Stepping into the small, quiet café on the outskirts of Seoul, I hurriedly took off my coat, folded it neatly, and made my way to the piano in the main hall.
The place had an unmistakably old-fashioned charm. It was the only part-time job I had refused to give up, and perhaps the one place I loved most.
It wasn’t too far from central Seoul, and the work itself was hardly strenuous, which was why Cha Ju Heon had allowed me to keep it. He understood that being confined to the house all the time would only make me feel stifled. Besides, music was supposed to be good for the baby, so he hadn’t objected. Perhaps he had agreed simply because it wasn’t physically demanding or particularly stressful.
This place was the one thread still tying me to music.
Somewhere along the way, performing here had stopped feeling like work. It had become a small breathing space where I could rediscover the person I used to be.
I knew that as my stomach grew, I would eventually have to quit. For now, though, I was relieved that I didn’t have to force myself to give it up immediately. This wasn’t merely a place where I earned money. It was a place that reminded me of who I had once been.
If only that alpha standing over there like a lost soul weren’t here…
I ran my fingers lightly over the keys to warm them up, stealing a glance at Cha Ju Heon standing awkwardly in a secluded corner.
The man had insisted on escorting me all the way here. I had told him there was no need to follow me everywhere I went, but apparently he was carrying around some peculiar burden of responsibility.
There were taxis everywhere. I could have come with the other musicians, too. Yet he had insisted on driving me himself. Usually, he would wait in the car or drop me off and leave, only returning later. I had no idea what had gotten into him today, but for some reason, he had followed me inside.
Once again, I was reminded of just how uncomfortable his presence could be.
It wasn’t that I disliked him. It was more like the feeling of being watched too closely. He always created an invisible pressure that made it impossible for me to fully relax. At this rate, if I hit a wrong note in front of him later, it was going to be a nightmare.
If you’re too afraid to touch the walls or sit down, why did you insist on coming inside in the first place?
I watched Cha Ju Heon silently torment himself.
He was standing perfectly still, apparently too bothered by the thought of dust and germs to even sit in a chair. It made me restless just looking at him. How was I supposed to ignore someone standing there like that right in front of me?
If he couldn’t sit down, he could at least lean against the wall and take some weight off his feet.
Just stepping inside this place was probably a minor miracle considering his obsession with cleanliness, but I still wanted him to be a little more comfortable. He looked so miserable that, honestly, he would have been better off waiting in the car.
There has to be a way.
I glanced around, racking my brain.
Even if I sprayed the entire bottle of disinfectant over the table and chairs, there was no way he would willingly sit there.
Still, at least he wasn’t wearing that ridiculous full-body protective outfit like last time. That alone was something to be grateful for.
I was scratching my forehead, frowning in thought, when an idea suddenly occurred to me.
Oh. My coat.
I spotted the coat hook on the wall where Cha Ju Heon was standing, and remembered about my coat I left in the office.
Maybe I could give it to him.
Come to think of it, there was something strangely tolerant about the way Cha Ju Heon treated me.
It was something I had always wondered about but never dared to ask. Unlike the warnings I had received from the Chairman and the chief secretary, Ju Heon never seemed particularly uncomfortable sharing a space with me. At first, I thought I was imagining it. But the more I observed him, the more certain I became that I wasn’t.
Even when our bodies happened to brush briefly, he never showed any obvious disgust or aversion.
I had no idea why.
Of course, I never deliberately put him in situations that might make him uncomfortable. Knowing his personality, I was always careful to avoid anything that might bother him.
Yet even if my sleeve brushed against him or I looked him directly in the eye, Cha Ju Heon never snapped at me. Sometimes, he even helped me carry things.
A man who normally wouldn’t touch another person’s belongings was doing that for me. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
He remained extremely sensitive to unfamiliar surroundings and other people—but not me.
Why was he different with me?
I had even tried searching to see whether this reaction had anything to do with my pregnancy, but I couldn’t find an explanation that made any sense.
The most reassuring conclusion I had reached was that he simply took this contract extremely seriously.
Perhaps finding a suitable surrogate had been so difficult that he had developed an almost boundless affection for the child created through the agreement. For the sake of that child, he was pushing himself to the limit, forcing himself to tolerate things that went against his obsessive cleanliness.
He wanted me to be comfortable. Surely that was it.
So I accepted his concern naturally, hoping that all his effort wouldn’t be wasted.
