Yujin (3)
Yujin (3)
- Cut! Thank you for your hard work!
With the director's shout, the tension on the set loosened.
Sounds of moving equipment mixed with the hurried footsteps of the staff here and there.
Lights turned off one by one, and the gazes that had been crowding until just now scattered.
It might have been an ordinary wrap-up of filming for everyone else, but not for me.
I sat in the same spot as before, unable to even properly move a single fingertip.
Even though the emergency exit was right in front of my eyes, in the end I couldn't properly cross that one threshold.
On the nape of my neck, the sensation of a weak current brushing past still remained.
It wasn't painful enough to scream, but the intention was clear.
Just a warning.
A very kind warning telling me what happens if I move.
Looking down, I didn't know since when, but I was clenching my hand tightly.
When I slowly opened my hand, there was the remote.
It was bait put in from the beginning to test me.
Recalling that fact, my insides sank chillingly.
"Oppa."
Yujin's voice was heard even before I lifted my head.
She had already changed clothes, and she had returned to the outfit she was wearing when she first entered the set.
She looked around once, then smiled as if nothing had happened.
"Now let's go."
Her fingertips wrapped around my wrist.
And immediately squeezed strongly.
Surprised by the pressure stronger than I thought, I lifted my head, and Yujin was still smiling brightly.
As if she didn't know why I was like that.
Only then I realized.
Now running away is over.
***
"......"
"......"
I was seated in the passenger seat, watching her who was holding the steering wheel.
Yujin didn't say anything.
Outside the window, the late afternoon road was slowly flowing by.
Whenever we hit a signal, the car body stopped small, then smoothly pushed forward again.
On the surface, it was an ordinary way home.
Then, a red light signal turned on on the four-lane road, and the car stopped smoothly.
"Oppa."
Yujin's gaze moved outside the window.
"Do you know what you did wrong, oppa?"
It came in quietly but it was an affectionate voice.
"You don't know?"
"......"
"Or are you pretending not to know even though you know?"
My fingertips grew cold and my head dropped down.
"......Because I tried to run away."
"Yeah."
Yujin smiled small.
"That's right. But that's not the biggest problem."
I slowly lifted my head.
Yujin was still looking only forward.
But her eyes reflected in the rearview mirror were looking at me.
"It's okay that oppa ran away."
"......"
"It's the first time. It might be hard to have someone like you and receive attention."
Her words sounded as if she was understanding me.
"But."
Yujin's finger tapped the handle with a tok.
"Not keeping my words was a little disappointing."
I gripped even tighter the thing I was holding in my hand.
Yujin didn't even look at that appearance but smiled as if she knew.
"You're still holding it."
I hid my hand reflexively.
The car stopped slowly as it hit the signal.
And only then she turned her head and looked at me.
"Keep it as a souvenir."
"......What?"
"It's the day oppa first learned, right?"
Her hand formed a reverse with my hand.
"That I have to do only what I allow."
She pressed my hand changing the pressure.
Soon as the signal changed to green, she released her hand and the car moved forward again.
"And the second."
A cold voice filled the inside of the car again.
"Answer when I ask."
"......"
"Don't keep your mouth shut like just now."
I swallowed dry saliva.
"Got it?"
"......Got it."
At the reluctant answer, her eyes grew a little colder.
"No. You shouldn't say it like that."
- Kkiik!
She parked the car on the shoulder and looked at me.
"Again."
Not knowing what words she wanted, I just moved my lips.
Yujin smiled looking at that appearance of mine.
"You should say, I understand."
She said as if telling the correct answer.
The choker wrapped around my nape felt strangely heavy and I lowered my head.
"......I understand."
The moment I spat those words, Yujin's expression loosened a little.
As if she heard an answer she liked.
"Good job."
She started the car again.
The car that had been stopped on the shoulder slowly joined the road.
I turned my gaze outside the window and blankly looked at the passing road.
Is there no chance to run away either...
After a few minutes like that passed. I started to feel something strange.
It definitely wasn't the road we passed when coming to the set.
The familiar big roads, the buildings near the company weren't visible.
The car had already left the downtown and was entering a little quieter alley inside.
"Um......"
As soon as I opened my mouth, Yujin's gaze turned to me.
I stopped reflexively.
At that appearance, Yujin smiled small.
"Why?"
"......"
"Is there something you want to ask?"
I swallowed dry saliva and barely opened my mouth.
"......Where we're going."
Yujin didn't say anything for a moment.
And that silence seemed to strangle my nape.
Slowly she opened her mouth.
"Oppa."
"......Yes."
"Questions are what I do."
My fingertips twitched.
"It's not what oppa does. Just follow."
"......I'm sorry."
"Yeah. That just now was a little better."
Yujin smiled brightly and as the car turned right, it entered a quiet residential area.
"But since you might be curious, I'll tell you."
High fences and dark glass windows.
Neatly trimmed garden trees and a quiet road with not a single person visible.
Luxury houses that seemed to be managed daily were continuing at regular intervals.
"It's not the dormitory."
The car slowed down at the very front building among them.
After a moment, the closed garage door rose silently.
