Place to Be Chapter 62

He moved restlessly through the house, neatly organizing pieces of timber and other debris that were scattered messily right next to a path where people were likely to pass often, and picking up occasional cigarette butts or small bits of trash that may have been dropped by the construction workers whenever they caught his eye.

For a short while, he lingered only near the sarangchae, but even after waiting a bit longer, there was no sign of Jang Wigeon returning, so Seo Chiyoung moved his steps a bit further away.

Come to think of it, his maternal grandparents’ house in a remote countryside, which he had visited a few times when he was very young, was also an old Hanok. After his maternal grandmother, who had remained there alone, passed away while Seo Chiyoung was still young, there was no reason to go back to that house once it was disposed of.

That house was also quite spacious. He remembered crying as a child because it felt too large for his grandmother to live in alone, thinking she must be lonely.

“…”

Now that he thought about it, he heard that Jang Wigeon was planning to move in and live here.

It would be quite lonely if he didn’t move in with family. At the very least, since he was running a shop, people would be coming and going during the day, but it seemed like it would be very solitary once night fell.

Or perhaps the people hired for the shop would stay here too, Seo Chiyoung wondered as he saw a small, separate wooden door inside the wall. Tracing back his memories of his maternal grandparents’ house where he often went as a child—perhaps because it was a similarly old house, the structure didn’t seem much different—if he opened this door, probably…

Seo Chiyoung carefully pushed the door. The door, which was not latched, opened easily with just a little bit of pressure. Seeing the anchae—the inner house—nestled quietly inside, he thought, just as I expected.

Even if it was called “quiet and modest,” that was only in comparison to the grand sarangchae standing outside; the building itself was not that small and sat cozily within the stone walls. That building, separated from the sarangchae and other external structures, seemed to be sleeping peacefully all on its own.

“…”

Seo Chiyoung quietly stepped inside the door.

Was it because the signs of the workers coming and going outside were cut off, or because the sound of birds could be heard from between the branches of the lushly surrounding trees? Somehow, it felt like a different world in there.

Dazzling sunlight was pouring down. Twinkle, twinkle, it quietly illuminated the tranquil house.

Seo Chiyoung, who had entered and quietly closed the wooden door behind his back, approached it with careful steps. There was no one in the house, and there were no belongings at all. Only the house itself was breathing there alone.

What should I do.

Seo Chiyoung thought to himself unconsciously and ended up laughing weakly. What do I mean, “what should I do”? He liked it, he found this place charming, and such thoughts came to mind, but it wasn’t as if he could do anything about it.

Seo Chiyoung slowly brushed his hand against the large and small trees standing in a row in the yard. Just as his mother, who had loved tending the yard long ago, used to do. There was the sound of birds flutter, flutter flying between the tree branches. He could also hear them chirping. And through the gaps in those branches, sunlight leaked in straightly here and there.

“…”

Seo Chiyoung looked up at the rays of light absentmindedly before turning around. He approached the anchae, stepped up one stone step, and carefully sat down next to a pillar on the outer veranda.

The pillar, which had been finely touched by human hands over many years, was glowing with a deep wood color and shining. Had countless people sat in this spot, leaned against this spot, and stroked this pillar before?

Seo Chiyoung silently stroked the pillar and then leaned his head quietly against it.

The slanting sun wrapped around Seo Chiyoung’s entire body. From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, the warm and dazzling sunlight felt so good that Seo Chiyoung just closed his eyes.

He felt like he might get drowsy, but he didn’t fall asleep. Clear air and bird songs, a tiny and dazzling world that seemed somehow disconnected from the outside of those walls, was right here.

Slowly, his heart relaxed. A long, quiet sigh leaked out from between his lips. If only he could melt away into the sunlight like this.

“…”

The thought occurred to him that the moment a person falls for something might be just an instant. Or perhaps foundations that had been piled up step by step until then, without him even realizing it, suddenly manifested in a single moment.

