CH 14

It was best to eat doejang jjigae (soybean paste stew) while it was boiling, so he thought he had to reheat it.

Cho-seung, who took out an earthenware pot for unknown reasons, placed the packaged doejang jjigae on top of the gas stove and checked the refrigerator.

“There’s really nothing.”

Water, beverages. Some yoghurt.

He didn’t know why he had to use a large double-door refrigerator and leave it empty. There was only ice in the freezer, so he could only infer that Ha-hyun liked cold drinks.

“Ha-hyun-ah. If you’re hungry, do you want some yoghurt?”

After checking the expiration date just in case, and confirming that it was still valid, Cho-seung shouted into the living room.

Ha-hyun, who was staring blankly at the game screen that was automatically playing, stuck his head out toward the kitchen at Cho-seung’s words.

“I’m going to eat it.”

“Okay.”

The smell of boiling stew (jjigae) spread through the kitchen and into the living room. Ha-hyun, who had been lying down, frowned at the smell that brushed his nose, then raised his heavy body and headed to the table.

“Why are you already here when it’s not ready yet.”

Cho-seung, who was carrying the rice with a moderate amount of side dishes in a pretty bowl, raised his head at the sudden feeling of presence.

“Let’s just eat it as is.”

“Ung. The stew is still not boiling, so sit down.”

Cho-seung, naturally passing Ha-hyun’s words, moved the beautifully arranged bowls to the table one by one.

Ha-hyun sat down in the chair as he said and for a moment he pouted his lips at Cho-seung, who pretended not to hear even though he heard it. He didn’t think it would work out anyway, so it was okay to leave him be.

“I’ll go home for a bit when I wake up tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Bring seasonings and everything.”

“Do whatever you feel like.”

He rarely went to the kitchen anyway, except to drink water. So whatever Cho-seung did in this space was fine.

Still, the kitchen seemed to be active unlike before, so he thought he needed something.

“Do you want to buy a dishwasher?”

“Ung? Suddenly?”

“Aren’t you going to cook?”

As he was staring at the side dishes in front of him, Cho-seung handed him the spoon first.

Without hesitation, Ha-hyun picked up one egg roll and sliced it then bit it, surprised by the soft texture.

It was delicious because the salty food was seasoned just right even without ketchup. Satisfied, Ha-hyun put the remaining rolled egg into his mouth and tilted his head at Cho-seung’s puzzled expression.

“What does that have to do with a dishwasher?”

“It’s annoying to wash the dishes. It’s nice that machines do everything these days.”

“That’s why you have an unopened vacuum cleaner robot at home.”

When did you see that again.

For some reason, it felt like his new personality was revealed for a moment and he felt a little embarrassed. He hadn’t brought other people into his house before, so he felt awkward all over again.

“I didn’t know there was a wet mop cleaner, but I’ll take that and install it.”

“Ung.”

Ha-hyun nodded with chopsticks in his mouth, and this time, he picked it up with the chopsticks and ate them. He didn’t buy salted seafood himself, so he sometimes ate it when it was served as a side dish, but his mouth watered after eating it for the first time in a long time.

There was no saltiness to just eat without rice, but the sense that it was delicious was greater than that, so a bowl of rice was just placed in front of Ha-hyun, who ate it little by little.

“I don’t think rice will be enough. Should I buy instant rice right now?”

“No. More than that—”

I want to eat ramyeon.

However, Cho-seung, who threw away the sunflower seed oil without any regrets because it was bad for his health, would he cook ramyeon? Thinking he wouldn’t boil it, Ha-hyun only chewed on the chopsticks awkwardly.

“Do you want to eat something else?”

“Uung. There is.”

“Is it hard to get? Is it okay to eat foreign foods?”

At what Cho-seung said, who rapidly raised the level of difficulty, Ha-hyun shook his head.

“I think I want to eat ramyeon.”

“If you want to eat it, I’ll boil you one. I saw that there was ramyeon.”

It would have been okay to say it clear if he wanted to eat it, but Ha-hyun’s gaze was caught looking around, so Cho-seung nodded his head without hesitation, saying that he would understand right away. Only then did Ha-hyun move the chopsticks that had stopped and scoop the white rice, add salted fish, and take another bite.

With the momentum to eat all the rice before he could even eat doejang jjigae, Cho-seung checked the stew on the gas stove and quickly turned off the heat. It seemed to him that it would be better to just give it to him rather than not being able to eat it.

“You?”

Looking at the appetizing stew in front of him, his eyes lit up for a while before Ha-hyun raised his head and looked at Cho-seung. Seeing the food huddled in front of him, he wondered if Cho-seung had no intention of eating it.

“Let’s eat ramyeon together.”

In his heart, he wanted to eat too, but Ha-hyun could say that he couldn’t eat ramyeon because he was full later, so he decided to wait a bit. If he boiled it, he could eat a bite no matter how full he was.

Sitting across from him, Cho-seung looked at him with pleasure as he moved his small lips and ate eagerly.

“I want to inform my mother about the pregnancy, are you okay?”

“Whose mother? Your mother?”

