Harmonious Love

Yang Gi Thief (2)

After class ended today, Tae Young-won and his classmates were heading towards the student cafeteria, which happened to be where Mo Yeon was also going. Naturally, Mo Yeon ended up following behind them, but he didn’t feel the need to change his direction.

Perhaps because Tae Young-won had caught his eye, lately it seemed like Tae Young-won was appearing in front of Mo Yeon more often. Just yesterday, Tae Young-won had squeezed through the crowd and lightly grasped Mo Yeon’s shoulder as he passed by.

And today, Tae Young-won sat behind Mo Yeon in class and borrowed a pen from him.

“You’re really nice. What’s your name?”

“It’s Mo Yeon.”

“Mo Young, huh. You seem like a new friend. Thanks. I always rush to this class because I failed to register for it properly. Actually, my hyung’s wife brought me the textbook.”

“Ah, I see…”

Tae Young-won seemed to have an surprisingly poor ability to recognize faces. This was the second time he had borrowed a pen, and they had encountered each other even more times, yet he said such things.

Moreover, Mo Yeon hadn’t gotten his pen back after class, but there were too many people around Tae Young-won to go ask for it now. Also, Mo Yeon felt reluctant to approach him, thinking Tae Young-won might ask, “Who are you again?”

From Mo Yeon’s perspective, Tae Young-won was always surrounded by people. Even when Mo Yeon was a freshman and Tae Young-won was on leave from school, his name was often heard. So it was natural to understand how popular he must be, given that even Mo Yeon, who was as much of a loner as one could be, was familiar with his name.

However, what was a bit unexpected was that, from Mo Yeon’s observation, Tae Young-won didn’t seem to particularly want this popularity.

Park Hyung-su was Tae Young-won’s classmate who was obsessed with drinking with girls, especially freshman girls, every year. Mo Yeon had already seen him pestering Tae Young-won to drink together several times.

“The girls have said so many times that they want to drink with you. Just come for an hour to show some goodwill.”

“No.”

“Aw, why not?”

“I have to go to church tomorrow.”

Park Hyung-su grimaced at those words, clearly annoyed.

“Again?”

“Of course I’m going again. Have you ever seen someone who only goes to church occasionally?”

Tae Young-won was, contrary to his appearance, a very quiet and ascetic person.

His maternal grandfather was the president of Korea University, and it was common knowledge among Korea University students that the president was a devout believer. His classmates had no choice but to believe that Tae Young-won, having grown up in such a family, would naturally attend church.

“What the hell? Come to think of it, tomorrow is Thursday, right? You bailed out saying you were going to church the day before yesterday too. Do you go to church seven days a week, non-stop?”

“I just have some things to do. Just go without me. You guys have fun without me anyway.”

“Ah, geez. Then when are you free? I’ll tell the girls and match your schedule.”

Usually, this level of refusal would be enough to make someone back off, but Park Hyung-su’s grumbling was particularly intense today, as if he was trying to impress a girl. Tae Young-won suddenly stopped walking, let out a deep sigh, and looked down at him calmly.

“Sigh… Hyung-su, I’m saying this because we’re friends, but it looks really bad when you act like this because of girls. It makes you seem like a slut.”

“Pfft!”

The other classmates burst into laughter. The problem was that some freshman girls from their department happened to be passing by at that moment. Park Hyung-su’s face was already bright red, looking like it might explode.

“Hey, why are you talking like that! If we’re judging by looks, you’re the one who looks like he’d have the most girls in our department.”

“Is there someone who looks like that? I’m not like that at all.”

Tae Young-won grinned and started walking again.

“Everyone else might believe you, but I don’t, you bastard. You’ve got a truckload of girls hidden away, don’t you?”

“Think what you want. I just hate people without principles the most in this world.”

As Tae Young-won started moving, the group began walking again. Mo Yeon’s steps followed suit.

It was comfortable. Following in Tae Young-won’s footsteps, Mo Yeon felt only comfort, not the usual anxiety or tension of not knowing what he might encounter at any moment. This must be how other people feel when they walk.

For this reason, Mo Yeon found himself repeatedly following behind Tae Young-won for a while before letting him go at an appropriate time. Looking around, there were often no ghosts, and even when there were, they stayed in place doing what they were doing, at least not approaching him, which was incredibly strange.

Only people followed in Tae Young-won’s footsteps. His annoying classmates, and now even himself…

At that moment, one of them noticed Mo Yeon.

“Oh? That guy.”

Mo Yeon didn’t think the words were directed at him. When he turned his gaze, he met eyes with Tae Young-won, who raised an eyebrow. Mo Yeon hurriedly moved his steps elsewhere, lowering his head. Due to the close distance, he could still hear their voices.

“Who is he?”

