“Hyung still often drinks beverages in soju glasses even at home these days, right? You do that at company dinners.”
“……”
“I didn’t give up. If there’s something I want to do later, we can do it together. I can match you that much.”
“……”
“I’ve already played as much as I’m going to play with the kids.”
“……”
“I’ve been to a PC room, stayed up all night gaming at home, spontaneously bought train tickets and went to the beach. And I often met friends on weekends to exercise. I’ve done everything I could do.”
“That’s playing as much as you’re going to play? Those are things you’ve only done once.”
“No. I played around and settled down. Don’t worry.”
Despite the earlier persuasion being pointless, Yeongwon once again brought up the small transgressions he’d tried with friends. His way of speaking was no different from someone who’d played for a very long time until they were sick of it.
It wasn’t just something he was saying—it seemed like an attitude that seriously considered his experiences already excessive. Of course, in Jiseo’s eyes it was just as cute.
Jiseo, who had secretly shaken his head, let out a meaningless laugh.
Because Yeongwon’s every word and action continued to reveal that he was already prepared, so it was fine to now fulfill the old promise from the past.
“Come here. The living room is cold, so let’s go to the bed to talk. It looks like it snowed outside in the meantime.”
“Is that so? Hyung, before that, I want to change my clothes.”
“Put the clothes you take off in the styler.”
Yeongwon, who had obediently nodded, seemed to furrow his brow for a moment before diligently patting Jiseo’s shoulders. The words he added while doing so endlessly elicited laughter from Jiseo.
“Good work on your social life. Hyung, yesterday’s company dinner must have been really hard too, right? Goodness, your shoulders are all stiff.”
Though he couldn’t understand what concept this was, Jiseo realized that Yeongwon was again pretending to be mature. Acting absurdly like this occasionally was really cute.
Using the conversation as an excuse, Jiseo led Yeongwon to the bedroom and naturally tried to get into the thick blankets… but Yeongwon, who quickly grabbed Jiseo, made him stand facing forward.
“So, are you mentally prepared? What should I do, snatching you up when you’re still so young?”
“……”
“Should we combine households right today?”
“What are you combining when you came with just your bare body?”
“Everything’s here.”
Yeongwon’s outstretched finger pointed at the bedroom furniture one by one. Among them, the thing that drew the most interest was, of course, the bed.
“It’s prepared enough that I can come in with just my body, right? Hyung promised to marry me when you grew up, and now you’re all grown up, so we should combine households right away.”
Though he’d tried to postpone it so much, the old promise from the past finally came out of Yeongwon’s mouth.
“There’s a lot to talk about.”
“……”
“Unlike when we promised, hyung ended up with a special profession, and I’m the same, but accordingly we need to set a few clauses too.”
“Let’s see. Did you sleep? Your face looks really tired.”
“Of course I slept. The alcohol’s all worn off too. Even if I didn’t sleep much, maybe because my body’s used to it, I’m not tired. I can talk with hyung enough.”
“You’re still young. You need to sleep a lot when your growth plates are open to grow tall.”
“I won’t sleep. I’m not sleepy.”
From the looks of it, the alcohol seemed to still be a bit in his system. Since the excitement didn’t seem likely to subside easily, he first tried to cajole him into sleeping a bit more and waking up, but Yeongwon was stubborn.
If his eyes had been bloodshot or fatigue had been thickly smeared on his face, he would have forced him to sleep, but youth was amazing. Moreover, due to the nature of his profession, he often endured tight schedules, so being tired from playing didn’t seem to count as fatigue.
“If you won’t sleep, fine. Let’s eat first. Hyung hasn’t even washed my hair yet. After we eat, I’ll wash up again, get my head straight, and then you can say what you want to say.”
“……”
“I’ll order hangover soup, so when it arrives just put it on the table. I’ll heat it up after I wash.”
“……”
“Lie down here and play while listening well for the doorbell. Got it?”
