Midday Guest Chapter 58

It seemed like staying with Cha Seokjoo would be much better than a motel or a goshiwon. After deep deliberation, Yiwon parted his lips.

“Will it really be okay?”

“What is there to be okay or not? You let me stay, so now I’m letting you stay.”

The moment the thought that his biggest immediate worry might be resolved crossed his mind, his next concern arrived. How much was Cha Seokjoo’s monthly lodging fee again? Was it 12 million won?

“Then, what about the room rent…”

“What room rent? The baby just needs to study hard.”

“You’re not going to take any money?”

“I’ve already received it.”

Yiwon’s eyes went wide. He received it? I never gave him anything?

Cha Seokjoo unclasped their intertwined hands and displayed the burn scar remaining on Yiwon’s palm.

“Compared to the price of saving a life, room rent is, well, at an absurd level.”

“…Ah. This is…”

It wasn’t something he had done hoping for money or a reward. Although it was an incident that happened because he got caught up in the power struggle arising from the project, at the moment he tried to save Cha Seokjoo, there was no calculation involved; it was a pure heart.

“You don’t have to keep that day on your mind. It doesn’t interfere with my daily life, you already paid all the treatment fees, and you’ve done more than enough.”

These were words straight from the heart. It was thanks to that incident that the Yonggung-ri redevelopment gained momentum and he even received compensation. If it weren’t for Cha Seokjoo, Yiwon would still be tied to Yonggung-ri, worrying about the dwindling number of guests and worrying about Kim Sunwoo, who kept coming by to torment him.

“I can’t just do that. Not when a mark like this remains.”

“…But.”

When he added a condition, Cha Seokjoo let out a sigh and leaned his head toward Yiwon.

“Are you really a Korea University student?”

“Yes?”

“I’m speaking this plainly and you still don’t understand?”

Is it because he only studies? Muttering that, Cha Seokjoo pointed his finger toward the driver’s and passenger’s seats. Oh Taesik and Ma Haeyoung were glancing at the rearview mirror, pretending not to listen while eavesdropping on the conversation between Cha Seokjoo and Yiwon. Both were looking ahead, but Yiwon could feel it. While the conversation with Cha Seokjoo regarding his living situation dragged on, their entire attention was directed toward the back seat.

“…Ah.”

Only then did Yiwon lift his head and meet Cha Seokjoo’s eyes. Instead of a direct expression telling him to come live in his house, Cha Seokjoo chose to hold Yiwon’s hand firmly, and Yiwon replaced his answer by squeezing that hand back.

A subtle expression, as if about to smile but not quite, lingered on both their faces.

“Do you understand now?”

“…Yes.”

“Since you understand, let’s go quietly now.”

“Yes.”

Yiwon answered with a clear voice and squeezed Cha Seokjoo’s hand with all his might. He rubbed it roughly so that the burn scar pressed between their intertwined fingers could be felt.

While the black sedan crossed through the Yonggung-ri town center, Yiwon gazed blankly at the street.

As the redevelopment was confirmed and the compensation payment process began, the commercial district where the townspeople had rapidly left was almost empty.

They passed the bathhouse, the supermarket, the mill, and the coffee shop in turn before arriving at Haeundang. The eaves, met by the first snow of winter, were covered in a white blanket.

Oh Taesik looked around the yard while brushing off the snowflakes piling up on his head.

“Little boss, what are you going to take?”

“Ah, there’s nothing big. I just need to pack a few things I use. Please wait just a moment.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Then he sat on the wooden porch with Ma Haeyoung and smoked a cigarette. Wow, it’s a bit of a waste to push this place all down, he said, making sounds of regret.

Yiwon, who was packing a bag in his room, quietly agreed with those words. Bad memories, good memories… It was even more so because it was a place containing many memories.

A few outfits that had been sleeping in the closet, a few cherished notebooks. There wasn’t much to pack. After shoving all his belongings into a small suitcase, Yiwon passed the wooden porch and came down to the backyard.

He strolled through the yard, lost in thought. He remembered when he first came here. Thinking back to how he had tended to this place, which was a mess of weeds and trash, and lived diligently until a day like this finally came, he felt deeply moved.

During the ten years he spent here, time wouldn’t pass, yet he didn’t know why time had flowed so fast recently. Since it felt like the true end, he looked up at the Haeundang plaque and bid his farewell.

You worked hard all this time, and thank you so much.

“What are you doing?”

Cha Seokjoo, who had approached before he knew it, stepped up to Yiwon.

“Ah, because it feels like the last time, just for a moment…”

He felt embarrassed in case he looked like he was being too sentimental. When Yiwon averted his gaze with a faint laugh, Cha Seokjoo covered Yiwon’s cheeks, which had turned red from the cold, with his hands and made him look at him.

“Do you feel regretful?”

