Projection Novel (Completed) - Chapter 92

Hearing him ask for the address, Cheon Sejoo said the name of the gelato shop they had just visited. Yoon Cheolju replied that he would wait a moment and hung up. Sejin looked at him with a completely shocked expression.

“Did you just tell someone to steal CCTV footage?”

“What do you mean ‘steal’? It’s called ‘backing up,’ Sejin.”

“That’s still illegal!”

“It’s not illegal if you don’t get caught.”

Sejin’s mouth hung open. Cheon Sejoo, to prove that Sejin’s expression was truly different when he was in front of a girl, was even hacking security servers… Sejin felt both a little happy and a little worried, his emotions extremely complex.

“What if you get caught?”

If anyone got caught, it would be Yoon Cheolju. He thought that in his head, but Cheon Sejoo just chuckled softly and narrowed his eyes, smiling at Sejin.

“Will you visit me?”

That short question contained an implication that startled Sejin, his eyes twitching slightly. Cheon Sejoo burst into laughter, then after a while, he stopped, his eyes curving as he looked at Sejin. He gently stroked Sejin’s flushed cheek.

“This isn’t enough to get caught. No need to worry.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

Only then did Sejin breathe a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Cheon Sejoo playfully ruffled his hair, and not long after, he stopped the car in a parking lot near the beach. Since they started the day late, it was almost six o’clock by then. Even though it was the weekend, Anmok Beach was still deserted. It probably wasn’t beach season, and it was also dinner time for most people.

They walked along the beach together, hand in hand. Beyond the ivory white sand stretched the deep blue ocean. Gentle waves occasionally wet their feet, and the cool sea breeze seemed to want to blow away his hat. The sound of the waves was the only thing echoing in their ears, replacing conversation. Kwon Sejin and Cheon Sejoo shared their feelings through the warmth conveyed by their clasped hands.

It was then that Sejin suddenly remembered something from the past.

“I remember now.”

“Huh?”

“The time I gave Kim Joohyung ice cream.”

Cheon Sejoo frowned as if asking why he was bringing that up again? But this time, Sejin was sure, because this was an opportunity to prove that it wasn’t his fault, so he didn’t hesitate.

“It was sports day, and my mom came. But Kim Joohyung didn’t have anyone, neither her mom nor her dad came.”

“Hmm.”

“I think she and I used to be desk mates. Probably, that’s why my mom knew her.”

It was a scorching hot day in May. Sejin was sitting on a picnic mat, constantly glancing towards the ice cream stand near the main gate. Kim Hyun Kyung, afraid that Kwon Yongbeom would snatch it, pulled out the money she had saved, carefully hidden in her pocket. It was a one thousand won bill.

Since a cone of ice cream only cost five hundred won, Kim Hyun Kyung initially only intended to buy one for Sejin. But then she saw Sejin’s desk mate sitting forlornly under the scorching sun without her parents, and she felt bothered. Kim Hyun Kyung told Sejin to buy two ice creams. After some thought, Sejin chose vanilla for himself, and chocolate for his mom. He hoped his mom would let him eat half of the chocolate ice cream.

However, as soon as he returned, his mom told him to give the chocolate one to Kim Joohyung. Seeing Sejin hesitate because he also wanted to taste both flavors, Kim Hyun Kyung noticed and coaxed him: she would buy another one when they got home, but for now, he should go give the ice cream to Joohyung.

Sejin knew his mom had no more money. They only had a few rice balls they brought for lunch. Even though he knew the promise “I’ll buy more later” was just empty words, Sejin couldn’t argue. He was old enough to understand he shouldn’t do that.

So, in the end, Sejin pouted and gave the ice cream to Joohyung. Joohyung tried to act tough sitting alone, but when she received the ice cream, she was overjoyed and moved to sit beside them. Kim Hyun Kyung braided Joohyung’s messy hair neatly, and then the three of them shared their lunch box together.

It was a memory Sejin had completely forgotten.

“…My child is so good.”

“See? I told you I didn’t give her ice cream because I liked her.”

“Yeah, I know.”

When he understood the whole story, Cheon Sejoo chuckled softly as if his heart had softened, then extended his hand.

He took off Sejin’s hat, ruffled the hair at the back of his head, then gently stroked down his nape. Feeling the warmth on his skin, Sejin looked at Cheon Sejoo, a little embarrassed.