Even though he was convinced he couldn’t avoid conversation with Yeongwon right now, Jiseo quickly turned the topic to something else.
Though he desperately wanted to stay lying in bed, what could he do? After hearing he’d run around hotly all night, soothing Yeongwon’s stomach took priority.
If it was Yeongwon, there was a high probability he’d continue to follow behind him pattering along and cause annoying trouble. And so Jiseo pressed down on his shoulders to make him lie on the bed half-forcibly.
If only the voice confusingly hounding him would disappear, he felt like he could really get his wits about him. To wash the hair that had been bothering him since yesterday, Jiseo hurriedly headed to the bathroom.
“Hyung, the food arrived.”
“……”
“When are you coming out? When can we eat?”
“I’m done, I finished washing. I’ll be right out.”
He hadn’t deliberately tried to dawdle, but it took a long time in the process of cleanly washing out the wax.
Additionally, the fatigue hadn’t subsided, so he’d just soaked his body in water for a moment when he heard loud urging from outside the door.
If he accepted cooked food it would all cool down, so he’d deliberately requested uncooked, and the delivery was very fast. He thought he should quickly heat it up warmly and give it to him before it cooled.
“I’ll prepare it and call you, so go lie down more on the bed. You’re not forcing yourself to stay awake when you want to sleep more, right?”
Jiseo, who had come up close pattering along and lightly stroked Yeongwon’s cheek as if touching it, added. Though looking at his expression, there seemed to be no sign at all that he’d listen to what he said.
“Hyung, are you going to dry your hair?”
“I won’t dry it. I’ll let it dry naturally while eating, so don’t keep rushing me and just wait a little. I’ll be right there.”
Even though he wasn’t the type to dislike eating, Yeongwon clearly showed he was waiting with bated breath to sit face-to-face and talk rather than for the food.
Since what he wanted was so clear, perhaps just filling his stomach wasn’t important. Come to think of it, even normally he’d skip meals when he had filming or was nervous.
Is it not urgent but nervous? Jiseo quietly observed Yeongwon’s state with only his eyes.
Even though it was clearly a different situation, perhaps for Yeongwon it could be something that gave him tension.
“Hurry and sit down to eat. It’s hot, so don’t hold and drink it. You’ll burn your whole tongue.”
“I’ll eat well.”
Jiseo, who had hurriedly boiled hangover soup and set it on the table at Yeongwon’s urging, gestured toward him.
Even without being asked, he naturally prepared water for Yeongwon to drink and pushed the side dishes close in front of him. It was a habitual action.
When eating, one should be comfortable. Moreover, eating delicious food at home was no different from an uncommon opportunity. With the thought of eating first and seeing later, Jiseo didn’t bring up any topics.
Since there was no more urging, a comfortable meal continued. Thanks to that, there was enough leisure to empty even the remaining ingredients in the hangover soup without leaving anything.
Since they’d filled their stomachs, he intended to slowly open the conversation only after leisurely cleaning up the table while digesting. However, Jiseo faced a crisis as soon as he put down his spoon.
“From now on, if hyung cooks, I can do the dishes, right? I’m not busy these days, so if hyung is tired, I’ll cook and wash dishes too. Learning is quick. I don’t mind doing more.”
“……”
“Don’t worry about living expenses. You know how hard I’ve worked all this time, right?”
“You did save up a lot of allowance.”
“How is money I earned myself allowance?”
“Even if you earn it yourself, you receive it as allowance to spend. Then it’s allowance.”
“I’m the one giving allowance. They just manage it for me, but when I become an adult, I’m supposed to receive all the money I’ve saved so far. No, they said they’d give it when I’m over twenty-five.”
Those talks packaged as pretending to be an adult on the surface were so cute every time he heard them that it was enough to make him laugh. Even just today, how many times already?
It seemed Yeongwon… already believed that his childhood promise with himself had come true. That appearance lightly pulled out something from his memories.
