A Goodbye Gift
I could make sense of the situation well enough, yet what felt strange was the state of my own heart as I watched the four of them chatting so warmly together. An oddly unpleasant feeling spread through my chest, hot and thick.
Should I call it feeling left out, or simply regret? It wasn't clear, but the interest I'd felt while watching them at the start no longer stirred. Being sad that Unnie was leaving was true enough, yet this was a separate sense of alienation. I found myself ridiculous for it, but that was how it was.
I scanned them one by one with a sullen look until my gaze settled on Cha Seon-tae. He acted mischievously toward me while flashing that innocent smile at everyone else. The pervert.
I was narrowing my eyes to glare at him when the Madam headed back toward the main house, and the remaining three began walking toward the annex. Hee-yeon Unnie and the Director went ahead, Cha Seon-tae trailing behind them. Then, without warning, he lifted his head sharply, and I startled a little.
“…….”
As if he'd known I was there from the very start, he locked eyes with me at once and gestured in my direction.
He flapped his hand through the air, pointed toward the annex with his thumb, then mimed lifting luggage with both hands—as far as I could tell, it meant You help too. Then he simply strode off. I stared after him in disbelief, clicked my tongue, and left the window.
Helping wasn't all that difficult. I'd been thinking I might, deep down.
Unnie, perhaps fretting that her departure would pile more work onto the Madam, had been especially busy these past few days.
She cleaned the refrigerator, organized the storeroom, and practically tore through a deep clean on her own, scurrying here and there so that we never had time to talk. Of course we hadn't been the type to chat much even before, but now that she was leaving for good, the regret lingered.
Either way, after three years of seeing her, attachment was inevitable. And truthfully, until Mother passed, the household had gotten along rather well. After witnessing Mother's death together, there had been a kind of unspoken solidarity too.
Turning a blind eye to Unnie's theft had been part bargain, but also a kind of fondness.
“…….”
After a moment's hesitation, I opened the jewelry box on the vanity. There weren't many jewels left now. I scanned them one by one, took out a pair of sapphire earrings, slipped them into my pocket, and went downstairs. The Madam, who happened to be passing, spoke to me.
“Where are you going?”
“To help Unnie move her things.”
“There's no need for even you to do that, Miss… There are two strong young men, after all.”
“Still…”
As I trailed off, she soon smiled and nodded.
“Yes. It's the thought that counts.”
“…….”
“Who doesn't know our young lady has such a warm heart.”
Whether from years of watching me or simply out of pity, her assessment was generous. In truth I wasn't particularly affectionate. I smiled awkwardly and kept walking.
The moment I stepped out of the entrance I ran into Cha Seon-tae. He was carrying a large box that looked heavy at a glance.
“Perfect timing. Give me a hand.”
He was the one who'd waved me over, yet he played it so shamelessly. Probably because of the Director coming up behind him.
“Huh? There's no need for even Ji-yul to help. It's hot out—don't go to unnecessary trouble.”
“Why say that, Director. She's come all this way out of kindness. We ought to at least have her carry a book.”
“In that time you could just move more busily yourself. Ji-yul can go back inside. Or watch from the shade.”
“No. I'll help too.”
Even though it was fine not to, I pretended not to hear the Director muttering behind me and headed for the annex.
The modest single-story annex was a place I almost never set foot in. I couldn't even remember when I'd last been there. The three doors set into the square wall were, from the left: the bathroom the gardeners used, Unnie's room, and the Madam's; right now the middle door stood wide open.
“Unnie.”
I called softly from the entrance, and Hee-yeon Unnie peeked her head around the corner.
“What is it? Do you need something?”
“No. It's not that… I came to help move the luggage.”
“Oh my, there's really no need.”
Newspaper was spread across the floor, so it seemed fine to walk in with my shoes on. I stepped inside as I was.
The lodging was a one-room layout with a private bathroom attached to each. I glanced at the bathroom where Cha Seon-tae had probably showered, cleared my throat to shake off the stray thought, and went farther in. Unnie was sorting trash beside a large garbage bag.
“Really, it's fine. The Director and Seon-tae will have it done in no time.”
I rolled my eyes a little, spotted a small box in the corner, and went over to it.
“Even something like this.”
I bent my knees, sat, and lifted the box with both hands—only for the weight to feel ominous. Sure enough, scrawled in the corner was Books 1. Afraid that if I set it back down I would drop it, I barely managed to brace it against my arms.
Unnie watched me with clear discomfort at the sight of me exerting myself; I gave her an awkward smile and started walking anyway.
But it was truly heavy… Silently suffering as I cleared the shoe cabinet, I found Cha Seon-tae returning just then. When he spotted me he wore a mischievous smile, and for the first time I was glad to see him.
“Hey, this a bit…”
“Fighting!”
“…….”
He tossed out the encouragement with absurd breeziness and brushed right past.
