We arrived home and, as evening came, we had dinner. When it was time to sleep, I washed up and was laid down on the bed, and Cha Gil-Do lay down beside me. I was the one who had said we should share the same room, but that did not mean I had suggested we share the bed.
The moment I noticed something was strange and hurriedly tried to get up, Cha Gil-Do’s hand came to rest on my chest.
Pat, pat.
I could not resist the soft and comforting touch, and before I knew it, my eyelids had closed.
When I opened them again somehow, a strange ceiling came into view. Hearing the faint sound of shallow breaths, I turned to the side and saw Cha Gil-Do asleep.
That was when I snapped fully awake and tried to lift my upper body, but the supposedly sleeping Cha Gil-Do grabbed me and pulled me close without resistance, holding me tightly. When I squirmed, suffocated, Cha Gil-Do gently stroked my head and spoke in a low, soft voice.
“Sleep more.”
Even though his voice was slightly rough from the morning, it sounded even nicer. It tickled my ears so much that my heart began to pound.
Ba-dump, ba-dump?
The moment I became aware of it, my heart was beating so hard it felt like it might burst, so I covered my mouth with my hand.
“…Hm?”
As I wriggled in his arms, Cha Gil-Do lowered his head to look at me.
“Why?”
He asked. I could not even answer, and he grabbed my wrist, trying to pry my hand away. I shook my head in resistance, but suddenly he sat up and leaned over me. Somehow, I ended up trapped in his arms, face-to-face with him.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.
My heart was racing to the point of dizziness. Why, why, why was this happening?
As I panicked, Cha Gil-Do asked,
“Baek Eun-Seong, what’s wrong?”
He was still trying to move my arm away, so I hurriedly opened my mouth.
“My, my heart feels like it’s going to come out…”
“Like you’re going to throw up?”
Cha Gil-Do stopped pushing my arm away and then sat me up. Then he held out his large hand in front of me.
“Go ahead.”
Not understanding what he meant, I looked at his face. He repeated seriously,
“It’s okay if you throw up.”
At his words, I looked between his face and his palm, and suddenly the pounding in my chest began to settle down.
What was that—just arrhythmia?
I had not known Baek Eun-Seong had a condition like this. It seemed Cha Gil-Do didn’t know either, since he was still holding his palm out, waiting for me to throw up.
When I hesitated, about to explain it was just arrhythmia, Cha Gil-Do nodded slightly without taking his eyes off me. Flustered, I ended up faking a gagging sound. Cha Gil-Do rubbed my back and told me not to hold it in.
‘I should have just told the truth….’
After faking the gagging for quite a while, Cha Gil-Do finally let me go. A dishonest person really does get punished like this.
While I was lost in regret, a plastic cup of lukewarm water appeared in front of me. I took it without thinking and drank.
‘It’s lukewarm.’
Since it wasn’t cold water, I couldn’t even finish half before putting it down. Cha Gil-Do asked,
“Is your stomach feeling better now?”
“…Yes.”
“You should get a check-up at least once—”
“It’s fine!”
Not wanting to be a liar again, I quickly said,
“I-it was just because I was startled yesterday (because of the kiss)….”
“Forget it.”
“…What?”
“Forget it.”
“That’s not exactly something easy to—”
It had been my very first kiss. How could I forget it? Even before that, I had received artificial respiration, and that too had been from Cha Gil-Do.
But he, utterly unconcerned, asked,
“What’s so hard about it? Do you think something like that will happen again?”
Something like that…
Maybe it was easy for him since he had the female lead. True, what was a forced kiss with an extra villain worth, anyway? As he said, there was no way something like that would happen again with the male lead. If it did, it would really turn into a trash drama.
Even though I tried to avoid being treated like someone who grew up without parents, I still got swayed by the smallest kindness or concern. I really couldn’t hide how starved for affection I was.
“Haha, right….”
It was only right that the extra villain not get involved in the main characters’ business. They didn’t kill me, even let me live in a nice house—if I asked for more, I might really be punished.
So, trying to ease Cha Gil-Do’s worries, I smiled brightly.
“I’ll forget it.”
“Baek Eun—”
“Thanks for the water.”
