Irresponsibility Chapter 11.2

I went to the police station. I felt a little gloomy. I couldn’t tell if it was because I had brought up the past again, or because I had gone with my parents and didn’t have a chance to see Baek Geonhyuk. I didn’t know the reason.

“The police say they’re doing their best, so they should be able to catch him soon.”

“Yes…. Mom, Dad, you, you two shouldn’t worry too much either.”

Yeoun looked at his parents and smiled faintly. Even if the police couldn’t catch him, he would be found within a few days.

Before getting on the train, there was a little time left, so he got his hair cut at a salon near the station. It was difficult to give long answers to the hairstylist’s questions, so he just nodded and said, yes, but thankfully, the result wasn’t bad. It was thanks to his mom’s intervention.

Cutting his hair, which had been messily long like a bob, made him look much neater, but he felt a little awkward. During the train ride, Joo Yeoun kept fidgeting with the back of his now-bare neck.

After taking the train and returning home, they had a late dinner. Every day had been a feast, but today, since it was late, they ordered black bean noodles.

“Are you done? Have some more sweet and sour pork.”

“I’m, I’m full.”

He couldn’t even eat half of the black bean noodles. It had been a very long time since he’d had them, but all he could think about was the black bean instant noodles he had cooked and eaten with Baek Geonhyuk.

“It’s a problem that you’re not eating well.”

“……”

When he ate with him, he had been able to eat quite a lot. He had even finished a whole packet of the instant black bean noodles by himself.

Joo Yeoun looked down at the glossy seafood black bean noodles. Come to think of it, he had never ordered delivery food with Baek Geonhyuk. There were many other things he had never done with him. Riding a bike, grocery shopping together, going to the movies, soccer, eating at a restaurant….

“You must be tired today, right? Go on in and sleep.”

“Ah. I’ll c-clean up w-with you…”

“It’s okay. Hurry up and wash up and go to sleep.”

“Okay…”

Giving in to the fatigue weighing down his body, Joo Yeoun got up hesitantly, then said, ah, and took out his phone. When he took a picture of the half-eaten black bean noodles and sweet and sour pork, his parents looked up at him, bewildered.

“Um… I was going to show it to a f-friend.”

“A friend?”

“He’s a, a friend I stayed with in the c-countryside… We’re c-close.”

It wasn’t a lie.

But his tone was a little awkward from choosing his words, though it wasn’t very noticeable because he stuttered anyway. So he was gradually gaining confidence in lying. He wondered if he should be happy about that.

“You lived together?”

“Yes…”

Joo Yeoun drew out his words before adding, “At that f-friend’s house.”

His parents’ eyes widened in delight. The news that he had someone he was close to during the time he was in hiding seemed to be welcome news to his parents.

“Really? Then you should invite him to our house sometime. I’d like to treat him to a meal.”

“What? S-s-sometime. Yes…. Sometime…”

Joo Yeoun mumbled his words and slipped into his room. Once he closed the door, a sigh escaped him.

Inviting Baek Geonhyuk. Just imagining him meeting his parents made his head spin. He would have to tell them someday, but for the time being, their relationship was a secret.

After catching his breath, Joo Yeoun sent the picture of his dinner to Baek Geonhyuk. Because he seemed to often be curious about what he was eating.

Baek Geonhyuk didn’t check the message right away. He usually answered calls quickly, but that wasn’t always the case with messages.

Yeoun stared at his phone before placing it on the bed. As he gathered a change of clothes and underwear, his gaze kept flicking to the phone. He thought about taking his phone into the bathroom with him, but he was afraid of splashing water on it, so he left it on the bed. He wanted to use it for a long time since it was a gift from Baek Geonhyuk.

His shower time became a little faster. When he came out of the bathroom after roughly drying his hair, his family was clearing the dining table.

“Sh-should I help?”

“We’re all done. Siun, take the dishes outside.”

When his dad placed the washed and stacked dishes on the table, Joo Siun took them without a word of complaint. Before, he would often whine, ah, why do you only ask me?

“Good night, son.”

“Ah, good night.”

Joo Yeoun hesitated for a moment before turning away.

Once he entered his room, he threw himself onto the bed as if diving and immediately picked up his phone. But there was still no message from Baek Geonhyuk. He hadn’t even read the message.

Is he busy? Joo Yeoun slowly placed his phone on the bed and lightly tousled his hair. He thought a reply would come soon, but he didn’t receive one even by the time his wet hair had dried completely.

It was already 11:54 PM.

He and Baek Geonhyuk usually talked on the phone between 10 and 11 PM. After being with his family, he would go into his room and talk quietly in a hushed voice.

Joo Yeoun sat with his back against the wall above his bed and stared down at his phone. When it turned 11:55 PM, he started to feel a little anxious.

