Chapter 41

While Naru went in to wash up, the phone he’d left charging vibrated loudly. Geon-hu, who was packing clothes, couldn’t contain his curiosity and sneakily glanced at Naru’s phone.

On the lock screen, countless contacts and messages were stacked up. It looked like texts, app messages, and calls had been coming nonstop.

Naru had been strange from the start. From aimlessly getting into the van to go to the farm, to being unfamiliar with the work, to slipping out alone every night.

He expected there was some story behind it, but the situation seemed worse than he’d thought.

All those incoming texts and calls were probably from loan sharks. If not loan sharks, who would persist in contacting her like that?

“What are you doing?”

“You scared me.”

“Is my phone done charging?”

“No, not yet. So talk to me until then.”

Naru came out of the washroom and shook his wet hair. He shook his head and flicked his hair like a puppy. Having washed refreshingly, he looked a bit better than before he went in.

Geon-hu took Naru outside under the pretext of buying something tasty. Naru, who had been looking at him bewildered, obediently followed when he said “something tasty.”

Sitting side by side on a bench in front of the lodging, neither spoke. Geon-hu poured barley tea he’d taken from the fridge into paper cups and handed one over. Naru sniffed, his eyes lighting up at the nutty smell, and downed the barley tea in one.

“Kyaa.”

“You drink all of that at once, huh…”

“What.”

“No, never mind.”

Naru glared as he gnawed at the rim of the paper cup. He was careful and evasive in front of the older men, but mercilessly cold toward Geon-hu, which was almost funny.

Geon-hu, who poured another cup of barley tea, started gauging the timing. Having seen that phone, how could he not be curious? He wanted to ask Naru what was going on.

Around the time Naru finished two cups in one, Geon-hu brought up the subject first.

“Hey, something’s up with you, right? That’s why you came here?”

“……”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“Why are you prying?”

He looked innocent but had so much suspicion. He didn’t look like someone who’d let himself be taken advantage of. Naru leaned back a step, wary of Geon-hu—a sign he didn’t intend to answer willingly.

But Geon-hu’s persistence was strong. He decided to reveal one of his own secrets to get an answer out of Naru.

“Because I’m curious. I’ll tell you one secret of mine, but you tell me yours too.”

“…I’m not curious.”

“You’re not curious about a secret? Not curious?”

“Fine, say it.”

The secret exchange began, semi-forced. Naru wasn’t particularly curious about Geon-hu’s secret, but was swept up in the moment and nodded.

The air between them grew heavy for a moment. Geon-hu, who usually jabbed playfully, lowered his voice calmly. His eyes had become filled with loneliness.

“I have parents, but it’s as if I don’t. No, I basically don’t.”

“……”

“Surprised?”

“No, I don’t have them either. My mom and my sibling were hit by a car and died.”

It felt like a contest over who was more unfortunate. Naru calmly disclosed his family story. Geon-hu blinked in stunned silence at words he hadn’t imagined.

Unlike Geon-hu, who was left speechless by how tragic the answer was, Naru seemed unbothered. Geon-hu forced a smile, trying to control his expression.

“Oh, that’s shocking. I see.”

“Yeah. Can I tell my secret now? The thing you asked about earlier.”

“Ah, uh. Yeah…”

They’d already exchanged secrets, but Naru swallowed as if he were just about to begin. Had his mother’s and sibling’s deaths not been a secret to him?

Geon-hu, who’d nodded impulsively, looked at Naru with anxious eyes. He was both afraid and curious about what he’d say next.

Naru began to tell the story he’d been holding in for days. It was all about Gyu-yeon.

“I was abandoned by the person I like.”

“Abandoned?”

“Yeah.”

He’d expected a heavier story, but being abandoned by the person he liked — breaking up — was something common among lovers, something many experienced. Yet Naru acted like he’d lost his whole world.

To Naru, Gyu-yeon was his whole world. He’d been kind to him for the first time and helped him live like a person. Geon-hu couldn’t possibly know such details.

“Why were you abandoned?”

“I thought he liked me, but it turned out he didn’t.”

“You were just mistaken?”

“…Yeah. I was sure he seemed to have feelings for me. But he said I wasn’t what he was looking for.”

