MIM 102

After finishing their bath, they headed out of town with Maro. The small town of Dole, where they were staying, was located by the river, and just a short distance from the outskirts. In the meantime, they could enjoy walking along the riverside and taking in the scenery.

Since it was an unplanned trip from the start, they entered the first store they saw upon reaching the riverside under the blazing sun. They bought drinks while watching Maro bounce around excitedly, then rented bikes from a nearby rental shop. Although Ma Jae-seung couldn’t remember how to ride a bike, he quickly found his balance after wobbling a few times. Shin-woo took the lead with Maro in the basket, and Ma Jae-seung followed.

They rode their bikes for a long time among people taking leisurely walks. They took in the peaceful cityscape along the river and the wide-open nature. They rode until their thighs felt like bursting, occasionally stopping to engage in silly conversations. During one of these breaks, Maro whimpered and had to relieve himself, leading to Ma Jae-seung cleaning up dog poop for the first time in his life. While it wasn’t as disgusting as he’d expected, he made a big show of it, annoyed by Maro, who stood grinning next to Shin-woo.

Afterward, Ma Jae-seung rode for quite a while with the bag of poop in the basket. Shin-woo’s laughter, which continued until his round ears turned bright red, occasionally carried with the wind, and Ma Jae-seung deliberately grumbled loudly just to hear more of it.

They returned to the city around five and had an early dinner. At a restaurant across from the store they’d visited yesterday, they blindly ordered the day’s special without knowing what it was. By the time they left the restaurant, both had completely forgotten the name of the dish, but it was still the most satisfying meal they’d had recently.

With full stomachs, they explored the small town. After buying snacks and groceries for breakfast, they stopped at a shop selling miscellaneous items in the narrow alley leading back to the cottage. There, Shin-woo discovered socks with the Jura Mountains printed on them and immediately took them to the counter. Noticing Ma Jae-seung secretly fidgeting with another identical pair, Shin-woo bought two pairs, one for each of them.

They returned to the cottage at sunset, each carrying a pair of ugly socks. Rather than visiting all the tourist spots, they’d spent the day like locals, walking the dog and shopping. Though their buttocks and thighs were sore and their clothes were soaked with sweat, they’d managed to enjoy themselves.

“Tired?”

Ma Jae-seung asked, discovering Shin-woo sprawled on the sofa after his shower. Maro and Shin-woo were lying side by side, resting after biking all day in the sun. Shin-woo still didn’t look too well, perhaps still not yet fully recovered from travel fatigue.

Perhaps due to the strong sunlight, Shin-woo’s collarbone area was reddish with hives. A mark that hadn’t been there yesterday. When Ma Jae-seung approached with narrowed eyes and pulled at the T-shirt collar, Shin-woo lightly pushed his hand away.

The hand that seemed to reject him harshly immediately grabbed the back of Ma Jae-seung’s neck. As he lost his balance and fell onto Shin-woo’s chest, their lips pressed together briefly before parting. Despite the bold gesture, Shin-woo’s face was flushed as if sunburned after the kiss. The hand cradling the back of Ma Jae-seung’s head gently stroked his wet hair.

“…Want some melon?”

Ma Jae-seung threw out random words and quickly got up to his feet, heading to the kitchen. Once they started kissing, it felt natural to kiss during conversations too. Though his heart still pounded each time, far from being familiar, it strangely didn’t feel surprising. Living alone with Shin-woo, separated from the world, felt completely natural.

Ma Jae-seung took a melon from the refrigerator and began preparing it. Having never cut fruit before, he searched for a video and followed it exactly. After much struggling, chopping at the cutting board with his knife, he finally managed to cut a plate of melon. When he returned with the fruit, Shin-woo was already sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed.

“You cut it well?”

“I watched a video.”

“Think you’ll get bored staying here for a month? We could move around to other villages,”

Shinwoo said while chewing the melon. The laptop on the living room table showed a map dotted with nearby destinations they could reach by car. They could go anywhere if they wanted, but…Ma Jae-seung shook his head indifferently.

“Not bored.”

“Aren’t you bored? It’s too ordinary. This is just…like we’ve set up house outside of Janggang City.”

“Are you bored?”

“…No.”

“Then it’s fine. I like that tomorrow’s schedule isn’t set, that nobody knows us, that we’re not trapped, and that we’re free to do whatever we want.”

