Picked Up In Winter

Picked Up In Winter – <27>

-Click.

When the door shut, the silence descended very naturally. For a while, I stood there blankly staring at the door. 

It was a chaotic just a few moments ago. Min Hyung, who burst into tears, refused to let me go and continued to hold me tightly. All his family members were flustered and tried hard to placate him.  

What’s wrong, Min Hyung? You’ll see him soon. It’s not like you’ll never see him again. Min Hyung, please listen…….

His family were constantly trying to persuade him, but Min Hyung continued to cling to me tightly, while furiously shaking his head.

By this time, I was starting to feel embarrassed. His family’s faces were also turning red in embarrassment as they turned to me, not knowing what to do. Just as the situation was turning more and more embarrassing, Jun Hyung came up next to me.

Will you fight here? I felt unsettled as I looked at him. 

At that time, Dae Hyung who was silently watching the scene from the back opened his mouth.

‘Min Hyung.’

‘…….’

‘You’re troubling Happy.’

‘…….’

‘Stop crying and come here.’

‘…….’

Min Hyung’s small shoulders quivered at his tone. He then slowly raised his head and looked at me.

‘Happy…….’

‘…….’

My heart pained seeing his tear-filled eyes. 

‘Happy, then……’

‘…….’

‘If I sleep for two nights… I’ll see you……? Right?’

‘…!’

When Min Hyung asked that in a desperate voice, my eyes widened in surprise.

Aaa.

Why was this child so sensitive? How can this little child sense the change in my emotions more clearly than anyone else?

But I couldn’t say no. I forced my head to move, nodding slowly. Min Hyung was solemnly verifying my facial expression as if I had made a pinky promise. After I nodded a few times, only then did Min Hyung turn around to leave, and said ‘See you again.’

-Click.

I kept standing absentmindedly in front of the closed door.

“…… Happy?”

I returned to my senses after I heard Jun Hyung calling me. I turned to the direction from which the voice came, and saw him looking at me weirdly.

“… Ah.”

I let out a small sound while looking at him. It wasn’t until I saw him standing alone in the spacious living room that I realized.

For the next three days, he and I were left alone in this house.

No, to be exact, two and one. From his point of view, he may just be with his second pet.

Anyway just like this, before I leave the house.

Me and him. Life with us two had just started.

…… I thought it wouldn’t be much different. 

But only now did I realize that Min Hyung occupied a larger space than I had thought. When the existence of the space that Min Hyung had always occupied in our relationship disappeared, the emptiness began to be filled with <awkwardness>. Even though it wasn’t the first time I was alone with him, the atmosphere was as awkward as ever. Was I at the edge due to us two being alone? I felt restless and Jun Hyung, who for some reason wasn’t speaking, only encouraged that feeling.

Of course, it wasn’t anything new if he kept quiet. Since he and I rarely chatted, it was safe to assume that there was always silence between us, unless there was anything special to do. However, the problem was that he was frowning as if troubled, which was different from the usual.

…… Was he also nervous?

Highly unlikely, I thought as I glanced at him. Patrasche followed me around since Min Hyung, who had always cared for her, wasn’t here. As I sat on the sofa watching TV, she leapt on my knees and sat down. I ended up soothing my uneasy feelings by stroking the innocent Patrasche’s fur. 

In such an oddly tensed atmosphere, we finished our meal and sat down watching TV—as usual. On the surface, it didn’t look any different from the normal. Nevertheless, the tension stretched taut between us. I felt strangely pressurized to not even let out a breath for the fear that it would be too loud.

I tried to calm down by thinking of when to leave. At the very least, I don’t think I should leave during these three days because then he would end staying here all alone. Thinking how traumatic he would feel, I couldn’t leave him alone and disappear.  

Just before his family comes back, I’ll leave then.

Having decided so, I decided to relax in this tensed atmosphere and enjoy living with him.

-Ka-cha

When I came out of the bathroom after having a bath, I could feel his stares on me from the sofa where he must have been sitting. I tried to ignore him as I wiped my hair with the towel.

“Happy.”

Then a voice came from right behind me. I turned around in surprise. Before I knew it, Jun Hyung had appeared behind me and was staring at me absentmindedly.

“Happy, I’ll go to the convenience store for a bit.

“……?”

Convenience store? When I looked at him curiously he explained.

“To buy something to eat.”

“…….”

I was a bit hungry… Thinking that I nodded. He then went to his room and came out with a thick overcoat, I also picked my coat.

“Together…….”

“… huh?”

Carrying his overcoat, he said in somewhat flustered voice when he saw me accompanying him till the front door.

“No, Happy. You stay at home.”

“…….”