“Ung. She had taemong.”

Ha-hyun let out a small exclamation at the word “taemong”. Come to think of it, he had never had a dream that could be called taemong, but it seemed that someone else had dreamed it instead of him.

Although he had no interest in taemong, Ha-hyun, who was curious because it was his children’s taemong, listened to what Cho-seung said that naturally continued.

“…so, speaking of birth name, how about Bo-reum (보름, meant the full moon) and Geu-meum (그믐, meant the new year)?”

“Um… it’s not bad if you called them that in your dream.”

He couldn’t even call them beans, so he thought about it once as if he was passing by. He had to decide on the names.

However, Ha-hyun, who wasn’t very delicate, really finished it with his thoughts and didn’t go any further than that. So, it was okay to do so with Bo-reum and Geu-meum.

No, it seemed like a good thing. Like Cho-seung, it was the name of the ‘moon’. The children’s names were also Bo-reum and Geu-meum, it seemed that the unfamiliar sensations were somehow fading because of the feeling of being connected to something. (T/N: Remember Cho-seung dreamed about two turtles? Yes, he saw two moons before meeting them so basically there’s a connection)

“And let her know. You can’t keep hiding it, that won’t work.”

“Right. My mother will be curious about it, but I’ll put it off as much as possible first.”

“Ung.”

It seemed like they should have a formal meeting, but unfortunately, Ha-hyun had no family. Ha-hyun, who was alone in his thoughts, ate a bowl of still-hot doejang jjigae and sipped it.

Cho-seung, watching the bowl being emptied properly, got up from his seat and went back to the gas stove. Ha-hyun glanced at him and scooped out the tofu, then smiled in satisfaction at the light taste of the softly mashed tofu.

Cho-seung, who was about to pour water into the pot and take out the ramyeon, raised his eyebrows when he saw only the spicy taste. He couldn’t go out and buy one now, so he had to boil it, but he guessed he would have to buy another ramyeon next time.

“Do you like spicy?”

“Ung. I hate adding eggs in it, and I hate overcooked either.”

“I’ll boil it right.”

Judging by the momentum, it seemed like he could easily eat one pack, so Cho-seung took out two packs.

As if Ha-hyun had forgotten that he was a stranger and was reluctant to bring him into the house, he diligently finished even the boiled ramyeon that Cho-seung had cooked for him, quickly finished the shower, crawled into bed, and slept peacefully.

* * *

“Ha-hyun-ah.”

Cho-seung, who went into the master bedroom with a towel on his head, tried to call out to Ha-hyun, but when he heard the sound of his breathing, he closed his mouth. He seemed to be uncomfortable, but looking at him now, it seemed that he was mistaken.

Seeing him sleeping with the blanket tightly wrapped around him, Cho-seung covered him with another blanket up to his chest.

He seemed to have deliberately brought out another one to cover it up separately, but it would have been a waste if he caught a cold. He should be careful about taking medicine as he entered mid-term. If he had a habit of sleeping that was hugging something, wasn’t it comfortable to buy a body pillow and use it?

He gently pulled the blanket that Ha-hyun was holding tightly to and tried to get it out of his arms, but it couldn’t budge as he was holding it so tightly. Cho-seung, who gave up taking the blanket away because he thought it would wake him up like this, finished drying his hair.

“Sleep well.”

He left the room on his tiptoe feet so Ha-hyun wouldn’t wake up, putting a towel in the laundry basket and finishing the unfinished business.

After installing two vacuum cleaners that had been scattered around the front door in a suitable space, he opened the refrigerator and made a list of groceries for tomorrow. After wiping the dusty room properly with a wet tissue, Cho-seung climbed the stairs to the second floor.

He thought of a typical penthouse structure, but the space on the second floor was wider than expected. A house like this in Seoul must be quite expensive. After shaking his head at the question of money that naturally came to mind, he opened the door and began to figure out the space.

“There’s a bathroom, two rooms…”

When the kids were older, he could give them a room.

Cho-seung, who was naturally drawing the future, trembled. He was worried about Ha-hyun, who said that he had attached affection to the children until the afternoon, but to put that to shame, he thought of the children as if he had already attached affection.

Cho-seung continued his thoughts even as he sighed while touching his forehead.

The size of the room didn’t look different, so it seemed like there wouldn’t be a fight over it. If they were of the same gender, it would be okay to share the same room, but if they kept sticking together, the fights would happen more often, so it was good to have a reasonable amount of time to be apart.

Turning his steps, he went downstairs again and crawled into the wide bed, then he picked up the blanket that had fallen from Ha-hyun’s arms unknowingly.

“Uung…”

When the whining sound came out, the hardened Cho-seung slowly looked at Ha-hyun’s expression. Looking at his still-closed eyes, he was relieved and organized the bedding.

It was the first time they were sleeping together and it was a pity that they lay down in the right position. Leaving this wide bed, he deliberately moved his place so that he could sleep close to Ha-hyun and lay down on his side. And Cho-seung stretched out his arms and embraced Ha-hyun, comforting the tossing opponent and leading him back to a deep sleep.

It was a peaceful night.