If You Want Me - Episode 66
<Episode 66>
Even just hearing Seo-won’s name made him impatient. Do-gyeom approached and joined their conversation.
“That’s right. Yoon Seo-won.”
“Ah, so it is that young man?”
The old woman chuckled as if feeling immense pride just from recalling the name.
Now that he had confirmed Seo-won had entered this island, he was about to ask where he was, but the elderly men and women gathered together suddenly started talking amongst themselves.
“But that young man is pitiful too. At that age, you normally wouldn’t even think of coming to such a remote island.”
“Seeing as Grandma Park is keeping him, I think it’s for that reason?”
“What reason?”
“The baby. If it wasn’t for that reason, she wouldn’t give him a room and live together.”
“Ah. Right. She was so heartbroken back then, I think she’s keeping him thinking she got a new son. Come to think of it, Grandma Park is really unfortunate too. To the point of keeping a complete stranger rather than her own daughter…”
They each chimed in about Grandma Park who was keeping Yoon Seo-won. It was as if they had forgotten Do-gyeom and Secretary Bae were right next to them.
They were on high alert before… He could have waited until they finished talking since he had things to ask, but from the moment he heard Seo-won’s name, Do-gyeom’s heart had been pounding and getting worked up. He wasn’t in the mood to waste time like this.
Do-gyeom interrupted their conversation and impatiently cut in.
“So where is Grandma Park’s house?”
“Up there… No, but who are you to look for Grandma Park and young man Seo-won?”
The old woman who had recalled Seo-won’s name first had casually tried to explain the location, but as if on guard again, she asked what relation he had.
Who am I?
Do-gyeom momentarily lost words at that. There was no word to define his and Seo-won’s relationship right now. He could have glossed over it with a lie like family, but for some reason, he didn’t feel like doing that.
As Do-gyeom hesitated without answering right away, attention was drawn to him. Do-gyeom moved his lips a few times and confessed his one-sided feelings.
“…I’m someone who likes Seo-won.”
That was the only way to explain their relationship right now.
Until before he left, Seo-won had confessed that he had liked Do-gyeom one-sidedly for years and was even pregnant with his child, so they could like each other. But time had passed since then and his feelings might have changed, so he couldn’t assert it.
So now… it was a simple one-sided love.
He had only explained to others what kind of relationship he and Seo-won had, but perhaps because it was an embarrassing statement, he felt excited as if he had really confessed.
As Do-gyeom calmed his pounding heart a little and lifted his head, for some reason the residents were all staring at him without a word.
Did it seem like he was lying? Since he had dressed up to have an important conversation, he might look like a debt collector or seem to have a large age gap with Yoon Seo-won. It probably seemed more so with Secretary Bae next to him.
I really brought the wrong person. He’s comfortable though. As Do-gyeom regretted again, suddenly there was the sound of applause. The bald old man who had first brought up Seo-won’s story was clapping.
“Whew, being young is really great. So passionate. Back in my day…”
“Hey, if you go up that way, there’s a house with a blue roof. That’s Grandma Park’s house, so hurry and go see.”
As the old man was about to ramble on, an old woman naturally intervened and cut him off.
A blue roof… When he looked up at her words, he spotted a blue-roofed house in the distance. Since the houses were scattered and there was only one blue roof up there, he could tell where it was at a glance.
“Thank you.”
Do-gyeom bowed politely, gave Secretary Bae a look, and left their midst.
Do-gyeom took Secretary Bae and climbed the uphill road toward the blue-roofed house. It wasn’t a steep or rough road, but his heart started pounding wildly again and his breathing became unstable.
He had never been this nervous even before a major meeting that could make or break a quarter’s performance… Do-gyeom clenched and released his fists, trying to relieve the tension.
The blue-roofed house got closer and closer. As he approached, the gate was wide open without any wariness.
He wondered if he could enter without permission, but if he rang a doorbell or something, it felt like Seo-won would notice first and run away. Do-gyeom, who had hesitated at the door, went inside the house.
“Excuse me.”
Entering with a small voice, Do-gyeom turned his head at the familiar pheromones brushing his nose.
