What Hyedam did during the several days of travel was eat, sleep, and do…… at his parents’ villa. He was faithful to the most basic human desires.
Hyedam, who came all the way to Jeju Island but couldn’t step even one foot outside the villa, let alone visit famous tourist spots, was only able to escape that place when it was time to board the plane back.
“……I heard tangerine bread is delicious?”
“I’ll prepare it.”
“They say the new tourist spot in Udo is really nice……”
“Should we come back this weekend?”
While heading to the airport by car, every time he brought up things that only now came to mind while looking at the scenery outside, Hyedam laughed helplessly at Leo’s answers that immediately came back.
You really live so comfortably. A life of doing everything you want to do. A life of having everything you want to have.
That was Leo’s life. Even when he was his secretary, he vaguely felt it, but during the past few days sticking with him, he could look a little deeper into his life.
While watching TV, he brought up the story of giant grouper, and an hour later, they ate giant grouper sashimi in the greenhouse at his house. Unlike the snow piled up outside, the inside of the greenhouse, appropriately humid and appropriately warm, was like spring, and he could assert that the taste of sashimi eaten while looking at the Jeju sea was the most delicious sashimi he’d ever eaten.
While staying at the villa, he didn’t give him clothes until the end, and Hyedam, who had lived wearing only a robe as the final compromise, was now wrapped in luxury brands from head to toe. Thinking about how there were several more sets of clothes in the car besides the clothes he was wearing now made his head throb.
Unlike ordinary people who, to go on one trip, make plans, look around here and there, make reservations, and go through many processes, Leo was answering immediately.
“Leo.”
“Yeah?”
“We’re seeing each other this weekend too?”
The moment Leo’s gaze, which had been looking at the tablet, turned toward him, Hyedam shut his open mouth tightly.
“……I’m curious how our 못난이 is defining our relationship.”
Leo’s eyes and voice as he closed the tablet case, turned his body, and looked at him completely were much heavier than usual. The smile that had always been there for several days couldn’t be seen at all.
“……”
When he didn’t answer readily, Leo just stared with sticky eyes but didn’t make any gesture.
“A good relationship?”
“Generally, people who do things like hugging, kissing, spending nights together—things we’ve continued to do until now—express that as dating, lovers, and such, but our Hyedam is a bit different?”
He’s been mixing honorifics and informal speech appropriately until now.
Plus, he called me our 못난이, so why is it suddenly our Hyedam now? Trying to scare people?
“Ah…… uh, generally that’s……right.”
“Hyedam seems to have different standards. Then, I need to hear Hyedam’s standards for my current doubts to be resolved, what do you think?”
The corners of Hyedam’s mouth, who instinctively moved his body slightly toward the door, rose awkwardly.
“No. I…… well, so. Kissing, hugging, things like that together, you can’t do those without mutual feelings. So a relationship with good feelings……”
“This is why preparation and everything isn’t necessary. When you’re in my arms, you say you like me. You love me. You do it all, but once we’re just outside like this, you’re going to play dumb? Are you eating me and throwing me away now?”
*Cough*.
“Right. I devoted my whole body to satisfy you, fed you, put you to sleep, did everything you asked. Now that we’re going back home, you’re going to wipe your mouth clean? When you go to work tomorrow, you’re only going to say ‘Team Leader-nim. Today’s schedule is……’ things like that. As soon as we get off the plane, you’re definitely going to say ‘Just drop me off at my house.’ Right? Or not?”
No. It’s not exactly wiping my mouth clean like that.
The trip is over, and we’re returning to daily life, so when we arrive, naturally I’ll go to my house to rest, and go to work tomorrow. At the company, naturally I should call you Team Leader-nim and talk about work.
Watching Leo say all the things he was going to say in advance, Hyedam just moved his mouth. If I say the wrong thing here, something’s going to happen. Hyedam’s brain began to spin quickly to find the answer Leo would like most.
“Look. You can’t even answer right away because you’re racking your brain now. So what are you going to answer? Are you going to answer now that we’re dating? That we like each other? You’ll say that at the company you won’t show any signs and only talk about work, so you call me ‘Team Leader-nim.’ Also, you’ll say that naturally since you have your own house, you’ll go home and it’s natural to meet at the company tomorrow morning, and what else is there? Ah! To appease me, you’ll also say let’s be together on the weekend, right?”
Hyedam’s pupils trembled as he watched Leo block each answer that his fairly hard-working brain put forth. When one is presented and blocked, he thinks of another, and even when thinking of something else, Leo said everything as if reading his mind.
