Jaegyeom got ho around sunset.
“My lord! You’re back?”
The instant he opened the front door, san ca scurrying over and bowed low enough to fold in half. Everywhere his little feet touched, the floor glead damply. Jaegyeom twitched a brow as he slipped off his shoes.
He could tell at a glance. san had gone running around barefoot again, then apparently washed his dirty feet in a hurry just before Jaegyeom got back. It seed he had developed his own little strategy for avoiding a scolding.
The effort was almost admirable, so Jaegyeom decided to be generous. Pretending not to notice san’s wet feet, he set down the small shopping bag he had been carrying. san’s eyes went round as he peered into the opening.
“My lord, what is this?”
“Oh, that... a tie.”
He had stopped by the uniform shop near the school and bought one. After all, that one missing tie had sohow led to him organizing books for once in his miserable life. Holding the shopping bag, san stared up at him. Sothing about Jaegyeom felt a little different from this morning. He looked tired, maybe, or oddly weighed down.
Jaegyeom went into the kitchen, grabbed a pair of scissors, and headed straight for the bathroom. san watched him with a bewildered expression.
So ti later, the bathroom door opened, and san—who had been sitting quietly in the living room—jumped to his feet. Jaegyeom had showered and changed into comfortable clothes. He rubbed his wet hair dry with a towel, and at a glance it was obvious how much shorter it had beco. He had chopped it off in rough, careless snips, leaving the ends uneven and jagged.
san, who had been staring at him the whole ti, finally approached hesitantly.
“M-my lord.”
“Yeah?”
“...Are you angry?”
Jaegyeom draped the damp towel over his shoulders.
“Why?”
“It’s just... you don’t look like you’re in a very good mood.”
san added it in a voice that nearly disappeared into itself.
“Did... did sothing happen?”
A lot had happened.
He had started the morning with a missing tie and a headache. Then he had argued with the dean of discipline and gotten derits for it. Then he had taken a soccer ball to the face and bled all over the place. And on top of that, he had ended up trapped in the library, helping sort books because of that tie.
The day had been much, much too long.
“...”
Jaegyeom looked down at san without saying anything. The way he twisted himself up while trying to read the room was ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) both ridiculous and cute. The reason Jaegyeom had to go to a school he had never wanted any part of in the first place was this little child standing in front of him.
There had once been a night, very late, when Jaegyeom heard whispering through the window. san and Jeongju had been talking in the backyard. The reason they had co all the way outside was obvious enough: they were worried that if they spoke inside the house, Jaegyeom might hear them in his sleep.
Unfortunately for them, their conversation—and san’s voice especially—had co through the wide-open window with perfect clarity.
“san, everything’s been all right? I said I’d co last week and couldn’t. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. Please don’t worry, Lord Jeongju. I’m always by my lord’s side.”
“I’ve been busy lately... Even when I’m not here, make sure you look after Jaegyeom for , all right?”
Sotis Jaegyeom had wondered why san never went back to his hotown, and why Jeongju—living on his own up in Seoul—always apologized for not being able to co down more often.
Not once had he imagined the reason might be him.
They had only wound up living together by circumstance. He had never once wanted anyone to stay with him. He did not want that.
What Jaegyeom wanted was not that.
Lying there in silence, the boy had thought, for the first ti, that maybe he ought to go outside.
et soone. Do anything.
Even if it was only an imitation...
If only for the sake of those pitiful creatures who felt sorry for him.
“No. Nothing happened.”
Jaegyeom gave a short laugh and shook his head. At last, he looked more like himself again. Relieved, san broke into a bright smile.
Jaegyeom went into his room, got his wallet, and ca back out. san trailed after him in little steps. At the front door, Jaegyeom shoved his feet into his slippers, absently touching the ends of his still-damp hair.
“My lord, it’s already dark. Wh-where are you going?”
“The shop up ahead.”
The only shop nearby was the shabby little corner store by the bus stop. He had lived here for years, but not once had Jaegyeom ever gone inside.
san’s eyes widened in shock.
The very sa man who hated going outside enough to treat it like a mortal burden was taking his wallet and heading out on his own. Could it be that after attending school, he had finally grown attached to being out in the world?
Joy flooded san’s eyes.
“Wh-what... what do you need there?”
