# Chapter 20
“Young Master, I’m here.”
When Woojin entered, Jaehyun was sleeping soundly with his face down on the desk.
Woojin was somewhat surprised that Jaehyun had genuinely called him to help with a team project. Looking at the PowerPoint slides densely filled with English text, he could tell it was the result of considerable effort at the college level.
Seeing him sleeping so defenseless stirred up indescribable emotions like a whirlpool. Cha Jaehyun, who had suddenly changed.
Regardless, his hatred for him remained. However, looking at him sleeping quietly in front of him, not knowing how he felt, an odd curiosity was added to his hatred.
Since moving into Jaehyun’s house, Woojin had been reporting everything about him back to Taehan. But just like when he had sneaked in before, searching the house while he was away yielded no significant findings.
Still, Taehan seemed to be somewhat understanding about the lack of results since he had moved in.
Only after Woojin sent all of Jaehyun’s schedules and detailed photos of the house interior did Taehan send a short text saying, [Good job. Keep doing that.] There had been no particular pressure from Taehan since then.
Woojin considered whether to wake the sleeping Jaehyun but decided to leave him as he was. His dark circles had been getting deeper before he fell asleep, and he clearly looked weary and tired.
The long, white nape of his neck was visible above his T-shirt. The nape was clean without a single blemish, and looking at the scene before him, Woojin was suddenly reminded of the back of a young deer. With each breath, Jaehyun’s T-shirt fluttered slightly, releasing a subtle scent of baby powder.
Lowering his gaze, he saw the casual shorts and the straight, white legs. His eyes were drawn to Jaehyun’s thin ankles.
Since moving in, Woojin had never seen Jaehyun eat breakfast. In fact, he hadn’t seen him eat anything at all while at home. Does he eat in his room instead of in the kitchen? Does he even eat at all? Various thoughts crossed his mind.
‘Whether he starves to death or not, it’s none of my business.’
Woojin was startled by his own thoughts as he realized there was no reason for him to be thinking about this. After all, he didn’t need to know about Cha Jaehyun’s, that disgusting guy’s, eating situation.
Looking at him sleeping peacefully before him, Woojin recalled the days when Jaehyun had tormented him, as well as his own intense school days. As multiple scenes flashed through his mind simultaneously, Woojin’s head began to ache.
An absurd, contradictory feeling—unpleasant yet somehow tickling a corner of his heart. Woojin couldn’t identify the type of emotion he was feeling right now. That made his heart even more troubled.
‘I need to pull myself together.’
All kinds of things happen in the world. Even the trash sleeping in front of him changing overnight was hard to believe, but it could happen.
Woojin decided to fully accept Jaehyun’s change. And he resolved not to let his heart waver at the sight of him. No matter how much he had changed, the filthy sins he had committed in the past could never be washed away.
‘No matter how much you’ve changed, you’re done for soon.’
Woojin gazed coldly at the man in front of him. Then, after moving the sleeping Jaehyun to the bed, he quietly left the room.
This was the first time since Jaehyun had come to America that he had approached Woojin first. Woojin thought he should change his strategy to match the changed Jaehyun. To make it easier for Jaehyun to approach him. He judged that this would make it easier to understand his true intentions.
‘I’ll start making breakfast from now on.’
Woojin thought of breakfast as the first way to approach Jaehyun.
* * *
‘What is this?’
I felt only bewilderment at the unfamiliar scene before me. A classic wooden round table placed in the middle of what appeared to be some forest. I was sitting there.
The stranger thing was that Cha Taehan and Han Woojin were sitting across from me.
On the table, there were all sorts of dishes that would make one’s eyes widen, though who had brought them to this deep forest was unclear. It was enough food for 30 people, not just 3.
‘What are all these dishes?’
A meal with two people who dislike Cha Jaehyun? But this time, the atmosphere was different. I sensed something odd about the warm, dreamlike feeling surrounding me. The two sitting across from me were smiling at me without malice.
‘What’s this, did they both eat something wrong?’
There’s no way those two would look at Cha Jaehyun with such warm gazes. I began to feel confused by the strange place I couldn’t identify and the behavior of the two people who seemed to have become different people. How should I deal with this situation?
“Jaehyun, why don’t you eat first?”
As I was just smiling along, not knowing what to do, Cha Taehan spoke first. He called my name sweetly and urged me to eat first. Could that tiger-like man produce such a gentle voice? I got goosebumps from Cha Taehan’s voice.
‘Should I eat first? If I refuse, would the atmosphere become weird?’
Faced with Cha Taehan’s inexplicable kindness, I decided to follow his words and drink the cherry juice in front of me. The cherry juice was in an elegant crystal glass, shining like a ruby.
“Yes, Executive Director. Then I’ll try it first.”
I picked up the crystal glass and drank the cherry juice.
The sky, which had seemed painted with pastel blue, instantly changed to an ominous red. The suddenly altered atmosphere of the sky was scarier than any horror movie.
“Ugh!”
My throat choked from the sudden intense pain. It felt like someone was slashing my esophagus with a knife, and soon blood began pouring from my mouth like a waterfall.
