As I sat down and came to my senses, a woman with a gold necklace around her neck that looked like it was worth 10 won handed me some yogurt.
"Are you conscious now?"
She nodded, bowed her head, took the yogurt, and nodded.
"I guess it was because I stayed in the bathhouse too long. oh my. "Why is my body so weak?"
"Thank you for your help."
"Did we do anything?"
Her aunt looked at me with a sad expression on her face. God has done so much, she thought, and put the straw in her mouth. The ladies who saw me wake up said, "Oh my gosh, I'm going to put back everything I soaked," and rushed to the bathhouse. The steam emanating from the open door was cut off as the door closed. It's not a good idea to push, she thought as she sipped on a dollop of yogurt.
My body was perfectly dry even though I hadn't even wiped away the moisture. Water dripped only from hair that had not been dried. She got dressed and picked up the basket. She thought to herself that if there was an open pharmacy on her way back, she would buy some iron tablets, so she put her feet in her shoes and took out her cell phone.
How on earth did the name Chunbaek come up, and why was I holding my cell phone?
She pushed open the women's room door with her shoulder and went into the recent call history. Her feet coming down the stairs suddenly stopped. On the top row, that is, the most recent one, was Seonjae's name. Seonjae Ryu. He almost dropped the basket in his hand.
"What, what, what is this?"
While I was looking at my phone screen without being able to close my mouth, someone came running into the entrance of the building. The footsteps, which sounded quite urgent, suddenly stopped. When I raised my head, I saw Seonjae standing right in front of the stairs with his eyes wide open.
Uh, why are you here?
Rough breaths continued to pour out of Seonjae's mouth. Ryu Seon-jae probably didn't come here to take a bath. I looked at Seonjae with a puzzled face, then lowered my eyes and looked at the screen of his cell phone. The time of the call was listed next to Seonjae's name. It is 30 minutes ahead of the current time.
"Student Chunbaek, you don't have to call an ambulance because someone is coming."
I remembered what the woman holding my cell phone said to me. Seeing that there was a phone symbol in front of the name, it seemed like I was calling Seonjae. To be exact, the lady inside there.
After catching his breath, Seonjae looked at the wall with an embarrassed face, then lowered his head and rubbed his forehead. He went down the stairs and stood in front of Seonjae.
"sorry. "Did you get a call?"
Seon-jae raised his head, brushing his hair, and his eyes met. Seonjae's cheeks were slightly red, perhaps because it was cold outside or because he ran.
"Sorry. "I was so out of my mind that I couldn't even ask who I was calling."
Seonjae's eyes scan my face.
"are you okay?"
"uh?"
"Are you okay?"
He looked at Seonjae's face and nodded his head. Seonjae's hand suddenly rested on my forehead. He held his breath as he felt his chest sinking. I opened my eyes wide and only saw the logo of Seonjae's hoodie in front of me. The pupils did not move upward. fixed to the front. A cold chill covered my forehead.
"I heard he collapsed because his body was so hot."
"uh... ... uh?"
After staring at the logo, he slowly raised his eyes. Seonjae placed his hand on his forehead and looked down at me. The passage was quiet, with no one coming in or coming out.
"I don't have to go to the hospital?"
"uh... ... huh. "I felt dizzy for a moment, but I'm okay now."
Seonjae lowered his hand that was resting on his forehead.
"let's go. "I'll take you there."
"uh?"
I was so shocked that a loud noise escaped me. Before Seonjae turned his body, he looked at me. The expression on his face was as if something was strange.
"I got a call saying you collapsed."
"Oh, that's... ... ."
"It wasn't you who made the call, but I came because of you. "Don't say you'll go alone."
"... ... ."
Seonjae's firm attitude silenced him. After fiddling with the handle of his basket, he set it down on the floor, unwrapped his scarf and handed it to me. Seonjae raised his face as if asking what was happening.
"No matter how empty the neighborhood is, what if someone recognizes me?"
Seonjae is not to that extent, but he looked at his scarf with an expression on his face. He waved the scarf he was holding. It's like I won't go unless you take this. Seonjae then reluctantly took the scarf and tied it around his neck.
"Hey, that's not it."
He raised his hand and adjusted the shape of the scarf. I put it on Seonjae's lower body, but it seemed like it wasn't enough, so I put it on his head as well. Then only Seonjae's eyes were revealed. Those eyes reach out to me as if they were absurd.
"Go like this? "This one stands out more."
"no. "If you want to take me there, you have to go like this."
As if Seonjae couldn't stop him, he said, "Okay," and walked away. Unlike Seonjae, who walked out of the building with great strides, I hid behind the door, looked around, and took a cautious step before leaving the building.
Seon-jae seemed to disapprove of me standing at a distance and looking around, pulling on the padded hood. Then, the distance between me and Seonjae got closer and our bodies became closer. Slowly and with a very awkward expression, he raised his eyes upward. Seonjae seemed frustrated and pulled down his scarf and looked down at me. I was so shocked by the wind that I shouted, "Huh, no," and covered Seonjae's face with my palm.