“I’m so fed up I need sothing cold.”
“What?”
“Why? Want to co?”
Jaegyeom asked it teasingly, and san only tilted his head, not quite understanding.
“I’m asking if you want to co to the store with .”
“Wh-what... really?!”
“If you want to.”
san’s whole face lit up at once. He was terrified of every human being alive except Jaegyeom, yet he had always loved the idea of seeing the outside world. Until now, Jaegyeom had always stayed shut up at ho, and Jeongju lived far away in another city. san had never once had the courage to leave the yard by himself.
His tiny head bobbed up and down so hard it stirred a little breeze.
Hurriedly, san slipped on his tiny shoes. Jaegyeom opened the front door and flicked his eyes toward the yard, aning for him to go first. Flushed with excitent, san stepped outside.
It was fully dark by then. The two of them crossed the yard, pushed open the creaking gate, and went out. By evening, the wind had turned a little chilly.
They walked down the narrow, uneven mountain path until they reached the paved road. In the distance, they could see the old corner store with its lights on.
Walking beside Jaegyeom, san glanced at him and timidly raised a hand. Without a word, Jaegyeom took the small warmth that reached for his own. The closer they got to the store, the tighter san’s grip beca with nervous little flinches.
There was an old wooden platform out front. When Jaegyeom had gotten off the bus earlier, it had been empty, but now two or three bent-backed old n were sitting there.
“You’re here?”
It seed the greeting ca from the store owner. Though they had never been introduced, he spoke as casually as if they had crossed paths several tis already. The other old n had set out a dish of kimchi in the middle of the platform and were drinking rice wine together.
Jaegyeom only dipped his head slightly without saying anything. At so point san had let go of his hand and hidden behind him, clutching a fistful of his T-shirt. The store owner smiled at them with a deeply lined, kindly face.
“Your little brother?”
“Huh?”
“That little one your younger brother?”
The others, halfway through lifting their cups, glanced over at Jaegyeom and san. Flustered, san shrank even farther behind Jaegyeom until only his nose was peeking out. After a brief silence, Jaegyeom moved his lips.
“No. He’s not my brother.”
“Not brothers? Then who is he?”
“He’s not my brother... just a kid I know.”
“I see.”
The owner nodded slowly and asked no more.
In a voice so low san could barely hear it, Jaegyeom whispered, “It’s fine.”
san only swallowed dryly in answer.
Just as Jaegyeom was about to slide open the door and go inside, sothing caught his eye.
There was an old freezer sitting outside.
Instead of entering the store, Jaegyeom headed for it.
The freezer was about as tall as san. Thinking of the tube pop he had eaten at lunch, Jaegyeom opened the lid. He bent over and looked inside as cold air crept out in pale waves. san, being so short, rose up on his toes to peek in too.
But unlike what Jaegyeom had hoped, there were no tube pops anywhere inside.
In the end, he had no choice but to pick out an ice cream bar on a stick. It must have been sitting in there for a long ti, because the wrapper was thick with frost. After taking out his wallet and paying for it, he peeled the wrapper away. The long rectangular bar inside was pale green.
Jaegyeom placed the stick into san’s hand.
“My lord, what is this?”
Glancing nervously at the old n on the platform, san asked in a tiny voice.
“It said rona on the wrapper.”
“D-does eating this put out the fire?”
san asked with a grave expression, and Jaegyeom burst out laughing.
“Yeah, brat.”
san hesitated for a second, then, apparently having made up his mind, bit into the ice cream. The sweet coldness hit him at once, and his eyes went so wide they looked ready to pop out of his head.
“Is it good?”
san nodded frantically.
Jaegyeom watched him for a mont, then spoke in a low voice.
“Later, when you go back to your hotown...”
“Yes?”
“Brag to your friends.”
“About what?”
“Tell them you’ve eaten sothing like this.”
san looked up at him in confusion.
“Hey. It’s lting. Eat first.”
Jaegyeom caught hold of the hand hanging idly at san’s side.
On the day he completed the month, just as he had promised Jeongju, Jaegyeom ant to na his wish without the slightest hesitation.
Leave , and go find lives of your own.
Hand in hand, Jaegyeom and san turned back the way they had co, their joined hands swinging between them.
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