Meanwhile, Sungjin was feeling his own sense of satisfaction at the thought of finishing the remaining firewood chopping. Although the situation had flowed in a somewhat unwanted direction, working alone was more comfortable. It was better to be alone than to watch other people’s reactions and fidget anxiously about whether he might have made them uncomfortable. Thinking this way, he was steadily finishing the assigned work.
“……?”
Why is that person here? For a moment, Sungjin doubted his eyes, but he hadn’t seen a mirage. A person who had no reason to be here was glaring at him with arms crossed, and with a face full of anger at that.
‘Why… is he angry?’
I don’t know. He had no idea whatsoever. Because he had his shirt off? Because he looked too showy? Sungjin called Yuwon’s name in a flustered voice.
“Uh… Yuwon-ssi?”
Then Yuwon’s eyebrows twitched once more. He seemed to have gotten even more annoyed. Why on earth? I only called his name? Does he hate even that? Sungjin swallowed a scream inwardly and spoke calmly.
“What brings you here?”
Yuwon snapped back with a terrifying face this time too.
“What are you doing here alone, Sungjin-ssi?”
It was a reproach, not a question. Sungjin felt a bit wronged. He was the one who was left alone because his partner openly showed dislike, so why should he be scolded? And by someone who had nothing to do with it. As they say, even a worm will turn when stepped on—Sungjin, who was already exhausted from the difficult physical labor, unconsciously answered in a somewhat sharp tone.
“I think that’s what I should be asking you. Are you done with your mission, Yuwon-ssi?”
He flinched even after saying it himself. Did I sound too argumentative? Am I being too rude? Just as belated regret came flooding in, Yuwon fired back without backing down.
“Yes.”
“Ah.”
I see. You’re all done. That’s great. Sungjin unconsciously thought sarcastically to himself, then suddenly snapped back to his senses. Did he come to help because I’m finishing too late? His face turned red at the belatedly deduced conclusion. There was nothing more embarrassing than having responded sharply to someone who might have come to help after finishing their mission.
In an instant, he turned as red as a burning sweet potato from his face to the nape of his neck. Sungjin hesitated, not knowing what to say, then finally opened his mouth.
“Um… did you come to help me?”
I don’t know what his intention is, but anyway, is this a situation where I should be grateful? Just as he was watching Yuwon’s reaction, not knowing what to do, Yuwon made another shocking statement.
“Why would I?”
“……?”
Sungjin doubted his ears again this time. In a normal situation, wouldn’t helping be the usual thing to do unless he came to mock him for not finishing yet? But the answer that came back was ‘Why would I?’ That was rather what Sungjin wanted to ask. He couldn’t understand why Yuwon had been so obsessed with him since earlier. The attitude that changed like flipping a palm, and the way of speaking as if deliberately picking a fight…. If you’re not here to help, then why on earth did you come? But he couldn’t spit it out as it was, so Sungjin stammered and barely asked back.
“Then… um… what brings you…”
“…….”
Then Yuwon made a tsk sound as if he’d seen something unbearable and said with a grimace.
“At least put your clothes on.”
“Ah.”
Well, that’s true. I was doing this thinking no one would come, but I wouldn’t have taken it off if someone had been next to me either. Sungjin muttered to himself inwardly while cooling down his flushed face. As he hastily put on the shirt he’d taken off, Yuwon asked irritably again.
“How much is left?”
“…….”
I don’t want to answer. Sungjin unconsciously thought that first. A person who keeps getting irritated, whose attitude changes like boiling porridge, and who only gives him embarrassment—no matter how handsome he is, still…
‘But he is handsome.’
I want to clearly say he’s unlikeable and my least favorite type. But that didn’t work out as he wished. Yuwon was Sungjin’s ideal type in every way. If the lover in his ideal dreams appeared in reality, they would have a face like Lee Yuwon. Of course, the personality wouldn’t be the same.
He definitely preferred a kind person. He liked someone who knew that there were people who got hurt by carelessly uttered words and knew how to be considerate. In that respect, Yuwon seemed to be far from his ideal type personality-wise.
