“Hurry and eat. A hangover gets worse when your stomach is empty.”
In truth, it would have been much the same even if his stomach were full. It was not such a serious condition anyway. A dull, heavy exhaustion merely dominated him as though it were pressing down on his head.
“Hurry.”
Could he really eat this without hesitation?
For a moment, Yeonjun stared with unfocused eyes at the bean-sprout soup, packed with bean sprouts and sliced chili peppers, before slowly reaching for his spoon. Wearing a doubtful expression, he carefully brought a spoonful of broth to his mouth.
The warm, salty soup washed refreshingly over his tongue.
“This is good…?”
When Yeonjun’s eyebrows twitched in surprise, Haein answered with an aggrieved expression.
“I can handle the basics. Both my parents have taste buds so genuinely cursed that I had to learn in order to survive.”
Wouldn’t someone who grew up eating nothing but terrible home cooking normally become accustomed to it and end up equally incapable of distinguishing what tasted good?
Watching someone who looked as though he had only just become a college student confidently boast about his cooking skills made Yeonjun realize once again that Haein seemed to live in an entirely different world.
“Then are you the one who cooks at home?”
Was it because, despite this being their first time meeting face-to-face, they had already known each other for some time? There was no awkwardness in their conversation.
That was likely thanks to Haein’s persistent demands for phone calls, which had forced Yeonjun to hear his voice until he was sick of it.
“Mmm… I’m not always the one who cooks. My parents make simple things, but I’m the one who checks the seasoning.”
Yeonjun scooped generous portions of the instant rice into the soup, and Haein smiled in satisfaction.
For a moment, Yeonjun’s contrary streak rose up, making him reluctant to eat with obvious enjoyment exactly as this kid wanted. Then he remembered that, whether he had wanted it or not, Haein had helped him. He obediently relaxed the furrow between his brows.
The rice and soup filling his spoon was so delicious that it was difficult to find even a single fault. As the mild, clean flavor soothed his tongue, Yeonjun felt his hand gradually moving faster.
“…….”
Between his spoon traveling busily back and forth and the soup bowl, he saw Haein resting his chin prettily on his hands as he watched him.
What in the world was this guy doing?
Belatedly puzzled, Yeonjun put down his spoon and asked,
“You said you’re a college student, right? You live with your parents. Is it okay for you to come out at night just because someone calls you?”
When Yeonjun began lecturing him like an old-fashioned elder, Haein grinned and shot back,
“My family is completely hands-off. They say it’s fine as long as I don’t go out and make a baby.”
Pfft.
Yeonjun had been about to take another large spoonful without thinking. At the mention of a freewheeling family atmosphere that would have been unimaginable in Yeonjun’s home, he sharply inhaled to keep himself from choking.
“Even so, you came out because an adult you’d never met called you? What would you have done if I were some kind of weirdo?”
Yeonjun deliberately frowned and added the words in a threatening tone, but they did not seem to affect Haein in the slightest.
Instead of clouding with concern, Haein’s pretty face only shone even more brightly.
“Normally… someone planning to target me and do something strange wouldn’t have been active as the most famous named player in gaming history for the past ten years, would they?”
Kyaa.
As though joking, Haein crossed both arms over his chest, then took the nonsense even further.
“Unless that really was your intention?”
“Do you honestly think it was?”
“Then there’s no problem. Hurry and eat some more. This isn’t in an earthenware bowl, so it’ll cool down quickly.”
Haein casually pulled the corners of his mouth into a grin and tapped the pot handle with his fingertips.
No matter how Yeonjun looked at him, he was strange.
Even if Yeonjun had been drunk, it was honestly difficult to believe that he had asked this guy to come pick him up. Still, there was evidence, so he would accept that much.
But was it really all right for Haein to come all this way for someone who was practically a stranger he had only known through a game for a few months?
He had far too little caution.
“No… Never mind.”
If he said anything more, Yeonjun would only be the inconsiderate piece of garbage who had asked a kid he had never even met to come pick him up.
Yeonjun closed his mouth again and silently continued eating. Haein also began slowly emptying his own bowl.
Why was he nibbling at his food like that?
He already looked like some hopping little rabbit, and now even the way he ate was unsatisfying. It irritated Yeonjun.
“Why are you eating in such tiny bites?”
When Yeonjun asked with his lips slightly pursed, Haein answered with the same untroubled smile.
“Because just watching you eat makes me feel full, hyung?”
Yeonjun’s expression instantly twisted.
He set down his spoon with a clack as though he had lost his appetite. Haein burst into laughter without making the slightest effort to conceal it and covered his face with the back of his hand.
