MDQ Ch 40
by LuluI felt the same unease I’d had when I first came to Omyeon-ri.
Of course, the chances were slim, but I worried the lady might know that I was the manager who had disappeared.
“Who are you talking about?”
There was a faint tremor in my voice.
“What was his name again… It’s been so long I can’t remember. He had pale skin, and there was this young man from Seoul who used to come help with the farmwork…”
A young man who used to come help with the farmwork.
Thankfully, it had nothing to do with my past.
Well, articles about me had stopped being reported anyway. Unless someone went digging, they wouldn’t find anything about me.
Even so, I couldn’t stop worrying.
At the same time, I wondered if the young man from Seoul she mentioned might be my brother. There couldn’t be another Seoul man who looked like me.
“Kimoon, you know him, right?”
“Well… It’s been so long that my memory’s fuzzy too.”
Did Kang Kimoon also know about my brother’s existence?
If he knew his name, did he just think I happened to share the same one?
Countless questions I couldn’t answer swirled in my head.
“Really? Anyway, back then, there was also this fine-looking young man who came to help us. It’s been forever since he last came… I wonder if he’s doing well.”
Kang Kimoon just smiled without adding anything else.
I didn’t answer either. I couldn’t bring myself to mention my brother’s name and tell them he had died.
As long as Kang Kimoon knew me as ‘Lee Hyunwoo,’ I couldn’t say a word.
“Anyway, today things will finish quickly with Kimoon and the Seoul lad helping. But by the way, what’s your name, Seoul lad? Did I ask too late?”
At that, I felt Kang Kimoon’s eyes fixed on me. A chill ran down my spine.
“I…”
The rest of the words caught in my throat. I wasn’t sure if I should say my name was Lee Hyunwoo.
Just then, I felt Kang Kimoon’s large hand on my head.
With a dirt-free hand, he roughly tousled my hair and finally said, “He’ll be going back up to Seoul soon. You can just call him the Seoul lad.”
It was as if Kang Kimoon knew I felt uncomfortable revealing myself, so he answered for me.
“Really? Maybe I made you uncomfortable, Seoul lad. Sorry.”
I smiled awkwardly.
“No, it’s me who should apologize.”
“Don’t be. Since you helped so much today, I’ll pack you plenty of potatoes. Take them home and enjoy with Kimoon.”
The woman spoke even more kindly, as if nothing had happened. Her kindness, her earnest wish for a stranger like me not to die, remained unchanged.
Someday, I wanted to tell them my real name and repay them properly.
“Thank you.”
‘For now, I should just help with all I’ve got.‘
I moved my hoe again, trying to at least keep up with Kang Kimoon’s steady rhythm of unearthing potatoes with every touch of his foot.
I heard the soft laughter of the lady and Kang Kimoon as they watched me, head down, burning with determination. It somehow felt like they were finding me cute, which only made it harder to lift my head.
I still wasn’t used to looks filled with other people’s kindness and affection. It made my heart feel ticklish, if that makes sense.
So I had no choice but to work the hoe faster to hide my embarrassment.
The only thing that stopped me, with my neck aching from focusing too hard, was the rain. The falling drops darkened the color of the dirt.
When the drizzle thickened into heavy rain, we ran under a roof for cover.
“That’s enough for today. Thank you both.”
The lady sent us off with more potatoes than two people could possibly eat.
On the way back home in a hurry before the rain poured down harder, an incident broke out.
Walking quickly to escape the rain, I twisted my ankle. A sharp pain shot up, and I collapsed on the spot.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I can walk.”
But the moment I tried to stand, pain stabbed at my ankle. I couldn’t help but limp slowly.
“This is no good. Get on.”
“Huh?
Before I could even answer, he bent down so I could climb onto his back.
Even as I hesitated, the rain was soaking us.
“Hurry.”
There was no sign of him backing off. Reluctantly, I let him carry me.
His back, already broad to the eye, felt even broader in reality. It was the first time in my life I’d been carried by another man, and it was surprisingly comfortable.
He supported me with one arm while carrying the sack of potatoes with the other, as if it was nothing.
Through the soaked white t-shirt clinging to him, I felt the heat of his body. Almost without realizing it, I leaned against him. My cheek brushed his skin.
Everywhere we touched grew warmer. I couldn’t tell if my own temperature was rising, or if it was just his heat pressing into me.
Neither of us spoke. Only the sound of the cool summer rain, his steady footsteps splashing through puddles, and his occasional breath echoed on the quiet countryside road.
Even the throbbing in my ankle seemed to fade away. The cold rain soaking my body, and the contrasting warmth of Kang Kimoon, were enough.
Maybe it was that sudden sense of ease, but I blurted out a question.
“How much do you trust me?”
I wanted to know how much faith Kang Kimoon had in me, this man who acted like he knew my secret but kept quiet about it.
He didn’t hesitate long before replying.
“Sorry, but I don’t trust people.”
What’s this? Then why do I feel disappointed, like I’d been expecting a different answer?
That faint disappointment made me spit out sharper words than I meant.
“Oh, so you don’t trust me, but you still help me and live with me?”
But instead of picking up on my sarcasm, Kang Kimoon replied in his usual calm tone, “It’s because at least you don’t seem like a bad person. I don’t help just anyone.”
“How do you know I’m not bad? You don’t. For all you know, I could have run away here after doing something terrible where I used to live….”
“So what? Should we go to the police right now?”
“…”
“Don’t test me like that. You’re starting to piss me off.”
This time, he actually showed a bit of irritation.
“Just say what you want to say. Whatever you did in the past, whatever happened, I’ve already decided not to think badly of you.”
“Why?”
“That’s a secret.”
“…”
“If you’ve got nothing else to say, then stay quiet and let me carry you.”
I admitted the reason I’d tested him.
“Kimoon… I want you to trust me.”
Even if I told you I wasn’t Lee Hyunwoo but Lee Hyunseok, I want you to treat me the same.
It might be greedy, but I wanted it anyway.
I wanted the man I respected, the one who didn’t see me as bad, to know everything about me and still believe in me.
Not realizing how badly I wanted it, Kang Kimoon replied lightly, “Maybe. Who knows—I might end up trusting you.”
His soft voice, carried by the sound of rain, was pleasant to hear.
I closed my eyes, replaying his words. His promise-like voice, saying he’d take care of me, echoed in my mind.
When I opened my eyes, I saw my room, now familiar after a few days.
I must have fallen asleep while leaning on his back.
All my soaked clothes had been changed. Even my twisted ankle had been treated.
It was all Kang Kimoon’s doing.
‘No way… even my underwear?’
The thing I had never imagined would actually happen had become reality. Even my underwear had been changed into something dry.
He was a man like me, so what was the big deal? But strangely, it embarrassed me—like I was thinking of him as something more.
Feeling awkward, I got out of bed. My ankle still ached, but walking slowly seemed manageable.
When I stepped out of the room, I saw Kang Kimoon sitting on the living room sofa.
He wasn’t doing anything—just staring quietly out at the rainy window.
“What are you doing?”
His languid eyes shifted to me.
“Watching you.”
“What?”
“I told you before. Don’t wander alone early in the morning or on rainy days. I was keeping watch in case you disappeared again.”