Chapter 4
The place Tae Igyeol moved to when he turned twenty was one of the villas owned by his mother, Song Yeonhwa. The first floor housed the management office, security office, lounge area, and lobby. From the second to the fourth floor, two 34-pyeong apartments faced each other with the elevator in the center.
Tae Igyeol lived on the fifth floor, which had the only 40-pyeong apartment that included the area of the lower floors, and was connected to the rooftop terrace. With the space of two units combined into one apartment for Tae Igyeol plus the rooftop terrace, the terrace was quite spacious. Typically, the rooftops of luxury villas are designed for common use by all residents, but this building was designed for the fifth-floor unit to have exclusive access. However, there was still an external entrance by the emergency stairs, so a door lock was installed, and the leases for tenants on the lower floors explicitly stated that they could not use the fifth-floor rooftop.
Near the terrace entrance connected from inside the house, a table set was arranged under a canopy to create a café-like atmosphere. On the other side, a fire pit, deck table, and barbecue equipment were set up to create a camping atmosphere whenever desired. In the center was a movable four-person table. And in one corner of the rooftop was a storage room that housed winter sports equipment like skis and snowboards, as well as camping gear including tents.
After parking in the basement garage, they took the box and suitcase out of the trunk of Tae Igyeol’s SUV. Since Tae Igyeol picked up the shoe box first, Mo Eunje naturally pulled the suitcase. He quickly went to enter the security code on the keypad and stepped aside to let Tae Igyeol enter first. After taking the elevator up to the fifth floor, he acted as if it were his own home, punching in the password and opening the door.
041718*
It was a password that Tae Igyeol had let Mo Eunje set because Mo Eunje had such a hard time remembering the passwords Tae Igyeol chose. It was a combination of their birthdays, so Mo Eunje didn’t forget this number.
Tae Igyeol, who entered the entryway first, put down the shoe box in a corner of the spacious entrance. Then he took off his trench coat and immediately put it in the clothing care system located inside the entryway.
Watching this, Mo Eunje stood with his arms spread out. Tae Igyeol sprayed him with the disinfectant spray provided, and Mo Eunje spun around in a full circle accordingly. He also sprayed disinfectant on the suitcase and shoe box.
“Wet wipes.”
At Mo Eunje’s words, Tae Igyeol went to the living room and tossed the pack of wet wipes from the table in front of the sofa. Mo Eunje caught it with one hand and laid the suitcase down in front of the built-in shoe cabinet in the entryway. He crouched down and meticulously wiped all four wheels with the wet wipes, then Tae Igyeol lifted the suitcase and placed it inside the entryway. Mo Eunje pulled out a new wet wipe and thoroughly cleaned the handle and body of the suitcase as well.
According to him, he didn’t have obsessive-compulsive disorder, just a slight preference for cleanliness, but from Mo Eunje’s perspective, there was a 99.999% probability that Tae Igyeol had OCD. Given his compulsion to keep his house clean and always put used items back in their proper places, he likely had an organizing compulsion as well.
At first, Mo Eunje didn’t understand why Tae Igyeol went to such lengths and found it bothersome, so he’d suggested they meet outside instead. But as with anything, the first time is difficult; after doing it two or three times, it became familiar, and familiarity soon became habit. Once it became a habit, it didn’t feel particularly inconvenient anymore.
“I’ve emptied one closet in the dressing room for your clothes, and when you work, use the dining table or the desk in the alpha room.”
“It’s not like this is my first or second day here, no need to be so formal.”
Mo Eunje had several sets of sweatpants in Tae Igyeol’s dressing room. Since Tae Igyeol had so many clothes, he used not only the dressing room attached to the bedroom but also another room as a dressing room. Mo Eunje wasn’t sure what criteria Tae Igyeol used to divide his clothes between the two dressing rooms, but the sweatpants that Mo Eunje had gradually brought over were kept in the dressing room attached to the bedroom.
The desk in the alpha room, which was set up as a study, had been Mo Eunje’s territory since the first day Tae Igyeol moved in. Tae Igyeol didn’t have much to do at a desk, and Mo Eunje had coveted the expensive desk and chair. The printer and paper shredder were also things Mo Eunje had bought. Even so, Mo Eunje would go home intermittently, so the longest consecutive period he’d stayed at Tae Igyeol’s house was three nights and four days. Though he did go home for one night and then come right back to Tae Igyeol’s the next day.
“Let’s order jajangmyeon. It’s my moving day, after all.”
