GB 52

Finally, a small crack appeared in Yoon Moo-hwa’s mask. 

“I don’t understand why you’re curious about his feelings. I have no obligation to tell you, and even if I did, I wouldn’t want to.”

“But it must be important. If your beloved brother’s feelings differ from yours, Colonel, what will you do then? Will you accept it, given how much you cherish him?”

The conversation was becoming tedious now. It seemed she was trying to scratch at him to find some weakness, but he had no intention of playing along.

“That won’t happen. I’m his guardian, and I feel both responsibility and joy in that role.”

“All parents must let their children become independent at some point. May I offer some advice, even if it crosses a line?”

“No. It’s not necessary.”

But his companion didn’t listen. She must have been raised in a different family culture. Even if he had been considering marriage, she would not have been a suitable match.

“Don’t bring your brother as your partner anymore. Until your family officially announces that you’re no longer his guardian, there will be quite a few people wanting to invite him. Give him a chance to choose now.”

“…”

Yoon Moo-hwa was about to drink without answering, but as if not wanting to give even a moment’s pause, he muttered, “The land must be very peaceful these days. How little there must be to do for people to show such interest in me and him. If I gave them something else to talk about, would it die down a bit?”

Yoon Moo-hwa’s eyes darkened. “For example, something like how the third daughter of a famously conservative senator has long been involved with an unknown painter of marine criminal background, whom her father so strongly opposes.”

This wasn’t Yoon Moo-hwa’s style. He truly hated such cowardly and petty threats. However, since she had first treated Haero like gossip fodder, he couldn’t just let it slide.

This wasn’t just a matchmaking meeting. While it appeared to be assessing the possibility of a future potential ally, it was also likely a place to dig for weaknesses in him and his father. If they weren’t on the same side yet, it was unconditional. Such binary thinking was still dominant, which is why he was worried about Haero’s tattoo. Just a tattoo. One that terrible adults had forcibly inscribed on a child too young to have any say.

“… Alright. It’s best we stop here, for both our sakes. You know I didn’t mean any harm, right?”

He could tell she hadn’t intentionally provoked him. She must have been told to find his weakness before coming. Just as he had been told by his father, “Even if it doesn’t go well, at least find out what kind of bill that senator is preparing.”

Of course, Yoon Moo-hwa hadn’t even bothered to listen. He wasn’t interested in bills or anything of the sort.

“I understand. These meetings are all like this.” Yoon Moo-hwa smiled coldly. “I think we’ve had enough conversation then. It doesn’t seem like it would be enjoyable for either of us to sit here as if there were four people instead of two.”

As if agreeing, the woman nodded with a slight smile. “I’ll leave first. I have my pride, you see. I can’t stand being left behind.”

His companion rose from her seat, her face filled with amusement. Yoon Moo-hwa knew he should stand up to see her off, but he didn’t want to. Even in uniform, the relaxed atmosphere made him appear twice as negligent.

“Ah, this is really just personal curiosity, but you never told me how your brother feels. Don’t you think he might already be making his own decisions?”

Yoon Moo-hwa didn’t respond. It was now moving beyond annoyance to irritation. “It’s getting late, why don’t you go now? I should be leaving too.”

“No, I have a date. I’ll tell them I was rejected.”

Yoon Moo-hwa smirked. “That’s fine. Let’s say I was the one rejected.”

His companion, about to leave, paused and quietly asked, “You won’t mention the story about me and that person, will you? Everyone calls you the gentleman of the sea.”

‘You are only a gentleman of the sea at times like this. How many decades has this quasi-war situation continued? All gentlemen are dead.’

Yoon Moo-hwa smirked and replied calmly, “I’m not interested in what people say or how they see things.”

The attitude, ‘You enjoy the gossip.’

“You’re just the type to cause trouble quietly. I look forward to what’s to come, Colonel Yoon Moo-hwa.”

What was so funny? What had she imagined on her own? 

She left the seat laughing joyfully. 

Yoon Moo-hwa frowned at the laughter lingering in his ears.

‘The people my father likes never suit me.’

After settling the bill, Yoon Moo-hwa staggered out and hailed a taxi. As he climbed into the back seat, he briefly wondered if that’s why his father doesn’t continue to like Haero.

‘I have to pick up Haero tomorrow.’

His thoughts naturally turned to Haero. As if it were his course. What a well-chosen name.

