Side Story 5. A Midsummer Night's Letter (2) Main Text: The Island of Runaway Lovers (5)

Left with no choice, Tae-un sat alone and ordered five menu items. He tried to sample as wide a variety as possible, and quickly came to a conclusion. This was food Soram couldn't eat. Though he loved Korean cuisine and could eat spicy soup and stew, he detested exotic seasonings. Among the dishes, the seafood with tomato sauce was the most palatable, but even then, he would prefer it grilled with just salt.

For some reason, the Western food he hadn't had in a long time didn't taste as good to him as before. It seemed his palate had been gradually influenced by Soram. The fact that he was craving kimchi was proof of that.

The tourist spots he had explored on the first day of his vacation generally scored high. The natural scenery, the resort providing individual buildings, the church... well, they were all good. The only problem was the absence of Korean restaurants.

Tae-un returned to the resort, compiling the information he had gathered today. After this time, he planned to examine the resort's interior, and then leave early the next morning to preview the next destination in the car.

He was about to go straight to his room, but thinking it might be difficult to look around the facilities if it got any later, he turned his steps towards the main lobby.

While he had been eating, the color of the sea had changed once again. The sun had already mostly set, and both the sky and sea had turned purple. Tae-un took in the sight for a moment before turning away. Calculating the time difference with Korea, he wondered what Soram might be doing now.

'He's probably fallen asleep alone, still upset...'

Come to think of it, he would be sleeping alone in a bed for the first time in a very long time. He had thought he was quite tired, but now he wasn't sure if he would be able to sleep. The 80 hours without sleep might not be just a joke after all.

Would Soram answer if he called tomorrow?

Rubbing the black screen of his phone as he approached the lobby, Tae-un sighed. It might have been presumptuous to think he could be apart for even three days.

Even now, he was ridiculously hearing things. Jin Soram's voice.

"Big and tall man! Big! Very big!"

"..."

"I saw all the reservation records on his laptop. A huge, dark-clothed man came here, didn't he?"

Tae-un reflexively stopped in his tracks, but there weren't many decorations in the lobby large enough to hide him from the employee who was pointing a finger in his direction with a 'Could it be him?' look in their eyes.

***

"No matter how much you try to run away..., you're in Soram's palm...!"

"I got it, so swallow before you speak."

Inside Tae-un's carrier were cup noodles, instant rice, and packaged kimchi that he had packed just in case. All of those were being plundered and disappearing in real-time before his eyes by someone.

Soram ate like a Korean who had just emerged from a dungeon inhabited by a cream soup monster for three days. Even Tae-un, who found this situation absurd and displeasing, had no choice but to fetch a cup of water and push it in front of him. Soram tilted his head back and downed a whole cup in one go.

"Running away? You're running away? I'm so flabbergasted and stunned that I can't even speak!"

"Since everything's blocked, why don't you block your mouth too..."

"What?!"

Tae-un pretended not to hear and got up with the empty cup to refill it with water. Soram, without taking his glaring eyes off him, sucked in the noodles through his pointedly protruding lips.

Watching this scene continuously made him feel so dumbfounded that his strength drained away. Tae-un pulled out the chair opposite and slumped down.

"Hah... How on earth did you get here?"

"I flew. Whoosh."

"...Surely you didn't fly through the airspace?"

"Does that make sense? I took a plane."

It was fortunate that he hadn't heard news of Hunter Jin Soram defecting to North Korea. If he had passed through the airport, whether he had thrown a tantrum lying down at Seoul City Hall or whatever, at least he had left the country through legal procedures... Just as he was thinking this, Tae-un realized another strange point.

"There should have been only one direct flight here today."

"Yeah. I took that one. The same as you. First class."

"..."

"Oh, come to think of it, isn't this a bit similar to when you followed me on the train in the next car when I was going to Busan? Suddenly, I feel vindicated."

The remaining half of the instant rice went into the cup noodles. Soram pressed down on the rice with a plastic spoon, completely submerging it in the red broth.

"Then you must have arrived quite a while ago. What on earth have you been doing all this time?"

"Well, I had various things to take care of..."

His mouth, reddened by the ramen broth, wrinkled his nose bridge, clenched tightly once, and then opened again.

"This place is too far from the airport! I barely arrived after getting lost! This is my first meal today!"

"..."

If he had followed him so recklessly anyway, he should have contacted him earlier. Seeing him having a meal with instant food here made his stomach churn. Had he been starving during the time he was sitting in the restaurant? Whether he found out then or now, it would have been equally bewildering and absurd.

