“I was just going to—”
“Quiet. Sit down.”
He seemed to have decided that Nunbi had been planning to set down the tray and make a run for it. For reasons Nunbi couldn’t quite pin down, Woonjeong was clearly displeased about something again — and that alone left Nunbi bewildered. And that way of speaking, like he was talking to a puppy….
“I said sit down.”
“It’s not like that, I just need the chopsticks—”
“Should I sit you down myself?”
Absolutely relentless. In the middle of their brief back-and-forth, the quiet sound of the door closing came from behind him. A full bowl of rice and an extra set of chopsticks had already been brought in — Nunbi checked the doorway and felt his face fall. The devotee had clearly taken one look at the situation inside and simply left the things without a word. And I didn’t even get to thank her properly.
“You don’t listen very well, do you.”
Woonjeong looked fully prepared to drag Nunbi down by force. Really, stubborn as an ox.
“Fine, I’ll sit, why is this such a big deal….”
Nunbi quietly retrieved the rice bowl the devotee had brought in and made his way back around to the table. Even so, the fact that he hadn’t been able to turn down the meal sat a little heavily on him — he felt mildly shameless about it and was already slightly deflated. Woonjeong watched him for a moment, gave what almost sounded like a scoff, and then added something in the same offhand tone as everything else.
“Come every Sunday from now on.”
What is this now.
“Why would I?”
“From now on, eat here with me on Sundays. Stop scrounging around outside for whatever you can find.”
“Who scrounges for things, I — I’ve never done that.”
Nunbi wiped his mouth clean of the truth and played innocent. Lighting a fire in a mountain cave and foraging for greens and berries and catching meat to grill — how is that not fun. Of course, someone like Woonjeong would have no way of knowing anything about that.
“What do you expect, in the middle of nowhere with no convenience store in sight. It’s obvious just from watching you wander around picking herbs.”
Whether Woonjeong was mocking him or not, Nunbi picked up his chopsticks and helped himself to rice. The rice is really good…. He was mid-thought when he suddenly stopped what he was doing and snuck a look at Woonjeong. The actual owner of the meal hadn’t so much as touched the table — he was just sitting there quietly, watching Nunbi.
“Wait…. Can I actually eat this?”
He was asking just in case it turned out to be another trap.
“If I told you not to eat, would you stop? You’re not a dog.”
“Stop joking around.”
“I’m not joking.”
Nunbi couldn’t help it — he turned to Woonjeong with his spoon still in hand and asked him point-blank.
“What is wrong with you? If you want something, just say it.”
“I’m saying it for the second time. Come here every Sunday from now on.”
“No.”
Nunbi cut him off flat. Woonjeong went quiet for a moment, just staring at him steadily. Then, the next moment, he reached out without warning.
“Hey—!”
Nunbi let out a yelp before he could stop himself. Woonjeong had closed the distance in an instant, lunging toward him as if to snatch the chopsticks right out of his hand.
“Don’t — wait—”
He tried to shout wait, but his body tilted before the word could come out. Before he had any time to react, Woonjeong’s weight came down on top of him. Nunbi staggered, and then went down — flat on his back on the floor. He’d been pushed. Even in the middle of it, he registered that the tray hadn’t been overturned, and felt a flicker of relief — and then.
“….”
“….”
Nunbi went completely still. His back was against the floor, and Go Woonjeong’s face was right there, close enough to touch. The instant their eyes met, something seemed to flare up in the space between them.
“You keep not understanding things the first time I say them. Want me to fix that?”
His voice came out low, almost like a murmur. He’d been refused a few times, and it seemed that had been enough to irritate him. What do I do — push him off? But then, in that instant, Nunbi caught the corner of Woonjeong’s mouth curling up.
“….”
It was so slow it was practically in slow motion. Only once the moment had passed did Nunbi register that Woonjeong’s face was full of mischief. The held breath released from his chest all at once, belatedly.
“What are you doing. Get off.”
“Why. You said we were friends.”
He laughed. The way their bodies were tangled together, they’d nearly gone rolling right into the edge of the table. Nunbi had been thrashing like a fish trying to shake Woonjeong off — and now he was just panting, worn out by his own effort.
“This is not how you act in front of a meal. Get off. If you have something to say, sit down and—”
Even pinned underneath him, Nunbi kept up a steady stream of corrections, and Woonjeong just kept smirking. Nunbi was in considerably more distress than Woonjeong’s relaxed manner suggested he should be. He’d had no idea from the outside, but Woonjeong was solid — genuinely hard and impossibly heavy.
“Urgh….”
Worlds apart from Nunbi, who was soft all over, yielding like a paper doll. He was on the verge of losing all air, so Nunbi started wheezing and hitting Woonjeong with short, urgent thumps. His ribs were being crushed and he had no other option.
“You’re really working for it.”
Woonjeong laughed at him.
“If you know that, then — hk — move.”
“No.”
“No, why? What exactly are you doing right now?”
“What do you think, Nunbi.”
Woonjeong kept right on laughing, completely at his leisure.
“You said if I want something, say it. So I’m showing you.”
“What?”
Nunbi stared up at him, flushed and breathless. I genuinely cannot understand this person. He’d said no multiple times. And still Woonjeong stared down at him with the same piercing focus, like Nunbi was something worth watching. Truly awful human being.
“You’re kind of shameless and oblivious, you know that.”
The face that said it looked fresh and bright. Nunbi could only exhale — ha, ha, ha — too exasperated for words. Apparently Nunbi gasping uselessly was more boring than entertaining, because Woonjeong suddenly stood up in one motion and stepped aside.
“You’re really soft, by the way.”
“I know! Stop making fun of me.”
Strange. So strange. Genuinely so strange. Nunbi managed to get his balance back and started to push himself up from the shoulders. But just as he was nearly all the way up, something pressed down firmly on the top of his head, and without any resistance at all, Nunbi flopped right back down again.
“Hey!”
It was Woonjeong. The ill-natured young master looked at Nunbi sprawled out on the floor and smiled brightly. He seemed to be in a good mood.
“You said you wanted to be friends. Isn’t this how you’re supposed to become friends — by playing together like this.”
What a convenient excuse. Every time Nunbi huffed and gathered himself and thrashed his way back up, Woonjeong would press or poke somewhere — a shoulder, a stomach, somewhere — and send him flopping over again. And as terrible luck would have it, Nunbi was hopelessly ticklish, so he couldn’t even put up a proper fight.
“Stop — that tickles, I — hff — stop it.”
By the time Woonjeong finally pulled his hands away, Nunbi was lying there breathless with a full grin on his face. He hadn’t even realized. Woonjeong reached over with a calm expression and touched Nunbi’s forehead.
“….”
He seemed to be peeling away the strands of hair that had stuck to his face. Before Nunbi had any time to wonder about the easy intimacy of that gesture, Woonjeong was already getting to his feet with the same unbothered expression and going to sit on the other side.
“Done playing? Eat now.”
Thanks to Woonjeong calling him back over as if nothing had happened, Nunbi managed to get up off the floor and face the meal again. I genuinely cannot tell whether we’re close or not. An impossible person to read. His breath was still coming up short for no clear reason, so Nunbi turned his head slightly to the side. The back of his neck felt hot.
So — it had been a very long time since Nunbi had eaten the offerings that came out for the devotees on Sundays. Once he’d grown up enough to read a room, it had become something he couldn’t even dream of.