“Ah…… that’s not it!”
Although he hastily spat out words, Hyedam, who had no words to follow, bit his lips tightly. At that moment, Leo’s lips touched his cheek and fell away.
“I told you not to show your dimples, but I’m going to kiss you every time you show dimples like this, so know that.”
At the same time, Hyedam quickly released his lips he’d been biting.
“So which house are we going to today?”
“I need to prepare for work……”
“You know that waking up together, preparing together, and going to work together is a very efficient route, right?”
Hyedam unknowingly nodded at what Leo, who had cut off his words, was saying.
“Are you going to deny everything that happened while we stayed together in Jeju Island?”
This time, Hyedam’s head quickly shook left and right.
“Do you dislike me?”
That’s not it either, so shake shake.
“Do you like me?”
Uh. So…… this one is nod nod.
“Ah. Good. Our 못난이. This is why you’re so pretty.”
Sensing something strange in the conversation that passed in an instant, what Hyedam, who urgently grabbed Leo’s arm, faced was Leo’s brightly smiling face.
“We’ve arrived.”
I even forgot there was a driver in the driver’s seat…… Hyedam, whose hand was caught by Leo and who entered the airport, swept his face with one hand. Without being bewitched. He couldn’t see the face of the large man walking ahead of him, but he could feel with his whole body that Leo, who felt like a polar bear with his white skin and all, was making a satisfied smile.
* * *
Bewitched by the bear-like fox, he had to go to Leo’s house without any more discussion, and even committed the atrocity of going to work with him.
His schedule that he hadn’t managed to handle was proceeding without problems because Robert was there, and in the afternoon, he had to head not to the company but to Luna’s office.
“You look a bit tired, are you okay?”
Hyedam smiled slightly while receiving the glass of cold ice water.
“Luna-ssi, you get old too. I’m telling you, each year is different.”
“Hey. We only have a three-year age difference. If someone hears, they’ll think we’re ten years apart. You know that sometimes Hyedam-ssi really talks like an old man, right?”
“I am an old man though.”
“Ah. Come on! Go outside and ask. See if anyone sees Hyedam-ssi as that age.”
At Luna’s indignant words, Hyedam smiled awkwardly and drank the ice water. His uncomfortable stomach since last evening wouldn’t quite settle down. To say he had indigestion, there was no vomiting, but to say he was fine, something was uncomfortable.
Should I say it feels like motion sickness? Until morning he ate a little while watching Leo’s mood, but even though he didn’t eat lunch, his stomach didn’t get better.
Even though he craved something sour and refreshing, the cold water going down his throat seemed to pleasantly clear out his stuffy insides.
“What ice water in this cold weather? Aren’t you cold?”
“I’m only in heated indoors all the time, so it feels stuffy. What are you buying this time that there are so many catalogs?”
“It’s Lunar New Year soon. Since there are steady events like this, shoppers like me make a living. See the dark blue file on the left there? That’s Hyedam-ssi’s. You can choose as many as you like, so make sure to take it. But you have to check it along with the others and give it to me by next Wednesday.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yes, Hyedam-ssi. You have to choose at least one, so don’t say you don’t need it or that it’s okay. It’s something you should receive enough as an exclusive secretary. I also have a personal file as a dedicated shopper.”
Even after finishing the ice water, feeling the thirst that still remained, Hyedam crunched ice in his mouth and picked up the dark blue file Luna mentioned.
Hyedam’s hand, who had been quickly scanning the file that had everything from clothes, bags, shoes, accessories to home appliances and furniture, went back to the furniture section.
Right. My move.
Just being with Leo, he’d be swayed by him and forget the things around him completely. The provisional contract for the house he was moving to was finished, but he’d forgotten about the move. Then, should he take this opportunity to change everything to good things through Leo?
A smile spread across Hyedam’s face as he looked carefully at the furniture and home appliances sections.
“It would be convenient to send it by email, but both Robert-ssi and Leo are analog about these things. They say it’s more comfortable to see it as a file? It’s only busy Hyedam-ssi who suffers needlessly.”
“No. What am I busy with? They hired me to do this kind of work.”
Hyedam, who had put new ice in his mouth and was chewing it, raised his head at the gaze he kept feeling.
“Should I get you more lemonade or orange juice? Or there’s also citron tea, and citron tea is delicious when you eat it cold too. I don’t have quince tea or omija tea. I’ll prepare them next time.”
In Hyedam’s hands, who loaded the files Luna had prepared for him into the car, was citron tea full of ice.
