Place to Be Chapter 41

He looked exhausted. Seo Chiyoung gazed silently at Jang Wigeon’s face as he closed his eyes and let out a quiet breath.

Though his body was already dry and cozy after stripping off his wet clothes, and his damp hair was nearly finished drying, Jang Wigeon somehow looked like a small animal sitting forlornly in the rain. Like a creature that didn’t know where to go, didn’t know it had to leave, and was simply huddled in that spot, feeling utterly desolate. He looked like someone you’d want to cover with even a tattered plastic umbrella.

“…”

Seo Chiyoung looked down at his own hands. He wanted to gently place his hand over those closed eyelids, but he couldn’t stroke him—he wasn’t a small animal.

Seo Chiyoung gazed at the man with closed eyes. He had seen him like this, with his eyes shut, a long time ago as well.

How had it been back then?

Even without thinking for long, he could recall the memories of that time as vividly as if they had happened yesterday.

The gaze that had opened to look beneath the window. The eyes that had discovered the person they wanted to see and stared fixedly. The shadow that had briefly flickered across his expression upon seeing whatever was there.

Had he carried such an exhausted light back then too?

He hadn’t.

Seo Chiyoung saw the passage of time in that face.

“…Even if you never come into my hands.”

At some point, Seo Chiyoung quietly opened his mouth. Leaning against the sofa with his eyes closed, Jang Wigeon did not move, as if he were asleep. However, the eyelashes of his closed eyes fluttered slightly.

“I liked it. Just watching you. Even without exchanging a single word…. Just in itself, those were shining days.”

Everything was beautiful back then. It was only later that he came to think that way. Only after those days—where nothing special happened and a trivial daily routine continued—had passed did he look back on that time as a good memory.

“…”

Seo Chiyoung lowered his head, feeling a bit sheepish. Only after speaking did he realize it was an embarrassing thing to say right in front of the person himself. Especially since the man already knew how Seo Chiyoung felt.

However, it was simply Seo Chiyoung’s sincerity as he looked back on that time, without any expectations or ulterior motives, and Jang Wigeon surely knew that.

Jang Wigeon did not move an inch. He remained limp from exhaustion with his eyes closed, merely breathing quietly as if he were asleep.

Seo Chiyoung stared at him. He looked at Jang Wigeon so intently that he felt grateful the man’s eyes were closed. He thought that if the man had been awake, he probably wouldn’t have been able to look at him like this.

His face, which had become more sharply lined than during his high school days when he stood between childhood and adulthood, looked somewhat cold while his eyes were closed. It was a wonder how his impression could become so pleasant and cool just by bringing the slightest hint of a smile to his eyes or the corners of his mouth.

…Is he asleep?

The sound of his breathing, which was almost inaudible, was rhythmic. Even though Seo Chiyoung was staring right in front of him, there was no sign of him opening his eyes. Perhaps he really was asleep.

“…”

Seo Chiyoung quietly reached out his hand. Very lightly, he touched a few short strands of hair scattered on the sofa. Even then, Jang Wigeon did not open his eyes. However, Seo Chiyoung withdrew his hand of his own accord. Then he gazed at him silently.

His body, bare-chested and wearing only loose trousers, looked strong enough to remain unshaken no matter where he went outside, yet somehow he looked cold—perhaps because of the sound of the rain, or perhaps because of his shadowed heart. It would be nice to cover him with a blanket.

Come to think of it, he thought he had seen a blanket in the small room next to the entrance when he was peeking around the house earlier looking for the laundry basket.

Seo Chiyoung stood up quietly and turned his steps toward the entrance. However.

“I told you not to go.”

When he had only taken a few steps, a low voice was heard from behind. With a start, he turned around to see Jang Wigeon leaning against the sofa, his head turned to look at Seo Chiyoung. Watching the hand that lightly tapped the space beside him as if telling him to come here, Seo Chiyoung awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

“Uh… I thought there was a blanket in that inner room, so I was going to bring it… I thought you might be cold.”

Jang Wigeon, who had been staring at Seo Chiyoung, gave a short laugh. He waved his hand lightly as if telling him to go ahead. Seeing him turn his head and close his eyes again, Seo Chiyoung turned and entered the room next to the entrance.

Inside the room, which seemed to be used as a storage room with only closets and chests of drawers, a blanket was laid over a chair. Picking up the blanket, Seo Chiyoung thought, I really should go, though, since I left the shop door open.

