By Zephyria A gentle voice continued to echo in my ears.
[Congratulations! 2 points!]
It was a very affectionate and cheerful voice, with a hint of playfulness.
[See you again with better events!]
Even after unfastening my seatbelt, I didn’t move and waited quietly. It was because the Status Window was still there.
[Thank you, Tae-kyung.]
“……!”
Tae-kyung abruptly raised his head.
“Wait, just a moment!”
He urgently tried to grab it, but the Status Window had already disappeared. Even knowing it was a meaningless gesture, he couldn’t help but look around.
Click. The passenger seat door opened, and Kang Robin-nim leaned out, looking concerned.
“Lee Tae-kyung, are you really okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Knowing he couldn’t keep acting suspiciously, Tae-kyung quickly got out of the car.
While he looked around, Kang Robin-nim waited for him in front of the turquoise gate.
He let his gaze wander along the endless wall, then looked at the tree branches extending beyond it.
The sparse streetlights in the residential area weren’t sufficient, but the light leaking from the garden softly illuminated the trees.
“Is Se-han in this house?”
“I think so. The lights are on, after all.”
Kang Robin-nim hesitated, even with the keycard in his hand.
“Lee Tae-kyung, you might not know this.”
Tae-kyung went to Kang Robin-nim’s side and waited for him to continue.
“Se-han doesn’t feel the need to mingle with people. According to Auntie, before he met you, he hadn’t spoken to anyone other than his Maternal Grandmother.”
Se-han, Tae-kyung thought, that’s entirely possible. The fact that Se-han grew up to be so beautiful, having spent his childhood like that, was already a miracle.
“I came because I was worried, but honestly, I don’t know if it’s okay to go in right now.”
Kang Robin-nim looked somewhere beyond the gate, seeming drained.
“What if Se-han says he doesn’t need any of us? I don’t think I can handle that.”
Kang Robin-nim must be suffering from guilt, self-loathing, and love and concern for someone precious.
“It’ll be alright. Please open the gate.”
Tae-kyung placed his hand on the cold gate and turned to look at Kang Robin-nim. He thought he saw a smile flicker across those light-colored eyes, and then, with a clunk, the gate opened.
He climbed the eight steps leading into the house and looked around the meticulously manicured garden.
Gentle lighting, like the voice of a kind person, warmly illuminated the entire massive house. The dawn breeze that brushed past him would also find its way to that open window. For some reason, his heart ached, and he placed his palm over his chest.
Se-han grew up in such a beautiful place. That, at least, was a relief.
“Our Se-han is playing music.”
Kang Robin-nim was also looking at the open window.
“Debussy’s Clair de Lune.”
They walked side by side through the garden, listening to the beautiful moonlight. Who else could create such a performance, as if warm, yellowish moonlight was dripping into his arms, drop by drop?
Who else could create such a performance that completely immersed him in moonlight?
No one but Sung Se-han.
“Se-han is a genius.”
“Our Se-han is beyond the word genius.”
Tae-kyung rolled his eyes and looked up at Kang Robin-nim.
“Se-han really likes it when I call him a genius.”
“He likes it even more when I call him that.”
Wow… how childish. Tae-kyung glared at him with narrowed eyes, but Kang Robin-nim ignored him and opened the front door.
“Let’s go in.”
As he was about to enter, Tae-kyung’s heart grew impatient, and he quickly took off his sneakers and headed inside. He didn’t need Kang Robin-nim to guide him. The place with the wide-open window. The room visible right after passing through the living room was the music room with the piano.
When they arrived at the cream-colored door, the performance was already over. Knock. Knock. Knock. Kang Robin-nim knocked and then slowly opened the door.
The brightly lit, spacious music room was furnished with various instruments and furniture. But Tae-kyung’s eyes were fixed on the grand piano placed right in front of the full-length window. No, on Sung Se-han, who was sitting in front of the piano.
Se-han was gazing out the window, his long arms draped over the piano bench.
Tae-kyung couldn’t move a step, mesmerized by the sight.
The small, fragile child he had left behind.
He had endured those harsh times and come to meet him like this.
He had grown into a man with broad shoulders that Tae-kyung couldn’t even wrap his arms around, and he had come running after a long time.
Se-han…!
He tried to call his name, but his throat tightened, and he choked.
“Se-han.”
While Tae-kyung was lost in thought, Kang Robin-nim approached Sung Se-han.
“If you turn off your phone, I get worried.”
“Hyung.”
Se-han shifted his weight, moving his left leg off the piano bench and turning around. Then, sitting askew on the bench, he lifted his chin.
