“Ugh, cold. Hurry, let’s run. Slowly!”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I mean run carefully.”
Go Igyeol looked good with Na Seonwoo’s clothes over him. So Na Seonwoo kept smiling the entire way, right up until they reached the parking lot and he opened the passenger door for him.
When he handed Go Igyeol tissues after he fastened his seat belt, Go Igyeol wiped the cardigan instead of his damp cheeks or hands.
“I don’t think it got that wet. If we hang it here, it’ll dry quickly.”
“I gave those to you so you could wipe yourself.”
“I’m not that wet. You wipe yourself too. Your hair’s soaked.”
Go Igyeol reached out naturally and dabbed at Na Seonwoo’s face and hair, drying the rain from him, only to wonder if the gesture had been too familiar. He quickly withdrew his hand.
Na Seonwoo only smiled as though it had pleased him and shook out his hair.
“It’s cold.”
“Turn the heater… up a little.”
“I’m not cold.”
“…That’s good. I’ll set the destination in the navigation.”
The strange atmosphere sparked by his earlier action made him uncomfortable. He had made a mistake. He had treated Na Seonwoo too casually. Go Igyeol gnawed at the inside of his cheek as he entered the address Seo Dohyeon had sent him.
“Ah, that place.”
“You’ve been there?”
“With someone I was dating before. I know where it is.”
Na Seonwoo answered indifferently as he pulled out of the parking lot. It was still before rush hour, so the roads were quiet, but the rain was coming down hard enough to blur visibility, forcing him to drive slowly.
“It’s perfect for a date. You eat at the restaurant, walk a little along the path below… then have warm tea or coffee at a nearby café.”
“Ah.”
“I guess those two are pretty close.”
“It’s not just the two of them. There are a few others too.”
“Right, right.”
The answer sounded uninterested. It was true that Seo Dohyeon had several friends he spent time with.
“Come to think of it, I’ve seen the person my cousin said he liked before.”
“Ah… so he was seeing someone.”
“Not exactly. I assumed they were together too, but he said they weren’t. The atmosphere definitely felt like they were dating, though. He said they were friends. Maybe that person knows your husband too, since they apparently hang out together.”
“Really?”
Na Seonwoo nodded, then added that judging from how much Na Seunghee had been paying attention to his appearance lately, maybe things were going well again.
Go Igyeol felt relieved by the idea that Na Seunghee had someone else in mind. Maybe he had only imagined the lingering attachment in Na Seunghee’s eyes whenever he looked at Seo Dohyeon.
“Are you seeing anyone?”
“I’m too busy for it to be easy. I’m not even getting set up on blind dates.”
“Really? It’s not that you’re just not interested?”
“Does it look that way? That’s not it. Maybe working too much lately made my handsome face disappear.”
It was obviously a joke, and Go Igyeol laughed.
The two of them talked about light subjects as they drove. Their slow back-and-forth continued for quite some time, until at some point the conversation stopped and the car went quiet.
Go Igyeol’s head, resting against the headrest, tilted to one side.
Without realizing it, Na Seonwoo slowed the car.
At the end of the fog-draped road stood a white building glowing with warm yellow light. He was disappointed that they had already arrived. Na Seonwoo parked carefully so Go Igyeol would not wake, then turned his head and quietly looked at his sleeping face.
He was just as pretty now as he had been back then.
That distinct melancholy air was unchanged, and the way he looked like cherry blossoms when he smiled was the same too. The faint lilac scent drifting from him still made Na Seonwoo’s heart race.
As he studied that almost drawn-in face, one eyebrow twitched as though Go Igyeol was about to wake.
“Go Igyeol.”
Na Seonwoo woke him as if they had only just arrived.
“…We’re here? Ah, I dozed off.”
“Wait a second. I have an umbrella in the car. Stay here.”
“Put this on. Wear it when you get out.”
“It’s kind of cold outside right now, so you wear it. You’ll be cold after waking up.”
Go Igyeol rubbed his eyes as if trying to shake off sleep and held out the cardigan in firm refusal, but Na Seonwoo moved faster. Instead of taking the cardigan, he got out from the driver’s seat and ran to the back. Shielding his face with one hand, he took the umbrella from the trunk. After opening it, he walked around to the passenger side, and Go Igyeol, catching on, opened the door.
“Did you put it on?”
“You should wear it.”
“Give it to me once we’re inside.”
After refusing so many times, it became awkward to keep pushing it at him. And since Na Seonwoo was telling him to wear it, simply holding it in his hands felt strange too. In the end, Go Igyeol had no choice but to drape the cardigan over his shoulders.
Na Seonwoo tilted the umbrella toward him and naturally wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Every time Go Igyeol tried to move away, Na Seonwoo scolded him that he would get wet.
He had thought they had arrived early for the reservation, but Seo Dohyeon seemed to be there already. Spotting Seo Dohyeon’s car in the parking lot, Go Igyeol pressed a hand hard over the suddenly restless feeling in his chest.
“Are you cold?”
“No, I’m not cold.”
“Is he not here yet? I don’t think I see my cousin’s car.”
Go Igyeol stared at Seo Dohyeon’s car, then moved quickly to match Na Seonwoo’s pace. Then he stepped wrong on a protruding stone and stumbled.
