# Chapter 118
Arriving at Ritz Ville, I entered the building code and went up to the fifth floor. As soon as I opened the front door, Tae Igyeol started nagging.
“Why did you leave him alone and come here?”
“You think I wanted to come?”
I put two drinks to one side, then spread my arms and turned in a circle as I answered. Meanwhile, Tae Igyeol sprayed disinfectant.
“Then why did you come?”
“He told me to check if you’ve eaten because you need to take your medicine.”
“Haa… If he’s that worried, why doesn’t he come himself?”
As Tae Igyeol passed through the entrance and inner door, he roughly brushed his hair back. His frustration was clearly visible.
“Would I say that? Starting today, he said he’d go to a close hyung’s house. I tried to stop him using my poverty as an excuse.”
“Which close hyung?”
“How would I know? You have such a narrow social circle that when you say you’re going to a friend’s house, we can guess exactly who. But Mo Eunje? He has more than just a couple of close friends. He calls people he barely sees once a year his close friends.”
“This is driving me crazy, shit.”
“Drink something cold and calm down.”
Sitting across from each other at the table, I put a straw in an iced Americano and handed it to Tae Igyeol. He drank more than half of it in one go. Even though Mo Eunje could keep an eye on him, he seemed really stressed. He looked awful—his skin was rough, his eyes sunken, and he looked haggard as if he hadn’t slept properly. Despite feeling sorry for Tae Igyeol’s condition, Ban Hajun wanted to complete his task first.
“Food?”
“I ate something.”
“Medicine?”
“I ate something because of the medicine.”
“You must be in pain. Looking at how you even ate food to take your medicine. Our Eunje worries too much—making me check on you when you’d obviously take care of yourself. Who wouldn’t eat food and take medicine when they’re sick?”
Ban Hajun deliberately tried to irritate him to let him vent his emotions and feel better, but Tae Igyeol showed no reaction. It made sense—all his attention would be focused on Mo Eunje, so why would he care about someone messing with him?
“So how is Eunje now?”
Tae Igyeol’s feelings were known to be intense, but seeing firsthand how all his thoughts were directed solely toward Mo Eunje was exasperating. Ban Hajun, who had never deeply liked someone, became curious about what such feelings were like.
“Looks like he didn’t sleep at all last night. His eyes are sunken, with dark circles down to his knees—his face looks exactly like yours.”
“Why didn’t you tell him to get some sleep before you left?”
“He’s probably doing a deep cleaning. I have cleaning anxiety, so there’s a bit of dust in my place.”
“You crazy bastard, you got stock tips from him and you’re making him clean? What the hell?”
“Did I make him? Why are you taking it out on me when you know him best? Is he the type who can relax and stay at my place without doing something like that? He even offered to pay half the utilities, which I refused.”
Ban Hajun had no intention of accepting utility payments, even if things got difficult and he had to ask Tae Igyeol for a friendly loan. The reason he suggested grocery shopping and cooking instead of delivery was because he felt he should provide some labor. Cooking was also a way to reduce Mo Eunje’s expenses.
He knew Mo Eunje was proper even among close friends, but sometimes it felt like he drew the line too firmly, which was disappointing. Yet perhaps that’s why there was no discomfort in spending time with Mo Eunje.
“Hey, if you had any conscience, you’d help with the deep cleaning instead of coming here.”
“Don’t misunderstand my good intentions. I only managed to invest 500,000 won in the stock you told me about.”
“Who are you blaming for having your card cut off and no cash?”
“No, even without that information, Mo Eunje would have stayed at my place. How can someone so smart have such poor comprehension? You’ve become stupid.”
“…I know. I really have become stupid. I made a bad judgment earlier and lost money. With Mo Eunje occupying all my thoughts, everything else is numb.”
This was a serious issue if it was affecting Tae Igyeol’s stock investments. The stock he had shared with Ban Hajun had already risen 17% today, and Ban Hajun wondered why Tae Igyeol was giving away good information. Usually, after confessing love, the confessor simply waits while the burden of consideration shifts to the receiver, but this supposedly smart guy was the one being thrown off balance. He must be that desperate and earnest.
“Things seemed good at the hospital, so why did you rush it? And you already anticipated that Mo Eunje would leave. That’s why you asked me for help.”
“I thought he wouldn’t leave while I had a cast. Or I was planning to stay at a hotel for a night and come back.”
“Wow… What a coward. How could you think of using your injury? Make the most of that slightly stretched ligament.”
“When you have only one goal, what wouldn’t you do?”
“Amazing, really. Ugh, I’m disgusted.”
Ban Hajun shuddered, unable to empathize at all. Having never placed much significance on dating or breaking up, and being the type who neither stops people from coming nor holds those who leave, he found it fascinating how someone could be so fixated on one person every time he faced Tae Igyeol’s emotions.
