By Zephyria 
In-ho stepped into the shower booth and stood still under the stream of water.
He simply stood there, drenched, with an expression that suggested he was lost in deep thought. He didn’t even move his hands, as if he had no intention of actually washing.
His gaze was vacant as he tilted his head slightly, staring at the wall where droplets of water clung. The atmosphere was entirely different from when he was with Haon. Today, he seemed particularly subdued.
In-ho slowly finished his shower, cooling his heavy head with the cold water. He moved even more sluggishly than usual, checking the time—something he normally didn’t bother with. It was almost time to leave.
Today was the day of a scheduled family gathering.
After stepping out of the shower booth, he read a text from Jang Eun-young. He only checked the location and time of the appointment, ignoring the long, rambling message.
It was originally supposed to be a dinner engagement, but the time had been moved up to lunch due to Chairman Seo’s work schedule.
“He should just take a proper rest at his age.”
In-ho muttered softly and shook his head. He found it fascinating that his father’s greed for work had not dried up even after living so long.
Wiping the water from his face with a towel, In-ho pressed firmly against the corners of his eyes. His eyes felt strained, perhaps because he hadn’t slept enough.
“Haa…”
Letting out a shallow sigh, he rubbed the corners of his mouth and left the bathroom. He wore a habitual smile, thinking Haon would be lying in bed.
However, Haon was nowhere to be seen.
Until In-ho had entered the bathroom, Haon had been lying on the bed eating fruit. Thinking he might have gone downstairs for a moment, In-ho headed to the living room to find him.
“Haon-ssi?”
There was no response even after calling his name. Haon was not on the living room sofa or in the kitchen.
Outside the window of the empty living room, thick, gloomy rain clouds had gathered. It looked like it was about to rain.
In-ho’s already low condition felt as though it were sinking even further due to the dismal weather. With Haon not in sight, even the faint smile on his lips vanished completely.
“Haon-ssi.”
Quickening his pace, In-ho even opened the laundry room door to check inside.
When Haon wasn’t there either, a frown began to crease his brow. A strange sense of anxiety bloomed because Haon, who always told him before going even to the bathroom for a moment, had disappeared without warning.
In-ho went straight to the entrance and looked for Haon’s shoes. Fortunately, the worn-out sneakers were still sitting on the floor. That meant he was in the house.
“In-ho-ssi?”
Just then, Haon’s voice drifted from afar.
Haon looked bewildered as he saw In-ho walking down the hallway of the entrance. He had been in the guest room. It seemed he had come out after belatedly hearing him being called.
“Were you looking for me?”
Watching Haon ask with a flustered face, In-ho let out a small chuckle.
“Yes. I came out after washing up, but I couldn’t see you.”
Why hadn’t he thought to check Haon’s room? Even though he had gone as far as the laundry room.
In-ho inwardly mocked his own ridiculous behavior as he approached Haon. He had been momentarily panicked when Haon wasn’t visible. He had been quite startled, even though the other had only been out of sight for a short while.
“I was in the room for a bit. I wanted to pack something.”
“What?”
In-ho asked with a light laugh. Thinking about it again, his own reaction felt so funny that he couldn’t stop chuckling.
“Just… it’s nothing much.”
Trailing off, Haon walked closely by In-ho’s side. Instead of prying further, In-ho took Haon’s hand and led him to the kitchen. After seating him at the dining table, he habitually checked Haon’s complexion.
“What should we have for dinner tonight?”
“Ah… are you coming back right after lunch?”
In-ho nodded, confirming that he was.
He originally hadn’t intended to go, but since Seo Tae-wan had even come to the house to get on his nerves, he couldn’t just stay still. Now that it was a space he shared with Haon, their visits felt even more unpleasant.
“Think about what you want for dinner.”
He could have taken his time to think, but Haon’s eyes rolled around as if he intended to decide the menu right now. In-ho watched in silence, finding the sight of him contemplating so seriously to be cute.
The deliberation grew long, as if nothing came to mind immediately. After a long struggle, Haon blinked his eyes wide and looked at In-ho.
“I’ll cook.”
“You will, Haon-ssi?”
“Yes, I’ll make something delicious for you today.”
Swallowing the words ‘so please cheer up,’ Haon gripped In-ho’s hand a bit tighter.
Although In-ho didn’t show it at all, Haon could feel that he was uncomfortable about going to meet his family. Knowing that he didn’t get along with his siblings made it even more apparent.
“And this…”
Haon hesitated and put his hand in his trouser pocket. He paused with a shy expression, trying to take something out.
In-ho watched Haon’s actions with interested eyes, wondering what on earth it could be.
After hesitating, what Haon revealed was a small piece of colored paper.
“I folded it.”
While In-ho was washing up, Haon had been secretly doing origami in the room.
“It’s a sea otter.”
He added an explanation in case In-ho didn’t recognize it. This part is the head, and the things attached underneath are the hands.
“I just… wanted to give it to you… You don’t have to take it if you don’t want to.”
