Come Back - Ch 184

But he soon smiled.

“Shall we order some side dishes and drink here?”

It was a distorted smile to cover up the pain, but it could also be because it happened right after Choi Hong-seo collapsed.

Or maybe I became sensitive because I had that dream.

Lee Hae-seong carefully touched Choi Hong-seo’s face. He swept back his hair, soothed his swollen eyes, and wiped away the moisture remaining on his cheeks with his thumb.

“There is a security team waiting in the living room, so it would be nice to have a cozy drink in the bedroom.”

The place was good, after all. Choi Hong-seo nodded roughly. While he called the attendant outside the door and asked for drinks and snacks, he turned his face away and buried his forehead on his shoulder again. It seemed as if he didn’t want to see anyone but Lee Hae-seong, and didn’t want anyone to see him.

He put his arm around Choi Hong-seo’s back, who was acting like a child, and patted him while dealing with the attendant. Even after they were alone together again, the two of them held each other in silence for a while in the dark room.

“I’m glad that Hongseo doesn’t seem to want to fall like this, but… I’m a little worried. Her fever has gone down a lot, but is she still sick? Is she acting up because she’s sick?”

Choi Hong-seo felt the sensitive hands gently stroking his hair and buried his face in the nape of his neck.

“I had a scary dream… I was a little surprised when I woke up. That’s why it’s like that, and it’s not much different from usual. Don’t worry too much. If you just stay like this a little longer…”

“What was your dream? Maybe you’ll feel better if you tell me.”

“……”

“If it’s hard to say, you don’t have to.”

“If I tell you, I’m afraid you’ll be sad…”

It was hard to keep my composure just thinking about the image I had seen in my dream. My voice immediately became wet. Why am I really like this…

I closed my eyes and bit my lips so he wouldn’t see.

“If that’s the case, then you should tell me even more. Hongseo said that. We’re accomplices.”

“……”

“Even darkness as hard as a rock must be shared.”

Choi Hong-seo swallowed dryly as he gripped the back of his shirt tighter. Only after burying half of his face in the base of Hae-seong’s neck, who had loosened his tie and undone the top few buttons of his shirt, did he gather his courage.

“I saw you the day I put on makeup.”

“……”

“In Thailand. My friend’s brother and his friend’s friend’s friend…were in the car. The man was in another car.”

“……”

“No matter how much I called out to the man outside the car, he couldn’t hear me… I was going crazy…”

It was impossible to tell that story calmly.

Lee Hae-seong, who had been listening with frozen expression, put Choi Hong-seo’s hand on his cheek. As if to confirm his presence.

“It’s okay. It was all a dream. It’s okay now. I’m here with Hongseo now.”

It wasn’t just a dream, it was something that happened. What you saw wasn’t a dream, it was the past. Hae-seong couldn’t say. It seemed like it wouldn’t be good for Choi Hong-seo to know more about the fact that things that couldn’t be explained by common sense kept happening.

Choi Hong-seo said that they had to become accomplices.

Just like Choi Hong-seo said that if there was blood on his hands, there was blood on his hands too, he had to hide the knife that would soon be used to stab Jo Seong-hyeon.

And, one thing I want to say but can’t bring my mouth to open.

“It’s all a dream, Hongseo. Let’s forget it. Okay? You should try to only think positive thoughts.”

In his real arms, Choi Hong-seo nodded.

Just good thoughts… I wanted to, but I knew very well that things don’t work out well with just thoughts or wishes. As I woke up from that dream, Choi Hong-seo felt like he had found out something he didn’t want to know. It was like the ending of a book he was deeply engrossed in was spoiled.

I wonder if this time isn’t that long now.

A story so scary that I can’t even bring myself to tell it. A scary ending.

He raised his face and looked up at him cautiously. With a face that looked like it might burst into tears at any moment, Hae-seong smiled again. Then he carefully stroked every corner of Choi Hong-seo’s face.

His touch was always gentle enough to be cautious, but today it was especially affectionate. It was as if Choi Hong-seo felt pain wherever his hands touched. As if he was tracing a wound like a burn or a scratch.

“Your face is a mess because you cried earlier. I’ll go wash it.”

“Hongseo!”

It was hard to bear his gaze. Lee Hae-seong grabbed Choi Hong-seo’s wrist urgently as he tried to get up, wiping his face with the back of his hand. Even in the darkness, his face was so pale that it was clearly not ordinary. And yet, he was trying to hide it.

He slightly relaxed the grip on Choi Hong-seo’s wrist, which had been so tight that it hurt. Then he gave an unnatural smile.

