Vol. 2 Chapter 69: Chapter 69
Vol. 2 Chapter 69:
Translated by Chef
Edited by Chef
“Student, today is your first day in your new home. Have a nice dream. If anything happens, please contact me.”
“Yes. Thank you. Goodbye.”
After the broker left and closed the door, Inseop took a deep breath. As he stood there in an unfamiliar space, it finally felt real.
After Lee Wooyeon left the waiting room, he just cried for a long time. After crying until his head hurt, he concluded that he had to break the knot first.
If he thought about it, there were several clues. He just tried to ignore it.
Lee Wooyeon met Chae Yeonseo and said that he had never done anything like that, lied about having to go on a canceled schedule, his cold reaction to him for making a mistake with Chae Yeonseo, his sudden move to the neighborhood where Chae Yeonseo lives, and most of all, his cold attitude these days. The tone of voice and the look in each eye all led to one conclusion.
He thought he was angry, but he wasn’t. His emotions just numbed down.
The dream-like relationship ended and he returned to reality.
Melancholy seeped into Inseop’s black eyes.
“Good job.”
Inseop repeated to himself.
‘Let’s talk later. Even if you don’t want, I have something to say to Mr. Inseop.’
As he left the waiting room, he remembered what Wooyeon had said to him. There was no need for him to hand over the villain role to Lee Wooyeon.
He should have apologized and concluded things by handing over the direct envelope, but he didn’t. No, he couldn’t. Right now, he didn’t have the confidence to look into Lee Wooyeon’s eyes and act like an adult calmly.
In the end, he handed the envelope to Kim Kangwoo and left with the suitcase. He only realized this after sitting at the bus stop for a while. Now he knows he has nowhere to go.
Calling his real estate agent was an impulsive action. The appointment was easily made. As the broker said, the landlord was unusual, but he was not a picky person. As soon as he saw Inseop’s face, he nodded his head and asked to draw up the contract. He didn’t care at all even though he said he only had a copy of his ID card.
He called the moving center and asked when he would be able to receive his luggage, and he was told that today would be fine. Just like when he was kicked out of his house, everything from signing the contract to moving was done smoothly.
Inseop looked around the house where boxes were piled up here and there. It was a clean and nice house. The landlord said that as long as the rent is not behind, he can stay as long as he wants and leave when he wants. He got the house he had been dreaming of, but he was not happy at all. This will be the place where he ends his life in Korea.
What should he tell his parents? What should he do about school? He had to make preparations to take John to the United States, and he hasn’t yet been able to properly repay the favor to Yoon Areum, her family, and Manager Cha…
Tears welled up again. Inseop quickly wiped away his tears and took off his jacket.
When his mind was suffering, the best way was to move his body. Inseop opened the window and started cleaning. After sweeping and wiping for nearly two hours, he opened up as many boxes as he could get his hands on.
“… ”
Inseop was speechless. Of all the boxes, he had opened the one that contained Lee Wooyeon’s materials. Magazines containing Lee Wooyeon’s interviews, brochures, posters, DVDs, etc., for movies in which he appeared. It was all filled with him.
Inseop closed the box.
He decided to sort that out later.
When he opened the box next to it, fortunately, he found kitchen utensils. Inseop picked up the box and placed it in front of the sink and started organizing it. Inseop, who was stacking pots according to size in his cabinet, came across a large cast iron frying pan and stopped in his tracks.
It was a frying pan that Lee Wooyeon suddenly brought one day. When asked where he would use this, he answered with a smile that looked like something out of a toothpaste commercial.
‘If you catch a thief, hit him with this. Most heads will break. Would you like to practice?’
Inseop was shocked and shook his head. In the end, he never used the frying pan. Inseop stared at the frying pan and placed it in the sink. When the tableware that Lee Wooyeon used came out from under the box, Inseop stood up.
He restarted by organizing his clothes.
