Volume 2 - CH 46.2

If I had to say, I should be glad that Dae-han for attending school regularly. He didn’t even go to school in the first place, and even if he did, he was a guy who left the classroom whenever he had a chance. And if I have to say, Dae-han has a slightly rough nature in his sleep, so if I nag him like this, he would definitely frown. That kind of insight came to me as well.

“Okay.”

However, contrary to my worries, Lim Dae-han responded with a smile. Rubbing my ass to his heart’s content.

I couldn’t sleep even though I was in Lim Dae-han’s arms. It was a little frustrating, and it was also hot. My eyes were getting more and more puffy. Unlike me, who spends the sleepless dawn alone, Lim Dae-han slept peacefully. It seemed true that he hadn’t slept much. His eyes were tightly closed. I raised my head and looked only at Lim Dae-han’s face. Handsome… I swallowed the words I couldn’t utter.

It was rare to be able to look at Lim Dae-han’s sleeping face. First of all, I  kept track of how many days I slept in his house, and I always slept before I Lim Dae-han. Lim Dae-han was also staring at me before I even noticed him when I was awake. I could see him sleeping at school if I had to say so, but it was difficult to see him because Lim Dae-han’s seat was behind me.

I’d fall asleep at school if I didn’t get enough sleep…

I was worried for no reason. I suppressed my mind and closed my eyes tightly to sleep. My eyelids twitched as I closed them so firmly. I was counting, held my breath for a few seconds, and then exhaled several times, but I couldn’t fall asleep.

“Haa…”

With a short sigh, I gave up on sleep and turned away from Lim Dae-han, who was soundly asleep. Lim Dae-han breathed evenly, despite the fact that he could feel it because his hands were wrapped around my waist. I shouldn’t have come. If I had known that Lee Dae-han was sleeping this late, it would have been better to have the same morning as usual. I was worried that it might have made me more concerned for nothing.

I fumbled my way over to the bedside table. Judging from the size of the phone grip, it was Lim Dae-han’s phone. I turned on his phone to look at the time. The background of Dae-han’s phone was a picture of me sleeping on my desk. My face was horrible, and I was burying my face in the peach arm pillow I had borrowed from him. My cheeks were pushed out a little too far, and my hair was untidy, so my bangs were sticking out.

“…”

Do I look like this?

I quietly looked at Lim Dae-han’s phone wallpaper. Obviously, it was the default screen, but given that I was dressed for spring and autumn, it had to be a recent picture. I couldn’t remember the last time I used an arm pillow while sleeping. I had borrowed it so many times that I couldn’t remember it.

It was a bit after six o’clock at the time. I put his phone down, knowing that I wouldn’t be sleeping for the rest of the night. After that, I carefully withdrew Lim Dae-han’s arm and went out of bed so he wouldn’t wake up.

“Ham…”

I yawned. I considered it lucky that I had bought a slightly larger school uniform. It would have been inconvenient to move around if I had bought the perfect fit for my body.

I rubbed the corners of my eyes. I couldn’t sleep and my eyes were stiff. I cleaned my hands in the sink and went to the refrigerator to get the ingredients I’d packed. Tak, tak, tak. The knife hit the cutting board, and the green onion I brought from home had cut into a different shape, but it was still cut quite nicely.

To make the soup, I filled a pot halfway with water and added a pinch of kelp that I had brought with me. Toss in the fish cakes and green onions… In fact, it was so mixed up that I didn’t care about the order, but I calmed the anxiety that was creeping up in order to focus on the result.

The pasta I made for Lim Dae-han last time was good because it was simple, but I had never made soup before. When my parents were away and I was at home, I would order something to eat with my older brother or eat outside, and if he wasn’t around, I would cook ramen noodles or microwave eggs.

“I’m glad I brought some side dishes from home…”

I kept talking to myself because I felt nervous. Even though the egg rolls were simple, the soup needed something. I tilted my head and frowned slightly. When I added more kelp, I thought the flavor improved a little, but it was very bland. It was simply spicy after I added the cheongyang red pepper. After adding this and that, I gradually increased the amount of Korean soy sauce until it was tasted enough for humans to eat.

Beep- Beep- Beep- Beep-

When the soup was barely boiling, Dae-han’s phone rang in the room. I was busy cutting the steaming egg roll on the cutting board. Nevertheless, the alarm kept ringing in the room. I was so worried about it. I checked the tightly closed sliding door several times to see if Lim Dae-han had awoken.

Beep- Beep- Beep- Beep-

The repeated alarm sound stopped.

“Oh, shit…”

Lim Dae-han’s swearing could be heard from beyond the door. I stopped while holding the rolled eggs in a bowl when I heard his swearing.

“…”

Why did I come? I pouted my lower lip and looked down at the beautifully cut egg roll. I felt nauseous for no reason as if something was stuck in my throat.

I was worried that Dae-han seemed to be feeling down in the morning at school because he hadn’t eaten breakfast. I was here to eat with him since I felt bad about him being the only one who came to pick me up every morning. In fact, maybe it just bothered him.