“Ah—!”
“Are you okay?”
The umbrella dropped to the ground as Na Seonwoo grabbed Go Igyeol by the shoulders and pulled him in before he could fall. Na Seonwoo held a hand over Go Igyeol’s head and checked his face to see if he had been too badly startled.
“I’m okay. The umbrella….”
“Wow, that seriously scared the— seriously scared me. I thought you were going to fall.”
Na Seonwoo caught himself before the curse slipped out and rubbed his chest, his clear face breaking into an awkward smile. Go Igyeol whispered a low apology.
The two of them climbed the low steps and stood side by side beneath the long eaves. Na Seonwoo put the umbrella into the stand, then flicked at the droplets clinging to Go Igyeol’s cap.
“It got wet.”
“Did it?”
“You should take it off for a second and shake it out.”
Go Igyeol smiled without realizing it and took off the cap. The hair he had smoothed back spilled down softly. Scent mingled with the damp air. Every time the fine strands shifted with a faint rustle, that ticklish smell brushed against Na Seonwoo’s nose.
“Still, thanks to this, I didn’t get too wet. That’s a relief. Go in first. I’m going to stop by the bathroom for a second.”
“Huh? Ah, okay.”
Go Igyeol left first without waiting for an answer, leaving Na Seonwoo alone outside.
His face felt hot.
He had thought his one-sided feelings were over, but the fact that his heart refused to fold itself away was becoming a problem.
“Ha.”
He swept back the damp strands of his hair and looked up at the sky. It was unusually gray, just like his prospects.
***
Na Seonwoo followed the server up to the second floor.
For a moment, he considered waiting for Go Igyeol and going up together, but he thought that might feel burdensome. Perhaps because of the weather, the interior was nearly empty. As he looked around, he spotted Na Seunghee sitting by the window and lifting a hand slightly.
Was the man seated across from him with only his back visible Go Igyeol’s spouse?
“You’re here? It wasn’t too far, right?”
“Ah, no.”
“I was so surprised when Seo Dohyeon suddenly said he’d invited you and Igyeol too. He doesn’t even know your face. Seriously, he’s ridiculous.”
Na Seonwoo gave a vague answer and sat beside Na Seunghee, who seemed a little disappointed. As he offered a polite greeting and looked at the other man’s face, Na Seonwoo froze in shock.
“Ah….”
It was him.
The man he had mistaken for someone Na Seunghee was dating.
“Hello. I’m Seo Dohyeon.”
The pleasant voice rang out.
Na Seonwoo remembered hearing that exact same greeting back then too. Hiding his flustered expression, he took the offered hand.
“I’m Na Seonwoo. Haven’t we met before?”
“I don’t know. I think this is our first time.”
Seo Dohyeon gave his hand a brief, light shake, then released it. His gaze stayed fixed on Na Seonwoo with a rudeness bordering on open scrutiny.
It was because the sight of him walking through the rain beside Go Igyeol was still burned into Seo Dohyeon’s mind. Did Go Igyeol truly not know what was contained in the unguarded smile on Na Seonwoo’s lips, or in the lingering way he had looked at him while holding his shoulders?
“Is something wrong?”
“I saw you walking in with Igyeol, but you came up alone.”
“He went to the bathroom. He’ll be here soon—there he is.”
Na Seonwoo gestured toward Go Igyeol, who was coming up the stairs. Following the server, Go Igyeol thanked them softly, his face looking unusually young, then came over with light, quick steps.
“Hello.”
Go Igyeol greeted Na Seunghee neatly and naturally took the seat beside Seo Dohyeon. He was holding his cap in his hand. Apparently, he had decided it did not suit the occasion after all and taken it off, arranging his hair with water.
“It hasn’t been that long since we last met, right?”
“Yes, I don’t think it has.”
Go Igyeol answered Na Seunghee’s lightly waving greeting with a soft smile.
“Were you outside the whole time?”
Seo Dohyeon reached toward Go Igyeol’s damp hair and smiled at the sight of him half-buried in his sweatshirt.
“Yes. Since around the time you called earlier.”
“Ah. With him the whole time, then.”
The warmth lasted only a moment. At Go Igyeol’s answer, Seo Dohyeon’s expression turned cold for an instant.
Irritated all over again because he could not understand why his mood had soured, he rubbed Go Igyeol’s cheek while Go Igyeol looked back at him with a clear, innocent expression. After gazing briefly into those naïve eyes, Seo Dohyeon looked across the table and met Na Seonwoo’s gaze.
“Were you close with Igyeol, Mr. Na? I hadn’t heard him mention friends before.”
“We were in the same department, but we weren’t that close. We happened to run into each other recently and got a little closer. Igyeol is shy around people, so as far as I remember, he only had one or two classmates he was close with. Right?”
“Ah… was I? I think… I got along with everyone well enough.”
It was obvious he did not welcome being the subject of conversation.
Go Igyeol scratched his cheek, searching through memories made faint by the passing of several years. Then, out of habit, he glanced at Seo Dohyeon before lowering his gaze. Just then, Seo Dohyeon took his hand.
“Eating will be uncomfortable like this.”