Although how much could he have figured out about someone he’d only greeted a few hours ago, at least for now, he’d scored 200 points out of 100 for appearance and lost about minus 150 points for personality. Sungjin tried hard not to look at Yuwon and mumbled.
“It’s almost done.”
At that moment, Yuwon did another completely unexpected action. He picked up the axe that Sungjin had just put down after splitting firewood with his delicate hands that looked like they’d never done rough work before.
For an instant, Sungjin felt the stupid sense of crisis of ‘Is he planning to split me with that?’ then realized that such things don’t happen in reality and stopped Yuwon.
“Ah, it’s okay! There’s really not much left so I can do it quickly!”
Then Yuwon glared at Sungjin with terrifying eyes once again.
“It’s fine. If it’s hard enough that you had to take your shirt off, rest a bit.”
“Ah.”
Sungjin was speechless again. No, actually I just took it off because it was hot, it’s not that difficult. However, Yuwon was glaring at him with such fierce eyes and even holding an axe in his hand, so he didn’t have the courage to resist.
While Sungjin was hesitating, Yuwon had already placed the remaining firewood on the chopping block and assumed his position. Even that looked beautiful like a scene from a pictorial, and Sungjin unconsciously entered appreciation mode.
‘How can even the sight of chopping firewood look so pretty.’
Lee Yuwon chopping firewood. The very existence of such a sentence in the world was strange, but it was happening in real time before his eyes. The firewood Yuwon splits would probably have a pretty shape too… Just as he was being enchanted while thinking such foolish thoughts.
Thunk.
“……?”
Yuwon’s axe blade ridiculously veered off in the wrong direction and hit the chopping block instead of the firewood.
“……?”
He seemed flustered himself, not knowing what had happened. The aim was so absurdly off that it was like physical comedy, but instead of laughing, Sungjin doubted his eyes. Did I see something wrong? However, the second attempt wasn’t much different from the first.
Thunk.
This time he got a bit closer to the target, but the aim was still ridiculous. At least the third attempt finally succeeded in hitting the firewood, but far from splitting it neatly in half, it was almost a 9 to 1 ratio, becoming a size that needed to be split again.
Yuwon finally succeeded in splitting the firewood to an appropriate size on his sixth attempt.
“…….”
There were only about five pieces of firewood left, but with this kind of anxiety, just watching itself was difficult. He was worried that Yuwon might stagger and get hurt by the blade. Sungjin eventually couldn’t just watch and intervened.
“Um… I’m sorry, but it seems like it would be faster if I did it, so I’ll just finish it quickly.”
As he snatched the axe from Yuwon’s hand, surprisingly, Yuwon obediently handed over the axe. He had his head bowed down so he couldn’t tell what expression he was making, but seeing that the nape of his neck visible below his rather long hair was red, he seemed to know he was embarrassed.
‘He made such a fuss earlier that I thought he was someone without any sense of shame….’
It seems that’s not the case. Since Sungjin had countless experiences of being humiliated in front of others, he showed consideration for Yuwon in his own way. He deliberately cleared his throat without looking at Yuwon’s face so that he could be embarrassed to his heart’s content. Then, as Yuwon flinched and stepped back, he struck down the firewood with all his might.
Thanks to having been repeating the familiar task until the intruder came a little while ago, the remaining firewood was split at a fast pace. In conclusion, all Yuwon did by coming was to get annoyed and pick a fight with someone who was doing the work just fine.
Anyway, although he didn’t particularly receive any help, Sungjin kept Yuwon by his side and finished off all the remaining firewood. Wasn’t it said that after the mission is done, we can rest in the meeting room until meal time? Sungjin awkwardly watched for reactions and said to Yuwon.
“Then… should we go to the meeting room now?”
Yuwon nodded silently. Anyway, he seems to agree, so let’s move. Sungjin didn’t know which rhythm to follow, so he just quietly kept his mouth shut and headed toward the outdoor meeting room. The people who had gathered first spotted them and stood up from their seats to greet them.
