Come Back

“Instead, I will get a diagnosis even through a photo.”

Lee Hae-seong called Director Kang. Even Director Kang rarely called him to the third floor when he was with Choi Hong-seo, but this time he didn’t even ask Choi Hong-seo’s opinion. He was that resolute.

Lee Hae-seong took off Choi Hong-seo’s jumper and looked at the wound more closely.

“Take off your shirt and let’s see if there are any other places.”

Choi Hong-seo took off the hoodie and T-shirt he was wearing instead of refusing because he seemed so seriously worried.

“There are two more down there.”

“Is it cold?” Lee Hae-seong said in an almost desperate voice, carefully placing his hand on her bare skin.

“It doesn’t look like a typical rash… Is it erythema…”

“Vice President, did you call?”

Lee Hae-seong quickly brought Director Kang, who appeared at the entrance to the dressing room, inside.

“Oh, sir. There was a person who used to treat your skin. I don’t remember the name, but… I heard he opened a clinic after graduating from Goryeo Hospital…”

“Yes, this is Director Seungjun Lee.”

“Let me send him some pictures. I’m worried because these symptoms suddenly appeared on my VIP skin.”

VIP was a slang term for ‘Yoon Hye-an’ in this house. It was a title that Lee Hae-seong had indicated, as he did not want to call the person everyone knew as Yoon Hye-an, nor did he want to hear anyone call him Yoon Hye-an.

Lee Hae-seong tried to show Choi Hong-seo’s back to Director Kang, but Choi Hong-seo hesitated to turn around. He didn’t want to give the impression that Lee Hae-seong was acting strangely because of Yoon Hye-an over a trivial matter. Even though he didn’t show it, it seemed like everyone in the house, including Director Kang, already thought that way.

“mister…”

Choi Hong-seo tried to dissuade Lee Hae-seong by saying that it was not itchy or painful and that there were only two or three, but the word “sir” came out of his mouth without him realizing it. There was no change in Director Kang’s expression when he glanced at him, but for a moment, his gaze turned in this direction.

“I’m really fine. I guess I was just a little dry. I’ll go to the hospital on Monday.”

“You can’t just go to any ordinary hospital for skin diseases. Ju-seong… My younger sibling suffered from atopic dermatitis for a long time. There’s a good specialist who took care of my younger sibling, so let’s just send him a few photos.”

Hae-seong Lee, who prioritized Hong-seo Choi’s feelings in everything, showed no signs of backing down on this issue. With the help of Director Kang, Hae-seong Lee took several pictures of the affected area and showed them to Hong-seo Choi.

Choi Hong-seo, who had put his hoodie back on, looked at the phone he had handed him. There was a red spot in the shape of a donut or a ring in the photo. The wound looked like a burn at first glance. He was a little surprised by the surprisingly vivid color and shape, but he wasn’t too worried because he didn’t feel itchy or sore right away. However, Lee Hae-seong’s thoughts seemed different from his.

“Tell him I said it was urgent.”

“Okay, I understand. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from you.”

“No, just tell them to contact me directly.”

“All right.”

After Director Kang left the dressing room, Lee Hae-seong straightened Choi Hong-seo’s hair, which was messy because he had to put his T-shirt back on. Choi Hong-seo handed him his cell phone and picked up his jumper again.

“Want to go for a walk?”

“I said I’d go. I’m not sick, you know. Just go out and get some fresh air.”

Lee Hae-seong followed Choi Hong-seo with a reluctant expression.

The two walked slowly along the path leading to the lake in the center of the garden. Among the three gardens of Hae-seong Lee’s Bundang mansion, the main garden was designed after the famous garden called ‘Taman Ujung’, or ‘Water Palace’ in Bali, Indonesia.

There were dozens of stone statues of Hindu gods that were actually made and transported from Bali, and in the center of the lake was a reproduction of the ‘Gates of Heaven’ sculpture from ‘Lampuyang Temple’, another famous tourist attraction in Bali. This too was a work of art made directly by Balinese craftsmen.

In reality, there is no water in front of Bali’s ‘Gate of Heaven’, but it is popular among tourists to take pictures of the reflection of a mirror and make it look like it is floating on the water, Lee Hae-seong explained.

However, the ‘Gates of Heaven’ of this mansion were actually built on a lake and were practically floating on the water.

Lee Hae-seong said that he was deeply impressed by the ‘Water Palace’ and ‘Gate of Heaven’ he visited in Bali for photo shoots. He decided to decorate this garden based on aesthetic taste, leaving aside his religious beliefs.

Choi Hong-seo also fell in love with this garden the moment he first saw it. Although it lacked the greenness of winter, he liked the atmosphere created by the exotic stone statues and water. This is because the mysterious atmosphere, which seemed to exist somewhere between reality and heaven, strangely brought him a sense of peace.

