Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Movie Night and Shared Spaces
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As she crept closer, she saw Juyeol's back as he organized the groceries.
He must have showered in the basement, where he kept his workout equipment. He, too, had changed out of his wet clothes and now had a towel draped around his neck.
“If you're done showering, just sit and wait…”
Juyeol paused as he turned, sensing her presence.
“……”
“……?”
An unidentifiable heat made the fine hairs on Haon's neck stand on end. Just as she reached up to touch it, he whipped his head away.
“Put the towel over there and have a seat.”
“Okay.”
Haon placed the towel in the basket Juyeol indicated with a glance over his shoulder and sat obediently at the dining table.
She now realized that what he was organizing were the groceries she had left by the door.
The paper bag had gotten soaked in the rain and torn, making a mess in front of the entryway.
Fortunately, it seemed the contents hadn't rolled away.
Juyeol tilted his head, scratching the back of it.
Usually, when he laid out the ingredients Haon bought, he could guess what she had been planning to cook. This time, however, he had no idea.
Cheese, cabbage, popcorn, soda, canned corn, meat, zucchini, and anchovies.
The ingredients were a random assortment.
He turned to her, his brow furrowed.
“What in the world did you want to eat?”
“Oh. I wasn’t thinking of a specific menu. I just wanted to watch a movie together.”
“……?”
At her words, Juyeol held up the cabbage and the anchovies. If he’d had two more hands, he would have held up the canned corn and the meat as well.
“That… when did I grab that? I think I just put in whatever was within reach.”
A few hours ago, Haon’s only thought had been to get to this safe house as quickly as possible. She had only stopped at the supermarket and bought groceries out of habit.
Juyeol stared at the spread of ingredients for a moment before something seemed to occur to him, and he started cooking.
He soon combined them with other ingredients he had at the safe house and managed to whip up some chop steak.
“Whoa…?”
Haon stared in amazement at the plate Juyeol was carrying, then looked puzzled when she saw him heading not for the dining table, but for the sofa.
“You said you wanted to watch a movie.”
“……!”
Haon shot up from her seat, her eyes sparkling, and scurried over to the sofa.
Juyeol set out a small table, placed the plate on it, and set down a bowl of popcorn tossed with cheese beside it.
“This is delicious!”
Haon popped a kernel into her mouth and exclaimed in delight.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd had popcorn, and a relaxed smile kept spreading across her face.
“I’m so excited. It’s been three years since I’ve seen a movie.”
“Wasn't it just a few months ago you blew the roof off a movie theater because you said the film was boring?”
“That wasn’t me.”
“Sure it wasn’t.”
“It’s true.”
Haon pouted, then took a sip of the soda he handed her.
Sitting side-by-side on the sofa, the two ate chop steak and popcorn while watching the movie.
It was a comedy-action film that had been released a few years ago.
Haon burst into peals of laughter at every humorous scene, holding nothing back.
Juyeol noticed Haon's feet gently swinging back and forth whenever she laughed, and he let out a soft chuckle.
His eyes were drawn more to Haon's face, her hand gestures, and the movement of her feet—all of which revealed her emotions so plainly—than to the movie itself.
The girl who had been sobbing in the rain, unable to even breathe, was gone. In her place was someone who just seemed utterly thrilled.
But perhaps she was a little too excited, because as the movie neared its end, Haon managed to spill a huge amount of soda right in the middle of the sofa.
“…Sorry.”
“It’s always something with you. I should have known.”
“I-I can sleep on the floor.”
As Haon frantically tried to wipe the sofa, Juyeol swept his foot across the floor.
The floor in this house was always cold.
*She's so frail, and she was soaked in the rain. If I make her sleep here, she'll probably get sick again.*
He glanced around as if pondering, then tossed out casually.
“Just sleep in the room.”
“……?”
Haon’s eyes widened as she looked toward one of the doors.
The armory, where a large number of unregistered firearms and explosives were stored.
When she first came here, Blue had marked that room with a skull, calling it a danger zone.
“Not that one. This one.”
But the room Juyeol pointed to was the other one.
Haon’s eyes grew even wider.
There were only two rooms in this safe house. If it wasn't the armory, it had to be Juyeol's bedroom.
“Really? I can sleep in your room?”
“If you don’t want to, you can sleep on the cold floor.”
“I don’t not want to!”
Haon answered instantly, following him to pick up the empty plates.
Juyeol looked alarmed as he snatched them from her hands and took them to be cleaned.
* * *
Juyeol’s room was very much like him.
Just the essential furniture, a gun hanging on the wall, and a queen-sized bed that spoke to his large frame.
In that bleak space, if there was one thing that looked soft, it was Haon.