Since Yoon Junyoung was bedridden, Jang Wigeon would likely stay here until he woke up, so Seo Chiyoung felt he could leave after bringing the blanket to Jang Wigeon. There was only one thing: it weighed on his mind what Jang Wigeon might be thinking right now with his eyes closed, and what kind of emotions he was brooding over.

“…”

Letting out a quiet sigh, Seo Chiyoung held the blanket and turned, taking a step to go back out to the living room.

It was then.

Thump-creak, there was the sign of the front door being flung open. The sound of the rain, which had been pouring down until now, grew louder through the open door and then receded again as the door closed.

Just as he was about to leave the room, Seo Chiyoung unconsciously slowed his pace as the figure of a man walking with heavy thuds down the entrance hallway passed before his eyes. It was Kwon Kanghee.

Raindrops were beaded on his shoulders and hair, as if he had come in a hurry without caring about the rain.

Jang Wigeon, who had been opening his eyes and lifting his head as if puzzled by the sound of the main gate, saw him. Kwon Kanghee, who stopped in his tracks in front of the living room, also looked at Jang Wigeon.

Kwon Kanghee’s gaze turned cold as ice as he saw Jang Wigeon sitting languidly on the sofa with a bare chest. Having burst in with a terrifying, fierce momentum from the moment he entered, he soon shifted his gaze away from Jang Wigeon and went toward the bedroom.

Flinging the door wide open and entering the bedroom without hesitation, Kwon Kanghee looked down at Yoon Junyoung, who was buried in the bed and wrapped in the blankets.

“Yoon Junyoung. Wake up.”

A low voice dropped down over him. Yoon Junyoung, who was sleeping as if he had fainted, did not move. Kwon Kanghee reached out to Yoon Junyoung without further words or hesitation.

However.

Kwon Kanghee, who was about to pull back the blanket and grab Yoon Junyoung’s arm, faltered. Yoon Junyoung, whose consciousness was vaguely returning as he faintly opened his eyes, looked up at Kwon Kanghee with vacant eyes as if he hadn’t quite woken up yet. And Kwon Kanghee looked down at Yoon Junyoung, who was under the blanket without a single stitch of clothing on, as if he had been struck by lightning.

“—…Kang, Hee…… Uh…?”

Yoon Junyoung, who was frowning as if he were dreaming because he couldn’t quite grasp the situation, shrank back and trembled as the air hit his body. As he sat up halfway and tried to pull the blanket toward himself, he finally realized he was naked, but more than that, he tilted his head, unable to immediately understand the situation of this man being before his eyes.

“—.”

Behind Kwon Kanghee, who was staring down at Yoon Junyoung as if frozen without moving an inch, Jang Wigeon stepped into the bedroom.

“Kanghee, you, suddenly at this hour——.”

Jang Wigeon began to speak displeasurably in a low, sunken voice, but he could not finish his next words.

Whump! A heavy, loud sound echoed. And with an even louder noise, Jang Wigeon, having been shoved back, slammed hard against the wall.

“…!”

“Get out.”

It was a terrifying voice. Kwon Kanghee was glaring at Jang Wigeon with blue-tinted eyes, as if he would bite through his throat if he didn’t leave this instant.

Jang Wigeon, who wiped his mouth in silence, looked at the blood smeared on the back of his hand and then glanced at Kwon Kanghee. In front of Jang Wigeon, who had wiped all expression from his face, Kwon Kanghee spat through gritted teeth.

“After just watching for so long, do you think you’ve finally gotten your hands on him?”

“—…Yeah.”

The moment the words ended, this time there was a crack sound from Kwon Kanghee’s jaw, and his face was whipped to the side.

“I’m just about to finally get my hands on him. You’re the one who should get out.”

Kwon Kanghee stumbled a couple of steps and clutched his jaw. The corners of his mouth twisted. “Do you think I sent that guy over for this to happen?” low words flowed from his lips like a monologue. And then.

Kwon Kanghee, grabbing Jang Wigeon by the collar, swung his fist. Thwack! Jang Wigeon also struck Kwon Kanghee in the face with tremendous force.

Smash! Bam! Terrifying sounds erupted. As if two ferocious beasts that could not coexist had encountered each other in one place, chilling noises mixed with shouts hammered through the air.

“…!”