If Silk Flowers Bloom by the Water’s Edge Chapter 38

As lights-out time approached, the outside was dead silent, but the inside was filled with distracting noises. Since dinner had been long today, he desperately wanted some time alone. Shinwoo cast a displeased look at the uninvited guest lying on his already cramped bed. That annoying punk Chaho hadn’t returned to his own room for the past few days.

“It’s late.”

“Hey. You got any more snacks?”

“Go to your room.”

“It’s no fun using a room by myself. You wanna switch rooms with me?”

“Having a roommate would be even less fun….”

Since there were plenty of spare rooms in the Nanjubeol mansion, it was possible to give the male Haenangs their own rooms. In fact, they had been using single rooms until Yirok arrived. He had only volunteered to be Yirok’s roommate and helper at Old Lady Yomyung’s request; he planned to ask for separate rooms once Yirok got used to the Haenang work sometime next year.

“Why would he find a book like this interesting. Is there something wrong with his head?”

“I enjoyed reading it too, you know. Chaho, you should leave now.”

Shinwoo snatched the book Chaho was giggling at and threw it on the desk. Chaho, failing to read the room, clasped his hands behind his head and prepared to sleep.

“Since he’s here, I should at least say hi before I go.”

“…Why the sudden interest?”

“Just because? He’s one of the few male Haenangs, and we’re the same age. We even did the ritual together yesterday. I was thinking, maybe I was too indifferent.”

Though his words sounded like those of a friendly pal, Chaho’s eyes were as sharp as if they’d been honed with a knife. To Shinwoo, Chaho was the epitome of selfishness. He was a picky eater, and if he wasn’t interested, he wouldn’t even know the name of someone he’d been around for 10 years. In Yeonseo’s case, she had a crush on Chaho for about a year, but she gave up on it, fed up with Chaho’s brainless behavior of not even being able to remember her name.

It was a fact that both Shinwoo and Chaho knew, yet Chaho was lying in front of his childhood friend. The guy who, until recently, had almost forgotten Yirok’s name, let alone his age, was now acting like his friend. Shinwoo, who had been getting up to turn off the light, stopped and looked at Chaho with a lukewarm expression.

Because the only one Chaho ever got sensitive about was that one girl.

“Don’t tell me you….”

Bang. It was then that the door flew open as if shattered by a typhoon. Yirok, whose face was so dark that anyone passing by would know something was wrong, came in without even closing the door. His hair was wet, as if he’d just washed up. At Yirok’s appearance, the two of them changed their expressions as if in a speed contest.

It wasn’t that he was scared of Yirok, who had collapsed onto the bed as if scoring a goal, but sometimes he just had a gut feeling. In an atmosphere where he couldn’t even tell him to change into his pajamas, Shinwoo quietly shook Chaho’s shoulder.

‘Get out.’

‘Whyyy.’

Sensing that something was seriously wrong with Yirok, the two communicated by mouthing words. Chaho, whose sense of tact was extinct, refused to leave and stayed put even after several disputes. In fact, it would have been better if he had just done that. He unnecessarily stretched out his foot and poked Yirok, who was lying with his back to them. Shinwoo swallowed a silent scream and just looked up at the ceiling instead.

“Hey, hey. Kim Yirok. Get up. Let’s do some bonding.”

But Yirok, who might have already fallen asleep, was completely unresponsive. Shinwoo grabbed Chaho’s shoulder to stop him, but it seemed to only fuel his rebelliousness. He started kicking the other’s bed hard enough to make it shake. Seeing the mischief in Chaho’s face, Shinwoo gave up trying to stop him. Once this guy made up his mind, he was so stubborn that he’d flip the dinner table even if his own mother came to stop him.

“Get up. Huh? Yirok. Let’s talk. Man to man. Huh?”

But Yirok, who possessed an equally formidable stubbornness, played the part of a stone Buddha on the shaking bed. Shinwoo felt a chill and threw himself to block Chaho’s foot-play. He used both arms to forcefully pull his leg down. At that, this time it was Chaho who scowled and growled.

“If you’re not going to play along, then you stay out of it.”

“Chaho. Stop your bullshit and go to sleep.”

