GGAS 9

Seo Taerim did not remember in what state of mind he had come home. He stood in the darkened entryway and went over the day, helping Kim Abang out of the elevator, taking Kim Abang home, running into Kim Abang by chance on the way back from work, fainting because of Kim Abang and ending up in the emergency room, getting a ride from Kim Abang, becoming neighbors with Kim Abang… Seo Taerim thought about which of these was the most serious.

‘It must be… becoming neighbors with Kim Abang.’

That was because, as long as he lived in this house, all the things before had a high chance of repeating again. When his thoughts reached there, Seotaerim wanted to run away in the middle of the night. But that was difficult. Not because of money or paperwork, but because of his mother’s request. This house was a place where Seo Taerim’s mother, painter Hong, had remodeled the second floor into a studio, and since she was going on a long trip to Spain this time, managing the house had become Seo Taerim’s responsibility. He recalled what his mother had said right before leaving the country.

“You know I’ve never opened my studio to anyone, right? I’m leaving it to you because you’re my child. And aside from that, you’re the one I can trust the most. No more, no less, just take care of it for five months.”

Seo Taerim felt a little resentment toward his past self who had cheerfully answered that he would. To think he had said he would live in a place he had never even visited before for five months.

“Phew….”

Seo Taerim let out a long breath. Then he rubbed his face with dry hands.

“…But what can I do about what’s already happened.”

He took off his shoes and went inside. Since painter Hong was a drinker, there was no way she hadn’t left at least one decent bottle of wine in the studio, and he thought he could use that to soothe his troubled mood.

***

Meanwhile, after parting with Seo Taerim and coming home, Kim Abang felt very good. He put on his favorite rabbit pajamas, wore a rabbit headband for washing his face, and patted lotion onto both cheeks with a slap-slap.

To think Taerim-ssi lives right across from me!

Many fun things he could do with a neighbor flashed by in Kim Abang’s mind. Going on a picnic together, doing volunteer work at the neighborhood library reading fairy tales aloud, things like that.

‘What should I pack for lunch~.’

Kim Abang had a habit of thinking about food first no matter what he was doing. He struggled between mountain pork and sinseollo for a picnic lunch menu, then suddenly slapped his knee in surprise.

“Ah, I should hand out rice cakes first!”

It was customary for the newcomer to distribute rice cakes, not the existing resident. But Kim Abang thought the person wasn’t important when it came to sharing love and joy, and in the first place he didn’t know customs well, so he quickly opened the map app where he marked restaurants.

“Mmm~ hmm~”

He hummed a tune and typed ‘rice cake shop’ into the favorites search bar.

“Search results are~”

Kim Abang stopped.

“…Zero?”

He tilted his head and refreshed the screen. But it still showed zero.

“…Did the Wi-Fi cut off?”

Kim Abang bent his head down quickly and checked the Wi-Fi installed under the desk. The Wi-Fi was fine.

“Then what broke….”

Kim Abang muttered and hies eyes suddenly widened.

“…….!”

Good heavens, nothing was broken at all. He just didn’t know a single good rice cake shop! Sirens began to blare his head. This situation was full-on codename ‘Bang Bang Bang’! (Codename Bang Bang Bang meant it was an emergency so serious it would take three Kim Abangs to handle.) Kim Abang banged up from his seat and rushed out of the room. He ran across the hallway in an instant and urgently turned the knob of the black door with a POP signboard that read <V Gonggong’s Nest V> with his small hand. (When codename Bang Bang Bang was issued, since there couldn’t really be three Kim Abangs, usually Kim Gwanggong was sent in to take care of the work of three.)

“Gonggong-ah!”

There was no answer. Of course. That was because Kim Gwanggong had left home.

“Gonggong-ah!”

Kim Abang pressed his ear to the door to check for signs of someone inside.

“Gonggong-ah! You’re in there again not answering… no, you’re not! You ran away from home!”

Only then did he remember. Kim Abang took his ear off the door and quickly ran across the hallway again. This time, he knocked furiously on a yellow door with a sign that read <Bangbang is studying, knock before entering!>.

“Bangbang-ah!”

There was no answer.

“Bangbang… ah, I’m Bangbang!”

He hurriedly opened the door and ran into his own room. Then he nimbly picked up the phone that had fallen on the floor and quickly opened the chat app. Since his chat with Kim Gwanggong was pinned at the top, it took less than a second to find. Kim Abang moved his fingers rapidly and sent a message.

Kim Gwanggong’s phone vibrated, and a white notification window popped up on the black screen.

Kim Abang: Zero zero! Respond!

But Kim Gwanggong was in no state to respond. That was because he had to take care of the drunken Eun Sanho.

***

“Gwanggong-ssi, stop spinning around. You’re making me dizzy.”

