<108>
Looking at Kang Il-hyun's palm, Ja-kyeong narrowed his eyes. He had once learned palm reading from a Korean neighbor, and so he wanted to read Kang Il-hyun's palm lines—his life line was incredibly long. In contrast, the life line on his own palm was cut short in the middle, as if it had started to form and then stopped.
Kang Il-hyun, however, wasn't looking at his hand but watching Lee Ja-kyeong's expression with an interested face.
"How is it?"
"Your head is good. And your life line is long, so you'll live a long time."
As he said this, Ja-kyeong showed his own palm. Look at this. Mine is really short. They say you can't live long with this.
"And?"
"Your personality is very bad. You're rotten to the core."
"Don't add your own thoughts."
"…."
"What about a spouse?"
"I have one. One person."
"Then what about you?"
Ja-kyeong proudly spread his palm.
"I have two."
Kang Il-hyun's eyes darkened. Just as his lips were about to part, the phone rang. It was a video call from Wang Han. Shh. He signaled him to be quiet, then turned on the video. Against the blue sky, Wang Han's face filled the screen.
"Did you arrive safely?"
[Yeah. Just unpacked. Where are you that it's so dark?]
Beside his curious face, a woman suddenly appeared. Ja-kyeong's eyes grew wide. It was Rita, who had lived next door when they were staying in Kuala Lumpur. Why was she in Thailand? Before he could even be surprised, Rita waved.
[Wei, long time no see. Heard you got a lover? You don't know how upset Sasha was when she heard the news.]
At Sasha's name, Ja-kyeong glanced at Kang Il-hyun, lowered his voice, got up from the wooden platform and walked to the other side. Kang Il-hyun, who had been drinking beer and watching, got up and went to the back of the house. He thought it was a relief. Sasha squeezed in between Rita and Wang Han.
[Wei. I'll always be waiting for you. When you break up with that woman, come back to me!]
She shouted, and the three of them laughed uproariously. Ja-kyeong smiled with an awkward expression. He had explained things well to Sasha before, and she too seemed to have sorted out her feelings now. After saying goodbye and telling Wang Han to take care, he hurriedly ended the call.
But Kang Il-hyun was nowhere to be seen. He looked around and sat on the wooden platform, then heard footsteps approaching. When he turned to look, he almost screamed. He was walking over with a sickle in his hand and a cigarette between his lips.
"What, what is that?"
Il-hyun wiggled his finger.
"Come here. Palm lines can be changed as much as you want."
Ja-kyeong shook his head. He asked if he was crazy, but he grabbed his wrist and twisted it. As he pulled his hand free, he kicked Kang Il-hyun's knee.
Ignoring that, he pinned his hand to the wooden platform and swung the sickle. The sharp tip of the sickle struck down between his index and middle finger. Argh! He screamed, and then belatedly saw that his fingers were still attached and breathed a sigh of relief. This, fuck! He pushed his shoulder away and stepped back.
"You're crazy!"
"I told you to come."
"Why are you being like this again!"
"I was wrong. I shouldn't have carved my name on your waist, I should have carved it on your face."
"Stop with the crazy talk and put that down."
"Then say it here."
"Say what?"
"That you'll only like me for the rest of your life and only have sex with me."
When he grimaced, he pointed the tip of the sickle at Ja-kyeong as if to show off. Ja-kyeong reluctantly nodded. Then he said to prove it with words. It had been quiet for a while, but that bastard's madness had flared up again. It seemed better to just do it quickly and be done with it.
"I will only like Kang Il-hyun for the rest of my life and only have sex with Kang Il-hyun."
He recited it in a soulless tone like a robot, and the corners of his eyes went up.
"Honey. There's no sincerity."
Ja-kyeong gritted his teeth.
"I will only like Kang Il-hyun for the rest of my life and only have sex with Kang Il-hyun."
Only then did he seem satisfied and tossed the sickle aside. Ja-kyeong sighed and cursed inwardly. When he beckoned him to come, he approached, and he took out his phone. Thinking surely not, he quickly snatched the phone away. He was afraid he'd record it again and play it anytime. But what he showed was not a recording file but a photo. It was an island, with enough flatland to meet the conditions for people to live on.
"How is it? It's domestic so it's not far either. You can do the hunting and fishing you want. It's okay, right?"
Ja-kyeong flipped through several photos and nodded.
"I don't need a house. I can pitch a tent."
"Do as you please."
"I'll hunt for all the food too."
"I thought it was a honeymoon, but it's military training."
He tapped his complaining arm and smiled. He agreed so readily that it was hard to believe this was the same person who had been wielding a sickle just moments ago.
"But remember this."
"What?"
"I haven't fixed my will yet."
Just when things were going well. Ja-kyeong nodded with a resigned face. Fine, let's get buried together.
Looking at the island photos, Ja-kyeong picked up his beer can, stood up, and walked toward the flower garden. With his arms crossed on top of the wall and looking down, the city came into view at a glance. Soon Il-hyun approached beside him. With a cigarette in his mouth, he laughed softly.
"That's cool."
"I've been thinking…"
Il-hyun turned his head to look at Ja-kyeong.
"I think I'd be fine living here instead of the CEO's house."
At the unexpected words, Il-hyun's expression paused for a moment. Ja-kyeong waited for his answer. Now this place was good. The yard where he rolled around and got beaten, the warehouse where he was locked up unable to even make a sound of breathing, it was all just good.
