How much time had passed since then?
As I frantically took orders and even posed for pictures, the sky gradually deepened into twilight.
It didn’t feel like I had worked that long, but it was already time to close the shop.
I’ve been feeling lately that the more customers we have, the shorter the perceived time seems.
In any case, it was also my job to turn away the people waiting in line.
After the familiar refrain of asking them to come back tomorrow, I sighed quietly and approached my father.
“Father, I think we can start closing up now. I’ll go throw out the trash.”
“Hmm? Is it that late already?”
At my words, my father, who was scraping the remaining tteokbokki with a spatula, was surprised and checked the wall clock.
Fortunately, perhaps because his condition had improved while dealing with customers, his face was back to normal.
Indeed, if he was this busy, the sleepiness that had been pouring over him would have been driven away by annoyance.
It was common for him to feel fine while working, only for the fatigue to rush in all at once once he arrived home.
Since my father personally handled the ingredient preparation from start to finish, it was understandable that he went to bed early.
Should I close up by myself today, though?
Feeling a sense of relief, I carried the full trash bags in both hands and headed into the kitchen.
Soon after, I went out the back door, and a deserted alley appeared before me.
The opposite street was always bustling with people, but this place was gloomy and always empty, even during the day.
I occasionally saw delinquent teenagers smoking cigarettes, but even they hadn’t shown their faces since crossing paths with me once.
“Well, that’s a good thing, I guess…”
Thump. Thump.
It was just as I was tossing the trash bags into the large dumpster.
Chirpy, who had been sleeping soundly near my shoulder, suddenly poked his head out.
He sniffed his small nose as if smelling something, then his eyes flashed toward the back.
“Chirpy, what is it?”
It was strange, as this reaction was uncommon unless there were nuts nearby.
I absentmindedly followed his gaze and, for a moment, my feet recoiled without realizing it.
A large figure was standing still at a short distance.
There had clearly been no one there just a moment ago, but he had suddenly appeared without a sound while I was briefly taking out the trash.
However, that wariness instantly vanished as the mysterious man slowly lifted his head.
It was right after I confirmed the red hair and deep gray eyes beneath the deeply pulled-down hat.
“……”
Lately, I couldn’t get the thought of him out of my head.
He even appeared in my dreams, staring at me silently just like now.
The difference was that the Cha Rui in my dream was suppressing his anger and looked simultaneously hurt.
Just like that final look I saw at Woo Jaehyun’s house.
It was probably on the school rooftop.
Cha Rui, with black hair and wearing a school uniform, didn’t look much different from now, but he definitely had a younger appearance.
The fact that the scene was so vivid suggested that all of this might not be a dream, but part of ‘Seo Inho’s’ memories.
What I couldn’t understand was why my heart sank when I saw his eyes, which were red with burst blood vessels.
That was definitely the emotion ‘Seo Inho’ felt at the time, not me.
And Cha Rui hadn’t contacted me at all for the past two weeks, which naturally made me worry more.
Even if I were to contact him first, I didn’t know what to say, nor did I know why he had left in such anger.
I wondered if our sexual encounter with Woo Jaehyun had been that shocking, but then I thought, if I still couldn’t believe it myself, how must other people feel?
Especially him, who had suffered for days searching for me across the vast Russian territory.
If I were him, I would have been confused to encounter me in that state in Korea, at Woo Jaehyun’s house, no less.
“Seo Inho.”
After an awkward silence that lasted for a while, Cha Rui was the one to speak first.
But the words that followed were completely unexpected.
“Do you want to go somewhere with me after work?”
I was a little flustered, perhaps because Cha Rui had never said something like this before.
I could tell he was quite nervous just by his stiff expression and the way his gaze was unfocused.
How much did he agonize over saying those words?
“Where?”
“…To eat shaved ice.”
Shaved ice? In this weather?
It was rather random, not even a meal or coffee, but shaved ice in early December.
However, my answer came out immediately without hesitation, despite the sudden suggestion.
“Sure.”
Since Cha Rui was reaching out to me like this, there was naturally no reason not to accept.
