Love. As Yigyeom whispered the word “love” to himself, he lifted his head and met Kwon Taejung’s unwavering eyes.
Kwon Taejung’s eyes were like the fleeting cherry blossoms, wanting to let him know it was spring, and at the same time, they felt like a warm cup of hot cocoa that comforted him on a very cold day.
During a very difficult night, when he walked alone to his house, Kwon Taejung’s eyes felt like a warm breeze comforting his cheeks, or the faint scent of soap from laundry dried in the sun on a sunny day.
For Yigyeom, Kwon Taejung was a source of comfort. Just being together eased his mind, the only solace that made everything seem okay. Loving too much made him anxious; the fear of ruining everything with a single misstep made him tear up, the only…
“……”
Love. Yigyeom covered his breath again, this time with the word “love” that Kwon Taejung had uttered, his lips stained.
“I feel the same way. I think about you all day long. When I work at the cafe, when I see customers… When making coffee, pouring milk, I keep thinking about you. Since the day I met you… I have never once… truly never once not thought about you.”
“……”
“…Because I like you… I like you so much… I want to be with you, but I’m afraid that I might become a burden to you.”
“Yigyeom.”
“…That’s why I hope you’ve also… thought about it at least once.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Because of a sense of responsibility… Are you enduring this because you feel obligated…?”
“So, you’re offering a chance to go back?”
“……”
“Because of the words I said, that I will take responsibility, you think I’m enduring this unwillingly?”
“This is the last chance.”
“……”
“Since today… it’s the last day when I can have such thoughts… I just wanted to let you know, in case you’ve also thought about it.”
Having finally understood Yigyeom’s words, Kwon Taejung let out a sigh. It would have been better not to understand, but Kwon Taejung grasped exactly what Yigyeom was saying.
“So, you’re saying you’ll give me a chance to go back?”
“……”
“Ha….”
Exhaling a tortured breath, Kwon Taejung rose abruptly and left the room. The night air was humid, as if it might rain. He shouldn’t act like a child when he couldn’t control his temper, but every time emotions flowed unexpectedly or in an undesirable direction, he couldn’t help but react emotionally.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“……”
“I’ll reconsider everything from the beginning to the end. I’ll reflect on whether the word ‘impulse’ is still valid for me, what my feelings are like… Whether I’m making an effort to suppress it forcibly. If so, I’ll think about what it is. So, Yigyeom, you should think about it too.”
“……”
“Putting aside this and that, when I look at just myself, I want to know what you really want to say to me.”
When the voice stopped, the room fell into a suffocating stillness. The calm breathing sounds from two settled breaths intertwined in the silent room.
Kwon Taejung, who had been lost in thought, looked down at the worn and torn floor, tracing it with his fingertips.
“I never thought I’d end up staying together until the end in a collapsing house.”
“……”
“But surprisingly, it’s not bad. Maybe it’s because I’m with you.”
“……”
“Thinking back, even when we spent time together here before, it wasn’t bad. Whenever I felt uneasy, just seeing you made everything okay. This hard floor, torn wallpaper, and lukewarm water that doesn’t come out properly.”
“……”
“At that time, I only saw you. I wanted to be with you, wanted to make you like me, so nothing else mattered.”
Though in the same room, Yigyeom, looking at Kwon Taejung sitting in a distant place, choked up. Memories of the times they slept together, spent time on the heat cycle, and shared many conversations flashed vividly in his mind.
“Even now. You’re so beautiful that nothing else matters, and I don’t think of anything else.”
“……”
“And I don’t have the heart to meet anyone else. I’m not that patient. If I knew how to endure, I wouldn’t have made headlines. I can’t stand someone talking nonsense to me while driving, yet I endure it and chase after them. How could I endure a person?”
Kwon Taejung, finding it uncomfortable to have his long legs folded, playfully nudged Yigyeom’s foot with the tip of his toes that poked out of the blanket. The room was so narrow that it was a small contact.
Surprised by the sudden touch, Yigyeom, without realizing it, wiggled his toes. Even though he was wearing socks, it seemed like his toes were wriggling, and Kwon Taejung, who was smiling as if he could breathe easily, leaned against the wall, looking at Yigyeom.
“Of course, there are times I need to endure. Because we’re not animals but humans.”
“……”
“Even now, there are things I want to touch you for, things I want to eat your tears for, but I’m really holding back.”
“……”
“Right, isn’t it? You might think, why say something like that in this situation. But that’s just how I am. You know that, right? That’s why you liked me? Because it’s easy and simple. I show everything without hiding. If it’s good, it’s good. If it’s uncomfortable, it’s uncomfortable. I say everything.”
Yigyeom didn’t think Kwon Taejung was being casual. He was just being honest, and he was a person who tried not to burden others mentally, a person who, even if he had to package himself lightly, wanted to make the other person laugh without feeling emotionally heavy. He knew that Kwon Taejung, who could make the other person feel at ease, was a person who didn’t want to make the other person feel uncomfortable.
