My Bloody Valentine - 108

Chapter 108

That day was very cold.  

Taeshin shoved his cold hands into the pockets of his jumper. However, nothing much changed.  

He was waiting for Han at the shared entrance on the first floor of the art academy building Han attended. There was a glass door in front, but it couldn’t block the biting cold. However, if he entered the art academy, it was clear that Han, who was taking free lessons, would feel more burdened.  

Han also knew the way back to the orphanage very well, so there was no need for him to wait. But from the start, that was never an option for Taeshin.  

“Taeshin!”  

On their way back to the orphanage after Han finished class, Han took something out of his pocket and handed it to Taeshin. It was chocolate with letters engraved on it.  

Suddenly, Taeshin remembered something the children at the orphanage had been talking about earlier that morning.  

“It’s Valentine’s Day today. Do you know what kind of day it is?”  

“What day is it?”  

“It’s the day you give chocolate to someone you like and confess your feelings.”  

“Really?”  

“They say if you want to accept it, you take the chocolate, and if not, you refuse.”  

Taeshin tried to calm his pounding heart and carefully took the chocolate. He licked it clean, even the bits that had melted and stuck to the wrapper, as if he were sucking on a piece of Han’s heart.  

It was undeniably the sweetest thing he had ever tasted in his life.  

“Taeshin, wait a minute.”  

“Mm?”  

“Did you eat the chocolate with your face? It’s all over you.”  

Han hummed a pleasant tone and wiped the chocolate off Taeshin’s lips with her thumb. She didn’t seem to notice the sound she was making.  

Taeshin gazed down at Han’s face. Her pale cheeks, made even paler by the cold, were flushed red in the shape of a peach.  

Ironically, Han was a fruit she couldn’t eat, and it was a fruit that would cause her excruciating pain if she did. Feeling a sense of irritation, Taeshin had stopped eating peaches long ago.  

Han was the most beautiful person Taeshin had ever seen, regardless of age or gender. Even more beautiful than the prettiest fifth-grade girl in school whose name he didn’t even remember, or the actress Shin Soyoung, who was considered the most beautiful woman in the country.  

Because of this, Taeshin was always genuinely serious when it came to hiding Han whenever a sponsor came. He knew that someone as beautiful as Han wouldn’t escape the eyes of others.  

For some reason, Taeshin didn’t want to go back to the orphanage today. When Han asked, “Shall we go in now?” he kept replying, “Let’s stay a bit longer.” He wasn’t sure how many times he had delayed it already.  

Han, who was sensitive to the cold, started twisting her body, growing more uncomfortable.  

“Taeshin, can we go in now?”  

“…Is it really cold?”  

Han’s teeth were chattering, and her answer spoke for her.  

“Okay, let’s go in. Sorry, Hyung. Was it too cold?”  

Taeshin held onto Han’s icy cold hand tightly and walked down the hill. The eerie, unsettling air seemed to pull at Taeshin’s feet as he walked.  

When they entered the orphanage building, the first thing Taeshin saw when the door opened was a stranger.  

The man, standing in front of the heater in the middle of the lobby, looked to be in his mid-40s and was wearing a fine suit. His skin was bumpy, and under his eyes were large, puffed bags.  

Taeshin finally realized what the ominous feeling was that had been gripping his ankle.  

He was a sponsor. It wasn’t even a “Thank You Day” when the sponsors usually came, and Taeshin felt like he had been ambushed unexpectedly.  

In regret, Taeshin bit his lip.  

Normally, when a sponsor came, there would be a flashy luxury car parked in the lot, but today, Taeshin had forgotten to check the parking lot since he had been coming from the dead cemetery.  

The man’s gaze was fixed on something. Taeshin’s eyes nervously followed the gaze, and it landed on Han, whose face was pale, and she was sniffing.  

Unconsciously, Taeshin stepped aside and positioned himself in front of Han to block the man’s line of sight.  

“Oh, you two. What took you so long to come back? Is everything okay?”  

The director suddenly appeared from somewhere and spoke in an unusually gentle voice, confirming that the man was indeed a sponsor.  

“Yes.”  

“Go upstairs and study. Read some books. Understand?”  

The man’s gaze reluctantly moved away from Han’s face and followed the director as they walked toward the hallway where the director’s office was located.  

“…?”  

“Taeshin, aren’t you going?”  

Han softly tugged at Taeshin’s arm, who was still standing there.  

Could the man be here to adopt a child? Taeshin felt unreasonably uneasy today.  

“Hyung, go up first.”  

After telling Han that, Taeshin snuck into the administrative office next to the director’s office.  

The administrative teacher, the director’s younger sibling, was technically an employee but came to work once or twice a month.  

As a result, the administrative office had been hastily set up just to have a space in case an audit came. The flimsy partition separating the director’s office and the administrative office was so thin that even casual conversations could be heard clearly.

Taeshin, who entered the general office, pressed his ear tightly against the wall separating the director’s office and the general office.

“That child? His name is Han, Han I. But he’s often sick. It’s not easy to find a suitable family for him.”

When Taeshin heard Han’s name in the director’s voice, his eyes shook violently.

