episode_0059

“You look very happy.”

Dakota’s smile was a strange combination of a tail-wagging friendly puppy and a squinting cat’s mischievousness.

Just by making eye contact, Lager felt a tremendous sense of having committed a grave mistake and broke out in a cold sweat.

“Well, it’s… just because you look so happy, I was just curious.”

Spit in your mouth and tell a lie. Lager cursed inwardly and licked his lips to tell a lie.

“It’s nothing. Just…”

“Did Chloe contact you?”

In just one word, he was caught off guard.

“Oh my. I didn’t expect to hit the nail on the head like this.”

Despite thinking she might come off as nonchalant, Dakota shrugged her shoulders with a smile that didn’t give off any nonchalance.

Since she already knew, and even from the beginning, she decided not to run around trying to escape and instead chose to be honest.

“She asked to go out this weekend.”

“On Sunday?”

“Saturday. So I might not be able to come on Saturday.”

“Hmm.”

She lightly tapped her lips with her remaining arm, lost in thought.

What if she says it’s not possible? Lager realized he had blurted out the main point without much of a plan and slightly blamed himself. At least he should have brought up the topic after confirming that her mood had improved a bit.

However.

“Okay.”

Surprisingly, she readily accepted.

Lager hesitated to ask again, worried about what might happen if she changed her mind, and just awkwardly nodded.

Dakota looked at Lager silently and then smiled slyly.

“Is it that good?”

What does she mean? Dakota spoke to Lager, who hesitated to answer because he couldn’t understand Dakota’s intentions.

“I know everything. And I see everything. When I talk about Chloe, when I think about Chloe, and even when I look out the window in the hospital, I see that familiar expression of yours.”

Oh my. Even looking out the window, she had such an obvious expression. Lager felt a warm sensation on the back of his head and inexplicably avoided eye contact.

“It’s really enviable. And foolish.”

“Who?”

“Chloe.”

Dakota let out a bitter laugh and sighed lightly.

Lager asked what she meant, but Dakota never answered.

*

He participated normally in class, but there was no time to talk with Ale during mealtime as he had to be with Dakota. That was the most regrettable part of Lager’s day as a caregiver.

He sent messages to Ale, but there was no reply. Ale didn’t read the messages even after 30 minutes or an hour.

“He must be busy. Probably eating.”

Lager thought so, but continued to check his phone.

Come to think of it, Lager and Ale didn’t contact each other that often. When there was an emergency, they would look for each other first, but when there was no urgent matter, they rarely contacted each other. Since they lived in the same area, they thought they could talk whenever they needed to.

But spending the whole day without saying a word like this.

Lager felt a bit disappointed that Ale didn’t seem to care about communication as much as he did.

Before heading to work as a caregiver, he took a moment to smoke a cigarette in the smoking area, lost in thoughts of the past.

It was during Yu Jin’s military service. When he enlisted, Ji Soo cried as if they would never meet again. Even though they would see each other at some graduation or whatever in a little while, the month-long separation from Yu Jin felt so huge to Ji Soo.

Even when he went downstairs for errands, Yu Jin wasn’t there.

The sound of footsteps going up to the rooftop to smoke cigarettes was no longer heard.

Not knowing how to play soccer, he called Yu Jin under the pretense of having chicken and beer, but seeing that his phone was turned off.

It hit him like a punch to the gut that he had really gone far away. Locked in an emptiness that felt like his heart had been pierced, he cried in bed for a while.

Weeks passed like that.

Through a call from an unfamiliar number, he briefly heard his voice.

– Hey, it’s Cha Yu Jin. This is a collect call, okay? Will you accept it?

– Yu Jin! Is it really you, Yu Jin? Are you doing well? Are you hurt? Are you cold? Are you hot? Are you struggling? What do you need? Hey, say something!

– No, first of all, I…

I know everything, idiot. Even after accepting the collect call, Ji Soo kept talking until the call was finally cut off, and Yu Jin had to hang up without saying much.

But it was okay.

That was enough.

Just hearing from him briefly made him so happy, and there were times when he waited for that contact.

‘If only I had talked back then…’

Exhaling smoke futilely, he took a deep breath in the form of Lager, not Ji Soo.

I should have confessed when I was Min Ji Soo.

It’s a meaningless relationship anyway. It’s too late to be upset about not reading the messages.

After finishing the cigarette and throwing away the butt, a breath of air came out. The weather was getting colder.

That guy, he probably won’t catch a cold.

Leaving behind useless thoughts, he headed to the hospital.

Saturday.

Lager and Ale had been looking forward to this day. It was a day Lager spent with Ale after a long time. And it was a day Ale finally got a host to reuse his abilities.

“You seem to have waited quite a bit?”

“Of course.”

Lager was pleased with Ale’s words.

Of course, he didn’t ask if it was because of him.

At least that’s how it looked in his eyes. He decided to believe that.

Before leaving the academy gate to head to the subway station, Lager, who was smoking in the smoking area in front of the station, looked up and down at Ale.

“Hey, what’s this? You’re really going all out.”

You don’t need to wear a uniform when going out. So, it was a perfect opportunity to show off the casual clothes he had saved, but Lager gave off a strong impression of ‘I’m using my secret weapon’ too strongly.

With his short hair slicked back with pomade into a two-block cut, he wore a white hoodie that he bought as a set with Ale during last weekend’s guard duty, with a leather jacket on top. Clean black jeans below.

However, the combination of a hoodie worn outside the leather jacket instead of a leather jacket with a hood attached gave a very subtle feeling.

As summarized earlier, the vibe of ‘I used a lot of effort today. But I don’t want to get caught’ was too overt in Lager’s outfit, causing Ale to eventually burst into laughter.

“Hey, who dresses like this! It’s so tacky.”

“It’s old-fashioned. In this world, everyone dresses like this. It’s the latest trend in Echant.”

“Oh, really?”

Once again, smoke from Eil’s cigarette flowed lightly from his mouth as if he found it amusing.

Feeling unjustly criticized, Lager retorted, “Did you lose your sense of fashion for the season? Is that the only outfit you could find to wear?”

Following Lager’s remark, Eil came out wearing only the dress Lager had bought for him last time. Eil sighed deeply and placed his hand on his waist in response to Lager’s comment.

“Well, that’s what fashion is all about. ‘Simple is best.’ It’s better to wear just one clean item than to pile on things that don’t suit you like you do. That’s the truth of fashion.”

Eil adjusted his posture, lifting the hem of the long dress to show off. With his long legs and voluptuous figure, even with just one dress that covered everything, he looked quite charming.

“You look pretty.”

Lager muttered as he flicked his cigarette, causing Eil to snort and flick his own cigarette.

“Just in case you were wondering, don’t get the wrong idea. I only wore this because it was the only casual outfit in my closet.”

“What wrong idea?”

“I didn’t wear a skirt just to hear you say I look pretty, you idiot.”

Even his grumbling was so endearing.

“I just said you look pretty because you do.”

Lager chuckled and ruffled Eil’s hair.

Eil, of course, reacted immediately, “Hey! Don’t treat me like a girl!”

And so, the playful chase began.

After exchanging such trivial banter for a long time, it felt like Eil and Lager had become closer again.

Lager ran away with a grin on his face.