# Chapter 79
As Mo Eunje carefully lowered his legs first from the bed, Tae Igyeol, standing beside him, silently wrapped an arm around his shoulders to support him. A fresh, pleasant fragrance emanated from Tae Igyeol’s body as they drew close. At the same time, Mo Eunje became aware of the unpleasant smell coming from his own sweat-drenched body. He wondered why Tae Igyeol was so close, given his sensitive sense of smell which would normally make him avoid such proximity. But thinking about it, though Tae Igyeol had a brusque and prickly side, he wasn’t mean-spirited enough to treat a sick person harshly.
“Can you shower by yourself?”
“If I say no, would you help me shower too?”
“…”
“Why ask if your expression is going to freeze like that? I’ll be back after washing up.”
Mo Eunje chuckled as he left the stone-faced Tae Igyeol and entered the bathroom. Leaning against the closed door, he took a deep breath and removed his sweaty clothes one by one. He felt slightly dizzy, but not so much that he couldn’t shower.
After washing with lukewarm water, he felt drained despite only having showered. During the shower, he had a brief moment of tinnitus and his vision darkened, causing him to stagger, but fortunately, no mishap like falling or collapsing occurred.
He was too exhausted to even move a finger, so he couldn’t apply his favorite body oil and just roughly removed the moisture from his body with a towel. He couldn’t properly dry his hair either, so he just covered it haphazardly with a towel. Though he felt refreshed, his physical condition showed no signs of improvement.
When he opened the bathroom door, he saw a white brief laid out. Tae Igyeol must have placed it there while he was washing. Only then, as Mo Eunje was about to exit with just a towel wrapped around his hair, did he realize he hadn’t brought underwear and was currently naked. How out of it was he to not even realize he was about to leave the bathroom completely nude? Though they were close, they hadn’t bathed together since graduating elementary school, so he had almost created an embarrassing situation.
He bent down and slipped his legs into the tight-fitting white briefs. He wasn’t sure how Tae Igyeol had found this particular pair, as there was only one white one among his various underwear, which he didn’t even know he had brought. Anyway, thanks to Tae Igyeol’s thoughtfulness, one worry was eliminated.
After putting on the briefs, he took the clothes he had removed in the bathroom and placed them in the bottom drawer of the trolley laundry basket next to the door. Underwear went in the second drawer, and the towel that had been wrapped around his head went into the top third drawer. He felt like he was sweating again, but assuming it was just his imagination, he headed straight to the bedroom. Though there was a powder room on the way, he didn’t even have the energy to apply anything to his face, so he passed it by.
Upon entering the bedroom, he found the window open, presumably for ventilation. The cool evening breeze made him feel even more refreshed. On the bed, the pillowcase, sheet, and even the blanket had all been replaced with freshly laundered ones.
“Good thing I showered…”
A self-deprecating mutter escaped his lips. Given Tae Igyeol’s obsession with cleanliness, he must have been under considerable stress seeing his bedroom and bed contaminated with germs, though he couldn’t say anything to a sick person. He changed pillowcases daily and washed the sheets two or three times a week—it must have been quite distressing for him.
If Mo Eunje hadn’t showered even now, Tae Igyeol might have slept on the sofa tonight, refusing to lie in the bed because of its uncleanliness. After all, occasionally checking in to take care of someone and sleeping in a bed crawling with germs were entirely different matters. He felt he had made the right decision to shower, even if it had been a struggle.
With his muscles screaming in pain, he wanted to lie down immediately, but couldn’t because his hair was still wet. Moreover, since the bedding had just been changed, he felt bad about laying a towel down. Brainwashing himself into thinking his back hurt from lying in bed all day, he trudged out to the living room.
“A sick person with a cold and you don’t even dry your hair…”
The nagging flew immediately from Tae Igyeol, who was setting up porridge on the dining table.
“The smell… I think I’m going to throw up.”
Suddenly, the porridge smell, which hadn’t been noticeable during breakfast and lunch, hit him strongly, making him feel nauseous. His sense of smell must have returned after taking medicine and resting well.
“What smell?”
“The porridge.”
“Ah… You never liked porridge to begin with.”
With quick movements, Tae Igyeol covered the steaming bowl of porridge with a lid. He must have just microwaved it, as the smell still lingered in the air. When Mo Eunje moved away from the table and plopped down on the living room sofa, Tae Igyeol cleared away the porridge and opened the floor-to-ceiling window that occupied one wall of the living room. As fresh air entered, the nauseating smell gradually dissipated.
“You’ll catch a cold if you stay like that. At least put some clothes on.”
Somehow, only after receiving this nagging did he begin to feel a chill. But he was too weak to move at all. Perceiving Mo Eunje’s condition, Tae Igyeol brought a fluffy robe and a hair dryer without even being asked.
“At least put this on for now.”
The thick white robe made of 80-count cotton was what Tae Igyeol wore after showering to remove moisture. Since he couldn’t find one in his size, he had custom-ordered several. Mo Eunje inserted his arms and fastened the front of his chest, tying it loosely. The robe was considerably large due to their difference in build, but it was perfect for blocking the cold.
“Are you going to dry my hair for me too?”
“Not if you can do it yourself.”
“No, my arms ache and hurt. Dry it for me.”
