<Tuesday>
-4:22 PM-
Me: [What time are you coming tomorrow?]
Kang Sehyun: [7 o’clock]
Me: [Isn’t that too early? It only takes 20 minutes from here]
Kang Sehyun: [It’s rush hour]
Me: [It’s not the road to downtown so it doesn’t get that congested]
Me: [At most it’s 30 minutes even if it’s backed up]
Kang Sehyun: [Then 7:30]
Me: [Okay]
-11:56 PM-
Me: [Contact me when you leave, I’ll be downstairs]
Kang Sehyun: [Come down when I call]
Kang Sehyun: [I’ll call before I arrive]
Me: [Then call 10 minutes before]
Kang Sehyun: [Sleep early]
Wednesday morning, when I went downstairs with my suitcase 5 minutes before arrival, not long after, a denim blue SUV stopped in front of me. It was Kang Sehyun’s car that he’d changed a few weeks ago.
“The trunk.”
When the back door lifted automatically, a spacious trunk appeared before my eyes. As expected, expensive cars are different, I thought as I loaded my suitcase and got in the front passenger seat. The car interior also looked different from other ordinary cars.
“You’re here? Did you forget anything?”
“No.”
“Think again. Passport. Phone. Luggage.”
“Am I a kid? Hurry up and leave.”
Even this early in the morning, Kang Sehyun showed no signs of fatigue. Rather, should I say he looked a bit more alert than usual? It was also unexpected that he was wearing a shirt instead of a comfortable t-shirt and a coat instead of a padded jacket, even though he’d be on a plane for over half a day.
“Isn’t it a bit less cold today?”
“It’s still cold though.”
“At least the weather is good. I was worried it would snow a lot.”
“You were worried the flight would be cancelled?”
“Yeah.”
“International flights don’t get cancelled easily unless something major happens.”
“Still. It suddenly snowed again yesterday so I was worried just in case.”
Country music that was moderately famous was playing in the car.
When I first saw Kang Sehyun, I thought he’d only listen to fast-beat EDM or hip-hop, but surprisingly he preferred R&B or country music that didn’t suit him at all. Music is something you listen to according to your own taste, but I couldn’t imagine him humming such music alone in the car.
Anyway, what was certain was that this taste was surprisingly exactly the same as mine.
“Be careful after passing that traffic light ahead. Sometimes the unmelted snow freezes and gets more slippery.”
The smoothly sleek car got on the road that was a mess with de-icer. Fortunately, rush hour congestion wasn’t severe yet, so there weren’t many cars on the road.
“The car rides well.”
“Does it?”
“Why. Don’t you think so?”
“I don’t know. More than that, I don’t like the color.”
“You must have liked it since you bought this one.”
“I didn’t buy it.”
“Then?”
“Noona gave it to me.”
“Ah.”
He said the age gap with his eldest noona was big, and perhaps because of that influence, Kang Sehyun definitely seemed obedient when with his noona. He was affectionate and gentle in a different sense than when he was with his girlfriend before. So I think he would have happily accepted the gift prepared for him even if he didn’t like it. Of course, casually giving a car worth hundreds of millions as a gift is quite amazing in itself.
Outside gradually brightened during the drive to the airport. When the sun, which had been sleeping in late because it was winter, fully rose, it finally felt like it was completely morning.
Even Kang Sehyun’s driving was Kang Sehyun-like. Even though he looked like he’d enjoy speed on the outside, his hands turning the steering wheel were actually endlessly careful. Always beyond expectations, truly Kang Sehyun-like behavior.
While the car ran smoothly on the road and the driver focused on driving, I had nothing particular to do. Except stare blankly outside or listen to music.
Usually I never felt uncomfortable even when just the two of us were alone, but today it was strangely awkward. Was it because the quiet car felt unfamiliar? I tried to start a conversation by bringing up the most natural thing among the various things that came to mind.
“Did you eat breakfast?”
“I drank coffee.”
“……So you ate.”
Unlike me, who has to eat something in the morning, Kang Sehyun had said that a cup of coffee on an empty stomach was enough for him. Asking such a person if they ate breakfast was wrong from the start.
“What about you?”
“I deliberately didn’t eat since there’ll be a lot of time after checking in and going inside. I’ll just eat a sandwich or something at a cafe.”
“All the restaurants should be open too.”
“It’s okay. Anyway, you—”
Trrrring—
…won’t eat anyway.
