After going through a major ordeal before leaving for Yangsan, peaceful days continued. Thanks to Baek Jeongwan's consideration that I should rest easy until I recovered, I was shamelessly resting up well.
In the midst of it, the efforts of Heemin, who kept buying and bringing in food said to be good for restoring energy, paid off. The area of my cracked ribs no longer hurt.
I did go hoarse yelling at Ki Seungjun, who caught a softshell turtle from the pond, to cut the crap and put it back. He probably figured he had to do something too.
Baek Jeongwan told me to rest up, but from a houseguest's standpoint, nothing makes you more self-conscious than resting up. Thinking I'd help with some odd job at least, I grabbed Yuyeon and pleaded. To please give me any task whatsoever. Yuyeon, who'd worn a troubled face, brought up an enticing matter.
"Then would you help organize the library a bit?"
"Library?"
"Yes, my grandfather's one hobby is collecting books. But lately the members have been so busy that the library's gone totally unmanaged, so..."
Per Yuyeon, Baek Taebeom considered mental cultivation just as important as physical training, so he had the members submit at least three pages of book reports a month.
The scene of mountain-sized members writing book reports with stubby pencils flashed by. Thinking of Chairman Cha, who got especially worked up over foot-volleyball, it wasn't particularly strange. With a triumphant face, I clenched my fist and cried out.
"Organizing books, what's the big deal. Leave it to me, I'll organize it absolutely perfectly."
I figured it'd be a study at most. No matter how big the house, the insane act of turning an entire annex into a library wasn't something just anyone could pull off.
But as ever, the world is vast, and humans who do insane things exist in every corner of the country. Contrary to my initial spirit, I collapsed worn-out on top of a mountain of books.
"Why is there a national library in this house."
The books, no matter how I organized them, were endless. The moment I'd think did I finish, a hired hand would cart over books and dump them all out with a clatter. Out of my mind, I surveyed the books surrounding me like the Great Wall, then rolled up my sleeves again.
Right, to match insanity you need insane resolve. I'm somehow going to organize all of this and get out of here.
I got up, drew the curtains, and started by airing the place out. Dust piled up by the window tickled my throat. Coughing, I waved a hand to clear the dust, and when I lifted my head, something large was standing outside the window.
"Y-you scared me."
How many times have I told you to use your blinker before coming in.
Steadying my startled heart at the sight of Ki Seungjun, slightly rain-damp, I sighed. With an oddly pleased-looking face, Ki Seungjun said,
"Startled by a softshell turtle, now you're startled by a pot lid."
"You... don't even bring up softshell turtles from now on. Don't you think going from conger eel to softshell turtle is a bit much? Are you going to retire from being a gangster and open an oriental medicine clinic?"
"No retirement plans yet."
"Did you put the softshell turtle back where it was?"
Silent for a while, Ki Seungjun nodded. At his dubious reaction, I asked once more. You really did put it back, right? Shaking the rain from his wet bangs, Ki Seungjun shrugged.
"Except I got bitten putting it back and lost a finger."
"What? Show me."
Dumbstruck at the shocking content, I went pale with horror. No matter how much of a gangster kid he is, still. Talking about a severed finger like he'd gotten fired from a weekend part-time job.
Ki Seungjun raised his right hand. Truly, half the thumb of his large right hand was gone. Hurriedly, I grabbed Ki Seungjun's hand.
"What is wrong with you, seriously. No, I know a doctor who's good at reattaching fingers. Let's go to the hospital right now and—"
Is there even an animal hospital near this mountain village? Thinking it had happened because of me, a distressed voice came out naturally.
I flusteredly examined the state of the hand I'd grabbed. Far from severed, the thumb that had been folded neatly back popped into view. So this was Ki Seungjun-style humor. The problem being that the one on the receiving end feels killing intent instead of amusement.
The corner of Ki Seungjun's mouth lifted. As I wiped the worry off my face and went to let go of his hand, Ki Seungjun firmly grabbed my face. In an instant I was in the ridiculous state of having both cheeks squished.
"So you make that face if my finger gets cut off."
"..."
"Makes me want all ten of my fingers cut off."
"Go get a guillotine. I'll do it for you."
When I retorted, forcing myself to stay composed, Ki Seungjun smiled faintly. At the rarely seen smile, my body froze. Obediently releasing my face, Ki Seungjun draped an arm over the windowsill and leaned his upper body in.
"I like the face you make when you're worried about me."
"..."
"Does this count as friendship too? The friendship between men is strange."
"Your way of talking is the strangest in the world."
In the end, unable to hold back, I touched the sacred ground, prepared to get hit. Ki Seungjun, who'd been gazing at me, raised a hand. My shoulders flinched and I curled inward.
This time I'm definitely getting clobbered!
But instead of a fist, I felt a touch grazing the bridge of my nose. Only after seeing Ki Seungjun shake off his hand did I realize. He'd meant to brush off dust. Sheepish at having flinched for nothing, I wordlessly looked away.
"You're the strange one."
