Miro’s words were all correct. Right now, the only thing in front of Eunchan was Miro. Eunchan emptied his mind and tried to forget all the information he’d heard. After all, it was all just coincidence upon coincidence. He needed to take back the work he’d left with Hyungsik.
Even the next day, Miro wouldn’t accept Eunchan’s suggestion to go to the hospital. Rather, Eunchan had to anxiously prevent him from insisting on preparing breakfast himself despite his injured hand.
“I’ll investigate it.”
Eunchan said as he applied ointment and changed it with clean gauze.
“Mm, I’m scared, so will Eunchan come with me everywhere?”
“Where?”
“The company.”
Despite yesterday’s attack and injury, Miro was calm. Rather, it was Eunchan who had worried breathlessly after seeing the blood-stained shirt.
“The company will be fine. There are people guarding downstairs too.”
It was structured to be difficult to enter unless you were an employee. Even if someone went up to the floor where Miro was, there were several secretaries standing guard in front, so it was more reassuring than the hospital. And now was the time to think about catching the stalker as soon as possible.
There was little information to get from Miro. Just that he was attacked in front of the house with a sharp weapon, and he couldn’t see the face because of a hat and mask.
“B-but I don’t want to be alone.”
As Eunchan was organizing the first aid kit, Miro carefully grabbed the sleeve of Eunchan’s pajamas. The pajamas full of Miro’s taste were large, made of fluffy fur material, and identical to what the dolls were wearing, so Eunchan had disliked wearing them. However, because Miro wanted it so much and he was injured, Eunchan had no choice but to wear them to sleep. Though Miro himself didn’t wear pajamas, saying they were uncomfortable.
“There are employees outside. How is that alo—”
Eunchan stopped breathing in the middle of his sentence. The word ‘alone’ strongly flashed through his mind. The stalker always appeared only when Miro was alone. Like someone who was always watching and knew when he would be alone.
Then does that mean they’re around even now? But Hyungsik said he didn’t discover anyone suspicious while patrolling. To begin with, there wasn’t anyone living nearby the house, or even anyone passing by.
“Should we go together? I b-bought clothes for Eunchan.”
Leaving Eunchan quiet and lost in thought, Miro smiled shyly, saying he’d prepare clothes for him.
“No, Miro-ssi, shall we stay apart for a while?”
“Huh?”
“That would be better.”
“What, what does that mean?”
CCTV isn’t much help either. Then there’s only one answer left. There’s no choice but to stake out directly and catch them. To do that, he needed to leave Miro alone. Perhaps shocked by Eunchan’s words, Miro hastily asked again.
“The stalker. I think we need to do that to catch them. You trust me, right?”
He absolutely wouldn’t let him get hurt. Eunchan asked Miro with a confident face. He had plenty of time anyway. If he camped out in front of Miro’s house, at the company, and waited, they would appear eventually.
“Eunchan just needs to stay by my side…”
“They only appear when Miro-ssi is alone. To catch them, that’s the only method now.”
He should have done that from the start. Then Miro wouldn’t have been hurt. Eunchan reproached himself for having his attention diverted elsewhere.
“No,”
“I’ll be staking out nearby, so don’t worry. Okay?”
Blocking Miro’s words as he kept chewing his lips as if he didn’t like it, Eunchan clasped his hand.
“You just need to ke-keep staying by my side.”
“To catch them, there’s no choice but to ambush them directly. Even if it takes a long time, we have to do it.”
Instead of doing this, he wondered if he should bring the company car used for stakeouts and move his luggage in advance. When Eunchan stood up and pulled out a bag from the closet he hadn’t even used, Miro quickly snatched it away and hid it behind his back.
“What’s wrong?”
He asked to catch them, and Eunchan said he’d make sure he wouldn’t get hurt anymore, but he couldn’t understand Miro’s completely uncooperative attitude.
“Eunchan is leaving home? I’ll be here alone?”
“It’s not that I’m leaving completely, just that we’ll stay apart for a while.”
“I don’t want that.”
“There’s no choice. If you’re not going to the hospital, don’t talk to me.”
He reached out his hand to get back the bag Miro was holding, but he wouldn’t easily hand it over. When Eunchan sighed deeply in frustration, Miro slowly took one more step closer to Eunchan. His height and build were already larger than Eunchan’s, making it suffocating when he was close, but now it felt even more stifling with the closet behind and Miro in front.
“…Why.”
“I’ll go to the hospital, then will Eunchan stay home?”
“But this method is—”
“Will Eunchan stay home?”
It was a method he’d finally thought of, but it wasn’t working at all. Miro dropped the bag and stretched out both arms, trapping Eunchan between them. Miro’s head lowered to match Eunchan’s eye level. As if forcing an answer, Miro stared intently into Eunchan’s eyes.
“Fine.”
At the silent urging, Eunchan finally raised both hands in surrender. At that response, Miro rejoiced and rained kisses on Eunchan’s eyes and cheeks, making smacking sounds repeatedly. Like a young puppy that couldn’t gauge how big it was, he came into Eunchan’s arms, so Eunchan had to let out a “hup” sound and endure Miro’s weight.
