Midday Guest Chapter 43

This time, it was a bit much. It was to the point where the thought of having to find the bandages he’d tucked away in the first-aid kit crossed his mind. After staring blankly into the mirror, Yiwon hurriedly dressed and stepped out of the bathroom.

Around noon, Haeundang was filled only with the fierce, relentless sound of cicadas. Yiwon fanned himself by grabbing the hem of his T-shirt as he looked out at the yard.

Having finished the cleanup throughout the morning, Haeundang was clean and quiet. Cha Seokjoo, the only guest at Haeundang, had left for the office early on.

Stepping up onto the wooden veranda, Yiwon’s feet naturally led him toward the guest room. The air from the air conditioner, which he had turned on before washing up, was incredibly refreshing.

From now on, it was free time. While lying in the guest room to escape the summer heat and scrolling through his phone, a scheduled alarm went off. Actually, there was a specific reason Yiwon had returned to Haeundang today.

Shin Heeyoung: It’s up.

Shin Heeyoung: Runway live.

Shin Heeyoung: Give me the address.

After checking the messages, Shin Heeyoung was silent for a moment. Did something busy happen at the site? Do I have to find the live channel myself? It was just as he was thinking that.

Shin Heeyoung: Here.

Shin Heeyoung: I’m going in.

Shin Heeyoung: Watch your big brother look cool.

Yiwon: Okay.

Yiwon: Do a good job.

He let the ridiculous comment slide quietly just for today. It was because he knew well how important a day it was for Shin Heeyoung. Not long after the countdown numbers converged to zero, the show began.

At Paris Haute Couture, Shin Heeyoung walked the runway wearing a grotesque white suit and a massive golden crown.

Yiwon didn’t know much about the fashion world, but he felt he could sufficiently understand how amazing the stage Shin Heeyoung stood on was. All the media outlets were racing to deliver news from Paris, including photos of global celebrities and brand ambassador updates.

Shin Heeyoung, who was sincere about his main profession, was cool. Yiwon waited until the show ended and sent a message congratulating Shin Heeyoung on his successful international advancement.

While he was lounging around like that for a few hours, Cha Seokjoo entered the guest room.

“You’re here.”

After spending some time holding his phone, sending messages, and looking at news appearing in domestic and foreign media, he got an earful from Cha Seokjoo.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“A friend of mine is a model, and I was watching because he said he’s standing in a show today.”

“That guy from the bathhouse?”

“Yes.”

After giving a displeased look for a moment, Cha Seokjoo took out several suits. Seeing as he called him “that guy from the bathhouse” for the umpteenth time, it seemed Cha Seokjoo remembered Shin Heeyoung. Yiwon was about to tell him a bit more but stopped. Seeing him even picking out a necktie, it looked like he was about to leave Haeundang.

“Are you going out?”

“Yeah, the Chairman called. It might take a few days.”

A few days. He had thought it was a light outing, so he was a bit surprised at the news that he might not see Cha Seokjoo for several days. Yiwon rolled his body over and looked up at Cha Seokjoo. Cha Seokjoo was standing in front of the wardrobe with a troubled expression, holding hangers in both hands.

“Why?”

“I can’t wear the suit I usually enjoy wearing.”

Looking now, there was a stain on the back.

Cha Seokjoo changed into a striped suit he didn’t usually wear. Then, he draped a briefcase and a paper bag over one arm, and the stained suit jacket and trousers over the other.

Having finished his preparations to leave, Cha Seokjoo’s gaze moved downward. Yiwon, who had been lying on his stomach in a relaxed posture holding his phone, flinched. The man’s gaze was fixed on Yiwon’s buttocks, not his face.

Where is he looking?

As Yiwon blinked, Cha Seokjoo’s gaze grew deeper.

Why does this feel like déjà vu? When did the exact same thing happen before? While trying to picture the situation, Yiwon sat up abruptly.

“…You said you were going to meet the Chairman.”

“You’re quick on the uptake, as always.”

Cha Seokjoo glared at Yiwon while narrowing one eye. It felt like a stray spark was flying toward the wrong place. Yiwon stood up and approached Cha Seokjoo’s side, but then felt something strange and looked around the guest room.

The laptop and envelopes were in the briefcase, the daily necessities he used comfortably were in the paper bag, and the suits that had been hanging in the wardrobe were draped over his arm. If Cha Seokjoo walked out like this, nothing would remain in the room. It would be an empty room.

Inhaling sharply, Yiwon tilted his head back and looked at Cha Seokjoo. The man’s gaze was already on Yiwon. His expression was the same as usual. Yiwon’s face flushed, fearing he’d been caught thinking something else on his own.

Clearing his throat lightly, Yiwon asked.

“Then are Mister Oh Taesik and Mister Ma Haeyoung going with you too?”

