By Zephyria 
At that time, he had hardly any connection with the young master, it was almost like their first meeting, and Tae-hwon was just a rookie who hadn’t been in Gyeongjeong for long, but that’s just how it was. The one-sided bullying that everyone in the Separate House ignored. The injustice of violence that was sugarcoated as a children’s fight and hushed up. Tae-hwon might have just wanted to burn it all away.
Everyone there prioritized their own pain over Kwon Rae-i’s pain, but to Woo Tae-hwon, Kwon Rae-i’s pain felt like his own.
Maybe that’s why he wanted to protect that young master.
Getting dragged away again and getting beaten again. But still stepping forward again.
After all, at the time, Woo Tae-hwon was nothing but evil, venom, and guts. He was already at the bottom, he had nothing left, and he had no goals or intentions to achieve in Gyeongjeong. He had come there only because it was the only place he could go, and even there, he was ostracized for being a square peg in a round hole, and ended up taking care of the most oppressed Kwon Rae-i at the Separate House, the lowest of the low.
‘But I’m stronger than a ten-year-old kid.’
As he constantly interfered with Kwon Sang-oh’s atrocities, getting beaten and repeating the cycle, news of a death came. The legal wife had died…
Due to drug misuse…
Woo Tae-hwon, being a low-ranking employee, couldn’t know the details, but anyway, after the death of the legal wife, he was no longer dragged to the Main House to be beaten. Naturally, Kwon Sang-oh stopped barging into the Separate House as well.
‘So that’s why.’
Come to think of it, it was around that time. That Kwon Rae-i started to follow only Woo Tae-hwon among so many people.
‘Did the young master know everything…?’
At that time, Kwon Rae-i was only ten years old, so I thought he might not know the surrounding circumstances. Tae-hwon didn’t show anything either. Since no one would have explained the behind-the-scenes situation to Kwon Rae-i, it was natural to assume he didn’t know.
‘…’
The water ripples.
The blue lighting reflects in all directions, creating a dazzling refraction of light. And Kwon Rae-i’s figure, freely navigating through that water, possessed a soul-stirring beauty. Like a masterpiece that evokes emotion in viewers regardless of the era, he, who moved through the water he had so feared as if it were his own domain, was majestic and grand. Pure and magnificent. Enough to want to engrave this moment in my retina and cherish it forever.
If he had overcome the water he hated so much, he must have continued his relentless efforts.
The same goes for the tattoos that densely covered his back and arms. Kwon Rae-i, who easily sought me out, complaining that even small pains were difficult. How long, how much, and how much pain would he have had to endure to get all those tattoos?
How much…
How much… did Woo Tae-hwon’s young Kwon Rae-i have to go through to become the Kwon Rae-i of today?
‘Haha.’
It’s funny.
Paradoxically, I resented the time that had passed.
Even though the current Woo Tae-hwon defines the current moment with Kwon Rae-i as fleeting and ephemeral, destined to disappear soon. I wanted things to change immediately, but I felt sorry for the things that had changed. I resented myself for not being able to watch his growth by his side.
If it had been me.
If it had been the current Woo Tae-hwon.
‘I wouldn’t have done that.’
I don’t care how much strength thirty-year-old Woo Tae-hwon has gained, or what power and position he has seized. But if it had been Tae-hwon, he would have made a completely different choice from me at thirty. He would have watched over Kwon Rae-i’s growth, helped him, and cherished him.
With all his might, he would have devoted all the best he could to Kwon Rae-i’s future. Just as I am doing now.
‘Why did you choose the wrong answer when you had such a clear right answer?’
Tae-hwon’s dark eyes trembled slightly. The swirling, bubbling foam and the white hair gently swaying in the water, and the large, sturdy, snow-white body like a marble sculpture…
Kwon Rae-i, taking a deep breath, dove down to the bottom where Tae-hwon was watching and approached.
As if encountering a mermaid in an aquarium, his face gradually approached across a glass wall.