Yujin familiarly pushed the car inside.
The moment we entered the garage, the outside light quickly disappeared.
The dim interior lighting faintly spread over the car window.
Yujin turned off the engine and slowly looked at me.
"If I have to say. Our space, I guess?"
Yujin naturally even unbuckled my seatbelt.
"It's a place oppa needs to get used to from now on."
"Because everyone prepared it little by little."
Before I could even ask the meaning of those words, Yujin got out of the car first.
The inside of the garage was strangely quiet.
Only the lighting embedded in the garage ceiling was flowing faint white light, and not a speck of dust was visible on the smoothly arranged floor.
Yujin opened the passenger seat door for me.
Strength didn't enter my legs well.
Can I run away?
The moment that thought flashed, a small black lens attached to the corner of the garage caught my eye.
CCTV.
It wasn't one. One at the garage entrance. One next to the door. One at the ceiling corner too.
Already 4 just in the garage.
Yujin who saw my gaze reaching them smiled small.
"Don't worry."
She held my hand.
"It's to keep bad people from coming in."
That those words really sounded like words trying to reassure me, rather made me choke.
Yujin led me to the door inside the garage.
The door opened smoothly as soon as she put her finger on the fingerprint recognition device.
- Ppik.
Along with a short electronic sound, warm air leaked out.
The inside of the house was brighter than I thought.
No, rather than bright, it was cozy.
The ceiling lighting was subtle, and on one side of the living room there was a cream-colored sofa and a thick rug laid.
Next to the entrance, indoor shoes were neatly placed.
One small white indoor shoe that looked like Yujin's.
And next to it, a slightly larger men's indoor shoe.
It was new, never worn by anyone and never stained.
"Put them on. If you walk barefoot your feet will be cold."
Even at Yujin's worried voice, I was only looking down at the indoor shoes.
She smiled as if that reaction of mine was cute, then bent her waist and directly pushed the indoor shoes in front of my feet.
"Oppa."
She lifted her head and looked at me.
"It would be better to do it yourself before I do it for you, right?"
The moment I moved my body belatedly and put my feet into the indoor shoes, the soft texture inside wrapped around the instep of my feet.
Yujin held my hand as if satisfied and led me inside the living room.
A blanket was folded on the sofa, and on a small shelf, things like cold medicine, digestive medicine, bandages were neatly organized.
The living room was wide but not empty.
Things prepared so that a person could stay for a long time were placed here and there.
On the low table, there were unopened wet wipes and cups, a small snack basket, and from the kitchen side it seemed a subtle tea scent was coming.
It was strangely warm.
If it had been a cold and unfamiliar confinement space, it might have been less scary.
On a small side table, a new toothbrush was inserted, and next to it, a folded towel and clothes that looked like pajamas were neatly placed.
Those were all for men too.
The size. The color. All seemed tailored to me.
"Why that face?"
Yujin asked beside me.
I couldn't answer.
"I prepared them because I was worried oppa might be uncomfortable."
"There are clothes, medicine, and food too."
Yujin said as if informing one by one.
"Because oppa shouldn't get sick."
At those words, my nape grew chilly.
They were words worrying about me.
Definitely so.
But still I choked.
Yujin had monitored me lest I run away, put a choker on my neck, and sent current if I moved.
And yet she was acting like a person who really didn't want to hurt me.
No.
Maybe she really thought that way.
That she wasn't tormenting me.
But taking care of me.
"Oppa."
Yujin slightly pulled my wrist.
"Wash up and come out first."
"......What?"
The moment I asked back reflexively, Yujin's eyes sank slightly.
I realized belatedly that I had said something wrong.
Questions weren't what I did.
Yujin looked at me for a moment, then smiled softly again.
"You were at the set for a long time."
Her fingertips lightly arranged the end of my sleeve.
"Dust got on, and you sweated too."
That touch was careful.
Really like a person brushing off dirty things.
"If your body feels icky you can't even eat properly."
Yujin said as if it was too obvious.
"So you wash first."
I couldn't say anything.
I didn't even know where the bathroom was, nor the structure of this house.
I couldn't know where the doors were, if the windows opened, if there was a way to go outside.
But Yujin already knew everything.
Where what was, where I had to go, even what I had to do first.
Everything was decided.
Yujin walked slowly towards the hallway holding my hand.
I had no choice but to follow as if being dragged.
At the end of the hallway there was a translucent glass door.
Subtle lighting was leaking from beyond the door.
Arriving in front of the door, Yujin held the handle and looked back at me.
"Can you do it alone?"
The voice was affectionate. But that affection rather strangled my neck.
I couldn't answer.
Yujin looked at my silence, then slowly tilted her head.
"Answer."
At the short word, my nape stiffened.
I hurriedly opened my mouth.
"......I can do it."
Yujin smiled as if satisfied.
"You're good."
Her hand lightly stroked my hair.
And Yujin opened the bathroom door.
I froze in front of it.
Yujin looked at such me, then smiled softly.
"Don't be scared."
She whispered.
"If it's hard alone."
Yujin's fingertips didn't let go of my wrist and slightly applied force.
"Shall we wash together?"