By Zephyria From the moment he woke up in the morning, Yu-jin was unusually excited and didn’t know what to do. When he showed the employee who visited at the usual time a much brighter face than usual, he was puzzled but asked the same question as usual without saying anything else.
“Nothing. …Um, is Harold coming today…?”
At his cautious question, the employee shook his head.
“No, not today. If you’re waiting for him…”
“Ah, no!”
Yu-jin was startled and vehemently denied it.
“It’s okay if he doesn’t come today. Really, if he doesn’t come, I’d rather…”
He barely managed to stop himself from saying, “I’d be happy.” The employee looked down at him with a blank face and opened his mouth.
“Then I’ll be going. You really don’t need anything else?”
After checking one more time, he readily turned around and left. Thank goodness, Yu-jin breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly organized the food he had received. He roughly made a sandwich and ate it, then busily moved his body, but after finishing the housework early, time passed too slowly after that. Yu-jin forcibly opened the book he was reading, but he couldn’t get the letters to register in his eyes, so he soon gave up.
I should wash up and get ready to go out.
Going out, he couldn’t even imagine it. To be able to go out into this stifling world and see other places, he felt like his heart would burst. He hurriedly opened his closet, but he only had a few clothes. Yu-jin took out the new clothes he had been saving among them. He was glad he hadn’t worn them, just in case. When he stood in front of the mirror wearing a neat shirt and cotton pants, the length was ridiculously short.
I must have saved them for too long…
Yu-jin was flustered, but all the other clothes were old and he couldn’t see anything suitable. He put on and took off the few clothes he had several times, and before he knew it, so much time had passed.
But it’s not that bad, is it?
Yu-jin, who had put on the clothes he had worn at first again, checked his appearance in front of the mirror and nodded. Perhaps because they were new clothes, he looked the best he had ever seen himself. He smiled contentedly and then checked the time. There was still an hour left until 9 o’clock, but he couldn’t resist and ran downstairs.
“Winston!”Standing outside the entrance, pacing back and forth, Yu-jin’s face lit up as soon as he spotted the man riding towards him. Winston, wary of hurting Yu-jin, stopped his horse at a distance, quickly dismounted, and rushed towards Yu-jin. Winston lightly scooped up Yu-jin, whose cheeks were flushed and eyes sparkled as he ran towards him. He spun him around, holding him by the waist, and Yu-jin’s body floated in the air.
“Ahahaha!”
Winston smiled at the joyful laughter and stopped spinning.
“Did you wait long?”
He asked, kissing Yu-jin’s eyes and cheeks as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Yu-jin hugged his neck and shook his head.
“No, I just came out a little while ago. I missed you so much!”
Winston chuckled at the excited exclamation.
“Me too.”
The kiss moved to his lips. Yu-jin gently opened his mouth and happily accepted the kiss. His heart pounded wildly as the hot tongue entered his mouth. Why did it still make his heart race so much after so many kisses? Maybe it would be like this forever.
Haa, haa.
Winston smiled at Yu-jin, who was breathing heavily, a mix of excitement and elation.
“Your father didn’t come today, did he?” Winston asked.
“Yeah.”
Yu-jin nodded readily.
“I asked him in the morning, and he said he wasn’t coming. He doesn’t come on days like this.”
“I see.”
Winston gave a strange smile. Just as Yu-jin was starting to feel puzzled, he spoke.
“He won’t be coming for a while, so you can relax.”
“Huh?”
Winston continued as Yu-jin blinked in surprise.
“He can’t come here right now. Something huge happened.”
“Uh… what happened?”
He hesitated before asking, and Winston gave an ambiguous smile.
“It’ll take at least a year to clean up.”
What on earth could have happened? He wanted to ask more, but there was no chance. Just as he was about to ask, Winston, who had been looking him up and down, spoke first.
“Is this all you’re wearing?”
“Huh? Uh…”
Yu-jin nodded, flustered. He had chosen the best outfit he had, but was it not good enough?
“It’s my best outfit… I’ve never worn it before, I was saving it…”
Winston smiled at Yu-jin’s hesitant confession.
“Really? So you wore your special outfit to show me?”
“Yeah, uh-huh.”
