TLR 18

Chapter 18 …

Whatever. Junhyuk got lost in thought, mindlessly flipping the cigarette pack upside down and back again inside his pocket.

She said her mother doesn’t work at all, right? Why is a perfectly healthy woman just lounging around at home? Shouldn’t she be doing needlework or out selling rice cakes or something?

She was practically a teenage breadwinner. If I want her situation to improve, do I need to fix her family dynamic beforehand?

“Ahhh…”

A faint groan sounded from behind him. Junhyuk spun around instantly and leaped up a flight of stairs in just a few strides.

“It hurts…”

Seol was sitting slumped on the steps, reaching one arm out to hold onto the stair handrail as she muttered to herself.

Junhyuk squatted right in front of her. “Did you fall?”

“I slipped… Ah, I’m okay. I can stand…”

Seol squeezed her grip on the handrail. She lifted her hips slightly as if to stand, but immediately sank back down. Then she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, as if asking what she was supposed to do now.

Her expression looked just like a mischievous puppy caught making a mess, making a dry laugh slip out of Junhyuk’s mouth.

“What are you looking at me for? You said you could get up.”

“…I can’t get up.”

“Let me see. Did you sprain your ankle?”

Junhyuk pressed firmly on her ankle bone with two fingers.

“Does this hurt?”

“No.”

“How about here?”

“Doesn’t hurt.”

As he traced her ankle line and pressed with his fingertips, a sudden sense of mismatch struck him.

Something’s off. Junhyuk ended up grabbing her entire ankle with one hand.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

Seeing him hold her ankle with a dead serious expression, Seol asked with an anxious face.

“It’s just so thin. I suddenly wondered how human bones could be like this.”

“Bones? Did I break a bone?”

“No. No, you didn’t. Let me check the other side.”

Fortunately, she said her other ankle didn’t hurt either.

So her lower back just lost its strength, then. Junhyuk let out a soft chuckle and turned halfway around so his back was facing Seol.

“I didn’t think I’d be piggybacking you this soon.”

“Huh?”

“Forget ‘huh.’ Get on my back.”

“I don’t know how to ride piggyback…”

“You’ll figure it out as we go.”

Junhyuk took Seol’s hands one by one and draped them around his neck.

“Yeah, hold onto your hands tightly like that.”

“This feels strange…”

“I’m going to stand up now, so hold tight.”

“Huh? What… Ahhh!”

Startled, Seol tried to let go of her hands.

Junhyuk quickly caught both of her hands with his right hand. As he leaned forward, Seol instinctively spread her legs and settled into position on his back.

“It’s high…”

A frightened whisper reached his ear. Junhyuk involuntarily chuckled under his breath.

“Hey. I’m really high up right now.”

“I see. That’s too bad for you.”

Since it wasn’t even ten o’clock yet, the street was packed with people.

Every single person they passed threw a glance their way, but Junhyuk didn’t care in the slightest.

Or rather, it was more accurate to say he didn’t have the luxury to care. All of his focus was pinned on the body heat, touch, and weight pressed tight against his back.

“Hey.”

Seol suddenly whispered.

Because of her posture, her warm breath brushed against his ear. Junhyuk replied in a voice softer than ever.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Where are we going right now?”

“Well, home, obviously.”

“Huh? I don’t want to go home, though.”

“Then…”

Junhyuk couldn’t finish his sentence over the snort of laughter that escaped him.

He found it so cheeky that Seol was acting like this toward a guy just because she was drunk. Yet, as contradictory as it was, he couldn’t deny for a second that he was absolutely thrilled in this moment.

“Then what? Why’d you stop talking?”

“Think about it. Where do you want to go?”

“Ah, okay. Yeah, yeah, I’ll do that.”

Through the thick spring night air, Junhyuk walked silently with Seol on his back.

A man coming from the opposite direction stared intently at them, just like everyone else.

Has he never seen someone give a piggyback ride before in his life? The moment Junhyuk threw him a cold glare, the man quickly averted his eyes and rushed past.

It was about an hour after leaving the pub that he realized something was wrong. His shirt collar had grown wet at some point.

Junhyuk stopped walking so his footsteps wouldn’t drown out the sound. Listening closely for a moment, he heard faint, quiet sobs.

“You sure have a colorful drinking habit.”