“She’s a good person.”

Cheon Sejoo’s sudden remark made Sejin’s heart flutter. He remembered how his mom had always worried about Joohyung, the child left alone. At that time, Kim Hyun Kyung was even younger than Sejin was now. Among all the older parents, he wondered how cautious his mom must have been. Yet, his mom always smiled brightly, never showing any discomfort.

“Yeah. Mom is the best person in the world.”

Seeing Sejin nod in affirmation, Cheon Sejoo smiled faintly and pulled him into his arms. A light but tender kiss fell on Sejin’s hair, fluttering in the wind. This time, there was no mischievous joke accompanying it.

Since Joohyung’s part-time job ended at 9 PM, the two decided to grab a quick bite at Gangneung market before meeting her. The meat they had bought would be saved for breakfast the next day, and they had plenty of ice, so it wasn’t a problem.

The CCTV video that Cheon Sejoo asked Yoon Cheolju to find arrived just as Sejin had bought a full meal of his favorites: squid sundae, fried shrimp, sweet fried chicken, and sat down at a self-service table in the market.

Ring— the phone on the table vibrated. Cheon Sejoo raised one eyebrow and opened the screen to look.

Sejin saw the CCTV video from the cafe start playing. The person Cheon Sejoo asked didn’t explain anything further, just sent the footage of Sejin and Joohyung talking. That person must have known Sejin’s face.

“…”

But the strange thing was that Cheon Sejoo, who Sejin thought would immediately shove the phone in his face and ask, “See? You smiled, didn’t you?”, had no reaction when watching the video. He even frowned slightly and turned off the screen.

What was that? Sejin put his chopsticks down on the table and blurted out:

“I didn’t smile, did I!”

“…Huh?”

“See! Because I didn’t smile like you thought, you didn’t show me the video and just turned it off, right!”

Sejin questioned him, noticing the anomaly, but Cheon Sejoo remained unfazed.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. Give it here. I’ll watch it again.”

“Sejin, that’s against the rules. Do you want to get caught?”

Not only that, he even threatened him back. He clearly said it was fine before, but now he was threatening him. Sejin chuckled scornfully.

“Give it here.”

Sejin snatched the phone from Cheon Sejoo’s hand, entered his birthday as the password, and restarted the video.

In the video, Sejin talked to Kim Joohyung with almost no expression on his face. Only the corners of his lips were slightly upturned, which, if according to Cheon Sejoo’s definition, wasn’t a smile, but looked like a robot, strangely stiff.

“See? My mouth was like this!”

Sejin mimicked the exact expression and pointed at the screen.

“And you say I smiled? You just saw it wrong!”

“It’s a strange camera angle.”

Yet, Cheon Sejoo stubbornly insisted as if Sejin had really smiled and he hadn’t seen it wrong at all. Sejin glanced at Cheon Sejoo, who was arguing with a strained neck, finding him adorable, then fast-forwarded the video to the end. The sender of the video had even thoughtfully filmed Cheon Sejoo greeting Joohyung.

“…You’re the problem.”

Seeing that part, Sejin frowned at him. In the video, Cheon Sejoo was looking at Joohyung, flashing a radiant smile that was no different from “flirting.” In fact, due to the shaky frame, the expression looked even brighter than when seen directly.

Cheon Sejoo saw it as if he couldn’t believe his eyes, rubbing them. Then he scrunched up his face, shaking his head as if it couldn’t be, snatched the phone back from Sejin, and placed it face down on the table.

“It’s a strange angle.”

Seeing him repeat the same old reason, Sejin suddenly felt like he had won. When Cheon Sejoo ran out of things to say, he would just be stubborn. Sejin continued to hold his chopsticks, dipped a piece of squid sundae into chili sauce, and said triumphantly:

“Admit it. You’re the one who needs to fix your attitude when interacting with girls.”

“I can’t help it. But you… you smiled anyway.”

“Do you know what people call someone like you?”

“What? Someone who’s always right?”

“No. It’s ‘it’s natural when I do it, but completely wrong when others do it.'”

Cheon Sejoo burst out laughing as if he had nothing more to say, then he picked up a piece of fried shrimp and put it into Sejin’s mouth, asking for the meaning of those words.

