Beyond the car window, clouds—like streaks of white paint against a blue sky—were vivid. Gazing at them, all manner of stray thoughts brushed through Yoon Shin's mind. Most were fragments of conversations he had shared with Seheon while walking near the park last time.
As the hours they shared increased, and as he came to know that man in such intimate, granular detail, Yoon Shin learned a great deal. Chief among his realizations was how vastly different the two of them were as people. Thanks to this, he naturally understood why Seheon endured great and small inconveniences to keep him by his side.
Just as Seheon had once calmly confessed through a passage in some book, Yoon Shin was his vanguard. Perhaps his mirror, or maybe his pendulum. It seemed Seheon felt he needed Yoon Shin's existence—so radically different from his own—to hold his center properly and not lose himself.
*I can't tell if he's bad at romance or playing at a high level.*
He wondered how one could make another person concentrate so completely on them like this.
Truthfully, until now, Yoon Shin had been utterly unaware that he was capable of loving someone deeply. He had only vaguely imagined that when the time came, he would meet a good connection. The people he had half-heartedly pictured during those moments shared not a single thing in common with Seheon. Nevertheless, now, it felt like it had to be him.
Having come to take part in something not entirely above board, yet recalling memories with him here, the feeling was peculiar.
"So I end up coming here again."
As if forcing his thoughts elsewhere, he checked his wristwatch; it was almost two o'clock, the promised time.
The spot Seheon had marked in advance on the navigation was a main road near an interchange. Being close to a train station and on a weekend afternoon, there was no shortage of passing cars or pedestrians. Everyone seemed to have their own purpose for traveling this road. As he had said he would use the crowd in reverse, it was an excellent choice. Unless a major commotion occurred, it seemed unlikely that anyone would remember who did what here in this moment.
It was around then that Yoon Shin sat in his car, anxiously tapping the steering wheel. Someone parked behind him. Then a driver in plain clothes one might see anywhere in the city, his hat pulled low, got out and walked toward Yoon Shin's window. The man knocked.
As the window descended with a whir, cold outside air rushed in. The man outside, the moment he saw Yoon Shin, held out an object shaped like an envelope from inside his coat. He then briefly touched the brim of his hat in greeting and left so quickly that Yoon Shin missed the timing to return the words.
"Excuse me, wai—! He's gone."
The man who quickly returned to his car didn't drive off immediately but waited. Yoon Shin confirmed this in the rearview mirror and closed the window. He connected the data to a spare phone and roughly scanned the contents. The information matched what Seheon had shown him in the office regarding the target. There were also various indicators and image files, but he didn't bother looking at those and closed the window.
*What do I do now. Am I just supposed to leave?*
He hadn't been told what to do after confirming the data was correct. Yoon Shin put the memory device back into the envelope and pocketed it, then rocked his body a few times. Somehow, the other car seemed to recognize this inexplicable motion as a confirmation signal, and soon drove off with a rumble.
Hooo. A deep sigh escaped through Yoon Shin's tightly tensed lips.
Even though he had simply received information from an investigator, his heart felt heavy. He couldn't imagine how Seheon, who mainly undertook weighty missions determining a company's fate or handling many people's assets, managed to cast off these kinds of burdens.
In any case, he sent a message to let Seheon know he had received it safely. Even though Seheon must have been in an important meeting with a client, he found time to reply.
[Good work. See you there tonight. I'll buy you something delicious.]
He could almost hear that low voice of his.
Smooch. Pressing a tender kiss to the words on the screen, Yoon Shin glanced around briefly, then skillfully merged into the traffic on the main road.
* * *
Yoon Shin waited, and waited, and waited some more.
They had planned to meet at this restaurant around six in the afternoon. And now it was eight thirty. Having reserved a private room in advance meant there was nothing to attract undue attention, but precisely because of that, it was lonely and desolate. Unable to waste the time, he had tried to immerse himself in work intermittently, but his mind kept wandering.
At first, when Seheon was delayed by about thirty minutes, Yoon Shin thought the situation with the client must be quite bad. Usually, Seheon's time flowed with extreme precision. Especially when working. So he had waited patiently, assuming there were unavoidable circumstances.
But when the delay reached an hour, he received another message. It said it simply wouldn't work out.
Yoon Shin opened his text window and took in the very last message from him as if engraving it on his eyes.
[Are you still waiting? I think I'll be quite late. It'd be better to eat first and go home.]
There were several possible answers. But there was only one he wanted to give.
[It's okay. I'll wait.]
But as the endless waiting stretched to an hour and a half, then two hours, he began to wonder if he should just go home alone as Seheon had suggested. Still, it seemed something troublesome had happened to Seheon, so he endured and held on; but from some point onward, he couldn't reach him at all and grew worried.
He tried calling belatedly, but the call wouldn't connect. He had no choice but to leave a message for Secretary Tak asking if he knew anything. There was still no reply.
