GGAS 25

Seo Taerim, who had come up to the deck, faced a crossroads. There were two choices.

The first was to stay with Kim Abang. The key point here was that whenever someone asked what JDI meant, before Kim Abang could answer with “housewarming,” Seo Taerim would have to cough like crazy and carry out a real-time close mark and disruption operation.

The second was to part ways with Kim Abang and go to a table in the corner of the deck. There, with no eyes watching, he could lie down on a shabby makeshift bed made of three or four chairs pushed together and try to recover his body and mind. Although if he did that, he would look like he had thrown away the duties of a party host who was supposed to welcome guests.

“Ha….”

Both options were rotten, as if he was selling off his dignity and prestige together, so Seo Taerim hesitated and thought for a moment.

…But, he had been taught that abandoning his duty was not the right thing to do….

He decided that he would go with option one rather than option two. Just then, an elderly gentleman in a pale pink suit with a fedora came over toward Kim Abang and Seo Taerim.

“Teacher!”

Kim Abang was so happy to see the old gentleman that he actually jumped about ten centimeters into the air.

“It has been a while, Abang-ah.”

The old gentleman smiled as he answered, and Kim Abang held his hand tightly and beamed.

“Have you been well?”

“Of course, I have been well. And you?”

Kim Abang replied, “Of course,” and then, as usual, started chattering and telling a long story about his recent life. The old gentleman nodded kindly at each part of Kim Abang’s story, and Seo Taerim quietly listened at the side, keeping his nerves taut at every single word that came out of Kim Abang’s mouth. He planned to cough the moment the word “house” from “housewarming” appeared.

‘Cough as soon as the house from housewarming comes out. Cough as soon as the house from housewarming comes out. Cough as soon as the house from housewarming comes out. Cough as soon as the house from housewarming comes out….’

Seo Taerim repeated the to-do list in his head while watching for the timing. Outwardly he wore a calm face, so Kim Abang and the old gentleman did not feel much strangeness.

“Thank you for inviting me to such a wonderful place.”

When the old gentleman gave thanks, Kim Abang waved his hand.

“No, I should be more thankful that you came even though you must be busy!”

“Busy? I heard Abang had a good event, how could I not come. That you met a good person and J… JD….”

The old gentleman trailed off as if he could not recall the party’s name. Since JDI came up earlier than expected, Seo Taerim bit his lip inconspicuously, feeling dismayed.

…No. Don’t panic, Seo Taerim. As long as I follow the plan, there will be no problem.

Seo Taerim pulled himself together. He kept reciting to himself, like reading a sutra, “Cough as soon as the house from housewarming comes out,” while watching the old gentleman and Kim Abang closely.

“JDI party?”

Kim Abang asked again gently, and the old gentleman made an apologetic face.

“Ah dear…, I am sorry. I keep forgetting things as I get older.”

“Come on, I get confused all the time too! Honestly I sometimes think I shouldn’t have written JDI in English at all. Because in Korean it’s housew…”

Kim Abang pressed his lips together to pronounce “house,” and when he was about to part them to pronounce “warming,” Seo Taerim, who had been thinking “as soon as the house from housewarming comes out,” realized this was the exact moment. His eyes lit up and he drew in a deep breath.

‘I have to cough, a huge cough…!’

He tensed his stomach and forced all the air in his lungs out at once to make the loudest sound possible.

“Cough!”

Seo Taerim shouted, resounding like he had swallowed a train whistle.

“Oh my goodness!”

The old gentleman was startled by the loud sound and dropped his cane.

“Ah, teacher!”

Kim Abang caught the staggering old gentleman.

“A-are you all right?”

When Kim Abang asked, the old gentleman pressed his chest and nodded.

“Phew….”

Kim Abang let out a sigh of relief and turned his head. He looked up at Seo Taerim with a deliberately angry face, but soon he had no choice but to relax his brow and send him a worried look. It was because Seo Taerim bit down on his lower lip and his whole face, from his jaw up to his forehead, flushed bright red as if someone had put a gradient effect on it.

“Taerim-ssi, are you okay?”

Kim Abang studied Seo Taerim’s tomato-like complexion and asked, then brought the back of his hand to Seo Taerim’s cheek.

“You’re burning up! Did you catch a cold?”

Kim Abang asked in surprise. But it was probably not a cold, it was probably because of embarrassment that he was burning.

“…It’s not because of a cold… it’s just… a little hot.”

