Sunshine Shower Chapter 102

“…Okay.”

“I’m going.”

Just as he was about to leave, Woo Yeonjae wrinkled his nose slightly. Then, without warning, he grabbed Moon Seoyoon’s wrist and buried his nose against his bare skin. Though Moon Seoyoon wasn’t as startled by the touch as earlier, his fingers twitched slightly.

“You’re wearing cologne?”

With his nose still against Seoyoon’s wrist, Woo Yeonjae raised his eyes and asked. His breath traced a path down Seoyoon’s wrist, making his chest tingle. Seoyoon subtly pulled his arm back as he replied.

“I don’t usually have a reason to wear it… I’ll tell Mom you bought it for me.”

“I thought you were going to talk bad about me.”

Woo Yeonjae’s neatly arched eyebrows slightly drooped as he tilted his head. His eyes looked sad, and the corners of his mouth turned down, making him seem genuinely upset.

“Should I really talk bad about you?”

Knowing he was just playing around, Seoyoon teased him back with a playful response.

“No.”

Woo Yeonjae smiled brightly, his eyes curving.

“Ask her to think nicely of me.”

His tone was light and playful.

“Even if you don’t say that, she’ll think well of you.”

When Seoyoon spoke sincerely, Woo Yeonjae chuckled and glanced at his watch, turning his wrist to check the time.

“When will you be back?”

“It’s a bit far… I think I’ll be there for an hour or two. But I could be later than I expect.”

“Kim Hyunseung’s been pestering me to meet up.”

Now that he thought about it, they hadn’t seen each other since the semester ended.

“Should we meet today?”

“Today?”

Woo Yeonjae asked, sounding surprised.

“It’s my mom’s anniversary, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be sad all day… I think it’d be nice if the three of us could grab drinks together.”

Drinking would probably make him feel emotionally vulnerable, making it easier to talk about the piano issue. It was awkward to bring it up sober, but with alcohol, asking for advice might feel less daunting.

If it was just him and Woo Yeonjae, he would probably never bring it up, but with Kim Hyunseung there, the conversation wouldn’t get too heavy. Hyunseung had a way of lightening the mood.

If things stayed light enough, he figured he could mention the piano problem casually, as if it were no big deal.

‘Though I could ask my grandfather…’

But he’d probably get furious and insist on bringing the piano over immediately.

The aftermath worried him.

His father had gotten this far thanks to his diligence, effort, and talent, but his grandfather—his mother’s father—had also played a big role with his wealth. His grandfather hadn’t been too pleased about his father’s remarriage, and if he found out about the piano issue, he’d likely explode with anger.

‘Still, according to what the housekeeper said, it doesn’t seem like they’ll get rid of it right away. Maybe I’ll find a solution if I ask the others before anything happens.’

It would help to hear someone else’s opinion, rather than worrying alone.

“Alright. I’ll ask him.”

Woo Yeonjae narrowed his eyes slightly, as if weighing Seoyoon’s sincerity, then nodded.

“I’ll call you again on my way. I’m leaving now.”

Moon Seoyoon passed by Woo Yeonjae and put on his shoes. Next to his black sneakers were Woo Yeonjae’s dress shoes. He hadn’t noticed before, but there was a significant difference in their shoe sizes, just like their height.

“Seoyoon.”

At the sound of his name, Moon Seoyoon instinctively turned around. Woo Yeonjae’s lips moved slowly.

“Be careful.”

After parking the car, Moon Seoyoon reached for the bouquet in the passenger seat. It was filled with lilies, his mother’s favorite.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

The air was cool, as if it might rain.

But no matter how fresh the air felt, it was still summer. Knowing he would sweat through his jacket, Moon Seoyoon only took the bouquet with him as he headed toward the memorial forest. Though it wasn’t a place he visited often, he could find where his mother was in an instant.

Without hesitation, he walked toward his destination.

“Uh?”

There was already a bouquet placed under the tree. Upon closer inspection, it was a mix of white and pale pink lisianthus. Although he didn’t know much about flowers, the delicate, fluttering appearance left an impression, so he remembered its name.

