Reunion pt.1

They say you don’t notice someone’s presence but you notice their absence. When the android that had been making noise for days disappeared without a trace, the house became unbearably empty.

Though the house hadn’t been cleaned since the android left, it remained tidy since nothing had been disturbed.

At one point, the house had become terribly messy. Of course, that was because Kim In-woo hadn’t done anything then.

After Radel left on his own, In-woo spent a while drowning in alcohol. He would drink carelessly, order delivery food recklessly to binge eat, and if he didn’t feel like it, he’d leave everything as is. Soon enough, the house turned into a horrible state.

If his manager hadn’t found the state of the house despite being told not to come, perhaps by now the whole place would be covered in a terrible stench. Even if it had become a trash house, since Radel was there, In-woo’s crazy behavior wouldn’t have been exposed to the media and faced public criticism.

Anyway, only after calling a housekeeper at the insistence of his manager and CEO did the house return to a decent state. Thanks to the manager and CEO consistently taking care of In-woo after his sudden change, he tried to maintain a life that appeared normal on the outside. But In-woo was breaking down day by day.

While working, unnecessary thoughts didn’t come up. But even in the briefest moment to catch his breath, he thought of the man. Along with that came countless other memories. Unable to bear it, In-woo pushed his body to the limit.

In the first month after Radel disappeared, he gained 6kg, then his weight rapidly decreased, losing 14kg over the past year. Last month, the CEO and manager finally blocked incoming work for In-woo and urged him to rest. Stuck at home with nothing to do, depressive impulses consumed In-woo.

As Radel had said, In-woo couldn’t hold on after he disappeared. Because In-woo loved Radel too much. Because he couldn’t accept his absence. Or because being alone was too painful.

And In-woo doubted his love.

To still like Lee Sun-ho even after all this. It must be either mental illness or Radel’s brainwashing. Because no sane human could love Radel.

In-woo staggered into the bathroom. His stomach churned and he tried to throw up, but nothing came out. The nausea shaking him just pooled inside. As if it would rot inside him…

“…”

He couldn’t take it anymore. Unable to bear the sudden impulse that hit him, In-woo ran from the bathroom to the kitchen. He opened the sink cabinet and immediately pulled out a sharp kitchen knife. When someone’s face reflected in the blade, In-woo was startled and dropped the knife.

The reflection was Rudy’s face. In reality nothing was reflected, it was probably just an illusion.

The presence he thought he had almost forgotten would sometimes visit In-woo. These days, In-woo found himself understanding Rudy’s thoughts and feelings.

A man who self-destructed while longing for his former master.

After all, the figure he once despised was now Kim In-woo himself.

The difference from a year ago was that back then Kim In-woo mostly wanted to get rid of Radel, while now Kim In-woo mostly wanted to see Radel again. Shamefully so.

The fake Lee Sun-ho. The nothing that was Lee Sun-ho. The Lee Sun-ho who was born for deception.

He had loved him, and wanted to see the Lee Sun-ho he loved.

Though Radel hadn’t shown himself for a year, In-woo dreamed of Radel every day. In the same form as before, or in different forms, Radel visited every night in dreams. Very occasionally, when he woke up with his underwear completely soiled, he felt miserable enough to want to die.

That damn bastard left on his own and wouldn’t show his face, so why, just me.

In-woo picked up the knife that had fallen to the floor. And gripped it firmly, intending to stab hard.

“Stop that.”

At that moment, so naturally, another person’s voice was heard from beside him. Though it had been a house with just him alone. Radel was standing right next to him.

Radel, whom he had been searching for just over a year, with an attitude that showed no sense of absence, so naturally.

“You…”

At first he thought it was an illusion. That’s how impossible the situation was. But Radel grabbed In-woo’s wrist and took the kitchen knife with his other hand. That firm strength and warmth couldn’t be fake.

In-woo blankly looked back and forth between his empty hand and the knife in the other’s hand. And finally checked once more the face of the person standing proudly before him.

His tall height remained the same but he seemed to have lost quite a bit of weight as his cheeks were hollow. His originally white skin was deathly pale. His light blue eyes were mixed with a red tinge, rippling strangely.

“What are you?”

“Your lover.”

“Who’s your lover?”

“Me.”

At the brazen response that went beyond confidence, In-woo felt his pent-up emotions completely shatter. He had already been diagnosed with low blood pressure at the hospital where his manager had dragged him recently; was this guy trying to kindly raise his blood pressure for his health? The back of his neck felt stiff. He wanted to rough up the man before him, to put it crudely.

Unable to hold back, In-woo threw a cup that was within reach at Radel’s face. Radel’s serene face as he easily dodged without even blinking was extremely irritating.

In-woo moved to grab a dining chair with the intention of bringing it down on Radel’s head. But before he could reach the dining table, Radel caught him.

“Stop throwing things.”

“Let go!”

“I said stop throwing things.”

“I said let go, you son of a b*tch!”

“If you say you won’t throw anything.”

Though In-woo caused a fuss demanding to be let go, Radel didn’t budge at all. The strength of the man who had grown slightly bigger than Lee Sun-ho was violently overwhelming.

At first In-woo kicked Radel wildly trying to break free somehow but it was no use. He even kicked him in the groin which was usually a weak spot, but this alien bastard must have a different structure from humans as he wasn’t affected at all.

After struggling, In-woo felt a creeping fear rise up. And feeling ashamed of his own fear, he quietly averted his gaze.

“Let go. I won’t throw anything…”

“Good, don’t throw anything. You might get hurt throwing things needlessly.”

Though anger surged at those words that seemed to suggest he was saying it for In-woo’s sake, In-woo forcefully suppressed it. Anyway, throwing a few things to hit the man was just meaningless venting. There was no need to waste energy unnecessarily.

Radel dragged the now docile In-woo to the living room. After glaring fiercely at the delivery food bags on the table, Radel sat In-woo on the sofa and sat across from him. The way he acted like he owned the place was very irritating, making In-woo glare at him.

“Why did you come here?”

“This is our home, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean our home… You moved out, didn’t you? This is my home.”