It was Tae Young-won’s voice.

“He’s in our department. I think he’s retaking the major course with me… There are rumors that he sees ghosts, and everyone dislikes him.”

“Really?”

Tae Young-won, who had been listening without much interest, furrowed his brow. A moment later, as if suddenly finding it amusing, he let out a chuckle a beat late. The laughter of others could be heard as well.

“How can there be ghosts in this world?”

“Ah, I don’t know either. That’s just what people said.”

“Stop talking nonsense and go drink with Hyung-su. I really have to go to church tomorrow.”

“Ah, are you really not coming? Come on, Young-won!”

With those words, Mo Yeon quietly watched the group move away as Tae Young-won started walking.

“…How annoying.”

He kicked a small stone in front of his feet. He couldn’t understand what the difference was between that stone and himself.

***

‘How can there be ghosts in this world?’

It was a common thing for ordinary people to say. People only believe what they can see with their own eyes.

“…”

Mo Yeon eventually lowered his eyes while wiping the glass window. Something had been stuck to the window for a while now.

Among the tangled hair, eyes without whites stared at an unknown point. Nevertheless, it was certain that those eyes were directed at him. Ghosts always show excessive interest in him just because he can see them.

Mo Yeon also wanted to say that there’s no such thing as ghosts in this world. At his newly found part-time job, he couldn’t wear glasses while working, making it really difficult to manage his gaze.

“The store is small, so it should be manageable even during closing time, right? Mo Yeon seems to learn the job faster than I expected.”

“…”

Caught off guard by the sudden praise, Mo Yeon hesitated for a long time before finally answering.

“It’s because you taught me well, ma’am.”

“Hehe, I am pretty good at teaching. I hear that all the kids who learned from me get praised when they go elsewhere.”

Although Mo Yeon answered awkwardly as if reciting a predetermined response, Hye-jung boasted shamelessly as if his words were the correct answer.

The part-time job Mo Yeon found after moving to Tae Young-won’s officetel was a small restaurant in the neighborhood. When he first saw Hye-jung, he thought she was a manager or an employee like himself, but it turned out she was actually the owner of this small restaurant.

He had just gone for an interview because he had some free time, and surprisingly, she readily hired Mo Yeon with only the condition that he work without glasses.

Mo Yeon always found it fascinating when he met people like Hye-jung who didn’t dislike him. Usually, people would say they felt uncomfortable when they talked to him or looked into his eyes.

Just like a few days ago, when Tae Young-won, who had been casually borrowing pens from him until then, furrowed his brow after hearing about the ghost stories.

But he couldn’t let his guard down. Although he was told he only needed to take orders and serve food, he worried that if a customer or another employee showed signs of discomfort, her attitude might change, and he might soon be fired.

“It’s nice not having to worry about sending boys home late. Get home safely, and I’m counting on you tomorrow too.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

Mo Yeon bowed his head and headed home.

Unlike most male employees, what Mo Yeon feared most was actually the night streets. Ghosts are most active during the time when yin energy is the strongest.

Today, he had left his glasses at home, and his hair was clumsily pushed back, leaving nothing to cover his face, which felt awkward. His clothes were also too white, causing him discomfort.

As Mo Yeon shed his childish appearance, he grew into a shadowy adult who would get nosebleeds and collapse frequently. He had lived by covering his pale face with his hair and glasses.

Mo Yeon was convinced that his weak constitution was entirely due to his life of being close to ghosts. With ghosts full of yin energy constantly following him, it was inevitable that he would have headaches and feel drained.

The officetel he had found quite far from school was in an area with few people, making the way home feel eerie.

Mo Yeon, who had been walking with his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him, avoiding areas where ghosts often appeared, finally saw the familiar officetel and began to walk as if running.

He caught the elevator and waited a bit, and it arrived quickly. Still unable to relax, Mo Yeon hurriedly slipped inside.

And just as the door was about to close, it opened again.

“Ah, caught it!”

With a cheerful voice, a woman in a bright dress jumped into the elevator. The man who followed her naturally approached Mo Yeon instead of the woman checking her reflection in the elevator mirror.

At first, when the scent of perfume and alcohol hit him suddenly, Mo Yeon didn’t know why the man had approached him.

However, the reason he couldn’t think of pushing away the hand that wrapped around his waist wasn’t simply because the arm’s grip was strong.

‘…Senior Tae Young-won?’

The other hand that grasped Mo Yeon’s wrist slipped under the cuff of his sleeve, fingering the inside of his wrist.

Was it just his imagination? He felt an air he had never experienced before in this tiny enclosed space. There seemed to be a very faint current flowing through the skin touching his wrist. Come to think of it, he had felt the same when their fingertips brushed in the lecture hall.

‘What is this feeling?’