Dazzling sunlight. A quiet and peaceful silence. The bluish shade of the trees contrasting sharply with the golden rays. An old, worn, and cozy house.

It was as if those lovely things gathered together to make Seo Chiyoung fall in love with this house at that very moment.

Seo Chiyoung gently rubbed his head which was leaning against the pillar. It felt as if a worn and warm scent was coming from the wooden pillar. He tried pressing his head and cheek against it quietly, and then he kissed it. Though the soft sensation touching his lips was actually cool, it somehow felt warm.

Seo Chiyoung leaned against the pillar, letting out a pleasant sigh.

Above his head, he heard the sound of birds chirping noisily and the flap, flap sound of wings as they moved from the trees to the roof.

Seo Chiyoung opened his eyes, which had been pleasantly closed, and looked above his head. The birds were already out of sight, but the bird sounds continued intermittently from over the roof.

Seo Chiyoung, who was lowering his gaze with a light laugh, stopped moving at that moment as if he had frozen in place.

Jang Wigeon, who had entered through the wooden door, was standing there—it was unclear since when. Under the shade of the trees, standing silently and still, he was looking at Seo Chiyoung.

At a glance, his face wasn’t visible. The sunlight he was receiving on his whole body also wrapped around his eyelids, and in the dazzlingly flickering light, Jang Wigeon’s form was not clearly seen. So Seo Chiyoung just stared at him blankly, blinking his eyes two or three times. Then, he smiled slowly.

“Are you finished with your work?”

When Seo Chiyoung asked that, Jang Wigeon, who had been still for a few seconds, nodded slowly. Then he took a step and approached Seo Chiyoung.

Jang Wigeon, appearing under the sunlight, was not smiling.

Seo Chiyoung tilted his head curiously.

That smileless face didn’t look angry or displeased. He was just staring intensely at Seo Chiyoung with eyes that were unreadable. Then finally, at the end of Seo Chiyoung’s curious gaze, Jang Wigeon slowly lifted the corners of his mouth. As a faint smile surfaced on his lips, only then did the usual light return to his expression.

“So you were here. I wondered where you went.”

“Yes… by any chance, was I not supposed to come in?”

When Seo Chiyoung spoke with a slightly anxious look, Jang Wigeon shook his head.

“That’s not it. It doesn’t matter where you go. As long as you’re careful of the toilet where the water doesn’t flush.”

Seo Chiyoung ended up laughing at the joke-mixed response. Jang Wigeon also laughed and came to sit next to Seo Chiyoung with a gap of about two spans between them.

Sitting side by side and looking at the modest garden is nice too, Seo Chiyoung thought to himself and then suddenly smiled shyly.

“I guess the moment a person falls for something is just an instant.”

“…”

When Seo Chiyoung spoke quietly, Jang Wigeon gave him a silent look.

“Or maybe you suddenly realize it like water overflowing after being piled up step by step… I’ve never once thought that I liked old houses until now.”

Jang Wigeon silently watched Seo Chiyoung, who was looking down at the yard with narrowed eyes. Then, he opened his mouth with a calm smile.

“Did you like it here?”

Seo Chiyoung laughed. Watching Seo Chiyoung nod, Jang Wigeon remained silent for a moment before saying, “Me too.”

“A long time ago, my maternal grandparents’ house was an old Hanok like this. Since my maternal grandmother passed away—my maternal grandfather passed away before I was even born—that house was settled, so I don’t know how it is now, but it also had a separate anchae like this and a cozy yard in front of it.”

Jang Wigeon was listening quietly to Seo Chiyoung’s slow recitation. Seo Chiyoung suddenly laughed as a thought occurred to him.

“But that house was really cold in the winter. It was warm while the floor-heating fire was being lit at night, but by the time dawn came around, it would get so cold that even if you burrowed under the blankets, the floor was only lukewarm, so I used to shiver buried under the blankets until morning.”