“You’re meeting our son for the first time, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Madam.”
“He’s our youngest. You’ll be seeing him often from now on. Even if I can’t come with him, please take good care of him.”
“Of course, Madam. We’ll do our very best to serve him.”
Eunwon lowered his head in return as the employee bowed politely, and Madam Seo’s voice, so naturally calling him our youngest, made something sting inside his chest.
It finally felt a little real that he had entered the boundaries of a new family.
“Shall we go now? It would be nice to stay out longer, but since this is our first dinner together, I really want to prepare it with my own hands. We’ll have to leave now if I’m going to finish before your father gets home. Let’s come out again this weekend.”
“...Yes. Thank you... for thinking of me like this.”
“How long are you going to thank me for things that are only natural?”
Smiling, Yeo Heejin took Eunwon’s hand and stepped into the VVIP elevator while the staff saw them off.
Eunwon looked down at the small, warm hand holding his.
A tender, overwhelming sense of belonging settled heavily in his heart.
Into the empty space that had been hollow for three years, a warmth he wanted to lean on began to spread.
***
Cha Sejin spent the final hour before leaving work half-sprawled in his chair, killing time.
The moment the workday ended, he headed for Eunwon’s convenience store.
He had planned to go around ten again, just as he had for the past two nights, but for some reason, waiting that long felt impossible today. So he decided to go right when Eunwon’s shift began.
Traffic would trap him on the road for about an hour anyway, so the timing was perfect.
Ever since he had rubbed that candy over Eunwon’s lips, inside his mouth, across his tongue, every one of his senses had been stuck there.
He couldn’t escape it even when he tried.
How was he supposed to stop thinking about something that kept coming back on its own?
Giving up on not thinking about it, Cha Sejin thought about Eunwon the whole drive home with a car full of useless purchases, then all the way until he fell asleep, then from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning until now.
The face that had stared at him peeling the candy.
The way Eunwon had stupidly stayed still even when Sejin pressed it to his lips.
The way he had startled at Sejin’s foot tapping the counter and parted his mouth, unknowingly accepting the candy slipping between his lips.
His lips kept flickering through Sejin’s mind.
“...”
Fuck. I should’ve just said I thought it was only candy and sucked his tongue until he cried. He’s going to marry me soon anyway. A kiss in advance should be fine, shouldn’t it?
Cha Sejin slowly ran the tip of his tongue along the back of his front teeth as he turned into the cramped alley.
Whether he came at seven or ten, this place was deserted and seedy.
“Welcome.”
Cha Sejin entered the convenience store, full of anticipation at the thought of teasing Eunwon, only to check the time when some middle-aged man greeted him instead.
Just as he had seen before getting out of the car, it was definitely past seven.
Eunwon should have been at work.
Cha Sejin strode to the counter and looked down at the middle-aged man.
“Where’s the part-timer?”
“Pardon?”
“The kid who usually works this shift. Seo Eunwon.”
“Ah! Eunwon? Oh, Eunwon quit as of yesterday.”
“Quit? Yesterday was his last day?”
“Yes... Um, but why are you asking about Eunwon...?”
The store owner watched Cha Sejin with a puzzled look as Sejin leaned crookedly against the counter, one hand planted on it, and fell into thought.
Then the owner shook his head.
He had decided there was no way a man who looked like an actor could be the nightmare customer Eunwon had mentioned.
Whether the owner beside him was staring and thinking all kinds of things or not, Cha Sejin focused only on the fact that Eunwon had quit the convenience store.
“If yesterday was his last day...”
Then maybe that was why Eunwon had stayed still even while Sejin bought wine and whiskey and all kinds of strange things, showered him with questions, and even put candy in his mouth.
Because it had been the last day.
Literally the last.
Eunwon must have thought that if he endured just that short while, he would never have to come here again, and naturally never have to see Sejin again either.
Cha Sejin turned, braced both hands on the counter, and leaned sharply toward the store owner standing behind it.
“Why did he quit? Did he get another job or something?”
“Ah... no, not that. He said he was moving into his parents’ home... Um, but how exactly do you know Eunwon...?”
“Ah. His parents’ home.”
At the owner’s words, Cha Sejin laughed aloud and straightened.
