“Are you buying that?”
When Sunjeong asked, seeing Taeon look up at him like someone seeking help made it clear the puzzlement was real.
“Would he like it if I gave him this?”
It was a beige oval plate.
Since Yoonwoo, who enjoyed making pasta—which was easy to make and guaranteed basic taste even with his cursed cooking skills—would definitely use it well, Sunjeong nodded his head.
“You chose well. I think Yoonwoo will really love that dish.”
“Since you also live in that house, I’ll pick three. All in different colors.”
“I don’t really eat at home much though.”
“Take good care of your meals.”
Taeon carefully placed three plates in the cart.
Then he strode over to the corner where mugs were displayed and, without even pretending to browse, picked up the yellow mug and pink coaster that Sunjeong had been looking at earlier.
“Are you buying that?”
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“……”
He’d clearly been observing Sunjeong’s gaze even while choosing the dishes. The voice conveying this fact was endlessly blunt.
“I do want it, but I don’t really need more cups.”
“Why?”
“Well…”
He’ll hate it if I say I don’t even drink water at home often.
Still, Sunjeong opened his mouth.
“I drink water from plastic bottles anyway. I buy coffee outside. I almost never have occasion to use cups.”
As expected, at Sunjeong’s words, Taeon made a slightly stern expression.
Come to think of it, although Taeon’s house was quite small and didn’t have much household stuff, it had everything it should. He diligently drank water from a water purifier with a filter that removed impurities from tap water.
“You don’t drink water or coffee at home, and you don’t eat meals either…”
Taeon’s expression became truly serious now.
“You didn’t do that at your parents’ house.”
“That’s because it’s my family home. All college students living alone in Korea live like this.”
It wasn’t something to say in front of Taeon, who had been managing life on his own for quite a while. Feeling awkward, Sunjeong rolled his eyes to gauge Taeon’s mood, and his expression was still serious.
“You must be busy studying.”
It was a mutter like talking to himself.
“With Go Sunjeong’s personality, if you have a cup like this at home, you’ll at least drink something. I’ll give this to you as a gift. You take it.”
“……”
Words like “I don’t need it” wouldn’t come out of his mouth even if he died.
If it was a gift from Taeon, he wanted anything.
Having left the store, Taeon and Sunjeong came down the escalator aimlessly.
Taeon was holding a shopping bag containing Sunjeong’s cup and coaster and a shopping bag containing the dishes to give to Yoonwoo, one in each hand, and Sunjeong was slowly following behind such a Taeon.
It would be nice if either of them suggested doing something, but neither of them said anything about their schedule going forward.
Actually, the gift was just an excuse, and in Taeon’s mouth, wanting to see Sunjeong’s face directly and confirm he was doing well, the words “let’s eat somewhere” kept circling around. He’d said earlier he’d buy a meal, but Sunjeong seemed to have forgotten, which made him anxious.
If it were before, Taeon wouldn’t have been able to stand this quietly by now. Sunjeong would have linked his arm with Taeon’s to an annoying degree and muttered something incessantly.
It was all in the past. When Taeon’s thoughts reached this point and he glanced back, he ended up making eye contact with Sunjeong, who had been looking down at Taeon.
Even though he hadn’t been stealing glances, Taeon flinched for no reason, and Sunjeong chuckled.
“Yoon Taeon, look ahead. The escalator’s almost here.”
Looking ahead, it was indeed the last step. The 2nd floor they arrived at was a space full of cafes and various miscellaneous goods stores.
“You said you’d buy me food earlier.”
Thank goodness. He didn’t forget.
Thinking this, when Taeon nodded his head toward Sunjeong, Sunjeong looked around and said,
“What should we eat? I think there’s a place here that makes good sushi. Should we eat sushi?”
“Should we?”
“Or curry udon? I’m craving curry.”
“Either one.”
“Why are you answering like that? Everything’s fine with you?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine.”
Taeon really didn’t care what happened with the food. Honestly, buying the gift was nice too, but it didn’t have much meaning. The most important thing felt like facing Sunjeong, who was completely unreachable if he didn’t contact him.
In the end, Taeon and Sunjeong entered a Korean restaurant with neat interior that Sunjeong chose after pondering for a while.
“I’ll have grilled mackerel.”
“I should eat that too. Grilled mackerel.”
Sunjeong, who had been watching Taeon copy his menu exactly, pointed at the wall and said,
“The strong doenjang here is also delicious. You have strong doenjang. Let’s share half and half.”
“Let’s do that.”
Actually, strong doenjang was a menu item Taeon liked. Since Taeon hadn’t even given the menu a glance, Sunjeong had said it on purpose.
Soon the staff brought water and cups to the two’s table. Sunjeong watched Taeon pour water into the cup while meticulously wiping his hands with a wet towel. Then, after hesitating for a moment, he opened his mouth.
