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Standing in front of the closet, Yeehyeon readjusted his grip on his phone. He was in the middle of persuading Liu, who had said he would send the driver back at the appointed time.
“Hyung said he’d come pick me up in his car, so you really don’t have to worry.”
[Hmm… Kwon Juhan is coming to get you? And here I thought he was acting like he’d never speak to me again.]
“Whether we like it or not… we have to say goodbye in a week….”
Yeehyeon’s hand slowed as he opened a drawer inside the closet and took out a soft cotton t-shirt he used as pajamas. At the same time, the volume of his voice dwindled. Just because he had chosen a path with him didn’t mean that parting with others had no effect on him.
[He’s still young, so he has a temper, but even if he’s got that many holes in his body, he can’t be a truly vicious person. I knew it wouldn’t last long.]
Yeehyeon smiled silently, recalling Juhan’s gruff voice when he had called, as if he couldn’t help it, to ask what time he should come pick him up.
At Phantom, Juhan was apparently still acting cold toward Liu, but he had more or less made up with Yuni. According to Yuni’s explanation, it was the result of the two of them drinking together until dawn three times in the past week, revealing the very dregs of their personalities as they tore into each other and bawled their eyes out.
Thanks to the two of them achieving about an 80% reconciliation, the three of them were set to gather today, their only day off this week, at Juhan’s officetel.
To supplement their workforce, Phantom had scouted an experienced individual who had been working as a director at another gallery, instead of hiring a newcomer this time. Just because Liu was moving to New York didn’t mean he was letting go of Phantom Seoul’s management. Phantom was still Liu Weikun’s Phantom. But it was essential for him to meet with the gallery’s artists, business partners, and major clients in person to explain the situation. Thanks to that, even though it was a Sunday, Liu had several meetings scheduled, but the employees were able to get a day off.
Other than the business trips he had taken with Liu, this was Yeehyeon’s first time sleeping out since he had moved into this house.
[Have fun. Just don’t cling to each other and cry as if you’ll never see each other again.]
Whether in New York, Paris, or Seoul. I’ll make sure you can meet as many times a year as you have time for.
Yeehyeon didn’t reply to Liu’s added promise, instead giving a faint smile as he quietly closed the closet drawer and turned around.
He knew his words were sincere and that this was his way of being kind. He also knew that such kindness was not a great financial burden for him. But weren’t there things that had to be resolved on one’s own, things for which one shouldn’t rely on kindness, politely refusing the gentle offer? With that thought, Yeehyeon walked toward the sofa.
Liu, Yuni. And Morae and Leehan, too. They had all made a decision, accepting the disappointment of those around them and the guilt they themselves would feel. Didn’t one only earn the right to call their life completely their own when the negative consequences of their choices also became their own to bear?
He understood Juhan’s emotional reaction last Friday, but he could also understand Liu’s statement that he couldn’t interfere in any way with Yuni’s decision and her life.
Placing the things he had taken from the closet onto the coffee table, Yeehyeon put his hands on his hips and gently swayed his body from side to side to endure the embarrassment of what he was about to say.
“Aren’t you the one who won’t be able to sleep because I’m not there, sir?”
[…….]
He’d said it hoping to make him laugh, even just a little, as he was likely staving off his fatigue with the occasional cigarette or sip of coffee, but there was no response. Did I act out of character and fluster him instead? he wondered, rubbing his reddening face as he shook his head. He hurriedly stuffed his pajamas and underwear into his backpack.
“Uh… um… I was joking. It wasn’t very funny, was it?”
[No… it’s not that. You hit a little too close to home, so I was momentarily flustered.]
Stopping his hands, Yeehyeon straightened his back. He strained his ears, trying not to miss even the smallest sound from the other side of the phone, and fiddled with the leather handle on his backpack.
“Should I not sleep over… and just come back, even if it’s late?”
[Yes. Please do.]
“……”
It wasn’t just an empty suggestion, as he had in fact been reluctant to leave the house with Liu seeming so precarious lately, like a man on a cliff’s edge. But Liu’s immediate reply, as if he had been waiting for it, left Yeehyeon speechless this time. After a moment of silence, a soft chuckle came from over the phone.
After the sound of him taking a step and then slumping into a low chair, he spoke in a much more relaxed voice.
[I’m kidding. I might be a little lonely, but I have to do what I have to do before I go.]
“I’ll be back early tomorrow.”
[It’s okay if you’re a little late. As long as you come back to me. I’ve monopolized you like this for so long, what’s one day?]