Shinwoo, who rarely used harsh words, said with a smileless face. With a grunt, Chaho pushed himself up using the rebound of his legs and shrugged his shoulders.

“You’re being weird. Didn’t you dislike Yirok, too?”

“If you don’t have tact, you should at least be smart.”

“What?”

Chaho’s one-sided power play now showed signs of escalating into an emotional fight between the two. The tense atmosphere, where it wouldn’t have been strange for them to grab each other by the collar and start rolling around, lasted for a few seconds. Then Yirok, who seemed like he would never intervene, kicked off the blanket and slowly sat up. Leaning his back against the pillow, he bypassed their stinging glares and stared blankly at his own desk.

Remembering that Yirok had been called to see Jiju earlier, Shinwoo called out to him, wondering if that was it.

“Chaho will be gone in a….”

“Shut up.”

Yirok was usually someone who kept to his books and wasn’t talkative, so there weren’t many opportunities to hear his voice. Even the occasional mocking tone he used was on the gentler side. So this was the first time he had ever heard such a low, gloomy voice. From a person who always had a smile on his lips even when he was angry. Shinwoo felt a sense of unease and quietly backed away, but Chaho’s rampage was just getting started.

“It’s not like you’re using the room by yourself. What’s with ‘shut up’ to your roommate? ‘Shut up,’ really.”

“Chaho.”

“Uh-uh, you stay out of this.”

He didn’t know what had happened between Chaho and Yirok, but it was troublesome for them to be fighting in the room he also shared. Why didn’t he know that it was best to avoid doing anything that would get them on the adults’ bad side? Looking at his foolish childhood friend, he felt a tightness in his chest. He didn’t want to add two troublemakers to the list of things he had to worry about these days.

“If you’re going to fight, take it outside.”

“Hey. Why are you just watching without saying anything?”

It was true. Yirok, sitting on the bed as impassively as a statue, had been just watching Chaho the whole time. The way he was sitting with his knees up looked comfortable at a glance, but looking at his eyes and clenched fists, it seemed like trouble was about to break out. Not wanting to get involved in anything troublesome, Shinwoo moved closer to the desk.

“What are you looking at?”

“……”

“What. Say something, you bastard.”

At Chaho’s continued provocations, something like a smile appeared on Yirok’s lips. Shinwoo chose to completely ignore their war of nerves. It was the fault of the idiot who couldn’t see the other’s completely soured expression. Yirok, keeping the onlookers on edge, remained silent for a long time before finally answering.

“You.”

“Me, what.”

“Are like trash.”

“What?”

An incensed Chaho got up and lunged at Yirok. But in Shinwoo’s judgment, Yirok was a step faster in getting up. Yirok’s hand, which had lightly dodged the punch Chaho threw, moved downwards. Shinwoo hurriedly moved away from the desk and stood against the door. Yirok’s hand skillfully grabbed Chaho’s throat. He slammed him down, holding him by the neck like a wild beast, and jumped off the bed. The only place for Chaho to go with his neck caught was Shinwoo’s desk.

“Gack…!”

He thought Yirok would slam Chaho into the desk with the hand that was choking him and then taunt him. But the moment Yirok’s other hand picked up Shinwoo’s ballpoint pen, he had no choice but to intervene.

“Stop it!”

The sharp tip of the pen stopped right above Chaho’s eyeball. The hand holding the pen was trembling faintly, and a violent desire was rising in his dark eyes. One more wrong move and Chaho could have lost an eye. Chaho, whose tact had been revived in the face of death, seemed to have realized the gravity of the situation. The fact that he was being choked was now the least of his concerns. Shinwoo shoved the finely trembling Yirok away with a shoulder check.

“Are you trying to kill someone? If something happens to Chaho’s eye, you won’t even be able to stay here.”

Only then did Yirok return to reality, letting out a breath that felt like a laceration. The pen fell from his hand, which was trembling as if suppressing rage. Once his throat was free, Chaho coughed loudly. It was quite a clamorous fight for a couple of immature boys. Shinwoo, looking fed up, grabbed his pillow and warned the other two idiots.

“Fight where I’m not around. Where I’m not around.”

Just as Shinwoo was throwing his hands up in surrender, saying he’d rather sleep on the street, Yirok moved first. He shoved past Shinwoo, who had only been trying to stop Chaho, and slammed the door shut. Bang. At the sound of the door slamming, Chaho let out a whistle.