“You just took a bath and your hair is all wet, it might freeze if you come out.”

“…….”

Ah, okay…….

“Besides, one person needs to watch the house. Ok, Happy? I’ll be right back.”

“…….”

Hearing his coaxing, I felt a little embarrassed. I seemed to have acted like how Min Hyung did this morning. I felt a bit nervous about staying alone in the house but I somehow nodded and saw him off.

He returned much later. It felt so lonely being left alone in a large house where previously I lived with a large family. I’ll be alone when I return back anyway. I shouldn’t feel so down, thinking that, I tried to cheer myself up. I felt comforted by the warmth of Patrasche in my arms and hugged her while I sat down to watch TV. Even if it would be hard, I would also raise a dog when I return back home…was what I was thinking. And I would name it Jun Hyung. Pfft…. Imagining that silly thought, I couldn’t help laughing. At that moment, the front door opened and that ‘Jun Hyung’ entered.

Jun Hyung entered with a bunch of bags, which made a rattling noise as if something was crammed in, and sat down next to me. I wanted to know what took him so long to buy so I watched as he took out the contents of the bag. Finally, Jun Hyung took out the items from the bag which turned out to be 4 cans of beer and dried snacks which are served with alcoholic beverages like crackers etc. 

“…….”

So, he went to buy…alcohol? No, that was secondary, first; how the hell did he get it? He was still a minor. …… I looked at him suspiciously, but he just picked up a can of beer with a nonchalant face, popped it open and gulped it down. Then he held it out to me.

“Wanna drink?”

“…….”

…… When we were together, the tension seemed to thicken. When I accepted the beer in silence, he grinned. For some reason, embarrassed by his expression, I quickly turned my head towards the TV. Jun Hyung opened another one for his share. I could feel him moving up to sit on the sofa. I let my body relax and leaned against the footrest of the sofa. 

“…….”

As we sat down and savoured the fizzy carbonated drink, the conversation naturally disappeared, only the sounds of eating and TV filled the living room.

“…….”

After a while, I unconsciously ended up directing all my attention to the TV screen. A drama was being aired now, but it wasn’t the program in which I was interested—but rather what was being shown in it. The reason why I was watching it with such concentration was because the situation of the heroine seemed somehow similar to my own. 

It seems to be in the middle of the drama series, the heroine was dating that man. My interest was piqued when the boyfriend, in daily life, called her by another woman’s name without realizing. Apparently, it was the name of the boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend, who had died.

And that man was trying to find traces of his dead lover in the heroine who resembled her. The heroine felt sad and very confused on seeing this. This was how the storyline was progressing in the drama.

Was there any other drama that could bring out emotions so well?

Amazed, I became totally immersed in the drama. Her anguish, confusion, sadness; I could feel myself sympathising with her, I felt a pang of pain in my heart. When the person you love doesn’t look at you, the despair it brings when that person calls you kindly with a name that isn’t yours, I knew it better than anyone. 

Look, at least you’re the dead ex-girlfriend. I was a dog…….

I felt like ranting and raving for a while. 

Suddenly, a cold and damp sensation on my shoulders made me return to reality. 

“?!”

When I turned around in surprise, I could see a can of beer rolling on the ground, the smell of alcohol permeating the air.

“…… Sorry, Happy.”

“…….”

“It was a mistake.”

“…….”

I quietly watched as he apologised a lot. I felt my body shiver due to the cold sensation on my shoulder. For some time, I was in a daze as I felt overwhelmed by the bitterness of the beer.

“…….”

I couldn’t be angry with him, and moreover, I wasn’t angry with him. I blinked as I tried to wake up. Looking down at me, whose consciousness went back and forth, he suggested the next step.

“You’ll have to change your clothes.”

“…….”

Right……. 

I quietly nodded and got up. The beer that had splashed on my shoulders, trickled down to my pants, soaking them. I entered his room, where the lights were switched off, and turned on the tube light. I opened the drawer and found the clothes.

“…….”

When I took off the top and hung it on one side, the sudden ‘woof woof’ of Patrasche surprised me.

“…?”

No one came at this time, so why was she barking all of a sudden? I was feeling puzzled when I paused for a moment to look at the closed door of the room. 

“…?”

Suddenly, I had another strange thought and began to question Jun Hyung’s behaviour from a while ago. I didn’t realise it before because I was out of sorts but now that I thought about it, I was definitely sitting below him, at his left side. He was definitely right-handed. It was almost impossible to drop the can of beer on my right arm…I slowly began to ponder.   

Unless it was dropped on purpose. Yes, he did it on purpose.

I had just thought that when-

Creak, the closed door easily opened.

And the one who entered was Jun Hyung.