As he rubbed his chin, looking into the darkness, Yoon Moo-hwa heard Haero’s moan-like call in his ear. More precisely, it was the sound of him calling out to Yoon Moo-hwa.

‘Whether it’s liking or lusting.’

It was a strange worry. As if his answer would change depending on the direction.

* * *

Yoon Moo-hwa felt no particular emotion seeing his almamater after a long time. However, he did think that planting wisteria, which had nearly gone extinct, to create a long flower tunnel to the school gate was somewhat romantic now that he was older. Most graduates would board ships, where it’s hard to see flowers.

In that sense, it was coincidental that his name shared the same sound as the Chinese character meaning “no flowers.”

Yoon Moo-hwa sat in the car with the weather broadcast on, waiting for Haero. Being in a remote location, many people left for outings in their own cars, family cars, or spouses’ cars. Cars carrying their loved ones left one by one, and even as the parking lot became quite desolate, Haero didn’t appear.

It was only when it became quiet that Haero was seen slowly walking out under the wisteria tunnel.

“Was his walk always this slow?” Yoon Moo-hwa muttered, hunching over and hugging the steering wheel.

Unlike when walking with him, Haero was strolling at a leisurely pace. He kept slowing down and tilting his head back, as if there was something to see in detail in the wisteria tunnel that was merely decent in Yoon Moo-hwa’s eyes. 

This wasn’t his attitude when they walked together. He rarely got distracted then. Perhaps… had he been matching his pace to Yoon Moo-hwa’s all this time? 

Yoon Moo-hwa rubbed his lips. He thought he had been the one matching pace, but maybe not…

As he watched Haero’s exposed nape, Yoon Moo-hwa unconsciously slowly removed his eye patch.

As he took off the eye patch, his artificial eye made a faint mechanical noise as it precisely zoomed in on what Yoon Moo-hwa wanted to see.

Now, Yoon Moo-hwa’s field of vision didn’t include any of the wisteria.

Just Haero’s lightly sweat-dampened nape and slightly parted lips.

The mechanical noise continued a bit longer. Now Yoon Moo-hwa could even see the palate visible through the very narrow gap. It was bright red.

“I thought all light skin was pink…” He muttered, unconsciously gripping and releasing the steering wheel.

As he raised his upper body again, Yoon Moo-hwa’s eyes met Haero’s.

More precisely, their gazes overlapped rather than met. No matter how good Haero’s eyesight was without an artificial eye, he couldn’t possibly make eye contact with Yoon Moo-hwa at this distance, especially inside the car.

Yoon Moo-hwa straightened up, flustered enough to momentarily forget this fact. As expected, Haero showed no change and was still facing this direction.

His pace seemed to be getting faster. It sped up, slowed down, then sped up again repeatedly.

“You’ll get indigestion like that.”

Yoon Moo-hwa recalled a time long ago when he had to stop a young Haero from eating cake too eagerly because he loved it so much. When told to eat slowly, he would slow down his fork movements, only to speed up again as he concentrated. In the end, Yoon Moo-hwa had to prick those tiny fingertips that night, and after that, Haero stopped liking cake.

‘Is he still hesitating now? Is he trying to walk slowly, remembering the advice to be careful of indigestion and the stinging pain of having his fingertip pricked?’

And if he ends up with indigestion anyway …he’ll never touch it again.

Yoon Moo-hwa leaned back completely in his seat. And when Haero came close enough to spot his car, he put his eye patch back on.

Haero, not realizing Yoon Moo-hwa had seen him through the tinted windows, also tensed up, clearing his throat unnecessarily.

This was likely their first meeting after Haero had gone through his most complex worries. Meeting Yoon Moo-hwa had always been full of anticipation and joy, not something that made him so nervous his breathing was off, but this time he was overwhelmed with tension.

Haero took a deep breath, as if diving deep. He steeled himself to relax and act as usual.

Yoon Moo-hwa was watching all of Haero’s actions. He had always had good eyesight. Haero’s appearance from inside the tinted windows was quite amusing and rather cute.

As he let out an affectionate chuckle, about to click his tongue at the pathetic antics of pathetic people spreading rumors about such a boy, his phone rang.

The caller was his father.

‘He’s probably calling about yesterday’s affair.’

