If it’s going to resolve this quickly, why not just ask from the start instead of agonizing alone?
If you’re upset, just say you’re upset… huh?
Losing strength, I sat there blankly with my arms crossed when a realization suddenly struck.
Is he really acting like this because he’s upset?
Could it be that all those times he threw tantrums were all for that reason too?
Until now, I’d thought Won Dogyeong was sometimes unpredictably prickly, but was it actually not just being in a bad mood but being upset?
Thinking back carefully, it seemed to make sense. If he said it straight out, he’d have to reveal the reason too, so that wouldn’t have been an option.
Instead, maybe when that happened he acted cold or put up walls while sulking. Facing me every day at home without a clue, he must have needed to do something to feel better.
There was a reason for all those “hmph”s whether I did this or that.
I didn’t know he was sulking for this reason back then.
Come to think of it, there was a time about two months ago when I wondered why he was like that. It was when I got a call from my ex-boyfriend while we were watching a drama together. Since we’d broken up over three years ago, I didn’t even answer, but Won Dogyeong gave short answers all day after that and got irritated every time he picked up his phone.
I couldn’t say it to his face, but I wanted to ask what the problem was…
I see, that’s also why he seemed displeased whenever I came home late.
Back then I thought he just hated hearing the front door open or shower sounds at late hours. Thinking about it, Won Dogyeong wasn’t the type who couldn’t sleep because of noise.
Looking back carefully at the moments when his sulking gave me trouble was kind of funny.
So in the end, it all meant he wanted me to pay attention to him, right?
I thought his mood improved when I gave him sweets, so I always bought new jellies from the convenience store to offer him, but it wasn’t because of the jellies—it was because he liked that I paid attention to him…
I seemed to have learned a bit about Won Dogyeong who likes me.
Laughter kept leaking out, so I turned my head the other way. Won Dogyeong looked at me strangely, but I pretended not to notice and covered my mouth while looking out the window.
When we arrived home, I washed my hands and went to the dining table, but contrary to expectations, the table was empty.
“Sit down, I’ll bring them out one by one. You might not be able to eat some things.”
“You must have worked hard preparing. Thank you.”
“It was doable.”
He answered nonchalantly and opened the refrigerator. I set down the utensils and sat watching his back as he went back and forth to the kitchen, when the thought I’d had in the car suddenly came to mind.
He wants me to pay attention.
Rolling my eyes around, I playfully added a comment.
“You’re really all I have, right?”
Won Dogyeong paused, then in an instant turned his ears bright red and looked back stammering.
“W-well, I guess so?”
This guy bit his tongue. He seemed to be trying to act calm, but his body was honest.
While taking out dishes, he fumbled and spilled portion butter all over the floor. He hastily threw it back in the refrigerator, and when standing up, he even banged his head hard on the shelf.
I eventually clutched my stomach, laid my face on the table, and giggled. Won Dogyeong seemed to realize I was teasing him and poked my arm disapprovingly, but I couldn’t possibly stop.
At some point he set down pumpkin porridge and cucumber cut into bite-sized pieces on the table, and I grabbed Won Dogyeong who was glaring from beside me and trembled with laughter.
“Stop laughing. You’re annoying, Yeo Jeongwon.”
“You really, kek. Puhaha.”
“…You’re annoying.”
He irritably set down the dishes he’d brought out and sat crookedly across from me.
He stared at me with a reddened face as I gasped from laughing too much, his lips twitching. From his expression, he looked like he wanted to stop me even if it meant shoving cucumber in my laughing mouth.
“Stop laughing and eat.”
“Okay.”
“If you laugh more, I’ll put it all away.”
“Got it… ahem.”
I cleared my throat that had gotten hoarse from laughing and wiped the tears that had leaked out. Won Dogyeong pushed the pumpkin porridge in front of me and crossed his arms as if telling me to just hurry up and eat. His ears were still red, showing how embarrassed he was.
If I laughed more, he really seemed ready to sulk and go into his room, so I worked hard to catch my breath. When I went “waah” and picked up my spoon, his eyes became triangular.
Heh, so what if you look at me like that? What are you going to do? I’m not scared at all anymore.
Fortunately, successful from the first attempt, both the pumpkin porridge and cucumber were edible. The other menus sleeping in the refrigerator could be eaten tomorrow morning.
When Won Dogyeong ate pumpkin porridge together next to me, I said he could eat something else, but he stubbornly insisted on the same menu. He must not have been very full since he ate two bowls. See, that’s why I told you to eat rice.
After finishing dinner, we sat side by side on the sofa matching schedules, decided to go to our family home this weekend, and contacted Mom.
