Chapter 61: Chapter 61.
Chapter 61.
“He is crazy.”
Woojin was walking down the stairs from the rooftop when he met with Shin Kim. It wasn’t completely a coincidence. Woojin’s cheek must’ve been puffy. Shin’s eyes widened and he bit his lips. He grabbed Woojin’s hand and took him to the basement parking lot.
Shin drove to the nearby pharmacy and purchased medication for swelling and pain. They returned to the office parking lot.
Woojin murmured, “We need to be back at work…”
“It’s lunchtime soon. Besides, everyone is so busy because it’s almost the end of the year. No one will notice.”
“… Oh.”
“You should be worrying about yourself, not the office!”
Shin gently rubbed the ointment on Woojin’s cheek. His finger was so warm that Woojin closed his eyes. With quiet anger, Shin asked, “So Jihoon Kang hits people?”
“This is the first time.”
“Are you sure?”
Shin was clearly furious. When Woojin looked at him, Shin’s frown became even bigger. Woojin reached out and stretched his cheeks, trying to turn the frown into a smile.
Shin sighed and asked, “Am I not supposed to say anything about this?”
“I’m afraid of Jihoon Kang.”
Jihoon had always been near Woojin. Except for when Woojin left to go to Germany to get away from that woman, Jihoon had always been around him.
At first, Jihoon treated Woojin like a fragile porcelain doll. He wanted to do everything with Woojin.
During their teenage years, they ended up going to different schools, but Jihoon still remained close by like a shadow. Jihoon was very quiet, but he made sure his presence was known.
Woojin continued, “And I was ok with being afraid of him, but now…”
“…”
“Having someone to lose makes things so much scarier.”
Woojin didn’t want Shin to disappear. He added, “So… I…”
“…”
“I will tell you later.”
Woojin’s eyes looked sad. There seemed to be no answer to “love.” Was this even really love? Or was it just friendship? Or lust?
Shin looked at him, desperately hoping that Woojin wouldn’t feel so much pain and worry. He reached out to touch Woojin’s shoulder as he replied, “Please don’t look so sad. I would love to hit Assistant Manager Jihoon Kang, but I won’t.”
Woojin laughed quietly. Shin rubbed the back of his neck, making Woojin smile. The pain on his cheek felt distant now.
Shin added, “I just don’t understand why Siwoo wants to meet Jihoon Kang.”
“Did he say he wanted to meet Jihoon before?”
It seemed that Siwoo knew the side of Jihoon that Woojin didn’t know about. Before Jihoon went to study in US, he visited Germany a few times a year. But he never visited Woojin.
Shin replied, “Siwoo did say that… I just have a bad feeling about this.”
“…”
“It’s not an easy or common thing to remember someone. People remember others because they have good memories of them… Or…”
Shin seemed a bit apologetic that he couldn’t remember Woojin from high school. Woojin laid his head on Shin’s shoulder and replied, “It is indeed very difficult to remember someone from the past.”
After a pause, Woojin added, “I am curious as to how and why Siwoo remembers Jihoon.”
“Hmm… You have things you are curious about?”
“Yes. For example, I am always curious about you.”
“I should be the only one you are curious about.”
Shin smiled and Woojin watched him quietly. Just seeing Shin smiling made him feel happy.
Shin murmured quietly, “You look like you are thinking about running away.”
“…”
“It’s ok if you do, but please make sure you will come back to me someday.”
Shin was going to wait.
***
Jihoon’s whole life was all about waiting. Waiting for his mother, who didn’t love him. Waiting for Jin Yoo, whom he loved.
Constant waiting made him feel odd things.
Sometimes, he experienced hallucinations. Some of them looked so real, while others felt like dreams. Even those that felt dreamy caused a lasting effect on him.
It was then that he began to do drugs. He wanted these dreams to last longer. He lived like a normal man during the day, but at night, he lived in his dream. He disappeared into a quiet and deep sleep. When he first started to take these drugs, it was hard to control the doses. It was especially tricky because it seemed that the worse the condition of his body was in, to a point of breathing unsteadily, the clearer Jihoon could see Jin Yoo. When he was barely breathing and experienced a lack of oxygen in his brain, Jihoon felt like Jin was standing right in front of him. Smiling, crying, screaming, and whispering to him that he liked Jihoon.
He knew it wasn’t real. It was just fantasies and illusions. He knew it because unlike in his dreams, Jin Yoo was not an expressive person in real life. A faint cold figure… Everyone called Jin a living doll. Jihoon believed Jin Yoo would never feel the heat of life. The heat of love.
But recently, Jihoon was proven wrong.
“Hello, my name is Siwoo Jung.”
“I am Jihoon Kang.”
The moment their eyes met for the first time, Jihoon could see a brief but unmistakable anger in Siwoo’s eyes. But it disappeared quickly, leaving only the very beautiful Siwoo.
Siwoo smiled pleasantly and asked, “We actually met in front of your office building a while back. Do you remember?”
Siwoo had a nice baritone voice. He offered his hand, so Jihoon shook it without hesitation. Siwoo’s fingernails scraped Jihoon’s skin lightly.
What a strange person Siwoo was.
Jiwoo replied, “Of course. I would never forget such a gorgeous man like yourself.”
A lie. It was empty flattery. When Jihoon showed him his signature “nice guy” smile, Siwoo stared for a second before laughing. Jihoon thought he had never heard such an empty laugh in his life.
Siwoo seemed very strange. He replied, “You are not a good liar I see.” Siwoo sat down and looked out the window. Without looking at Jihoon, Siwoo gestured for him to sit.
That afternoon, Jihoon texted the number on the business card. Siwoo replied immediately, asking to meet that very night if he didn’t have a previous engagement. When Jihoon said he was free, Siwoo sent him an address of this restaurant and asked to meet at 7 PM.
Jihoon was surprised at himself for agreeing to all this. He initially thought to say no, but for some reason, he wanted to. What bothered him the most was how he slapped Woojin that morning. Before he left to meet Siwoo, Jihoon texted Woojin that he was going to meet Siwoo that night. Woojin didn’t text him back. It was usual for Woojin to ignore his text, but Jihoon couldn’t help but feel hurt again.
Jihoon replied, “It wasn’t a lie.”
“That was also a lie.”
“… Why did you ask me to meet you?”
Jihoon didn’t like how Siwoo was responding to him. When Jihoon asked bluntly, Siwoo handed him a menu and replied, “Let’s order something first.”
“Pardon?”
“I like traditional homemade style meal, so that is why I asked you to meet at this restaurant. I’m going to order soft tofu stew.”
Siwoo’s lips looked pouty. He seemed like a stubborn man, but for some reason, Jihoon didn’t dislike it. He began to look down at his menu to choose. Suddenly, Siwoo leaned towards him and using his finger, explained different dishes and made a few suggestions. Jihoon was surprised at such a familiar gesture, so he looked up. Siwoo only smiled mysteriously.
Jihoon said to him, “Your smile… seems odd. You have a strange way of smiling.”
“Really? Is that so?”
“Yes. Just a little…”
“Hmm… You must think I’m strange.”
Just then, Jihoon realized that Siwoo was coming onto him. Siwoo wasn’t even trying to hide his intention. Jihoon was confused, because not many people knew about his homosexuality. He always thought he did a good job of hiding it.
And Siwoo was definitely not one of his past flings. Staring at Siwoo’s sharp black eyes, Jihoon bit his lips. Siwoo clearly knew who he was.
Jihoon asked bluntly, “You know me, don’t you?”