Not wanting to answer, he rejected the call, but it immediately rang again. The persistence was relentless. He was certain that if he didn’t answer now, the calls would keep coming. 

Yoon Moo-hwa swallowed a sigh and answered the phone. Haero was still approaching, so he needed to end the call quickly.

“Yes. I’ve answered the phone.”

―I got a call from a journalist I know today. I was going to ignore it since it’s a B-grade magazine reporter, but I think this needs to be checked.

“What’s the matter? I’m in a hurry. I’d appreciate it if you could quickly state your business since I’m busy.”

Even though Yoon Sang-won was already speaking without pause, Yoon Moo-hwa responded in an indifferent voice. B-grade magazine. It’s obvious. Probably about photos taken at yesterday’s dinner or something. Even if Haero heard, it was something that could be easily explained.

‘… Wait, did that matter need explaining?’

As he turned his head, Haero was right in front of him. Yoon Moo-hwa unlocked the door and waited.

―It’s about you two.

At his father’s voice, teeth clenched, Yoon Moo-hwa was surprised that his father was so desperate about his son’s matchmaking meeting.

Soon, the sound of Haero opening the car door was heard. Intending to signal him to wait a moment due to the call, he was about to bring his finger to his lips when his father’s words continued, lowered and snarled through gritted teeth.

―’Navy Colonel raises an orphan from a pirate island for guardianship, but the real reason is love?’

Both Yoon Moo-hwa and Haero, who had just opened the door, froze at the blatantly sarcastic content.

“What…” Haero stammered. 

Yoon Moo-hwa leaned to the side, shushing Haero and pulling him by the arm.

In an instant, Haero was almost pulled into Yoon Moo-hwa’s embrace, his mouth covered.

“… Nonsense. Is this the first time you’ve seen tabloids spewing nonsense for clicks? As a politician, you shouldn’t be swayed by such trivial matters.”

―You think I’m doing this just for my own sake?! This is your problem! Yours and that kid you’re always with!

Yoon Sang-won shouted angrily. Yoon Moo-hwa slowly leaned completely towards Haero and closed the car door.

“Yes, it seems to be my problem. That’s why I’m saying this. How long has it been since your son turned thirty? How long are you going to try to manage every single rumor about me? They’re writing fiction because I’m well past the right age for marriage. They’ll come to their senses when they receive a lawsuit. Where is it, the place that’s spouting nonsense?”

Yoon Sang-won spat out the name.

It was the family of a relative of the cadet who had discovered Haero’s pirate tattoo.

That cadet had once been on a cruise ship for a family vacation when it was captured by pirates, and he was trapped on the cruise ship for a week. Although Haero wasn’t one of the pirates he had encountered then, he had no room to accept Haero as a fellow cadet, and he couldn’t help but hate him for the memories triggered by the tattoo.

Haero tightly closed his mouth. His face was not just pale, but ashen.

This was beyond any false rumors they had faced before. His very existence had become the filth covering Yoon Moo-hwa. The word ‘love’ was just a ridiculous mockery. That’s why Yoon Sang-won was clearly so angry.

He needed to make excuses. He needed to say something, anything.

But his lips wouldn’t easily part.

Because his heart …

He wasn’t innocent.

“Hyung.” Haero called Yoon Moo-hwa in a small voice, almost like the wind.

Yoon Moo-hwa shook his head without even looking at Haero. The shape of his lips saying ‘shh’ looked like he would cover Haero’s mouth at any moment if he continued.

Haero covered his mouth and pressed his body firmly into the seat. He pressed the back of his hand hard against his lips.

“The lawsuit will be filed in my name. Don’t worry about it. If you get angry at these tabloids every time, you’ll lose all your hair. And if you really care about me and Haero, try to associate with people who match your disposition better. That senator isn’t one of them, is he?” Yoon Moo-hwa made a joke that didn’t sound like a joke.

In fact, it wasn’t really a joke. He wasn’t in the mood for that. 

Yoon Moo-hwa ended the call before his father could say anything more.

After the call ended, the radio sound returned to the car as if nothing had happened. The weather forecast had ended, and classical music was playing.

At the sound of music that seemed to creep up in short, staccato notes, Haero’s breath quickened. It felt like someone was chasing him.

“Don’t worry about it.” Yoon Moo-hwa acted as if nothing had really happened. “It’s not like this is the first or second time we’ve experienced false rumors, right?”