We decided not to cross the line.

Episode 97. Negotiation (1)

We left Miguel’s cafe

each of us with a cup of coffee.




"It feels like we’re inside the backdrop of a movie."



As we started looking around the village,

he spoke for the first time.




"Hoonji, you were also the main character in a movie, weren’t you?"




Watching him made me remember the

excitement I felt when I first came to this village.



He continued in an excited voice, like a child on the verge of bursting with joy.



"Uh... yes.

But here...

the whole movie genre is completely different.

Living in a place like this, I feel like greed would just disappear."





"Right?

It feels like the day just flows by like a calm lake, right?

So maybe Miguel likes living here

more than in the U.S.

But I...

I think I’d be too bored if my whole life were this peaceful."





Walking side by side, he

suddenly stopped as if blocking my way.



"Now you’re thinking about going back to Korea?"




I stopped in my tracks

and looked at him.




"I stayed up all night yesterday thinking about it, and...

do you know how ironic this situation is?"




"...Why?"


He looked at me, puzzled.




"Hoonji, you haven’t changed at all from the beginning to now.

Of course, that wasn’t all there was to it, but...
 
I came all the way here to get away from you, Hoonji,

and it’s already been almost two years.

But the moment you got here, Hoonji,

that resolve collapsed in an instant.

You coming here like this makes me so grateful

that I could cry, so happy, so glad...

walking side by side like this now...
 
it makes me wonder what I’ve even been doing all this time."




"You’ve been through a lot, Jungah.

And through that, you slowly came to accept me.

So that’s why, in a way,

I’m grateful to the person named Julian.

If it weren’t for him,

you might still have been pushing me away."




"Wow... our Hoonji,

you’ve really grown up a lot in two years.

Listening to you, it’s not irony,

it’s that I...

naturally came to accept my own feelings."




"No... what are you talking about?

I was an adult before too.

Now I’m... maybe I should say I’ve become a little more dependable?"




"Then shall we discuss

our cohabitation life with dependable Hoonji?"




We sat down on a bench.




"First of all...

I absolutely do not want us living in the same house.

Let’s be neighbors!!

We can live in the same apartment,

or in the house in front of or behind each other.

Anyway, I hate sharing one house.

I don’t want to shatter all my fantasies about Hoonji."




He asked with bunny eyes wide in shock.




"You have fantasies about me?"




"Of course.

I started liking Hoonji as a fan...

besides, between a man and a woman,

how could there not be any fantasy?

If we lived together, all of that would be broken,

and I don’t want that."




He thought for a moment, then

said with a shrug.



"Hmm... it might actually be better to break them sooner.

If they’re going to break eventually anyway..."




"Now... listen.

For example, if we lived together.

We could get touchy even over cleaning duty,

and it’d be hard if our daily rhythms were different,

and we’d even end up fighting over something trivial like

why you don’t squeeze toothpaste from the back."




"Wait...

have you ever lived with someone before?

That sounds exactly like experience.

If you tell the truth now... I’ll let it slide."




"I have lived with someone before."




Hoonji suddenly sprang up from the bench.




"You said you’d let it slide if I said it now, didn’t you?"




I stood up too, following him.




"I did say that, but..."




He looked at me with wavering eyes.

I grabbed him and pulled him back down to sit.




"I know because I’ve lived as a housemate with my girlfriends

in Canada.

Living with someone who isn’t family isn’t easy.

You don’t have that kind of experience, Hoonji,

and since you’re a guy, you probably don’t know."





He pinched both my cheeks hard.





"Who told you to joke about something like that?

You really scared me."





"Ow! That hurts!"





"If you make jokes like that again, don’t think it’ll end with just cheek-pinching."





He really did seem startled.





"Hoonji is a Confucian boy for his age..."





Relieved, his expression was so cute

that I burst out laughing.





"Then I’ll give in a little."