I was ready to follow, even if the shaved ice shop was somewhere far away in Alaska.
Instead, a smile naturally formed on my face as I waved to him out of gratitude.
“I’ll be closing up soon, just wait a little.”
“Should I help?”
“No, you don’t like being seen by people.”
Only then did the tension break for Cha Rui, and his rigidly frozen expression slowly softened.
Seeing him unable to keep his fingertips still, it seemed he hadn’t expected me to agree so immediately.
He came closer, offering to help again, but I shook my head and slipped back through the back door as if running away.
There were still many customers inside the shop, and I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble.
More importantly, if I were to ask for Cha Rui’s help, the outcome was obvious.
Forget about shaved ice; I might end up spending the whole day just cleaning up the mess he made.
“Father, I’ll close up by myself today.”
“Huh? No, my sleepiness is all gone, I’m fine now.”
“I know you’re tired. Go home and sleep early.”
“No…”
“Please.”
After calling a taxi and semi-forcibly sending my father home, I quickly started closing up.
There was a struggle with my father, who insisted on staying until the end, and having to handle the cleanup and sweeping all by myself meant that 30 minutes more than usual had passed by the time I finally emerged outside.
My heart felt anxious because I had unintentionally made Cha Rui wait for an hour on the street.
I was sure this was time he had worked hard to free up.
“Did he just leave, perhaps…”
I was momentarily flustered when Cha Rui was nowhere to be seen in front of the shop, but I walked towards the alley just in case.
Sure enough, he was standing exactly where he was before, waiting for me.
He wasn’t sitting down or entertaining himself with his phone.
He was just standing there, slightly leaning, with his hands shoved into his pant pockets.
Cha Rui slowly lifted his head, and his expression wasn’t much different from an hour ago.
His eyes naturally had a sharp edge to them, but a tenderness that others couldn’t see was infused within.
I felt a complex mix of emotions.
“You were still here? I’m a bit late, sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
Cha Rui shrugged his shoulder slightly as if to say not to worry and came closer.
Come to think of it, he was entirely decked out in all black, from his flight jacket and hat to his pants.
He seemed to have tried his best to attract minimal attention, but there was no vehicle visible nearby.
It seemed the place he was taking me to wasn’t very far from here.
“But where are we going?”
“Follow me and you’ll see.”
And my prediction was correct.
After walking for just about 15 minutes, the surroundings gradually turned into a commercial area, and small shops and restaurants began to appear.
Yet, it didn’t seem to be a famous place bustling with people.
The scale was generally small, and the streets looked subtly faded.
It was an old commercial district that would have enjoyed its heyday about ten years ago.
“There are surprisingly few people here, though. Is it because it’s a weekday?”
“It’s near a school, and it’s exam period.”
Near a school?
At his words, I looked around and indeed saw students in uniform occasionally.
Even with the small number of people, some recognized us and couldn’t hide their excitement, jumping up and down.
They couldn’t bring themselves to approach due to Cha Rui’s intimidating presence and merely pulled out their phones from afar.
“Oh? Chirpy!”
But then, Chirpy, who had been peeking out and watching from inside my clothes, suddenly acted out.
He jumped out before I could stop him and quickly flew off to somewhere.
He was so fast that even Cha Rui momentarily lost sight of him.
Damn it, did he find a nut store again?
Flustered, I dragged Cha Rui and peered around, and thankfully, I found Chirpy not far away.
I wondered why he was flying off so desperately, but surprisingly, it was an arcade with claw machines.
I knew it was a trend among the MZ generation these days, but this was my first time actually stepping inside.
“Why did you run off on your own! What are you doing here?”
I awkwardly stepped into the surprisingly colorful interior and scolded Chirpy.
But Chirpy, who was tightly glued to a claw machine, showed no intention of letting go.
He continuously chirped and whined, like a child begging for a toy.
Feeling conscious of Cha Rui, I glanced sideways and then carefully inspected the claw machine in question.
Now that I looked closely, most of the dolls were shaped like squirrels holding an acorn in their hands.
The size was just right for Chirpy, and their cute appearance greatly resembled him.
“Is this what you want?”