“You say that, but do you really know what it means?”

“Of course I do! When you do it, it’s affection, when others do it, it’s cheating. You act exactly like that!”

Always secretly flashing a charming smile, while calling his emotionless face a “smile,” isn’t that similar? Sejin shrugged his shoulders, full of confidence: “Right?”

Cheon Sejoo pursed his lips.

“I thought you wouldn’t know.”

Then he deliberately changed the subject, pretending Sejin didn’t understand anything. But with his soaring self-esteem, Sejin wouldn’t let it slide easily. Who wouldn’t know those things?

“I’m not stupid.”

Sejin replied with a sulky expression, and then his eyes brightened, the corners of his lips curving. Thinking back, it was utterly illogical. If there was anyone between them who knew youth slang better, it should definitely be him.

He didn’t want to say this, but Cheon Sejoo was slow to catch up with trends, perhaps due to his age. Moreover, his colleagues were all older people, while Sejin worked in pediatrics where many children came, so of course, she would know the recent popular slang better. With that assessment, Sejin puffed out his chest confidently and asked:

“Do you know what ‘jagangducheon’ is?”

“…Jagangducheon?”

This was the first time he had heard this phrase.

Jagangducheon…

Countless Chinese characters flashed through Cheon Sejoo’s mind. “강(强)” must mean “strong,” but what was “자(自)”…? He was trying to piece together the Chinese characters when—

“It’s not a four-character idiom.”

“Not an idiom?”

It clearly looked like an idiom, but it wasn’t? Could Sejin be mistaken? When Cheon Sejoo narrowed his eyes suspiciously, Sejin immediately tilted his chin up as if he had anticipated that reaction.

“You don’t know, do you? You don’t know, do you?”

He started teasing him. Even if it wasn’t a four-character idiom, you could reluctantly assign a meaning to it, but even doing that wouldn’t yield any reasonable meaning. So what was it, after all? Cheon Sejoo pursed his lips, annoyed, and asked:

“Then what does it mean?”

“It’s the confrontation between two geniuses with high self-esteem.”

“Huh?”

“‘The confrontation between two geniuses with high self-esteem,’ abbreviated as jagangducheon.”

“Why abbreviate it like that?”

“It’s too long.”

“If that’s long, how can you breathe or eat?”

Cheon Sejoo muttered, unable to understand, looking no different from an old man who had lived through many years. Seeing his grumbling, old-man-like appearance was strangely adorable, Sejin chuckled softly and gently stroked the cheek of the person pouting because he couldn’t keep up with the popular words.

“You’re really old now. These days, kids talk like that.”

“What ‘kids’? Hearing that, you’re around my age too, aren’t you?”

“I’m speaking from your perspective.”

“Oh, it’s good to be trendy, huh. Old man, move into a nursing home tomorrow, and you can stay here. Hmm? Got it?”

Cheon Sejoo teased a little, and the topic of “nursing home” was immediately brought up as if it had been waiting. It really wasn’t fair play at all. Whenever he teased about age, Cheon Sejoo would inevitably bring up the topic he hated the most.

Cheon Sejoo had an immigration permit for Silver Town – a retirement community. It wasn’t because he intended to buy it, but he got it through some twist of fate. Sejin, fearing that one day he would grow old and not want to be a burden to him, would suddenly move in there, had repeatedly told him to sell it. Of course, Cheon Sejoo kept it with the reason, “who knows, I might need it later.”

So when that potential fear was stirred up, Sejin couldn’t be happy. He narrowed his eyes, trying to shake Cheon Sejoo’s Silver Town dream.

“You can’t go to places like that.”

He said, swallowing a piece of honey-glazed chicken sandwiched in a fluffy bun. Cheon Sejoo, who was drinking the pumpkin sikhye Sejin bought for him, raised an eyebrow as if asking, “What now?”

“Why? People who don’t know ‘jagangducheon’ aren’t allowed in?”

“How would old men know those things? It’s right that you don’t know. It’s not about that, but… if you really go to a nursing home, sooner or later you’ll be kicked out.”

“Why would I be kicked out? Sweetheart, you probably don’t know, but I’m very sociable.”

