KMH – Chapter 4

“If you were me, wouldn’t you feel wronged?”

Each time his bright white sneakers thud-thud struck, chunks of grass and dirt tore up and flew.

Jugyeong, who’d been pressing a hand lightly to her chest, paused and glanced at Seju. The instant their eyes met, Seju demanded—almost sneering.

“You don’t even know me.”

“…….”

“Then why don’t you like me?”

At some point, Seju was breathing hard, and the back of his neck had turned a little red. Even so, his gaze was so fierce it felt like it might bore a hole through her face.

‘It’s not that I dislike you—do I really have to say that out loud?’

‘We’re only seeing each other for one summer anyway….’

Jugyeong slowly brushed her cheek, then reached down and picked up the book that had been buried in the mound of dirt. She was choosing an appropriate reply—

When his glare sharpened into something outright vicious. Seju stomped, thud, as if packing the earth back down where he’d torn it up.

“Hey!”

Jugyeong’s eyes widened. Seju glanced at her hunched shoulders, muttered a small, “Tch…,” and shook his hair out hard. Then he lifted his eyes—eyes that had been fixed stubbornly on the ground.

“Before you decide you don’t like me, there’s something you need to know.”

Seju jabbed his thumb into his own chest.

“Me.”

Still holding his chin high, looking down at Jugyeong with arrogant certainty, Seju cleared his throat—ahem—and subtly squared his chest.

“I’ll give you a chance to get to know me.”

‘And now what is this…?’

What kind of logic was that?

Jugyeong stared, baffled.

“I guarantee it.”

His face, flushed red in the suffocating heat, moved in close.

“You’re gonna end up liking me, too.”

A spark flew from Seju’s eyes.

***

“This is really delicious milk.”

Seju pointed to the white milk topped with bubbly foam.

“This is really delicious salt.”

His imperious index finger moved from the glass to the salt beside it.

“If you mix these two?”

As Seju lowered his voice conspiratorially, Jugyeong unconsciously leaned in, ears perking.

“It becomes even more delicious milk.”

Having successfully hooked Jugyeong’s interest, Seju tilted his head slightly with a prim little expression—then grinned.

And with great flourish, he sprinkled a pinch of salt into the milk.

“Putting sugar in milk is something little kids do.”

“…….”

“Here. Try it.”

Jugyeong took the glass with both hands, hesitated, then sipped a little.

…Wow.

Her eyes grew wider and wider. Milk and salt sounded suspicious, but the savory richness spreading through her mouth was incredible.

It was as good as the times her father would sometimes mix maple syrup into her milk.

Each time Jugyeong swallowed with a pleased gulp, Seju’s throat bobbed along with it. The back of his hand—resting atop the cargo pants he always wore whenever they explored the attic with its diagonally slanted ceiling—stood out now and then, too.

Soon, Jugyeong set down the glass, still more than half full, looking faintly embarrassed.

Seju puffed his chubby cheeks and complained with a grin.

“Your stomach’s smaller than a sparrow’s crop.”

Seju snapped out a handkerchief from his pocket—snap—and wiped the corner of Jugyeong’s mouth.

It was so sudden she couldn’t dodge. Jugyeong blinked.

And Seju, lingering on the thick, soft sensation of her lips on his fingertips, suddenly raised his voice instead.

“You’re not a baby—why do you get stuff all over your mouth when you eat?”

Jugyeong turned her gaze to the right and rubbed at her mouth with the back of her hand.

At almost the same moment, Seju—fist clenched—covered his own mouth, and his gaze rolled sluggishly to the left.

“…Ahem.”

The silence that followed—both of them facing each other while staring elsewhere—was broken by Seju.

“Now you should cleanse your palate with shortbread or almond tuiles.”

Seju, secretly fluttering the worn, old T-shirt of an old pop band, sprang to his feet. He put an LP on the turntable he’d stolen from Dad’s study.

‘Is this how you do it…?’

As he wondered, the music started.

‘Of course I’m good at this too.’

He’d only learned by watching over his dad’s shoulder, but apparently that kind of brilliance couldn’t be helped.

The moment he shook his head—doom, doom—a bass line spread out. With finger snaps, a sticky voice poured through.

Good.

…Now what?

He had to get close to Ha Jugyeong faster than anyone, closer than anyone.

Seju, seriously rubbing his chin as he plotted to monopolize the seat beside her, jerked his head up.

「When you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight….

in the morning, fever all through the night.」

“What—what kind of lyrics are th—”

“…….”

“…What are you staring at?”

Seju, who’d glanced at Jugyeong without thinking, flared his eyes. Jugyeong, still holding an almond tuile between her teeth as she looked up at him, lowered her gaze.

Then—crunch—she went back to chewing.

Seju’s heart pounded painfully.

‘What kind of songs do Mom and Dad listen to in a house that has a grown son—?!’

Wanting to rip his hair out, he yanked the record off and tossed it aside.

Fortunately, the next song he started was a success.

