If I endure quietly, tomorrow will come. I’ll become a little more mature while sleeping.

She thought of passing the weekend like that.

A few hours later, her ears woke up before her eyes. Startled by the sound of someone moving, Soeun, who had just woken up, discovered Taejoon standing awkwardly in front of her and gasped, taking a deep breath.

“Why are you here, why!”

“Sorry, sorry.”

Taejoon, who had been walking quietly with his blond hair, put his foot down on the floor.

“But if you hate it that much, I feel really hurt.”
“I never opened the door for you, so what are you doing here!”

“You didn’t tell me? You opened it so blatantly in front of me, so I thought it meant I should remember a bit.”

Soeun retorted with an unfair expression to his shameless reply.

“No. I didn’t tell you…”

“Then change it now. I won’t look.”

Why change it now? You’ve already entered.

With a sidelong glance and a twisted expression, he reached out to Soeun. His large hand lifted her cheek.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

Am I crazy? I must be really crazy.

He might have killed someone. He might not even know if he did.

I should resent him, hate him. But strangely, I didn’t feel the slightest resentment. It wasn’t scary at all.

“I get nervous when Han Soeun says she’s in pain.”

No, how can I hate you? This person.

Soeun regretted scolding Taejoon just now.

“I don’t like being alone when I’m sick.”

“…”

“We’ll be together in the future, so get used to it a bit.”

Even in his serious tone, there was a softness like cotton.

There was no other word to call it but love.

Love is something you can’t see.

But sometimes, it is visible.

Whenever he was by her side, it felt like being covered by a warm blanket.

“You have a high fever.”

It’s not that my fever went up; my insides are worn out, but he innocently believed Soeun’s lie.

Soeun lay down on the bed as Taejoon supported her. While Soeun was lying on the bed, Taejoon heated up the porridge he brought from the restaurant. Although it could be heated in the microwave, he took out a pot and transferred the contents, which was somewhat pathetic but amusing.

Soeun raised the body that Taejoon had laid down and leaned on the bedhead.

A peaceful Sunday afternoon that didn’t match our fate.

Sunlight poured in straight through the square window. In the streaks of sunlight created, clear dust danced like gold powder.

“Why are you so absent-minded like that?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was looking at the dust.”

Soeun responded freshly to Taejoon’s tease. Following Soeun’s gaze, Taejoon also turned his head.

Soeun suddenly wanted to show off her knowledge to him. She wanted to forget the sadness through ordinary conversation.

“Do you know what this dust, like gold powder, is called?”

“Mikkeum.”

“Oh.”

However, the vanity became a distant thing that couldn’t be brought up. But it didn’t feel particularly bad either.

Mikkeum. Although she knew the form, she had never met anyone who knew its name. It seemed like a word only she knew. It was just a small overlap of knowledge, but it felt like a close friend of the soul.

Her expression seemed amusing, so he added an explanation.

“It’s my grandmother’s name.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. She passed away now.”

In the hazy memories, a vast garden where they played tag came to mind.

“This is called ‘Mikkeum.’ Dust like gold powder.”
And. The handsome older brother who used to teach her new words.

It hadn’t occurred to me until this shocking weekend in various ways.

It was you. It was all you.

The handsome older brother who used to play tag with me when I was young was you.

You really haven’t changed at all.

As if the not yet healed wounds were vividly exposed under the sunlight, everything melting into them was painful.

Taejoon, noticing the tears, awkwardly smirked.

“Because she passed away 22 years ago, don’t overreact.”

Soeun couldn’t make a sound as if her choked-up sob would be revealed inside her throat.

She thought life was like dust. Normally floating in the air, seemingly nonexistent, but under the sunlight, it could sparkle like gold dust.

Taejoon, having heated the porridge to the point of being too hot, was now cooling it down with cold water. The scene was dazzling to the point where the eyes were stinging.

Yeah. Let’s just think about myself.

This week’s countdown love affair will be a lifetime of happiness for me.

Let’s smile happily for myself. I’m passing through a brilliant moment when gold dust is falling.

Then, it seemed possible. It seemed possible to smile happily in front of him too.

Soeun raised her phone, capturing him pouting because he didn’t answer. The shutter sound was so loud that Taejoon approached leisurely. Taking the phone, he checked the photo and, as if dissatisfied, turned the lens to selfie mode. Then, he stretched his arms to capture both Soeun and himself in one frame.

It was the first time for such an occasion, so Soeun felt embarrassed and couldn’t lift her head. With his other arm, Taejoon gently turned Soeun’s chin towards him, adjusting it for the timer.

Click. With the sound effect, the kiss between the two was saved as a photo.