What interrupted my last words was a phone call connected through the car’s Bluetooth. I was startled by the sudden ringtone coming through the speaker, but even more surprising was the name of the caller displayed on the screen.
「Honey♡」
Following the emoticon, it was a shock of almost catastrophic proportions.
While I was at a loss for words in shock, Kang Sehyun pressed the end call button with an indifferent expression.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“It’ll come again anyway.”
“Huh?”
Trrrring—
Exactly as he predicted, the second call came just a few seconds after he pressed the end button.
Click.
Kang Sehyun disconnected the Bluetooth and reached for the phone placed in the holder.
“Yeah.”
Thinking of what I’d seen before, I wondered if he’d say something a bit affectionate, but not at all.
“I’m on the way. I’m driving right now.”
It was urging her to hang up quickly. I felt sorry for just being next to him, as if he’d answered the phone separately because of me. I wanted to tell him it was okay to keep talking without worrying about me, but I deliberately pretended to look at my phone, worried that even that would be a disturbance.
“……I’ll contact you when I arrive. ……Yeah.”
Despite my efforts, the call ended in a short time, less than a minute. When I turned my head at the sound of a sigh from the side, his fine forehead was slightly furrowed in the meantime.
“You could have kept talking.”
“I’m driving though.”
No matter how skilled you are, answering the phone while driving was dangerous. Most people just think ‘it’ll be fine’ and let it go, but as expected, it was Kang Sehyun who wouldn’t do what shouldn’t be done.
“I have something I want to ask.”
“What’s gotten into you?”
The head that had been looking straight ahead briefly came toward me and back. It was only for a second, but he looked at me as if I was very curious.
“Is it that surprising that I have something I want to ask?”
“Yeah. I thought you weren’t really interested in me. You almost didn’t even know we were taking the same flight.”
“That’s the same for you too, isn’t it? You never asked either.”
Silence means agreement, Kang Sehyun smiled without saying anything.
“So what are you curious about?”
“I know it’s funny to ask this question now after all this time,”
“Were you curious for that long? Then you should have asked sooner.”
“It’s really nothing, that’s why.”
“What is it?”
Seeing Kang Sehyun’s reaction, I hesitated to ask about just the emoticon and saved name. So before asking, when I rattled off about the Kang Sehyun I’d seen for months, I was scolded for having an unusually long preamble.
“Can’t you not use that emoticon?”
“I could. What did you think I was going to say?”
“I was wondering what you were thinking using it. It obviously didn’t suit you no matter who looked at it.”
“I told you my girlfriend gave it to me.”
Even so. It wasn’t something that could be covered by love.
“And what about that name? Did your girlfriend do that too?”
“Yeah.”
I understand the heart, but ‘honey’ really isn’t it.
I thought there’s no way he did it himself, so naturally I expected someone else did it for him, but I still thought it was really amazing. If it were me, I wouldn’t have even thought of it, but to use it when told to use it and do it when told to do it.
Where else would you find such a good boyfriend?
A boyfriend as faithful as Kang Sehyun would be hard to find anywhere, so I felt a bit sorry for his girlfriend who always doubted and obsessed over him.
“Is that all? What you’re curious about. Don’t you wonder about any other saved names?”
“No. Anyway, other people would just be saved by their names.”
“That’s not true though.”
“It is. I’m sure.”
Given Kang Sehyun’s personality, even his closest friends would definitely be saved by name. When Kihyun hyung contacted him last time, “Seo Gihyun” appeared on the phone screen.
“If it were you, I think you’d have saved noona by name too.”
At the words I threw out like a joke, Kang Sehyun made a surprised expression.
“Don’t tell me it’s true?”
“I didn’t know you knew me that well.”
“See. I was right.”
Kang Sehyun, who was stingy with smiles, smiled several times today in particular.
“There’s one person who’s different.”
“One person?”
“Yeah.”
“Who?”
“You.”
I frowned for a moment. Seeing me like that, Kang Sehyun was making a mischievous expression I’d never seen before.
“Are you joking?”
“No. It’s real though. Check it yourself.”
Kang Sehyun held out his phone to me, telling me to call. When I called as he said, three characters appeared on the black screen that had been sleeping.
「Debt Collector」
Crazy. I let out an involuntary chuckle.
It was a strange thing. During this very short time, I felt like we’d gotten closer than during the several months we’d known each other.
