GB 75

Haero exhaled deeply, his breath heavy with the smell of alcohol, and looked up at Yoon Moo-hwa defiantly.

“But aren’t you going to kiss me today? Are we still just talking? Do we need to talk more? I want to kiss… This dream is boring today.”

“Because it’s not the first time.”

Yoon Moo-hwa smiled a picture-perfect smile. It should have bloomed brightly, but instead it dropped down, like a hellflower soaked in sewage. That’s why Haero thought it was really strange. It was a smile he had never seen before, and thus had never even imagined.

“It’s not the first time you’ve acted like this when drunk. You have bad drinking habits. Don’t drink recklessly from now on. Drinking on board is prohibited too.”

“Others can, but I can’t?”

“That’s right. Others can, but you can’t.”

“Why? Because I’m still young? Do I look like I’m in my early teens to you?”

‘What a ridiculous notion. Is there a pervert who would stroke the hair of a young teenager like this? Even if there was, would that be myself? Sometimes I feel the urge to put Haero over my knee and give him a good spanking. Did I spoil him too much? Even now, Haero casually crushed my consideration.

I’ve been starving my own heart for your sake.’

But he can’t say this proudly because he’s not innocent himself. Yoon Moo-hwa is already Haero’s accomplice.

“I really don’t know who’s being too much here.”

“Huh…?”

“You really don’t remember, Haero.”

Haero didn’t remember that he had crashed into him like this, without thinking, on the night he became an adult. It would probably be the same this time. If he remembered, unlike that time…

Even if you still chase after me…

The two assumptions converge.

“Shall I make you a promise?”

Haero blinked slowly, looking at his unkind illusion. The night sky, the night sea, the fake illusion the ship shows.

“Tomorrow, you won’t remember this moment either. Only I will remember. Just like the night you suddenly appeared at my house, threw me around, and left.”

“No. I remember that time. The night I left you…”

“I’m not talking about that night, Haero.” Yoon Moo-hwa whispered with a gloomy smile.

He tilted his head a little more. Haero swallowed hard. He was the one who pounced, so why did he feel like he was the one being pounced on? Was it because of the vast, dark sea beyond the firmly set railing behind him?

“You’ll certainly forget. But if you happen to remember…”

“Then…?”

“Then I’ll…”

‘Me…’

Haero silently moved his lips and turned his head to the side. It was because Yoon Moo-hwa had suddenly come closer.

His breath brushed against the concave part behind Haero’s ear and his nape.

His body trembled violently.

It was the best dream. The most spiteful version of Yoon Moo-hwa was leading him to the best dream. Haero grabbed the railing abruptly. The cold metallic smell seemed to crawl from his hands to the tips of his hair.

“Ah…”

With an anguished moan, his body shook violently.

He’s falling. Into the sea.

It seems he’s finally being pushed over the railing. Haero blinked in confusion. The Yoon Moo-hwa before him was getting further and further away. He was watching with an indifferent expression even as Haero was falling.

‘Ah, really! This is the worst!’

Just as he was about to shout something at him with resentful eyes, Haero woke up on a hard, cold floor.

“…”

Blinking at the ash-gray painted ceiling, Haero let out a groan.

It seems he had fallen out of bed.

His back ached, and his legs were still awkwardly draped over the bed, stretched upwards.

Haero lay still, chasing the dust floating in his vision, and only after a long while did he raise his upper body and muss up his hair.

“My head hurts…”

It felt like he had a strange dream. A peculiar feeling that was both the best and the worst, making him frown in irritation yet smile broadly.

With a toothbrush in his mouth, he went out onto the deck.

The morning sea was spectacular, with white foam breaking like toothpaste and blue waves crashing. Staring blankly at it, Haero recalled his dream from the night before.

‘I dreamed of falling into the sea.’

That’s all he remembered.

Or maybe it was a dream of falling into the night sky.

It was the mission of dreams to disappear from the moment of waking.

* * *

Butter with spices is sautéed and poured over mussels, then simmered a bit more. Or lemon juice is generously sprinkled over raw oysters.

The port was bustling again. Diverse and vivid smells stimulated not just the nose but the entire body. Haero explored the shops lining the port, holding french fries so salty they made his fingertips wrinkle.

It was like a small amusement park. The vibrant illustrations of shrimp, mussels, and seagulls painted on shops everywhere were luxuriously stimulating eyes dulled from seeing only the pale gray, pitch black, or deep blue of the sea that changed with time.

His pace quickened. Before he knew it, the hand holding the french fries was also holding cotton candy and a balloon.

“Want to try darts before you go?”

Someone pulled Haero in from among the crowd drinking beer early in the morning.

He had never played darts before. Haero stood in the center, holding a dart, having been stripped of all his souvenirs.

After a few throws, he started to get the hang of it. Just as it was becoming familiar to his hand, his allotted turns ended, and he fished out some common currency from his pocket. After three more games, Haero finally managed to score quite well.