Yu-jin nodded in relief. Winston said, “I’m happy,” and rubbed his nose against Yu-jin’s.
“Let’s go, I’ve got the car ready.”
“Okay.”
He readily nodded, and Winston scooped Yu-jin up and started walking. Winston put Yu-jin on the horse first, then climbed on behind him. Soon after, the horse started running, and Yu-jin clung tightly to Winston in surprise.
“Scared?”
Winston held the reins with one hand and wrapped the other arm around Yu-jin. Yu-jin turned around, hugged his waist, and shook his head.
“I’m okay.”
Actually, once he was on the horse, it felt so high up and the horse was running so fast that he was terrified he would fall off. But being so close to Winston, feeling his body heat, made him feel like he could overcome anything in the world. Yu-jin hugged Winston tightly and tried to calm his racing heart.
They rode to the stables. Winston got off the horse first, then helped Yu-jin down, holding him by the waist. He told him to wait there while he took the horse into the stable. It had seemed like a long walk to the mansion, but it was so quick on horseback. Yu-jin stood there anxiously, aware of the not-so-distant main house. After a while, Winston returned, took Yu-jin’s hand, and started walking again. Yu-jin was secretly afraid that they would head towards the mansion, but thankfully Winston was going in a different direction.
A car was parked some distance from the stables. Winston opened the passenger door and said to Yu-jin.
“Get in, let’s go.”
“Oh, okay.”
Yu-jin hurriedly sat down as he was told. Winston closed the door, walked around the car, and got into the driver’s seat. Winston started the engine and asked, watching Yu-jin look around the car in amazement.
“Tell me if you’re curious about anything.”
“Oh, okay.”
Yu-jin nodded, but he couldn’t think of anything to ask. Asking questions required some knowledge. It had been a very long time since Yu-jin had been in a car. It felt strange to actually be riding in a car like this, something he had only seen in books.
“What’s this car called? Do all cars have names?”
“Ferrari.”
“Ferrari…”
Yu-jin quietly repeated the name to himself. Winston then said to Yu-jin.
“You need to put on your seatbelt.”
“Huh? Oh…”
He hurriedly looked around, but he didn’t know what it was. Winston reached out, seeing Yu-jin flustered and unsure of what to do. He smiled reassuringly.
“You pull this out and clip it in here.”
Winston fastened the buckle with a click and smiled reassuringly.
“Yu-jin, I know you haven’t experienced many things.”
Winston continued gently.
“You’ll experience everything one by one from now on. I’ll teach you everything. So don’t be scared, it’s okay.”
Okay? he asked again, as if making a promise. Yu-jin hesitated, then nodded. Winston smiled at Yu-jin again, gave him a quick kiss, and straightened up. As he started the car, Winston said.
“There’s a guard post at the main gate. A guard will be on duty, so just duck down for a moment, you won’t be seen if we pass quickly.”
“Oh, okay.”
Yu-jin nodded, immediately tense. He felt the pressure of his body sticking to the seat in the fast-moving car, but he endured it with all his might. And finally, when he could see the guard post in the distance.
“Now, Yu-jin.”
“Aah!”
Before he could even realize what was happening, the seat suddenly reclined. Yu-jin screamed in surprise, but Winston didn’t stop and quickly passed the guard post.
“It’s okay now.”
The seat clicked back up. Yu-jin blinked several times, feeling like his eyes were spinning.
“Oh…”
When he finally regained his senses, a dazzling night view came into sight beyond the car window. Yu-jin gasped and pressed himself against the window.
“Do you like it?”
Winston asked, amused by Yu-jin’s reaction. Yu-jin couldn’t take his eyes off the night view and just replied, “Yeah.”
It’s like all the stars in the world have come down to earth.
It was the first time he had seen such dazzling lights. He was mesmerized when suddenly the car window went down. A strong wind buffeted his cheeks with a loud noise. Yu-jin was startled for a moment, but he didn’t dislike it.
“Should I close it again?”
Yu-jin hurriedly shook his head at Winston’s question. The wind was noisy, but the air was so refreshing. Yu-jin cautiously reached his hand out of the car and felt like his heart would burst with overwhelming liberation.
He was coming out into the world for the first time. Escaping the prison called ‘the most perfect joy’.