Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!
“Where can you find a mature child when you don’t want to eat alone?”
“Will you stay until I finish it all?”
“Would you do it if I asked you to?”
“Yes.”
“Do you always act like you’ll do everything for people?”
“Pardon?”
“From what I’ve seen, it seems like Im Seungun-ssi doesn’t know how to refuse.”
“I know how to refuse too.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Liar.”
“If you can’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Why are you sitting down?”
“Please eat. I’ll stay here until you finish eating.”
Only then did Gi Siyoung show a satisfied expression as he stirred the properly cooled porridge and took a spoonful. After one bite, his eyes widened in surprise. It was the smoothest porridge he’d ever eaten in his life. No matter which porridge specialty restaurant he went to, it wouldn’t be this smooth.
“Instead of being a manager, being a porridge restaurant cook seems more suited to you.”
“I simmered it for over an hour.”
So it couldn’t help but be delicious, Seungun answered. For a while, only the sound of Gi Siyoung’s spoon could be heard on the table. The awkward atmosphere broke when he had emptied about half the porridge bowl.
“When I was young, my mom and I were in an accident. You know how kids are. They always do what they’re told not to do and go where they’re told not to go. I was one of those kids too. While playing in such a place, I met with misfortune together with my mom who came looking for me.”
“……”
“Mom held me tight and kept saying she was okay, when it was obvious to my eyes that she wasn’t okay, but she kept saying she was okay. That’s why I feel bad when I see people who say everything’s unconditionally okay. I don’t believe everything those people say either.”
Having finished speaking, he scooped up a big spoonful of porridge.
“I’m not Gi Siyoung-ssi’s mother. And I won’t die like Gi Siyoung-ssi’s mother either.”
“……”
“People live carrying their own guilt like that. Gi Siyoung-ssi’s mother wouldn’t want her son living with that guilt because of her.”
Gi Siyoung stared intently at Seungun with the spoon still in his mouth. Feeling awkward under the blatant gaze, Seungun rubbed his cheeks.
“Is there something on my face? Why all of a sudden?”
“My mom didn’t die though?”
“…What?”
“She’s alive and well.”
Immediately, Seungun’s complexion turned deathly pale. He’d assumed she died when he heard “met with misfortune.” He’d turned a living person into a dead person. There was no way to correct the slip of the tongue. Puhaha. That was when it happened. Gi Siyoung rolled his lips and burst out laughing at Seungun, who wore an embarrassed expression of apology. Seeing him enjoy it so much he even stomped his feet made Seungun let out a hollow laugh.
“Are you an elementary school student? Is it fun to tease people?”
“Im Seungun-ssi looks best when he’s flustered.”
“Ha.”
The gloomy sky was gradually clearing. The heavy rainy season downpour had entered a lull. It’s darkest just before the fan-shaped rays of sunlight break through.
***
The tire got a flat. Of all days, the call time was early today too. Myeongwoo shook his head with frustrated eyes at the completely jammed road. He’d called the insurance company and also called for a tow truck. Fortunately, the makeup and hair staff had arrived at the location first. Gi Siyoung stood with his arms crossed and weight on one leg, tapping the useless car tire.
“Don’t you take proper care of the car?”
The person who had been soft when he was sick had returned to his original self.
“It was definitely fine when I checked yesterday.”
Seungun spoke in an aggrieved tone, but it was talk that didn’t register in his ears at all.
“The roads are completely jammed right now. We have no choice but to take the subway to get there.”
Myeongwoo came over after checking the road conditions and said. Then Gi Siyoung raised his shoulders with an expression like he was hearing absurd talk.
“Subway? You want me to take the subway?”
“Even if you take a taxi, you’ll be incredibly late to the filming location. It’s fortunate that we’re filming at a different studio today. If we’d done it at our usual meeting place, it would’ve been a total bust, man.”
“Haah.”
The tire that had definitely been fine until this morning, why had it suddenly turned into a deflated balloon? Seungun sighed while feeling the tire that had become soft from the escaped air. His determination to show he could do his work smartly was made futile as the heavens didn’t help.
“First of all, I have to handle the car so…. Seungun-ah!”
“Yes?”
“Can you take Siyoung and move by subway?”
“Ah, me?”
Seungun checked the time. It was tight until arrival time. As Myeongwoo suggested, taking the subway was the best method.
“I don’t like taking the subway with that guy either, you know?”
When Seungun hesitated for a moment, Gi Siyoung glared over his sunglasses and spoke caustically. As if anyone thought it was great—taking the grumbling Siyoung toward the subway ended up being Seungun’s task.
“When was the last time you took the subway?”
He asked while tapping his card through the ticket gate. Gi Siyoung walked expressing with his whole body that he didn’t want to touch any part of the subway. He crossed his arms to hunch his upper body with that large frame, and stood far apart even in the line where people were packed closely together.
“I don’t even remember.”
“What, how old are you that you can’t even remember something like that?”
When he unconsciously scolded him, he could feel an annoyed gaze looking down from above. On the electronic board, text appeared saying a train departing from the previous station was approaching this station. Beyond the safety doors, a packed train appeared, and as soon as the doors opened, the people inside poured out in a rush.