At Ki Seungjun's words, a dry laugh came out. Me, strange. I'm the most normal one in this insane novel. Wiping the bridge of my nose with my sleeve, I asked back in a sullen voice.
"Why am I?"
"You empathize very easily."
"..."
"You grieve and pity over every little thing, yet you don't crumble."
It was a string of words hard to understand. The fact that Ki Seungjun thought of me that way, I hadn't known, and that he was a guy who could say something so embarrassing with such an even expression, I also hadn't known—so it was a shock.
Gazes of different grains clashed in midair. Parting his lower lip, Ki Seungjun continued.
"That's why I think you're..."
"No chitchat."
Along with a familiar voice, a book abruptly wedged itself between Ki Seungjun and me. My view, which had held only Ki Seungjun, darkened in an instant.
When I lifted my head, Park Cheol, wearing glasses, was smiling behind me. The title written on the book cover caught my eye. Unconsciously, I read the book's title.
Wuthering Heights.
Since I hadn't dozed in English class, I knew the Korean translated title. Wuthering Heights, translated in Korea as The Hill of Storms. A fitting book for a romance addict like Park Cheol to read. Exchanging a wordless look with Ki Seungjun, Park Cheol lowered the book.
"I was hiding and watching Jiwon slave away, and ended up dozing off, see."
"Don't you normally think you should help?"
"The sight of you suffering the consequences of your own doing was cute, so I just..."
At Park Cheol's words, my actual task came to mind belatedly. Sighing, I looked around. I'd wanted to finish it within today at the most. At this rate, it was clear I couldn't organize it even pulling an all-nighter.
"Want me to help?"
Park Cheol scratched at my pride in an insinuating voice. Protect the scraps of pride I have left, or fall for that wicked Park Cheol's coaxing? While I wavered, Ki Seungjun, who'd climbed in through the window, took in the situation and clicked his tongue.
"Old men, your bad hobbies sure are limitless."
In the end I threw away my pride and decided to borrow Ki Seungjun and Park Cheol's hands. With three action-capable people gathered, the work to do was quickly decided.
We finished classifying the books over roughly an hour. Then each took a section and just had to shelve the classified books. With the remaining count low, I finally caught my breath and leaned my back against a bookshelf.
"Jiwon-ah."
At the voice from behind the bookshelf, I turned my head. Through the gaps of sparsely tooth-missing books, Park Cheol's mischief-filled eyes appeared. The way the intellectual-looking rimless glasses suited him pretty well was oddly annoying. I went to pretend I hadn't heard, but couldn't win against curiosity and tossed out a question.
"Gangsters read books too?"
"Someone was telling me a tragic story. My literary sensibility swelled up, you could say."
"It looked like the original-language edition."
"Which is why I couldn't read a single line."
Then you didn't read it. You don't actually have any prescription in those glasses either, do you. Without even the strength to nitpick, I nodded with a tired face. Unable to bear the gap, Park Cheol spoke up again.
"They say the eye of the storm is actually calm."
"..."
"That's what the book talks about. That even a tragedy's center is always calm."
As I shelved the last book, my hand froze at Park Cheol's words—he claimed he hadn't read it, yet he knew the contents. I followed Park Cheol's path with my eyes as he slowly walked along the bookshelf.
Park Cheol's figure, visible then hidden, vanished in an instant. The grandfather clock on the wall made a ticking sound. For some reason, impatience came over me. Bracing a hand against the bookshelf, I chased after Park Cheol. The moment I rounded the corner, a wave of musk scent rushed over me and my breath stopped.
"You really are scared."
At the arm wrapping around my waist without warning, my body tilted. The musty smell from the old books mixed with Park Cheol's body scent, giving an odd sensation. Park Cheol's words, his motive plain to see, paralyzed my thoughts.
There were things that, no matter how hard I tried to hide them, couldn't be hidden before this man. Just as Park Cheol said, I was still afraid of someone's absence. Discontinuous things that vanish the moment you take your eyes off them.
That vague, invisible fear had rooted itself deep in my life. Leaving and being left behind. Even after becoming Cha Jiwon, distinguishing between those two felt like a homework problem I'd never solve in my lifetime.
When I stayed obediently in his arms, Park Cheol's face filled with puzzlement. Wordlessly, I reached out and pushed Park Cheol's slipping glasses back up. The moment our eyes met, I saw the corners of Park Cheol's eyes twitch faintly.
"Why aren't you throwing a fit like usual?"
"It just so happens I wanted someone to hold me."
"..."
"Can I call you hyung?"
"Are you doing it knowing, or not knowing..."
At Park Cheol's words, this time I got puzzled. I don't think I said anything strange. Even chewing over what I'd said with a frown, nothing in particular came to mind. Park Cheol pressed his thumb into my furrowed brow.
"Enjoy this calm time plenty."
"..."
"Because it'll storm in the blink of an eye."
The road leaving the calm center, walking toward the storm. I knew it was a hard journey, but I had no intention of giving up now. I had to get stronger than I was. So I wouldn't be swayed by someone's absence.
