“How do you live in the dorm? Doesn’t it feel cramped?”
“I lived in a dormitory too, so why couldn’t I live there?”
A bed larger and wider than king-size was in the middle of the room, and romantic-atmosphere curtains were draped on the large window. The Evan he knew liked achromatic colors, but this place was full of gold, beige, and brown. It seemed like a bedroom from medieval times had been transplanted exactly as it was.
“It doesn’t seem like your taste.”
Entering the bedroom, Siwoo looked around slowly and spoke honestly. Not only the carpet that felt soft and fluffy under his feet, but seeing the flashy vase and fresh flowers on the table by the window made him smile naturally. What would it feel like to sleep in a place like this?
There was also a large fireplace in the bedroom.
“It is my mother’s taste though.”
“Do you really use the fireplace too?”
Approaching the fireplace, Siwoo touched the poker placed like a decoration on one side.
“Do you know what the problem with old castles is? No, I’ll say it’s a problem with all of England.”
“No heating?”
“Bingo. That’s also the reason the bed is that big. In the past, it was so cold they slept with five or six dogs.”
Siwoo’s eyes widened watching Evan speak with a shrug.
“No matter how much remodeling is done, they can’t install floor heating everywhere like in Korea. Though they control the temperature with air conditioning or heaters, heating the entire old castle is also a problem.”
His head nodded naturally at Evan’s explanation.
“This is a place to stay in spring, summer, fall. Seasons when heating isn’t that important. Honestly, there’s a distance from the city center too, so there’s more than one or two inconveniences. This is the bathroom.”
Following Evan who led the way saying he’d give a house tour, Siwoo also saw the spacious bathroom through a door on one side of the room.
The bathtub was next to the window. Approaching the bathtub made of smooth curves, Siwoo looked outside the window. The fact that the bathtub was next to the window was no problem at all. It wasn’t like drones would fly around this private property, and all that was visible was a wide garden.
And when he raised his gaze, the city spread out.
It feels like real rose petals should be floating in this bathtub.
Turning around while having useless thoughts, Siwoo hesitated. It seemed like there had been distance between them, but when did they get this close?
“Did you finish packing?”
In awkwardness, Siwoo lowered his head diagonally and raised his hand to scratch his cheek.
“I wanted to show you.”
“What?”
Answering indifferently, Siwoo slipped away from in front of him. The marble sink and the large mirror in front of it reflected both their figures.
Himself standing looking at the mirror and Evan standing behind were looking out the window.
We’re really different. The external image given off by himself, a pure-blooded Korean, and Evan, who was mixed-race, was completely different too. He’d never seen the two of them like this before.
He’d always looked at his face, but seeing them in one frame felt strange.
“…”
Evan’s body moved slowly, and he stood behind Siwoo. In the mirror, their gazes tangled. It was Evan who avoided the gaze and moved in the mirror.
Evan’s face came down next to Siwoo’s face, which was frozen like stone.
“My world.”
Siwoo didn’t even blink. Evan, who moved smoothly like flowing water, definitely brought his lips to Siwoo’s ear. His lips moved slightly, and Siwoo clearly heard what he said.
And Evan’s lips, lowering his head further, lightly touched and left Siwoo’s exposed neck. It really touched accidentally while moving.
“I’ll do some unpacking. If you need anything, tell me anytime.”
Evan, who stuck both hands in his pants pockets, leisurely disappeared from the mirror. The sound of the door opening and closing wasn’t heard. Siwoo’s face and ear tips, left alone in the mirror, were completely flushed.
After standing in front of the mirror for a while, Siwoo left the bathroom and passed by without even looking at the bedroom. And only when he came to the space where he’d been initially did he breathe the breath he’d been holding.
When he got close to the sofa where he’d first sat, cool lemonade and biscuits were placed on the table next to the sofa. Evan wasn’t visible anywhere.
“I can do well.”
Siwoo, who collapsed onto the sofa, covered his face with both hands.
Only after the heat subsided from his face and ear tips did he lower both hands. Then he picked up the lemonade glass with water droplets on it.
He emptied half of the moderately cool, moderately refreshing, and moderately sweet lemonade in an instant.
Getting up from his seat for a moment, Siwoo opened the window. Lukewarm wind came in and his hair flew slightly, but that wasn’t important.
The wind carrying nature’s fresh scent soothed his troubled mind.
Gradually the tension eased and Siwoo’s expression as he looked outside softened. What he’d worried about most was meeting Evan.
A familiar and comfortable feeling wrapped around Siwoo’s body. When he was with him, they didn’t particularly need to talk much. Just sharing the same space wasn’t awkward and there was no discomfort.
It was like returning to that time.
Only after hearing a rustling sound did Siwoo move his gaze to where the sound came from.
Evan carrying a large travel bag entered the room.