And there, his eyes met Seo-won’s, who was coming out of the kitchen with a tray.
* * *
A day in the island village passed by in a flash just preparing meals. And it wasn’t even anything special.
Especially today, a special meal was being prepared. Grandma had gone down to Busan on an errand and bought meat, so preparations for boiled pork were in full swing.
After putting green onions, garlic, bay leaves, soybean paste, etc. in boiling water, she put in a whole slab of pork belly. The meat was so thick that it seemed it would take quite a long time to cook. Until the meat was done, Seo-won kept busy preparing to the side, cutting kimchi and making ssamjang.
A cool breeze was blowing and leaves were turning yellow and red, reaching the peak of autumn, but in the narrow kitchen where it was boiling, beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
He was immersed in dinner preparations with Grandma when he felt a presence outside. Grandma had been checking if the rice was cooking well next to him, and upon hearing the sound, she straightened her bent back and peeked out.
“Seems like a guest has come.”
“I’ll go out and see.”
Seo-won, who had been cooking on the outside of the kitchen, answered and stepped out.
Dragging the tattered slippers Grandma had gotten him, he came out of the kitchen and saw two tall men standing in the yard, so tall he had to tilt his head back to see their faces.
Shiny shoe tips. As soon as he saw the neat pant hems, a chilly feeling enveloped his whole body. He had momentarily forgotten, but it was a familiar feeling. An ominous premonition that he knew who it was without seeing the face.
At the eerie feeling climbing up his spine, Seo-won paused for a moment, then slowly lifted his head.
And there.
“Yoon Seo-won.”
…Seo Do-gyeom.
A man who didn’t fit in at all with the remote island village was standing there.
To forget, if it was difficult to forget his very existence, he tried to at least empty his heart. Like the saying that when the body becomes distant, the heart becomes distant too, he had tried hard to completely empty his heart of him while staying on the island.
He had spent a little over a month like that on the island village. But even so, as soon as he saw Do-gyeom, his heart raced like crazy again and he felt like crying. His nose stung and his eyes grew hot.
It wasn’t because he was afraid Do-gyeom would make him get rid of Sticky Rice, but because he still had so much lingering attachment to him. It was an overwhelming emotion from wanting to see him.
He had wanted to see him all along, and his heart still raced and love welled up when he saw him. So he wanted to run into his arms right away, but he knew his heart and Do-gyeom’s were looking in different directions.
Only I must be feeling this way. Seo-won suppressed his overwhelming feelings and opened his mouth dryly.
“…Young master.”
“…”
He thought he would say something as soon as he saw him. Just like when he found Seo-won who had run away to the countryside before, he would ramble on criticisms asking if he had been scammed by real estate, or spew harsh words asking how he dared to think of running away while carrying his child.
But Do-gyeom didn’t say anything. For some reason, he was just looking down at him with a slightly contorted face.
Seo-won also quietly observed him. Come to think of it, Do-gyeom had lost a lot of weight too. His face had no color at all as if he was in mourning, and his muscles seemed to have diminished a lot. He was so tall and well-built to begin with that he didn’t give the impression of being small, but knowing his usual stature, even a small change felt significant.
He had thought Do-gyeom looked thin the last time he saw him, but it seemed his condition was getting worse and worse. Could it be… because of the one-sided imprint? Had he become haggard from suffering alone after Seo-won left? Even after being so harshly rejected, thinking that Do-gyeom had been tormented because of him made his heart feel tight as if being squeezed.
The other person might have chased him all the way to this island to make him get rid of his baby, but he didn’t know why he kept worrying about him. Seo-won thought he was pathetic and barely squeezed out his voice.
“Why did you come looking for me?”
A voice barely came out of his mouth.
He could run away from him, but it was a small island. Boats leaving the island only came once or twice a day. Whether he liked it or not, he had no choice but to face him today.
As Seo-won asked, steeling himself to protect Sticky Rice, Do-gyeom bit his lower lip hard and trembled slightly.
Sensing something unusual, Seo-won looked at him with half wariness and half puzzlement, and a transparent tear fell from Do-gyeom’s eye, rolling down his cheek.
“Y-young master…?”
“…”
Do-gyeom was silently crying.