The two across from me watched my suffering with straight faces, as if they had never been smiling, staring at me. My vision gradually blurred. I couldn’t even move.
“Stupid bastard, not even a trace of suspicion. You’re really the most pathetic guy I know.”
Cha Taehan walked up to me as I was spewing blood and threw a scornful taunt. Han Woojin also silently watched me as I collapsed in agony.
* * *
“Gasp!”
I woke up in the cool dawn with my entire back soaked in cold sweat. My throat still felt sore, but realizing it was just a vivid nightmare brought a sense of relief.
“I only meant to sleep for five minutes.”
In front of me, I saw the team project materials I hadn’t finished yesterday.
The current time was 6 o’clock. I usually wake up at 7, but I felt that even if I tried to sleep more now, I would just toss and turn, and with the bad dream, I felt tired but decided to just get up.
‘Did I walk to the bed while sleeping?’
I clearly remembered falling asleep face down, but I woke up in bed. However, due to the disturbing dream, I didn’t pay much attention to it. I just thought I must have gone to bed without realizing it.
‘What’s this smell?’
As I went out of the bedroom door, I heard clattering sounds from the kitchen along with a delicious aroma. Wondering what was happening so early in the morning, I went to the kitchen to find Han Woojin cooking.
When I entered the kitchen, the delicious smell stimulated my nose even more. At a glance, I could see Han Woojin was making Korean food. The golden rolled eggs, pork kimchi stew, and other dishes immediately caught my eye.
‘Did he make all that by himself this morning?’
I ate anything without being picky, but living abroad made me gradually miss my mother’s cooking. At first, I thought I just missed Korean food, so I went to a nearby Korean restaurant, but it didn’t taste like what I wanted.
Seeing the scene in front of me, I suddenly remembered the taste of the meals I ate at home. I thought these dishes would probably have the taste I had been craving.
‘Looks delicious.’
“Young Master, are you up?”
Sensing my presence, Han Woojin turned around while cooking and greeted me. I had planned to just figure out what the smell was and sneak back to my room. I was taken aback when Han Woojin suddenly acknowledged me.
‘Damn, caught.’
“Secretary Han, what’s all this so early in the morning?”
Hiding my surprise, I responded to Han Woojin.
“I noticed you’ve been skipping breakfast, so I prepared this.”
What’s with this sudden breakfast? I couldn’t understand why Han Woojin suddenly made breakfast, but then I remembered my nightmare.
‘Could it be… a prophetic dream?’
As the vague thought of a prophetic dream came to me, the sight of Han Woojin cooking seemed frightening. I once saw a news article about someone who secretly mixed diluted bleach into food to gradually kill someone. Or maybe he’s drugging me with something to make me stupid… All sorts of negative thoughts began to flood my mind.
The fragrant smell of freshly cooked rice entering my nostrils. It was hard to resist, but due to last night’s nightmare, my desire to try it quickly faded.
‘I absolutely cannot eat it.’
“Secretary Han, you’re a good cook too? You’ve worked hard this morning. I appreciate you thinking of me, but I can’t digest food well in the morning… so I don’t think I can eat.”
I gave an awkward smile to Han Woojin, who was busy preparing food in his apron, then quickly fled from the kitchen.
But Han Woojin was not one to give up easily. On the second day, he prepared abalone porridge for breakfast.
“Young Master, since you said you can’t digest rice well, I prepared porridge, which is easier to digest.”
The abalone porridge also looked amazing. I wanted to pick up a spoon right away, but I declined with a smile.
‘He should get the hint by now.’
My expectation was completely wrong. Despite my refusal, Han Woojin prepared various breakfast menus, changing them every day.
The delicious aroma that stimulated my nose every time I opened my eyes made each day difficult. It was torturous not being able to eat the delicious food right in front of me.
‘This is annoying. Why is he even good at cooking?’
Watching Han Woojin continue to cook regardless of my wishes, I firmly believed he had some ulterior motive. Also, seeing the breakfast menu improving day by day despite my refusals made me oddly stubborn.
‘This guy is ridiculous. Is he challenging me? I absolutely won’t eat.’
For several days, an absurd battle unfolded between Han Woojin and me. Han Woojin tempted me with delicious breakfast menus every day, but I expressed my refusal indirectly without giving in.
As this strange situation persisted, I got annoyed. Thinking about it, I felt even more resentful that he continued to prepare meals despite my polite refusals. So I decided to say something directly to Han Woojin.
“Secretary Han, I’m not going to eat. I’ve been refusing continuously, so why do you keep making breakfast? You don’t have to do it from tomorrow, so take a rest.”
I ordered him to stop making breakfast under the pretext of letting him rest, not wanting to be too direct in case it upset him.
“Yes, Young Master. I’m sorry. I will do as you say.”
Han Woojin immediately responded to my order. No expression could be seen on his face. The “bewilderment” I saw in front of the closet the other time was the first emotion I had glimpsed from Han Woojin. But contrary to this, Han Woojin quickly reverted to being a robot.
A robot is a robot. I can’t figure him out, I thought.