Ironically, the mansion’s construction company at the time named the garden ‘Bardo’.

There are various views on the interpretation of Bardo, which comes from a Tibetan Buddhist term, but Hae-sung focused on the meaning of ‘middle ground’. Between birth and death, between sleep and wakefulness, between ignorance and enlightenment. It is said that he named it ‘Bardo’ because he wanted to stay in this garden in a free state free from all oppression, without being pushed to any extreme, without being forced to any state.

And as Choi Hong-seo later found out, the ‘bardo’ in Tibetan Buddhism, the middle world, had another meaning: between death and reincarnation.

So it was no wonder that Choi Hong-seo felt comfortable in that garden. It was a garden that suited his current situation perfectly.

As Hae-seong said, the temperature was not that low, but the wind was quite strong. Still, as I took a deep breath of fresh air, my heavy head and heart felt a little lighter. Whoosh, the steam that escaped from Choi Hong-seo’s lips as he exhaled deeply was swept away by the sharp wind in an instant.

Lee Hae-seong hugged Choi Hong-seo’s left shoulder tightly and rubbed his arm up and down as if trying to shake off the cold.

“It’s gotten a lot colder. They say there won’t be much snow this year.”

“The first snow will also fall later than usual.”

“What should we do on the first snow day?”

“……”

The trail led to a straight stone path that divided the lake into two sides. The left side was wide open for boating, and the right side of the lake had the ‘Gate of Heaven’ and stone statues. As he entered the stone path, Choi Hong-seo’s pace slowed.

“Is there something you want to do? Tell me what it is.”

Lee Hae-seong seemed delighted at the thought that Choi Hong-seo wanted something.

“Is anything okay?”

“Of course. Whoever wants it, I have to give them whatever they want.”

In the middle of the stone path, Choi Hong-seo stopped walking. He looked up at his lover. The wind was strong, the air was cold, and the sunlight was strong. It was difficult to look at Lee Hae-seong straight because of the sun shining behind his head.

After licking his lips for a while, Choi Hong-seo mustered up his courage.

“The old accommodation in Hannam-dong… you said it’s still there, right?”

“Do you want to go there? It’s Hongseo’s house, and it’s my house. What’s so hard about that? Since we’re on the subject, should we go there today?”

Lee Hae-seong bent down, grabbing Choi Hong-seo’s gloved hands. For the first time in a long while, his face looked bright and free of shadows.

The thought of not wanting to take the smile off that face made Choi Hong-seo worry again. But that was a smile that they had each obtained by deceiving each other. It would not have been strange if the smile built on anxiety had collapsed at any time. It was an enlightenment gained through death in a previous life.

“No, that’s… not a place I really want to go.”

“Then where is it? It’s okay, so tell me. I’ll definitely go with you even if it means taking a long vacation.”

When Choi Hong-seo’s expression became serious, Lee Hae-seong looked at his face with concern.

“When I ran into the old man at Bongandang. That was the first time I collapsed.”

Choi Hong-seo’s voice trembled unsteadily, and Lee Hae-seong’s expression hardened.

“I started to feel dizzy and nauseous, and then at one point I couldn’t stand it anymore. Then I lost consciousness.”

“……”

“The next time I had similar symptoms was in the living room on the second floor of Director Kang’s house.”

Understanding was still silent, but ah… her lips parted as if in admiration, and a ragged breath escaped between them.

Director Kang Woo-hyun’s second-floor reception room was where Lee Hae-seong and Choi Hong-seo first met and where the two promised to become lovers.

“Next…”

“Was it the villa in Seocho-dong?”

Hae-seong’s voice was low and calm as usual, but it had a cold metallic quality to it that made you wonder if he was angry.

Choi Hong-seo nodded thoughtfully.

Hae-seong Lee, who unconsciously continued to hold Hong-seo Choi’s gloved hand, applied strong force to his own hand. It was a force that stopped the blood from flowing to his fingers, but Hong-seo Choi did not ask to let go of his hand or say that it hurt.

“I thought things could get worse if I didn’t say anything. That’s why I said it.”

“Yeah, good job. It’s better to know everything together.”

Hae-seong tried to control his expression. He swallowed dry saliva, moistened his lower lip with his tongue, stroked the back of Choi Hong-seo’s head, and patted his shoulder. Then, for a moment, he cupped Choi Hong-seo’s cheeks with stiff eyes and made eye contact.

The feel of his leather gloves against my cheek was cold.

“You said you’d do everything I want to do, and go all the places I want to go, right?”

“……”

“I want to see you again, Manshin.”

Understanding, his eyes and breathing became cold as they locked eyes. Even the breath rising from the corners of his lips was like blue ice. After a long while, he, who had been frozen like a piece of ice, shook his head firmly.

“no.”

“mister.”

“That is absolutely not possible.”

The voice that came from her twisted lips was colder than her eyes, her breath, her leather gloves.