We’d just finished talking about worrying over which bakery to buy cake from and deciding to call and reserve at the bakery Won Dogyeong likes tomorrow. We were looking at my phone at pictures and choosing what flavor to order.
It was peaceful until then.
[Myeong Haemin: Hey]
[Myeong Haemin: Hey hey]
Until contact came from Haemin, that is.
[Myeong Haemin: Is it going well with Kim Minwoo?]
Of course, Won Dogyeong, who was also looking at the screen together, ended up reading the text content too.
Why is she suddenly sending a text like this? I thought, then remembered Won Dogyeong coming into the lobby earlier.
Did she see? She might have seen on the way home from work.
Come to think of it, I said I’d explain properly before but still haven’t made time separately.
[Myeong Haemin: Kim Minwoo looked totally neat]
[Myeong Haemin: Didn’t see his face though]
She saw. And clearly until now she’d been thinking Kim Minwoo was a totally lousy guy. Seeing her talking about how neat he looked. Well, she did say she didn’t like the name from the start.
I’m the one who made it up though, geez.
I swiped up the messenger banners that kept popping down, planning to reply later. Then Won Dogyeong grabbed my hand to stop me and scrolled down the phone screen from the top, scanning the messages from Haemin.
While I hesitated in confusion, he let out a short sigh as if dumbfounded.
“Who’s Kim Minwoo now?”
When I looked to the side at his low, sunken voice, Won Dogyeong was sitting with an expression incomparably more heated than earlier.
Oh right, come to think of it, I’d never told him anything about introducing him to people as Kim Minwoo. This completely meaningless pseudonym went round and round and coincidentally ended up in his ears—what a thing.
Won Dogyeong whose stage name is his real name but is called by a pseudonym by my acquaintances… Ironic.
I opened my mouth with a smile, but without even a chance to explain, Won Dogyeong began continuing in a voice holding back anger.
“And what’s this about it going well…”
From his firmly tensed brow, it was clear he was having an absurd misunderstanding. My words were blocked by his glinting eyes.
Wait, earlier he didn’t even ask and just held it in, so why is he this angry now?
I felt unspeakably wronged. If it’s going well, it is going well but…
“Do you think I’m a joke?”
You are, Kim Minwoo.
I pressed my forehead with a dumbfounded face.
“Was saying you’d think about it just words?”
“No.”
“Setting aside Deputy Manager Han… what the hell is Kim Minwoo?”
“Deputy Manager Han and I really aren’t like that. And.”
“Ha, so Kim Minwoo is the one.”
“Wait—”
“If you were going to do that, why did you say you’d think about it? Do you have two hearts? Are you a soccer player or something?”
“What the he—”
ll are you saying.
“What, are you an octopus? How many people can you think about at once? If I’d known saying you’d think about it meant this, I’d rather…”
Won Dogyeong was rambling like an unbridled colt digging at the ground. All while chewing up and cutting off every word I tried to explain.
In the midst of this, what nonsense was he spouting—it seemed like the filter in his brain had stopped working. Listening to him, I was so dumbfounded my throat kept blocking up.
If I left him like this, he seemed ready to dig all the way to the Earth’s core, so I grabbed his wrist to stop him, but he lightly shook it off and covered his face with his hands. Suddenly blood rushed to his head and he seemed unable to hear my voice even secondhand.
After being interrupted countless times, I got stubborn and climbed on top of him as he sat beside me. I pressed down on his body with my legs to fix him in place and forcibly pulled down both hands firmly covering his face.
“Just wait a minute!”
But after checking Won Dogyeong’s face, I became even more flustered, because he was chewing his lips wildly with reddened eyes.
Tears hadn’t pooled yet, but his expression was outright on the verge of crying. I’d seen this expression for the first time since he cried after bombing a practice exam in high school. Ah, except for what I saw in dramas.
“…Are you crying?”
“I’m not crying.”
Watching him stubbornly avoid eye contact while muttering was absurd.
“Let go…”
He flinched slightly as if wanting to shake off the arms I’d grabbed, but seemed too scared of accidentally hitting my body to actually put strength into it.
A sigh burst out.
Won Dogyeong lately acted like he’d regressed halfway to a middle schooler in puberty, and halfway like he’d become my guardian.
He blushed at all hours, sulked on his own, yet still wanted to come cling to my side, while on the other hand he drove me to work by car and made sure I took vitamins morning and evening.
Sometimes he was adult enough to say he’d support me.
If friend Won Dogyeong’s mental age was twenty-nine, now it felt like fourteen-year-old Won Dogyeong and adult Won Dogyeong who would become Yongyong’s dad appeared alternately and acted unpredictably.
I don’t know which one I should keep pace with.
