AOA 24

“Is it a blackout?”

I stepped out of the bedroom just in case, and sure enough, the rest of the house was dark too.

I was about to call Kim Juhyun when I remembered she had already gone home. She was a live-in housekeeper, but she went back to her own place on weekends. A different housekeeper came on weekends instead.

Baek Mugyeong liked things tidy. Just as the interior of the newlywed house was stark to the point of being bleak, the number of staff was kept to a minimum.

Besides the weekday and weekend housekeepers who alternated shifts, there was also a groundskeeper who lived in the detached building. He handled the garden, inspected various house facilities, and did any physically demanding tasks.

Because there were so few people employed, security was tight. CCTV cameras were installed throughout the property. They also regularly hired people to do deep cleanings and check for hidden cameras or wiretaps.

Anyway, since there were people at home throughout the day, it usually wasn’t inconvenient.

But today was a little different. The weekday housekeeper, Kim Juhyun, had already gone home, and the groundskeeper had left in the afternoon for a weekend off.

Which meant that from this evening until tomorrow morning, only Baek Mugyeong and I were in the house.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the study door opened and Baek Mugyeong appeared. His face wasn’t clearly visible because the light from his phone was the only illumination, but I recognized him right away.

“It’s not a blackout. I think the circuit breaker tripped.”

From the second-floor window, I could see the glow of the streetlamp. As I looked that way, Baek Mugyeong’s phone light followed my gaze.

“I’ll call someone.”

He offered a swift and simple solution. I didn’t know anything about this sort of thing either, so I just nodded.

The first person to contact was the groundskeeper who was off-site.

Since it was quiet around us, I could hear their conversation even though it wasn’t on speaker. After Baek Mugyeong explained the situation, the groundskeeper sounded surprised. He said he would come right away, but cautiously asked us to check a few things first, like whether there was a burning smell in the house or in the basement equipment room.

One reason a circuit breaker trips is due to a short circuit, and it can cause a fire. There were smoke detectors in the equipment room, but the groundskeeper said it was best to check in person. In case of fire, the initial response was critical, and he also reminded us where the fire extinguishers were.

Baek Mugyeong acknowledged it and hung up.

“I’ll go check the basement.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Once I grasped the situation, I said I’d go too. Even if Baek Mugyeong didn’t like me, it seemed better to go as a pair in this case.

“I can go alone.”

“But if there really is a fire, it’s better to have two people than one. Just a moment.”

Without waiting for his reply, I went back to the bedroom and grabbed a padded jacket. The entrance to the equipment room in the basement was outside.

It was December and below freezing. No matter how brief the trip, stepping outside in pajamas alone would be stupid.

When I came out, Baek Mugyeong had already gone downstairs. I clicked my tongue inwardly and caught up to him. Thankfully, he didn’t tell me to stay put or go away.

I quietly followed behind him. Along the way, I also picked up the fire extinguisher the groundskeeper had mentioned.

Outside, Baek Mugyeong walked straight to the equipment room and unlocked the door without hesitation. I followed him inside.

The overhead lights in the basement equipment room weren’t working because of the power outage. Fortunately, the small window on the slope let in some light from the streetlamp, enough to see silhouettes.

“Doesn’t seem like there’s a fire.”

Using my phone flashlight, I checked the ventilation system, boiler, and circuit breaker one by one. There was only that typical musty basement smell, no scent of burning.

A breaker can trip for many reasons: faulty electronics, overload, short circuits. The usual method is to unplug all devices and reconnect them one by one to find the cause.

I’d once been at a friend’s house when their breaker tripped. Her mother used that method to figure out the fridge had broken.

But I didn’t know exactly what electronics were in this house. In times like this, it was best to leave it to a professional.

“Let’s go back now.”

I looked at Baek Mugyeong as I spoke. The man, who hadn’t said a word since we came outside, simply nodded and turned around. Again, I followed behind him.

That’s when the unexpected happened. The door we’d just entered wouldn’t budge.

Clunk. Clunk.

