Meeting here my ass, they see each other’s faces morning and evening yet he says such nonsense. Besides, Ray Jun seemed to have deliberately waited for him.
“Why are you here?”
“To change into my uniform and leave work. You?”
“Me too.”
Answering thus, Kang Siwon passed Ray Jun and entered the locker room. Ray Jun followed him and asked.
“What are you going to do after work?”
“I’m going grocery shopping.”
“Perfect. I was going to go to the mart too. Let’s go together.”
“Ha.”
Kang Siwon let out an empty breath, dumbfounded. There was no way Ray Jun, who rarely cooked at the dormitory, would voluntarily want to go to the mart. It was obvious he just planned to tag along because he was going. Even knowing this, Kang Siwon didn’t tell him not to follow.
He loosened his tie first and took off his vest. As he unbuttoned his shirt one by one, it seemed like a gaze followed his lower back. Looking back, it was Ray Jun.
“What.”
“It’s nothing.”
For it being nothing, his gaze was suspicious. Kang Siwon ignored this and finished taking off his dress shirt. Even while doing so, far from falling away, Ray Jun’s gaze only deepened.
“I said why are you doing that.”
“Um, well…”
He glanced around slightly. He seemed conscious of other people. Whatever he was trying to say, he got the feeling it wasn’t something to say in a public place. Kang Siwon said hastily.
“Never mind, just change your clothes. You said let’s go grocery shopping.”
“Okay.”
Only then did Ray Jun loosen his tie. The dealer uniform, the most formal design among the casino staff uniforms, was removed layer by layer.
The moment his sculpted abs were revealed between his open shirt, Kang Siwon unknowingly turned his head. Come to think of it, the stomach wasn’t even a private area and it was a same-sex body anyway, yet somehow he was embarrassed to look. This was all because of Ray Jun’s confession. Since that day, he’d become unnecessarily conscious of him.
Kang Siwon finished changing clothes as if nothing had happened. Only after leaving Sovereign Resort did Ray Jun stick close and try to say what he’d stopped saying earlier.
“Your ear for a moment.”
When he silently offered his ear, a voice mixed with laughter flowed into his ear.
“It’s a shame. The marks I left have all disappeared.”
“You, this…”
As the memory of that day reflexively came to mind, Kang Siwon smacked Ray Jun’s forearm. It must have hurt quite a bit with the force he put into his fist, but Ray Jun didn’t bat an eye and acted shameless.
“Why. It’s not like I said something untrue.”
“You, do you know how annoying it was for me to change clothes in the bathroom all this time?”
“Sorry. I’ll be careful.”
“Forget it.”
Feeling like only he would lose if he talked more, he quickly moved his steps. However, there was no chance for quiet as Ray Jun continued chattering incessantly.
“What are you going to buy at the mart?”
“Onions, cucumbers, any cheap fruit.”
“Leave out cucumbers. They’re tasteless.”
“Eat what’s given.”
Still tasteless, Ray Jun grumbled. A fully grown man (not a metaphor, really big) whining like a child was ridiculous.
“What are you buying?”
“Me? I have nothing to buy?”
“Then why did you say you were going to the mart?”
“Where the needle goes, the thread must follow.”
“Am I your needle?”
“Something like that. Ah, but this proverb is a bit lewd.”
“What are you talking about now?”
“The thread goes into the needle’s hole, ow!”
This time he really put strength into his fist. Ray Jun, who got properly hit, made a pitiful expression and rubbed his shoulder, but he didn’t feel sorry at all.
“Say bullshit one more time. I’m making cucumber noodles for dinner.”
“That’s too much. How could you make something so horrible!”
Ray Jun pretended to tremble. At that exaggerated gesture, Kang Siwon said incredulously.
“I think you would have been better suited as an actor than a dealer.”
“Why?”
“You overact well. And you’re handsome too.”
“Hm? You think I’m handsome?”
Ray Jun immediately caught the words he’d carelessly let slip. He realized too late. Ray Jun stuck his handsome face right up close and smiled sweetly.
“Why so quiet, Xie Wei. Look at my face. How is it? Handsome? Like a movie star?”
“Ah, I don’t know.”
“Should I debut now for Xie Wei, my number one fan? I’m already good at acting anyway.”
“Who’s your number one fan?”
“Huh? Didn’t you join my fan club?”
“I’m withdrawing immediately.”
“No. I’ll give you fan service, so please come back.”
Ray Jun made a desolate expression like an actor in a real melodrama movie and grabbed Kang Siwon’s hand, holding it to his cheek. The moment he winked one eye, Kang Siwon’s heart pounded.
