Chapter 73: Chapter 73.

Shin Kim woke up. He opened his eyes slowly and touched the side of the bed to check. They both must’ve been very tired. That day, Shin and Woojin made pasta vongole together. They ate it with some salad and then watched a movie. In the spacious bedroom, a 70-inch tv hung on the wall. Woojin made coffee and then sat down with Shin on the bed. They went through the list of movies before purchasing one they wanted.

They must have fallen asleep while watching the movie. When Shin got up, he noticed that Woojin wasn’t next to him. He stood up, suddenly feeling cold. It was funny how he got used to the warmth of a body next to him. Shin suspected that Woojin probably felt the same way. Maybe even more so.

“…”

When Shin came out of the bedroom, he noticed that the living room was well heated. Woojin must’ve turned on the heat for him; Shin had told him a long time ago that whenever he got a cold, he ended up suffering for a very long time. He didn’t doubt that Woojin remembered his words.

The balcony door seemed foggy. Frowning in confusion, Shin walked towards it and opened it. As soon as he did, warm vapor greeted his face. Suddenly scared, Shin walked out and saw that the entire balcony was filled with warm, almost hot, vapor. Shin rubbed his eyes, his heart beginning to beat faster.

Early morning, swimming pool, and…

Suddenly, and thankfully, Woojin asked, “Oh, you’re awake?”

***

“Good morning.”

Jihoon walked by him and waved. Jihoon’s voice sounded more cheerful than usual, so Woojin looked up from his cellphone. When Woojin nodded solemnly, Jihoon smiled. It was such a beautiful happy smile, unlike the morning sky, which was grey as if it was about to snow.

Jihoon sat down on his desk and asked Woojin, “What did you do during your day off?”

Woojin didn’t see the point of answering him, so he continued to stare at his monitor. He was in the process of organizing all the receipts that needed to be submitted to the accounting department. When Woojin didn’t answer him, Jihoon smiled and commented, “You look like you are happy.”

“…”

“How odd, because those women you went on blind dates with were all very upset.”

It was their grandfather who arranged these blind dates. Jihoon’s mother, Woojin’s aunt, wanted Jihoon to get married as soon as possible, but when her father decided that it was Woojin who should get married first, there was nothing she could do.

Woojin knew Jihoon was probably being nagged by his mother to get married as well, so he found it annoying that Jihoon was making fun of his predicament. Woojin adjusted his glasses and frowned as he said to Jihoon, “Why don’t you go to these blind dates instead of me?”

“You are the direct grandson, so obviously, you should be the one getting married first. The Chairman is my maternal grandfather, while he is your PATERNAL grandfather, remember?”

“What does it have to do with anything?”

Some family members believed that whoever got married first may have a better chance of inheriting the company, but Woojin didn’t know where this idea came from. What he did know was that his grandfather was becoming more and more paranoid that his only daughter could still have the family illness. The chairman was barely sleeping nowadays.

Woojin tried to convince Jihoon, “Aunty is divorced so you are a direct grandson as well.”

“… so?”

“So since I am not interested in these blind dates, you should go to them instead.”

“I’m not interested either.”

“But your mom is very interested.”

Woojin didn’t like to talk about his aunt. He usually referred to her as ‘that woman,’ and avoided mentioning her if possible. But now, it was different. Woojin watched as Jihoon looked unsure. Woojin turned back towards his computer monitor again.

Woojin remembered one early morning during the weekend. He woke up in the middle of the night and walked out to the balcony. He just wanted to see the ocean, but when he saw the private swimming pool with bright blue tiles, Woojin walked towards it. He turned on the hot water, and the entire balcony began to quickly fill with vapor. The wet feeling against his face felt good, so Woojin sat at the swimming pool with his feet in the water. By the time the pool filled halfway, the balcony door opened, and Shin appeared. Shin looked anxious and worried, and Woojin guessed that it was probably because Shin remembered that awful day.

Their eyes met, and when Woojin gave him a smile, Shin quickly walked towards him and hugged him. Shin whispered, “I thought you disappeared.” When Woojin hugged him back, Shin buried his head on Woojin’s shoulder and continued, “Please don’t go too far.”

“…”

Anyone could say that he would and could wait, but how many could really keep that promise? Woojin contemplated. Telling your lover that you would wait forever for him because you loved him… in most cases, it was just meaningless words. Woojin knew this very well because he knew better than anyone how painful and even boring it was to wait for someone. Being in a relationship where you needed to wait for your partner… it was much worse than being alone.

When Woojin remained quiet for a long time, Jihoon asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking that maybe we both can live however we want to. Maybe we are the ones who are trapping ourselves in this life.”

Woojin replied without looking at Jihoon. With a quiet sigh, Woojin began to type. Jihoon, who glanced at Woojin briefly, sighed as well. Perhaps Jihoon knew this as well. Perhaps he knew that both of them had more power over their lives than they allowed themselves. Perhaps they were fooling themselves, or just ignoring the truth.

Perhaps… they were afraid of the real possibilities.