That remark sounded no different from “you’re not sociable,” making Sejin glare at him and explain:

“If you go there, the old ladies will chase after you all day and fight. The old men will also be annoyed and send complaints, saying that Mr. Cheon Sejoo keeps smiling brightly at the old ladies all day, what if it weakens their hearts. Then the nurses will hold a meeting, and finally suggest you leave because everything will be peaceful again if you’re not there.”

Cheon Sejoo couldn’t tell if this was a compliment or an insult, just stared at him as if asking “what nonsense are you talking about,” but as soon as their eyes met, he couldn’t help but laugh. The clear laughter made Sejin’s cheeks flush. So adorable. Cheon Sejoo looked at that cute face and asked:

“Am I that handsome? Still handsome even at 70? Handsome enough for old ladies to fight over me?”

“…Hmm.”

“If my sweetheart is so anxious, how can I live? Do you want to lock me up at home forever?”

“Are you crazy? Only crazy people do things like that.”

Sejin replied firmly. Cheon Sejoo then hid his smile. “There really is a crazy person on the 43rd floor,” he thought, then pushed the remaining sikhye towards Sejin. “You finish it.” Sejin smiled brightly and nodded.

Strangely simple. How could a person be so lovely and adorable? Cheon Sejoo believed that even if he had lived an ordinary life and then met Sejin, he would still fall in love with him. That face, radiant with happiness when looking at food, made others happy too, and when looking at him, those eyes were even more filled with adoration… How could he not love him?

After that, Cheon Sejoo continued to exchange small and absurd conversations with Sejin that would make others frown if they overheard. But like other lovers, the end of each conversation was always sweet and warm. A trip filled with trivial arguments.

In the evening, he met Kim Joohyung to talk. Cheon Sejoo deliberately arranged to meet Joohyung at a restaurant near her house, and as planned, skillfully brought up the topic of their third-grade class album. Before they moved to a Japanese-style pub, Joohyung didn’t hesitate to run upstairs to get the album and bring it down for him.

“…”

“Are you speechless?”

Joohyung burst out laughing when she saw Cheon Sejoo staring blankly at a picture of 10-year-old Sejin. Sejin sat beside him, chin in hand, watching the scene. His head was a little light from drinking draft beer before the food even arrived.

“I knew he was cute when he was little, but I didn’t expect it to be this much.”

“Right? He was so short back then. That’s why the boys kept teasing Sejin. I and… who was it? Jinju? Kim Jinju protected him.”

Joohyung recalled the old memory and giggled. Now he remembered that whenever he was teased for being short, Joohyung and Jinju would stand up for him, arguing with the boys, shouting: “Ugly is worse than short!” Joohyung was a head taller than Sejin back then.

“…Everyone would want to protect him.”

Cheon Sejoo looked at Sejin’s photo with the eyes of someone deeply in love. That happy smile was slightly different from when he looked at Sejin in real life, like he was looking at the purest and most adorable creature in the world, completely unguarded.

If he had met Cheon Sejoo when he was little, would he have looked at him with such eyes?

Sejin, a little tipsy at the time, thought to himself. When he was ten, Cheon Sejoo was in his final year of college. He lived in a dormitory, letting Hyein live in a rented house with money from tutoring, and only visited her on weekends. When he remembered Hyein, Sejin’s alcohol-soaked mind drifted into a stream of reminiscence. He wondered if he had met Hyein when she was little, could he have helped her, and drank as he thought.

Perhaps that’s why Sejin had a strange dream.

Tiny feet, even smaller hands. Sejin stared wide-eyed at the child in the mirror with an incredulous expression. In the mirror, ten-year-old Kwon Sejin appeared with a face identical to the photo in the album Kim Joohyung brought.

Sejin at that time was only 112cm tall, a full head shorter than his peers.

“What is this? Ah!?”

The boy spoke and then startled himself with his own voice, screaming in panic. Sejin quickly brought both hands up to cover his mouth, his hands surprisingly small. They were probably just big enough to cup Cheon Sejoo’s palm.

Is it a dream? Yeah, it must be a dream, right?

Sejin blinked his big, pretty eyes with long, curved eyelashes, then used his hand to pinch his chubby cheek. He tried pinching, biting his finger, tapping his forehead, but the sensation was very vague. A little pain… but also no pain.

What the heck was this? After a while of contemplation, Sejin came to the conclusion: this must be a dream.