“I came here because I wanted to be alone. Why did you bring a kid with you?”
His unusually cold tone and frigid gaze were directed at Tae-kyung.
Kang Robin-nim’s eyes wavered as he looked at Tae-kyung, seemingly taken aback by Se-han’s reaction.
“Se-han, I brought Lee Tae-kyung because…”
“Sung Se-han.”
Tae-kyung approached Se-han with quick steps, as if released from a spell. As the cool, subdued brown eyes drew closer, his heart beat faster.
Se-han himself probably didn’t know how mystical his eyes, now darker and deeper than when he was a child, were.
“Se-han, I…”
He had so much he wanted to say, but his voice trembled, and the words wouldn’t come out properly. His mind and heart were a mess, and he didn’t know where to begin.
“I have so much to tell you…”
Tae-kyung stopped only when he was close enough to touch Se-han’s knees. Then, he gazed at the face he had longed to see.
How much he had wanted to see those beautiful eyes, full of life. He couldn’t calm down; his heart was beating too fast.
“Se-han, earlier I…!”
He clenched his trembling hands tightly, but he couldn’t stop his lips from quivering.
“I called you earlier, but you didn’t hear me… and just left.”
Even though his voice was shaking so much, Se-han’s eyes remained cynical.
“I heard you.”
Se-han brushed his hair back with his right hand and looked at Tae-kyung askance.
“I heard you, but I didn’t need to hear anything more.”
The moment he heard that emotionless voice, Tae-kyung’s heart sank. Why had he said something unnecessary and hurt someone he cherished just by looking at him? Lee Tae-kyung, you idiot.
“Se-han…”
Tae-kyung carefully placed his trembling hand on Se-han’s shoulder.
“Please, listen to me.”
“Yeah, later.”
Se-han moved his right leg off the bench as well and stood up. Then, without looking at Tae-kyung, he waved his hand.
“I want to rest today, so let’s see each other next time.”
Se-han turned his back on Tae-kyung again.
With each step that his broad back moved away, Tae-kyung’s heart fell to the floor with a thud.
Ha…! At this rate, his heart really wouldn’t survive.
“Se-han!”
Without hesitation, Tae-kyung ran and blocked Se-han’s path. Even if he looked down at him with such coldness, Tae-kyung wouldn’t be hurt.
No, he could be hurt as much as necessary. If it would ease Se-han’s heart…
“Se-han, everything I said earlier wasn’t true. I’m really sorry! I misunderstood because I was thinking wrong, and that made me misunderstand you.”
He needed to clear up the misunderstanding quickly, but his voice trembled, and his throat was sore, making it hard to speak. But the hardest thing was, of course, the cold Se-han.
The transparent eyes that didn’t seem to register his presence, even as they looked at him, made him feel resentful and sad.
“Se-han…!”
Tae-kyung grabbed Se-han’s right hand.
The hand wasn’t soft, with its prominent knuckles, but it was warm and large. Holding that delicate and beautiful hand made him feel so relieved that his heart broke.
“Se-han! I missed you so much… Waaah!”
Tears burst forth as if a dam had broken.
“I missed you so much, Heeeuhng! Se-han, I was wrong… Heeeuhng!”
Once the tears started, they were easily beyond control. He knew he wasn’t apologizing properly and was just saying things that didn’t make sense, but he couldn’t help it.
“Lee Tae-kyung, what the…”
Se-han’s husky voice was drowned out by the sound of his crying, which made him frustrated. Still, the tears kept flowing.
“Heeuhng… Hicc!”
As he was wiping away the tears with his palm, a large hand grabbed his hand and pulled it down.
“Stop it. You’ll hurt your eyes.”
“Euuheeuhng!”
The concerned tone made the tears that had been about to stop start flowing again. With a sigh, a warm hand wiped his swollen eyelids.
“Why are you crying, anyway?”
Se-han grabbed the back of his head with one hand and pressed the hem of his tracksuit sleeve against his puffy eyes. This was a disaster. The tears wouldn’t stop.
“Heeuhng! Se-han!”
Tae-kyung opened his arms wide and hugged Se-han tightly.
“Heeuhng, Hicc…!”
He hugged the broad back tightly, determined not to let go again. Then, he buried his face in the solid chest. Only then could he cry without restraint.
“Se-han! Euhheuk…!”
Strong arms wrapped around his back and pulled him closer. Tae-kyung clung tightly to Se-han’s chest, inhaling the scent he loved.
“Hyung, did you perhaps scold Tae-kyung?”