“I’m so, so sorry…”

Seol spoke hurriedly. But as her emotions surged while her mind raced with various thoughts, she couldn’t even form a proper apology.

“Forget the apology. Why are you crying?”

“That’s…”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Mom and Dad, both of them…”

“Yeah, Mom and Dad.”

“Only me… I worked so hard, too…”

“Yeah, you worked really hard, too.”

His low voice, simply echoing her words back to her, was astonishingly gentle. Because of that, Seol’s crying only grew harder, preventing her from speaking any further.

“You’re a pretty and precious person, too.”

“…”

“You’re still working hard right now.”

“…”

“If I had a daughter like you, I wouldn’t even need to eat to feel full.”

Seol had no choice but to revise the thought she’d had just a few hours ago. She had never met anyone in her life who was this good at offering comfort.

His broad back, swaying in time with his stride, was as cozy as a cradle. Unwilling to let go, Seol wrapped her arms a little tighter around Junhyuk’s neck.

At some point, things grew quiet behind him. The crying stopped, and her breathing settled. The body heat leaning fully against him felt a little warmer now.

Junhyuk, who had been walking aimlessly without a destination, came to a halt.

“Are you sleeping?”

“…”

“Are you really asleep?”

“…”

“What are you, a newborn baby? Falling asleep right after crying?”

“…”

“You really do it all, don’t you?”

Despite muttering as if he found it absurd, a faint curve formed at the corners of Junhyuk’s lips.

Now then, what should he do?

There were motels around the pub area. Walking as far back as they had come was nothing to him. Or he could take a taxi to a hotel.

His handsome eyebrows twitched. Whether it was a hotel or a motel, he didn’t want to carry a drunk woman into a lodging establishment.

Rather than carrying an unconscious woman on his back and asking, “Do you have a room?”, he’d much rather meticulously prepare memorial service tables for Mun Pilyong and Kang Seung-ok every single holiday.

“Well then. Guess there’s no other choice.”

Junhyuk spoke lightly and stepped forward.

Though he now had a destination, his walking pace didn’t change. When a streetlight grew close, he even slowed down.

Passing by as he quietly swept his gaze over their two shadows merged into one, a strange desolate feeling hovered somewhere in his heart.

Carrying Seol on his back, Junhyuk punched in the passcode to the studio apartment. He’d bought it assuming he’d only use it after they officially started dating, so he’d never stepped foot inside until now.

The moment he stood in the entryway, he spotted the edge of the bed tucked behind a bookshelf. Junhyuk carefully laid Seol down on the navy-blue bedding.

After taking off her sneakers, he checked her ankles again just in case she really was hurt. Seeing that both ankles were the exact same thickness, it seemed she hadn’t sprained anything after all.

He considered taking off her socks so she wouldn’t feel restricted, but decided there was no need to touch her more than necessary.

Holding her white sneakers, Junhyuk walked back to the entryway and glanced around the space. Though it was a studio apartment, the layout—using a bookshelf to partition the kitchen and bedroom areas—wasn’t bad.

“It’s ridiculously cramped, though.”

Junhyuk muttered to himself as he leaned down. Completely ignoring his own dress shoes lying untidily on the floor, he neatly set Seol’s sneakers down side by side.

Before the soles touched the ground, he didn’t forget to measure them against the size of his own palm.

After looking around to see where everything was in the apartment, Junhyuk headed back to the bed. He looked down at the sleeping Seol for a moment before turning away. There was only one toothbrush in the bathroom.

He stopped by the convenience store on the first floor of the building and picked up a toothbrush first. Sliced bread, apples, bananas—anything that looked suitable for breakfast went straight into his basket.

After stocking the fridge, he took a shower. Rubbing his wet hair haphazardly with a towel as he headed toward the bed, he heard a phone vibrating.

Junhyuk turned his head toward the sound. He spotted Seol’s cloth bag resting near the bed.

[Mom]

Upon checking the caller ID, a strange spark glinted in his quiet eyes.

He let it ring three times before hanging up. Immediately, it started vibrating again. This time, he didn’t wait and hung up right away.

He repeatedly declined the incoming calls one after another. By the fifth time he hung up, the vibration stopped coming through.

It suddenly occurred to him that her mom might contact the police.

“Let her.”

Junhyuk tossed the phone onto the empty corner of the bed.

Then, without much hesitation, he lay down beside Seol. The option of sleeping on the bare floor simply did not exist in his life.