Instinctively moving to seek warmth, Hyedam draped his arms and legs over something hot and solid and let out a small yawn. Since coming to the uninhabited island, the number of times he’d slept soundly could be counted on one hand.
Like morning sickness or dizziness, insomnia seemed to be one of the pregnancy symptoms too. He fell asleep easily, but waking up three or four times during sleep was basic. Because he was thirsty, because he wanted to go to the bathroom, because his eyes just suddenly opened.
Whatever the reason, Hyedam hadn’t been getting restful sleep lately. At least he supplemented his insufficient sleep with naps and spent all day moving between the bed, sofa, daybed, rocking chair, and so on to rest, so he didn’t feel particularly exhausted, but anyway, Hyedam’s mood after sleeping comfortably and deeply for the first time in a while was better than ever.
The nausea he felt every morning when waking up was absent, and his body that had felt stiff was fine today too. Above all, the inside of the blanket full of warmth was so good. They say early pregnancy symptoms naturally get better over time, and this seemed to be exactly that moment. If it could just stay this comfortable…
When he felt something hard, as if he’d laid his head on the pillow that always softly cradled his head wrong, Hyedam grabbed the pillow and moved his head several times to find a comfortable position, then opened his eyes wide.
Instead of the heavy blackout curtains, sunlight coming in through the white curtains hanging there brightly illuminated the room. After the rain and wind blew so much last night, the weather today seemed no different from usual, as if asking “when did that happen?”
“…Ondal.”
Instead of pretending not to have woken up at this point, being embarrassed, or getting angry, Hyedam called out to the one faithfully serving as his pillow.
“Yes.”
A low voice was transmitted to his ear through his body.
“Explain well based on the five Ws and one H why you’re here.”
“Who, our못난이. When, last night. Where, in this room. What, my proposal. How, naturally accepted it. Why, that’s our 못난이’s heart.”
What on earth is this supposed to mean? Without leaving the comfortable and cozy embrace, Hyedam’s head jerked up as he tried to listen to his excuse with as calm a feeling as possible.
Last night in this room, he had wanted to light the fireplace but didn’t know how, so he just looked around before getting into bed. And he waited for Leo to come in.
That was the last thing he remembered from last night.
First of all, he had no intention of finding fault with Leo being in this room. Because he had told him to come, and Leo was faithfully serving as the heater he needed instead of doing anything improper. While emitting the coffee scent that naturally made him feel good, at that.
But what’s this about a proposal, and what’s this about permission?
As for a proposal, all you did was kneel outside in that downpour and ramble on by yourself. I never responded to that, did I?
“You’re the one with recurring amnesia. Not me.”
Still not changing his prone position with his upper body half overlapping Leo’s comfortably lying body, Hyedam looked down at him, who seemed relaxed.
“So that’s why you named me stupid Ondal?”
“……”
“How long do you think I’ll believe that I’m the perfect moon?”
“Forever.”
“Then you should believe that.”
How can I beat this cheeky guy with words? Hyedam’s eyes narrowed as he watched Leo’s hand grinning and sweeping back his hair with one hand.
There was a black line on Leo’s long, straight white finger. Something thin and round. Left ring finger. Hyedam couldn’t take his eyes off the place where people generally wore couple rings or wedding rings. Unconsciously moving his finger slightly, Hyedam pressed down firmly on Leo’s shoulder area with the tip of his chin.
An unfamiliar sensation felt on his finger. Hyedam, who had never worn a ring before, only then realized that a foreign object was fitted on his finger.
“You think I’ll do what you say just because you do this?”
“I have to do at least this much for you to think about it even once.”
When he deliberately pressed down firmly on the chest and shoulder area with the tip of his chin, wrinkles formed on Leo’s brow.
“Make food. I want to eat doenjang-jjigae and rolled omelet. Call me when it’s done. I’m going to sleep more.”
Tossing and turning his body to turn his back on Leo, Hyedam groped around the wide bed and pulled one of the rolling cushions tightly into his arms.
“Is there anything else you want to eat besides that?”
“Stir-fried dried squid. Both the ones seasoned with soy sauce and gochujang.”
