TCE 32

Chapter 32

“Ughhh.”

As she pushed open the heavy front door, a groan escaped on its own.

We returned home from our outing late in the evening, a little past nine o’clock.

Rubbing her tired eyes after the long-awaited trip out, she let out a big yawn.

“That was too much.”

With one yawn, her eyes welled up with moisture.

The house was lit, but without Madam Kim around and, of course, with Yoon-jae still not back. Without delay, she stripped off her clothes and went straight into the bathroom.

“Why am I so busy when I don’t even have anything to do? People say the unemployed are lazy, but that’s such a lie.”

Grumbling as she launched into an impromptu ode to joblessness, her mind was, in truth, already drawing up a fairly detailed plan for the future.

Ever since visiting the columbarium, she felt her heart had opened up a little.

Rather than confining herself to the names “Go Woo-ri” or “Joo Ae-jeong,” she had begun to see herself in a broader way.

“Positive.”

Instead of sinking into gloom, she tried to face the world as positively as possible, carefully climbing each step of this new life…

“Damn these glasses!”

The moment she turned on the warm water, the lenses fogged up, and she yanked them off in irritation.

Flipping from positive to negative was easier than turning over one’s hand.

She had grown used to many things, but she simply could not accept the constant nuisance of these glasses.

“Ugh, so annoying.”

Grumbling alone, she set the glasses on the sink and stepped under the warm stream.

Shhhhh.

“Haah.”

Fortunately, her mood quickly eased.

After a day of running around—hospital, bookstore, countless people—her weary body seemed to melt into the water, being washed clean.

The temperature was perfect, and she wanted to linger for ten, twenty minutes.

Haven’t been to a bathhouse in ages.

She especially missed the hot tubs she used to soak in after workouts.

Just as she was thinking it had been far too long since she felt that warmth enveloping her whole body—

“…No.”

She remembered something that immediately changed her mind.

That clumsy, slow hand that had comforted her when she couldn’t hold back her tears, when she spilled absurd words in despair. She couldn’t forget it; it was still too vivid.

[Because it’s a hassle to console you.]

The blunt tone had carried another meaning for her.

At least he did comfort me, didn’t he?

That awkward pat had been warmer than anything else, and the trembling of that moment still lingered in her chest.

Thump, thump.

Her heart started pounding again on its own, and she scrubbed her face under the water.

“You’ve gotten weak. Too weak, you.”

The reason she kept slipping into this fragility was nothing else—it was just fatigue. Yes, that’s all.

She told herself that, and after savoring paradise under the stream for a bit longer, she turned off the faucet.

“Might as well, since it’s come to this.”

Better to soak properly than to waste water with the shower running.

But her bathroom only had a shower booth, no tub to curl into.

Of course, the big house did have a bathtub—the central bathroom. Madam Kim often filled it up for Yoon-jae, who used it sometimes. She had wanted to try it too, but never did.

Well, no one’s around anyway.

Tonight, the desire to submerge her whole body was stronger.

Wrapping herself in a big bath towel, she almost put her glasses back on but stopped.

It didn’t matter—she couldn’t see in the bathroom with or without them. Nothing would happen if she skipped them for a while.

“People who wear glasses all deserve medals for patience. They should be respected.”

Muttering this new standard for respect, she left the room, glasses on the desk, and cautiously peeked her head through the door.

Then, squinting into her blurry vision, she threatened the empty space:

“I know you’re there. Come out now and I’ll let you off.”

Of course, she knew no one was there, but she said it anyway—just in case.

Who would laugh at her? Nobody. So she shadowboxed the darkened living room and, clutching her towel, stepped out.

Tap-tap.

Walking briskly in nothing but a towel was comical, but thanks to her blurry eyesight, the embarrassment was dulled.

She shivered at the cold air that pricked her skin, so unlike her warm private bathroom, and pushed open the door to the central bathroom.

Click.

“Brr, it’s freezing—”

But instead of chill, she was met with warm air and heavy steam.

“…What?”

Why would an unused bathroom be warm?

She frowned, looking at the large square bathtub ahead. It was empty.

Strange.

It would have been better not to know. But with blurred vision and nagging curiosity, she stepped forward—and froze.

Moisture seeped between her toes on the floor.

There was no one in the tub.

“….”

Which was why she didn’t immediately notice the soft glow of skin by the shower.

Skin. Human skin.

Her instincts were slow, but her awareness was quick. She gasped, stepping back.

“S-sorry!”

Realizing what she’d done, she blurted an apology and spun around.

But in her haste, her wet soles betrayed her.

Slip.

“Ah—!”

A cruel twist of fate. The foot she planted slid out, her balance collapsed, and she toppled backward.

Splash.

Her hand reached for anything, but found nothing.

“…!”

Her vision shifted from wall to ceiling, the moment stretching unnaturally long.

Ah, I’m going to die again.

It sounded ridiculous, adding “again,” but it was true. If she hit the floor like this, it might really happen.

But she didn’t hit the cold, hard tiles.

Thud.

She landed heavily from the fall’s momentum—but she wasn’t hurt. Instead, shock gripped her.

“….”

So close her glasses weren’t needed, a man’s face filled her vision.

Droplets fell from her wet hair onto his cheeks, trailing down—but she barely felt it, overwhelmed instead by the press of unfamiliar warmth all along her body.

Drip, drip, drip.

Water pattered onto the tiles as the two lay overlapped.

Yoon-jae.

He had caught her as she fell, just like that day under the stone wall.

The position was different, but one thing was the same.

“…Safe.”

Too lighthearted for thanks to a savior, perhaps.

His silence made her feel as though she were lying on a bed of nails.

Skin—skin! That’s skin!

Her towel had barely clung to the front as she fell.

Which meant that aside from his arms and legs holding her up, most of her bare skin was pressed directly against his.

The feel of his hand at her back, his thigh at her waist—unbearably vivid.

Hotter than the water had been.

Calm down. Stay calm.

Gulp.

Forcing her racing heart down, she tried to smile casually.

“I-I’ll get up now.”

Her voice trembled despite her effort.

Yoon-jae still said nothing as she gathered her legs to stand.

Twinge.

…Huh?

A sting shot through her right ankle.

“Ah!”

She tried to brush it off, but pain surged, making her whole body shudder. She must have twisted her ankle when she slipped.

“….”

Blurred vision, aching ankle.

Could there be a more pitiful state? Even the old fable about a blind man leading a cripple was better than this.

She laughed brightly.

“Really, I never run out of trouble, do I?”

It was self-mockery born of realizing she couldn’t fix this herself.

Finally, Yoon-jae opened his mouth.

“Hold onto the towel.”

“Huh? Oh—!”

Before she could respond, he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up.

Her hands clutched the towel desperately as her body leaned into his, completely pressed against him.

Her eyes went wide.

Carried like a princess, her bare skin met his damp chest. She squeezed her eyes shut.

May God protect our land, as long as the East Sea and Baekdu Mountain endure…

She tried to smother her tangled emotions by singing the national anthem in her head.

Her heart pounded harder than ever, her toes curling tight in tension.

…As if armored in steel…

Then—

Swish.

She felt herself being lowered, her back pressing into something soft.

Opening her eyes in shock, she found herself still in Yoon-jae’s arms, but now on a bed.

“…Oh.”

And instantly, she knew where she was.

His bed.

Ha Yoon-jae’s bed, filled with his scent—

And she was naked.