Cha Ju Heon was doing everything he could for this arrangement.
And perhaps because we had been seeing each other so frequently, he had gradually grown accustomed to my presence. His aversion was clearly much weaker with me than it was with anyone else.
Sometimes, when the hospital was crowded, he would even put an arm around my shoulders to shield me from the crowd. So surely my clothes touching him wouldn’t be that big a problem.
Compared with standing there rigidly, leaning against my coat and using it as a barrier between himself and the wall would probably make him much more comfortable.
Besides, there was no way he would ever sit in that chair.
There were still a few minutes before my performance began, so I quickly retrieved my coat and walked toward him.
The moment I approached, Cha Ju Heon looked at me with obvious confusion.
Without explaining anything, I simply hung the coat over the hook on the wall. It was long enough that if he leaned against it, his body wouldn’t have to touch the wall directly.
Once I had adjusted it properly, I gave him a gentle push toward it.
Caught off guard, Cha Ju Heon instinctively resisted and stepped back.
Ignoring him, I gave him another gentle shove toward the wall.
“Director, there’s still quite a while until the performance ends. If you stand there like a statue the whole time, you’ll get tired. Just lean against my coat. Only your clothes will touch it, not the wall. That should be okay, right?”
For some reason, I had a strange certainty that he wouldn’t refuse.
His expression became even more bewildered, and before he could find the words to respond, I hurried on.
I even grew bold enough to take hold of his shoulders and gently press him back against the coat.
This time, he didn’t pull away.
He simply followed my instructions.
“It’s clean. Really clean. Don’t worry. Just stay like this and make yourself comfortable. Think of it as a protective barrier. If you still feel uncomfortable, you can always go back to the car and wait there.”
Cha Ju Heon gave a faint nod, almost as if he were in a daze.
Having said everything I needed to say, I hurried back toward the piano.
It was only after I sat down that anxiety began to creep in.
What if leaning against my coat makes him go into shock or have trouble breathing?
My heart began pounding with worry.
Pretending to adjust the piano bench, I sneaked another glance at him.
Huh. He actually listens.
Had he somehow fainted while standing?
And why, of all places, had he chosen a spot with such a perfect view of me?
Cha Ju Heon kept his strangely vacant gaze fixed on me. I couldn’t read a single emotion on his face, which only made me more nervous.
Am I going to get scolded after this is over?
Well… whatever.
I had already gone this far. There was nothing to do but see it through.
I drew a deep breath and let my hands fall onto the piano keys.
………
Ju Heon stood perfectly still, finding the sensation of leaning against the wall strangely unfamiliar.
He still couldn’t quite believe what Baek Eun Woo had just done.
It wasn’t quite accurate to say he was leaning against Eun Woo’s coat. It felt more as though his entire body had been enveloped by the fabric.
It was the first experience of its kind in his life, and yet one thing was certain.
He didn’t dislike it.
Instead of the cold, unpleasant sensation of the wall beneath him, there was the familiar scent of Eun Woo surrounding him.
And strangely enough, it calmed his mind.
Only after his thoughts had settled did Eun Woo, seated at the piano, truly enter his field of vision.
The intense concentration on his face as he played was completely different from the expression he wore while baking.
It was as though this was the place he had always belonged.
He didn’t look bad standing beside an oven, but in front of the piano, he suited the scene far better.
As though he had finally slipped back into a garment that had always been made specifically for him.
Ju Heon had listened to countless performances by the world’s finest musicians. He was confident that his knowledge of classical music was no less extensive than that of any expert.
He had heard the same pieces interpreted in countless different ways by countless different performers.
And the music Eun Woo was playing now was unmistakably different from that of a professional musician.
After all, Eun Woo had once pursued this path, but he no longer did.
And yet, for some reason, the music sounded strangely special.
Strangely captivating.
Ju Heon set aside the questions he couldn’t answer and closed his eyes, allowing himself to focus entirely on the music.
For once, he wanted to forget all the complicated calculations occupying his mind and simply lose himself in the melody and the atmosphere surrounding him.
The space where Ju Heon stood was filled with traces of Baek Eun Woo.
The pleasant scent of him lingered beneath his nose, while beneath the dim lights, Baek Eun Woo seemed to shine.
As the notes flowing from his fingertips filled every corner of the café, the entire place seemed to belong to him.
Completely and utterly, it was Baek Eun Woo’s world.