By Zephyria As Lee Do-hyeon had said, there were many dishes and a considerable amount, but Ryu Jeong barely touched most of them. When asked which of the many dishes was the most delicious, he replied that the meat with a subtle smoky flavor and the persimmon-flavored ice cream for dessert were the best, having only tasted a little or not touched most of the dishes at all.
It wasn’t that he was picky; it was just a bit unfamiliar. He was rather insensitive, eating ramen past its expiration date without hesitation and even scraping off moldy vegetables if they weren’t too bad. But even he knew that the food he had eaten today wasn’t cheap. From the interior to the attitude of the employees, it wasn’t like the neighborhood restaurants they usually went to.
As someone who had offered to repay the favor with help, it didn’t make sense to be treated to such an expensive meal. Lee Do-hyeon didn’t seem to think much of it, but Ryu Jeong’s head was about to explode. However, he couldn’t afford to treat him at a place comparable to the restaurant they went to today. So, all that was left was to do his best in what he could do.
“You can park anywhere. They’re not enforcing parking regulations now…”
They returned to Wolhyeon-dong. Ryu Jeong, who had been tense, fearing he might doze off again like before, pointed to an empty spot as soon as the car entered the familiar alleyway. Lee Do-hyeon parked the car in a suitable spot as Ryu Jeong had said and released his seatbelt.
“The neighborhood is so old that there are many places that are hard to walk around. Would you mind not looking at those places…?”
Ryu Jeong, who had followed Lee Do-hyeon out of the car, asked Do Hwon’s opinion before starting the neighborhood tour. Except for the areas around the houses of people still living in Wolhyeon-dong, there were places where it was impossible to pass due to the junk left behind by those who had left. The stairs and roads, roughly made with cement, were corroded and crumbling. Even he found it difficult to walk around such places, and more than anything, he felt sorry for keeping a busy person for so long, even on the weekend.
But it was awkward to show some places and not others to someone who had come to look around because of the redevelopment. Ryu Jeong, thinking that it was a decision he couldn’t make alone, looked at Lee Do-hyeon as if entrusting the choice to him. Hmm. Lee Do-hyeon, who seemed to be contemplating for a moment, nodded lightly towards the empty alley.
“Let’s go for now. Jeong-ie can tell me as we go.”
“Then it will take a long time… You might be taking a wasted trip… It will be hard for you.”
“Does Jeong-ie think I look weak?”
At Lee Do-hyeon’s question, Ryu Jeong’s eyes widened. Weak? That word didn’t suit Lee Do-hyeon at all.
Lee Do-hyeon was the closest person to the ideal Alpha he had ever seen. He didn’t know if it was because he was a Dominant Alpha, but he was tall and had a large build, so he was quite intimidating even without pheromones. Weak? Ryu Jeong waved his hands hastily, saying that wasn’t what he meant.
“I, I just thought you might find it annoying. It takes up a lot of time too… It’s definitely not because you look weak. You look very, very fit…”
“Ah.”
Lee Do-hyeon, who had been listening to Ryu Jeong’s rambling, let out a small exclamation mixed with laughter. Ryu Jeong stopped talking at the sound. Seeing his slightly tearful expression, as if he felt wronged by the misunderstanding, made him want to tease him even more. Do Hwon nodded and smiled, as if he understood everything without saying more.
“So that’s how I look in Jeong-ie’s eyes?”
At the beautifully drawn arc of his lips, Ryu Jeong opened his mouth without realizing it. A thin breath escaped through his lips, barely wide enough to fit a thumbnail. Slightly dazed, Ryu Jeong forgot to even blink, unable to even think of answering yes, until he was startled by Lee Do-hyeon’s nod and closed his mouth.
What did he just say? Ah, that’s how I look in his eyes… Ryu Jeong quickly nodded his head up and down.
“Y-yes…”
At the faint voice, Lee Do-hyeon’s lips curved even more. He didn’t know if he was aware of it, but Ryu Jeong had been showing considerable interest in his appearance since they first met. He would stare even if he just chuckled, and the gaze was so intense that he couldn’t bear it, whether he didn’t intend to hide it or couldn’t hide it.
Is he just a kid after all? Do Hwon shrugged his shoulders instead of raising his eyebrows.
“I’m not so weak that I’ll have a hard time just walking, as Jeong-ie sees me. Um, do you know rugby?”
“That, the ball…”
“That’s right. The one where you run around with a ball. I did it for a while when I was in America. Just for a little while, though.”
“Ah…”
At the explanation, Ryu Jeong looked Lee Do-hyeon up and down with a face that understood. Look at this. The gaze that seemed to be evaluating the value of a product was familiar, but seeing that kid looking at him with such eyes right in front of him made him laugh in disbelief. Of course, it was a pure, appraising gaze far from sensuality, but that made him want to tease him even more.