I drank the water Cha Gil-Do had handed me. What had been lukewarm before was now cool. Everything cools down with time, after all.
I barely ate breakfast and sat blankly on the sofa in the living room. After finishing his preparations for work, Cha Gil-Do came over to me.
He suddenly pressed his hand against my forehead, tilting his head.
“No fever. Still feeling unwell?”
“…No?”
“You barely ate breakfast. Was it because of me?”
“It’s just a habit. I usually don’t eat breakfast.”
“Not eating anything at all, with that little appetite you have?”
“Still, it’s comfort—”
“Even if you don’t like it, it’s too little. I’ll be checking, so eat all your snacks.”
“…Okay.”
“Don’t get any foolish ideas while I’m gone.”
Foolish ideas? Ah, he must mean the kiss.
“I won’t.”
“…How can I trust that?”
Cha Gil-Do muttered under his breath. Like before, I could hear it clearly.
But I pretended not to hear. Watching me, his brow still furrowed, he said firmly,
“This afternoon, go outside to the garden. Don’t stay locked up in your room again.”
“Yes.”
“You’re only good at answering.”
At some point, Cha Gil-Do had climbed onto the sofa, bringing his face close to mine. I carefully opened my mouth.
“Um…”
“…?”
“He’s been waiting for you.”
I couldn’t stand seeing the man behind us, glancing at his watch and shuffling his feet. Following my pointing finger, Cha Gil-Do turned, and the man stiffened in surprise.
Even the back of the male lead’s head looked good. At that moment, Cha Gil-Do clicked his tongue and stepped back, straightening his clothes.
It seemed he was really leaving for work.
As he turned back after a brief pause, I waved my hand.
“Have a good day.”
Only once Cha Gil-Do disappeared did I slump on the sofa.
I covered my face with both hands. I had tried so hard to act unaffected, but Cha Gil-Do kept showing up in ways that almost broke me. And yet, he seemed completely unfazed. To him, that kiss really meant nothing.
Blankly, I stared at the wristwatch he had given me. Time that had once crawled by had already passed four o’clock.
‘When will he come back?’
I kept staring at the unopened front door when someone approached me.
“You can go out now.”
“…Sorry?”
Startled by the middle-aged man’s words, I shot up from the sofa. He smiled kindly and gestured for me to follow. I did, bewildered, and soon pink petals were fluttering before my eyes.
Lifting my head, I saw cherry blossom trees planted everywhere. It was like being back in that cherry blossom grove Cha Gil-Do had taken me to.
“Wow.”
While I stood dazed, gazing at the fully bloomed blossoms, a voice urged me on.
“This way.”
Snapping out of it, I followed. The path lined with cherry trees led to a large greenhouse.
He opened the door, and I stepped inside. Warmth greeted me, along with such a variety of plants and flowers that it could have been a botanical garden. A path led further in.
But why had he brought me here?
“Why here… sir?”
The man who had guided me here was gone without a trace. I had been so focused on following him I hadn’t noticed when he left. I didn’t even know the way back.
Should I just leave? But then something fluttered past my eyes.
“A butterfly.”
A tiger swallowtail, its wings patterned beautifully.
It was early for butterflies, so I instinctively followed it deeper into the greenhouse. Finally, before me appeared a wide wooden table and a white sofa. One side had neatly arranged aprons and sleeves, while the other held canvases, brushes, and paints.
Acrylics, watercolors, sketching—everything was here.
“…A studio?”
“I told them to fill it completely, but if anything’s missing, let me know.”
At the voice behind me, I turned—and there was Cha Gil-Do, as if he had appeared from nowhere.
“W-why… here?”
“Did you forget? I told you I’d make you one.”
I hadn’t forgotten. I had refused it outright.
“But I said I didn’t need—”
“I need it. I wanted to see more.”
“…More of what?”
“Your world.”
He wanted to see the world of an extra who died in three episodes? And he was the very male lead who had personally removed me from the stage?
Then by “world” he meant—
“…The afterlife?”
“……”
Several seconds of silence. Just as I thought I was right, a cold sweat trickled down my back.
Then—
“Ha, haha.”
Cha Gil-Do began to laugh, as if he found it absurd.