[TOMORROW X TOGETHER Beomgyu] To the point of aching

Episode 5. What is this feeling?

As a month was nearly up, Beomgyu’s bodyseemed to have recovered completely.

His walk was steady, and there was strength back in his eyes.

Even after splitting firewood until he was soaked with sweat, not once did his breathing falter, and the unease that had once clung to his steps across the yard was gone.

 

Dani clicked her tongue at the sight.

 

"At this rate, that man will end up doing all the heavy work in our house."

 

Yeoju smiled back and nodded.

Now that he was healthy enough that she no longer had to stay by his side, it was both a relief and somehow disappointing.

Because the thought that, once he fully recovered, he might one day leave this house had flashed through her mind.

Even the thought of him leaving made one corner of her chest turn cold, which felt strange to her.

Yeoju forced the thought away and turned her gaze back to what she had been doing.

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

That evening, as Yeoju sat side by side with him on the maru, she suddenly looked up at the night sky.

 

"Do you know the name of that constellation?"

 

Beomgyu answered without much thought.

 

"That’s the Big Dipper."

 

Yeoju’s eyes went wide.

 

"Huh? How do you know that? You said you don’t remember anything."

 

As if realizing his slip, Beomgyu hid his mild panic and brushed it off.

"…Well, I must’ve picked it up somewhere while drifting around. I’m surprised myself."

"There’s more than one thing about you that’s surprising, you know, sir."

 

When Yeoju looked at him suspiciously, Beomgyu pointedly looked away and cleared his throat.

Yeoju ended up letting out a snort of laughter and dropping it. Lately, these silly little conversations had become the calmest part of her day.

 

"Sir, you really…… seem like a completely different person from when I first met you."

"I was basically dying at first. Compared to then, wouldn’t you call that a blessing?"

"That’s not what I mean. Back then, you looked like something sad beyond touching."

 

Beomgyu’s smile faded for a moment, then soon returned as usual.

 

"Maybe it only looked that way to miss."

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

A few days later, something faintly glinted through the opening of Beomgyu’s collar as he split firewood in the yard.

Yeoju found herself staring at the light without meaning to.

 

"Sir, what’s that?"

 

Beomgyu flinched and quickly pulled his collar shut.

"It’s nothing."

"If it’s nothing, why are you hiding it?"

 

As Yeoju playfully laughed and reached out, Beomgyu subtly drew back.

 

"Miss, this is a problem."

"Then show me willingly."

 

After quite a bit of tugging and arguing, Yeoju ended up snatching the jade pendant.

Yeoju quietly looked down at the jade pendant resting in her palm.

 

"It’s beautiful. Where did you get this?"

 

"…You don’t know this jade pendant?"

 

Beomgyu’s voice trembled slightly.

 

"Should I?"

 

When Yeoju asked back, her face really did seem to hold no memory at all.

Beomgyu forced a smile and tucked the jade pendant back inside his collar.

 

"No. It’s just…… an old thing."

"But it’s strange. How did someone who doesn’t even remember anything manage to keep something like this all this time?"

"…Yeah. I’m surprised by that too."

 

The end of his voice cracked slightly, but Yeoju seemed not to notice.

 

"It must be something precious to you, sir. You’re so careful with it."

"…Yes. Maybe. It’s probably the most precious thing I have."

 

The answer was so serious that Yeoju gave an awkward laugh, not knowing what to say for a moment.

 

"What is it all of a sudden? Why so serious?"

"I wasn’t being serious. I was just telling the truth."

 

Yeoju tilted her head, but she didn’t pry further and turned away.

Left alone, Beomgyu stood there for a long time.

 

 

Had she really forgotten everything? The yard from that summer day, and the promise they’d made then.

It felt as if one side of his heart were quietly crumbling away.

Maybe it was only natural. Yeoju had been too young back then, and the years had been too long.

Still, he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

Hiding those feelings, Beomgyu left through the side gate that dawn, keeping his presence as quiet as possible.

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

Around that time, Yeoju woke from a light sleep and suddenly felt that the presence in the room next door had disappeared.

With a strange foreboding, she sprang up and went outside, only to come face to face with Beomgyu as he climbed over the wall and back in.

 

"…Where have you been at this hour?"

 

For a moment Beomgyu froze, then casually smiled.

"I couldn’t sleep, so I went out for a breath of air."

"You go out for a breath of air that long every night?"

"I like the night air."

 

It was a sly answer, but Yeoju didn’t miss the tension that flickered behind his smile.

The jade pendant, the disappearing every night. There were too many things about this man she couldn’t ask about.

 

And yet, strangely, she didn’t hate it. If anything, it made her want to know more.

Whatever it was, she wanted to hear it from his own mouth someday.

Watching Yeoju’s back as she returned to her room, Beomgyu quietly brushed his fingers over the jade pendant tucked inside his collar.

The cold touch gradually began to regain warmth at his fingertips.