Seo Taerim gave a clumsy excuse. Kim Abang felt the cool sea breeze brushing his neck and frowned.

“Hot, here… Taerim-ssi, aren’t you really sick?”

“N-no. If I go over there and get some air, I’ll be fine soon. Then I’ll excuse myself….”

Seo Taerim jerked his head in short ten-degree bows toward the old gentleman and Kim Abang, a greeting that hardly even looked like a greeting, then hurriedly left. Since Kim Abang knew Seo Taerim’s usual habit of bowing politely, he could not hide his worry as he watched Seo Taerim’s back disappear.

“He looks sick….”

Kim Abang muttered gravely.

At the corner of the deck, Seo Taerim stood straight, holding the railing and facing the sea, and tears streamed down from his eyes. He kept his eyes wide open, hoping the sea breeze would cool his tears, but since it was no use, he tilted his head back to make fewer tears come out.

“…Ah, really….”

Seo Taerim muttered and closed his eyes tightly.

“…Really, I feel like I’m going to die of embarrassment….”

It was half true and half false. The reason he felt like dying now was not only because he had done something shameful, but also because of the pink flowers lavishly decorating the deck. Because of the humiliation, he seemed to have forgotten it for a moment, but Seo Taerim was originally allergic to pollen.

“…My tears won’t stop… my eyes are burning… my throat is itchy too….”

Seo Taerim listed ordinary allergy symptoms with a bitter expression.

“Even when I first met Kim Abang-ssi’s father, it wasn’t this bad….”

Seo Taerim muttered as he recalled the most embarrassing time in his life. Of course, he would not have shed this many tears then. It was because there were no flowers in Kim Abang’s house. But because of the allergic reaction, his head was not working fast, so he could not think of that simple fact, and he sank endlessly into self-reproach.

‘Why did I make a slip of the tongue….’

Even with his head tilted back, Seo Taerim could not stop his eyes from constantly drifting downward. The dark seawater striking against the side of the ship stood out especially clear.

“…Will the seawater be really cold?”

Seo Taerim tried for a moment to guess the average temperature of the Pacific Ocean. But then, he heard the startled voice of a child behind him.

“Auntie, that man is crying…!”

The child whispered, but since it was quiet around, everyone heard. Seo Taerim flinched and hurriedly twisted his head to the side and ducked it down.

“Eun-Eunseo-ya, don’t say things like that~.”

The child’s guardian, seeing pitiful Seo Taerim unable to run away anywhere and only his shoulders trembling m, became flustered and stopped the child.

“But he really is crying?”

At the child’s stubborn insistence, the guardian glanced at Seo Taerim and turned the child’s body the other way.

“No, that man isn’t crying~. Should we go now? Wow, look, there’s a chocolate fountain.”

The guardian pretended to be amazed at the five-tier chocolate fountain Kim Abang had ambitiously set up. Then the child looked at the guardian.

“Auntie, is a chocolate fountain the problem right now? That grown man is crying like Eunha, who was born a week ago. And mom said Eunha only cries for exactly three reasons!”

The child spoke firmly and held up three fingers.

“First, when he’s hungry!”

The child shouted each word clearly.

‘No, I’m just crying because I’m embarrassed….’

Seo Taerim answered inside.

“Second, when he wants his diaper changed!”

‘No, this man is just crying because he’s embarrassed….’

Seo Taerim answered again inwardly.

“Third, when he’s sick!”

‘No, this man is just crying because he’s embarras… maybe not???’

Seo Taerim was startled and quickly turned to look at the child.

“Auntie, look at his eyes…! They’re so red and bloodshot, you can tell right away it’s a danger sign for his health!”

The child pointed at Seo Taerim’s eyes as he spoke.

‘A danger sign… in my eyes?’

Seo Taerim unconsciously traced the corners of his eyes with his fingers, then realized his mistake. When he touched them, they were slightly swollen, and behind the child and guardian were all kinds of pink flowers.

“Are all those real flowers…?”

Seo Taerim asked in shock.

After Seo Taerim received a few antihistamine pills from the infirmary and swallowed them with water, it finally felt like his head was starting to work again.

‘Yeah, if I think about it, it probably didn’t look that strange.’

The common reactions to seeing something odd, ranked from weakest to strongest, would be stage one, “Huh, what’s wrong with that person?”, stage two, “Really? Is this for real?”, and stage three, “He must be crazy….” Thinking it over carefully, his “Cough!” seemed to be about stage one.