Gi Siyoung stood pressed against the wall, looking disgusted. Then, as the people in line entered, he finally went inside last. There were empty seats here and there, but Gi Siyoung didn’t seem to have any intention of sitting at all.
“I’ll stand here. That way Gi Siyoung-ssi can face away, right?”
“Do that.”
Seungun stood with his back against the door, and Gi Siyoung stood facing the door. There was no one in the subway car with a tall build like Gi Siyoung. To add a bit of exaggeration, if Gi Siyoung straightened his body, it seemed like he could easily touch the subway ceiling.
Even though he covered his face as much as possible and hunched his body, a few people glanced at Gi Siyoung, but that was just because of his extraordinary physique that you couldn’t commonly see on the street, not because they recognized him.
“Ha, when exactly do we arrive?”
“We just passed one stop. Why are you so impatient? Where else can you find transportation as fast as the subway?”
“The air is stuffy.”
Gi Siyoung rubbed the back of his neck as if he was sweltering. Seungun agreed with that. It had definitely been quite cool when they got on, but gradually he felt less breeze. Sure enough, the sound of a slight argument could be heard from over there.
“Excuse me, why are you sending a text asking to turn off the air conditioning in summer?”
“Because I’m cold. Honestly, it’s a waste of electricity. It’s plenty fine now, is there a need for power cooling?”
“This is the power cooling car, so we do power cooling! Go to the mild cooling car. I’m seeing all kinds of people.”
“Ah, I was wondering why the breeze got weaker—you sent that text? People who are cold should carry outer clothes. In summer, and in a subway this crowded, you don’t know that sending a complaint text about the air conditioning being cold is being difficult?”
When the surrounding people who were listening chimed in one by one, the passenger who was the culprit behind the weakened air conditioning strength shouted ‘what a sight’ and got off at the next stop. Gi Siyoung shook his head with a disgusted expression.
He probably wasn’t familiar with scenes like this. When you move around taking the subway, you meet all kinds of people.
“Everyone lives like this. Gi Siyoung-ssi is the one living specially.”
“What did I say?”
Gi Siyoung retorted irritably. It was summer so the discomfort index was high, and with the situation being like this too, his low pressure was understandable.
“I’m sorry about the tire situation. I should have checked multiple times.”
“It’s fine as long as no one got hurt.”
“……”
“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
“I get it.”
“What do you get?”
“Seeing me in a place like this is novel, right? Do I seem like a different person? Are you newly impressed by my good looks?”
Gi Siyoung rubbed his chin while looking over his face reflected in the pitch-black window. It was terrible self-praise, but Seungun had to acknowledge it. Even among celebrities, Gi Siyoung stood out noticeably. Mixed among ordinary people, his eyes kept going to him.
—The next stop is a transfer station. Those transferring to *Line, please exit and….
The familiar announcement sounded and the opposite subway door opened. Along with the hot air from outside, people who came to transfer subways joined the crowd in an instant. Gi Siyoung, who had been hunching his upper body the whole time, had to uncross his arms because of people pushing him from behind, making his efforts until now worthless.
Countless feet crossed and overlapped. He almost bumped into Seungun, so he pressed his palm against the subway door to maintain his balance. The two people’s bodies were pressed tightly together. Because there were so many people crowding on both sides, they couldn’t chatter like before. Seungun pressed his lips tightly shut and blankly stared at the dangling keyring attached to the backpack of the person standing behind Gi Siyoung.
Anyway, if they just went two more stops, it was time to get off. Enduring in a subway car crowded to this degree was nothing. But it seemed different for Gi Siyoung. He was grimacing as if all the places on his body touching other people were uncomfortable. Seungun tapped him. Then Gi Siyoung asked with his eyes as if to say ‘what?’
“Want to switch places?”
Gi Siyoung shook his head slightly. Switching here would also be work. If one person moved, like a cube puzzle, other people would move too.
“The fact that I’m enduring standing like this is all because I can endure it. Can Im Seungun-ssi with that body block the weight of the people behind there?”
“Honestly.”
Seungun scratched his head for no reason. Then Gi Siyoung shot him a look telling him to wash before going around. Seungun whispered that he’d showered this morning, then closed his mouth again and stared at somewhere random.
Thanks to that, they could go quietly, but things like Gi Siyoung’s chest stuck right in front of his nose or his lower body barely separated couldn’t be looked at with unfocused eyes. Whether his shortness of breath was because of his body with its strong self-assertion or because of the narrow space was difficult to judge.
It was the same for Gi Siyoung. They’d turned on the air conditioning, but it was midsummer. A slight smell of sweat came from Seungun, who was pressed closely against him, but it wasn’t unpleasant like the smell of sand soaked by midsummer waves.
Gi Siyoung silently looked down at Seungun. With that stupid face just blinking his eyes, he looked just like a goldfish. He hadn’t noticed when they were facing each other, but seeing from a completely different angle, his eyelashes were very long.
“At least dust won’t get in.”
“What did you say?”
Seungun looked up sharply and asked back.
“Now I’m even hearing things?”
“You definitely said something.”
“Get off. The door’s opening behind you.”
“Ah.”
The two people who had flowed out of the packed subway like the tide finally straightened their bodies properly.
