Place to Be Chapter 51

Seo Chiyoung answered the phone with a voice heavy from sleep, unable to even open his eyes. His mind was vaguely wondering who would call at such an hour, but the moment a voice laced with laughter drifted through the receiver, he woke up as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head.

“Were you sleeping? I thought you might be… I’m sorry. There was something I wanted to ask you for a moment.”

“…—.”

His eyes snapped open. Not just his eyes, but his entire body bolted upright reflexively. However, as he kicked off the blankets and sat up, Seo Chiyoung huddled his body, swallowing a groan at the throbbing pain that echoed in his waist. Perhaps the sound of his low, indrawn breath reached the other side of the line, as the laughter seemed to vanish from the voice for a moment.

“Mr. Chiyoung? What’s wrong?”

“Uh… ugh… ah, no… I’m okay. My back just a little…”

While clutching his waist, Seo Chiyoung answered quickly, then briefly pulled the phone away from his ear to check the screen. Jang Wigeon. Those three characters were displayed. As expected, he hadn’t misheard the voice.

“Um… M-Mr. Wigeon?”

When Seo Chiyoung asked hesitatingly, only then did the voice take on a hint of laughter again.

“Yes. That’s right. Why are you so surprised?”

“Uh… ah, no…… w-what’s going on?”

Clicking his tongue at himself for foolishly stuttering, Seo Chiyoung clutched at his thumping heart.

He had spoken on the phone with Jang Wigeon a few times, but he had never had a call at such an unexpected hour for a reason he couldn’t guess no matter how much he thought about it.

“Ah, right. By any chance, do you have a motorcycle license?”

“Yes?… A motorcycle?”

“Yes, a motorcycle. It has a bit of a large engine displacement.”

“Uh… yes, I can drive one…”

Seo Chiyoung answered haltingly while sitting politely on his knees atop the blankets. Suddenly catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror placed in the corner of the room, he combed down his hair, which was sticking out like a magpie’s nest, as if pulling it with his fingers. Even though his appearance couldn’t possibly be seen through the phone, he quickly rubbed his disheveled face with his hands.

“Really? That’s good. What are you doing today?”

“Huh? Today? Today… I have to clean. Shake out the blankets and hang them on the roof… oh, and I have to do the dishes. I didn’t wash the rice bowls and spoons… and I have to take out the trash, water the flowerpots in front of the door… I saw the neighbor’s flowerpots were drying up too, so I’ll water those while I’m at it…”

His sleepiness had vanished, but with a still-blank mind, Seo Chiyoung was counting things off on his fingers when he heard Jang Wigeon laughing and shut his mouth. Only then did he realize he had listed off a bunch of foolish things; his face turned red, but he told himself it was okay since it couldn’t be seen over the phone.

“I see. Then is it okay if I drop by for a bit in the afternoon? I think I’ll be there around two or three o’clock.”

“Yes? Uh, the shop isn’t open today…”

Even so, if there’s some business, I’ll go and open the shop, Seo Chiyoung was about to answer, but Jang Wigeon’s voice replied before he could.

“I’ll go to your house. There’s something I want to give you. And while I’m at it, I can visit your home, Mr. Chiyoung.”

Seo Chiyoung fell silent. It felt like cold water was being poured over his head once again.

If he meant his house, was he talking about right here where he was sitting?

Are you going out somewhere this afternoon? Seo Chiyoung, who had been blankly dazed until the question came back, replied, “Ah, no,” and asked back in a flustered manner.

“But, th-this house? Where I am now… the house where I live?… Wh-why?”

“I remembered something while listening to you yesterday. I have a motorcycle at home that I don’t use. I rode it for a while a long time ago, but now I don’t and it’s just sitting in storage. I thought it would be better for that guy to not just rot in the warehouse if you used it, and I thought it might be convenient for you when you go to other places late at night.”

Ah, so that’s why he asked about the motorcycle license… Thinking blankly, Seo Chiyoung, still sitting with his knees pulled together on the blankets, scratched his head and looked down.

“Uh, I appreciate the offer, but…”

“…Is it uncomfortable for you?”