He ended the call, smiling at his playfully composed tone. Liu was right. He wasn’t the type to complain or show it, even when he was mentally burdened by responsibility and physically exhausted, so considering his recent state, Yeehyeon was worried about leaving him alone. But he didn’t want to treat his farewell with Yuni and Juhan lightly either.
After putting all the necessities for his night away into his backpack, he went upstairs to also grab the Boston trip souvenirs that no one had taken last week. Four shopping bags, including Inwoo’s share, were lined up on one side of the dining room. He was just about to pick up the shopping bags, thinking he should stop by Inwoo’s on his way home tomorrow to drop them off, when the video intercom bell rang.
He couldn’t think of anyone who would visit without notice, especially when Liu wasn’t home. He turned and checked the screen on the living room wall pad. It was Shu shu.
“Hello, sir. Should I open the garage for you?”
[Yeehyeon-ssi… No. It’s okay. I parked in front of the house.]
On the screen, his face and tone of voice were slightly stiff. As soon as a few possibilities came to mind, Yeehyeon felt his lungs sharply contract. He wet his dry lips with his tongue, opened the main gate, and went out to the entryway to greet him.
Thankfully, as Shushu came up the stairs leading from the gate to the garden, his expression wasn’t as bad as he had imagined. He even offered a faint smile as he looked up at Yeehyeon.
“He’s not here with you, I see.”
“No.”
“May I come in and wait?”
Taking off his sunglasses, Shushu stepped inside, and Yeehyeon led him to the living room. It felt awkward to play the host for someone who probably knew this house as well as he did, but regardless of his relationship with Liu, he was living here for now, so hospitality was his responsibility.
Shushu asked for a beer and ice instead of coffee or juice. When Yeehyeon returned to the living room with them on a tray, he was looking up at ‘Isolation’, which was hanging back in its original spot.
“It’s fine if I’m alone. I’ll make myself right at home, so you don’t have to worry about me, Yeehyeon-ssi.”
Shushu spoke playfully as he took the tray and sat on the sofa, but Yeehyeon was reluctant to leave. Besides, it wasn’t as if he had anything else to do. There were still about two hours until the time Juhan said he would come pick him up, and he had already packed everything.
“Of course, I’d like it even more if you stayed with me.”
Looking up at the hesitating Yeehyeon, Shushu smiled slightly. It was a smile that understood it would be more comfortable for Yeehyeon to stay here than to leave him alone.
Shushu poured the beer into the glass of ice, then handed the half-full bottle to Yeehyeon. Taking it, Yeehyeon settled into the single-seater sofa across from him.
They weren’t close, so he wasn’t entirely comfortable with Shushu, but he wasn’t tense either, having learned well enough in Chicago that he wasn’t a difficult person to deal with.
After the clinking sound of ice as he tilted the glass to drink his beer, Shushu opened his mouth, his characteristically low, pleasant, and gentle voice speaking.
“I get the feeling you grew up in a stable home, receiving plenty of love, Yeehyeon-ssi.”
Shushu’s remark was unexpected, as he didn’t seem like the type to carelessly speculate about another’s background, even in a positive way, but it didn’t sound like a casual comment.
“You’re quiet and introverted, so at first I wondered if you were a person with a thick shell… but after watching you for just a little while, I could tell right away that you’re a well-centered person. I felt that you were someone with a heart that could genuinely think of others, not out of fear of being disliked, or out of a narcissistic desire to be a good person.”
I had my share of trouble when I was younger because I was a poor judge of character. Adding that, Shushu let out a self-deprecating chuckle. The chuckle inevitably made Yeehyeon think of Hong Sunyu.
“Weikun said so, too. That he was thinking of bringing you into Phantom because he felt like he’d found someone trustworthy for the first time in a long while.”
After saying that, Shushu glanced at Yeehyeon and smiled faintly.
Back in Chicago, Shushu’s name for Liu had been A-Wei. Feeling a faint discomfort at the change to Weikun now, Yeehyeon drank his beer to quench his thirst.
“As you know well, Yeehyeon-ssi, Liu Weikun isn’t the type to easily let his guard down around strangers. On top of that, Phantom is like a lover, a friend, and a child to Weikun… something like that, so he was even pickier about bringing people into Phantom. He’s loosened up a lot now because of the situation, hiring new people and adding a director and all that.”
Pressing his lips together with a bitter expression, Shushu raised his eyebrows slightly and took a couple of sips of his beer, which had lightened in color as the ice melted.
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