‘Right. It wouldn’t be crazy… just about that much.’

Seo Taerim succeeded in that excellent self-justification and regained peace of mind. Then, with a more relaxed hand, he pulled out a chair from the table in front of the infirmary and sat down, and for the first time slowly looked over the view of the deck. Now that the waves in his heart had calmed down, he could see parts he hadn’t noticed before.

‘Kim Abang-ssi really prepared a lot….’

The lace decorating the edge of the tablecloth was unusually delicate, the pink flowers decorating the deck were in harmony, and the invited guests all seemed very satisfied with the food.

Before coming up to the deck, hearing him talk about press conference preparations and then going on about jajangmyeon and jjamppong, Seo Taerim had been very worried, but in reality, if he didn’t have pollen allergies, this was a flawless and splendid party.

‘It looks like it will go well.’

Seo Taerim felt reassured and received another glass of water from a waiter. He leisurely wetted his lips and leaned his body against the backrest.

‘It feels like I came to an end-of-year awards ceremony.’

Seo Taerim thought this as he checked the faces of the invited guests. It was partly because there were real celebrities, but also because there were many acquaintances and friends he had only ever heard about in Kim Abang’s stories. Come to think of it, the old gentleman earlier seemed to be the elementary school homeroom teacher who often appeared in Kim Abang’s stories.

‘And that person with the scarf is the owner of the bakery Kim Abang-ssi always goes to, and the one with pigtails is the close friend who runs a board game cafe ….’

Seo Taerim matched people’s appearances to the descriptions he had only heard from Kim Abang, then his gaze stopped on a man who had a small bread-shaped tattoo on his neck.

‘Ah, that person is….’

According to what Seo Taerim had heard, that man was Mr. Park Hyunsik, who had been in the class two doors down from Kim Abang’s in middle school, and he had quite a memorable story. During a field trip in the second year of middle school, by coincidence, Kim Abang’s bag and his bag had gotten switched, and he went through some trouble because of it.

The detailed circumstances were like this. The place Kim Abang’s and Mr. Park Hyunsik’s school went for the field trip was a traditional crafts experience center. At the souvenir shop, Kim Abang bought several wooden ritual table candlesticks, saying they would be used for his grandfather’s memorial service, and put them into his bag along with his snack bread. Mr. Park Hyunsik, not knowing his bag had been switched with Kim Abang’s, opened the bag on the bus home, saying he would give snacks to his friends, and from that day he got stuck with the nickname Jean Valjean¹.

Afterwards, in order to escape that nickname, Mr. Park Hyunsik even tried various efforts such as not reading Les Misérables when it was assigned as an assessment book during class. But by then, he was already the Jean Valjean of the entire school. Eventually, on a day when bread was served as dessert at lunch, unable to hold back his resentment, he went to confront Kim Abang, saying it was all his fault.

But Kim Abang, who might know if the neighbor’s dog had changed its name but was clueless about teasing rumors, was the only one who called him “Hyunsik-ah” just as written on his name tag. Deeply moved, Mr. Park Hyunsik went over to Kim Abang and became Abang’s Hyunsik, and since then they had been close friends who shared everything. Their friendship continued into adulthood, and now, Mr. Park Hyunsik was invited to the JDI party, holding hands warmly with Kim Abang… holding hands warmly?

‘W-what, what is that guy doing to Kim Abang-ssi??’

Seo Taerim stood up from his seat. He stood so abruptly that the chair clattered and fell backward, but that didn’t matter. It was because Mr. Park Hyunsik was stroking Kim Abang’s wrist with his neat, long fingers. Why on earth would someone caress the wrist of a friend he hadn’t seen in half a year so secretly like that? Seo Taerim could not understand at all, and apparently neither could the elderly grandma sitting next to him.

“Goodness~ these days the youngsters are rubbing each other’s wrists like that outside. How shameless.”

The grandma clicked her tongue, saying the world was going to ruin. Then the other grandma with her tilted her teacup elegantly and shrugged her shoulders as if it was nothing.

“If the two of them love each other, whether outside or inside, it’s natural they don’t see anything else.”

“Good heavens…. And to be honest, I don’t think that pale, gigolo-looking fellow matches that tiny acorn-like boy. Wouldn’t it be better if he had a man who looked more like a bandit?”

