Formless Chapter 73

The taut bedsheet crumpled slightly under Heewoon’s hand. Gangwoo slowly spoke, following the gaze visible through his lowered eyelashes.

“Some people repay a lifelong debt of gratitude to a benefactor who saved their life.”

The palm touching his cheek rubbed his entire cheek. Then it slid down and grabbed his chin. Heewoon’s head, which had been looking down with an uneasy gaze, lifted.

“I saved sunbae twice.”

Gangwoo said, without mentioning at all that both times were his own intention.

“Twice?”

Heewoon pondered for a moment, then thought that saving him when he witnessed the murder must also have been included. So he nodded. Gangwoo smiled gently, looking at such a Heewoon.

“You’re indebted twice, so how long will it take to repay all of that?”

Gangwoo’s eyes ensnared Heewoon’s eyes. ‘I have to repay Seo Gangwoo.’ That thought, which he would have found uncomfortable a few days ago, now sounded somewhat natural.

“Very long…”

Heewoon hesitated, then said, and Gangwoo chuckled lightly. And he softly echoed Heewoon’s words.

“Yes. Very long.”

At that moment, the hand that had been bothering the bedsheet stopped moving. As if it had been waiting for those words.

Something suddenly touched Heewoon’s fingertips, placed on the bed. Looking down, it was Gangwoo’s finger. Heewoon’s hand twitched and touched Gangwoo’s fingertip.

Then the well-shaped hand brushed past his fingers and covered the back of Heewoon’s hand. He felt a sense of stability.

Feeling stable in a situation where he should be suffocating or despairing, dreaming of a future and having hope. Wanting to be embraced by a criminal whose witnessed acts alone were numerous.

He was completely broken.

Heewoon knew there was no turning back now. He had drifted very far, but the current embracing him was only familiar. Sometimes, even when it whirled too strongly, his body only swayed in place.

The worst thing was that the desire to go back had completely disappeared. Moreover, this violent wave would take him to a place he had never dared to go before. A place he could not have dreamed of from where he originally was.

His cunning brain even listed several advantages.

That he didn’t have to pretend to be okay, that he didn’t have to be strong, that he wasn’t alone.

And he thought.

That although broken, he shone even brighter.

“No matter how I think about it, I’m the one taking a loss in this deal. Sunbae has nothing but prettiness.”

Contrary to his words, which sounded like a grumbling complaint, Gangwoo was smiling very sweetly. Looking at his face, still imbued with the red light, Heewoon realized. Winter was over.

The chaos he resided in was utterly imprecise. It was an ambiguous world where right and wrong, and the forms and names of emotions, were unknown.

Only one thing was certain here. Heewoon desperately needed Gangwoo.

Heewoon found a world without Gangwoo to be horrifying just by imagination.

Gangwoo gazed at Heewoon, whose eyes were wide open. His hair was messy from staying in bed. Looking at the spiky hairs on his round head, Gangwoo felt like messing it up even more.

“I ordered it because sunbae didn’t buy it.”

“I bought it…”

Heewoon cast a bewildered glance under the bed. Large and small delivery boxes filled this spacious bedroom. He had ordered necessary items online, but it seemed Seo Gangwoo wasn’t satisfied.

“I’m wearing comfortable clothes anyway because of my cast.”

“Ah-ha.”

Gangwoo raised an eyebrow and nodded. And he said,

“I didn’t know sunbae wanted to wear a cast forever.”

“…No! I don’t want to wear a cast.”

Heewoon, understanding the words belatedly, was terrified and waved his hands.

“Th-thank you. My leg will heal quickly, so I’ll wear them well.”

Heewoon was fidgeting, thinking Gangwoo would do something scary as he tilted his head askew. But in fact, Gangwoo was thinking other thoughts. Thoughts that his white face was a little swollen, that it looked good, and that it matched well with the dried cineraria placed on the bedside table.

Gangwoo’s gaze, which had been on the flowers, moved back to Heewoon’s face.

“I should have brought them sooner.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

Gangwoo shook his head and sat on the bed, embracing Heewoon. He kissed his warm cheek and leaned his cheek against Heewoon’s neck. He saw the casted leg propped on a pillow.

“Did you take your medicine regularly?”

“Yes.”

Gangwoo stroked Heewoon’s cheek as if praising him.

“And it doesn’t hurt?”

His voice was gentle. This was so typical of Seo Gangwoo, asking this after breaking it himself.

“It doesn’t hurt much anymore.”

Three weeks remained until the cast would be removed. That is, three weeks had passed. During that time, Heewoon had not seen his mother once.

The feeling he felt from not being able to see his mother was not sadness or longing. It was just a slight unfamiliarity with his mother, whom he used to see every day, not being there. That was all.

Nowadays, Heewoon rather…

Felt relieved. And stable. There were times when Gangwoo’s sincere jokes were scary, but he wasn’t scared or anxious without reason.