"What on earth."
He picked up an innocent glass and swirled its contents when, just then, a knock sounded from outside. Yoon Shin, who had been slumped over the table, straightened up with a start and fixed his eyes on the door.
However, the person who soon slipped inside was not the one he had been waiting for. It was the restaurant manager, dressed neatly. The restaurant's owner was acquainted with Mi-hee, and Seheon had come here often for a long time, so Yoon Shin had visited a few times with him and knew the manager by sight.
"Attorney, our last order is at nine o'clock. What would you like to do?"
It was a high-end restaurant where a single meal cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of won. Having occupied a private room for hours, he couldn't simply leave. Yoon Shin replied without even looking at the menu.
"Ah, I'm sorry. Please bring me the most expensive dish. À la carte, not a course."
"Attorney Kang pre-ordered wine along with your reservation."
"Then please bring that as well."
"I'll prepare it."
Yoon Shin gave the manager a nod as he bowed politely and left. Once the door closed, he slumped over the table again as before, leaning his upper body against the cold surface like spilled water.
If any personal issue had arisen, Seheon would have contacted him. Judging that this wasn't the case, it seemed something had disrupted him during the meeting. Even while guessing this, Yoon Shin couldn't bring himself to pester him, and his chest felt suffocated.
Due to the inherently fluid nature of the work, Yoon Shin sometimes had moments like this too. And Seheon had never once pressured him over such matters. He ought to show the same consideration, but he found it difficult when he wanted to be selfish.
Shaking his head as if to steel his resolve, Yoon Shin pulled the tablet PC back in front of him. He tried his best to empty his mind of Seheon, who filled his every thought, by taking in the materials needed for the upcoming divorce lawsuit one by one.
Some time later, with a *brrr*, his phone suddenly vibrated.
Startled, Yoon Shin immediately looked at the screen. But his face, which had been full of hope, quickly deflated and went cold. The caller was Secretary Tak.
"Secretary Tak?"
"Yes, it's me. You left a message. I had some things to take care of, so I'm getting back to you now."
"I'm sorry to bother you on the weekend. Actually, I was supposed to meet Attorney Kang separately, but I lost contact with him at some point. Since I'm not on the corporate team anymore, I didn't know who else to ask. I was wondering if you might know anything."
Before answering the question, the long sigh he let out was enough to convey his headache even over the phone.
"You knew about the meeting, right?"
"Roughly."
"That's why President Song went to the scene himself, apparently. I got an emergency call from him a short while ago and sat down at my desk. It seems our client assaulted the bank chairman while Attorney Kang stepped away for a moment. As luck would have it, there were senior reporters from a broadcasting company at the restaurant, so the place is completely turned upside down right now."
Though the exact circumstances were unclear, the fact that Mi-hee had been dispatched to the scene as well suggested signs that the matter was growing beyond necessary proportions.
From Yoon Shin's position, he was far more worried about Seheon, who would be troubled by this, than an injured person whose face he didn't know. Yoon Shin, his cheeks pale from bewilderment, lightly rubbed them with the back of his hand and continued.
"Attorney Kang didn't get hurt or anything, right?"
"Of course not. In any case, Attorney Kang is in no situation to take calls right now. I heard he's swamped. I think it would be best to leave a message and head home for today."
"That would be best. Thank you."
"Not at all. If you do get in touch with him, shall I relay any message?"
"No. Please don't. I'll contact him directly."
"Alright, then. Have a good weekend."
After ending the call, Yoon Shin stared quietly at the darkened phone screen. Soon, he left a message for Seheon saying he would eat alone and go home, so not to worry, then gazed endlessly at the words he had typed. At some point, another knock came from outside. The restaurant staff entered with his order.
The staff member who placed a plate of appetizing steak on the table poured wine into his glass. Then he set the bottle in the cooler, bowed politely, and went out.
Having completely lost his appetite, seeing the food made him wilt. He had thought they could finally have a date after so long, and its collapse left him disappointed. And because he knew it was neither Seheon's fault nor his own, he couldn't throw a tantrum, which made him feel all the more forlorn.
Gazing quietly at the night view outside the window, lights filled the ground below like the street corner near that house from some time ago. Staring at it, he felt a sense of obligation to eat as best he could alone and go home.
Yoon Shin cut a piece of the exceptionally tender meat, put it in his mouth, chewed thoroughly, and brought the wine to his lips. The fragrant red wine that paired well with the steak was the same brand he had once begged Seheon to buy again because it was so delicious.
"The place is wonderful, and Kang Seheon, who remembered this, is romantic too. It's just that the main character isn't here."
Yoon Shin enjoyed the clean finish and took another sip.
He was sure he had found this wine sweet before, but strangely, today it tasted bitter.