“It’s both a relief and a disappointment. I’m not really sure. This is the first time in my life I’ve… cleared something out with my own hands.”

Cha Seokjoo brushed under Yiwon’s eyes. He didn’t offer any particular words of comfort, but the touch felt like it was caressing Yiwon’s heart, making it feel ticklish.

“You’ll feel better soon. Since you came here to clear your mind…”

His lips were covered.

It was their first kiss in a long time, but it took only an instant to awaken his emotions.

Yiwon felt the arm wrapping fully around his back and gave his body over to Cha Seokjoo.

The body heat being transmitted now, the breath touching his ear, the heat pouring over him; he hoped all these things would continue. He hoped they would continue to be directed only toward him. The moment he thought of those things, a flush of heat rose to his face.

When Yiwon hesitated and stopped, Cha Seokjoo said with his lips still attached.

“Why.”

“…Just because.”

“Just because what. Ah, are you shy because it’s been so long?”

“There’s that too.”

“Is there something more?”

A large hand ruffled through his hair. The moment he saw Cha Seokjoo waiting for Yiwon’s answer while meeting his eyes, Yiwon felt his faintly dormant emotions filling up to the brim and took a breath.

Ah…

What should I do.

“It’s nothing.”

Yiwon thought as he hugged Cha Seokjoo’s waist tightly.

He kept thinking of him, felt conscious of him whenever he looked at him, and the series of reasons why it was okay to intimately share their bodies without hesitation even though they weren’t in a relationship was all because… he might have come to like this man, whose job and way of life were completely different, from some point in time.

“Director.”

“Yeah.”

“Can I, can I try kissing you one more time?”

“One more time?”

“…Yes.”

“I don’t think one more time will be enough for me.”

Cha Seokjoo kissed him again while cradling the nape of Yiwon’s neck. While they licked and bit each other’s lips, their breath broke out and scattered into white mist. The kiss with him, licking lips and entangling tongues, felt like it was leading Yiwon into another world.

“Stick out your tongue. Let me suck on it.”

“…If you promise you won’t do it too painfully.”

“I got it, so hurry up.”

He rested the tip of his tongue on his lower lip and tilted his head back. Cha Seokjoo practically locked Yiwon in his arms and took his lips fully into his mouth. To the point that his answer of “I got it” was meaningless, he searched through his mouth fiercely and sucked on his tongue.

Yiwon swallowed the messily tangled saliva and closed his eyes.

The fact that Cha Seokjoo, having finished the business in Yonggung-ri, went out of his way to find Yiwon again; the fact that the man who had entered like a declaration of war saying he couldn’t share a room with anyone else readily told him to come into his house; the fact that he followed him into the backyard because he couldn’t wait even a moment and was now kissing him. All these moments were the heart Cha Seokjoo held for Yiwon.

Twisting his head to interlock their lips even deeper, he pulled his lips away upon hearing Oh Taesik’s typhoon-like shout coming from the front yard.

“Director! Little boss!”

“Ah…”

“Where did you two go?”

Yiwon glanced toward Oh Taesik and Ma Haeyoung running around in the front yard, only to have his lip bitten.

“Nngh!”

“You really get distracted easily.”

“…I don’t think that’s something for someone who didn’t contact me for a while to say.”

“Give me a break. It took time to clear out the surroundings so I could meet the baby.”

Cha Seokjoo wiped Yiwon’s lips, which were drenched in saliva, with his thumb and chuckled. Then, he sucked the saliva off his finger with a slurp.

“Why didn’t you do it?”

“…….”

“The business card. Did you throw it away?”

The business card; he obviously had it. He had even placed it carefully inside his wallet.

However, the reason he didn’t call first was that he expected how busy the man would be. He was a man who had once driven three hours down to Haeundang even with a home ten minutes away.

There was a part of him that thought it was right to wait rather than call prematurely since the man would surely contact him first once he had some leeway… and in his very honest heart, there was definitely a part of him that was afraid Cha Seokjoo, having finished the business in Yonggung-ri, might have forgotten him now, which prevented him from stepping forward actively.

“Give me your phone.”

“Why the phone?”

“To get your number.”

What did he mean, get his number? While he was blinking quietly, Cha Seokjoo added an explanation.

“You and I will have to keep in touch from now on, won’t we?”

“…Ah.”

Cha Seokjoo, thinking Yiwon had thrown away the business card, punched his number into Yiwon’s phone and made a call.

“Save it.”

“Yes.”

“And make sure to answer the phone.”

“…Yes.”

Yiwon saved the number with a dazed face. Glancing over, Cha Seokjoo was also in the middle of saving Yiwon’s phone number. It felt as if the brief disconnection had gifted their relationship a new turning point. Half a year was by no means a short time, but the reward felt sufficiently sweet.