Around noon, Jaegyeom had to go to work in the afternoon.
Since recovering from his rampage, his days had been mostly uneventful and peaceful.
The first day or two after waking up were annoying.
This was because Jeongju and Mesani treated him like a patient and followed him around constantly. It took several days before he was able to escape their overprotectiveness.
When it was time to eat, Jaegyeom came out to the living room.
Heading to the kitchen, he saw Jeongju preparing lunch. Without Jeongju saying anything, Jaegyeom took out the side dish containers from the refrigerator.
Mesani also came running over to set out the utensils.
"Hey. Where's the other one?"
"Kkaengal is in the yard."
Jaegyeom opened the sliding door and looked around the yard, spotting Yoo Namsaeng lying face down on one side of the wooden deck. There was a pretty
dandelion placed on Yoo Namsaeng's shell. It was Mesani's doing.
Jaegyeom chuckled involuntarily, then quickly wiped the smile off his face and scolded him unnecessarily:
"Hey, Yoo Kkaengal. Come eat."
"You should come out ahead of time when it's mealtime and set out the spoons and chopsticks, and open the side dish containers too. Do I always have to call you?"
"Yes…
Looking sheepish, Yoo Namsaeng crawled over to Jaegyeom's feet. He picked up Yoo Namsaeng and strode over to the dining table.
Now on the four-person table, in addition to two adult place settings and one child's place setting, there was also a large tray. It was Yoo Namsaeng's personal dining tray. Jeongju served his portion separately on the tray.
"Well then, 'll eat well today too."
Yoo Namsaeng bowed his head in gratitude.
Though he was still just a temporary guest staying with them because he had nowhere else to go, after living together for over a week, they had learned a few things about Yoo Namsaeng.
He loved raw vegetables and fruits. They discovered this the other day when they had ssambap and saw Yoo Namsaeng eating frantically as if he was being chased by someone. From the next day on, raw vegetables frequently appeared on the table - lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and so on.
"Cucumbers! Cucumbers are just divine! Simply divine!"
Yoo Namsaeng exclaimed as he munched on cucumbers.
And he liked to stuff his mouth full of food, and when eating, if he found something delicious, he would say it was good hundreds of times while flapping his webbed feet. Yoo Namsaeng also had a habit of exaggerating when he spoke. Once, when someone accidentally stepped on his foot after not seeing him on the floor, Yoo Namsaeng made a huge fuss saying his foot felt crushed.
And...
"Hey, who ate the bread I left out to eat yesterday?"
At Jaegyeom's words, Yoo Namsaeng flinched and looked up.
"I ate it... I got hungry at night..."
Yoo Namsaeng seemed to have a bit of gluttony, perhaps from being starved for so long. Jaegyeom frowned when he realized Yoo Namsaeng had stolen
it. As Yoo Namsaeng was about to sheepishly tuck his head into his shell, anticipating a scolding, Jeongju spoke up as if he had just realized something:
"That's right, come to think of it, Kkaengal, it must be hard for you to get food from the fridge or cupboard when you're hungry. I should leave some snacks out on the table for you from now on."
Huh? Yoo Namsaeng's eyes widened. Jaegyeom, who had been eating with a disinterested expression, chimed in casually:
"It'll take him three years to climb up to the table. If you're going to leave anything out, put it on the floor."
"Ah, right."
Just then, Yoo Namsaeng suddenly started shedding tears.
"What! Kkaengal, why are you crying?"
Jeongju asked in surprise. Jaegyeom was also slightly startled. He wondered if Yoo Namsaeng was suddenly overcome with sadness because of the scolding earlier
about the food.
"I'm scared... I'm scared..."
"Huh? Scared? What are you scared of?"
Sniffling, Yoo Namsaeng nibbled on a tear-soaked cucumber and said:
"Just... just because I'm too happy..."
But he gave a reason they hadn't expected at all.
Every day felt like a dream, being fortunate enough to meet such good people and be part of such a warm scene. The happier Yoo Namsaeng was with this life, the more scared and sad he became.
"What? If you're happy you should smile, why are you crying!"
Jeongju patted Yoo Namsaeng's head comfortingly.
The empathetic Mesani's eyes also welled up with tears.
Only Jaegyeom was looking at Yoo Namsaeng with an expressionless gaze.
Yoo Namsaeng said he was scared because he was happy. Jaegyeom understood that feeling well. He was afraid in advance because he knew it would all disappear someday. Having been alone for so long trapped in a cave, Yoo Namsaeng would be unable to fully enjoy these happy days, instead wringing out anguish proportional to his time in solitude.
"Hey. You'll get indigestion if you eat while crying."
Jaegyeom said gruffly, placing a few cucumbers on the tray. No words of comfort could help Yoo Namsaeng overcome this fear.
"Eat a lot."
***
Having returned to an ordinary daily life, Jaegyeom found himself wondering over the past few days if this was really okay. If asked what exactly he meant by
"this," the "what" that prompted such thoughts was, of course, Yoon Taehee. In short, he was starting to think, "Isn't this getting too close?"
Eating meals. Drinking tea. Riding in Yoon Taehee's car. That's all Yoon Taehee said he wanted. And lately, Jaegyeom's daily life was truly flowing just as Yoon Taehee wished. It wasn't that he was deliberately trying to accommodate him. But somehow, before he knew it, that's how things had naturally become.
First of all, Jaegyeom ended up riding in Yoon Taehee's car at least once a day.
They didn't commute together every time. But on days when their work hours aligned, Yoon Taehee always made sure to give Jaegyeom a ride home. Then there were days when, even without any mention of going to work together or picking him up, his sedan would be waiting outside, timed perfectly with Jaegyeom's departure for work.