“Better, what’s better. If he met a man like a bandit, that mouse-dropping-sized boy would drop dead before his time from fainting every time he saw that man’s face. And just look at them. The way he’s stroking his wrist like this and the two of them are laughing, it looks like they’ve been dating for a while already, so what are you interfering for?”

The grandma spoke firmly and closed the debate. But Seo Taerim, who had unintentionally overheard the conversation at the side, could not accept the claim that Kim Abang and Mr. Park Hyunsik were longtime lovers.

‘Dating, who’s dating…? I’m right here…!’

As Kim Abang’s legitimate contract boyfriend, he felt the urge to protest but faltered. It was because he suddenly recalled Eun Yeonho’s words, the words that when women said someone looked like a gigolo, it meant he was handsome.

‘Then… that means that guy is handsome?’

Seo Taerim never thought that he himself looked more like a gigolo and only grew anxious. So despite the doctor just telling him to avoid flowers as much as possible, he urgently walked toward the flower-scented center of the deck. With his long legs he quickly closed the distance to Kim Abang, but when there were still five tables between them, he saw Mr. Park Hyunsik’s hand reaching to caress Kim Abang’s shoulder.

‘Damn it all!’

Seo Taerim realized that no matter how fast he ran, he would not be able to stop that hand, and he clenched his teeth.

But just then, on the other side of the deck, someone was climbing the stairs while checking his phone. A man who was stunningly handsome but had a cold expression that did not suit this party or the pink atmosphere at all. But Seo Taerim felt like he wanted to give him a kiss out of relief at that incongruity. Wasn’t that man none other than Gwanggong, Kim Abang’s dearly beloved younger brother?

“Gwanggong! It’s Gwanggong!”

Seo Taerim shouted in the tone of “I found it,” and Kim Abang whipped his head around like a meerkat in 0.1 seconds. Mr. Park Hyunsik’s hand, which was aiming for Kim Abang’s shoulder, ended up swinging in vain.

“Gwanggong?! Where is Gwanggong??”

Kim Abang looked around frantically and asked.

“Three o’clock direction!!”

When Seo Taerim told him precisely again, everyone on the deck except direction-blind Kim Abang turned their heads toward three o’clock, murmuring “What, what,” and then all let out exclamations. Kim Gwanggong was stepping out from the stairway entrance decorated with pink flowers. Even if his looks didn’t suit the pink, his face was so handsome that it was still pleasing to the eye. And handsome Kim Gwanggong, not knowing everyone was staring at him, found Ha Bomi’s number on his phone and pressed the call button.

[The person you are calling cannot answer the phone right now-.]

At the call rejection message that played for the third time already, he clicked his tongue and turned off his phone.

Since he had received the text, “Don’t forget to put the main director on,” even though it was bothersome he had called three times, but seeing she didn’t answer, it looked like there was no need to call again.

“Anyway….”

Kim Gwanggong muttered irritably, raised his head from his phone, and saw dozens of eyes staring at him.

“……?”

Kim Gwanggong raised his eyebrows and sent a look asking what everyone was staring at. Thanks to that, people began to avert their eyes one by one, and some even left their seats altogether. But there was one restless round back of the head left until the very last moment in the middle of the deck. A small, round, pitiful back of the head that didn’t know what to do.

“Three o’clock??? Taerim-ssi, is it three in the afternoon or three in the morning??”

The man with the round back of the head shouted desperately. And that was a voice far too familiar to Kim Gwanggong.

“…….”

Without letting out a single word, Kim Gwanggong tried to follow the emergency response manual he had made at the age of ten: slide the phone into his jacket and slowly back away. But just then, the round back of the head turned, and the round, sparkling eyes met Kim Gwanggong’s sharp, cold eyes.

“Gwanggong-ah!”

Kim Abang shouted with a bright smile, as if star candy was bursting from his eyes.

‘Great.’

Kim Gwanggong thought.

Kim Abang ran straight over to him. With eyes full of affection, he lined up his gaze with Kim Gwanggong’s stomach.

“Did you eat? You didn’t starve, did you?”

Kim Abang asked Kim Gwanggong’s stomach kindly. Then Kim Gwanggong, with an annoyed expression, lifted Kim Abang’s chin so his head tilted up.

“Don’t talk to my stomach.”

“But you never answer me, do you?”

Kim Abang tilted his head and pointed it out.

“Then don’t ask.”

“How could I do that? To my one and only Gwanggong?”