“You know what I thought about doing after Mo Eunje left like that yesterday? I considered breaking something. Then he’d come back to take care of me.”
“You crazy bastard, stop saying such brutal things. I’ve told you several times that it’s scary when you say such things with a serious face. Damn, I’ve got goosebumps.”
Ban Hajun rubbed his arms with his palms and hunched his shoulders. He really felt goosebumps rising on his skin, as if his own wrist or ankle had been broken.
Only Mo Eunje could subdue the occasional crazy, unreasonable thoughts and actions of this madman. Ban Hajun wondered what sin Mo Eunje had committed in his past life to get caught up with Tae Igyeol, who was terrifying inside despite his polished exterior. Then it occurred to him that Tae Igyeol acted this way because Mo Eunje always accommodated him. The saying “stretch your legs according to your blanket” exists for a reason.
The conclusion was that they were a match made in heaven, so they should just date without making things difficult for others in between. Ban Hajun couldn’t understand why they were suffering so much over something as simple as dating.
“Huu… I could bear the pain of my body if Mo Eunje would come and take care of me, I’d break anything. The problem is he probably won’t come even if I get hurt now.”
“Tae Igyeol, can’t you think normally like other people? Would your brain malfunction?”
“If Mo Eunje wants anything to eat, tell him to message me. I’ll send it like the late-night food yesterday.”
“As if Mo Eunje wouldn’t know it was from you. There’s a limit to being clumsy—how do you manage to choose only actions that make him uncomfortable?”
“You’ve checked that I’ve eaten and taken my medicine, so go.”
Tae Igyeol issued his order to leave in a tone suggesting he was too bothered to continue the conversation. But Ban Hajun leaned forward, collapsing with one cheek against the table surface.
“No. If I go now, I’ll have to help Mo Eunje clean.”
“That’s why I’m telling you to go.”
“I’m staying for dinner.”
“Do you want to leave after getting hit, or just leave?”
At this typical Tae Igyeol threat, Ban Hajun straightened up and snorted. He hooked one arm arrogantly over the chair back and looked Tae Igyeol up and down with a crooked posture, a smile creeping across his face.
“With your right arm in a cast, this might be a good time to take you on?”
“It was my left hand that broke that guy’s nose and knocked out his teeth.”
Tae Igyeol put his left hand on the table and made a fist. That wasn’t a human fist—it was a weapon.
“Why does this guy have no middle ground? I was going to leave even if you kept me. Just give me Eunje’s laptop. He asked for it.”
He quickly gave up and stood. Ban Hajun wondered why he was here enduring Tae Igyeol’s cold treatment for what worldly pleasures, and vowed to definitely use Tae Igyeol’s friendly loan when truly difficult times came. But since he already knew Tae Igyeol’s personality, his callous attitude didn’t particularly hurt.
While Ban Hajun noisily sipped his iced Americano, Tae Igyeol went into the alpha room and put Mo Eunje’s laptop in its pouch. He placed it in the eco-bag that Mo Eunje often carried around and brought it out to hand over.
“Carry it carefully. He cherishes this—bought it with his first payment after his literary debut.”
“Yeah. Make sure you eat lunch and dinner properly, and definitely take your medicine. Send me a proof shot and we’re good.”
“You’re still here?”
“Cold-hearted bastard. I’m going, I’m going. It’s too dirty and petty here—I wouldn’t stay even if you asked.”
Ban Hajun slung the eco-bag containing the laptop over his shoulder and left Tae Igyeol’s place. While smoking a cigarette in the designated area in front of the villa, he thought the weather was too nice and sunny to go home and help with deep cleaning. Ban Hajun checked the time and called Mo Eunje.
## 4-2
I had cleaned every corner of the entire house and taken the laundry out of the washing machine. Tae Igyeol would have been horrified if he knew I had thrown towels, underwear, and clothes together in the washing machine at once.
Sure enough, lint from the towels was stuck to Ban Hajun’s dark-colored underwear. But it wouldn’t be a big problem—after drying, I could use a lint roller and it would look like they had been washed separately. Since Ban Hajun didn’t use separate laundry baskets like Tae Igyeol, and everything was in the washing machine, it was obvious he wouldn’t care.
Mo Eunje started by shaking out the towels, which made up the majority of the laundry, and hanging them neatly on the drying rack. At home and at Tae Igyeol’s place, they had dryers, so unless it was knitwear, he never had to hang laundry like this. Come to think of it, Tae Igyeol usually sent his going-out clothes, most of which were luxury brands, to the dry cleaner rather than washing them at home. He had bought a dryer just to easily dry the comfortable clothes he wore at home and towels.
Still, a dryer was a worthwhile investment in terms of reducing the effort of hanging laundry and shortening drying time. As he hung the t-shirt and sweatpants he had worn yesterday on the drying rack, and made a mental note that when he found a place, he would definitely buy a dryer if nothing else, he received a call from Ban Hajun.