“Even now, it’s the same. I say I like you because I like you, I came here because I want to be with you, and I’m staying in this area because I don’t want to go out alone.”
“……”
“That’s all.”
Honestly, Kwon Taejung knew very well how to immediately change Yigyeom’s mind. He knew that if he approached him now, stroking his face gently, soothing him, and whispering words of love, Yigyeom would come into his arms. However, he didn’t want to use such methods. It was the last day, as Yigyeom had said.
On the last day of the seven months spent together, Kwon Taejung wanted to give Yigyeom enough time to think about the past seven months, the present, and the uncertain future ahead.
Even if those thoughts were filled with anxiety and fear, he didn’t want to avoid them. He trusted Yigyeom’s heart. Also, he knew that sometimes anxiety and fear, which felt like they could break everything, could act as a catalyst, rapidly expanding the dimensions of love.
For the sake of the time they would spend together with no end in sight, he could endure the slow breathing of the dawn. Yes, to that extent. Kwon Taejung spent the night in the dimly lit room, occasionally tapping Yigyeom’s toes against the hard floor.
And Yigyeom didn’t curl up his toes any longer.
As the night approached dawn, and a faint light began to seep into the room again, Kwon Taejung checked the time after informing Yigyeom’s home to his assistant through his phone. He then lifted himself up from the wall where he had been leaning.
Although sitting on the hard floor all night made his back and legs ache, it wasn’t the time to complain about such things. Kwon Taejung went up to Yigyeom, knelt down, placed Yigyeom’s legs between his own, and sat facing him.
“Will there be such a long night again?”
Kwon Taejung gently stroked Yigyeom’s pale face, which lacked vitality, as if reassuring him. He had been worried since Yigyeom’s face had looked painful for several days.
“I’ve thought hundreds, thousands of times overnight, but I won’t change.”
“……”
“I love you.”
At the unwavering declaration of love, Yigyeom’s eyes trembled. Kwon Taejung’s spoken love penetrated Yigyeom’s body all over, melting the worries and apologies that had been bundled up overnight, turning them into love. As if nothing else mattered.
“What about you, Yigyeom?”
“……”
“Do you love me?”
In the bright daylight, at a moment when Yigyeom could smile brightly, Kwon Taejung asked the question he had wanted to ask. He tried not to reveal his fear of a non-immediate answer by speaking the words out loud.
“Whatever answer you give, the result will be the same. You’ll go out with me, return home together, and stay with me in the future.”
Though he knew that Yigyeom would eventually come to him, the recent unstable emotions of Yigyeom and his painful-looking face made Kwon Taejung uneasy.
The courage that darkness had given him disappeared, and facing the last moment that had finally come was not easy. Therefore, Kwon Taejung couldn’t just silently wait for a response, fearing that Yigyeom might let go of his hand or reject him.
“You said that to me before. You would do anything for me. I don’t think I asked for anything back then, but now I do.”
“……”
“Grant my wish. Don’t say you can’t. It’s something only you can do, Yigyeom.”
Kwon Taejung, who had been looking at Yigyeom’s knees hidden under the blanket, sighed softly, then lifted his head to meet Yigyeom’s gaze.
“Go out with me from here.”
“……”
“And when we go out, marry me.”
At the confession that flowed with trembling breaths, Yigyeom’s lips slightly parted. Tears welled up in the eyes that were filled with Kwon Taejung. In anticipation of a response, Kwon Taejung hurriedly added another word.
“Just one more thing for the last time.”
“……”
“…Love me.”
In response to Kwon Taejung’s poignant confession, tears overflowed and streamed down Yigyeom’s pale cheeks. Throughout the night, Yigyeom hadn’t let go of the pregnancy test tightly held in his hand, and he now pulled it out from under the blanket, offering it to Kwon Taejung.
“What is this?”
Kwon Taejung, taking what Yigyeom offered, looked down at the unfamiliar object and caught sight of the word ‘pregnancy’ written on the side.
“Oh….”
“…My body has been feeling strange lately. I’ve been constantly cold, feeling sleepy… And even for things that I would normally consider insignificant, my heart pounds so much… I feel nervous…”
“…So, now… Uh, Yigyeom…”
“I did it just in case… and it seems positive.”
As Yigyeom spoke cautiously, Kwon Taejung looked away after seeing the clear two lines on the test several times, with the word ‘pregnancy’ registering in his eyes.
“We’re having a baby, right?”
“…Yes.”
Surprised, Kwon Taejung, unable to close his wide-open mouth, tightly embraced Yigyeom. His emotions surged wildly, and even though his mind was in disarray, the emotion of joy vividly shook Kwon Taejung.
Thank you for this 😭😭😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏
Beautiful! Simply beautiful!
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