Finding the clothes box was easy. He opened the biggest box. It was a box containing winter clothes. Inseop was worried. He didn’t know when he would be leaving, so he wondered if it was right to take out all his winter clothes. After hesitating for a moment, he took out his clothes one by one and hung them on hangers. He thought it would be better to get things sorted out first, even if it means working twice as much.
As he was hanging up his clothes one by one, something that was wrapped in his coat fell to the floor. It was a black cashmere scarf. Inseop picked up the scarf.
It was a day when it snowed particularly heavily last winter. On the way back from watching a late night movie together, the car got a flat tire and the car had to be towed. They couldn’t catch a taxi due to the sudden heavy snow, so the two ended up having to walk home that day. Lee Wooyeon took off the scarf he was wearing and wrapped it around Inseop, who was cold. He declined several times, saying it was okay, but Lee Wooyeon didn’t listen.
And then.
‘It’s okay. I’m doing it because I want to open a present.’
He tied the scarf into a ribbon shape. No one paid attention to the two people who covered their faces with scarves and hats in the pouring snow that made it impossible to see even an inch in front of them. That day, they walked hand in hand on the snow that was up to their ankles. It was an unforgettable night. Inseop thought it would be nice to be able to walk like this with Lee Wooyeon for the rest of his life.
‘…’
Inseop glanced down at his scarf. He couldn’t give it back even though he knew he would have to give it back someday. He liked the feeling of being loved, so he wanted to keep it. Inseop folded the scarf neatly and put it in a corner of the closet.
Only after discovering about five clothes that Lee Wooyeon had left behind in the clothes box did Inseop stop organizing the clothes.
“Ha…”
Inseop collapsed on the bed. He didn’t put down the bedspread yet, so the cold mattress touched his cheek. He felt a chill as if his body was heating up.
He gave up looking for the sheets. It was also a sheet that Lee Wooyeon ordered. Because of his habit of sleeping without any clothes on, he placed great importance on the feel of the sheets.
There was nothing, nothing, that was not related to Lee Wooyeon. Life in Korea was like Lee Wooyeon.
His closed eyes, which were welling up with hot tears. His tears ran down his cheeks.
“Ha…”
He knew this day would come someday. The last chapter of the love books Inseop read always included tips on how to deal with breakups. Finally, after mulling it over until the very end, Inseop took the plunge and read the entire chapter of all the love books in one go. However, not even a single line of content in numerous books was of comfort to him now.
Tears flowed without him being able to wipe them away. He felt so pathetic and stupid about himself. It was almost a miracle that Lee Wooyeon chose him. Intoxicated by that good fortune, he made an arrogant mistake.
A person’s heart cannot be the same…
Parents can abandon their children if circumstances arise, but they cannot ask someone with whom they are not related by blood to take responsibility for their emotions for the rest of their lives.
Lee Wooyeon was not bad. He didn’t want to blame him. In that way, he could not blemish the happiness he had enjoyed so far.
As the situation changes, emotions change and it is a natural trend to be cut off. It is natural. It’s natural.
… Still, he wished he had taken it a little less for granted.
Inseop buried his head in his mattress and swallowed his cries.
For the past few years, all his time has been devoted to Wooyeon, in good or bad ways.
He was scared.
Just like when he was dating Lee Wooyeon, he still had no sense of reality. However, as time passed, his approaching absence became a reality and he became extremely fearful.
His heart was throbbing. It wasn’t the pain he felt because he was sad, it was real pain. He once again realized how vulnerable his body was to stress.
Inseop stood up, found the medicine, and swallowed it. However, the throbbing pain did not stop and throbbed around the heart. It hurt so much that he had to run to the bathroom and vomit everything out.
After rinsing his mouth and returning, Inseop tried to find a medication guide to see if he could take the medicine again, but gave up. He remembered the doctor’s words that the best thing to do was to escape from stressors.
Inseop lay on the bed and tried to think of other thoughts. But the more he did it, the more he couldn’t escape his thoughts about Lee Wooyeon.
