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The afternoon sunlight spilled through the wooden lattice, golden and lazy, warming the floor where Kim Rok Soo lay stretched out.
He had only meant to rest his eyes for a moment, just a moment, but the chorus of cicadas, the heavy warmth of summer, and the faint wind brushing past the paper doors lulled him into stillness.
Outside, Choi Jung Soo’s voice rose, mingled with the sound of a hoe turning soil.
“No, no, hyung, that’s too deep! You trying to drown it or what?”
Lee Soo Hyuk chuckled, his laughter low and smooth, like water rolling over stone.
“Maybe I should bury all your complaints instead? It’ll live, don’t worry.”
Rok Soo tilted his head, the corner of his lips curving slightly. From where he lay, through the open door, he could see them clearly.
Jung Soo was kneeling in the dirt, hair messy and sticking to his forehead, waving his hands dramatically, while Soo Hyuk crouched beside him, sleeves rolled up, calm and patient, pretending not to care though he was obviously smiling.
Their laughter tangled with the wind, blending into the scent of damp earth and fresh leaves.
Rok Soo closed his eyes for a moment, listening. Something in his chest loosened, pleasant and faintly aching all at once.
They were really here.
Together.
Not in a dream, not in a memory.
Lee Soo Hyuk leaned on his hoe at the corner of the garden.
Choi Jung Soo was covered in dirt and still complaining nonstop.
And Rok Soo… just lay there, in the old Choi family house, watching the light shift slowly across the wooden floor, thinking that maybe peace felt like this.
The garden outside didn’t look like much yet,bjust uneven rows of soil, crooked patches of green, but somehow, looking at it, Rok Soo already felt like it was home.
Jung Soo suddenly stood up, shading his eyes from the sun and squinting toward the door.
“Hey, Rok Soo! You said you’d help with the weeding! Why are you still lying there soaking up the sun?”
Rok Soo didn’t move, replying lazily,
“I’m supervising.”
“Supervising, huh?”
Soo Hyuk’s voice floated over, calm as ever.
“Let him be, Jung Soo. He’s contributing moral support.”
Rok Soo let out a quiet laugh. The scent of soil, grass, and sunlight mixed in the air. Sometimes, everything felt unreal, that they could exist here together, in this quiet world after everything that happened, in this tiny, still moment where laughter could last longer than a breath.
Later, he’d join them.
He’d walk barefoot into the garden, complain that they were doing everything wrong, and end up getting dirt on his hands anyway.
But for now, he just wanted to watch. To see Lee Soo Hyuk dig, to hear Choi Jung Soo grumble, and to let peace seep into him like sunlight through skin.
“Hey!” Jung Soo called again, voice half-laughing. “At least come water something!”
“I already am,” Rok Soo said, lips curving. “I’m watering it in my mind.”
“Rok Soo!!” Jung Soo yelled, while Soo Hyuk chuckled behind him.
Outside, the garden kept growing, slowly, steadily.
When the sun climbed high and light spilled across the veranda, Rok Soo finally got up, watering can in hand, and walked out to join them.
Jung Soo was the first to spot him.
“Oh look, he’s finally moving!”
“I came to see how badly you two ruined the garden,” Rok Soo said, deadpan.
Jung Soo pointed at the patch before him.
“Ruined? Look at your row, why’s it all crooked like ocean waves?”
Rok Soo glanced down. To be fair, it was a bit uneven.
Behind them, Soo Hyuk stayed quiet, hoe in hand, silently fixing the rows as if he hadn’t heard anything.
“He’s secretly correcting your mistakes,” Jung Soo teased, grinning.
“Shut up. Yours aren’t any better,” Rok Soo replied dryly, but a faint smile tugged at his lips all the same.
Their laughter drifted into the wind, mingling with the scent of soil and new grass.
None of them mentioned the years spent running between life and death, or the things they had lost.
Rok Soo crouched, brushing soil gently around a small sprout, his voice soft as if speaking to himself.
“I never thought… peace could be this simple.”
For him, peace was nothing grand, just living quietly, planting vegetables, staying beside them, and feeling the sunlight still warm.
Both of them looked up at him for a moment. Neither spoke.
A soft silence passed, tender as the breeze.
Then Jung Soo laughed, brushing dirt off his hands.
“Keep living, and you’ll find out.”
It was such a simple answer that Rok Soo couldn’t help but laugh, too.
Their laughter overlapped, weightless, like nothing in the world could ever separate them again.
That evening, the small kitchen glowed under warm light.
Lee Soo Hyuk stood at the counter, chopping vegetables with steady hands, Kim Rok Soo stirred at the stove, Choi Jung Soo was setting the table while talking nonstop.
“What kind of cooking makes this much smoke?!”
“It’s the fragrant, not burnt smoke.”
“My nose tell otherwise!!”
The smell of soup drifted toward the veranda, mingling with the scent of fresh earth after the afternoon rain.
After a while of bustling around, dinner was ready, just simple dishes, soup, braised fish, pickled vegetables. Nothing special, but looking at the table, Rok Soo thought… it was enough.
They carried the meal outside, sitting together on the wooden porch, facing their small patch of garden.
Crickets chirped somewhere in the grass, a cool breeze slid past, their tea cooled quickly under the night air.
Fireflies flickered among the bamboo, tiny points of light that seemed to smile.
Jung Soo was telling some ridiculous story, laughing until he bent over, Hyuk only shook his head, adding quiet comments that made him laugh even harder.
Rok Soo leaned back against a pillar, letting their voices and laughter wash over him, slow and gentle, as if the world needed nothing more than this.
After a while, when the talk began to fade, Soo Hyuk set down his bowl, voice calm and low.
“Next time, let’s plant something else. Something that lasts longer.”
Jung Soo laughed, tilting his head toward the garden.
“Then we’ll have to fight off the bugs, hyung.”
Rok Soo replied softly, almost to himself,
“Then we’ll just keep planting. Every plant gets bitten anyway.”
No one said anything after that.
The wind stirred the leaves outside, and the smell of damp soil lingered in the air.
A small promise, nothing grand, but enough to keep them here, together.
Later that night, Rok Soo stood by the window, leaning against the wooden frame.
Outside, the garden was draped in soft darkness, dotted with a few faint firefly lights.
From inside the house came Jung Soo’s quiet, steady snoring peaceful.
Behind him, slow footsteps approached. Lee Soo Hyuk stopped beside him, arms crossed, silent as they both looked out at the yard.
After a moment, Rok Soo spoke, voice barely above a whisper, as if afraid to disturb the stillness.
“Do you think… we’ll get to see it bloom?”
Soo Hyuk didn’t answer right away. His eyes followed the gentle sway of young leaves in the wind before he smiled faintly.
“Don’t ask something so obvious.”
The words were simple, but in the quiet night, they felt warm.
The wind slipped through the veranda, brushing against the young plants, soft, alive, like a promise returned.
In that moment, Rok Soo realized peace wasn’t something vast or distant.
As long as they were here, together,
and the garden kept growing, and
that was enough.