RSL Ch 27

I stepped on the accelerator pedal and drove the car to the villa. Although it was a short distance, the warning sound for the passenger seat belt rang out. It quieted down only after switching to parking mode. I readily agreed to his suggestion of having a cigarette before going up from the car.

They stood side by side in the smoking area next to the parking lot and lit up. I’ve been smoking more and more lately. I didn’t intend to quit, but I think it needs to be reduced. Cho Min-woo smiled and said hello to a lady passing by in the alleyway. He must know quite a few people in this neighborhood.

“Are you off today?”

“Yes. I got back from Shanghai at dawn yesterday. How about you?”

“I was supposed to have a two-day layover in Hanoi after my flight yesterday, but we had to make an emergency landing just 10 minutes after takeoff.”

“Was there trouble shooting?”

“Yes. The engine caught fire.”

“What?”

I almost dropped the cigarette I was holding. The engine was on fire, which is a pretty major emergency. In 10 years of flying, it’s never happened to me, and it’s certainly not something I’d expect to hear about while casually smoking in the neighborhood.

“Was it an airframe defect?”

“Yes. It was a 20-year-old A320, and the engine caught fire, so we immediately shut it down and made an emergency landing. The captain was flustered, so I shouted ‘Mayday’ to the tower. It was my first time. Haha.”

He was casually laughing as if he were talking about someone else’s story. He didn’t seem surprised at all and perfectly recounted the communication sequence we followed at that time. It turned out that he handled the emergency procedures excellently according to the manual.

At this point, I once again pondered Cho Min-woo’s personality. Was he simply not easily startled by most things, or did he just accept reality faster than others? Whichever it was, he had a peculiar personality.

“So, I was stuck in the accident investigation unit all day yesterday, writing reports, and was released in the evening, so I guess I got a vacation day today.”

“I’m really glad it didn’t lead to a major incident.”

“Yeah, because I’d hate to get blown up in midair.”

I should add that he chuckled at the thought of making gruesome noises.

“Is it your nature to be so nonchalant?”

“Me? Haha. Yes. So you’re just realizing it now. Others catch on pretty quickly.”

He chuckled while looking at me. I wondered if his personality was perhaps one of the reasons for the breakup. It seemed like the type of personality that deliberately throws something out there to gauge others’ reactions.

After small talk, we went upstairs to the house. I’m trying to remember where I put the box, and he’s standing in the center of the living room, staring at the kitchen cabinets. Damn it, I had forgotten about the broken wine glass.

“Oh, I accidentally broke it. Just leave it there, and you can take the boxes from here.”

I pointed to the storage cabinet in the balcony corner, gesturing for him to follow.

“I guess your friend isn’t here.”

He asked as he wandered around the apartment.

“Yeah, his fiancée came over and he went into the hotel.”

“Hmm….”

He seemed to be thinking about something as he took the box I handed him and counted them.

“One, two… four boxes should be enough.”

As he reentered the living room from the balcony, he stopped in his tracks, staring at the pile of broken wine glasses.

“Let’s clean it up together, shall we?”

“Huh?”

He placed the box he was holding on the sofa and then casually walked into the bathroom, coming back out with towels in hand. Then, holding both ends of the towels with his hands, he swept the glass pieces off the floor.

“Let’s just leave it. I’ll take care of it later…”

“When exactly later? You seem like you’ll just leave it like this.”

Stunned by his words, I looked away and realized I needed something to contain it. I regained my composure and grabbed a trash bag.

“I think you should throw this towel away.”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

The shards of glass, wrapped in a towel, slipped into the trash bag. He let out a short groan as he swept the floor once more. It looked like he’d been pricked.

“Oh… I don’t have any first aid supplies at home.”

“It’s okay, I have a natural disinfectant.”

He laughed as he sucked on his bleeding thumb. But as he laughed, one of his eyebrows furrowed, indicating that he was in some discomfort.

“Let me see. If it’s deep, it might get infected.”

I leaned in closer to examine the wound. He was smiling like a child and sucking on his finger, so I convinced him to let me examine the wound, and suddenly the front door opened. Han Jae-yi opened the door with two hands holding bags of food as if he had gone shopping. He spotted us and stood there, frozen in place.

I was just examining the British girl stung by a bee and Co-pilot Cho Min-woo with a cut on his hand. He misunderstood and clenched his fist again.

It was me who broke the silence. After all, this was my home, and both of them were my guests.