“The child is sick? What kind of illness…?”

“No, it’s not that he’s specifically ill, but there are children who are just naturally weak, you know?”

“Oh, the director is doing such a good deed.”

“No, it’s all in accordance with God’s will. Ah, sorry, may I take a phone call for a moment?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

The loud ringtone of the director’s phone played, and the sound of the office door opening and closing followed. It seemed that the director had stepped outside to take the call.

Just as Taeshin was about to pull his ear away from the wall, a man’s voice was heard.

“Hello? Yeah, I found just the right one. You wouldn’t believe how pretty she is. There are younger ones, but when I saw her, the others didn’t even catch my eye. Yeah. Even if they’re older, it’s a problem. Kids with big heads don’t listen, so they won’t do.”

Taeshin’s hand, which had been holding the wall, slowly turned into a fist.

“No, I’m not exaggerating, she’s really pretty. So pure… No, it’s a boy. Yeah, even better, easier to control.”

There was no need to listen further. Taeshin immediately ran upstairs and stood in front of Han, who had just finished washing up and was holding a towel.

“Hyung, you need to hide.”

“Huh?”

“A sponsor is here, why aren’t you hiding?”

“Ah… was that person a sponsor? Today isn’t even Thanksgiving…”

“He’s a sponsor. So hurry and hide.”

At Taeshin’s voice, which pushed him from behind, Han seemed a little scared.

“Taeshin, why are you acting like this? It’s scary…”

“…”

As he always did on the days when a sponsor came, Taeshin pushed Han into the closet. Just before closing the closet door, Taeshin took one last deep look at Han’s face, so that he could bring it back to his mind at any time.

Staring at Han’s face with intense focus, Taeshin closed the closet door and tried to pull away, but Han suddenly reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt.

“What about you? Why aren’t you coming in?”

“…I have something to do for a bit. Hyung, you know, don’t come out until I tell you.”

“Okay.”

After hearing Han’s obedient reply, Taeshin didn’t move and continued to stare at him for a long while.

“…Wait for me, hyung.”

Han smiled softly, nodding, and Taeshin reluctantly cast a final glance at his face before closing the closet door.

At that moment, he felt a dizzying sensation, as if something heavy had lodged itself in his chest.

How could he live without Han, who had always been by his side since his earliest memories? He already felt helpless.

But Taeshin knew more about the world than Han did. He knew that he was still too young to protect Han, and that he didn’t have the power to stop him from leaving.

So Taeshin chose to go instead.

Han might be too weak to do it, but Taeshin, who was healthy and fast, could run away any time.

He would secretly save up money, run away, and come back for Han. Then they would live far away together, as if they were everything to each other.

Whether it was picking up coins on the street or selling bottles or boxes to a junkyard, as long as he was with Han, Taeshin felt they could make it through anywhere, any way.

Taeshin quietly left the room, washed his face, and carefully wiped his face and neck, then dampened his messy hair and combed it neatly. He put on the cleanest clothes he had and went downstairs.

In the lobby, the director and a man with a belly were holding paper cups, drinking sweet-smelling mixed coffee.

“Oh, you’re down. I was just about to call for you.”

The director said with a smile when he saw Taeshin coming down the stairs. Then he glanced over Taeshin’s shoulder.

“Where’s the other one? Why are you the only one coming down?”

The director’s playful remark made the man with the belly tilt his head in confusion. The director quickly turned around to fill in the gap of information.

“Oh, that Han kid and this one are like two peas in a pod, always sticking together.”

“Haha, I see.”

The man smiled softly. It seemed like the director didn’t notice the ugly greed in his smile. Just as the director was about to ask Taeshin to find Han, Taeshin spoke up.

“So, where is Han now…?”

“I want to go.”

Both the director and the man looked at Taeshin in surprise. The man was the first to speak.

“Huh? What did you say?”

“You came to take the child, right? I want to go.”

The man, who had been pretending to remain calm, looked taken aback. Taeshin immediately continued.

“I’m strong, and I can do anything you ask. I can pull weeds and I’m strong.”

Now, even the director seemed confused. Why was Taeshin talking about pulling weeds?

The man waved his hands in rejection.

“Ah, no, I didn’t mean to say I’d take a kid who’s good at work, haha…”

“Well, Taeshin, what kind of manners are those? And you shouldn’t interrupt when adults are talking.”

“Sir, just take me. I’ll do well. I can do anything.”

The man, who seemed bewildered, looked Taeshin over again.

For his age, Taeshin was tall and had a solid frame. Though not as handsome as the other child, he was still quite good-looking. The man thought that perhaps a healthy child like Taeshin would be easier to handle than a sickly one.

The man wiped the confusion from his face and gave a polite, soft smile.

“Do you want to come with me, then?”

Taeshin finally felt relieved.

As they drove away from the orphanage in the man’s car, Taeshin looked out the window at the shrinking orphanage. Inside, he kept saying to himself, as if sending telepathy to Han, who was still hidden in the closet on the second floor:

“Don’t be seen by anyone and wait for me.”

“Don’t get sick, and don’t cry.”

“I will come back for you.”