the house filled only with the soft light coming from outside since he didn’t turn on the lights, and the sensation of something softly brushing between his legs.
That sensation didn’t end there but completely flopped down on top of his foot and grabbed Evan’s pant leg with cottony paw swats that had no attack power whatsoever.
“I didn’t know you were here.”
With a water cup in one hand, he bent his upper body slightly and picked up the cat with his other hand. The cat that filled Evan’s palm clearly hadn’t become an adult yet.
“Were you bored alone because Coco didn’t come?”
After drinking water and properly holding the cat, Evan slowly walked around the house.
From having a cat instead of a dog, everything was just so him. This house itself was Siwoo.
It was completely different from his own home, which was uniformly decorated with things chosen by a designer, from slippers to pictures hanging on the wall to the utensils he used. Something disorganized, where harmony couldn’t be found. Overall, he seemed to like wooden furniture, but laughter leaked out the moment he saw the bright red metal cabinet placed out of nowhere or the rabbit-shaped slippers.
They said traveling was his hobby, and the props he bought from here and there each boasted their own character.
When he stroked the head of the cat quietly nestled in his arms and playing with the dangling hoodie string, a purring sound rang out.
“How nice would it be if your owner liked me like this too?”
Even after touring the house with slow steps, Evan, who didn’t feel like leaving, moved his steps to the room where Siwoo was sleeping. He placed a chair next to the bed and sat, but the cat was still nestled in his arms. Wasn’t Siwoo the most carefree person in the world?
As he was staring blankly at him sleeping with such a peaceful expression like a young child, the words his manager said suddenly came to mind.
I know you but you don’t know me.
The feeling of waking up in a semi-basement room.
Could he also be trapped in a gap in time?
Would the same thing repeat exactly the same?
Eighteen years old. Was the feeling of waking up in his room the same as the feeling of waking up in the semi-basement room he mentioned?
He wished it were so. Even if he went back again, he wanted him to recognize him just as he immediately recognized him.
When his thoughts reached that point, a hollow laugh came out.
There was already something that didn’t make sense. Wasn’t adding one more to that too cruel to himself? If they were together in an infinite regression, what kind of impact would it have on him?
Absurd thoughts kept trailing on and on.
“When will you recognize me?”
He stroked the purring cat and lifted it high to match eye level. The large black pupils that had grown big because it was night sparkled.
“Will you recognize me? Someday?”
What was he doing with a cat that couldn’t understand or speak?
He had a schedule from early morning tomorrow too. Even if he left now, he would have to sleep three or four hours and leave. He knew he had to leave. After hesitating for a long while, Evan slowly got up. He put the cat down on the floor, but it didn’t leave his side.
Evan, who had turned his back on Siwoo who had tossed a little but fell into a deep sleep, turned back around. Afraid his hands would move arbitrarily on their own, Evan clasped his hands behind his back. And he carefully bent only his upper body. An empty spot on his forehead where his bangs were disheveled, somewhere there, Evan’s lips landed very briefly and immediately lifted. The corners of Evan’s mouth, who rationalized to himself that this was the price for safely bringing him here today, were pleasantly turned up.
* * *
“Ungh… Hyung. I’m dying.”
Siwoo mumbled in the blankets, clutching his head that felt like it would split and his stomach that felt like it would turn over and drive him crazy. When Ongi’s presence was heard nearby along with a ‘meow’ sound from somewhere, Siwoo dangled his hand down below the bed. Then, as if waiting, Ongi climbed on top of his hand, so he lifted it and put it down on the bed. Even at the small vibrations of it busily running around on his bed, his stomach churned, and Siwoo sat up making groaning sounds.
He drank with Yechan on the rooftop, and he said he had a one-sided crush on someone. Siwoo, who was roughly recalling memories, scratched his neck and got down from the bed. Seeing the socks and belt that had been removed, it seemed Jinwook-hyung had eventually come to pick up his thoroughly drunk self.
He rarely got this drunk from drinking outside, but he seemed to have been intoxicated by the atmosphere of that rooftop with the cool breeze blowing. Moreover, wasn’t other people’s love stories the most fun? He said he had a one-sided crush alone, but if you listened carefully, it seemed like mutual digging.
“What does a handsome and capable guy have to worry about? Confess and if you get rejected, forget and live. Something like being in an infinite regression, that’s a real secret. Or maybe hiding your identity and being an alien or something like that.”
Siwoo, who went out to the living room being careful not to step on Ongi who kept fussing at his feet, muttered to himself and ruffled his hair. Ah, really, somaek is good when drinking it but the aftermath is too terrible.
Ongi wasn’t Siwoo’s cat. How could he irresponsibly raise an animal when it was obvious he would regress? It was a cat adopted by his noona who lightly ignored Siwoo’s resolve to never raise animals. And now, his noona had left it with him for a few days saying she was going on a trip.
“Did Jinwook-hyung come and go yesterday? If Jinwook-hyung came, he should have fed Ongi before leaving.”
Avoiding the young thing that loved people so much it kept clinging to his pant leg, he took care of Ongi’s food first. And Siwoo, who casually gave his gaze to the dining table, stared blankly at it.
A plum.
Exactly one plum was placed on a small plate on the dining table. It was fortunate that Ongi still couldn’t climb up to high places on its own, otherwise it would have definitely gone into Ongi’s stomach.
Siwoo, who approached the dining table, pulled out the paper placed under the plate.
It was neat handwriting with no cursive at all. Whoever it was had good penmanship, but the problem was that Jinwook-hyung had terrible handwriting.
Who is it?
[There’s bean sprout hangover soup in the fridge, so don’t skip it and make sure to eat. If you want to eat more plums, contact me anytime.]
After checking the paper, Siwoo opened the refrigerator.
Having bean sprout hangover soup wasn’t so strange. It was familiar for Jinwook-hyung to fill his refrigerator. But the brand written on the packaging was the problem. It wasn’t the famous chain store brand nearby. Hangover soup and kkakdugi in a disposable container inside a white bag. And instant rice.
Siwoo hurriedly opened the kkakdugi lid first. Siwoo’s expression became strangely distorted as he smelled the unique scent of the kkakdugi he liked.
It was a place that took 30 minutes by car from here. It wasn’t a famous place known to many people. A very small place run by grandmothers. Not many people knew about it. It was a place he loved very much for hangover relief but also went to eat whenever it came to mind. And the grandmothers didn’t package rice. So, instant rice that he must have bought and put in from somewhere else.
As Siwoo chewed his lower lip and looked at what was spread out on the dining table, the last place his gaze reached was the plum. Where could he get a plum late at night?
Why did he leave exactly one?
He felt like he would remember something, but nothing came to mind.