After Kang Il-hyun plucked a flower and handed it to him, this house no longer felt like hell. Il-hyun took the cigarette out of his mouth and exhaled a long stream of smoke. He didn't answer for a long time, so he thought it meant he didn't want to, but then he slowly nodded.
"Do that."
Ja-kyeong looked back in surprise.
"Really?"
"I can come visit every day like today."
"Why are you being like this? You grant everything I say, it's scary."
"The side that loves more is always the weaker one. What can I do. I have to accommodate."
With his large hand, he messed up his hair and leaned shoulder to shoulder. Soon his head fell onto his shoulder. It didn't feel bad to have a man a span taller than him leaning his head from time to time as if relying on him. When he rubbed his cheek against his shoulder like a puppy, he stroked the other side of his face. He smiled deeply enough to form dimples.
After standing side by side looking at the night view for a while, they returned to their seats and drank more beer. Ja-kyeong, who couldn't hold his liquor, acted cute in ways he normally wouldn't when drunk, and Il-hyun liked it so much he gave him more to drink, until eventually he just passed out on the wooden platform. He touched the face of the sleeping Ja-kyeong and stared at it until it wore down, and only at dawn did he fall asleep.
At the sound of birds crying noisily, Ja-kyeong barely opened his eyes. He thought he'd only slept briefly from the alcohol, but the sun had already risen and his whole body was stiff. He had fallen asleep lying on the wooden platform, and Kang Il-hyun's jacket was draped over him.
He pushed it off and looked around. From outside the gate, he could hear Kang Il-hyun's voice talking to someone. It was time to go home to wash up and go to work. Rubbing his face to wake up, Ja-kyeong suddenly found his gaze fixed on his palm.
When he spread his hand, he saw that someone had drawn his short life line all the way to his wrist with a ballpoint pen. He tried to rub it off with his hand, but for some reason his nose stung and he smiled.
He didn't need to see who did it to know. Just then, Kang Il-hyun opened the gate and came in. With disheveled hair and clothes, he smiled brightly. Did you sleep well? At his uncharacteristic appearance, he burst into laughter too. When he spread his arms, he came without hesitation and let himself be held.
Il-hyun Ja-kyeong
The sky that autumn had come to was impossibly clear. At the free soup kitchen, a long line of people stretched out waiting to eat. From one side, Reporter Yoon, who was filming the appearance of the soup kitchen, focused her camera on Kang Il-hyun, who was wearing a black apron and serving food.
"That's strange."
At Reporter Yoon's muttering, Reporter Kwak put out his cigarette and looked her way.
"Why?"
"CEO Kang. He seems like a different person."
"After going through something like that and losing his father, he must be deeply affected."
Reporter Yoon shook her head. That wasn't the expression of someone who had lost a parent, but of someone who had gained a country?
"But who's that new face next to him?"
Reporter Kwak pointed to another man next to Kang Il-hyun. He didn't seem to be family, and certainly not an employee. The man he was seeing for the first time smiled brightly while serving rice. Every now and then when Kang Il-hyun spoke to the man, his expression was subtly different from when he dealt with others.
"The more I look, the more handsome he is. Is he from an agency?"
"Should I dig into his background?"
"What's the point of digging?"
"Who knows? That man might have something that could be Kang Il-hyun's weakness."
"Never mind. Let's just do our job."
Reporter Yoon captured the image of the man next to Kang Il-hyun in her camera. When she zoomed in, his handsome face filled the screen. Wow. After she exclaimed, click. She pressed the shutter. Just then, Kang Il-hyun, who had been serving rice, looked their way. Startled, she lowered the camera and nodded in greeting.
For some reason, Kang Il-hyun took off his apron and walked over to where Reporter Yoon and Reporter Kwak were. Reporter Kwak's face hardened with tension. He would have known in advance that they were writing a promotional article, so why was he coming personally instead of his secretary?
In his hand as he approached closely were two drinks.
"You're working hard."
Taking them awkwardly, he looked at the camera.
"Is it possible to check the photo you just took now?"
There was no particular reason to refuse. Reporter Yoon, who had been hesitating, held out the camera, and Kang Il-hyun looked at the photo. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, and Reporter Kwak watched with a tense face, still holding the drink.
Kang Il-hyun handed back the camera and smiled magnificently.
"I'd personally like to have this photo. May I ask you for it?"
"Ah, that's…"
Reporter Kwak quickly interjected.
"Of course. We'll send it right away."
Kang Il-hyun thanked them and returned to his place. Watching him walk away, the two breathed sighs of relief and belatedly checked the photo in the camera. It was a scene of Kang Il-hyun facing the man next to him and smiling brightly.
"Why on earth would he want…"
"Exactly."
The two looked at Kang Il-hyun with eyes full of suspicion. After he returned to his spot and put on his apron, the man who had been next to him tied the strings at the back and smiled. As they exchanged words, the atmosphere was somehow suspicious. As if that wasn't enough, Kang Il-hyun even whispered in the man's ear.
"That looks no matter how you look at it…"
"Don't they look like a married couple?"
"That's why…"
"Surely not…"
Reporter Yoon shook her head in disbelief and raised her camera again. Inside the lens, the smiling faces of the two men were captured like a painting. They might not be a married couple, but they certainly looked good together.
- fin.