Kwon Taejung stood, with his two hands jammed inside his pocket as he shifted his eyes to Yigyeom’s face. Kwon Taejung’s shadow hovered over his face. Along with the night breeze, the musty smell of the alley was mixed in with the sweetish scent and he rolled his tongue inside his mouth slowly. If he could have, he would have lapped his tongue over the sweet smell.
“Go inside. It’s late.”
“…Thank you very much for today. Be safe on your way.”
“Hm. Go in first. I will leave after you go inside.”
Kwon Taejung relaxed as if he didn’t threaten him earlier. Yigyeom greeted him by bowing his head and then putting his hand below the door, pulling out the emergency key. The main key was in the bag he left at the hotel, so he had no other choice.
Before entering the house, he looked back at Kwon Taejung and bowed his head as if he had all the time in the world, and then walked inside before closing the door a little too quickly, locking it in the process. Kwon Taejung bent his waist and laughed at Yigyeom who hastily locked his door, as his laughter spread throughout the quiet and narrow alley.
“Ah, hilarious.”
Even then, Kwon Taejung could have easily opened the door if he wanted. The inside of the house was already covered in his traces but Yigyeom might have not realized it yet.
Seeing how Yigyeom thought that the door would protect him, Kwon Taejung tapped Yigyeom’s chosen thin and protective shield. Behind that shield, Yigyeom was hiding and breathing. Kwon Taejung said,
“I’m really leaving.”
As Kwon Taejung expected, Yigyeom didn’t leave right away after closing the door and heard his laughter dispersing throughout the alley and Yigyeom’s shoulder flinched at Kwon Taejung’s sudden greetings. Kwon Taejung couldn’t see him but how did he know he was there?
“Good night.”
Yigyeom heard footsteps disappearing with the words, good night. Kwon Taejung’s good night always made him feel strange. Yigyeom couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore and with a sigh of relief, he kept hogging his place on the floor.
For some reason, his body regained the original temperature from when it was previously warm because of the cold door and floor. Yigyeom only then dropped down to look at the wine stain, of which the dampness disappeared and dried and lifted his uniform forward to smell it.
“…”
From the uniform, it smelled clearly of wine, and Kwon Taejung’s smell was a bit similar. Although, his scent was slightly more contracted and fragrant than the wine’s smell. If Yigyeom had crushed some flow petals on top of it, would it smell like that? Yigyeom unconsciously recalled Kwon Taejung, who smelled like an adult.
“Play with me until the demolition. Until everything crumbles down completely.”
Three months like Kwon Taejung said. Once those three months would pass by, the door Yigyeom was resting against, the floor he was sitting on and the room where his grandfather was sleeping in, would crumble without a trace.
“Even though it seems like we have a lot of time on our hands, it isn’t so. It is a very short time for something to disappear without a trace. So you have to do your best to play with me.”
The words that everything would disappear without a trace and the time were very short, kept roaming around in his head. So what would happen after those three months?
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.
“…”
Jbeiv P olcv j cfk qijmf ab rajs klat ws ugjcvojatfg klatlc atbrf atgff wbcatr? Tlusfbw mbeiv cba fnfc lwjulcf tlwrfio joafg atgff wbcatr. Lf vlvc’a xcbk ktfgf tf kbeiv yf atf vjs joafg abwbggbk ifa jibcf xcbk ktja tf kbeiv yf vblcu joafg atgff wbcatr.
Tlusfbw gfwfwyfgfv tbk Bkbc Kjfpecu mtemxifv ilutais jcv jrxfv tlw ab qijs klat tlw. Bkbc Kjfpecu, ktb rajgafv rjslcu qifjrjca kbgvr, kjgwfv Tlusfbw’r wlcv jr tlr ybaabw rajgafv ab kfa ribkis. Tlusfbw ujatfgfv tlr akb xcffr jcv gfrafv tlr mtlc bnfg atfw.
“Do you know why I come to this disgusting place every day?”
It had been too long since someone smiled at the sight of Yigyeom and wished him good night, it was his first time too that someone escorted him home, so he was flustered that he kept on showing his foolish sides instead of his usual wariness.
“Good night.”
Was there any gangster in the world who would greet good night in that kind of voice? Yigyeom moved his head and pressed his lips on his knees and recalled how Kwon Taejung greeted him good night, and as if he got a grip, he shook his head.
“…I must have gone crazy.”
What are you thinking? He is the kind of gangster who is sent to kick me out of here and pretends to be kind so that he can get what he wants. Why do you keep thinking about him?
“Good night.”
Still…
“…”
Still, will it be wrong to trust those words? Because it is something you say to anyone since it’s just a formality. There’s no meaning behind it.