Eun Sanho demanded firmly, sitting down in the hotel hallway. Kim Gwanggong sighed. It had taken three and a half hours to catch Eun Sanho since he had kicked his way out of the elevator and escaped, but that wasn’t entirely because the H Hotel was known for its large and complex layout. The main reason was that the place Eun Sanho had been in was somewhere no one would expect a fugitive to hide. Namely, the hotel bar.

What kind of person who’s being chased would flop down at the bar without a trace of caution, hiding only the top of his head behind a glass of liquor like a freshly baked rice cake laid out on display? Was he trying to run or not? Eun Sanho leaned on the table, grinning and babbling drunkenly. Because of that, Kim Gwanggong, who had grown quietly anxious at not being able to find him for longer than expected, lost all his energy when he finally did. It wasn’t like a kid playing hide-and-seek hiding only his head behind a curtain… in fact, that might have been less absurd. At least children had their own idea of a clever move and tried to plan a hiding place. Kim Gwanggong looked at the drunk Eun Sanho he had caught so easily, at a loss.

“I’m not spinning, you’re just drunk, Eun Sanho-ssi.”

Kim Gwanggong corrected him.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Eun Sanho narrowed his eyes, then suddenly burst out laughing.

“Don’t lie!”

“I’m not lying.”

“Liar~.”

“I swear on my name, I am absolutely not lying.”

Kim Gwanggong denied. But Eun Sanho couldn’t stop laughing, even shedding a few tears, then he tightly grabbed Kim Gwanggong’s hand.

“Gwanggong-ssi, spinning around isn’t something to be ashamed of. It does make me a bit dizzy to watch… but even as an adult, it’s perfectly fine to do it.”

Kim Gwanggong sighed as he was Eun Sanho looking at him like he was a pitiful thing.

“I told you I’m not.”

“There you go again. I really do understand you, Gwanggong-ssi.”

“What exactly is it you think you understand?”

“Ah, if you don’t believe me because it’s only words, should I spin with you too?”

Eun Sanho suddenly got up, spread his arms, and started spinning in circles. He said he was spinning in place, but since he was drunk it ended up looking like he was staggering all over the hallway. But whether he spun well or not, Eun Sanho himself seemed delighted.

“Wow, this is so fun! I think I know why you keep doing it, Gwanggong-ssi~”

“You’re going to fall.”

“Me? No way…”

Eun Sanho staggered to the side before he even finished speaking.

“Ah!”

“Eun Sanho-ssi!”

Fortunately, Kim Gwanggong caught him quickly, so no big accident happened.

“Are you alright?”

“Hm? Gwanggong-ssi, don’t you think we have no personal space right now?”

Eun Sanho said. Considering he had groped someone’s chest in a restaurant, it was a fairly reasonable remark.

“…Let’s find that personal space later. For now, let’s at least stay like this until we reach the door. I don’t want to call an ambulance at dawn.”

“Yes, I don’t like ambulances either!”

Eun Sanho said that, but in reality he kept refusing support and tried to walk on his own feet.

“Eun Sanho-ssi, if you can’t stand properly on your own two feet, then at least lean on me properly.”

Kim Gwanggong finally said, unable to watch any longer.

“No! Leaning on you would make me feel too sorry, so I can’t.”

But Eun Sanho’s staggering steps looked perfect for causing an accident. In the end, Kim Gwanggong held him with one hand so he wouldn’t fall, and with the other hand he opened the suite door.

“Wow~. The view is amazing!”

As Eun Sanho admired the view and tried to ran straight inside, Kim Gwanggong quickly grabbed him.

“Shoes, take off your shoes first before going in.”

“Shoes?”

Eun Sanho tilted his head, looking back and forth between his own feet and Kim Gwanggong. Then he soon stared at him with a puzzled look.

“Gwanggong-ssi, do you… want my shoes?”

“My feet wouldn’t even fit, so what would I want them for?”

“No. I might be rude saying this, but your eyes look like you want my shoes.”

Eun Sanho stepped back slightly.

“Your eyes are exactly, exactly… like Cinderella’s stepsisters.”

Kim Gwanggong let out a dry laugh.

“Then are you Cinderella, Eun Sanho-ssi?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, whether you want to be Cinderella or not is your freedom, but I have no intention of becoming your stepsister, and I also won’t let you walk in with shoes on.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

Eun Sanho seemed to think for a moment, then cautiously took off his shoes and placed them in the corner of the entryway.

“Then you can’t touch them. If I don’t have those shoes, I can’t go home.”

He didn’t look like he could go home even with them, but Kim Gwanggong nodded for now. Then Eun Sanho relaxed his guard, smiled brightly, and slipped his feet into the slippers.

“Yahoo, then I’m going to look around here!”