"This is all because you left me behind and came alone. Why are you trying to prepare for the honeymoon alone, leaving behind the person you're going to marry?"

"...Are you really asking because you don't know?"

"Yes. I don't know."

"You don't know?"

Interpreted, it meant something like 'You know but you're being stubborn.' While Tae-un was swallowing a sigh, Soram finished off the rice soaked in broth and smacked his lips.

Tae-un got up from in front of Soram who had finished eating and flopped down on the bed.

Outside the window directly in front of the bed, the private pool rippled as if connected to the distant sea, and the scenery surrounded by palm trees was reflected.

If it had been Han Tae-un who was planning to explore this resort as a honeymoon candidate, he would have left a memo saying 'A place where we can enjoy swimming cozily together' after seeing that scene, but now it was of no use.

Soram quietly approached and climbed onto the bed. The square-shaped mattress had plenty of space left even with Tae-un lying down and Soram sitting cross-legged beside him.

"Hey, Han Tae-un. Are you really upset?"

"...I know. I know it's strange for me to be stubborn about something like this."

"I have a lot of money that I easily earned thanks to my memories from my past life. Why are you so concerned about me buying this and that for you? I don't need to save money. It's not even something for you to feel indebted about."

"I know, I said."

"If you know, why aren't you looking at me?"

Soram leaned down, placing his hand next to Tae-un's shoulder. Their faces came close.

Soram, who had been staring blankly at Tae-un's face, randomly rubbed his cheek. The skin covering his handsome face was mashed around. Tae-un, who had endured it for a moment, soon grabbed Soram's wrist to stop him, but didn't let go of that hand while wearing a complicated expression.

"Ha, you don't even give me time to feel sorry for myself."

"Sorry for yourself? Don't you mean disappointed?"

"I'm not disappointed. You're trying to give me everything..."

And that's the problem. Hearing Tae-un's rare grumbling, Soram put his hands on his waist.

"It's okay for a much younger lover to just accept everything."

"No. You're twenty-eight years old now. The same age as me."

His voice was particularly firm compared to his other assertions. But Soram's expression softened.

"That's right. Thanks to you, I decided to live only this life."

Tae-un, who had been trying to escape from Soram's gaze that seemed to read his inner thoughts, finally sat up, vigorously rubbing the back of his head.

"Jin Soram, look. It's not simply a matter of who bears more of the cost, I also want to..."

"Want to what?"

"I want to... ha, play a cool role for you."

"Hey, are you really kidding me? What kind of person you are to me..."

"..."

"...Never mind."

Soram, who had been speaking defiantly, dropped his shoulders while looking at the ceiling. Still, his resentment didn't seem to subside as his front teeth were tightly clenched between his twitching lips.

"Why on earth do you dislike receiving things from me so much?! I don't understand."

"I'm not saying I dislike receiving. It's because you're trying to cover 100 percent of everything. I'm not completely without means either."

"I know! What, do you think I'm doing this because you look desperately poor? I'm just doing it because I don't mind doing everything."

"That's not it, ...we're thinking in completely different directions, but okay. Let me give you another example."

Tae-un, who had been pressing his forehead, raised his head.

"I'm bigger than you, right? But what if I told you not to lift a finger because you're like a tiny squirrel and I'm afraid you might get hurt somewhere?"

"...?"

Soram thought for a moment and then said seriously.

"...A new... mental attack...?"

"..."

"Why...? Why on earth...?"

Tae-un, seeming to realize his analogy was wrong, dropped his head while rubbing his face. Soram, who had slowly backed away, got off the bed and wandered around the interior, cutting through the awkward air. He peered at a potted plant in the corner of the bedroom, then floated up to look at the patterns on the ceiling before coming back down.

Following Soram, Tae-un also moved his gaze to look at the interior of the room.

He had only dropped off his luggage before going sightseeing, and for about 30 minutes after entering with Soram, he hadn't had the presence of mind to look around. So this was the first time Tae-un was properly surveying the room too.

The rattan furniture and decorations placed here and there gave off a strong resort vibe. Although the air conditioner cooled the air, the moist grass smell still lingered.

One wall was entirely made of glass to allow full enjoyment of the sea view while the sun was up. The sky had darkened more than before, but instead, the indoor lighting reflected in the private pool twinkled like stars.

"Han Tae-un, this place is really pretty."

"It is."

"And you were trying to come to a place like this alone."

Soram opened the full-length window. The muffled sound of waves doubled in volume. The warm wind that he had faced alone at the beach earlier also entered the room.