「Birds do it, bees do it. even educated fleas do it. let’s do it, let’s fall in love….」

The upbeat mood and gentle melody—its lyrics, too—were appropriate enough to play for little Jugyeong. The more he listened, the more he liked the lyrics.

Because they were like Jugyeong’s eyes.

But his own breathing sounded unusually loud.

“Haa, haa….”

As Seju clenched his lips shut, the breath rushing from his nose only grew harsher. The hand that wiped down the back of his neck and face came away damp with sticky cold sweat.

When did I start sweating this much?

His eyes, wandering aimlessly through the air, suddenly sharpened with resolve.

…I’m Ha Jugyeong’s host.

A real man doesn’t get flustered over small things.

Seju yanked the hem of his T-shirt down—tug—and turned around with solemn determination. Returning to his spot, he raised one knee and draped an arm over it.

Then he stole a glance at Jugyeong as if he could stuff her into the many pockets of his cargo pants.

Only pretty things were allowed in Seju’s pockets.

Smooth, shiny pebbles. Seashells that held a pearly sheen within. Perfectly dried leaves. A whisker from Daisy, the neighbor’s cat….

So Jugyeong’s softly colored earlobes, her tiny nostrils, her plump lips—those would fit perfectly.

That was what he was thinking, right as Jugyeong sat there properly taking in the melody filling the attic, chewing her biscuits carefully.

After taking a sip of milk, Jugyeong brushed crumbs from her lips and asked,

“…Aren’t you going to eat?”

Seju pinched his brows in frustration. Was his hand not a hand? Why was she brushing it off herself?

Not knowing a thing, Jugyeong slid the plate of biscuits toward him.

“Stop staring at me and eat too.”

Seju glared at the hand with rice-grain nails, brow furrowing. She was tiny, yet she was already in the habit of taking care of him.

Scratching at his chest, Seju gave in and picked up a cookie as if he couldn’t help himself.

“Here. Milk.”

She didn’t stop there—Jugyeong even handed him the milk.

Without realizing it, Seju broke into a wide grin. With his front teeth missing, his gums showed through in an empty gap.

Only belatedly did Seju slap a hand over his mouth—tap—but his forehead was already blazing red.

Jugyeong blinked calmly and said,

“It’s okay. Mine was empty until last year, too.”

A thought struck him.

‘Is that why she kept covering her mouth?’

Jugyeong’s attempt at comfort didn’t seem to land. Seju’s chest rose and fell.

“Tch….”

It didn’t seem like something to get upset over, but Jugyeong turned her eyes away out of politeness.

Not long after, Seju slammed his hand down on the floor—thud—and threw out a question out of nowhere.

“Hey, but still, me….”

“…….”

“I’m kind of like a doll, right?”

“…….”

“Handsome, right?”

Jugyeong made a dumbfounded face.

When she’d first seen him, he’d been screaming while blaming his dad—so she’d assumed he’d lost something incredibly precious.

But thinking back, after that, he never once talked about that “treasure.”

She felt like she understood him—yet she still didn’t. He was impossible to predict.

Jugyeong glanced toward the window, uneasy. It looked like the sun would set soon. She needed to go down before it got dark.

“Yeah?”

That was when Seju shoved his face close again. His clear, stubborn eyes glittered right in front of her nose. It looked like he planned to keep her there until she answered.

Jugyeong nodded.

“…Yeah.”

Seju smiled, pleased. Jugyeong relaxed too and stood up.

“Let’s go back now. The adults might be worried. We’ve been here too long.”

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Seju grew magnanimous. He brushed himself off and stood at once, moving in close to Jugyeong.

“Yeah, well… I was gonna show you the stars with the telescope over there, but—huh?”

Hand on the attic doorknob, Seju tilted his head. He frowned and tried again, but the door didn’t budge.

This time, his head tilted the other way, and he muttered,

“Why won’t it open…?”

Jugyeong, who’d been standing a little ways away from Seju, hurried over.

“Why won’t it open?”

Up until then, Seju hadn’t thought much of it. He looked at Jugyeong and shrugged.

“How would I know?”

“If you don’t know, then what are we supposed to do…?”

“Just go sit and rest. I’ll take care of it.”

Seju waved his hand dismissively.

Jugyeong’s lips parted as if to protest, but she grudgingly walked to the far end of the attic. She pressed her back to the wall and hugged her knees.

Even if it was summer, it wouldn’t get dark that late. They weren’t lost in the woods—it was just the villa. And it’d be dinnertime soon, so before it got pitch-black, the adults would come looking, and—

…There was no light in the attic.

The instant she realized, her fingers went numb.

Thump—thump, thumpthump…!

Her heart felt like it was pounding inside her eardrums.

“Ugh, this is annoying—again….”

Seju, still wrestling with the door alone, scrunched his face hard. He let go of the knob as if throwing it away, then raked his fingers through the back of his head.

“But where’d she go—hey…! What’s wrong with you?!”

Eyes wide, Seju sprinted over like an arrow.

“Ha Jugyeong!”

Jugyeong, curled up like a snowball, didn’t move.

From that point on, cold sweat poured down like rain.