Today was one of those days.
As soon as he stepped out into the alley, the sedan caught his eye. Yoon Taehee was sitting in the driver's seat, his arm loosely draped over the steering wheel as he looked at his phone. Jaegyeom deliberately shut the front gate with a bang. The driver's side window rolled down with a whir.
"Hi."
Yoon Taehee greeted him as usual when their eyes met. Jaegyeom nodded silently and got into the passenger seat. By now, he buckled his seatbelt with familiar movements.
The black sedan smoothly pulled out of the alley.
Today, Yoon Taehee was wearing a brown checkered three-piece suit. It was the first time Jaegyeom had seen him in a three-piece suit, so it felt a bit unfamiliar. Sitting in the passenger seat, jaegyeom found himself glancing at him repeatedly without realizing it.
After the sidelong glances were repeated several times, Yoon Taehee smirked.
"What is it? Are you perhaps interested in me?"
Jaegyeom flinched and tried to discreetly avert his eyes.
"What?"
"You keep staring at me."
Jaegyeom stared stiffly ahead as he retorted:
"...Don't talk nonsense."
"Then why were you looking?"
After a moment of silence, Jaegyeom said gruffly:
"...l was wondering if you got a haircut."
Yoon Taehee looked at Jaegyeom with curious eyes.
"How did you know?"
"I just noticed your hair looked different."
Originally, Yoon Taehee trimmed his hair once a month. But it was just a trim, so there wasn't much change to the actual hairstyle. Maybe his sideburns were slightly shorter or he had thinned it out a bit.
"You have a good eye for detail."
Yoon Taehee smiled gently, then:
"Ah, or maybe you really are interested in me after all."
He said nonsense again, along with the sound of the turn signal clicking.
"..."
Jaegyeom just stared straight ahead without responding.
For a while now, Yoon Taehee had been saying that kind of thing whenever he got the chance. At first, Jaegyeom would retort that it was ridiculous, but that only worked the first couple times.
He knew it was just light-hearted joking.
But at some point, Jaegyeom started to feel uncomfortable with those comments from Yoon Taehee. The problem was that instead of just letting it slide, he kept becoming conscious of him. Naturally, the sensation of losing his composure was unpleasant.
So Jaegyeom found it increasingly difficult to be around Yoon Taehee, but-
"Just shut up and drive."
He tried not to show it. After all, they weren't on bad terms, and everything else was fine. In response to Jaegyeom's rebuke, Yoon Taehee, who had been quietly laughing, asked kindly,
"Did you eat?"
It was a question he asked every time they met.
The man always asked if Jaegyeom had eaten, and if he said yes, he'd ask what he ate.
Then when Jaegyeom told him what he ate, Yoon Taehee would follow up with, "Was it good?" Jaegyeom, who tended to be indifferent towards others, sometimes found it strange how he kept asking questions one after another.
Jaegyeom just answered as usual that he had eaten at home. Sure enough, Yoon Taehee asked, "What did you eat at home?" But suddenly, Jaegyeom found himself curious about what Yoon Taehee usually ate.
While Yoon Taehee was always curious about every detail of what Jaegyeom ate and what side dishes he had, he rarely talked about himself.
So Jaegyeom, fidgeting with his hands, asked casually:
"What about you?"
"Hm?"
"Did you eat?"
Yoon Taehee, who had been focused on the road ahead, hesitated and looked at Jaegyeom. Though they had seen each other's faces and conversed countless times before, this was the first time he had asked him if he had eaten.
Yoon Taehee's mood brightened just from this small bit of interest from jaegyeom.
"I ate too."
Yoon Taehee answered with a gentle smile.
"What did you eat?"
"Just something simple outside."
"Okay, so what did you eat?"
Jaegyeom, still looking straight ahead, asked again in a prickly tone.
"Guacamole salmon salad and yuzu lemon tea."
"..."
The moment he heard the answer, Jaegyeom's eyebrows twitched. After silently staring ahead for a moment, he turned to look at Yoon Taehee with an annoyed expression.
"Don't mess with me."
Yoon Taehee looked bewildered at the sudden scolding. He was confused about what was cheeky about simply answering what he ate when asked.
"What?"
"You deliberately used foreign words to make it hard to understand."
"I just said the names of the foods I ate..."
As if no explanation was needed, Jaegyeom glared coldly at Yoon Taehee with narrowed eyes. There was no doubt in his mind. The menu items Yoon Taehee mentioned were far too malicious.
"That wasn't my intention... but, alright."
Yoon Taehee bit his lip and tried to focus on driving.
But it wasn't easy. He tried to hold back his laughter, but kept letting out little chuckles. Thinking back, Jaegyeom would sometimes have overly sensitive reactions, saying things like don't look down on him for being a country bumpkin, or don't disrespect him for being old-fashioned.
"I mean... guacamole salad..."
Yoon Taehee kept muttering to himself and laughing throughout the drive. He wondered how to say it in Korean while finding it amazing how Jaegyeom could interpret it that way. It was ridiculous and baffling... and cute.
"Why are you laughing?"
But jaegyeom couldn't understand why Yoon Taehee was laughing. He stared at him as if to say, "Has he gone mad? What's wrong with him?" Just then, Yoon Taehee said in a low voice:
"Because I'm happy."
"What?"
"I'm happy being with you."
Jaegyeom hesitated and looked at Yoon Taehee.
"..."
Does he... like me that much?
Jaegyeom's expression became peculiar.