“……”
Still using Leo’s arm as a pillow rather than an actual pillow, Hyedam felt Leo hesitate and grinned. The doenjang-jjigae meal kit was in the storage room, and rolled omelet could be made with eggs. But there’s no dried squid itself, so what are you going to do about that?
“Nothing else?”
“Gopchang grilled on briquettes.”
The rustling sound of the blanket seemed to answer in Leo’s place. Feeling Leo kiss his head as he lay on his side, tuck the blanket around him well, and quietly leave the bed, Hyedam closed his eyes with a satisfied expression.
It was only briefly that he closed his eyes—hearing the sound of the door closing, Hyedam pulled his left hand out from under the blanket. Deep dimples formed on his face as he looked at the black ring fitted on his ring finger. Biting his lips firmly while staring only at the ring, Hyedam pulled the blanket that had slipped down with a sigh to cover himself again.
― Get as many Korean side dishes as you can and send them.
“What?”
Do you know what the time difference is between there and here right now? It might be morning there, but it’s the middle of the night here. You suddenly call and go on about side dishes? Day or night aside, even if he got them and sent them now, it would easily take three or four hours.
― For stir-fried dried squid, get both soy sauce flavor and gochujang flavor, and anyway, whatever side dishes you can get.
“…Oppa wants to eat?”
― Oppa?
Luna, who had been carefully leaving the bedroom so as not to wake her husband, chuckled at Leo’s sharp tone. This guy still hasn’t come to his senses.
“Yeah. Our. Hye. Dam. Op. Pa. Not anyone else, but whatever our. Hye. Dam. Op. Pa. wants to eat, I have to get it somehow. Our. Op. Pa. Isn’t there anything else he wants to eat?”
Deliberately emphasizing the words “our Hyedam oppa” as she turned on her tablet, Luna moved her hands quickly and teased Leo.
― Haa.
Enjoying the deep sigh heard from beyond the mobile phone, Luna’s face was full of smiles as she arbitrarily found things needed besides what Leo mentioned and made a list.
“But I guess the proposal was successful? Seeing as you’re getting what op. pa. wants to eat.”
― …….
Luna, who had been subtly probing because she didn’t know how the situation went, bit her molars hard at the following silence. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed Hyedam had completely broken the spirit of the prideful Leo whose nose had been pointed at the sky. Her advice to never, never easily give permission, and to work him as much as oppa had struggled and suffered, seemed to have worked. She shouldn’t laugh—Luna’s lips wriggled this way and that as she held back laughter.
Normally, Leo would have said something to Luna who was teasing him like this, but Leo, who had no such leisure, tore the semi-dried squid into small pieces with his hands. He had come into the kitchen and searched through both the refrigerator and storage warehouse, but couldn’t find dried squid.
What Hyedam had mentioned was dried squid, but it was clear he wanted to eat Korean food. And as had been the case until now, the items Hyedam needed were all prepared through Luna, so the only place he could turn to was Luna.
“In the time you’re making useless sounds, it would be better to prepare and send it even one second faster.”
― In the time you’re grumbling at me, wouldn’t it be better to make even one more dish oppa would like?
“…Three hours.”
― Are you crazy?
The sound of Luna shouting before he hung up, cutting off her teasing words until the very end, didn’t remain in Leo’s head. Since there was no dried squid, making something with semi-dried squid first was the priority.
“Stir-fried dried squid recipe.”
Leo, who had been listening to the recipe the AI told him, ran his hand through his hair while looking out the window. One spoon of minced garlic, one spoon of cooking oil, minced garlic… what else? If I’d known this would happen, I should have learned some cooking. Composing the emotions welling up, Leo, who had been opening the refrigerator, storage warehouse, and sink drawers looking for the ingredients the AI recited, squatted down with a deep sigh.
Why… is there not a single label on the seasoning containers? If various ingredients are contained in glass bottles of the same design, isn’t it basic to attach labels explaining the ingredients inside?
After sitting in helplessness and frustration for only a moment, Leo’s gaze turned to the clock hanging on the wall. He had to prepare something before our 못난이 got hungry.
It was morning, but wouldn’t it be better if he just said he wanted barbecue instead? He could easily chop the firewood in the storage and make barbecue right away. Looking at the stairs leading to the second floor in frustration wouldn’t produce an answer, so Leo got up again and began to perform the missions given to him one by one as the AI instructed.
