Love Born of Pity Chapter 139

The academy, which he had not visited in several months, had not changed at all. It felt as familiar as if he had left work yesterday and come back today. The tables, the bookshelves, the practice rooms used by the children, and the grand piano for lessons.

Kwon Jiho looked around slowly, one place at a time, and then affectionately stroked the lockers that had the children’s names attached to them.

Starting with Eunsol’s seat, which was always messy and unorganized, to Mihong’s seat, which was full of snacks, and Dabin’s seat, which was always empty because she diligently packed up her textbooks. Hyunwoo’s seat contained quite a few unopened energy drinks. They were still young, even if they were middle school students; was it alright for them to be drinking things like this?

“They say they don’t like the new teacher, but they’re still attending.”

“Ah.”

“That middle schooler, they say he misses classes often. But it seems he has no intention of quitting the academy.”

Kwon Jiho nodded quietly while listening to Do Yeonjae’s explanation. Kwon Jiho moved, quietly closing the locker again. When he grabbed the handle to open the door to the counseling office, where he had spent the most time during the day, Do Yeonjae suddenly blocked the doorway.

“……Director?”

“You wouldn’t like it here.”

“Pardon?”

“This place, it’s still…….”

Kwon Jiho tilted his head. He didn’t know why he was saying such things, but it seemed the counseling office was remembered as a worse place by Do Yeonjae than by him. Kwon Jiho, who had been standing in front of him, leaned his head against Do Yeonjae’s chest—his expression filled with anxiety—and focused on the sound of his heart beating thump, thump, thump, rapidly.

In that state, he moved only his eyes to check the CCTV. There were an excessive number of cameras in this small academy.

At the time, he thought that it might be understandable if it was for the sake of the students and their parents, but looking back, he wondered if Do Yeonjae had been watching those screens himself. However, if that were the case, it seemed he would have known there were far more good memories with the children. Perhaps he had not been watching that closely.

“Jiho.”

“I was mostly here until the children arrived when I came to work.”

“…….”

“So I think I know what you are worried about, Director.”

Here, Do Yeonjae had sometimes been mean to him. At times, he had gone beyond comfort to become his salvation. And in between that, what filled Kwon Jiho’s daily satisfaction, sense of reward, and happiness were the children he met every day.

“This place is.”

“…….”

“This place has far more good memories with the children than bad memories about you, Director. So, I’m really okay.”

Even counting only the time spent together, the time with the children was much longer, so why was he worried? He found it hard to understand. Unlike the bewildered Kwon Jiho, Do Yeonjae clearly remembered his past self.

His attitude of acting like a jerk and his behavior of regarding Kwon Jiho as insignificant. Whenever Kwon Jiho wanted to turn away from a reality he couldn’t escape, he would hide under the desk in the counseling office beyond this door. His concern that Kwon Jiho would be upset by remembering that all over again came first. He wished he could forget it all; it felt as if the bad memories would soak Kwon Jiho like a sudden downpour.

As if sweeping away such useless worries, Kwon Jiho gently pushed Do Yeonjae aside and opened the counseling office door. He squeezed his body into the opened door, groped along the wall, and flipped the switch.

His gaze, which scanned the brightly lit interior, was full of nothing but gladness. On the desk, without a speck of dust, small, cut-up pieces of paper caught Kwon Jiho’s attention.

“Oh……?”

Drawn in, Kwon Jiho approached and began to unfold the pile of papers one by one. The crumpled papers were all short letters left behind by the children.

“Ah…….”

A warm heat began to spread slowly in his chest. His heart was overwhelmed by the dozens of letters, written in crooked handwriting, most of which simply said they missed him.

“See, I told you that this is a place with far more good memories with the children than with you, Director. Right now…… I’ve become incredibly happy. I’m glad I could come back.”

Seeing his curved lips and softly relaxed eyes, Do Yeonjae realized once again that the loyalty kept by those little things had been a great comfort to Kwon Jiho.

Kwon Jiho put all the letters the children had left behind into his cardigan pocket. He said he would read the rest when he got home.

“Director.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you for leaving the academy…… exactly as it was.”

“Out of everything I’ve done so far, I think building and running this place was the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Do Yeonjae bowed his head low. It was a relief that it was a place with far more good memories with the children. He made a vow to himself that if he ever met those little ones later, he would grant them at least one wish, whatever it might be.

“I’m hungry now.”

“Let’s go.”

“I’m coming here on Monday, right?”

“I’ll take you after you go to the hospital.”

Kwon Jiho nodded and smiled. He took the lead, saying he wished it were Monday already. Since he hadn’t touched anything that required organizing, he only had to turn off the interior lights. He was about to say they should go now, but Kwon Jiho just turned his head to look at Do Yeonjae.

“Why.”

“Just because…….”

“Just because?”

“It’s so good that it feels strange. It feels like a dream.”