Kneeling down, Moon Seoyoon placed the lilies he had bought next to it. The two different kinds of flowers blended together quite well. Without thinking, he reached out and touched the pink petals, the soft texture tickling his fingertips.

After staring at the flowers for a long while, he slowly lifted his head. The familiar tree came into view.

“It’s been a while, Mom.”

There were so many things he wanted to say, but when it came time to speak, his mind went blank as if emptied. Perhaps it was because most of what he wanted to say couldn’t be voiced. It was about his father, the piano, and Woo Yeonjae.

If there was one topic he could talk about with some ease, it was Woo Yeonjae.

“Yeonjae asked me to give you his regards.”

For summer, the air was cool and crisp. Maybe it was because he was sitting under the large tree, or perhaps it was the subtle tension in the air, as if rain might soon fall. Either way, the coolness made him feel somewhat at ease.

“Even if he hadn’t said that… if you were still alive, you’d probably adore him.”

Looking back, his mother had always seemed to think of Woo Yeonjae as a sibling. They were both boys, only children, and the son of a close friend whom she had known since they were young. It wasn’t strange that she treated him that way. Woo Yeonjae’s parents were also quite informal with Seoyoon, so they probably felt the same.

“I wonder if you would’ve been upset if I had confessed that I like him.”

The more he opened up to Nam Taeun, the easier it became to talk about his feelings for Woo Yeonjae. He had faith that his mother wouldn’t have reacted negatively to his confession, nor gotten angry.

She was always the one who said that he mattered more than the piano, so he imagined she would’ve smiled warmly and opened her arms.

“Still, I think you would’ve liked Woo Yeonjae.”

Talking about Woo Yeonjae was the best way to avoid venting his resentment toward his father.

“He’s endearing in his own way…”

Though he couldn’t call some of the things Woo Yeonjae said “endearing,” his behavior wasn’t abrasive, and so his mother would have continued to adore him.

The breeze gently rustled the bouquet, drawing his gaze back to the flowers beneath the tree.

“…”

Suddenly, a strange intuition came over him—a sudden feeling that the bouquet had been placed there by Woo Yeonjae.

Moon Seoyoon carefully reached out and brought the bouquet closer. Burying his face in the soft petals, the faint scent of flowers tickled his nose. As expected, there was no trace of any lingering perfume.

And yet, despite the lack of evidence, he felt an odd certainty that Woo Yeonjae had been there.

“Sigh…”

With the bouquet held in his arms, he bowed his head, the soft petals brushing against his forehead and tickling his skin.

“Woo Yeonjae, really…”

Had he left a bouquet like this while Seoyoon was in the army?

Moon Seoyoon thought of his old childhood friend in his black suit. At the same time, tears began to fall onto the thin petals. He wasn’t sure if these were tears of relief from the realization that someone understood his feelings, or if they were tears of sorrow, held back the entire time he had spoken to his mother.

What was certain, though, was that with each tear that soaked the soft petals, his heart ached.

As his heart grew more vulnerable, sharp questions began to pierce through.

‘Is it really okay to keep loving him like this?’

He was his only childhood friend, the one who had shared his entire life with him, knowing every little detail.

Moon Seoyoon was well aware of the things Woo Yeonjae had done for him. Saving him from awkward situations with his father, remembering his mother’s memorial day—all of it was out of pure goodwill.

‘…even the sex.’

Although it was Woo Yeonjae who first suggested it, the decision to go through with it was Moon Seoyoon’s. And he had chosen sex. Knowing it would only get harder from then on, he’d wanted to hold onto a part of Woo Yeonjae, no matter how selfish that desire was. He wanted to take his first, the last thing he had to offer.

Maybe he’d grown too accustomed to Woo Yeonjae’s kindness, leading him to make a terrible choice. No, it was undoubtedly a mistake.

It was ridiculous, really, that he could act so foolishly over something as simple as unrequited love.

“Ha.”

As tears continued to flow, he let out a hollow laugh.

Moon Seoyoon blinked. With the bouquet held tightly in his arms, his view was limited. All he could see were the warm tones of the wrapping paper and the brilliant flowers inside.

Despite the mess in his heart, it was only after looking at something so beautiful that he fully accepted the truth.

His unrequited love was, in the end, a sin and a deception.