Sunshine Shower Chapter 82

Moon Seoyoon rubbed the back of his neck out of habit. He managed to get by during midterms, but with the final exams, it was clear that his condition was feeling the strain.

‘Should I quit my part-time job?’

Although he had been studying in bits and pieces before the exam period, managing his time became challenging with the entire weekdays consumed by the part-time job. He had thought that starting the job right after military service would be easy and that he would be accustomed to it, but that was his mistake.

‘Then again, I was only doing part-time work back then.’

He had considered studying after military service but decided that physical activity was better at the time, due to the awkwardness with his father and his inability to focus because of his feelings for Woo Yeonjae.

However, the situation wasn’t as bad as it had been back then. He would be living in the dormitory for the second semester, and his relationship with Woo Yeonjae was running parallel without much change, so he sometimes thought that it might be okay to continue the part-time job until this break.

Since he had not started the part-time job due to a lack of pocket money and some of the reasons for working had been somewhat resolved, it seemed better to focus on studying.

As he was contemplating the near future, a gentle voice suddenly came to mind.

‘Yeonjae will be going to the U.S. as well, so it would be nice to go together then. Or maybe after graduation.’

Although he hadn’t given a definitive answer, it was a matter he had already resolved without needing much thought.

‘What am I supposed to do if I follow? I should focus on job hunting plans.’

The second semester would pass quickly, and in six months he would be a junior, so it seemed wise to start making plans related to employment. To do that, he needed to start with managing his grades.

Just as he was trying to shake off his fatigue and refocus, a cold sensation touched the back of his hand. Startled, he turned around to find Nam Taeun shaking a takeout cup with Americano and smiling widely.

“What’s this?”

“What else? It’s my generous heart for the poor puppy who won’t finish until Friday.”

“Not that you’re bragging about finishing exams.”

Moon Seoyoon took the coffee with a smile.

“Anyway, thank you.”

Unlike him, who was still buried in work, Nam Taeun had just finished his exams yesterday. He was about to take a quick break when he turned his chair to check the opposite side and saw a pile of scattered belongings. It seemed he had started packing yesterday, but the clutter was still there.

“When are you leaving?”

“Me? I’m going today.”

Moon Seoyoon gauged the time.

“I guess we won’t see each other after my exams.”

“That’s why we’re seeing each other now. Oh, poor puppy. I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

Nam Taeun, looking awkward for once, ruffled his hair.

“Can you bring someone to the dorm? To help clean this up.”

He pointed to a large pile of scattered belongings.

“I’m not sure what to say. It’s fine.”

“It’s just that I’m worried it might interfere with your studying.”

“I have a three-hour exam at the end, so I’ll have to leave in 30 minutes anyway.”

“Tsk, tsk. Poor thing.”

Nam Taeun clicked his tongue and then playfully pushed his head. As he came closer, Moon Seoyoon caught a whiff of an unfamiliar perfume.

“Why are you wearing perfume?”

Moon Seoyoon wrinkled his nose, as he rarely used perfume.

“It’s a gift…”

Nam Taeun trailed off, looking displeased, and then reached over to the opposite desk to grab the perfume. Spraying it around the room as if it were an air freshener, he finally sprayed some on the top of Moon Seoyoon’s head.

“What are you doing?”

Moon Seoyoon instinctively touched his hair, puzzled. It wasn’t a strong smell, so it wasn’t bothersome, but the sudden action left him feeling confused. He understood spraying it in the room, but why on his head?

Seeing Moon Seoyoon’s wide-eyed expression, Nam Taeun grinned. Judging by his expression, it was clear that spraying perfume on his hair was a joke.

“The person who gave me this perfume is coming up later… He has a bit of a jerkish personality. If he knew I hadn’t used it, he’d make a fuss.”

The idea that someone would make a fuss just because the perfume wasn’t used was hard to grasp. It seemed difficult to explain further, as Nam Taeun’s vague words suggested. For a moment, Moon Seoyoon wondered if it might be a significant other, recalling that there had been talk of someone being in a relationship at the beginning of the semester.

“Anyway, got it.”

Instead of probing further, Moon Seoyoon asked what he was curious about.

“By the way, are you going to your hometown?”

“No. I’ll probably stay in Seoul.”

“But isn’t your family home not in Seoul? Is it your significant other’s place?”

“Yeah, well.”

Nam Taeun checked the time, sighed deeply, and then started stuffing clothes haphazardly into his suitcase. Moon Seoyoon watched him while sipping the coffee he had brought and observed his clearly reluctant demeanor. Seemingly tired, Nam Taeun soon lay down on the bed with a bored look.