In the end, Yigyeom reminisced about Kwon Taejung before entering the room quietly where his grandfather was sleeping. He was surprised to notice that the room didn’t smell as musty as it usually did, and he sat still by his grandfather’s side who was still sleeping in the dark, and fumbled with the thick blankets.
“…”
Despite Kwon Taejung’s absence, what remained were his traces in the room. Yigyeom could not escape the thought of ‘him’ that filled his head. Thinking of ‘him’…Kwon Taejung did not disappear and clung to his ears, head, and heart until the moment he fell asleep.
***
It was an exceptionally good day. Even though Kwon Taejung worked out more than usual, he was not in the least tired. Those days, he avoided drinking alcohol and managed his daily life properly, probably because of that he could feel his condition improving. Kwon Taejung, feeling fresh, left the container.
“You look good?”
“I feel great!”
“It’s good you’re feeling so. You said you were going to have lunch with Yigyeom?”
“Uh-huh. But I don’t know what he likes. If it’s expensive, he will probably like all of it. I have never done anything with a 20-year-old before.”
Kwon Taejung recalled the time when he was 20 years old. It was 12 years ago so he couldn’t remember it clearly. He was admitted to a good university however there were rumors about how he donated to the university and that was the reason he got in. But to prove it was not, he never missed the chance to be at the top of the class. Only that much came to his mind.
“I have made a reservation at Marais. Is that okay?”
“Among the restaurants we go to, this is the most casual one so I think it is okay. The deserts are good, you know.”
“I also like that place. Let’s go together.”
“What can I do? I have to meet the Chairman.”
“What’s with dad?”
“He is worrying about you. He called me saying he wants to grab lunch together. He told me to keep it a secret from you.”
Secretary Baek smiled as Kwon Taejung tapped him on his shoulder lightly before knocking on the door. Soon he could hear the footsteps inside coming closer.
“You came, sir?”
But the one who came out of the house was not Yigyeom but the caretaker. Kwon Taejung was a little disappointed but thinking that it was normal, he properly greeted her and went in.
“Where is Yigyeom?”
“Yigyeom said that he had a part-time job early in the morning and left. Ah, sir, he said to give you these if you come by.”
Kwon Taejung looked at the caregiver taking out a folded piece of paper from her sweater with an indifferent face. There was something written on it with round handwriting.
[ There is a position I had to fill in at my part-time job, so I ended up going.
You must have said it jokingly…I don’t know if you are actually coming so I left these.
I’m really sorry for being unable to keep the promise.
–From Yigyeom–]
Kwon Taejung quietly captured the message Yigyeom left with his eyes and broke into a small chuckle. Secretary Baek who was standing beside him, also caught the paper and sighed. Looking at Kwon Taejung, he knew that shrugging off the reservation at the restaurant and his words as a joke, and the fact that he was not at home, were all a problem.
“Secretary Baek.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“Can you find out where Yigyeom works?”
“Yes, if you give me some time, I will let you know immediately.”
“It would be good if it does not take longer than ten minutes.”
“I understand.”
Kwon Taejung followed Secretary Baek outside and took out a cigarette before biting on it. Even though it was a pity that he was so young, he treated him well because he was pretty but he might have considered Kwon Taejung hilarious. Kwon Taejung inhaled the smoke of the cigarette deeply before letting it out and then looked at Yigyeom’s message again.
“He thought that I must have been joking…”
So Yigyeom took everything I said as a joke. The fact that I told him to play with me, eat lunch with me…Where in the world does it seem like a joke?
Was it because I said it with a smile? Was it because we were of different levels and we didn’t match, but I still took him home? Or was it because I kept my mouth shut even though I knew he was an Omega?
Kwon Taejung extinguished half of the cigarette on the ground with his shoes and then looked at Secretary Baek who was talking with some Chief. Right after ending the call, Secretary Baek turned around and looked at Kwon Taejung.
“Today, from 9 am to 3 pm, at the Hankook University intersection, there is a doll event at the store that just opened up and that he went to fill in a spot.”
“Where did you call to find out?”
“At the event company, who assigned Yigyeom the work.”
“What’s this company that assigns jobs for events? Is there even a company like that?”
“Yeah, just like you said, it’s a company that does small events. For example, in front of a newly opened place, they stand wearing doll masks and give out flyers, or balloons, work part-time as a fill-in and like yesterday, Yigyeom must have been assigned like so.”
“How did you know about that company?”
“I talked with the manager of the hotel yesterday and when I said I would compensate him, I told him that I needed to know about the company that assigned him and that’s when I received the number. I didn’t know I would end up using that number like this.”
“Let’s go.”
:)) 😊
oooooh, he angry!!! i wonder how his anger comes across, when directed at a person wholly undeserving of it ><