But if he did, he might get a crazy look in return. Of course, he didn’t want to make strange jokes to a kid either. Do Hwon decided to end it at a reasonable level.
“Where should we start looking around?”
Lee Do-hyeon, who had taken his eyes off Ryu Jeong, frowned slightly at the sunlight pouring down on his head. His eyes, looking up at the roofs endlessly attached along the slope, were quite sharp. It wasn’t just looking around, but searching for something he wanted. Ryu Jeong, who suddenly felt his purpose, quickly came to his senses and moved his feet.
Wolhyeon-dong was a neighborhood with narrow, thin alleys intricately intertwined like an ant tunnel made on the ground. It had a maze-like shape with no exit, and there was one wide road running through the middle. It was called a wide road, but it was significantly narrower compared to other neighborhoods. Still, it was wide enough for one car to pass, so there were quite a few stores centered around that road. That was all in the past, though.
Now, it was all collapsed and broken, and the street was so desolate that people who didn’t know Wolhyeon-dong well would be horrified and turn back if they took the wrong turn. Still, even a few years ago, there were people who visited this street. Sometimes, they would make noise for days, saying they were filming dramas or movies.
“There used to be a commercial district here.”
Perhaps because there was no one to clean the streets, trash rolled around like fallen leaves. Lee Do-hyeon, who lightly looked around the precariously hanging signs, broken windows, and the chaotic interior as if a typhoon had swept through, said in a nonchalant voice.
“How long have you lived here?”
“About… 10 years. I moved here when I was 12.”
“So you’ve lived about half your life here.”
Is that so? Ryu Jeong, who had calculated in his head, nodded, saying that was right.
“If you came here at 12, you must have run around here a lot? There’s a stationery store and a supermarket right in front.”
“Ah, not really…”
Ryu Jeong stopped talking, trying to refute.
Other kids besides him did. As he said, there was a stationery store and a supermarket. The kids gathered in groups of twos and threes, sat in front of the game machines in the stationery store, and enthusiastically wielded the joysticks, or squatted in front of the supermarket and ate snacks. Of course, it wasn’t that Ryu Jeong had never done that at all. He would hold onto the kids, saying let’s play a little more because he didn’t want to go home, but in the end, he would trudge back to a house with a drunk father every day. If he wasn’t home when they wanted him to run errands for alcohol and cigarettes, household items would fly along with curses, so he couldn’t go out and play carelessly.
He had stopped talking in the middle, but Lee Do-hyeon didn’t seem to hear it because his voice was so small. He wouldn’t lose any pride by talking, but he thought he had done well to keep his mouth shut since he didn’t know what kind of reaction would come back.
“What about before you moved here?”
Lee Do-hyeon, who had already gone ahead of Ryu Jeong, nudged a piece of glass that was caught on his toe with the toe of his dress shoes. Soil dust, which was hard to see in the asphalt-covered city center, lightly rose and fell at Do Hwon’s kick. Do Hwon, who looked back at Ryu Jeong, who was somehow slowed down, glanced at his fidgeting white fingers, hesitating to answer, and then raised his eyes.
“Did you live in Seoul before too?”
“Ah, before that… Ph, Philippines.”
“Philippines?”
Lee Do-hyeon tilted his head as if surprised.
“Where in the Philippines?”
“I don’t… really know…”
He lived there but doesn’t even know where he lived. A skewed thought came to mind first, but if he moved to Wolhyeon-dong at the age of twelve, he must have lived in the Philippines when he was much younger than twelve, so he might not remember, so he decided not to ask any further. Besides, he was avoiding eye contact while hesitating to answer, so it seemed like it might be a sensitive topic to talk about. He didn’t have the malicious taste to keep digging into something he didn’t want to talk about, so he decided to lightly change the subject.
“Still, it must be a shame. It must feel like your hometown is disappearing.”
“Hometown?”
“Yes. Well, these days, everyone moves so often, so it might be a little different from the feeling of hometown that the old people talk about. But still, it’s a neighborhood you’ve lived in since you were young, so you must have some regrets.”
Ryu Jeong, who had been listening to Lee Do-hyeon quietly, lowered his head without a word. Looking back on his childhood here, there weren’t any good memories to miss. He had to take responsibility for his own livelihood, so he had even thought that the days he lived in the Philippines were much better. But it wasn’t that he didn’t have any regrets. Although it was a dilapidated house, it was his own space that he had cherished, sweeping and cleaning it every day.
He was more worried about life after the demolition than regretful. He was afraid of the loan sharks who would know and come looking for him like ghosts, even if compensation was paid.
“But, President…”
Still not making eye contact, Ryu Jeong asked very carefully.
“What will be built here after it’s gone?”
“A hotel.”
“Ah…”
Ryu Jeong opened his mouth blankly at the immediate answer. He thought apartments would be built like in other neighborhoods.
“Are you a little surprised that it’s a hotel instead of apartments?”