“You’re going back to your family home, right?”

“Yes.”

“When will you move your stuff?”

“I can stay until Wednesday, so… I plan to bring my car and move it out tomorrow or the day after.”

Today, when stopping by his family home, he thought of bringing his car along.

Since the vacation was over, he couldn’t avoid going home, but he didn’t feel like going there right away today, so he planned to go around Sunday. Conveniently, he had changed his part-time job schedule to tomorrow due to a meal appointment with his father. It was a somewhat reasonable excuse to delay his return by a few days.

“I won’t see you until fall. Oh, wait. I’ll be in Seoul anyway. If you want to see me, just contact me?”

“Isn’t your significant other going to be upset?”

Thinking about the comment about the person’s unpleasant personality, he asked, and Nam Taeun shrugged.

“Being a working adult… Contact me on weekdays.”

“Anyway, got it. Pack your stuff quickly.”

“Eh, I don’t know. I’m just going to lie down.”

Moon Seoyoon chuckled and turned back to his desk. The unfamiliar perfume scent lingered in the air.

When he submitted his answer sheet, there were about 20 minutes left until the end of the exam. Although he usually used the entire time to review thoroughly, this time a problematic question made the answer submission take longer than expected.

“You’re coming out later than usual.”

As soon as the classroom door closed, Woo Yeonjae, who had left earlier, approached lazily and made a comment.

“I got stuck in the middle.”

“Which one?”

“The last question.”

“Oh, that one.”

It was while they were chatting about trivial details of the exam that Moon Seoyoon suddenly felt a fixed gaze. He turned his head and saw that Woo Yeonjae had a somewhat annoyed expression, as if something had happened between the short walk from the classroom to the parking lot.

“What’s wrong?”

Moon Seoyoon asked with wide eyes, not understanding why. However, instead of answering, Woo Yeonjae took off his hat and lowered his head, pressing his nose against the top of Moon Seoyoon’s head. The sudden contact, combined with the setting of the school, made Moon Seoyoon even more uncomfortable. He quickly grabbed the hat from Woo Yeonjae’s hand and stepped back.

“What’s this all of a sudden?”

“I was checking if you hadn’t washed your hair.”

“What are you talking about? I did.”

Moon Seoyoon brushed his hair roughly and put the hat on. He had only worn the hat to avoid spreading the strong perfume Nam Taeun had used, but his hair had been washed right after he got up. It was clear that Woo Yeonjae was making a joke, given his sudden and pointless comment.

“That’s why.”

Woo Yeonjae, approaching the driver’s seat, continued speaking as he opened the door.

“It smells really nice.”

His extended comment about it being nice sounded suspicious. It was probably just a joke. Moon Seoyoon thought nothing of it and got into the passenger seat. As he buckled his seatbelt, he suddenly caught a faint floral scent. It was a natural fragrance, unlike the artificial smell from his own hair.

What’s that floral smell? Turning around, he noticed a bouquet of mixed purple and white flowers.

“What’s with the bouquet? It’s quite unusual.”

“It’s an anemone. It would be a bit awkward to go empty-handed, especially since that woman is at home too.”

That woman must refer to the one his father married. Moon Seoyoon scrunched up his nose awkwardly.

“Even so, what’s up with calling her ‘that woman’?”

“Then what should I call her?”

Woo Yeonjae asked as he started the car, genuinely unsure.

“What do you call her? I’ll call her whatever you do.”

“…I haven’t really called her anything.”

Since they were bound together as family after becoming adults, any title felt awkward. Even when they met rarely, it was only passing smiles or short conversations.

“Professor Jung?”

Moon Seoyoon finally came up with a plausible title.

“She’s a professor too?”

After Woo Yeonjae’s question, the car smoothly started moving. Moon Seoyoon nodded as he leaned back in the seat.

“Probably. I think she works at the same school as my father.”

“How amusing…”

Woo Yeonjae muttered under his breath, though not loud enough to be clearly heard.

How amusing. The casual remark seemed to linger on Moon Seoyoon’s mind. Although it was a blunt statement, Moon Seoyoon chose silence over reprimanding Woo Yeonjae for being rude. He thought that no term would be more fitting than “how amusing” to describe his father’s relationship with that woman. It was baffling why educated people acted this way.

He didn’t want to dwell on depressing thoughts as he was already heading to a suffocating place. Moon Seoyoon slowly turned his head to look out the window. To avoid sinking into gloomy thoughts, he decided to focus on trivial things like what the flower language of the anemone might be.