“Here it is. Just tell him to wet the towel and I’ll wipe it off for you.”

“I’m okay now because you hugged me so much, uncle.”

“That’s because I don’t want to be separated from Hongseo even for a moment.”

Lee Hae-seong kept pulling Choi Hong-seo’s wrist, who was standing on his knees trying to get under the bed. If he wanted to, he could easily deceive him. Choi Hong-seo thought so. But now, he couldn’t deceive him easily. That made Choi Hong-seo increasingly anxious.

Going back to him, this time Choi Hong-seo covered Lee Hae-seong’s face. Just like he always did. Since he didn’t let go, his left hand was still held, so he could only touch him with his right hand.

“What’s wrong? What happened while I was sleeping? That’s why?”

His lips, dry and dry, were chapped and cracked from accumulated fatigue and lack of sleep. His lips trembled as he took a breath. But he could not force the words out of his lips. It was the first time I had seen him hesitate like this.

He swallowed dry saliva several times and pursed his lips, his eyes wandering all over Choi Hong-seo’s face. His chin, the side of his lips, behind his ears… His gaze passing over such places did not seem to be accidental.

“……”

For a moment, Choi Hong-seo seemed to understand the meaning of that gaze. He understood. Just like in that dream where he seemed to know the ending of the book he was reading.

He gently wrapped his hand around Hae-seong’s wrist. He gently stroked each of the strong, prominent joints.

“It’s okay. I’ll wash up and come back soon.”

He must have sensed understanding in his calm voice. Choi Hong-seo knew the reason.

As he got completely down from the bed, the hand that was holding his wrist snapped. He covered his face with that hand and crushed it. He couldn’t bear to look at Choi Hong-seo.

The bathroom attached to the bedroom was dazzling. Only the simplest indirect lighting was on. I couldn’t walk straight to the sink.

“……”

I see. As expected.

I look at my face in the mirror and pretend to be okay.

Chin, side of lips, behind ears, cheeks, under eyes… everywhere his gaze landed, spots appeared.

The spots that spread to his face somehow looked even more hideous than the ones on his lower face. I wanted to erase them. I didn’t want him to see them like this. Not only was it someone else’s face, but this disgusting disease… No, it wasn’t even a disease. It wasn’t because of the disease that he collapsed, and it wasn’t because of the disease that these marks covered his entire body.

What sin did he commit that he had to love something that was neither a funeral nor a ghost?

I poured water on him several times. Even the precious ointment wouldn’t work, and there was no way it would go away even if I washed it with water. I poured water on him so frantically that the front of the T-shirt he had changed him into while he was unconscious got soaked. I rubbed it with my palm.

And when I lifted my wet face, gasping for breath, there he was standing in the mirror.

I picked up a towel and pretended to wipe off the moisture, covering my face.

“Sir, is this why you did that?”

I pretended to be cheerful, even though I knew it would be more awkward to act cheerful.

“It didn’t just suddenly appear. There are a lot of them on my body, and on my hands, and we’ve already seen them all. What’s the difference if they appear on my face? I knew it would spread to my face someday. My uncle is a really, really strong person. Why did he make such a face like he was about to cry just because of this?”

“Hongseo…”

His voice was coming closer, but I couldn’t look him in the eye.

“I’m okay. I just have to endure it for one more day. If I go to America tomorrow, everything will be resolved.”

“Choi Hongseo, look at me.”

He avoided his hand that was trying to grab his face. He heard the sound of a door opening and closing from the bedroom, and the sound of something being dragged and moved. Choi Hong-seo tried to pass by his shoulder that was standing in front of him.

“I guess the drinks and food are here.”

Lee Hae-seong, who had been holding both of Choi Hong-seo’s wrists, roughly pulled his arms. The hand holding the towel was floating in the air, so he couldn’t hide his face.

“You said you were okay. Why can’t you see me?”

It was the first time that Lee Hae-seong had been so harsh with his expression and speech, and with such strong power. Choi Hong-seo, who had never cried even when looking at himself in the mirror, immediately turned red in the corners of his eyes. Even though he knew in his head that he wasn’t angry with him, the only person who could make Choi Hong-seo sad was Lee Hae-seong.

“Don’t hide it. Are you sorry?”

Despite his rough voice, at the end of his words, he pulled Choi Hong-seo by the wrist he was holding and hugged him. He said he would never let him be taken away. He held him in his arms as if he was showing him to someone.

“I didn’t even care that our faces were different. I was worried that I would change my mind because of a little freckle.”

The tears that had been held back by my hot eyes finally flowed down my cheeks. I hugged his back.

“Sir, let’s drink. Let’s drink until we get drunk.”