Lying on the floor wrapped snugly in a blanket, Haon squirmed and sat up.
“Um… well…”
She clutched the edge of the bed and her lips parted slightly. Juyeol turned to lie on his side, facing her.
“What.”
“Well, thank you for helping me earlier.”
“……”
“I don’t think I said thank you…”
He just looked at Haon without a word.
The auxiliary light fully illuminated Juyeol’s expressionless face.
The silence grew awkward, and Haon wanted to say something, anything else.
“…But how did you know I was there?”
Juyeol, who had been silent, let out a small sigh and answered.
“I saw the paper bag by the door, so I looked around the area.”
“Without an umbrella? Did the rain start so suddenly you couldn’t grab one?”
“It was a hassle.”
“What if you catch a cold?”
“Are you going to keep chattering?”
Haon reflexively clamped her mouth shut. She must have been talking too much when he wanted to sleep, she thought.
“I can’t hear you well, so come up here and say it.”
“…Huh?”
“Get over here.”
But Juyeol shifted over, making space for her.
How far away was she that he couldn’t hear her?
Haon glanced at his large frame, then hesitated before replying.
“I think you’ll be uncomfortable—”
In an instant, Juyeol sat up and pulled Haon onto the bed.
“……!”
Her body was suddenly airborne before landing on the mattress.
Finding herself lying next to Juyeol in a flash, Haon stared up at the dark ceiling in a daze.
*I-Is this okay?*
Soon, that thought changed to, *Well, why not?*
She remembered that she used to lie in bed with ‘Juyeol’, talking and playing all night.
At that thought, the tension melted away.
With a bashful smile, Haon turned over to face him.
Juyeol flinched at their sudden proximity.
The bed, which was usually big enough for two people, suddenly felt full.
“Juyeol.”
“What.”
“Can I ask where you went today?”
“The cemetery. It was my brother’s death anniversary.”
Haon took a short breath, then murmured softly.
“…I’m jealous.”
“…What?”
“I miss Parang, too.”
“Did you make another friend? Who’s Parang?”
Juyeol couldn't smooth out the gruff edge in his voice as the words shot out.
The moment she uttered the name Parang, Haon's gaze had turned incredibly fond.
“There's this kid who's super nice, cute, and absolutely hates cucumbers. His name is pretty, too. Yeon Parang.”
It was a strange way to describe a friend.
Juyeol frowned slightly, trying to recall if there was a villain with that name.
Haon, fiddling with her hands, added.
“Today was Parang’s death anniversary, too.”
Her words, whispered so softly they were almost lost in the sound of her breath, brushed against his ear, and he froze.
Eun Haon remembering and observing someone's death anniversary? No one would ever believe it.
This, too, might be another side effect of her memory problems.
But Juyeol found that he didn't care anymore, and he was a little surprised at himself.
“You can just go see him. To his grave or a columbarium.”
At his words, Haon’s expression turned gloomy. Unable to hide his unease, he asked carefully.
“Were you like that in the rain because of him?”
“…No. It was because of me.”
Her voice, as precarious as a guttering candle flame, drifted out.
“I couldn’t protect him. I didn't even know, and I sent him to a dangerous place…”
She had been laughing and talking just a moment ago, but now her face looked as if she were once again abandoned in the dark rain.
He saw an overlap with the image of her left all alone in the storm, unable to even breathe properly.
The way she had looked, as if she might dissolve and disappear with the rain at any moment.
Juyeol's finger gently swept across the corner of her eye.
The touch tickled, and Haon squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them, her eyelashes brushing against his finger.
Only after feeling that ticklish sensation did he realize what he was doing.
Juyeol snatched his hand back as if burned and, hiding his bewilderment, spoke.
“…Are you crying again?”
Haon touched her own damp eyes and mumbled in surprise.
“I guess so. I thought I cried it all out earlier.”
“Why have you become such a crybaby?”
“I've been like this since I was little. You didn't know my nickname was Crybaby-on, did you?”
“……?”
Juyeol looked at Haon as if he’d just heard something bizarre, but he didn’t bother to argue.
Instead, he decided to play along with her story, which was likely a delusion.
As he met her watery eyes staring intently at him, he found that nothing else mattered.
“Tell me more.”
“About what?”
“Anything. Like a time you cried over something so ridiculous it makes you laugh now.”
Haon’s face relaxed a little, and she giggled.
“When I was little, I was playing hide-and-seek with ‘Juyeol’—”
“Not that.”
“But this is a really funny story.”
“Something else. Not something that happened with that guy.”
“You don’t like stories about ‘Juyeol’?”
“I don’t.”