Chapter 12
It was late at night.
The moonlight was dim, and the waves were louder than the night before. It seemed like heavy rain would arrive within a few days.
Taegeon, half-lying against the wall with a pillow behind him, absentmindedly fiddled with his lighter.
His gaze was fixed on a single point, but his focus was hazy. What lingered in his blurred vision was her room.
More specifically, her desk.
Something so important that it could make a woman who had always trembled in front of him suddenly seem like a completely different person—what could it be?
No matter how hard he tried to recall, there had been nothing particularly unusual about the small desk. Just a neatly stacked pile of books, maybe more than ten.
No… was that really a book? Now that he thought about it, they seemed more like notebooks than books.
He narrowed his eyes, trying to claw through his memories, but his thoughts were soon broken by a wave of irritation.
I don’t know. Fuck. Why the hell should I care about it?
Yeah, whatever it was, it had nothing to do with him. Even if she were a wanted criminal hoarding Death Notes, it wouldn’t have mattered to him at all.
Taegeon picked up the comic book that had been lying on the floor. The stack of borrowed comics, which was a courtesy of Soo-Cheol, was piled up like a mountain beside him.
“There’s no TV in this house. I borrowed them because I thought you might be bored.”
He said it was for him, but Taegeon was sure that Soo-Cheol had only brought them so that he could read them himself. He had no idea why the guy insisted on hanging around here.
Tonight, after running straight over from his part-time job, Soo-Cheol had been lying face-down at his feet, flipping through comic books for hours. It was almost 11 PM, and there was no telling when he’d finally decide to leave.
“I will just read this for some time.”
That had been hours ago. Now, Taegeon’s mouth hurt just from telling him to shut up and go.
The room was filled with the sound of crashing waves and the occasional rustling of pages. Taegeon had never been particularly interested in comic books, even as a kid. But he looked into it on the insistent words of Soo-cheol. His eyes glazed over as they skimmed through the illustrations, failing to grasp the story.
Eventually, his hand flipped through the pages faster and faster, his already weak interest completely vanishing.
Ugh, I can’t do this anymore.
Taegeon finally tossed the comic aside. Leaning his head back against the wall, his gaze inevitably drifted forward—once again, losing its focus.
It didn’t matter. She was a woman he would never see again once he returned to Seoul. So why was he so curious? What was the point of knowing anything about her?
“… … .”
Suddenly, a pair of eyes blinked behind black-rimmed glasses in his mind.
They were more ordinary than he had expected. No… they were unexpectedly pretty. The more he thought about them, the more they felt familiar.
Was that why?
He couldn’t be sure, but something about them didn’t feel foreign.
Maybe he shouldn’t have looked into them at all. If he hadn’t seen them, he wouldn’t have cared. But after that brief glance, he felt a strange sense of regret for no reason.
Because he wanted to see her eyes again. Just a little more clearly. Because he wondered if—maybe—it was a face he actually knew.
In his mind, the floating eyes filled with tears.
Taegeon frowned instinctively.
Damn it. Just thinking about those tears made him feel terrible. It was like he had made some huge mistake.
Well, if she was hiding something under that blanket like it was a grave, she deserved to feel anxious.
“Ha.”
He let out a quiet chuckle. It was ridiculous that he had spent five whole minutes thinking about this.
If it was going to bother him this much, wouldn’t it be easier to just find out? If curiosity had already taken root, pretending not to care would only make it worse.
Taegeon took out a cigarette, light it with a practiced flick. As smoke curled around him, his gaze landed on Soo-Cheol, who was still sprawled at his feet.
How much did this kid know about her? Was that loud mouth of his still filled with blind loyalty?
Through the haze of smoke, Taegeon nudged Soo-Cheol’s side with the tip of his foot.
“Hey.”
Without even glancing up, Soo-Cheol lazily flipped through another page.
“Yeah?”
“What’s the name of the woman next door?”
This time, Soo-Cheol turned to face him, blinking as if caught off guard.
“Why do you ask all of a sudden?”
“Just answer. No questions.”
Soo-Cheol blinked a few more times, seemingly thinking it over. Then, without much hesitation, he turned back to his comic and muttered:
“It’s Lee Soon-Jung.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Soo-Cheol answered firmly, turning another page with a saliva-covered fingertip.
And just like that—another page flipped in less than a second.
Taegeon silently stared at him.
The guy who had been slowly reading for hours was now flipping pages like he was skimming a dictionary.
…Yeah. No way her name was actually Lee Soon-Jung.
I only wanted a name, and now I’m back at square one.
Taegeon quickly gave up on getting a real answer and changed the subject.
“Have you ever seen the books on the desk in her room?”
“Whose room?”
Soo-Cheol raised his eyebrows. His expression was completely innocent, as if Taegeon had just asked the most unexpected question in the world.
“I’ve never been to Noona’s room before….”
His stony gaze blinked, untainted by guilt.
This time, he was definitely telling the truth.
The difference between when he was lying and when he wasn’t was so obvious that Taegeon couldn’t help but think: This kid could never be a criminal.
Since there was nothing left to hide, Soo-Cheol returned to his slow page-turning. But after a moment, he looked back at Taegeon with a puzzled expression.
“Wait. Hyung… did you go into Noona’s room?”
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Did you get her permission?”
…Permission? What permission?
I’m your boss, you little brat.
His conscience twisted for half a second, but Taegeon had his own reasons. He had nothing to feel guilty about.
With a frown, he waved his hand dismissively.
“Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”
Soo-Cheol stared at him blankly for a moment. Then, his lips curled into a knowing smirk.
“Hyung… are you interested in Soon-Jung?”
Interested?
Of course, he was interested.
She was too suspicious not to be. She kept popping up in front of him.
But the kind of ‘interest’ Soo-Cheol was implying was obviously something else. The gleam of mischief in his eyes made that very clear.
Taegeon scoffed.
“Not even close.”
“Then why do you keep asking about her?”
“I just asked you two questions. Stop making a big deal out of nothing. Just shut up and read.”
“Okay.”
Soo-Cheol sulked and went back to his comics. He stayed until midnight before finally heading home.
By then, since 11:30 PM Taegeon had spent his every five minutes in poking Soo-cheol on his ribs, telling him to get lost.
And yet, even after being left alone, deep into the early morning… sleep refused to come.