As their trust gradually solidified, not only their bodies but also their minds found freedom. On the surface, they were spending an intensely ordinary day eating meals, walking around, and shopping, but every hour spent with Shin-woo felt new. The edge of his mouth where Shin-woo’s lips had touched still seemed to tingle.

While eating melon and lounging around, suddenly wanting to make Shin-woo laugh, Ma Jae-seung picked up the pen and notepad next to the phone. Then he began earnestly trying to draw Shin-woo’s face on the blank paper. He carefully transferred the high nose, dark eyebrows, and gentle eyes to the notepad. He’d thought it wouldn’t be difficult to draw such a handsome face, and while each feature seemed fine as he drew it, looking at the finished product, it was a complete mess.

Maybe he had no talent for drawing. Staring at the completed portrait, Ma Jae-seung tilted his head to one side. He had a sense of déjà vu, feeling like he’d seen this ugly drawing somewhere before.

“Look at this. Guess who it is?”

“It’s me.”

When he carefully showed it, Shin-woo answered with a snort. Since he recognized it immediately, perhaps it wasn’t drawn that badly. Ma Jae-seung busily shaded in Shin-woo’s round ears.

“Can you tell it’s you?”

“Yeah, but why are you drawing my ears like that? I look like a monkey.”

“Your ears really look like this.”

“Isn’t the expression too cocky?”

“That’s supposed to be a smile.”

Despite the continued criticism, Ma Jae-seung persisted in correcting the drawing. After evening out both sides of the smiling lips, the drawn Shin-woo looked even happier. While he was darkening the hair after cleaning up the crooked lines, there was a knock at the door.

“Must be the landlord. Probably bringing another blanket.”

Ma Jae-seung gestured for Shin-woo to stay seated as he headed to the entrance. Looking through the peephole, he saw two arms hugging a blanket. The face was hidden from view. Ma Jae-seung opened the door with his guard up.

As soon as he opened it, he quickly shifted to check the person behind the blanket. Ma Jae-seung frowned at the unfamiliar face.

{I brought the blanket.}

{Who are you?}

{I work for the landlord.}

The man, who looked young despite being completely bald, thrust forward the blanket urgently. Jaeseung grabbed the blanket with one hand, threw it on the floor, and eyed the man suspiciously. Wearing a T-shirt and shorts, the only place he could hide a weapon was in the elastic waistband of his pants.

{Come on, aren’t you going to give me a tip? That thing is damn heavy.}

{No cash. Get it from the landlord tomorrow.}

{Damn, suit yourself.}

The man turned away, grumbling at Ma Jae-seung’s lie about not having any cash to tip him. After watching until he was gone and closing the door, Shin-woo, who had taken the discarded blanket to the room, raised an eyebrow.

“He says he works for the landlord. Never seen his face before.”

“Hmm.”

Shin-woo carefully rolled his eyes, then went back to the room and came out with a small camera. He moved around looking for an angle that would capture the entrance, living room, and room entrance all at once, then stopped at a spot he liked.

“Give me that fruit basket over there.”

When handed the basket from the corner of the kitchen island, Shin-woo secured the camera inside it. After skillfully installing the camera, he took fruit from the refrigerator to fill the basket and hide the camera. He placed the basket next to the refrigerator, carefully adjusting its angle. Then he sprayed liquid from a small spray bottle onto the entrance mat.

Finally finished, Shin-woo turned to Ma Jae-seung.

“Don’t step on the mat when going in and out.”

“…Are you trying to see who came in?”

“Yeah. Just in case.”

Sighing, Shin-woo put down the notebook he’d been carrying under his arm while going in and out of the room. While he focused on syncing the camera with his phone, Ma Jae-seung observed the familiar notebook.

It was the notebook he’d stolen a peek at when he’d snuck into Shin-woo’s annex before. As soon as he realized this, Ma Jae-seung remembered the cause of his déjà vu.

Shin-woo. Shin-woo. Shin-woo. The page filled with his name. The crudely drawn portrait. The terribly drawn picture he’d thought was Shin-woo’s self-portrait.

As soon as he realized, Ma Jae-seung picked up Shinwoo’s notebook. His hand, frantically turning pages until he found the remembered drawing, suddenly stopped.

The ink deeply stained at both corners of the mouth and the heavily shaded round ears. The drawing he’d thought was a mess appeared again.