“I’m going to wash up.”
The very first thing Jaegyeom did after opening his eyes for the first ti in five days was take a shower.
After being tornted by nightmares for days on end, he wanted to wash everything off and feel clean again. Shooing san away when he ca trotting after him, Jaegyeom headed for the bathroom.
In the anti, Jeongju focused on cooking while pretending as hard as he could to stay calm.
Even after everything that had happened, Jaegyeom seed no different than usual. He did not say a single word about that night.
It almost felt as though they had gone back to the ti before anything had happened at all.
Was he truly fine? Or was he just trying to bury it and leave it there?
There was so much Jeongju ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) wanted to say to him, and so much he wanted to hear from him, but he could not bring himself to speak first. He was afraid that the mont Jaegyeom ca fully to himself, he might say he was leaving right that instant.
“Oh. Right. Eggs.”
Jeongju, rummaging through the refrigerator for ingredients, suddenly froze. He had forgotten to buy eggs.
He had just pulled on a hat and his outerwear when Jaegyeom ca out of the bathroom, freshly showered.
“Where are you going?”
Jaegyeom asked.
“Ah, just to the store up ahead. I forgot to buy eggs.”
Jaegyeom stared at Jeongju.
Jeongju turned his head away without aning to. He was afraid to et his eyes.
“Stay here. I’ll go.”
Jeongju jerked his head up at the unexpected words.
“What?”
“I said I’ll go buy the eggs.”
“......”
Jeongju stared at Jaegyeom in a daze.
Jaegyeom shook out his wet hair, went into the room, and ca back with his wallet.
“Do I just need eggs? Anything else?”
“Ah... uh, yeah. Just eggs... is enough.”
“Got it. I’ll be back.”
Jaegyeom headed straight for the front door, then suddenly stopped.
“san.”
san, who had been peeking out from behind Jeongju, jumped and answered, “Y-yes?!”
That made Jaegyeom laugh under his breath.
Jeongju and san both were acting like guilty criminals, and he had no idea why.
“Want to co with ?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking if you want to co to the store with .”
Blinking, san looked up at Jeongju.
Jeongju, who had been standing there dumbly, hurriedly signaled with his eyes.
san’s face lit up like the full moon.
He hurried after Jaegyeom and quickly pulled on his shoes.
“Yes!”
Jaegyeom and san went out the gate side by side.
Neither of them spoke as they walked. The sound of insects in the grass was lonely and peaceful. Once they passed the rough mountain path, they ca out onto the paved road.
This was only the second ti san had gone with his lord to the little store in front of the house.
When the shop ca into view in the distance, san lifted his hand, intending as usual to take Jaegyeom’s hand—then hesitated and let it fall again.
His lord seed exactly the sa as always.
But for so reason, he felt difficult to approach.
For so reason, holding his hand today seed to require courage.
After wavering a mont, san grabbed the hem of Jaegyeom’s shirt instead of his hand.
Jaegyeom, expressionless, flicked a glance sideways at the small hand clutching his clothes.
When they reached the store, there were once again two or three old n on the platform out front, slapping down hwatu cards just like last ti. The shopkeeper, sitting nearby, spotted Jaegyeom and san and pushed his magnifying glasses up his nose.
“You’re here?”
This was only the second ti they had t, but just as before, the shopkeeper greeted them like they were old acquaintances. He smiled with the sa kindly warmth in his deeply wrinkled face.
Jaegyeom gave a brief nod, left it at that, and opened the sliding door to go fetch the eggs.
While he did, san stood on tiptoe and peered into the freezer.
Jaegyeom ca back holding the carton of eggs and asked,
“What. Want one?”
san nodded.
Jaegyeom opened the freezer.
This ti there were no runas, only tube pops.
Ppungtta and Ppappico.
The sa tube pops he had shared with Jo Youngwoo before.
I wonder if he’s doing okay.
Co to think of it, it’s been a while since I went to school...
Letting the thought drift away as suddenly as it had co, Jaegyeom picked out three tube pops—one for Jeongju too—paid for them, and handed the Ppungtta to san.
san had already tried Ppungtta last ti, so Jaegyeom had decided to try the Ppappico himself this ti.
“M-my lord. What is this?”
san tilted his head at the unfamiliar shape, different from last ti.
“You’ve got Ppungtta. I’ve got Ppappico.”
Watch.
Just as Jo Youngwoo had taught him, Jaegyeom smacked the tube pop against his thigh.
Thwack.
The top of the wrapper split open and the nub popped out.
san’s eyes went round.
“Wow,” he breathed in admiration.