“Lately Jinhyeok’s been talking about you, Yoon Taeon, a lot.”
“About me?”
“He says he runs into you often. At this mall.”
“……”
Taeon just nodded his head a few times with an expressionless face without saying much.
“He said you were on a date every time.”
Finally, when Sunjeong could no longer beat around the bush with what he wanted to say and got to the point, Taeon’s face hardened stiffly.
“Me? On a date?”
A voice full of absurdity. Even a sneer dwelled at his lips.
Sunjeong stared intently at such a Taeon’s face.
At least the Taeon that Sunjeong knew didn’t lie at minimum. It was just that he couldn’t properly put the truth in his mouth.
“They said you were with an omega.”
“…Ah, the omega.”
As if now everything made sense, Taeon nodded his head with a calm expression.
This made Sunjeong more bewildered. He hadn’t even hidden his sharp emotions at the word “date,” yet in front of the word “omega,” he had that expression as if everything made sense.
“It’s not a date. I had some business meeting an omega.”
“What business?”
“Just business. Nothing much.”
In front of Taeon, who wasn’t trying to tell him anything properly, Sunjeong ended up feeling slightly offended. Maybe at times like this, it would be better to interrogate him, asking what kind of business it is. I shouldn’t keep having useless thoughts.
While he was trying not to let his unsettled heart show, the food was served.
“I’ll eat well.”
“I’ll eat well.”
Greeting before eating was a habit Sunjeong had learned from Taeon. One day when they were eating school lunch together, he muttered quietly, “I’ll eat well,” and when asked why he was greeting, he said that at the facility, they always gave thanks together before eating.
The habit he’d picked up just because he liked hearing Taeon’s low voice was now continuing even when Taeon wasn’t there.
“Boss, please give us two side plates.”
Not knowing that Taeon was observing Sunjeong’s face, Sunjeong requested side plates from the staff in a deliberately bright voice.
On the side plates that arrived at the table, Sunjeong cut the part of the mackerel with the most meat and put it on Taeon’s portion, and handed his plate to Taeon asking for strong doenjang too.
Taeon likewise transferred the most appetizing tofu to Sunjeong’s bowl.
“Meeting that omega is because of work.”
To Sunjeong, who had quietly started eating, Taeon said in a very small voice.
“It’s because of work.”
A voice as if wanting to confirm whether Sunjeong had heard properly.
“Well, between friends, we don’t need to tell each other every single thing like this.”
In front of Taeon’s voice that seemed slightly awkward, Sunjeong’s chopsticks had no choice but to stop for a moment. He also had no way to prevent the pointed corners of his lips on his face pretending to maintain composure from rising slightly upward.
“What kind of business?”
At this question from Sunjeong, Taeon was silently nonresponsive.
After eating quietly for a while, Taeon soon answered in the same low voice as before.
“Just work.”
“Will you tell me later?”
At Sunjeong’s question, Taeon nodded his head with a puzzled expression.
“Of course.”
“Why can’t you say it now? What kind of business is it?”
“I just can’t really talk about it.”
Although a thirst-like curiosity filled up again inside Sunjeong’s heart, he decided not to ask any more for now. He decided to be satisfied with at least the fact that Taeon had decided to tell Sunjeong something.
Having confirmed the fact that this curiosity would definitely be resolved in the near future, a little more strength went into Sunjeong’s spooning.
“Are you meeting that person well?”
Now Taeon carefully asked Sunjeong.
“That person,” what on earth is he talking about? When he blinked his large eyes and looked, Taeon said with an awkward expression,
“That person who got your number at Sentence back then. Was it Choi Yeonwoo? You said you’d be on friendly terms.”
In that moment, a hollow laugh burst from Sunjeong’s mouth. Did he remember all that?
And he’s even been concerned about it. The Taeon before his eyes was doing something very cute, so now Sunjeong put strength in various facial muscles to properly manage his expression.
“I met him, but maybe because he’s younger than me? We didn’t really click.”
Actually, it wasn’t that they didn’t click. Rather, he even thought they matched well with each other.
When they met casually, ate cafeteria food, and even stopped by a cafe, until he subtly suggested meeting again in the future, it really seemed like they could become close friends.
“I like someone, so I can’t do that.”
The fact that he’d said this was a secret from the current Taeon.
“Then why did you give me your number?”
“I’m sorry. Back then, the person I like was watching.”
“…To provoke jealousy?”
Seeing Yeonwoo speak in a sad voice and feel hurt actually made him feel more affinity and they became friends, and the information that he’d scoured through his few human relationships to even set him up on a blind date and things were going quite well was something he planned to tell him much later.
Thinking such thoughts, Taeon watched Sunjeong, who was smiling slightly, with a strange expression.
