KISS THE SCUMBAG Chapter 41

After the tutor had left, Winston merely said he was sorry in response to his mother’s reprimand. Mrs. Campbell felt puzzled by her son’s uncharacteristic attitude, but he evaded the situation with the excuse of needing to practice the piano.

Yujin, Yujin.

He scoured the internet to look for the name the angel had told him. There was no angel by the name of Yujin. He hesitated before looking for the name among demons, but it was the same there as well.

That’s ridiculous. He’s so pretty, he must be human.

Even after getting into bed, Winston could think of nothing but that boy. He could not stop his thoughts no matter how hard he tried. In the end, he came up with a scheme the next day.

“It seems you have caught a cold.”

As Mr. Gerber, the family physician, delivered his diagnosis, his mother let out a sigh with her voice higher than usual.

“A cold? Then what should we do? Should he be hospitalized?”

As always, she worried excessively. The doctor shook his head and spoke dismissively.

“It isn’t serious, so he should feel better if he rests for a day or so. I will leave some medicine. Try to get some sleep. There is no better medicine than sleep.”

After giving Winston some light instructions as he pulled the thick quilt up to his chin and gasped for air, Mr. Gerber stood up. Mrs. Campbell had no choice but to nod.

“I will cancel your schedule for today. Get some rest.”

“I’m sorry, Mother.”

He coughed on purpose, and his mother looked at him with a pitying expression as she kissed his forehead.

“It’s alright, get some sleep now. Don’t think about anything.”

She gave him one more affectionate look before leaving the room with the doctor, after ordering the servant to pull the blackout curtains to block all the sunlight streaming through the windows so Winston could sleep soundly. The servant did as told, closing the curtains and turning off all the lights in the room. Thanks to this, Winston was left alone in total darkness.

Good.

After some time had passed and he was certain there would be no one in the hallway, Winston slipped out of bed. He cautiously opened the door to survey his surroundings, and as expected, the wide hallway was completely empty.

Everything after that went like clockwork. Avoiding the people who occasionally passed by, he managed to slip out of the mansion and headed straight for the stables. The caretaker who was cleaning was startled by his sudden appearance, but Winston remained unfazed and spoke calmly.

“I need Lancelot. Prepare him right away.”

The caretaker, though bewildered, moved to follow his request. Once he had easily mounted the horse, Winston took out some money he had prepared, handed it to him, and gave him a stern instruction.

“This is a secret. This is hush money.”

The caretaker, having received the money, couldn’t hide his surprised yet delighted expression. Leaving behind the man who was laughing and telling him not to worry, Winston hurriedly drove the horse and took off.

He wanted to see Yujin. As he raced toward the face he had been longing to see all night, only one thing remained in his mind.

Yujin, will you be there today, too?

Will you be waiting for me?

…What if you’ve returned to heaven?

When he finally arrived at the annex while entertaining anxious thoughts, Winston was heaving for breath, his shoulders rising and falling.

Huh?

Yujin, who had been sitting at the tea table by the window reading a book, suddenly felt a strange presence and looked out the window, only to be startled. The handsome boy he had seen yesterday had come on horseback, just like the day before. It was an earth-shattering event. He had thought it would be another similar, boring day, so what on earth was this?

Surprised, Yujin hurried to run out, but stopped at the door and ran back to the window. The boy was still visible there. Even after rubbing his eyes and confirming it was real, Yujin repeated the same action two more times before he could finally step out of the house.

The jingling sound of the wind chime echoed softly on the breeze. Winston stopped in his tracks for a moment, lost in thought. There wasn’t a shadow of a person around the annex. They might be inside the house. There was a small bell next to the door of the annex. If he pressed it, would Yujin come out? Surely he couldn’t be completely empty, could he?

If that were the case, his suspicion that Yujin was an angel would become reality.

I hope that isn’t the case.

Winston thought to himself. He wanted to see him again. If Yujin had become an angel and ascended to heaven, he would never be able to meet him. Unless he himself died.

Then does that mean I can only meet him later when I become an old man…?

“Ugh, I don’t like that.”

Winston said to himself aloud. It was truly pathetic behavior to feign illness to barely escape, only to sit on a horse and have useless fantasies like this. Let’s first confirm if he’s in the annex. He could think after that.

Deciding this, Winston got off the horse. As he stepped into the clover field, the door of the annex suddenly opened. Beyond the wide-open door, the angel appeared. Just as a happy smile spread across the face that had been surprised with an “Oh!”

“Winston!”

The angel with the flushed cheeks called his name with a bright smile. And immediately after, the angel ran with all his might and threw his arms around Winston.

“I missed you!”

It was fine that he shouted happily and jumped at Winston. However, as he was also just a child the same age, he had no strength to withstand the impact.

“Ugh!”

Pushed by Yujin, Winston tumbled backward with a short scream. Even though it was a fleeting moment, Winston still held Yujin—who had rushed into his arms—tightly with both arms as he fell backward.

“Ugh…”

Following the dull thud, Winston let out a small moan. Yujin, who had fallen with him by surprise, blinked blankly before suddenly realizing what happened and scrambling to his feet.

“Oh no! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

To his urgent question, Winston stumbled to sit up and let out a short scream in the moment.

“Ouch!”

“Winston!”

Seeing the boy wince and grimace, Yujin turned pale and shouted.

“Are you hurt because of me? What do I do! I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Oh? No, I’m okay, I’m okay.”

At the reaction of Yujin, whose eyes were quickly welling up with tears, Winston hurriedly waved his hands and smiled.

“I just lost my balance and fell. Really, it has nothing to do with you.”

Watching Winston insist, “I’m serious,” a few times, Yujin looked at his expression, half in doubt.

“I’m really okay, I don’t lie.”

Even though I did feign illness.

Winston added that thought to himself as he spoke as if to convince him. Regardless, it wasn’t a lie to Yujin, so it was the truth. Having successfully performed a quite excellent piece of self-rationalization, he smiled with satisfaction. Only then did Yujin stop crying and giggle. His small nose was flushed red, which was just so cute. Winston blushed and smiled back at him.

∞ ∞ ∞

“I see. So you came from Korea.”

Winston, who had been listening to Yujin’s story while they sat side-by-side in the clover field, said. Yujin nodded, “Uh-huh,” and continued.

“Harold brought me.”

“My father?”

As Winston inadvertently asked back, Yujin answered readily.

“Yeah, your father. Harold Campbell.”

Well, I suppose that makes sense.

Winston was immediately convinced. If there was someone who could bring someone to an annex that was practically part of the mansion, who else could it be but Harold, the owner of the estate? It was an all-too-obvious fact that Harold was behind Yujin. Besides, since Winston had told him his own name the day before, Yujin must have guessed it too. That the Harold who brought him was his father.

“But why are you here? Don’t you get bored by yourself?”

“I am bored.”

To Winston’s question, Yujin answered honestly, letting out a sigh that was far too mature for a child.

“But I have nowhere to go… This is my house, the one Harold gave me.”

Until then, Winston could not know at all. The dark secret of why Harold had to bring Yujin to the mansion. It was because he was far too young to know.

“Then, what about school? Don’t you go to school?”

Seeing Yujin shake his head, Winston was shocked. Does that mean Yujin really spends the whole day, the entire time, just in this annex? Flustered, he spoke impulsively.

“Really? You don’t have any friends? Are you all by yourself?”