“See?”
Jaegyeom tipped his chin at him with a playful look, as if saying, You try it too.
san clamped his mouth shut and copied exactly what his lord had shown him.
Thwack!
But maybe because he was too weak, all that happened was that his thigh stung and the nub did not budge at all.
san made a pitiful face and rubbed his thigh, and Jaegyeom burst out laughing.
“Give it here. I’ll do it.”
In the end, with Jaegyeom’s help, he managed to tear open the Ppappico wrapper.
Just as expected.
His lord was good at everything.
Jaegyeom was the one who had opened it, but san was the one who looked proud.
Like the experienced tube-pop eater he was, Jaegyeom did not forget to swap the top bits, either.
The two of them amicably traded and tasted each other’s popped-off tops.
After trying it, san looked deeply moved.
Jaegyeom snorted and asked,
“Good?”
san was nodding frantically when, at so point, the shopkeeper—who until then had been wholly absorbed in his card ga on the platform—craned his neck and looked over at them.
Then he suddenly asked,
“Your little brother?”
It was the exact sa question as last ti.
That settled it.
The shopkeeper really did not rember Jaegyeom.
san startled and darted behind Jaegyeom the mont their eyes t.
Jaegyeom turned his head, looked at the shopkeeper for a mont, then slowly shook it.
“No. He’s not my little brother.”
“Not brothers? Then who is he?”
The exchange was word-for-word the sa as before.
“Just a kid I know.”
Jaegyeom answered shortly.
“I see.”
The shopkeeper did not ask anything more and turned his attention back to the cards.
Jaegyeom toyed with the Ppappico in his hand.
Crinkle, crinkle.
It was an unpleasant sound.
“......”
The cold seeping through it made his palm ache.
san kept eating his tube pop diligently, sneaking glances now and then at the old n sitting on the platform.
“Aren’t your hands cold?”
Jaegyeom spoke suddenly.
“I’m fine. My lord, are your hands cold?”
At san’s question, Jaegyeom lowered his head.
“Yeah. My hands are cold.”
The tube pop in Jaegyeom’s hand slipped from his fingers and dropped to the ground.
san’s eyes widened as he stared at it.
The old n on the platform did the sa.
They stopped playing cards and looked straight at Jaegyeom.
san looked up at him, puzzled.
“W-what’s wrong?”
Jaegyeom covered his eyes with his cold palm.
“My hands are too cold.”
He muttered it softly, standing there with his palm pressed over his eyes.
Then, all at once, he started walking toward the platform.
The shopkeeper blinked at him in confusion.
Jaegyeom lowered his arm and lifted his head.
“That’s right.”
“Hm?”
The shopkeeper adjusted his magnifying glasses at the sudden remark.
“He’s my little brother.”
Jaegyeom murmured,
“I lied earlier. He’s not just so kid I know...”
His voice began to shake more and more.
“So... he’s not just so kid I know. He’s my little brother...”
Tears began dropping from his lowered face.
His chin trembled violently, and in an instant the boy’s face crumpled.
san stared at his lord with round, disbelieving rabbit eyes.
“My little brother... he’s my little brother...”
The old n sitting on the platform watched the crying boy in silence.
Repeating over and over, He’s my little brother, the boy wept in raw misery.
The tears he had been holding back burst loose like a broken dam and poured down without pause.
They dripped onto the paved road at his feet, round spots of wetness blooming there one after another.
The boy pressed his face into his sleeve and sobbed.
“I see.”
The shopkeeper answered quietly.
It felt as though ti had stopped.
Only much later did san, who had been standing a little apart, inch hesitantly toward Jaegyeom.
When san tugged at his clothes, Jaegyeom hurriedly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand like a child.
Swallowing down the sob caught in his throat with difficulty, he let out a trembling breath.
“Let’s go ho.”
Grabbing san’s hand tight, Jaegyeom turned and began walking slowly back the way they had co, as though nothing had happened.
He clenched his teeth.
It looked as though he was trying desperately to calm himself, because he wanted to calm down.
Without a word, san squeezed Jaegyeom’s hand back just as hard.
The Ppungtta in his other hand had already half lted.
“Next ti,”
Jaegyeom said, sniffling,
“if you want another one, tell . I’ll buy you one again.”
“Yes.”
san answered with a sniffle of his own.
The two of them did not say anything else.
They did not need to.
Whatever it was, they already knew.
Hand in hand, Jaegyeom and san climbed back up the mountain path.
The sound of the insects in the grass was still lonely and peaceful.
It was a gentle evening.
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