Heavy Rain Chapter 54

In fact, as the cold air brushed against him, his ankle did ache. He thought he had walked without letting it show, but as soon as he took a few steps, Lyle’s gaze moved toward his legs.

By the way, did he know that his legs were hurting?

Haejin, who was somewhat surprised by this unexpected fact, soon lost interest. Come to think of it, his physical condition would have been reported to Lyle since the time they signed the first contract. He did not know from exactly when the man had started remembering that, though.

In spite of his calm words, his ankle continued to ache with every step he took. Now that he thought about it, he had sprained his ankle when he dashed into the bathroom last time. Since he had been mostly lying down after that, he had not realized until now that it still hurt.

When he went down the stairs, he frowned slightly in distress. Then, a large hand suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Hold on.”

“….”

Haejin, looking down at Lyle’s thick-jointed hand placed before him, raised his head again. Those blue eyes were directed straight at him.

He chose to go down alone while leaning against the side wall.

“I am fine.”

“….”

Watching the boy descend the stairs precariously, Lyle withdrew his hand, having only grasped the empty air. Then he followed silently behind. He watched closely to see if the boy might lose his footing.

It was obvious that there was pain in his leg, yet Haejin never said it hurt. His brow looked so precarious that the hand Lyle reached out instinctively felt futile.

He did not try to break this distance by force. The wall the boy presented still provided a sense of anxiety that felt like a tightening around his throat. However, he did not have the right to break it forcibly. Instead, he simply made his pace a little slower. He went slowly enough so that Haejin would not feel burdened.

The place they headed to after taking their time was the center of the inner court where Lyle had eaten breakfast once before. Upon arriving there, Haejin had to gaze blankly at the changed scenery of the courtyard.

“That is….”

“It seems the preparations are finished.”

The leaves had all fallen by now, leaving the branches bare. The table had been replaced with a slightly larger one, and portable heaters were placed here and there around it.

Servants were moving busily, carrying food. On one side, a tray with a warming device attached was visible so that the food could be kept warm.

Mark approached naturally and politely gestured toward one side for Haejin. Haejin, who sat down in the seat he was led to while feeling dazed, could not hide his burdened expression and looked around anxiously.

“Everyone, you may go in.”

“Please call us if you need anything.”

Lyle, who was the first to notice the anxiety reflected on that pale face, gave the command after confirming the setting was complete. In an instant, the servants who had filled the inner court disappeared into the building without a trace.

Suddenly, the quiet air of late autumn filled the space between the two of them. Nevertheless, the chilliness he felt earlier was nowhere to be found. Thanks to the heaters clustered specifically near Haejin, the air felt warm.

Haejin looked expressionlessly at the heater placed particularly close to his feet. As the pain in his ankle was bathed in warmth, it gradually subsided.

“Let us eat.”

Only after hearing Lyle’s voice did he turn his gaze toward the table. Perhaps considering it was breakfast, there was not a vast amount of food on the table. Right in front of him sat a bowl of soup with steam rising from it. The warm steam rising from the soup created a moist sensation at the tip of his chin.

Inevitably, Haejin, who had picked up his spoon and looked at the bowl, stopped with his mouth slightly open.

“….”

“…Does your stomach feel unwell?”

Lyle, who had been watching Haejin’s every move with tension while pretending to be indifferent, swallowed a sigh inwardly as he asked. He thought that if the boy ran toward the bathroom like that, he would have to call the doctor once more.

However, the boy merely said something unexpected in a somewhat dazed voice.

“…Stelline.”

The soup served for breakfast was not a common shape. It was a peculiar dish where a type of pasta called stelline was added to a clear broth.

Unlike general pasta, stelline is not a long noodle but a finely cut form. Specifically, when cut finely, it was often processed into a star shape about the size of a thumbnail. Thanks to that, the inside of the soup looked as if a bunch of tiny stars were gathered together.

“Ah.”

As it happened, Lyle was also just thinking about how it had been quite a long time since he had eaten this dish. This was a food his mother used to like.

Lyle, who had been hesitating, spoke while observing the reaction of Haejin, who was staring fixedly at the soup while seemingly frozen.

“The chef who quit previously returned to work recently. It seems he served it after a long time because it was a dish my mother liked.”

The explanation was long, but Haejin had no particular reaction. While anxiously touching his lips, Lyle hid a bitter smile.

I said something unnecessary.

“If it is, perhaps, a food you dislike, do not force yourself….”

“It is just that it has been a long time since I have seen it.”

“…Is that so?”

Pasta is common enough, but certainly, stelline was not a noodle one could see often. At least, not here in Heavy Rain.

Haejin inadvertently recalled the soup his mother used to make for him. The smell was very different from this, but the stars inside were the same. Haejin remembered clearly the words his mother said to him when he first ate this soup.

‘These are stars that Mommy specially picked from the sky.’

He was only ten years old, but he was at an age where he would not be fooled by such a lie. However, Haejin, who had to be cautious of others’ moods since he had just been adopted, simply smiled and moved past those words.

Except, the warm star soup he ate for the first time was so delicious it felt as if it really had been brought from the sky.

“It probably isn’t sold commonly….”

“That is true.”

It was the kind of item that grocery stores did not often stock. So, whenever he wanted to eat his mother’s special star soup, Haejin had to go on an errand to a quite distant place to buy this pasta.

“It is a pasta noodle my mother used often. It is not common to find a household that eats it this way, …it is a coincidence.”

Lyle could not take his eyes off Haejin, who spoke while looking down at the soup the whole time, as if he were bewitched.

Haejin had a faint smile lingering on his face, perhaps without realizing it. Furthermore, he was speaking at length for a change.

However, that smile which appeared briefly soon passed away as fruitlessly as the autumn wind. He had only blinked for a very short moment, but it was already gone without a trace, so Lyle ended up putting strength into the hand holding his spoon without realizing it.

“…It is a coincidence.”

While dazed and repeating Haejin’s words, Lyle remained frozen and could not move for a while. The faint laughter, like the boy’s pheromones, was far more painful compared to what he had dared to imagine in his dreams. He could not tell where this pain was rising from. Only after agonizing for a long time did he realize the source of the pain was his heart.

Haejin was sitting right in front of him, yet it felt as if he could not be grasped at all, just like the hand that ultimately failed to reach him earlier. Consequently, bitter liquid rose up inside Lyle, and he could not eat properly.

On the other hand, Haejin emptied a whole bowl of soup for the first time in several days.

𓂃ﾟ ⋆ ﾟ ☂︎ 🍂༄˖°

After that, star soup naturally appeared at Haejin’s breakfast. Because it was a menu item he ate exceptionally well, Mark also prepared it with care. He also did not forget to make arrangements so that the boy could eat while moving outside as much as possible, rather than staying in his room.

Most of the time, Haejin ate in the inner court alone or used the dining hall, but occasionally Lyle joined him. In his heart, Lyle wanted to check for himself every meal that Haejin was eating. However, he could not bring himself to suggest it recklessly, fearing that Haejin would feel burdened if he asked to eat together every day. Instead, Lyle always ate stelline soup whenever he was with Haejin.

After about a week had passed, Lyle noticed one peculiar point. Out of worry, Lyle had begun to receive detailed reports every day on what food Haejin ate and how much. Yet, was it not strange that Haejin’s intake increased slightly whenever he ate with him?

Surely it could not be because of Lyle. Perhaps it was that eating with someone else unconsciously felt more comfortable. Since he would have been eating alone and lonely all this time.

After repeatedly giving it deep thought, Lyle brought up the subject of eating breakfast together to Haejin again. He intended to suggest that he eat with Mark at the very least, should he be rejected.