“If you stay by my side, it’s okay. I’m not scared.”
“Even though I’m not much help.”
It seemed like Miro, as someone he was dating, only said nice things. If he’d caught the stalker quickly, those pretty hands would have been safe. He felt inadequate to Miro both professionally and as a lover.
Eunchan wrapped his arms around Miro’s back and hugged him tightly. Miro’s familiar and comfortable rose scent permeated fully into his lungs.
The hospital visit obtained in exchange for giving up the stakeout investigation didn’t happen due to Miro’s schedule. Whether there was a lot of busy work at the company these days, or whether work had piled up because he’d been playing too much until now, Miro couldn’t spend as much time with Eunchan as before and couldn’t even make the doll clothes he liked.
“Make sure to get examined.”
After receiving a promise to call a doctor to the company, Eunchan felt relieved. As he saw Miro off and looked at his bandaged hand with troubled eyes, Miro stroked Eunchan’s cheek as if telling him not to worry.
“Eunchan will st-stay home, right?”
“Yes. I won’t go anywhere, so don’t worry. Your ears will get calluses.”
Though it was a strategy, perhaps the talk of leaving home had been quite shocking, as Miro kept confirming. Eunchan stuffed Miro into the back seat and then closed the car door with a sound. Soon the window rolled down and Miro’s gentle eyes appeared.
“Take him away quickly.”
To Miro’s secretary who had come to pick him up at the house, Eunchan gave a greeting along with urging him to take him away quickly. The secretary smiled and bowed silently, then got into the driver’s seat.
“I’ll be b-back soon.”
Eunchan, eat your meals. As Miro’s mealtime reminders went in one ear and out the other, Eunchan waved his hand. Even sending a kid to school would probably be less difficult than this.
After watching Miro’s car disappear far away, Eunchan closed the massive gate and walked through the garden. It seemed like not long since the seedlings were planted, but already the plants had firmly taken root and grown sturdy. Eunchan touched the lush hydrangea leaves and looked around the maintained garden.
“How should I catch them…”
He’d told Miro he’d stay home, but he had no intention of keeping that promise. Even if he obtained nearby CCTV footage, there was no way to find a person who was wrapped up all over their body and wearing a mask too.
It probably wasn’t ordered by Jang Heewoo either. Security inside the complex was thorough, making it difficult to enter unless you were a resident. At best, family members or friends of residents could enter… He’d checked the entry log when registering Hyungsik, but it had been difficult to find any particular anomalies.
The stalker existed but there was a lack of evidence as if they were a non-existent person. Eunchan sat in a rocking chair and organized his thoughts for a moment.
Was it all just about causing harm without any purpose? Without leaving anything behind. If he was hurt that badly, they’d station security guards and install CCTV in front of the house, so why wasn’t Miro doing anything?
He didn’t understand the stalker’s intentions, but the hardest thing to understand was Miro’s complacent attitude. During the attack at the hospital, he’d been anxious enough to tremble. What is it, what could it be.
As he rolled his neck and turned his head, suddenly a side path leading behind the house caught his eye. Beyond that path was a warehouse he hadn’t been able to open. It was the only space he hadn’t been permitted to enter.
Maybe it’s not just a simple warehouse. Eunchan swallowed and couldn’t take his eyes off the side path. …Should I open it? Miro probably wouldn’t get angry. Since Miro had been particularly kind to him, it didn’t seem like he’d get angry over opening a door once.
The moment he stood up having made up his mind, at the sound of his phone ringing, Eunchan stopped in his tracks.
“Hello?”
– It’s me. Jang Miro, did he go to the company?
“…Why.”
– Come visit me at the hospital alone. Without hyung knowing.
“No thanks. What hospital visit.”
Just yesterday, he’d promised Miro not to care about Jang Heewoo anymore. Eunchan responded somewhat coldly while glancing at the side path.
– I have something to talk about. You’re an employee at the errand center, right? I’ll give you money, so just do one errand for me.
“…If you want to make a request, talk to our boss. When you’re all better, I’ll give you the boss’s contact then.”
When did he look up his personal information again—Jang Heewoo mentioned the ‘errand center.’ Instantly irritated, Eunchan spat out rapidly like an answering machine.
– I’ll give you as much as you want.
“I don’t need money. Don’t think we do everything just because you request it.”
In the name of Umbrella Planning, we’re different from other errand centers, Eunchan continued explaining.
– Just do it, fucking nitpicking about everything.
But what came back was only ridicule.
“Just take care of your health.”
If the boss knew, he would have gone to the hospital holding a red carpet, but Eunchan, who still had some pride left, tried to end the call while even worrying about Jang Heewoo’s health.
– Jang Miro has a younger sibling.
“You?”
– Fuck, not a single drop of blood is shared between me and that kid!
What sibling all of a sudden. Eunchan frowned and bit his nails with his teeth.
“What do you mean by that?”
Somehow he had a bad feeling.
