His heart was pounding violently.
Fearing the sound might be heard, Hee-woon pulled away slightly from Kang-woo’s embrace.
But a large hand pulled him back by the shoulder.
“I’m not angry.”
Seo Kang-woo seemed to have misunderstood.
Hee-woon cautiously looked up to see him smiling with crescent eyes.
“We only have a few days left anyway.”
“What else will you do when you have more free time, Hyung?”
Kang-woo, stroking Hee-woon’s hair while thinking, looked pleased.
Hee-woon grew despondent.
He should have just said he would quit.
He almost got hit earlier too.
Getting paid would be nice, but why was he worrying so much?
Whether entangled by money or not, if he died, it would all be for nothing.
He probably wouldn’t kill him, but he might end up crippled somewhere.
Hee-woon recalled the crumpled, bloodied fingers from that moment.
Lee Hyuk-jin’s face, turned into a bloody mess, followed.
Hee-woon tightly shut his eyes.
“Sleepy?”
Kang-woo whispered the question.
When Hee-woon made an ‘Mm’ sound, his body shifted slightly.
As if to turn off a switch, the surroundings darkened.
Four days remained this month.
****
Hee-woon’s eyes snapped open.
“Ugh…”
Immediately startled by the sunlight stinging his eyes, he squeezed them shut again.
“You’re awake?”
Startled by the voice coming from right beside him, Hee-woon opened his eyes wide again and was once more met with blinding light.
He covered his eyes with his palm and blinked a few times, tears welling up.
“How pathetic.”
Kang-woo snickered and ruffled Hee-woon’s hair.
Kang-woo, standing by the bed, was wearing a comfortable t-shirt and pants.
Noticing his hair was slightly damp, as if he’d just washed, Hee-woon realized he had fallen asleep last night just as he was.
Without even contacting his mom.
Hee-woon shot up and looked around frantically.
Where did he put his phone?
“Looking for something?”
“Your phone?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t contact my mom.”
Hee-woon pressed his forehead anxiously.
Kang-woo watched him intently for a moment, then handed Hee-woon the phone from the table.
“Last night, you were snoring away without hearing your phone ring.”
“Ah…”
Although he had never told Kang-woo, his mother grew anxious if she couldn’t reach him.
It was because his father, who had been unreachable for days, was later found in the Han River.
“It rang a few times, so I answered.”
“…Huh?”
Hee-woon’s eyes widened.
His face gradually stiffened, turning pale.
“I said you were tired from working on an assignment and fell asleep, and that you’d be home around lunch tomorrow.”
“……”
“…But why do you look like that?”
Seeing Hee-woon’s frozen expression, Kang-woo slowly furrowed his brow.
“What did you talk about with my mom?”
Hee-woon mustered the courage to ask.
Kang-woo stared at Hee-woon, his brow still furrowed.
He stroked his chin and instead asked Hee-woon a question.
“What are you afraid I might have said?”
Hee-woon opened his mouth, then closed it again.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed dryly.
After moving his lips several times, the voice that finally came out trembled wretchedly.
“My mom…”
“Speak up.”
Kang-woo said coldly to Hee-woon, whose anxiety was plain to see.
Hee-woon lowered his gaze and strained his neck.
“That you’d kill my mom.”
“You said that.”
“……”
“I really haven’t told anyone, Kang-woo.”
Kang-woo, who had been staring intently at Hee-woon, let out a sigh.
At that, Hee-woon’s thin shoulders hunched.
The fallen blanket only covered him below the pelvis, and his pale upper body was covered in bruises.
His large, tear-filled eyes looked up at Kang-woo pleadingly.
“What did I say…”
Kang-woo muttered to himself.
The breath escaping between Hee-woon’s lips quivered finely.
Kang-woo’s pupils moved lightly as they scrutinized Hee-woon’s face.
After a moment, he spoke.
“Do you know you clung to me all night, Hyung?”
“Huh?”
“I even turned on the heater thinking you were cold, but you kept burrowing into my arms.”
“I, I didn’t know.”
“Sorry.”
It was a sudden comment, and he still hadn’t answered Hee-woon’s question.
But Hee-woon had no choice but to appease Kang-woo.
“Nothing to be sorry for.”
Kang-woo said nonchalantly and stroked Hee-woon’s head.
The hair sticking out everywhere was pressed down firmly under the large hand.
Seo Kang-woo was staring into space, lost in thought.
It seemed like he might be thinking something terrifying.
So Hee-woon anxiously grabbed Kang-woo’s clothes.
Kang-woo’s gaze fell on the hand tightly clutching the t-shirt.
Woo Hee-woon’s hand was pale enough for blue veins to show through.
“K-Kang-woo.”
Kang-woo’s gaze moved to Hee-woon’s face.
His moistened pupils, catching the morning light, shone softly.
“It’s all my fault…”
“Shh.”
As Kang-woo put a finger to his lips, Hee-woon pressed his mouth shut tightly.
He stroked Hee-woon’s head as if praising him, then bent down.
Meeting the eyes of Hee-woon, who was sitting on the bed, he spoke in a gentle voice.
“What I told your mother is exactly what I said earlier.”