* * *
After washing up, Yoon Shin sat leaning his back against the headboard in his bathrobe. He checked the phone on the nightstand, but there was still no contact from Seheon. Having no choice, he took out documents from the drawer. Somehow, he felt that even if Seheon was late, he would head this way, so he intended to wait until he arrived.
With his body in the center, Yoon Shin arranged the papers around him in a semicircle, taking in the most urgent items for review. Time flew as he took out a pen and checked important sections.
"Application for exemption from the divorce reflection period... need a medical certificate for injury."
While rummaging through documents on the left to find the applicant's medical records, he saw the phone beneath the floor lamp begin to vibrate. Having repeated disappointment after hope so many times, this time he looked at the screen with an empty heart. Then Seheon's name greeted him from atop it.
Yoon Shin bent his upper body and snatched up the device as if stealing it, pressing it to his ear. The low voice he had been desperate to hear for so long burrowed languidly into his ear.
"Yoon Shin, you're not asleep."
"How could I sleep."
"Home? Which one."
"I'm at my place. Where will you be coming?"
"Where you are."
Yoon Shin pondered the answer, then swept aside all the papers lying over him like a blanket. He made space on one side of the bed to sit with his legs stretched out, moved there, and turned on the floor lamp. When he dimmed the light slightly, the room's bright hue mixed with the warm glow of the lamp.
"As I told you earlier, I found the data you requested. I put it on the desk in your study."
"Yeah, good work."
"Is the matter resolved? I heard roughly from Secretary Tak."
"More or less."
"You're sure you weren't hurt?"
"Fortunately not. You must have waited a lot. I told you to go home early."
"I waited because I wanted to. I had to drink the wine you ordered for me. It's more expensive than my salary."
A soft laugh from Seheon was heard across the receiver.
"How was it? The taste of wine drunk alone."
"Very bitter. Let's drink it together next time."
"We should."
"And next time, I'd like you to explain the situation to me directly."
Rather than twisting his words and causing unnecessary conflict, Yoon Shin was accustomed to honestly speaking his grievances and hurt feelings. Knowing Seheon liked that about him, he opened up his heart this time as well. After a silence as if lost in thought, Seheon opened his mouth very slowly.
"The moment I tried to call you, the situation suddenly swept over me, so I didn't have the chance. When I caught my breath, I heard you contacted Tak and asked what happened. Ask if you're curious."
"What exactly happened?"
Breathing calmly as if recalling the incident from earlier, he replied in a rather languid tone.
"My client smashed tableware and wielded it as a weapon. The bank chairman was seriously injured, and the reporters who happened to be at the restaurant all witnessed the moment he stumbled out of the room bleeding. The chairman was sent to the hospital, I met with the police along with the client, and President Song came to persuade the reporters. It was utter chaos."
Hearing the detailed explanation, the scene unfolded as clearly as a story in a novel. The matter was serious so the police must have come, and since it was his client's doing, there would be concern about destroying evidence, so he couldn't move freely. With many eyes watching, the situation couldn't be covered up, which seemed to be why Mi-hee had been deployed as well.
"I understand now why you couldn't contact me."
"Haah, I'm glad you're a lawyer."
He seemed to sense that Yoon Shin's secretly disappointed heart had completely unraveled. His long exhale held such a sign. He added in a much lighter voice.
"I'm on my way. I called because I missed your voice so much. Where are you right now. In bed?"
"Yes, my bed... Wait. You're saying you're on your way now?"
"Yeah. In the car. Almost there. About ten minutes?"
"Almost there?"
Yoon Shin hurriedly looked around, checked the chaotic bed, and was momentarily aghast. Seeing papers strewn all about like this, it seemed all desire would wither away. He didn't want to see Seheon, who liked a clean and tidy environment, frowning at his room.
He sprang up, wedged the phone between his ear and shoulder, and neatly stacked the papers scattered all over. While gathering them into the nightstand drawer, Seheon continued.
"Are you lying down?"
"Uh... no? I was about to lie down."
Having confirmed there were spare condoms and lubricant in the bottom drawer, Yoon Shin finally tightened his robe and sat back on the bed. Wondering whether it would be better to wait with the lights off or on, he dimmed the room lights. Instead, he turned the floor lamp a little brighter.
Listening to his dusky voice in the bedroom, which had quickly transformed into a languid atmosphere, his mood gradually turned strange. His palm holding the phone felt inexplicably sweaty. His lips felt dry, and he moistened them with his tongue.
Somehow, it felt like Seheon was controlling this entire situation without even seeing him. Seheon's following words proved it.
"You turned off the lights. But the floor lamp is on."
"Ho-how did you know?"
"Your behavior patterns are obvious. You must be wearing a robe. One that comes off easily."
Glancing down at the bathrobe Seheon had gifted him, Yoon Shin coughed falsely. As if answering this, Seheon's exhaled breath was much thicker than usual. Within it, red sensati