As Mo Eunje tried to get up, Tae Igyeol gently pressed his shoulders, making him sit down.
“Just stay there.”
“You’re going to dry it here? This is the sofa?”
“I know.”
Calmly answering, Tae Igyeol connected the hair dryer cord to the outlet beside the sofa. The rule in this house was that whenever you washed your hair, you had to dry it in the bathroom or powder room and immediately clean the floor, so Mo Eunje wondered what was going on. Moreover, drying hair sitting on the sofa, not even on the living room floor! Being sick certainly came with special privileges.
“While I’m drying your hair, think about what you want to eat. Something not spicy.”
“I’m sick in body, not in stomach.”
Though he protested weakly, Tae Igyeol deemed it not worth responding to and started the dryer while standing behind the sofa. With the whirring sound in his ear, warm air and gentle hands caressed his head tenderly. Having never dried someone else’s hair before, Mo Eunje had expected it to be rough and clumsy, but it was completely the opposite.
The kind and gentle touch felt so good that he closed his eyes. Suddenly, he found himself craving castella and gumbo.
When Mo Eunje was fifteen, he had once been severely sick with the flu and missed school. His parents contacted his homeroom teacher and told him to call if it became unbearable, then went to work. While lying in bed alone playing mobile games, he suddenly felt much worse and was suffering in silence when, around lunchtime, his grandmother came with gumbo. Tae Igyeol, who had left school without permission and come with his grandmother, was holding castella. Though he had clearly lost his appetite and didn’t want to eat anything, he couldn’t refuse his grandmother’s urging and reluctantly began eating the castella and gumbo, which turned out to be delicious. It was so delicious that from that day until he recovered from the flu, he ate only castella and his grandmother’s gumbo for every meal.
The soothing touch disappeared, indicating his hair was now dry. Mo Eunje leaned his head back against the sofa and twisted his neck to meet Tae Igyeol’s eyes. He couldn’t understand why, even when viewed from this strange angle with his head tilted back, Tae Igyeol was so handsome that there was nothing to criticize, even down to his nostrils.
“Do you remember that time? When I was sick, you skipped class without permission and brought castella, and your grandmother made gumbo.”
“What’s with this memory manipulation? That day I didn’t skip class without permission—my grandmother told the homeroom teacher there was a sudden urgent matter at home, came to school, and took me with her.”
“Was that it…?”
“It was.”
Tae Igyeol’s finger flicked Mo Eunje’s forehead, not hard enough to hurt. Since he clearly remembered going to the hospital in his grandmother’s car after eating castella and gumbo, it didn’t seem like his memory was altered, but since he had been delirious with fever, Tae Igyeol was probably right.
“Anyway, I want castella and gumbo.”
“Is there even a place that sells gumbo…?”
After tidying up the fallen hairs and returning the hair dryer to its original place, Tae Igyeol picked up his phone and searched for nearby places selling gumbo. Of course, there wouldn’t be any. If there had been, he would have bought it whenever he craved gumbo.
“There’s a restaurant in Busan that sells gumbo.”
“Ah, Busan…”
“What do you think? Should I go to Busan to buy it?”
Even knowing Tae Igyeol was asking jokingly, Mo Eunje unconsciously calculated the time required in his head. About 30 minutes from home to the train station, roughly 2 hours and 30 minutes by train to Busan Station, approximately 1 hour to buy gumbo and do whatever else in Busan—round trip would take at least 7 hours.
“Can I borrow your phone for a moment?”
Not knowing where his own phone was, he extended his hand to Tae Igyeol, who obligingly handed it over. Though he knew it was practically impossible, he accessed the train ticket reservation app. It was almost 8 PM now, so if they left immediately, they might be able to catch the 8:28 train. Still, considering the current rush hour traffic situation, it would be safer to assume they’d take the 9 PM train. Confirming that the 9 PM train would arrive at Busan Station at 11:30 PM, he searched for train departure times from Busan. Unfortunately, the last train was at 11 PM, so they’d have to take the first train the next day. That meant boarding a train at 5 AM and arriving home at around 8 AM.
In conclusion, even if they left now, they could only eat it after a minimum of 12 hours, not 7.
Would he get angry if I said I wanted to eat it that badly…?
But if they arrived in Busan at 11:30 PM and went to the restaurant, it would be midnight, by which time the restaurant would already be closed. Waiting until the next day’s opening time meant 12 hours was a gross underestimate.
“If you’re done calculating, tell me. Should I go to Busan or not?”
Tae Igyeol, who had been watching Mo Eunje’s futile efforts with an amused expression, raised an eyebrow. Knowing the answer was predetermined but still asking—what a malicious mindset. He wanted to fix that nasty temperament, but having received such generous care all day, he couldn’t even express his irritation.
“…Don’t go.”
Why didn’t God give humans the ability to teleport? If God made the human body so prone to breaking down and gave us food cravings on top of that, shouldn’t He have also given us teleportation abilities to maintain fairness? He resented the existence of a God he didn’t even believe in.
“Rest here. I’ll find something similar and bring it back.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
A large hand tousled his hair and moved away. Tae Igyeol brought Mo Eunje’s phone from the bedroom, grabbed his car’s smart key, and left. When the sound of the front door closing was heard, a strange feeling of suffocating silence descended. Tae Igyeol’s presence seemed more significant than he had thought.