So Eunwon had finally gone into Baum.
Considering Sejin had generously given them time to slowly coax Eunwon to the wedding hall, they were moving fairly quickly.
“Then it won’t take long.”
“Excuse me...”
“Oh, right. You asked what our relationship was, didn’t you?”
“Yes...”
Cha Sejin looked down at the owner waiting for an answer and smiled brightly.
Then he answered in a crisp, cheerful voice.
“We’re getting married.”
“...Pardon?”
“I’m his husband.”
The owner clearly didn’t believe him, but that didn’t matter.
Cha Sejin grinned again at the man staring at him strangely, then left the convenience store.
It was a shame to lose the rather entertaining routine of stopping by to tease Eunwon, but they would probably meet in an official setting soon enough.
It wasn’t as if they would get married without seeing each other even once.
What kind of face will he make when he finds out I’m his marriage partner?
Just imagining Eunwon’s expression was enough to make the night amusing.
***
Yeo Heejin told him to rest while she prepared dinner, so Eunwon spent the time in his room working on an assignment on the laptop set up on his desk.
He hesitated a little over whether he was allowed to use it, but then remembered being told that everything in the room had been prepared for him, and finally turned it on.
Until now, he had borrowed laptops from school or, when he was in a hurry, gone to an internet café to get his work done.
Being able to sit comfortably at a large desk and work on an assignment felt wonderful.
He had just begun gathering and organizing the materials he needed when a knock sounded at the door.
Eunwon quickly stood and opened it.
“Young Master, the Chairman is home.”
“Ah... yes. Thank you for letting me know...”
“You don’t need to thank me. It’s only natural. I look forward to serving you from now on, Young Master. If you need anything, please tell me at any time.”
“Yes...”
Following the household staff member downstairs, Eunwon saw Yeo Heejin come out of the kitchen to greet his father and wrap an arm around his back.
Soon after, the door opened, and his father stepped inside.
“Welcome home, honey.”
“...Welcome home.”
After lightly embracing Yeo Heejin in greeting, Chairman Seo came over to Eunwon and gently patted his shoulder.
“It feels good to have you here at home. So, did you have a good day?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
His father clasped his arm as though praising him, then let go and headed to his room with Yeo Heejin.
Eunwon watched them for a moment, then stayed in the living room instead of going back upstairs when a staff member told him dinner would be served soon.
“Young Master.”
“Ah, yes...”
The same staff member who had come upstairs earlier smiled and sat in the chair beside the sofa where Eunwon was seated.
“While you’re staying here, Young Master, we truly hope you won’t feel even the slightest discomfort. We’ll do everything we can so you can feel comfortable whenever you come here, so please don’t hesitate with us.”
While I’m staying here? Whenever I come here...?
The way she said it made it sound as if he would only live here for a fixed period and then leave.
Eunwon tilted his head slightly, but then stood when he saw his father emerge from his room.
Yeo Heejin came out behind him, smiled at Eunwon, and held out her hand.
“Dinner is ready, Eunwon. Let’s eat. You must be hungry.”
Holding Yeo Heejin’s hand as she led him into the dining room, Eunwon stared in surprise at the table covered with food.
The dishes spread across it were not the kind of elaborate, beautiful, hard-to-name things he had vaguely imagined chaebol families might eat.
There were steaming braised short ribs, glossy glass noodles with vegetables, several seasoned vegetable dishes, grilled shrimp, and clear beef and radish soup.
The table was full of dishes close to home-cooked meals—food Eunwon had rarely had the chance to face since he began living alone.
“I worked hard on it, but I don’t know if it will suit our son’s taste.”
“...Did you make all of this yourself?”
“Yes. I tried, but I’m not sure how it turned out. I heard your mother was very good at making braised short ribs, glass noodles, and beef and radish soup. So I thought these dishes might feel familiar to you, and that you might miss them. Of course, they won’t compare to the taste you long for, but I hope I managed to imitate them at least a little...”
As Madam Seo lifted a rib and placed it on his plate, Eunwon’s eyes stung.
The thoughtfulness, the care, the feeling that she had truly considered him this much and gone this far for him—it moved him.
And at the same time, it made him think of his mother, whom he could no longer see.
He felt as though he might cry.