Love for love's sake [ENG TRANS]

Chapter 18

[Tae Myeongha's POV]

I thought of the friend candidates for Cha Yeowoon at this point. Ahn Gyeonghun, Cheon Sangwon... It was ambiguous. Ahn Gyeonghun seemed kind-hearted, but I felt like I needed to protect him, and as for Cheon Sangwon... let's not talk about him.

"Sunbae, you're acting like my guardian."

It wasn't entirely wrong, so I awkwardly scratched my cheek and put away the dishes. Cha Yeowoon, who was cleaning up the table after me, suddenly asked. "Are your Mom and Dad still alive?"

It was a sudden topic of conversation. His tone was crude considering the sensitive nature of the question. I pondered for a moment on how to respond. I originally thought both of them had passed away by the time I was 19, but I later found out that it wasn't true.

"Just my Mom." I spoke the truth.

Cha Yeowoon nodded and fell silent for a moment. "I only have my Dad. My Mom ran away and I heard she died."

"..."

"If she was going to run away, she should've gone far away. It was unbelievable how close she actually lived."

"My Mom too." I said it without thinking.

The setting sun that hung over Cha Yeowoon's profile as I listened to his words was strangely fragile and somber. After washing the dishes and shutting off the tap, water dripped from my damp fingertips. Cha Yeowoon dried my hands with a dry towel.

"Is your Mom also living nearby?"

"She ran away."

In that regard, Cha Yeowoon and I had similar backgrounds, like mirror images.

"I wanted to run away too." Cha Yeowoon laughed. "When I was first encouraged to run. I ran across the schoolyard like crazy. I was so frustrated."

"..."

"But is it possible to run away? A 15-year-old. No matter how fast you run, no matter how many laps you go around the schoolyard... you won't be able to."

I understood why Cha Yeowoon was faster than his peers. He was just more determined than anyone else on that track.

"Who would want to be friends with someone like that?" He asked.

I couldn't rashly say anything.

"Why not?" I couldn't do it myself either, but I was good at talking.

"We're wearing the same school uniform going to the same school, but they're completely different from me."

That was right. They couldn't understand me, and I couldn't understand them.

"But sometimes there are children who want to be friends. Even among the track and field team, there are children who talk to me because I'm good at running. But what do I talk to them about?"

"..."

"Talk about my Grandma's nursing care? My worries about rent? Whether I should keep my Mom and Grandma in the same funeral hall?"

"..."

"What can I do about it, sunbae?"

I had spent my life arguing with the world and beating up those who argued with me. Instead of answering and saying that my 19-year-old self was even more pathetic than Cha Yeowoon, I hugged him. In my arms, he stiffened. The awkwardness was felt, but I hugged him even tighter.

"Just this."

Thanks to my growth spurt in high school, I was quite tall, but Cha Yeowoon was of similar height, so our heads were very close when I held him. Cha Yeowoon, who had been enduring all this time, suddenly relaxed and buried his head against my shoulder. His hair brushed against my neck. I could hear his slow and heavy breathing. The room, already dim, slowly grew even darker.