There was something strange about the picture. There is a boy wearing her scarf, and in front of him a girl holding a bath basket stands with one hand outstretched, covering the boy's face. It looks just like a hand that throws spikes or a hand that hypnotizes.
Neither Seonjae nor I could say anything and just stood still. As if time had stopped. She stood awkwardly thinking about how to lower her hand, and when she slowly lowered her hand, Seonjae's face was revealed. At that moment, a motorcycle passed by with an engine exhaust sound. I urgently placed my hand on Seonjae's face again and looked around. Seonjae, who was quietly watching what I was doing, burst out laughing.
"I'm not that famous."
"What are you talking about? "You're so famous."
"It's you who thinks that way."
There was silence. Seonjae also felt embarrassed after speaking and cleared his throat. Seonjae, wearing a scarf, grabbed my padded hood again and pulled me towards it.
"let's go."
I opened my eyes and was led by Seonjae.
I glanced at Seonjae's face. I could only see his eyes and couldn't tell what kind of expression he was making. I wondered what on earth the lady said that brought her here. Did they even say that people were dying? He said he was going to run out of breath, that he was lying naked, that he was going to die like this.
But how on earth did that lady call Seonjae? Among those many contacts.
"Were you shocked when you got the call?"
Seonjae shook his head with his gaze straight ahead. As he turned into his alley, his eyes met Seonjae's, who was lowering his head.
"I was worried."
He said he had to go in here and at the moment when he had to change his pace, he was speechless and looked at Seon-jae with his lips pursed. I remembered the day when I sat on the bench next to Seonjae and looked at each other, with the yujacheong we received from Ryu Geun-deok's Gamjatang between us.
"That's why you came."
Seonjae's black eyes looking at me were as deep as that day.
□ ■ □
Seonjae lifted his scarf and raised his head to look at the exterior of the building. The exterior wall was made of bricks and had no veranda, only windows at regular intervals.
"Are you here?"
"huh."
Seonjae's head, which had been gradually leaning back as if counting the floors, returned to its original position.
"Do you live alone?"
Seonjae asked with a puzzled look. He blinked and then nodded his head. Seonjae's face became a little stiff as he handed me the scarf he was holding in his hand.
"... ... Why why? "It's been a long time since I slept alone."
He took the scarf from Seonjae's hand and roughly wrapped it around his neck.
"Don't go out so drunk when there's no one home."
As I pull the scarf up to the tip of my nose, I feel like I can smell Seonjae's scent. He blinked his eyes and looked at Seonjae.
What does it matter? I have several years of drinking experience.
When we made eye contact without saying a word, Seonjae looked away as if he had said something unnecessary. After fiddling with the handle of his basket, he stepped on the threshold of the entrance, having nothing else to say.
"Thanks for taking me there."
Seonjae nods his head at my words. He entered the entrance, walked toward the stairs, and glanced behind him. Seonjae stood still with his hands shoved into his padded pockets. Why aren't you going? "Go, go," she said, pushing the air with the back of her hand like his grandmother did when leaving his country house. However, Seonjae only nodded without saying a word. He stood there awkwardly, then withdrew his gaze and turned his back.
How many stairs did he climb? Suddenly, the second floor front door burst open. A young woman came down the stairs, adjusting her coat. Her eyes widened and her heart pounded. I watched as the front door opened wide and closed. Seo Yun-jae's bromide attached to the inside of the front door.
I quickly turned around and went back down the stairs I came up. I wondered if it would happen, but as expected, Seonjae was still standing there. His mouth opened. Again and again, the sound of people stepping down the stairs gets closer. A face turned towards me as if asking why you came down again. Why aren't you going?
I quickly grabbed Seonjae's arm and ran. Fortunately, Seonjae was obediently taken into my hands. As he left the alley, Seonjae stopped, straining his legs.
"what? why?"
He grabbed Seonjae's arm and turned him around.
"Oh, that's it."
As he opened his mouth, I saw a woman coming out of the entrance over Seonjae's shoulder. She turned and she walked towards me. She quickly untied the scarf from around her neck and wrapped it around Seonjae's face. She looked around recklessly, as if she didn't care about the shape. Seonjae's face was strangely obscured.
"Hey, what is this?"
She pulled Seonjae's arm as he let out a dissatisfied voice. I couldn't afford to listen to Seonjae's words until the end.
He hid his body close to the unopened glass door of the beauty salon. He froze with the back of his head pressed against the glass door, then slowly stuck his head out and looked out into the street. There was no one. He let out the breath he had been holding and turned his head, making eye contact with Seonjae. Seonjae, whose back was against the glass door, looked down at me with an expression of incomprehension.
"Why, why aren't you going? Aren't you busy? "Quickly call a taxi and take it."
"I was going."
Seon-jae, who said he was trying to go but didn't move, lowers his gaze and looks down. I lowered my gaze following Seonjae. I saw hands holding each other.