“I’m joking. There’s a twenty-four-hour supermarket out front, so I went out before dawn to buy instant rice and the ingredients for bean-sprout soup. The convenience store was open, so I ate a cup of ramen while I was out. I had to use a bit of strength because of someone, and I was too hungry to last until morning.”
Feeling a stab of guilt, Yeonjun looked away and began clearing the place where he had eaten.
“Why did you actually come just because I called?”
Even the barbed sentence he forced out to drive away his embarrassment did not disturb Haein.
Haein merely blinked his pretty, round eyes and smiled in a way Yeonjun could not tell was sly or simply good-natured.
“At times like this, you can just say thank you. You’re not actually a grandfather.”
Haein recalled the birth year he had seen on Yeonjun’s ID while checking his address the previous night.
Someone born in the nineties was not particularly old. It was almost deflating to think about how much Yeonjun had acted like an elderly man.
Even if Yeonjun really had been in his forties, Haein did not think his feelings toward him would have changed.
The real-life Seong Yeonjun sitting before him stirred Haein’s heart far more powerfully than he had imagined.
It was not merely because of his face.
There were his clothes, which seemed to blend casual wear with a semi-formal suit, his neat shoes, and his simple glasses. He possessed such a striking presence that even a passerby would have their gaze stolen.
His personality was so meticulous and guarded that it seemed not even a needle could get through, yet his hobby was keeping an aquarium. Haein liked even that so much that it made him smile.
How long had it taken for that enormous aquarium to become filled with aquatic plants?
When Haein imagined Yeonjun standing before the tank, which was over a foot wide, trimming the long, overgrown plants, setting the timer for the lights, and occasionally feeding the shrimp swimming freely through the water, the corners of his mouth twitched upward on their own.
“…….”
While Haein watched Yeonjun and indulged in various imaginings, Yeonjun’s eyebrows twitched at the unnecessary final remark Haein had added.
“Don’t come out next time. If it looks like I’m calling you late at night, don’t even answer.”
Yeonjun knew perfectly well that this was not the correct response, but for some reason, only curt words kept leaving his mouth.
He felt strangely embarrassed.
He was an adult nearly ten years older, yet it seemed as though he kept ending up in situations where this kid had to help him.
“Yes. Next time, I’ll try to arrive within thirty minutes.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Ignoring the burning tips of his ears from sheer embarrassment, Yeonjun picked up the pot and spoon and headed toward the sink. Haein turned toward him and tried to stop him.
“I’ll wash those before I leave, so hurry and get ready for work, hyung. You went to sleep without washing yesterday, so you probably feel uncomfortable.”
Haein had described his situation too accurately for Yeonjun to argue. However, Yeonjun did not want to acknowledge that Haein was right either, so he silently turned on the water.
“You should just leave them.”
Haein had already risen from his seat and moved close behind Yeonjun.
Was he about three to five centimeters taller than Yeonjun?
He was surprisingly tall for someone with such delicate features.
Yeonjun rarely had to look up at anyone. He turned slightly to face Haein and twitched an eyebrow.
“I’ll do it. Hurry and get ready for work.”
His pale cheeks, still softened by baby fat, puffed out along with his gently curving lips.
All this time, Yeonjun had wondered just what kind of strange person Haesal had to be to obsess over him this much.
Examined carefully in person, Haesal looked soft from every angle, with an ordinary…… no, excessively radiant face.
Yeonjun started to refuse Haein’s kindness, saying there was no need. Then he belatedly began worrying that Haein might try to do something else for him if he refused.
I need to wash and leave for work, so I’ll tell him to go home afterward.
Swallowing a sigh, Yeonjun headed toward the bathroom.
Hot water poured over his head, and only then did the exhaustion that had been weighing heavily on his entire body begin to disperse.
What kind of situation was this?
As though calling over someone he knew only through the internet had not been enough, he had even let him into his home.
Yeonjun had never once brought any of his coworkers to his studio apartment. Apart from Yeonjun himself, the only people who had ever entered were the internet installation technician and the pest-control worker.
It was not a particularly comfortable place, but he had never allowed outsiders inside. There was no reason Haein barging in so suddenly and unexpectedly should have felt comfortable.
Yet strangely, although Yeonjun felt embarrassed and awkward, Haein’s intrusion was not entirely unpleasant.
Yeonjun could not understand why.
Was it because the guy was so shamelessly natural and unreserved?
Using a stove he could not have been familiar with, he had quickly prepared bean-sprout soup, easily found the dishes tucked away around the apartment, and arranged a simple breakfast as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Anyone who saw him would think he’d been to my apartment at least ten times.
Standing at a crooked angle beneath the shower, Yeonjun rinsed away the soap with hot water and vigorously scratched his head.
He himself could not understand what in the world he was doing.
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