Wasn’t it cheating to act cute with such a pretty face? If he looked any longer, he felt like he’d have strange fantasies about a man, so Kang Siwon quickly turned his head away.
“You just shouldn’t become an actor.”
“Why? Was it not good?”
“That’s not it…”
If he honestly said it would be more than enough to captivate many people, only Ray Jun would become high-spirited. Kang Siwon pulled his hand free from his grasp and walked out quickly with angry-looking steps.
* * *
Entering the mart, Kang Siwon picked up a shopping basket and asked.
“Ray Jun, is there anything you want to eat?”
“Anything.”
“You know that’s the hardest, right?”
Lightly chiding Ray Jun, he headed to the vegetable section. He planned to get what he’d planned first. He put a bag of onions in the cart, and also green onions that had many uses. When he picked up a cucumber, Ray Jun showed clear dislike, but he ignored it and put it in the cart.
“Pork is on sale. Should we make hong shao rou?”
“Sounds good.”
“Then we should buy bok choy too. Our refrigerator is already empty anyway.”
Actually, on days they went to work, they could eat at the employee cafeteria, so even with an empty refrigerator, there was no immediate risk of starving. However, they couldn’t solve every meal at the employee cafeteria, and cooking directly was cheaper than eating out.
“Egg prices went up.”
Even while clicking his tongue, he put eggs in the cart. He didn’t forget radish that would make refreshing soup. Pulling the cart like that, Kang Siwon paused briefly at the juice section.
Bright red watermelon juice filled the display. It was being loudly promoted with stickers saying it was a new product. The taste was unknown, but the package design was quite cute.
“Xie Wei, do you like watermelon juice?”
“So-so.”
“Do you want to drink it?”
“Um… I don’t know.”
He responded ambiguously, unlike himself.
Well, that juice that probably had at most 3% watermelon juice would obviously only taste like sugar if he drank it. But perhaps because the color was so pretty, he wanted to try just one sip.
“Then let’s buy it.”
Ray Jun readily put watermelon juice in the cart.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you salivate like this. You should eat what you want to eat.”
“Who was salivating…”
Even while grumbling sullenly, Kang Siwon didn’t take the watermelon juice out of the cart.
After also getting yogurt from the dairy section next to it, the grocery shopping was roughly finished. Behind Kang Siwon heading to the checkout counter pulling the cart, Ray Jun followed along like a well-behaved child.
“I’ll ring you up.”
“Yes.”
Kang Siwon moved the items from the cart onto the checkout counter one by one. Beep beep, the cashier who scanned the barcodes asked.
“Will that be cash? Or card?”
Before Kang Siwon could answer, Ray Jun suddenly held out his card.
“Card.”
“Would you like a receipt?”
“It’s okay.”
The payment finished without a gap to intervene. Ray Jun started neatly packing the groceries into his bag. Kang Siwon also quickly helped and said.
“Ray Jun, tell me your account number so I can transfer it later.”
“It’s fine.”
“Then should I give you cash?”
“I said it’s fine. What’s between us.”
“Wh-what’s between us.”
“Obviously roommates. What. What were you thinking to make that expression?”
Worried it was a strange face, Kang Siwon hastily managed his expression. In the meantime, Ray Jun, who finished organizing the items, lightly lifted the bag.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh? Yeah.”
Kang Siwon followed Ray Jun out as if possessed by something. Lately, such moments often came when he was with him. Going “huh, huh” and getting swept up. It was clearly different from his own will, but being swept up by Ray Jun wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
“…I’m thirsty.”
“Want to drink the watermelon juice?”
“Yeah.”
Ray Jun, who stopped walking for a moment, took out the watermelon juice from the bag and handed it over. Kang Siwon, who opened the cap, frowned as soon as he tasted a sip.
“Ugh…”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s incredibly sweet.”
“How sweet? Let me try too.”
Ray Jun, who drank the watermelon juice, frowned. His taste buds must have been quite corrupted, as he complained sharply.
“It’s horrible. Selling this as juice should be illegal. How is this fruit juice? It’s sugar water. Just because you stick the name ‘juice’ on it, that’s it?”
Hearing those words, somehow Kang Siwon felt guilty. If we’re talking about fraud, he himself who entered the casino after lying about everything from his name to his nationality was the real scammer.
“……”
The mood that had been floating lightly as if injected with helium gas sank again. How stupidly had he forgotten the fact that he was lying. It was only today that he got a good scolding from Ju Xiang.
Kang Siwon walked silently. On the way back to the dormitory, Ray Jun threw another silly joke, but this time he didn’t react in any way. The guilt that kept piling up layer by layer was making even his expression harden.