Mysterious blue-gray eyes and a bloodless, pale face, and his breath scattering beautifully like air bubbles. Everything I saw was excessively extravagant.
He reached the bottom of the pool, tapped his fingertips on the glass where Tae-hwon’s face was. After getting his attention, he placed both hands on the bottom and kissed the glass wall towards Tae-hwon.
He parted his lips and mouthed the words.
‘What…’
Tae-hwon could only stare blankly at him, half out of his mind.
The same lip movements were repeated several times, and only then did Tae-hwon realize what he meant. Kwon Rae-i was calling Woo Tae-hwon.
‘Tae-hwon…?’
Following his call, Tae-hwon raised his arm as if possessed. As he stood on tiptoe and placed his palm on the ceiling, Kwon Rae-i lowered his head as if he had been waiting and pressed his lips against Tae-hwon’s palm. Air bubbles spread next to his face, separated by a glass wall.
It couldn’t be. But my palm felt hot.
The fact that he was calling me, looking for me, and kissing my palm, all felt as hot as if it were being swallowed by flames.
‘I just, I just jumped into the pond.’
Why Kwon Rae-i.
Why on earth does he treat Woo Tae-hwon like this…?
‘Out of spite for being rejected? Because chasing is thrilling? Because it’s a momentary delusion or fantasy?’
I’m a little curious about his feelings, which have been repeatedly labeled as puppy love.
I don’t think it would be good to dig in and find out. It would be wise to just wait for the wind to pass.
‘What if, just in case, I’m wrong.’
What if Kwon Rae-i’s feelings are so absolute that he speaks of eternity and discusses immutability?
Woo Tae-hwon doesn’t know love, nor does he have the talent to distinguish it. It’s unlikely, but what if it’s not just a momentary breeze? What if the day he gets tired of Tae-hwon, as he confidently declared, never comes? What if he tries to devote his entire life to Woo Tae-hwon alone?
Then,
Then…
What should Woo Tae-hwon do then?
‘…’
The air bubbles gradually subsided. And between Tae-hwon’s fingers, which were resting on the glass ceiling, I could see Kwon Rae-i’s face with his eyes closed. His face, with the shadows of the blue water rippling across it like a net, was mysterious and reverent at the same time. Soft and strong. He possessed both a precarious purity that seemed like it would break if touched and a steadfastness like a diamond, the symbol of immutability.
He continued to kiss Tae-hwon’s palm until his breath ran out, and only then did he finally rise to the surface. Kwon Rae-i placed his hands on the bottom tiles and pulled his body out of the pool. The water droplets that shot up reflected the light and spread out like a fountain, and Kwon Rae-i stretched out his legs as if throwing off the water and stepped out of the pool.
Remaining water dripped down his large body.
Tae-hwon could only watch the scene silently, suppressing his voice.
Kwon Rae-i, soaked in water, swept back his hair and walked across the rooftop terrace. He opened the tightly locked door and returned to the house, approaching Tae-hwon step by step. Without even wiping the water flowing all over his body, he dragged it along.
“Tae-hwon. Did you see it well?”
Only then did Tae-hwon snap out of it and move towards Kwon Rae-i. In this cold weather, especially at this late hour with the moon rising, he would catch a cold if he walked around wet. Tae-hwon, who had climbed the stairs and approached the doorway where Kwon Rae-i was, reached out and wiped his face.
“Yes. I was surprised. But it’s cold… You were reckless.”
His skin felt like ice to the touch. Tae-hwon frowned, displeased, as he brushed all the wet hair stuck to his forehead. Kwon Rae-i only wore a languid smile, as if he didn’t care about the cold at all.
“But you reached out your hand to me, Tae-hwon.”
Kwon Rae-i grabbed Tae-hwon’s hand, which was wiping his face, and pulled it to his lips. He kissed his palm as he had done before, and his eyes curved into crescents. Water droplets flowing down his eyes fell onto Tae-hwon’s fingertips. The water was cold, and even his lips were cold.