Mo Eunje reclined diagonally on the expandable eight-person leather sofa. Even though he hadn’t even unpacked yet and had only moved his things, he was tired and considered this a proper move.
“I didn’t move anywhere.”
Tae Igyeol nudged Mo Eunje, who was sprawled in an awkward position, with his foot to push him aside, then sat down, sinking into the back of the sofa.
“Days like this call for jajangmyeon. Order the set with sweet and sour pork and two jajangmyeon.”
“Auntie told me to buy you meat.”
“Are you disrespecting sweet and sour pork? That’s meat too. Pork.”
Momentarily caught off guard, Mo Eunje decided to proceed brazenly. But since they’d been together since the moment they were in their mothers’ wombs, knowing each other thoroughly, Tae Igyeol was no pushover.
“Fine, what’s the point of talking to you when you’re just scheming how to pocket the money? It’ll be faster to just call Auntie.”
Tae Igyeol picked up his phone. Knowing he was the type to follow through, Mo Eunje tried to snatch it away, but Tae Igyeol raised his arm high to avoid him.
“Damn it! Are you really going to be this petty? Alright. Then the sweet and sour pork set plus beef brisket jjamppong. Deal?”
“I should send Auntie a photo of what we ate as proof.”
“…Isn’t it tiring to live like that?”
“Not at all.”
“Fine, order whatever you want. I’ll let it slide today since I played chauffeur.”
He was too hungry to keep fighting. Mo Eunje waved his hand as if telling Tae Igyeol to order whatever he wanted, then naturally rested his head on Tae Igyeol’s thigh and closed his eyes.
&
Communal entrance code: 2580 The child is sleeping, so please leave it at the door and text me. No doorbell X No knocking X*
After writing this message to the delivery rider and completing the order, Tae Igyeol quietly looked down at Mo Eunje, who had fallen asleep with his head on Tae Igyeol’s thigh.
White skin, jet-black hair, a straight forehead, a straight and high nose bridge, neatly resting long and thick eyelashes, distinctively pigmented slightly full lips, and even well-shaped ears—there wasn’t a single feature that wasn’t beautiful.
Among all these features, what he liked most were those glossy black eyes that looked as if ink had been dissolved in them, but he couldn’t see them because Mo Eunje’s eyes were closed. Those eyes, transparent and deep like glass marbles, seemed like he could look at them all day for days on end without getting tired.
Although Mo Eunje had been coming and going as if this were his own home until recently, this was the first time they’d be properly living together, so Tae Igyeol was subtly nervous and had spent most of last night lying awake. Even this morning, considering Mo Eunje’s wake-up time, he’d been waiting to go pick him up a bit later, but time seemed to crawl by so slowly that the numbers on the stock market screen he needed to focus on weren’t registering properly.
Tae Igyeol’s fingers were careful as they arranged Mo Eunje’s disheveled hair. He was becoming increasingly uncertain about how long he could endure just looking while wearing the mask of a friend. It was painful to suppress the desire to touch when he looked at him, and to hold when he touched him.
“…”
Just as his fingertips, which had slowly roamed over the elegantly handsome man’s face, were about to touch his slightly parted lips, Mo Eunje began to snore softly. A light smile appeared on Tae Igyeol’s usually expressionless face.
Tae Igyeol was generally a light sleeper and sensitive, making it impossible for him to sleep with someone else from the start, but strangely, even when he shared a bed with Mo Eunje, his snoring didn’t bother him. If anything, it was other issues that caused him trouble.
Mo Eunje seemed to have developed insomnia lately, struggling to fall asleep for a long time whether it was night or dawn, tossing and turning. But strangely, when he lay down with his head on Tae Igyeol’s thigh, he usually fell asleep right away. This made Tae Igyeol happy and excited, but on the other hand, it was quite awkward when physical changes began to occur. It was fortunate that Mo Eunje fell asleep quickly; if he noticed, Tae Igyeol might lose even his place as a friend.
When had he started deliberately loosening the shoelaces that Mo Eunje had tied with a double knot so meticulously?
It had become so natural now that, while recalling meaningless memories, he gently placed his palm on Mo Eunje’s chest. He could feel the peaceful, regular heartbeat. However, the pace was not at all similar to Tae Igyeol’s heartbeat, which raced wildly with even the slightest touch from Mo Eunje.
This unexpected short cohabitation, estimated to last from a minimum of one week to a maximum of one month, could be either an opportunity or a crisis—he couldn’t tell which.