A laugh tinged with bitterness. At the voice that contrasted with the calm and bright tone from moments ago, Seo Chiyoung ended up falling silent. It wasn’t that, no, that was right, but, well, as Seo Chiyoung stammered, Jang Wigeon spoke quietly.

“I’m not using it anyway. Neither my hyungs nor I ride it, and under me, I only have one younger sister who was raised like a princess, so she won’t be riding it. By the time my nephew grows up enough to ride that thing, I’d probably have to sell it to a junk dealer.”

“…Th-…… Thank you.”

After agonizing fiercely for a short time, Seo Chiyoung eventually bowed his head again, and Jang Wigeon left the words, “Then I’ll see you in the afternoon,” with a laugh before hanging up.

Seo Chiyoung stared blankly at the phone for a long time, frozen, and only snapped out of it when his knees began to tingle.

He was surprised by everything from start to finish. Starting from the fact that Jang Wigeon had called, to the offer of giving him a motorcycle, to the plan to visit his house—all were things he had never even imagined.

“…”

Seo Chiyoung let out a quiet sigh. Only then did his heart, which had been thumping up there, seem to calm down a little.

He felt like something similar had happened very, very recently, and while tilting his head, he quickly recalled the memory. It was the memory of being asleep and then snapping awake at the sound of Jang Wigeon’s voice.

It was just last night.

While giving Seo Chiyoung a ride to the factory—it wasn’t that far, about twenty minutes away—Jang Wigeon told him that he must be tired since he had worked all day and had to go back to work, so he should close his eyes for at least a bit while they were going. Seo Chiyoung replied, “Uh, yes,” but thought he wouldn’t fall asleep because he was nervous; however, he grew languid from the heater’s wind blowing just the right amount of warmth and really did fall asleep. If it hadn’t been for the voice carefully waking him up, he might have kept sleeping.

When he came to his senses, it was just before the time he had to enter the factory. Jang Wigeon had parked the car in front and waited quietly for nearly three hours.

To Seo Chiyoung, who woke up with a start and bowed his head repeatedly saying he was sorry, Jang Wigeon had replied with a smile and eyes that showed no signs of sleepiness, “I just woke up now after sleeping next to you.”

Jang Wigeon, who seemed about to say something to Seo Chiyoung as he got out of the car, saw Seo Chiyoung looking at his watch anxiously since he had slept until the very last second, and waved his hand with a smile, saying, “Go on. I’ll call you later.”

The words I’ll call you had flickered in his mind, but it seemed like a common greeting, and above all, he had forgotten because he was in such a rush due to the lack of time.

He had briefly recalled that thought on his way home in the morning, exhausted after finishing work, but he hadn’t expected him to really call so soon.

“…”

Seo Chiyoung scratched his head.

As he remained lost in thought, the line between whether it was a dream or reality gradually blurred. Only after hesitatingly reaching for the phone and checking the incoming call log did he realize again that the call from a moment ago was reality.

—I think I’ll be there around two or three o’clock.

The voice that had spoken those passing words suddenly came to mind, and Seo Chiyoung bolted his eyes to the clock. Then, as he stood up in a hurry, his knees, which had been tucked under him the whole time, went numb, and he flopped down. Even while massaging his legs where pins and needles had set in with a distressed face, his mind was racing, and he moved out of the room on his knees.

If so, there were only about two hours left. Since the house was more or less organized, there wasn’t anything particular to clean anew, but he felt rushed for some reason.

What did I have to do? Ah, right. Cleaning and dishes, hanging the blankets, taking out the trash, watering the plants…

Limping on his tingling legs, Seo Chiyoung quickly opened the window first. And then he began to run busily around the house.

Come to think of it, he didn’t know how long it had been since someone visited his house. Unless it was a gas inspection or a package delivery, a person he knew personally almost never came to his house. Since he started living alone, he hadn’t had the leeway to bring anyone home, and even when he met friends, they mostly met outside.

Thinking back, until he was attending school, friends would often come to his house on holidays or he would go to his friends’ houses.