“What kind of food does your mother like?”

“Hmm… I don’t know.”

His mother was coming in a few days. For three weeks, he had been very stable, but once it was decided that they would have dinner together, he had many worries. What should he say first when his mother came? What if his mother was sad seeing his injured leg? What if she pressed him about Seo Gangwoo?

Poke, a finger touched Heewoon’s cheek as he was deep in thought.

“Then what about sunbae?”

“I want to eat chicken.”

Delivery chicken. Heewoon added. Having only eaten healthy and good food, he had wanted something salty and greasy for several days.

“You can’t treat her to delivery chicken.”

Gangwoo frowned for a moment, then a smile touched his face. He glanced at the clock and said,

“Want a late-night snack?”

Heewoon turned to look at him, surprised by the unexpected words, and Gangwoo kissed his cheek.

About 40 minutes later, the chicken arrived.

Since all the staff had gone home, Gangwoo went out to receive the chicken. The house was large, so it took a few minutes for Gangwoo to return.

Heewoon stared blankly at the table right next to the bed. A laptop, a few books, a water bottle. It was cluttered. Heewoon thought he should clear everything away to eat there, so he lowered his leg off the bed.

A slight pain arose, making him frown his nose, then he neatly stacked the items on the table and held them in his arms. And it was just as he was about to move with a hop.

“What are you doing?”

He turned his head to see Gangwoo standing at the door, holding a white plastic bag. Heewoon’s eyes widened as if he had been caught doing something bad.

“I was going to move these…”

Gangwoo, who had been staring at him, placed the chicken on the table. Then he wrapped his arms around Heewoon’s waist, who was standing on one foot, lifted him, and placed him on the bed. Plop, Heewoon, now sitting on the bed, awkwardly fidgeted with the blanket.

Then something cold touched his cheek. It was Gangwoo rubbing Heewoon’s cheek with the back of his hand. His hand lightly touched Heewoon’s cheek, who looked up, then moved away and took the items Heewoon was holding in his arms.

Heewoon watched Gangwoo go to place the items on the sofa, then shifted his gaze to the chicken. A delicious smell wafted up. He thought it had been a really long time and reached out his hand.

Soon his nose wrinkled. The plastic bag was tied too tightly and wouldn’t come undone easily. Heewoon struggled to untie the knot with his fingertips, then finally tore the bag open. Rip, rip, a sound was made.

Heewoon rustled and pulled out the chicken box. He opened the box, tore open the pickled radish and sauce, and only then remembered Gangwoo.

“……”

Heewoon, who had raised his head, was a little flustered. It was because Gangwoo was standing a step or two away, quietly watching him.

“…Aren’t you eating?”

Gangwoo’s lowered eyes blinked. His gaze was withdrawn very slowly. A low voice emerged.

“I am eating.”

Heewoon thought it was a bit surprising that Gangwoo was eating chicken. He thought Gangwoo wouldn’t eat it, thinking it was cheap, but Gangwoo also held chopsticks until Heewoon finished eating everything. Eating delivery food with Seo Gangwoo in this large house. It was strange.

It was strange, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

“What about those?”

He suddenly looked at the delivery boxes full on the floor. Gangwoo glanced, following Heewoon’s gesture.

“I’ll tell them to clean it up tomorrow.”

He thought it would take a long time to clean all of this, and wondered if he would be disliked for it. But since there was nothing else he could do, Heewoon nodded.

The next day, people moved busily from the morning.

There wasn’t much space left in Gangwoo’s dressing room, so Heewoon ended up using the entire room next door as his dressing room. People came and went all day, doing something to make it usable as a dressing room.

The cleanup was finally finished around sunset.

Heewoon walked down the corridor, leaning on crutches. He stopped in front of the room next to the bedroom, supported himself on the crutches, and opened the door with one hand.

The room, which had originally been empty, was now full.

Hangers and shelves were placed on both walls, and a glass display case stood in the center. It was the same as the one in Gangwoo’s dressing room. Inside, several watches were displayed.

They looked familiar, and looking closely, they were all the same as Gangwoo’s watches. ‘Couple watches?’

Heewoon frowned at his own thought, then supported himself against the glass and turned his head. He saw shoes stacked on the shelves. There were two pairs of sneakers, various other sneakers, slippers, sandals, and even summer shoes he wouldn’t wear right away. Heewoon picked up a pair of shoes that looked similar to the sneakers he originally wore, bought with Gangwoo’s card, and looked at them from various angles.

And he dropped them on the floor as if tossing them, then lifted his other foot that wasn’t in a cast.

“Ugh…”

A pained groan escaped him as he stood with his casted foot on the ground. Heewoon looked around, then sat on a small, round chair. He leaned his crutches against the chair, set them up properly, and tried on the sneakers. They seemed to fit perfectly.