Kim Abang grumbled and grabbed both of Kim Gwanggong’s cheeks, stretching them wide. Kim Gwanggong raised his eyebrows, but Kim Abang didn’t yield at all.

“Our Gwanggong’s cheek fat has gone down so much, this is serious….”

Kim Abang muttered in worry.

“Only you think it’s serious. No one else does.”

Kim Gwanggong answered coldly with his cheeks still pulled.

“What are you saying. This must be fixed.”

Kim Abang insisted. In his head, he had already made a plan to learn the secret of maintaining cheek fat from Chairman Han’s pet hamster, Hamdol. He wasn’t sure if the hamster’s method would work on humans, but since both Gwanggong and Hamdol were cute, he thought there might be something in common that would work.

“But Gwanggong, how are you even here?”

Kim Abang, who had been stretching Gwanggong’s cheeks that didn’t stretch much, stopped and asked curiously. He had sent an invitation, but since he knew that Gwanggong’s department had been busy these past few days, he hadn’t truly expected him to come.

“I was invited. But Kim Abang, what about you, how are you here….”

Kim Gwanggong, who had been too busy to look closely at who was hosting the party, frowned slightly and then saw the pink background spread out behind Kim Abang.

“…Makes sense.”

Kim Gwanggong corrected his words smoothly. If he had to choose who it was surprising to see here, it was probably not Kim Abang but himself. But then Kim Abang, who suited the background all too well, suddenly teared up.

“My goodness…!”

Kim Abang grabbed Gwanggong’s hand.

“Gwanggong, this is the first time you’ve ever complimented my TPO…!”

With moist eyes full of emotion, Kim Abang began pouring out all the pent-up sorrow. According to his story, for the past 27 years, he had gone through all sorts of big and small grievances from never once having his TPO acknowledged by Gwanggong. But from Gwanggong’s point of view, all of those incidents had one thing in common: they were absurd.

To give a representative example, Kim Abang said he had been terribly upset last year when he dressed up as a marshmallow with 100% synchronization for Halloween, and Gwanggong still hadn’t complimented him.

On the other hand, Gwanggong’s view on the matter was completely opposite. Putting aside that Kim Abang, dressed as a marshmallow, had eaten marshmallows and made his cousin’s five-year-old daughter Isul cry her eyes out, the bigger problem was that it hadn’t even been Halloween that day.

Who on earth celebrated Halloween by the lunar calendar? Kim Gwanggong couldn’t understand it at all. Of course, Kim Abang had given some explanation, saying that since Halloween was held at night, celebrating it by the lunar calendar meant the moon’s energy would gather better. And even aside from that, since celebrating holidays was a personal choice, whether he did it by the lunar calendar or the Mayan calendar, that wasn’t Gwanggong’s business.

But no sane person would look at someone celebrating Halloween by the lunar calendar and say he had matched his TPO well.

Moreover, after 27 years of Kim Abang’s outlandish behavior, Gwanggong’s mouth hurt to say anything more, and he had run out of words, so he didn’t feel like saying much besides a compliment anyway.

Instead, he silently looked down at Kim Abang, who was chattering away like a chick or a sparrow, and skillfully massaged the back of his neck that was being pulled tight. From years of experience, he knew that while Kim Abang was babbling, it was smarter not to react to each and every word but to massage spots like the back of the neck or temples, where tension easily built up when blood pressure rose. The chatter was only the calm before the storm, and once the flood of words ended, something storm-like that hit like a slap always followed. That was the natural course of things whenever he was with Kim Abang.

“And so I… oh!”

Kim Abang, who had been pouring out his heart in a rush, suddenly remembered something and clapped his hands.

“Ah, what am I doing! This isn’t the time!”

He hurriedly rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a small film camera covered in rabbit stickers, then held it out to Seo Taerim.

“Taerim-ssi, please take our picture!”

Kim Abang quickly hooked his arm through Gwanggong’s as he said it. Since Seo Taerim was feeling good after defeating Jean Valjean, he took the camera with a bright smile. Then, with the same skill he used when taking photos for his celebrity friend’s social media, he quickly found a good angle.

“Cheese~!”

Seo Taerim said brightly.

“Cheese~!”

Kim Abang drew a V sign with his fingers, looked into the camera lens, and smiled prettily.

“……”

1. The main character from Les Misérables, who is infamous for stealing a loaf of bread. ↩︎