“No, those guys aren’t going.”

Yiwon felt a strange sense of relief and nodded. As he stood looking at Cha Seokjoo awkwardly, the man beckoned Yiwon with a tilt of his head.

“Come here.”

Yiwon slowly approached him.

“I can’t take you with me even if you look at me like that.”

“I wasn’t looking at you with that meaning.”

“That’s how you were looking.”

Yiwon tried to offer a longer excuse but kept his mouth shut. Cha Seokjoo tossed the items he was holding onto the table carelessly and pulled Yiwon into an embrace.

Their lips collided, and their tongues intertwined immediately. As a hand traveled up the nape of his neck and into his hair, Yiwon’s shoulders rose high. Cha Seokjoo kissed him even deeper while Yiwon opened his mouth to catch his breath.

Hot breaths burst out in close proximity. Letting out a sigh mixed with a laugh, Cha Seokjoo gripped Yiwon’s shoulders firmly and then pulled his gaze upward.

“You’re making me not want to go.”

His hollow heart filled up at those words. Yiwon looked at Cha Seokjoo with eyes that had lost their tension. The man tilted his head and licked Yiwon’s lips, then sucked hard on his neck before meeting his eyes.

“Wait here quietly. I’ll be back soon.”

Yiwon nodded.

Cha Seokjoo, who had seemed unable to pull away from Yiwon, finally withdrew and moved off. Yiwon stared blankly at him as he left without looking back once. But he let him go. That way, they would be able to reunite even one minute sooner.

He thought it would be lonely, but there was an item left behind in the room.

“…Huh?”

Under the table, an extra suit had fallen onto the floor. It seemed it had slipped to the floor when he hurriedly put down the items he was holding, and he had left without realizing it.

Yiwon quickly grabbed the suit and walked out. Since the man had just left, he thought he could sufficiently deliver it, but he was mistaken. The sedan was already turning the corner of the alleyway and moving far away.

“Director, you left your clothes behind….”

Standing alone in front of the gate, he gazed at the landscape where Cha Seokjoo had vanished. Fiddling with the fabric of the suit he held in his hand, Yiwon gave up on the chase and steadied his breathing.

“……”

Under the sweltering sunlight, he held Cha Seokjoo’s clothes up high. What was on it? He gave it a slight sniff. The stain smelled like food. It looked like it had gotten on him while he was moving around and greeting people during the office opening ceremony.

Things like this don’t wash out well if you leave them for long.

After contemplating for a moment, Yiwon folded the trousers and jacket well and left Haeundang. He intended to ask for dry cleaning at the laundry shop downtown.

It was while he was walking down the hill toward the city center.

“Yiwon?”

On a street he thought would be empty because it was midday, he heard Park Junseo’s voice. Turning his head to where the voice came from, Yiwon’s lips parted.

“Uh….”

Park Junseo was dressed similarly to how he looked on the day of the office opening ceremony. His faded white shirt, black dress slacks, and shoes covered in a layer of dust all bore a somber color palette.

“Did you get home okay that day?”

“Yes. What about you, sunbae?”

At Yiwon’s question, Park Junseo laughed loudly.

“What’s with ‘sunbae,’ it’s embarrassing. You can just call me hyung comfortably.”

Park Junseo spoke as if he were being generous, but Yiwon had no intention of doing so. Hyung. They weren’t close enough to call him that, and the expression didn’t feel comfortable.

“Where are you headed?”

“I’m on my way.”

“Where?”

His expression said he was truly curious.

Going to the laundry shop was no big deal. There was no need to beat around the bush. But the image of him walking alone on the empty street came to mind. His attire was the same. He wasn’t wearing an armband, but his clothes were unmistakably those of a mourner. That must have been why. Why he didn’t just pass by heartlessly and gave an answer.

“To the laundry shop.”

“The one downtown?”

“Yes.”

“I was on my way to the supermarket too, shall we go together?”

“Okay.”

“Really? You’re really going together?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

He was going that way anyway. Yiwon pulled Cha Seokjoo’s suit, which was draped over his arm, closer to his chest as he walked. Crinkle, crunch—the sounds of their footsteps overlapped. The cicadas cried as if they would tear his ears apart.

Park Junseo approached Yiwon’s side and stared at the suit jacket folded in half.

“Clothes? It’s a suit.”

“……”

“Do you wear clothes like this while working at Haeundang?”

Park Junseo asked with sparkling eyes. He looked ready to reach out and touch it at any moment, so Yiwon spoke up hurriedly.

“It’s not mine.”

“…Then?”

“It’s a guest’s clothes.”

“Ah, I see.”

While responding to Yiwon’s explanation, Park Junseo didn’t stop glaring at the suit jacket with narrowed eyes. Then, he let out a murmur as if talking to himself.

“I thought it might be….”