“I introduced myself as your junior, said goodnight, and hung up.”
“Ah…”
A wave of relief spread over Hee-woon’s face as he nodded.
Perhaps having forgotten, his hand still held the t-shirt.
“I am a bit worried you might not listen…”
Kang-woo drew out the end of his sentence while looking at Hee-woon.
A straight-line mark remained on his left cheek.
Kang-woo lowered his gaze and let out a faint, breathy laugh.
“I won’t touch your mother.”
“Huh?”
As Hee-woon’s eyes widened, another laugh escaped Kang-woo’s lips.
With a smile lingering on his face, he said.
“Even if I get angry, I’ll only beat up Hyung.”
It was a terrifying statement.
Yet, hearing those words, Hee-woon felt relieved.
It seemed spending time with Seo Kang-woo had made his way of thinking a bit strange.
“Th-thank you…”
“Thank you?”
Kang-woo repeated Hee-woon’s words with a small laugh.
“Let’s wash up and eat breakfast.”
The large hand messed up Hee-woon’s hair.
“Let go of my shirt.”
“Ah!”
“S-sorry!”
Startled, Hee-woon let go of the t-shirt.
Seeing it was wrinkled and not knowing what to do, Kang-woo pulled Hee-woon into a hug and kissed him on top of the head with soft mwah, mwah sounds.
Then, Kang-woo’s lips gradually moved lower, and due to an excited Kang-woo, they had s*x from the morning.
Although it was troublesome because his legs felt weak when he showered afterward, it was a relief that the thing he was worried about hadn’t happened.
‘Even if I get angry, I’ll only beat up Hyung.’
Hee-woon recalled those words again.
The expression and tone Seo Kang-woo had when he said that.
Those things came to mind one after another.
It seemed like he hadn’t originally intended to say such a thing, as if he was contemplating it, and his expression and tone were very affectionate.
It seemed it would be okay to worry a little less about his mom.
It would only be a loss if he didn’t trust Seo Kang-woo’s words.
Hee-woon went downstairs to the first floor wearing his own clothes and underwear, which looked as soft and new as if freshly laundered.
The breakfast menu was beef bone soup.
The milky broth was filled with plenty of meat.
Since soup was easy to eat, he finished it without leaving anything.
While drinking water to cleanse his palate, he felt a gaze on him.
“…Why?”
Kang-woo, who had been glancing at the empty bowl, shook his head.
“What do you usually do at this time?”
“Work on assignments or prepare for tutoring…”
Seo Kang-woo seemed to be in a very good mood this morning.
Like what he said earlier, he now told him to go ahead and do that, offered him the study to use, and even prepared snacks.
Since he had come straight after tutoring yesterday, it was fortunate he had his tutoring materials.
Hee-woon opened the workbook and glanced at the small tray.
On the tray, coffee and macarons were neatly arranged.
Just a few days ago, a person had been nearly beaten to death here.
But looking around, no trace of it could be found.
Hee-woon stared blankly at the plump macaron.
Seo Kang-woo seemed to think he really liked macarons.
He had once said he wasn’t tormenting him.
That might have been true.
Usually, those who torment others don’t realize they are tormenting them.
Then, what did Seo Kang-woo think he was doing with him?
****
It was Thursday, October 31st.
In the past few days, Seo Kang-woo hadn’t hit Hee-woon even once.
He had only been kind to him.
That made it even scarier.
“Today’s the last class, right?”
Kang-woo asked Hee-woon, who was standing with his bag packed.
Hee-woon still hadn’t said he was quitting tutoring.
Along with a strange premonition of sinking into a swamp, an unknown fear kept growing.
“Yeah.”
Hee-woon replied.
His heart was pounding madly.
Kang-woo, who had been staring intently at Hee-woon, tilted his head slightly.
“Okay.”
“Then shall we go to Incheon tomorrow for some grilled clams?”
He had a class tomorrow night too.
It would be tight to go to Incheon and back.
“…Umm, I…”
“Don’t really like clams…”
“You ate them last time.”
Hee-woon, speechless, moved his lips.
Lately, he had eaten various foods with Seo Kang-woo, and clams were one of them.
“Fine.”
“Let’s go somewhere else.”
Hee-woon sighed with inner relief.
“I heard there’s a place that grills shrimp and pork together.”
“Okay.”
To Incheon.
At Kang-woo’s added words, Hee-woon’s complexion paled.
Kang-woo, who had been watching him intently, spread his arms.
Hee-woon approached Kang-woo, who was sitting on the bed.
Kang-woo, pulling Hee-woon by the waist into a hug, lightly patted his buttocks.
Kang-woo’s affectionate treatment evoked two emotions in Hee-woon.
It very occasionally made him mistakenly feel as if they were on equal footing.
It also frightened him with the thought that he could turn cruel again at any moment.
The result was his current state.
If Seo Kang-woo had been just a little scarier these past few days, he would have quit tutoring immediately.
Then he wouldn’t be feeling this anxious now.
“Aren’t you going?”
“It’s the last class, so is it okay to be late?”
“Ah, no…”
Hee-woon, hesitating, turned and left.
Kang-woo rested his chin on his hand, watching Hee-woon’s slumped shoulders.