I turned, dumbfounded, and soon Cha Seon-tae—who had vanished around the corner—reappeared with other luggage. I stared in disbelief at the large cushion in his hands. He held it against his chest as if it were a box and jerked his chin at me.
“It's too heavy, so could you hurry up and go.”
“…Stop joking and take this.”
When I frowned, only then did he snicker and slide one hand under the box. My arms lightened at once; the box and cushion swapped places.
“Just take that and follow me.”
Even though the size was small, the books made it considerably heavy, yet he tucked it under one arm and strode ahead. Clearly, with a strong guy like him around, me stepping up wouldn't help much, so I simply carried the cushion and followed. Just then the Director approached from the opposite direction, looking thoroughly pleased.
“Wow, Ji-yul's hauling the big one.”
“…….”
I couldn't say a word to the Director and simply quickened my steps.
“I've got a question.”
Before I could catch up, Cha Seon-tae spun around. The memory of hugging him and touching myself rose unbidden; my cheeks heated, though I blamed the weather. He seemed completely unbothered—why was I the only one conscious of it?
“Why the hell is that set up there?”
What he pointed at with one hand was the stone statue over his shoulder. I didn't linger long on the winged angel facing the main house.
When he'd first come to our place he must have heard the explanation from the Director, so he certainly knew what that spot was. The nuance was that he couldn't understand why it had been set up so conspicuously. I glanced up at him briefly, then simply shrugged.
“It's Father's doing, so not my business.”
“…….”
He stared at me intently, then said, “Is that so,” lost interest, and turned away. Or so I thought—when I came alongside him, he brought the statue up again.
“It'd be a little creepy at night.”
“…….”
“On the spot where someone died, and an angel with a human face at that—hell, it's even looking at the house. Is your dad kind of a pervert?”
The last words grated especially hard. I frowned and shoved the cushion at him as if throwing it.
“'Pervert' is a word for guys like you.”
“…….”
“I don't like talking about the statue. I'm just going up.”
The instant I turned, his large body blocked the way. Holding the cushion in one arm and the box in the other, he looked down at me blankly, then shrugged.
“Got it. I won't, I won't.”
“…….”
“How was I supposed to know you hated it.”
Well, there was no way Cha Seon-tae could know how I felt about the statue. We'd never talked about it.
Calling Father a pervert—thinking about it, it was something that could reasonably seem strange. No, it was strange. Who Mother had died because of, and still setting up that thing… his insides really were warped. Acknowledging that I'd been oversensitive, I took the cushion back.
“Be careful from now on.”
“Yes, yes. Let's go.”
We started walking side by side again.
The full summer sun heated the crown of my head until it was hot. Even though I'd just come out of the cool room, I grew warm almost at once. I looked up at the sky with a sour expression, then my eyes rolled toward Cha Seon-tae. Having worked outside the whole time and now carrying luggage on top of it, he was soaked in the heat.
Taller than me, broader in surface area—he must have been catching far more sunlight. Thinking that silly thought while glancing at him, we passed through the main gate.
The blue delivery truck already held two boxes and a large plastic bundle. Cha Seon-tae set his load beside the boxes; I set mine beside the plastic. As I was about to turn away, a sudden thought made me scan the surroundings.
“Stand behind me for a second.”
“Why?”
“Hurry.”
No one was visible in the yard just then, but just in case I used him as a shield and carefully lifted the flap of the nearest loaded box. He stood quietly behind me as ordered; when the earrings came out of my pocket he made an interested little snort and closed the distance.
“Goodbye gift?”
“Don't tell anyone, anywhere.”
I slipped the pair of earrings into the box and sealed the opening carefully. This way they would simply think it had gotten mixed in from somewhere. I could have handed them over directly, but that would have brought the overlooked kleptomania to the surface, and Unnie might have felt uncomfortable. Since I had pretended not to know, I intended to keep the same posture until the end.
I gave the top of the box a couple of rough pats and turned—only for Cha Seon-tae still to be standing right there, so my forehead smacked hard into his chest. What was a person's body, a rock? It hurt like hell. I rubbed my forehead roughly and gestured for him to move aside, yet he didn't budge.
“Move. The other luggage—”
Chup.
“…What?”
Startled by the sudden, bottomless kiss, I looked up. He was smiling strangely as he bent toward me. When our noses nearly brushed, I barely managed to shove his chest.
“Are you crazy? What are you doing outside?”
“Ah, is that so.”
“If someone sees—”
Until the moment I put the earrings in, no one had been around, but just in case I rolled my eyes—and involuntarily sucked in a sharp breath. A familiar sedan was parked a short distance from the truck.
“Did you have an appointment?”
Cha Seon-tae, who had turned his head following mine, jerked his chin toward Do Ha-jin sitting stiff-faced in the driver's seat. When had he arrived? I hadn't noticed…
“What are you two doing over there?”
The Director's voice floated from the yard. Only then did Seon-tae step back, speaking so only I could hear.
“Looks like that oppa got quite a shock.”