Every time Evan went somewhere and came back, clothes or luggage were in his hands, and he blankly watched them being packed neatly into the bag.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Bored?”
“No.”
“Wait just a bit. I’ll pack quickly and after we eat, I’ll give you a house tour.”
Evan, kneeling on the floor with one knee, looked up at Siwoo and said.
“Why did you only call me? You should call all the members. If you had, the members would have liked it and your mother would have liked it too.”
“Because it’s you.”
Siwoo blinked.
“Coco. Because you’re first.”
Instead of answering, Siwoo turned his head toward the window. Suddenly his heart pounded. His personality really doesn’t change. Evan was the same, but he found himself ridiculous for being swayed by even such small things.
Silence circled the room again. Only the sound of him organizing his luggage could be heard occasionally.
“What do you think filming will be like tomorrow?”
It was Siwoo who broke the silence. Since there was no information, he had to acquire even a little during times like this. Even searching the internet would be explanations about the past written from fans’ perspectives.
Things like what the schedule would be like right away, whether they were preparing a second album now—these were top secrets only known to insiders.
“It’ll be the same as usual. The cameras were rolling at the airport earlier too.”
“I’m tired.”
“Of the cameras rolling?”
Though the conversation continued somehow, Siwoo couldn’t find out any information. If he said things like tell me in detail what kind of filming it is here, Evan would think he was strange.
Because from the moment he opened his eyes this morning until the arrival gate at the England airport, the members kept asking if he was okay tremendously.
“Woof.”
What saved Siwoo, who was hesitating to answer because he couldn’t find an appropriate response, was the sound of a dog barking. First the sound was heard, and next the room door that had been slightly closed opened noisily.
“Rush!”
Since there was a dog barking sound, Siwoo who was looking at the door wasn’t given time to take any action. Simultaneously with Evan speaking loudly, Siwoo had to receive an attack from something tremendous.
Opening the door, something huge invaded the space as if flying.
The moment the big black thing pounced on him, not even a scream came from Siwoo’s mouth. Literally gasping, inhaling breath was all he could do.
“Rush! Get down right now.”
With Evan’s firm voice and the heavy thing pressing on his whole body disappearing, only then did Siwoo open his eyes that had been closed. But this time he had to pull up even his legs that had been down comfortably and curl up sitting on the sofa.
Without adding even a bit of a lie, this was the first time in his life he’d seen such a big dog. Was it even really a dog? The jet-black colored animal’s eyes sparkled looking at him, and every time it barked with its large mouth, Siwoo’s body flinched simultaneously.
“Lie down.”
Still, seeing it lie down on the floor as if it did listen to commands, Siwoo looked alternately at the dog and Evan. Could Evan make such a scary expression? The sight of him making the large dog submit at once seemed a bit cool.
“Sorry. He’s not normally like this. Rush, what’s wrong? He has strong wariness so he doesn’t easily approach people, and he doesn’t act on his own without permission.”
Even at his words while tapping the dog’s head with his large hand, Siwoo couldn’t rashly lower his legs to the floor.
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed bigger than himself.
No way, is that a yawn right now?
The moment the large mouth opened wide revealing sharp teeth, Siwoo couldn’t even blink. If bitten, it seemed like it wouldn’t just be an injury but he could cross to the afterlife without any problem. Why on earth do you raise a thing like this?
“Uaaah…”
As the dog that had just finished yawning pushed its snout toward him, Siwoo unconsciously made a groaning sound and pressed his body tightly against the sofa. His collar flew slightly from the sniffing breath.
I’m a cat person, not a dog person.
“Rush, stop it. Coco is uncomfortable. I tell you again and again, you’re not Roxy.”
When Evan showed his raised fingertips and spoke, the dog lay down making a groaning sound. Normally he’d call it a puppy, but seeing that bulk and appearance, he absolutely couldn’t call it that.
“Meow~”
What’s this now? Siwoo, who had been distracted by the large dog, also quickly looked around at the small cat sound. The tension slowly subsided from Siwoo’s face watching the white cat sitting obediently in front of the door meowing freshly.
The cat that made eye contact with Siwoo gently stood up and walked over elegantly, and without even asking for permission, quickly climbed up next to the sofa. Are all the animals in this house like this?
“Roxy came too.”
At Evan’s words that contained some helpless emotion, Siwoo carefully lowered his legs that he’d been holding to the floor. Then as if waiting, the cat claimed the space on his thigh.
For a moment he saw the dog’s front paw floating in the air, as if wanting to touch Siwoo’s leg or wanting to touch his foot.
“…”
Looking at it like this, it seemed a bit gentle too, and Siwoo, who properly met eyes with the dog for the first time since it had barged into this room, didn’t avoid that gaze. Then finally the large front paw that had been circling in the air was gently placed on top of Siwoo’s foot.