“You’re good. You didn’t get an artificial eye implant, did you?”

“If I had, I’d be doing much better.”

Instead of saying it would have been obvious if he had, he joked, and the people around laughed boisterously, agreeing.

The cotton candy and balloon didn’t return, and the french fries barely made it back to his hand in a meager state with only three left. Haero shrugged, stuffed the remaining fries into his mouth, and tossed the paper wrapper into the trash.

When he woke up, those scheduled for shore leave that day had already left. At least, that was true for the people Haero knew. After hastily concluding that everyone had gone out, Haero set out alone onto the streets.

The port was mostly filled with sailors, with hardly any officers in sight. After hearing that they had gone to the city 40 minutes away by bus and getting detailed information about what was there, Haero boarded a free shuttle bus.

The weather was excellent. Although it was winter, it was mild, and the Australian landscape, which often sees rain in winter, was overflowing with fresh vitality.

He entered the city where the entire view was visible at a glance due to the absence of surrounding mountains. There was no smell of the sea. Haero headed straight for a bookstore. The quiet bookstore had traces of old sailing ships melted into various spots.

Haero examined nautical charts and compasses from the early 21st century and bought a paperweight and pencil with a 19th-century sailing ship miniature inside. As he was thinking about looking at a few more books, he heard hurried footsteps behind him, and soon someone stood close by.

“Who…!”

As Haero turned around sensitively, he found himself holding a dull knife used for opening envelopes. Its tip was sharp enough to be threatening. Seeing this, So Eunpa grinned and raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.

“Looks like you’ve been training hard. It’s me. When did you come out? I’ve been waiting.”

‘Why wait for me? What a waste of time.’

Haero, having thought that the non-date from before had ended vaguely with the meal, was completely oblivious to So Eunpa’s one-sided courtship atmosphere. Whether brother or sister, though not blood-related, they were equally purely harmful in their innocence.

“If you were going to wait, you should have said so.”

Despite the indifferent response, So Eunpa smiled shyly.

Then, searching for another topic of conversation, he noticed Haero’s white pants that were ever so slightly less crisp.

“Your pants aren’t fully pressed. You might get in trouble for that later.”

At those words, Haero looked down. He couldn’t see where they weren’t pressed properly. It might be because of the load he was carrying in his hands.

So Eunpa knelt in front of Haero. Being from the UDT, he was wearing different clothes from Haero. The contrast between the spotlessly white pants and the camouflage-patterned fabric was quite striking. It was a look that would stand out anywhere. It was no wonder that other crew members passing by noticed So Eunpa breathing on his hands and slightly adjusting the creases of the pants.

“Hey, what are you doing there?”

The chief engineer, known for his meddling nature and weakness for romance stories, shouted loudly from outside the store. Both Haero and So Eunpa looked up. There, besides the chief engineer, were the operations officer, a major, and the captain, Yoon Moo-hwa.

They all outranked Haero and So Eunpa. So Eunpa jumped to his feet.

“Don’t do that in such a cramped space, come out here.”

“You could have just pretended not to see and passed by, but you had to call them out.”

The operations officer playfully chided, but he too looked interested.

Haero looked at Yoon Moo-hwa. He didn’t add any comments, but he was also looking this way. In his hand, he was holding an ice cream with strikingly bright blue and yellow colors that didn’t suit him. Colors clearly created with food coloring. Now that he looked, all three were holding cups of the same design, suggesting the taste must be quite good.

“That ice cream, it seems to be from a popular place.” Haero, who had obediently come out and saluted as ordered, asked. 

He had directed the question at Yoon Moo-hwa, but someone else answered, “Yeah. This place is famous for dairy products, you know. Lieutenant, you should go try it too. Whichever flavor you choose is amazing. Ah, except for the licorice flavor. It’s black and tastes like licking a tire.”

The operations officer advised. He was from a country with a food culture similar to where Haero had grown up after leaving the island. If it didn’t suit his palate, it probably wouldn’t suit Haero’s either.

While nodding, Haero stared intently at Yoon Moo-hwa.

Unlike usual, Yoon Moo-hwa wasn’t avoiding his gaze. He was eating the ice cream by scooping it with a spoon and spreading it on his tongue. The fact that just eating ice cream looked somewhat erotic was probably because his own mind was full of improper thoughts.

“Would you like to try some?” At that moment, Yoon Moo-hwa broke through Haero’s expectations.

“Pardon? Did I hear that wrong?”

When Haero asked again, Yoon Moo-hwa scooped up some blue ice cream with his own spoon and held it out. “It’s cookie flavor.”

The toy-like colored ice cream was named ‘Cookie Monster,’ after the bright blue puppet from a very old children’s program.

In his confusion, Haero, without any thought or awareness, stretched out his neck, opened his mouth, and ate it.