# Chapter 109
Yesterday evening when Ban Hajun and Gye Minho came, Mo Eunje took a turn at the hospital and stopped by home to bring clothes for Tae Igyeol to wear when he was discharged. The white short-sleeved t-shirt he’d been wearing when he was rushed to the hospital would have gotten dirty, but the doctor had also cut it with medical scissors during treatment because Igyeol had difficulty taking it off due to the severe pain. Even if that hadn’t happened, Tae Igyeol wasn’t the type to wear clothes that had been worn once without washing them.
Bringing a seersucker shirt to accommodate his cast arm was an excellent choice. With quick movements, Mo Eunje buttoned up the shirt and rolled up both sleeves with a couple of wide folds. He also hung an arm sling around Igyeol’s neck so the casted arm would be comfortable. Even though it looked unbalanced with the training pants as bottoms, his clothes-wearing skills were so impressive that it somehow looked like a new fashion trend.
“Mom sent a card to my father. She said to buy you a gift since you worked so hard.”
Mo Eunje hadn’t seen the credit card being given, but it must have happened when he went to gather things from the bathroom. As he sprayed light cologne on Tae Igyeol who was now ready to be discharged, Mo Eunje stretched his lips into a wide smile.
“Really? Can I buy something expensive then? Should we stop by the shopping center on the way home?”
“What do you want to buy?”
“Short-sleeve t-shirts. The sports brand I always buy from has fluorescent lime green t-shirts that have such a pretty color.”
“…”
“If I can get one more thing, I’d like shorts or a windbreaker in the same color.”
Mo Eunje searched on his phone to show something he had bookmarked earlier. When he went to the image category, not just t-shirts but shorts, windbreakers, futsal shoes, flip-flops, and various other items were displayed in the same color.
“Isn’t it totally pretty?”
“…Fine, get everything from the hat to the shoes as a set.”
“Really? So I can get the hat, t-shirt, windbreaker, shorts, and flip-flops all at once? Did your mom say I could buy that much?”
“I doubt my mom would say no, but even if she did, I’d buy it for you, so get the full set. Including the running shoes.”
“Great! You really suffered a lot taking care of me, so you deserve this.”
With a beaming face, Mo Eunje slung a sports bag over one shoulder, put his phone and smart key in each of his pants pockets, and picked up the flower basket that Tae Iden had bought.
“Why are you bringing that? It’ll just be thrown away when it wilts.”
Tae Igyeol, who was simply holding his phone in his left hand, jerked his chin toward the flower basket. It was practically being treated like trash. Suddenly, Mo Eunje recalled the hundred dried roses that looked beautiful next to the living room TV. Whatever Tae Igyeol had done to them, even though they were completely dried, the petals hadn’t crumbled and still gave off a fragrance while flaunting their captivating beauty.
“I still want to take it. I’ll keep it in the living room until it wilts.”
He stubbornly gripped the flower basket tighter. While Tae Igyeol had an expression that showed he truly didn’t understand why Mo Eunje was taking it, he didn’t try to stop him further. Placing the flower basket next to the hundred roses that took up cumbersome space in the living room would likely reduce the psychological burden.
They went down to the parking lot, put the flower basket and luggage in the back seat, and Mo Eunje climbed into the driver’s seat to start the engine. It felt strange to see Tae Igyeol sitting in the passenger seat, probably because he had been using Mo Eunje as a chauffeur at all hours. Mo Eunje chuckled at the praiseworthy sight of Tae Igyeol struggling to fasten his seatbelt with his left hand, then leaned over to buckle it for him.
He had thought Tae Igyeol was perfect at everything, but injuring his arm had made him show vulnerability. Every time he revealed gaps in his perfection with that large frame, Mo Eunje found it unbearably cute and ticklish, making him want to laugh. He couldn’t possibly have more humanity.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I wonder if our Igyeol knows how cute he is.”
“…”
Mo Eunje laughed out loud as he pressed the ignition button, not even glancing toward Tae Igyeol. He could guess how severely Igyeol would be frowning and glaring at him without looking. But even so, he wasn’t at all afraid of the impressionist giant—he was used to it. Mo Eunje let the escaping laughter flow and gently stepped on the accelerator.
On the way home, they briefly stopped by the shopping center and went to the sports brand store that Mo Eunje frequently shopped at. Getting a full set of fluorescent lime green items as a gift put him in a good mood and made him excited. Tae Igyeol even brought a head tie in the same color and paid for it together with everything else. If he went to play soccer dressed in this color from head to toe, everyone would be envious of how pretty it looked.
Mo Eunje stepped on the gas, eager to try on the things thrown in the back seat. Being directionally challenged, he didn’t even think of taking shortcuts. He planned to take photos in the full outfit when they got home and send them to Song Yeonhwa. Honestly, he hadn’t really suffered much, but it was only right to send proof photos to the person who had graciously provided the credit card.
“Should I buy a car too?”
“Why?”
“It’s convenient driving your car these past few days. If I make a contract now, how long would I have to wait for delivery? Gye Minho got his license a month ago and immediately contracted for a compact car, but he said he has to wait at least 6 months to a year.”
