Going Home?

He started walking, following the sound of the urging traffic light.

There was no declaration or mindset of ‘I’m going somewhere.’ He was simply walking as his feet led him.

His consciousness performed a precarious tightrope walk between a hazy intoxication and the world of clear reason.

Like a tightrope walker swaying and stumbling on a rope, he felt nauseous at the consciousness that repeatedly rose and fell.

Kang In-ho didn’t like the feeling of walking a tightrope between dream and reality.

It was because he felt a sense of déjà vu in the landscape of a world where reality and fantasy were not clear, like a faint reflection in a mirror.

He shook his head from side to side. Good. It seemed that some of the haziness had flown away.

With a clearer mind than before, he walked.

“I’m home.”

Was it a homing instinct? He returned to the most familiar place.

Saying a greeting that would not be answered was a bonus.

“……..”

He scanned his studio apartment, his officetel.

A very small room that was full with a computer and a bed.

Fortunately, he wasn’t the type to rummage through things, so it gave a tidy feeling.

The induction stove, which was an option, had a thin layer of dust like a summer blanket, showing that it was not used.

He sat in front of the computer with his clothes half off.

That didn’t mean he turned on the computer. There was no way he could afford to use the computer while his head was spinning from the alcohol.

“Ugh, I’m dizzy.”

How long had it been since he drank like this? His uncharacteristic, excessive behavior was visible through the computer screen.

Bloodshot eyes, disheveled hair, and rough stubble that had risen as the night deepened.

He sighed and scratched his head roughly.

[So I was always conscious of you. ‘What if you don’t like me if I do this?’ ‘Huh? Are you angry now?’ Like this. I paid attention to every single one of your reactions.]

[There are people somewhere who see me in a good light like this.]

The words he had said a little emotionally suddenly came to mind.

He thought he had handled it calmly, but it seemed that wasn’t the case inside.

Well, if he was okay, he wouldn’t have drunk so much.

“Kang In-ho, you’re being so pathetic.”

He had no choice but to bow his head in the face of the shame and hangover that washed over him.

After holding his head for a long time, he took out water from the refrigerator full of bottled water to soothe his parched throat.

As his thirst was quenched, his mind became a little clearer.

Only then did something come into his eyes that had been obscured.

“Ah….”

His gaze went down. The desk under the window.

There was something on the desk that cast a soft light under the moonlight from the window.

A soft yellow, close to white.

Something that caught people’s attention.

Kang In-ho saw it, and someone’s request came to mind.

He put on the clothes he had half taken off again, but they were wrinkled and disheveled, so they didn’t look good.

He carefully held something in his hand and retraced his steps.

It was an outfit that didn’t suit the late night, but no one was there to point it out.

It was as if everything outside had been erased with an eraser.

His steps stopped in front of the company.

After a moment’s hesitation, he decided where to go.

The shopping district in the basement of the company closed at 10 p.m.

Not only did the stores in the shopping district close, but the entrance to the shopping district was also blocked.

But today was different. The entrance to the shopping district, which he thought would be locked, was open.

Kang In-ho did not question [Isn’t it closed at this time?].

He just thought it was natural.

The green light of the emergency exit illuminated the dark corridor of the shopping district.

And at the end of the corridor, guided by the green Firefly, a very faint light flickered.

He moved. Holding something in his hand.

Clang. When he opened the door, he heard a sound from inside.

And beyond the large display case, he saw a person’s face.

The owner was not surprised by the late customer.

Rather, as if she had been waiting, she approached him gently.

In the store where the darkness was barely dispelled by the light of the taillight, golden eyes shone brightly.

Facing those upright and persistent eyes, Kang In-ho raised something in his hand slightly.

“The flower has bloomed.”

He awkwardly smiled as he raised the flowerpot to her eye level.

The store owner gently wrapped her hand around his hand holding the flowerpot.

In the golden eyes shining from under her chin, surprise and joy were ambiguously mixed.

“…I am surprised.”

A tone that suppressed something overwhelming.

He knew that there were emotions surging beneath the calm tone.

“Very….”

The owner, looking at the flowerpot, had a face filled with emotion.

A soft yellow, close to white.

A different color from the bright yellow flowers that filled the hill, shining as if to devour everything.

“You have bloomed a very beautiful flower.”

Suddenly, he smelled a flower.

Not as intense as before, but very subtle.