So I was kicked out.

The end of the story was sad. Kicked out. Geon-hu roughly realized the situation Naru was in. He had lived with that person and grown attached, and after things went wrong he was kicked out and seemed to have nowhere to go.

Naru fidgeted with his fingers with a pitiful expression. Talking about it made him miss Gyu-yeon more, which hurt. Geon-hu stared at him and frowned.

“Hey, that guy’s not sane either. If he didn’t like you, why did he give you any room?”

“Because I kept begging him to like me.”

“You’re strange too. Anyway, it’s not your fault. He said you weren’t what he was looking for. Then it’s his fault — why are you the one who ran out?”

He was right. If Gyu-yeon hadn’t mistaken Naru for Song Naun in the first place, things wouldn’t have come this far. Maybe Naru would have adapted and lived well in the world on his own.

For a moment Naru’s pupils dilated. Since being kicked out he had simply found life hard and missed Gyu-yeon, but recalling what had happened made him feel foolish for thinking that way.

He hadn’t realized because the immediate situation scared him. The fault wasn’t his but Gyu-yeon’s.

I, I was kicked out without knowing anything.

His soft heart hardened in an instant. As Naru’s eyes turned resolute again, Geon-hu, watching, smiled playfully.

“I saved you from becoming a pushover.”

“I’m not a pushover.”

“You even turned on your phone to call him — that’s rich.”

“W-well, that’s true.”

Naru’s pupils flickered about. It was funny and cute how he had been desperate to call Gyu-yeon earlier yet pretended to be cool now. Geon-hu, who had been teasing him, stopped laughing and gave earnest advice.

“Don’t take him back until he apologizes first.”

“Uh, okay.”

“This is already messed up. Don’t you ever call him first.”

“…Why?”

Naru, who had been about to call him, asked nervously. Geon-hu exhaled in frustration and pounded his chest with his fist.

“You don’t seem to know how the world works — there are a lot of jerks in it. Especially in relationships. Say you call first. What if he gets angry and asks why you called him? What then?”

Thud. Just hearing that, Naru’s chest collapsed.

Until now he’d only vowed Gyu-yeon would come find him; he hadn’t thought he’d be angry. He’d been thinking selfishly.

It’s true. What if he only wanted to see me…

“Do you really want to become a pushover?”

“No.”

“Then do as I say. Don’t call first, okay?”

Naru nodded vigorously. He genuinely hated being called a pushover. After their short secret exchange, they got up and returned to the lodging. They had to sleep early because they had work early the next morning.

Tired, Geon-hu washed and lay down in a corner. Naru lay beside him, curling himself up as small as possible. It looked uncomfortable as always. Geon-hu made room so he could lie comfortably and quietly placed the charged phone by his pillow.

Naru tightly held the lit phone in his hand and closed his eyes. He deliberately didn’t check the lock screen. He was afraid to see if Gyu-yeon had looked for him.

“Sleep well.”

“Mm.”

Naru burrowed under the covers and touched his butt and head. Luckily, today his tail and ears hadn’t appeared.

Please don’t come out, please don’t.

Vzzz.

Just as he prayed and was about to sleep, a vibration rang by her pillow. Naru reacted in 0.1 seconds, leapt up, and checked the phone, as if she’d been waiting.

Gyu-yeon’s name was on the screen. He thought it would be a message, but it was a call. Naru hesitated. Should he answer or not?

He didn’t call first, so wouldn’t it be okay to pick up?

His sweating hand gripped and released the phone as he got up and stepped out of the lodging. The phone’s vibration kept ringing without stopping.

Catching his breath in the cool air, Naru pressed the green button. Holding the phone slowly to his ear, he heard nothing.

“……”

-Hello, Song Naru?

After three seconds of silence, Gyu-yeon’s voice came through. It sounded a little rougher and lower than before.

-Are you even listening? Where on earth did you go? You haven’t been answering calls.

“…You rejected me. I didn’t run away — you kicked me out.”

Naru answered in a resentful voice, clenching the hand that held the phone to steady himself. To keep his heart from weakening. Stunned by his firm reply, Gyu-yeon was at a loss for words.

Sensing the moment, Naru began to spill the words he’d been holding in his heart.