It was a stupid reason. It was mostly my fault for not even asking Lim Dae-han once, despite the fact that I planning a surprise event and all, then thought that he would love it. It was purely my fault. He never told me he was hungry because he couldn’t eat breakfast and it was difficult for him. To be honest, I did it because it was something I wanted to do.

It was difficult to have a deep relationship with someone. I became selfish without realizing it. Still, I reasoned that if I did this, the other person would like it, and it bounced in a strange direction.

“…”

It was when I was depressed and standing still.

Bang-!

The door slammed open with more force than usual. The force was sufficient to cause the sliding door to slam against the wall. Lim Dae-han looked at me with his eyes wide open. His short hair was a little sticking out in the meantime.  He wasn’t even shy about his underwear choice. Well, I’ve seen it all…

I glanced at him, slowly dropping from his head to his groin, then quickly raising my gaze. I was scanning him even as I was feeling sorry for him. I asked, feeling horrible as I stared at him.

“…Why?”

“Oh…”

Lim Dae-han only said one word. For a long time, he stared at me without saying anything. His gaze was drawn to the bowl I was carrying. His brow furrowed gradually. I didn’t know what to do if he became annoyed. I was still a little scared of this sleepy Lim Dae-han.

Lim Dae-han approached me with a wide stride before I could even finish my thoughts. As he approached closer and closer, I raised my head to meet his gaze. I pretended to be fine. When he suddenly came at me and said something about not letting people sleep, I decided to just keep my mouth shut. I was able to avoid this adverse situation well because I had an older brother with a dirty personality.

However, contrary to my expectations, Lim Dae-han didn’t say much.

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Oh.”

He opened his mouth and pointed to my hand with his index finger. I looked up at him and he said, “Oh,” and raised his chin. He picked a moderately cooled egg roll with his hand and put it in his mouth.

Lim Dae-han took an egg roll and chewed it while moving his jaw in front of my face. He was silently eating his food in front of me, I watched him like a person in a food contest. It was different today, even if it was less burdensome because the pasta before was using a commercially available sauce. I was the one who whipped the egg and seasoned it with salt. Actually, I was most worried about soup.

“Delicious.”

Lim Dae-han’s eyes were bent. My face brightened and couldn’t be hidden when I heard those words. He didn’t evaluate the taste in any way, just stated it was delicious, unlike the TV panelists, but I got confidence in myself as if I were a person who knew a lot about cooking. Praise was so important. With my chest puffed, I grabbed Lim Dae-han’s forearm, who was smiling as if it was really delicious.

“…Do you want to try the soup? Taste it. I don’t know much about it though.”

Lim Dae-han immediately nodded. I handed him a spoon that I had set down next to the pot for a while. However, Lim Dae-han looked up at me without receiving the spoon.

“Why?”

When asked, he frowned again.

“…Can’t you feed me?”

I’ve seen this scene before. I’ve seen my parents sometimes make dinner in the kitchen. When Mom blew up a spoon of soup and placed it in Dad’s mouth, he ate it wholeheartedly. I was embarrassed every time I saw it, so I quickly avoided it. However, as I became entangled in that situation, my cheeks turned crimson and I felt embarrassed.

I quickly turned my back. Then I opened the lid of the pot and carefully took the fish cake soup while it was still hot. After light steam came out, I blew it to cool it down and then brought it to Lim Dae-han’s mouth. Lim Dae-han’s ears were bright red. Still, he opened his mouth like a bird and tasted the soup.

“What do you think?”

“Delicious.”

The corners of my lips, which were tightly glued together, twitched and then went up. The self-blame I had a few moments ago, that I was being selfish, had dispersed like steam rising from the soup.  I smiled at Lim Dae-han with a pleased face. I was glad I came. I should come and do it often, it was around the time I remembered something.

“Ah…!”

Come to think of it, I didn’t prepare the rice. The soup and side dishes had been prepared and taken out at most, but I had forgotten the important things. After a brief exclamation broke out from me, Lim Dae-han looked at me, wondering what was going on. I was afraid of being teased if I said I didn’t cook the rice, so I hastily concealed my expression. Then I put my hand on Lim Dae-han’s broad back and pushed him into the bathroom.

“Wash, wash up. I’ll finish eating, cooking, and then…”

“What are you saying now.”

Lim Dae-han, who would normally have stood up and waited for an answer, was dragged along and then asked bluntly. I dragged him to the bathroom’s entrance. Lim Dae-han, who had come to a halt in front of the bathroom door, turned without hesitation, dragging me behind him. My body swung forward. Lim Dae-han grabbed my two arms and pulled me up. I almost kissed his chest. I was embarrassed again.

“Ki Young-hyun.”

“…Yeah.”

“Thank you for cooking for me.”

After saying that, Lim Dae-han went straight to the bathroom. Soon, I heard the sound of a stream of water falling behind the door. I stood there stunned. Lim Dae-han tried to hide it, but I saw it all. His ears and the nape of his neck were red.

I was also a little shy and self-conscious. I fiddled with my earlobe and walked over to the instant rice. I unwrapped the container and put it in the microwave. The hand that pressed the machine’s button was quite hard.