Baek Mugyeong tried turning the handle several times, putting force into it, but it wouldn’t move.

“The door won’t open.”

He stepped back with a small sigh. I tried turning the handle too, but the result was the same.

“Maybe the electronic lock is broken. When the battery runs out, sometimes it won’t open…”

I shone the flashlight on the lock as I spoke. What bad luck for it to break now of all times.

“Let’s call someone and let them know we’re stuck.”

“…Understood.”

His response was slightly delayed, but I didn’t think much of it. As long as the groundskeeper came, we’d get out. I didn’t feel any real sense of crisis.

While Baek Mugyeong called the groundskeeper again, I paced slowly. The window with the bars was half open for ventilation. The bitter cold made it hard to stand still. Fortunately, the room was big enough that I could pace in place without bumping into things.

I was thinking, “It’s cold, it’s cold,” when I glanced toward Baek Mugyeong. He was standing still at one side of the room, staring out the window at the orange glow of the streetlamp.

His profile in the shadows was as striking as a magazine photo, but oddly, he looked spaced out.

I considered just leaving him be, but something about it nagged at me. The fact that he was wearing only a sweater without a thick coat also bothered me.

“Baek Mugyeong, aren’t you cold?”

I chose the safest, most neutral phrase I could think of. Yet his response came not one or two, but three beats late.

“…I’m fine.”

Though he said he was fine, he kept staring out the window, not at me.

Something was clearly wrong. When we met in the hallway earlier, there had been no signs. Actually, even until we entered the equipment room, he had seemed perfectly fine.

“Baek Mugyeong, are you feeling unwell?”

“…Ah.”

He finally turned to look in my direction. The only light in the room came from the window and our phone flashlights.

We were only a few steps apart, but I couldn’t make out his expression clearly.

“Baek Mugyeong?”

I called his name again as he blanked out once more. Shaking his head slightly, he finally answered in a stiff voice.

“I’m sorry. I zoned out for a moment.”

“Are you sure you’re not sick?”

“I’m not sick.”

“Then what is it?”

He fell silent.

Rather than press him again, I started thinking. He had seemed perfectly fine earlier, so what changed?

Guessing the reason wasn’t difficult.

It was probably the situation itself: we were underground, in a confined space, with poor lighting, or maybe all three.

I remembered a classmate in high school who had a fear of flying. She once passed out from fear when her family took a plane to Jeju Island. After that, she couldn’t fly at all and felt sad whenever her family went abroad during summer vacation without her.

Maybe Baek Mugyeong had something similar.

I didn’t know what to do in such cases.

After a brief pause, I approached him.

“Want to hold hands?”

I held out my hand and asked. I didn’t know if it would help, but maybe knowing someone was beside him would provide some comfort.

“That’s not necessary.”

He rejected the offer immediately, and I pulled my hand back. I wasn’t hurt, if he didn’t want it, there was nothing I could do.

A long silence followed our brief exchange. I decided to ignore him and just wait for the groundskeeper.

But not long after, Baek Mugyeong blanked out again. That made me change my mind.

“I’m going to hold your hand.”

This time, I didn’t ask. I quietly reached out and took his hand.

It was shockingly cold, ice cold. My hand, warmed in my padded pocket, instantly lost its heat.

He flinched and looked at me but didn’t pull his hand away.

“Your hand is freezing.”

“…Yeah.”

“I’ll just hold it like this.”

“…Alright.”

The fact that he didn’t reject it this time was surprising. It probably meant he really wasn’t okay.

He had always seemed like someone who wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed with a needle.

The Baek Mugyeong I remembered was always composed. He seemed fearless, never emotionally shaken.

Except for that one time before the regression, when I shouted at him to explain himself, he had been consistent.

I’d thought of him as a perfect adult with no weak spots.

To find out he had such a vulnerable side was both surprising and oddly fascinating.

I wanted to ask what had happened to make him like this, but I didn’t.

Instead, I just tightened my grip on his hand.

And so, in that strange posture, we stood there silently, saying nothing.