“That guy’s a crazy bastard.”

Shinwoo glared at Chaho with a look of utter contempt. Chaho, who still had the energy to joke around, spread his arms and lay down.

Why is there not a single normal person around me? Shinwoo threw his pillow on the floor and let out a weary sigh.

🌹₊ ⊹

The Baekyeong Family was a family that had maintained a friendship with the Nanjubeol family for over a hundred years. The fact that Juhee, who was mentioned as the heir to that Baekyeong Family, frequented Nanjubeol as if it were her own home was quite a headache. For Yirok, that is.

“I told you to bring it, and you bring it to me like this. How impressive. It seems your face really is useful in many ways.”

If you’re going to praise me, praise me. If you’re going to insult me, insult me. Juhee, who couldn’t just do one and did both, made Yirok’s stomach ache yesterday. Not a burning pain, but an ache. Thanks to Chaehwa, who had advertised it everywhere, Juhee also knew who the owner of the pen was.

Bring one of Chaehwa’s belongings. There was no way Juhee, who had come to press him about the order Sarira had given, would miss that opportunity. In a moment when they were left alone, that pink ballpoint pen ended up in Juhee’s hands.

“The next instruction will be sent in half a month. Be ready.”

The reason Nanjubeol’s Jiju had called him separately was to inform him of the Baekyeong Family’s visit. Juhee, whose face changed in an instant, took what she wanted and left Nanjubeol. She crushed his spirits with the words that she would come again, and with her next words, she stomped on his pride.

“You’ll be coming home for the end of the year, right? Stay well until then.”

Don’t get lax just because you’re living in Nanjubeol. He could hear the hidden meaning in her smiling farewell. The end of the year, or at the latest, the beginning of the new year, he had to return to that damn Bansi family.

His hand, which had been full with just one pen, was now empty. He had ended up granting what Sarira wanted. Chaehwa, who had disappeared holding her grandmother’s hand, kept coming to his mind. He had returned to his room with such a dizzy head, only to have that guy Chaho cause trouble as well.

The guest sofa on the first floor was more comfortable than the room where that guy was breathing. He slept there like a crumpled pillow and was hit square in the face by the morning sun. Shielding his eyes from the sun with the back of his hand was like trying to break a rock with an egg. Yirok, who found it hard to fall back asleep once he woke up, faced a heavy morning.

He couldn’t see a clock, but it was very early in the morning. Yirok’s gaze, which had been unconsciously looking out the sunlit window, stopped moving.

His flower pot, which he had to leave after only seeing it sprout, had grown a little more. As if bewitched, he strode over to the sun-drenched window. His half-asleep hand gently poked a small leaf. Yirok couldn’t help but smile as the delicate leaf trembled as if throwing a tantrum.

It was the moment Yirok lifted his head, thinking how hopeless he was. A shopping bag was hanging on the handle of the window outside. It was the same shopping bag Chaehwa had hidden like her life last night. Yirok, doubting his eyes, opened the window. It wasn’t that difficult to reach his hand outside and retrieve the shopping bag.

Chaehwa had left it. Yirok was the only one who came down in the morning to stand guard by the first-floor window. Since she had given up on giving it to him yesterday, he thought she wouldn’t give it to him at all.

Yirok opened the shopping bag with a face devoid of high expectations. A square box, a white note. Yirok tilted his head and read the note first.

I lied yesterday. You eat all of this by yourself. You pig.

Remembering her voice, full of emphasis as she said it was a delicious snack, Yirok chuckled. Curious as to what on earth she had given him, he opened the box to find a black cell phone lying inside.

At the completely unexpected cell phone, Yirok looked around. He thought Chaehwa might be there.

But as if in Chaehwa’s place, a text message chimed. Yirok clumsily opened the phone and read the message that had just arrived.

「Congrats on the new phone」

The saved name was ‘Chaehwa The Best’. It was absurd, but Yirok read and re-read the message as if he had been determined to fall for it from the start.

This was his first cell phone. Holding the warm phone, Yirok looked up at the sunlight.

As if it were a different day from a moment ago, the sunlight was very warm.