I hope nothing happened to him. It probably didn’t. Since Choi Joonghyuk hadn’t been found by the police yet, he could just be busy.

…Or maybe, he had gotten a little tired of talking to him. He had cut what he wanted to say by more than half and only talked for a short time so as not to bother a busy person.

When would he be able to see Baek Geonhyuk?

“……”

Joo Yeoun hung his head low and just stared blankly at his phone. 11:59 PM. The date would change soon. Then that would mean he hadn’t talked to him at all today. Because he hadn’t been able to talk to him this morning either, as he was traveling to Seoul with his parents.

They had promised, but realistically, they couldn’t talk every day. Right now, it felt like he was the one waiting for him, but once he went back to school, he might be the one who was too busy to contact him.

The reality of a long-distance relationship suddenly hit him.

11:59. He was staring blankly at the numbers.

[Baek Geonhyuk]

A call came in.

Joo Yeoun jumped up, grabbed his phone, and hurriedly answered his call. It wasn’t as if the call would disconnect if he was a little late.

“Hello.”

—Yeah, Yeoun. Are you home?

“A while… Ah, I got home a while ago.”

—Ah. I see.

After replying, Baek Geonhyuk was quiet for a moment. Since he didn’t speak either, the silence continued.

He knows that his way of speaking is usually composed. He also knows that he finds phone calls awkward.

But, because he couldn’t see his face, other thoughts kept creeping in. Had he been calling him out of a sense of duty all this time? Today, he had called with just one minute left until midnight, so why didn’t he say he was busy or that he was sleeping?

He knows his feelings haven’t changed, that they wouldn’t change.

The reason he was having these thoughts was all because he couldn’t see Baek Geonhyuk’s face. Even when he used to see him every day, he had always waited for him. Now, it had already been several days….

“Hngh…”

—Hm? Did you catch a cold?

At the ragged breath, Baek Geonhyuk asked.

—Are you sick somewhere? Why. Was it because the weather was a bit cold today?

When he didn’t answer, he poured out his familiar worries. Joo Yeoun forced his eyes open and clamped his mouth shut.

—Yeoun.

But at the voice calling his name, he finally broke down.

“Hnnnggg…. Ge-Geonhyuk…”

The moment he called his name while crying, he realized.

He was not doing well. Everything was difficult without Baek Geonhyuk. Dealing with his cautious family, facing the detective at the police station, showing his stuttering self in front of others.

A day without him itself.

“Heuuh, I, I miss you…”

Joo Yeoun burst into tears. He had returned to the arms of his family, and his heart had been filled with warmth because of it. Why was he constantly thinking only of Baek Geonhyuk?

—…….

Baek Geonhyuk was silent, as if flustered.

He felt so pathetic for crying again, but still, he missed him so much. He squeezed his eyes shut, and tears streamed down his freshly washed cheeks.

“Wh-when heuk, are we going to meet?”

Joo Yeoun asked, choking back sobs.

“Wh-when are we going to meet and ride bikes, heuk, and go to the movies…”

We haven’t even been to the movies… he cried sorrowfully. And then he kept muttering that he missed him, and his name, over and over.

Only when a low sigh seeped into his ear did his haphazard outpouring of sorrow stop. Joo Yeoun’s tear-filled eyes widened as he focused on the voice on the other end of the line.

—The moon is pretty tonight. Open your window.

But hearing words that were completely off-topic, his brow furrowed in a flash.

“Hey. The moon… heuk, not the moon. I said I miss you…!”

When he snapped in a tearful voice, a light laugh came back. Joo Yeoun narrowed his tear-soaked eyes.

“Are you, you laughing?”

—No. Just open the window for me.

Joo Yeoun sniffled and got off the bed. Why the window. Letting his dissatisfaction pout in his mind, he opened the window. Screech, with a sound, the window opened, and a chilly wind immediately rushed into the room.

“I, I opened it.”

—Then you should look at the moon.

Wiping his tears with the back of his hand, Joo Yeoun looked up at the sky outside the window. He couldn’t see the moon well, so he looked around and saw a halo of light in the distance. Joo Yeoun opened the screen and stuck his head out the window.

He saw a crescent moon. It was slightly covered by clouds, making it look picturesque, but it wasn’t a very special shape. Sniffle, Yeoun opened his mouth.

“I’m, I’m looking.”

—So you are.

“……”

His tear-stained lips closed in dissatisfaction.

Baek Geonhyuk had definitely said he missed him the day before yesterday too. He vividly remembered how flustered he had been at the mention of a long-distance relationship.

—Did you get a haircut?

“…Be-before getting on the train.”

—Yeah. It’s pretty.

At the low voice, Joo Yeoun blinked, startled. He reflexively looked around before his gaze dropped downwards.

Behind a tree in the flowerbed, Baek Geonhyuk was standing there.