While changing lanes, Mo Eunje calculated the maturity dates of the various savings accounts he had in his head. He had heard that you pay when the car is delivered after making a contract first, so if he contracted now, the maturity date and payment date would roughly match up.
“Why buy a car? After using me as your personal driver all this time, you should maintain some consistency.”
“Look who’s talking about consistency with that arm. I want to drive comfortably by myself too.”
“You barely go out anyway. Just use my car when you need it. I’ll register you as an additional driver on the insurance. Why run two cars in a country that doesn’t produce a drop of oil?”
“That’s true, but… Wait, what do you mean two? One for you, one for me—one each.”
Sometimes when talking with Tae Igyeol, he would say something strangely persuasive and logical that Mo Eunje would often miss whether it was sophistry. Just now he had almost been swayed without even realizing what was wrong. Watching the traffic light change, he slowed down and stopped the car at the pedestrian crossing safety line.
“I don’t know why someone who speaks so well went into science…”
“Running two cars in one household is wasteful too. If you want to drive yourself, just use my car since I don’t go out often either.”
“What are you talking about? It’s not like I’m going to live with you forever. Having my own car is more convenient in many ways.”
“…Who knows if we’ll live together forever.”
“Huh?”
“I’m going to live with you forever.”
Mo Eunje swallowed hard. Fortunately, they had stopped at a red light; if they had been driving, he might have slammed on the brakes in surprise at this sudden attack.
“I thought we had a truce? You said you wouldn’t make me uncomfortable.”
“The truce was until I was discharged.”
“…”
“Now that I’m discharged, I’m not going to hold back anymore.”
Tae Igyeol’s declaration of war, delivered casually and indifferently, seemed ominous. Mo Eunje should tell him to hold back, that he needs to restrain himself, but his sealed lips wouldn’t part. If anyone knew how much Tae Igyeol had been holding back, it was him. It felt like something terrifying that he couldn’t handle would happen when they got home, and Mo Eunje wanted to run away.
After returning home and unpacking, Mo Eunje tried on the clothes he’d received as gifts. He put the head tie and hat on his head, wore the flip-flops on his feet, and held the running shoes in both hands as he struck various poses, asking Tae Igyeol to take verification photos. Looking at himself in the full-length mirror, he was extremely pretty, glowing in fluorescent lime green from head to toe.
He sent the verification photos along with a thank-you message to Song Yeonhwa and ordered lunch. Tae Igyeol suggested various menu options, but Mo Eunje rejected them all. He deliberately chose risotto and pilaf, which could be eaten with just a spoon without using chopsticks.
Since there was no needle inserted in his arm, Tae Igyeol could move his left hand freely, so there was no need to feed him anymore. Tae Igyeol used the spoon with his left hand without complaint. Although he seemed uncomfortable due to his unfamiliarity with using his left hand, since Tae Igyeol didn’t complain, Mo Eunje pretended not to notice and continued eating slowly, matching his pace.
“I’ll be working, so call me if you need anything.”
“Do you have to do it right now?”
“Yeah. I was preparing my new work and put it on hold when you were in the hospital. I think it’ll be easier for me to start quickly rather than putting it off.”
After cleaning up the table, Mo Eunje fled to the alpha room and turned on his laptop. The only way to avoid clashing with Tae Igyeol at home was to use the new work preparation as an excuse. Perhaps due to unnecessary tension, his mental fatigue was high, and he wanted to lie down on the bed and sleep.
Tae Igyeol repeatedly went up to the roof to smoke. At the hospital, he had only gone out to smoke two or three times a day, but at home, he had already gone out 7 times in 3 hours. This seemingly trivial behavior was revealing Tae Igyeol’s psychological state.
Thinking it would be less burdensome if someone else was present rather than just the two of them, Mo Eunje sent private messages to Ban Hajun and Gye Minho asking what they were doing while Tae Igyeol was on the roof. However, Ban Hajun said he was on his way to a drinking appointment with classmates and juniors from school, and Gye Minho complained that he was building up a backlog of chapters because his series was soon changing to daily updates, so he could only date once a week. Even if he asked, Ban Hajun wasn’t the type to cancel his plans, and Gye Minho would use any free time to date, so Mo Eunje quickly gave up.
He tried to think of anyone besides Ban Hajun and Gye Minho who Tae Igyeol might allow inside the house. Apart from both sets of parents, there was only Tae Iden. Even knowing he would be busy with his schedule, Mo Eunje contacted him just in case, but predictably got the answer that he was filming. What’s more, there were many night scenes today, so he would likely spend the night at the filming location. Instead, he said he had the entire day off tomorrow, information Mo Eunje wasn’t curious about.
“Sigh…”
He couldn’t give Tae Igyeol any opportunity for suspicious words or actions. The only thing safely separating Tae Igyeol and Mo Eunje was the glass wall of the alpha room that allowed them to see each other clearly. But he wasn’t sure how effective this glass wall—which could shatter with one punch from Tae Igyeol—would be in a crisis or unexpected situation. He resented the past Tae Igyeol for demolishing a perfectly fine room, doing construction, and replacing the wall with glass. If it were a solid wall that blocked sight, they could at least conflict freely, but in the current state, he had to manage his expressions while pretending to concentrate, which made him resentful of the past Tae Igyeol.
