Take Off

Spicy seasoned stingray, glossy springy pig's trotters, tuna kimbap, and potato pancakes. Not exactly a harmonious spread, but more than enough for a long-awaited lavish meal shared among the three of us. A meal accompanied by drinks.

Yuni nuna and Juhan hyung often joked that a love of money and alcohol was the common trait among Phantom members. Even if getting drunk wasn't strictly necessary, I had to admit that adding drinks to a conversation made it a lot easier to get started.

"He started by cornering me right away — 'What do you think you're doing, always lurking around here?' — people started gathering, and it was complete chaos. Of course, the other guy didn't just stand there either. It nearly turned into a fight. No — it practically was a fight, punches and all."

Morae nuna shot hyung a look tinged with mild reproach before taking a sip of soju.

For several days now, the same man had been loitering around the stairwell entrance next to the bus stop. At first, neither Morae nor Yeehan thought much of it. But when the man — who didn't seem to have any particular business there — kept pacing back and forth between the bus stop and the stairs, Yeehan grew suspicious. He confronted the man, demanding to know what he was doing lurking around and threatening to take him to the police. It turned out the man was the boyfriend of a local resident who had been coming by consistently for several days, trying to beg forgiveness after a fight with his girlfriend.

This had all happened just yesterday afternoon.

"When Yeehan Seo came at him like he was actually going to drag him to the police station, the guy was completely flustered... It only ended when his girlfriend showed up and confirmed he really was her boyfriend."

"There are more than a few unhinged people out there these days. You can't just take someone's word for it that they have a girlfriend. For all we know, he could be some delusional guy stalking her, convinced she's his girlfriend. Anyway... thanks to that, the two of them made up, so in the end it worked out fine."

Perhaps embarrassed by his mistake, hyung kept his eyes away from mine, downing one shot of soju after another.

Normally, hyung was never the type to act that aggressively. The precarious situation had drawn out a different side of him. To keep sleeping and waking up every day under the threat that their current life could be shattered at any moment — and still maintain enough composure to laugh and talk like this — was, when you thought about it, quite remarkable.

"You're just on edge. I understand seeing a needle as a kitchen knife."

Morae nuna patted hyung's back and concluded with that. Said casually, but it was also the phrase that most precisely captured their current situation.

A life where even a needle looks like a kitchen knife.

Just because they were laughing and talking to me as if nothing was wrong didn't mean that kind of life was truly fine.

This time it was a misunderstanding — but what about next time? Or rather, was even this incident truly a misunderstanding? It was a question no one could answer with certainty.

I still wasn't that accustomed to soju, but I downed my fourth glass in one go. It wasn't the loosening effect of tipsiness — it was more that the burning sensation of the alcohol tightening my throat seemed to snap me to attention.

"Aren't you going to Bali?"

Hyung, who had been opening a new bottle of soju, stopped and looked at me.

"What?"

"Bali. Aren't you going?"

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

This time Morae nuna, who had been reaching for some stingray with her chopsticks, stopped and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"I'm fine, so just go to Bali."

"What's wrong with him?"

Hyung put down the soju bottle, and Morae nuna set down her chopsticks.

I had been postponing the decision, telling myself I just needed a little more time to prepare mentally. But experience had taught me that circumstances wouldn't wait for my convenience.

Daily life is an extremely fragile glass floor. It is an unguaranteed peace — vulnerable to being shattered at any moment, in any way, by any unforeseen force. In a situation like this, there was even less to say about it.

"We don't know when I'll be dragged away from here again. Even I know that the longer we delay, the more dangerous it gets."

Since hearing Manager Han's story a few days ago, thoughts of Morae nuna and Yeehan hyung had not left my mind.

Even though the three of us weren't a couple, the essence of the bonds people form wasn't fundamentally different. Growing exhausted and cutting someone off to protect yourself wasn't an ending reserved only for lovers. We couldn't drive our relationship to that breaking point where both parties ended up tattered — the way Manager Han and her person had. I truly didn't want that.

"The surfing camp — the conditions were good. Opportunities like that don't come around often."

"Hey, I was just looking into it. Where would I go right now? My deposit is tied up."

Morae nuna relaxed and picked up her chopsticks again, her expression suggesting she thought I was reacting to the graffiti in the practice room.

"If you wanted to resolve it, it's not an impossible problem. Not to that extent."

"......"

Morae nuna's chopsticks froze once more. This was the first time I had been this insistent with the two of them.

"I... might start painting again."

Morae and Yeehan's eyes went wide. They showed a far stronger reaction to the possibility of me painting again than to my suggestion that they go to Bali.

I hadn't settled anything definite about painting yet. But even if I didn't end up painting, I was firm in my decision that I would no longer keep the two of them tied to this place under the name Seo Yeehyeon. On that point alone, my mind was clear. My first step would start right there.