It was a statement that would cause big trouble if heard from Do Yeonjae’s perspective. Do Yeonjae hurriedly shook his head vigorously.

“No.”

“Pardon?”

“It can’t be a dream.”

He replied firmly. Kwon Jiho understood the meaning a little late and smiled.

♬⋆.˚

At the cafe he hadn’t visited in a long time, the owner almost fell over in shock at the sight of Kwon Jiho. He served him a tray filled with freshly baked bread, saying it was on the house. As he placed the tray with a decaf Americano on the table, he stared intently at Do Yeonjae with wide eyes.

Well, it would be difficult to grasp what the situation was. It seemed he felt guilty, as he had been receiving a discount on his rent in exchange for reporting on Kwon Jiho’s every move.

“No, but…… Jiho, Mr. Jiho.”

“Ah……. Yes.”

The man’s gaze landed on the thick, rounded belly under the knit sweater. He muttered, “Oh my, oh my,” repeating just those words.

“Who…… who, no, wait. Yes, I’m not really curious. Of course. Eat a lot, Mr. Jiho. This is, uh, I’m giving it to you because I haven’t seen you in a while, uh, because I’m glad to see you, so you don’t need to feel burdened. If you want to eat more, I’ll give you more. Eat and stay comfortably before you go.”

Rambling, he hurriedly left the seat. Do Yeonjae looked at the retreating back with indifference and recalled the time he had used him as a pawn. He thought it was a good thing he had threatened him beforehand that he would kick the cafe out if he ever talked nonsense to Kwon Jiho.

Kwon Jiho didn’t seem to have much interest in the cafe owner. He was busy picking up the bread placed in front of him and taking bites. Had the morning sickness really disappeared? He had been eating quite well these days. Although he occasionally threw up, it had definitely decreased.

“You said you wanted to eat whipped cream.”

“It’s really delicious.”

When he held out a piece of bread topped with plenty of whipped cream in front of Kwon Jiho, whose eyes were shining brightly, he opened his mouth. It must have been an action he took without much thought because he was holding bread in his hands, but Do Yeonjae felt shy for no reason.

Without realizing his face had turned red, he feigned composure and pushed the bread into his slightly opened lips. Kwon Jiho’s lips naturally licked the whipped cream off his finger.

Do Yeonjae naturally pulled his hand back and put that finger into his own mouth. Sucking on the finger, even though no trace of the cream remained, he calmed his heart, which was beating as if it would burst out.

Reminding himself that they were outside, he agonized over whether to pack the bread Kwon Jiho liked in various kinds, or if it would be better to stop by somewhere on the way home. Meanwhile, Kwon Jiho dutifully finished eating the bread. Both his cheeks were puffed up like a squirrel’s.

“What do you think would be good for lunch?”

“Uh…… for lunch, I just want to eat something cool. Cold buckwheat noodles.”

“Alright. There’s somewhere I want to stop by before we go for lunch.”

It seemed like the right time to talk about the new house. He looked to be in a good mood because he was eating his fill of what he wanted. The whipped cream had been sweet, too.

“The house we’ll be living in. We can go and look at the baby’s room we decorated, and check if there’s anything we need…… what do you think? If you’re tired, we can go later. It doesn’t matter whenever we go.”

He tried to speak as casually as possible, just in case he felt burdened. A voice even calmer than he expected flowed out. Kwon Jiho seemed surprised, stopping his chewing and meeting his eyes. When he tried to urgently chew and swallow what was in his mouth, Do Yeonjae stopped him.

“Slowly, slowly.”

“When―.”

When Do Yeonjae held out a drink, Kwon Jiho took a sip. Only after swallowing everything cleanly did he open his mouth.

“When are we going?”

“Now.”

“No, I mean moving in completely.”

“How about you start coming home to that house from Monday? It’s already perfectly prepared. Of course, if you want, it’s fine to stay at the main house a bit longer.”

When he held out a piece of bread piled high with blueberry jam and whipped cream, Kwon Jiho opened his mouth. Was this what they meant by saying it’s pretty because he eats well? He felt full even without eating. Kwon Jiho pressed his lips together and swallowed a bit hastily.

“It’s fine.”

“Yes, it’s fine―is it? Are you really sure it’s okay to live there with just the two of us?”

“Pardon? Ah, it’s fine.”

It wasn’t as if they hadn’t lived together before; they had lived as the two of them from the start, so why was he asking so unexpectedly?

“By any chance…… are you uncomfortable, Director? With living as just the two of us?”

“There’s no way that could be true.”

“Then I’m fine with it too.”

“Even if you move out, they’ll probably call you often. Or come over frequently. My grandfather seemed to like you even more than he likes me.”

Since it was affection that Kwon Jiho had definitely felt as well, he couldn’t even give a white lie to say it wasn’t true. He just nodded quietly and accepted it silently.