In truth, he had made it with the meaning of a lucky charm. It had also weighed on his mind that he hadn’t been able to buy the sea otter plushie that In-ho liked.
However, for some reason, he felt too shy to say that meaning out loud. Even though he had made it, he felt it was such a childish gift that he was reluctant to give it.
Just as he was wondering if he had made it for nothing, In-ho’s soft laughter put Haon at ease.
“You know how to fold things like this?”
Taking the colored paper from Haon, In-ho examined the small piece of paper here and there.
The neatly folded paper brought the image of a sea otter to mind even without the explanation. It was even easier to recognize because it was holding a shell-shaped piece of paper on its belly.
“You’re quite handy, Haon-ssi. I’m really bad at this kind of thing.”
“No, it’s easy. It’s nothing once you know how to fold it.”
When In-ho praised him sincerely, the corners of Haon’s mouth twitched. As Haon smiled, In-ho’s own smile brightened further.
“I can think of this as you, right?”
In-ho carefully examined the sea otter-shaped paper and kissed Haon. Welcoming the light kiss, Haon pouted his lips and nodded vigorously.
In-ho lightly bit Haon’s smiling lips and whispered a thank you.
Haon wanted to say again that it was really nothing, but he couldn’t. A soft tongue entered his mouth, leaving him no room to make a sound.
Instead, he clung tightly to In-ho and continued the kiss he had learned from him.
He had come to love kissing very much. Though it was still embarrassing, once their lips touched, he kept wanting the inside to touch as well. Even the shy sounds echoing faintly between their touching lips sounded sweet now.
Every time In-ho filled his mouth, he felt a sense of intimate connection. It felt as if the emptiness inside Haon was being filled to abundance.
“Haon-ssi.”
Breaking the kiss, In-ho wrapped his hand around Haon’s wrist, which was gripping his shoulder. Haon’s wet lips parted slightly, and he answered ‘yes’ with his eyes instead.
In-ho pressed his lips against Haon’s eyelid as if stamping it. Then, he pulled Haon’s hand and suddenly gave a light bite to the tip of his index finger.
“Don’t forget about me.”
He pressed down on the finger that bore his tooth mark. He was mimicking the habit of leaving a mark on a finger so that Haon wouldn’t forget.
“I won’t forget.”
Haon smiled brightly and gave him a quick peck on the lips. His expression was one of absolute certainty that such a thing would never happen.
Even if he were told to forget, he wouldn’t be able to. To Haon, In-ho was already a presence deeply engraved in his heart.
“I will absolutely never forget.”
Therefore, there was no way he would be forgotten.
* * *
After In-ho left, Haon, left alone, did housework for the first time in a while. When he was with In-ho, he couldn’t fully concentrate on cleaning because In-ho kept trying to help.
Whenever Haon argued that this was his job and he was being paid for it, In-ho would take the work away, saying that the person paying the money gets to decide.
“Vacuumed, laundry… checked the fridge…”
Haon looked around the spacious house, folding his fingers one by one. While organizing the things he had to do, he suddenly grinned, looking at the index finger In-ho had bitten.
Feeling it was a pity that the tooth mark had disappeared so quickly, he aimlessly stroked his index finger. Then, suddenly feeling a sense of emptiness, he stared blankly at the long staircase.
Having been stuck to In-ho for just two or three days, the house felt even wider now that he was gone. He also felt bored because he couldn’t hear the voice that had been constantly talking to him.
It was a strange thing. Since coming up to Seoul, he had become accustomed to living alone and had never felt bored.
“Ah…”
Haon, who had been patting his chest alone, moved quickly at the sound of a song coming from the laundry room. It was the notification sound from the dryer that had finished its cycle.
Haon took the fluffy, dried clothes out of the dryer and put them in a laundry basket. Since he had to organize the clothes and decide on the dinner menu, he had to move more diligently today. There was no time to feel empty.
“What should I make…”
While tending to the clothes, he pondered the menu in his head.
Because In-ho’s appetite had noticeably decreased, he racked his brain even more carefully. Since the day they went to the aquarium, In-ho hadn’t shown much enthusiasm for meals. It seemed to be because he was stressed.
Haon wondered what kind of food would be delicious and energizing as he carried the laundry basket into the living room. He sat on the living room sofa and unfolded the clean clothes one by one, folding them neatly with sharp edges.
He set the outerwear aside, intending to hang them in the closet immediately. He smiled while smoothing out the wrinkles of the athletic windbreaker he had received from In-ho, then tilted his head.
“What is this…?”
There was something in the pocket of the outerwear. He had forgotten to check the pockets before putting it in the washing machine.
What was in the pocket was a withered petal. It looked like a white cosmos.
Did it get in by chance while they were playing at the Han River? Haon wondered, but soon finished organizing the clothes. Looking out the window where it seemed rain would fall soon, he moved faster than usual.
He carelessly threw the mysterious petal into the trash can.