At that time, he wondered if things would have been different if he had acted like this, if he had not said those words. Useless regrets followed one after another. How long had he been like that? The sound that came from outside made him raise his eyelashes that were tangled with tears.
The door was shaking.
“…who is it?”
No one knew that he had moved here. Inseop stood up from his seat.
“Who is it?”
This time he asked a bit louder than before. But there was no answer and the door shook again.
He got chills. The advantage of the rooftop room was that it was an independent structure, and the disadvantage was that it was also an independent structure. It was easy for thieves to break in, and even if they did, it was difficult for neighbors to notice. He tried to call the police, but his cell phone was turned off.
He took his phone out of his pocket and turned it on, but it felt like time was passing very slowly. Meanwhile, the door shook several times.
He had to do something…
As Inseop looked around, the frying pan he had placed earlier came into view. He grabbed the frying pan and looked at the front door.
The door rattled a few more times.
“Who is it? Please tell me.”
Even though he knew the thief would not answer, he had no choice but to ask. Otherwise, he would be so scared that his heart would explode. He felt a vibration in his pocket. The cell phone turned on.
The moment he was about to take out his cell phone to call the police, the shaking window caught his eye. Inseop turned his gaze toward the front door. As the window shook, so did the front door.
“Ha…”
Inseop breathed a sigh of relief.
The rooftop is a structure that is inevitably affected by weather conditions. When it was windy or rainy, the front door or window shook a lot. It had only been a few years since he lived on the rooftop, but he had completely forgotten the memory.
Inseop put down the frying pan in his hand.
Come to think of it, there was rain forecast this afternoon. .. He guessed the event went well. Did he receive the grand prize?
Inseop quickly shook his head. The moment he decided to turn off his phone again before his heart weakened, the phone rang. He confirmed the caller’s name. It was Kim Kangwoo.
The phone rang several times and hung up immediately. A message window immediately appeared.
[Hyung, where are you? Is everything okay? Please reply.]
After the awards ceremony, it seemed like Lee Wooyeon had given his cell phone back. While Inseop paused, another message arrived.
[Is something wrong? Please tell me where you are and I will come. It’s because I’m worried.]
“… ”
When he thought of Kim Kangwoo, who was suffering instead of him, he felt sorry. Ah, anyway, it’s not polite to turn off his phone and ignore it.
[I won’t tell the CEO or manager, so please contact me. You’re not sick, are you? Where are you now?]
Messages arrived one after another without any time to reply.
[Please give me an answer. Where are you? Today was a complete mess.]
[I don’t know what’s going on, but don’t turn it off. Please tell me where you are and I will help you. And I almost died today. I got really scolded by the actor.]
Kim Kangwoo must have been in an awkward position as he left the note and the money without saying a word. No one else may know, but it was right to apologize to Kim Kangwoo.
Inseop thought about it and pressed the call button. I heard a call connected. The ringing of the phone continued. Once, twice…
Then, a sense of strangeness suddenly crossed his mind. Kangwoo’s spelling was terrible. Not only could he not distinguish between certain letters, but the spacing was arbitrary. Moreover, he used to use two emoticons at the end of each sentence. However, the spelling in the message he just read was perfect and there were no emoticons. That wasn’t all. Although it was slightly different, the content of the message was similar.
.
Where are you? Where are you now? Where are you? Please tell me where you are.
… He kept asking about his current location.
There is no way Lee Wooyeon is holding Kim Kangwoo’s cell phone until this moment..
He heard the phone ring. Inseop blinked. He took his cell phone away from his ear. It wasn’t an illusion. A phone ringing could clearly be heard outside. Even the sound of the ringing was getting closer.
“… ”
He got goosebumps. Inseop ended the call.
A new message has arrived.
[Are you home now?]
Inseop just dropped his cell phone. He heard the sound of footsteps. He wanted to run, but he couldn’t. The footsteps suddenly stopped, followed by a light knocking on the door. This time it wasn’t the sound of the wind.
“…who is it?”
His voice trembled.
“Open the door.”