“I thought you were having dinner. What are you doing here?”

Han Jae-yi didn’t answer. Instead, he straightened his face and gave a heartless greeting.

“Hello.”

His brief greeting was met with a smile from Co-pilot Cho Min-woo.

“Yes, hello, good to see you again.”

Han Jae-yi stormed into the house, pushing past us and into the kitchen. He scanned the remains of the broken wine glasses and frowned. He glanced back and forth between me and Co-pilot Cho Min-woo. Judging by his expression, he seemed to have figured out the situation. He placed the food on the table and then started cleaning up this time.

“I have first aid supplies at home, so I’ll take my leave.”

Co-pilot Cho Min-woo smiled and shook my hand. I must have been holding his hand the whole time. He picked up the box in the living room and headed for the front door. I felt quite embarrassed and sorry.

“But your friend is always gloomy every time I see him.”

He murmured quietly as he put on his shoes.

“He’s not usually like that… Anyway, I’m sorry. Let me treat you to a meal next time.”

“Sure.”

I saw him off at the front door and closed it behind him. I was concerned about the bloodstains on the box. Someone got hurt in my house, and I couldn’t do anything but send him away. Leaving that aside, I couldn’t figure out why Han Jae-yi had come here in the first place.

I stood in the living room, arms crossed, watching him work. He silently wiped the floor with a wet towel and tied up the trash bag. Finally, when the cleaning was done, he stood up, facing me. We both had a lot of questions to ask each other.

“Who did this?”

“I asked you why you’re here.”

Han Jae-yi sighed at my grumpy response. He said he’d brought me medicine and soup because I was sick, and I snapped at him once more.  I didn’t say I was sick enough to warrant him leaving his fiancée alone in a hotel and coming here. Why was he making things difficult?

“What’s wrong, I asked her to come with me, but she said no, so I came alone. She said she’d order room service and eat alone. Sit down. I didn’t eat dinner either.”

He pulled out a dining chair for me without asking and then sat across from me, handing me a spoon. I couldn’t even sigh. Han Jae-yi’s tenderness was making me feel sick.

“They didn’t have tomato cream, so I bought the closest thing I could find, but eat it anyway.”

The soup, made with grated tomatoes and simmered with fresh cream, was my favorite. I was grateful, but since I wasn’t really sick, I didn’t feel like having soup. Still, I reluctantly picked up my utensils, forcing myself to eat because Han Jae-yi was sacrificing even his appetite for me. Suddenly, I remembered the bag of bread I left in the car. Maybe I could eat it when he got back.

“What are you doing tomorrow? If you don’t have any plans…”

“I have plans.”

He lifted his head and looked at me. The words slipped out of my mouth before he could finish his sentence, and I meant it. Even if there were no plans, I needed to make some. I wanted to reject any suggestion of the three of us doing something together. Sensing my reluctance, he didn’t insist further.

Han Jae-yi didn’t doubt for a moment that I wasn’t as sick as I claimed. He simply suggested I lie down on the sofa and started clearing up the table. As he rolled up his sleeves and tidied the dishes, his back looked admirable. Even after spending half of our lives together, it felt absurd to fall for him now.

After roughly tidying up, Han Jae-yi approached and sat down. The clock already pointed to 8 o’clock.

“Thanks. You can go now. She must be waiting.”

He looked at me quietly and asked.

“If you’re not feeling well, do you want  me to stay over?”

If I had been really sick, I would have let him do it without realizing it. They say that humans have a conscience and that’s why they can’t be animals. My conscience was kicking in and pushed him away.

“I’m fine, so there’s no need for that.”

Han Jae-yi was silent for a while. I felt guilty for Gisella for no reason. It seemed like I kept tying him down here for no reason. I hoped he wouldn’t pay attention to me, but even that was a burden of our relationship. Unable to do this or that, we were drifting apart.

“Jae-yi-ya.”

He looked up at my softened tone.

“You being here makes me feel bad for Gisella.”

I conveyed exactly what was on my mind. I couldn’t bring myself to lie about wanting him to stay. He nodded and got up. I remained lying there, unable to go far. Stuffed into the shell of the couch, I only said goodbye to him.

It wasn’t until the front door closed and I was completely alone that I realized how lonely I felt. I blinked and stared at the ceiling for a while, then remembered the bread and sat up. There was no way I could eat soup and be full. It was fortunate that I still had an appetite. If I lost weight here, I would really start to look pitiful.