“It’d be better if you just sat down…”

“Wow, even the kitchen is all black!”

Before Kim Gwanggong could stop him, Eun Sanho ran to the kitchen like a colt. When Kim Gwanggong followed after roughly tidying up the entryway, Eun Sanho was already lying on the kitchen floor, flailing his arms and legs like he was making a snow angel.

“Gwanggong-ssi, this kitchen is amazing!?”

“Is that so?”

Kim Gwanggong crossed his arms and looked down at him with curiosity.

“Doesn’t it hurt your back to lie on the floor like that?”

“No! And the reason I like this kitchen is, even if I spill a whole bowl of black sesame porridge while eating, I think it won’t show!”

“I don’t eat black sesame porridge.”

“Then you’ve lost one of this kitchen’s strengths.”

Eun Sanho spoke as if it were a real shame, then rolled toward the refrigerator.

“But can I take something out to eat? Talking about food made me hungry.”

He asked while he stood on his knees and opened the refrigerator.

“There won’t be much in there.”

Kim Gwanggong answered as he sat on a stool, in a spot where he could clearly see both Eun Sanho and inside the fridge.

“Hm? That’s not true, isn’t this kimchi?”

Eun Sanho asked, slightly lifting the lid of a kimchi container.

“Starting with something spicy like kimchi on an empty stomach isn’t good.”

“I’m not on an empty stomach. I drank a ton of alcohol!”

“What did you even drink so much of?”

“Just, all the cocktails that had pretty names.”

“What were you thinking?”

“Mm~ well… there was a reason, but what was it again…?”

Eun Sanho furrowed his brow as if trying to recall something, then let out an ah.

“I remembered. My boyfriend – no, now ex-boyfriend – anyway, all that time he didn’t let me drink, you know? He said if I drank, I’d cheat or something.”

“…Wasn’t he the one who cheated?”

“Exactly. That’s why I got so pissed off and just drank everything.”

“…….”

“Oh, there’s water here. I’ll drink some and sober up~”

Eun Sanho picked up a bottle of Samdasoo and winked. Looking as if he were shooting a hangover cure commercial, he made Kim Gwanggong snort with laughter.

“Do as you like.”

Kim Gwanggong said. Maybe because he was thirsty, Eun Sanho lifted the bottle and drank it straight down.

“Mmm, the water here at your place tastes strange, Gwanggong-ssi?”

Eun Sanho wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and spoke.

“What did you brew in it?”

“Nothing at all….”

Kim Gwanggong stopped mid-sentence.

“Where did you find that?”

“This? Right next to the kimchi container.”

‘Damn.’

Kim Gwanggong stood up and walked over to him.

“You want some too, Gwanggong-ssi?”

When Eun Sanho handed the bottle over, Kim Gwanggong tilted it and took a sip.

“…This isn’t water, it’s soju.”

He spoke with a frown.

“Huh? Why is there soju in there?”

“…The person who gave me the kimchi must have put it in.”

“Ah, I just drank a gift you received?”

“It wasn’t a gift, he just accidentally stored what he was drinking together. It’s a habit of his.”

“A habit?”

“Yes.”

Kim Gwanggong explained. The one who had given him the kimchi, Kim Abang, had the habit of thoroughly washing and drying empty PET bottles and then storing all sorts of things in them, grains like red beans, millet, rice, corn, and liquids ranging from plum extract to soju. And whenever there was an empty spot in the fridge, he stuffed those PET bottles in, gradually turning the fridge more and more into a ‘PET-bottle fridge.’

He also liked to say incomprehensible things like how he had decided to exchange side dishes with friends or neighbors at least twice a week. Then, while busily packing his own side dishes into shopping bags, he would accidentally throw those PET bottles in as well and end up giving them to friends or neighbors. Thanks to that, you could heard Chairwoman Kim’s household kitchen scream, “Good heavens! Where did my corn go?! A thief must have broken in…!” more often than not.

“Looks like the PET bottle that got stolen today happened to be the soju one.”

Kim Gwanggong wrapped up the explanation with a brief conclusion.

“Ah, I see.”

Eun Sanho nodded.

“I’ll give you some real water separately.”

“Mmm, but I have something to say.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not supposed to drink soju~.”

Eun Sanho smiled with slightly unfocused eyes.

“…Do you get terribly drunk?”

Kim Gwanggong asked, he left out the words, ‘As if you aren’t already.’

“Not sure…. I don’t really know, anyway my sister told me never to drink it….”

“Sit down over here for now.”

Kim Gwanggong lifted Eun Sanho up, led him to the living room, and seated him on the sofa, then sat down next to him.

“Mmm… Say anything to help me sober up. Some kind of question worth thinking about….”

Eun Sanho buried himself in the soft sofa and spoke.