# Chapter 96
It probably took less than 3 seconds from hearing the door suddenly open, to opening their eyes wide, and turning their heads to see who had opened the door. During those 3 seconds, different epic dramas unfolded in Doha and Jaei’s minds.
Doha thought this was something that would eventually happen in life. He might become a mortal enemy to Jaei’s parents. After all, he had rolled into someone else’s family, enjoyed all the benefits of being their child, and then betrayed them by stealing away their precious son and even their small, cute grandchild.
So he had always meticulously prepared a response strategy. It would, of course, be to win with his own loveliness and cuteness. Don’t most people’s anger melt away when they see something cute, no matter how angry they are? He planned to do his best to soothe the hearts of the parents who had lost Jaei to a bear that had rolled into their lives. That’s just how life is. If you’re angry, you let it go, and if you fight, you make up.
Jaei also thought something like this could happen. However, he judged that the situation could vary greatly depending on who witnessed this scene. If it was his mother or father, it would be okay. It was a problem that could somehow be contained within his family. But if relatives witnessed it, this matter could be relayed to his grandparents. Then Doha’s position would become very awkward. If only it were his young cousin nephews, he could have brushed it off as a kissing game.
Doha had also considered the possibility of this fact being conveyed to Jaei’s paternal and maternal grandparents. Originally, they didn’t show much interest in Doha’s existence. Since Doha wasn’t officially registered in the family registry anyway, they just treated him as a cute extra mouth to feed.
So if the grandfather and grandmother got angry, he would inevitably have to compete with an even cuter appearance. In particular, Lee Doha had a wonderful weapon called massage. He had diligently practiced massage for Jaei since childhood. He was confident that there was no elderly person in the world who wouldn’t have their anger dissolved after receiving a massage from his hands.
“Oh my, children. Are you practicing acting?”
And, the person who opened the door and entered the room was none other than his mother. Thankfully, the most positive development unfolded. Doha, who had released Jaei from his embrace, shamelessly spread his arms wide and tightly hugged Jaei’s mother. He swayed her body left and right while repeating the same words to make her mentally disoriented.
“Mom, Mom. I love you. I love you! I love you!”
Doha was usually so shy that his cheeks would turn red, but sometimes he was surprisingly calm and shameless. Although slightly tense, Jaei, who regained his composure thanks to Doha’s quick response, began shooting celebrity-style heart signs toward his mother. He made hearts by joining his hands together, then crossed the thumbs and index fingers of both hands, and then put his hands together again to form a circle, pretending to bite it to make a heart.
These were actions typically done during stage greetings or fan signing events. Since his profession was an actor, he didn’t have many occasions to send heart signs to people in daily life, but precisely because of that, he had practiced harder for the fans who had relatively fewer opportunities to receive fan service compared to idol fans.
His mother, who inadvertently sent back a heart sign to Jaei, said:
“Lee Jaei, what should I say now to make this situation not awkward for us?”
“What’s there to be awkward between us, Mom?”
Jaei, who had become more smooth than usual after being infected by Doha, abruptly kissed his mother on the cheek. Then Doha kissed the opposite cheek of his mother with a peck. After receiving unexpected filial piety from these unfilial sons, the mother stroked Doha’s back of the head and Jaei’s crown with both hands and said:
“Well, well, it doesn’t seem like I saw anything too inappropriate. It’s fortunate that I’ve already seen you kissing other actors in movies or dramas. I’m still not fully used to it with Doha since I’ve only seen him once, but I guess this is like getting a preventive vaccine for what I’ll see more of in the future.”
Then Doha replied:
“I’ll do many more projects in the future and show you even more embarrassing scenes, Mom.”
“Yes, yes. Do you know when I felt most awkward with Jaei? It was when I came back and saw him mopping while wearing shorts as short as underwear. I became more distant with Jaei after seeing that than after seeing his kiss scenes.”
“I’ll also do some refreshing mopping wearing just underwear for you.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Jaei could sense that his mother was trying hard right now. The one fortunate thing was that there was a very high probability that his mother had already noticed their relationship. If Doha’s mother knew about it, how could his own mother not know?
There are no secrets between his mother and father. He briefly imagined that his mother might keep the secret, but from the beginning, they were overly compatible friends before being Jaei’s parents. Although he thought his father, being the same gender as himself, might feel more uncomfortable about his relationship with Doha, he couldn’t quite believe that his father wouldn’t know something his mother knew.
As far as Jaei knew, his parents had also known each other since elementary school, just like him and Doha. There was no way they would pass up this enormous gossip. He could vividly imagine his mother running to his father to spread the news.
“The kids kissed, they kissed! I saw it!”
“Really? Oh my, I missed a good show! That’s enough to tease them for a lifetime!”
Since childhood, his father had always startled the timid Jaei and enthusiastically teased him, calling him a silly cat. He was truly an immature person.
Jaei, who was imagining his father and mother engrossed in gossip with his eyes narrowed like a Tibetan fox, decided to try a frontal approach. After sending a message to his mother asking if it was okay to visit their room now, he received permission that it was fine to come right away.
After watching a short video titled [How to Get Less Scolding from Parents When You’ve Done Something Wrong], Jaei grabbed the handle of his parents’ bedroom door and took a deep breath.
He opened the door in a very tense state, but as soon as he stepped into the dark room with the lights off, an incredibly childish song began to resonate in a baritone voice: “Kissy kissy when dad goes to work. Kissy kissy when mom goes to work. Jaei is a kissy kid. Kissy kissy son.” Jaei clapped to the rhythm with a tired face at his father’s passionate singing. After the song ended, Jaei, who ended up giving a standing ovation since he had never sat down, responded somewhat sensitively:
“Stop joking around. Let’s talk seriously about us.”
He intended to precisely confess about his relationship with Doha and honestly hear his parents’ thoughts on it. Jaei fumbled in the darkness and turned on a lamp. However, as the light brightened and the room became illuminated, Jaei was startled and stepped backward.
“Ahh! What is that!”
His father and mother were looking at him with mischievous eyes. And between them, the giant Ryu Doha was lying down, sound asleep. He was sleeping so deeply that he didn’t even think of waking up despite this commotion.
Doha had said he would sleep in another room tonight because he was concerned about Jaei’s mother, but it turned out he had come here before Jaei and already finished the discussion with his parents. He couldn’t believe Doha was sleeping so comfortably, lying down between his parents.
At this point, had the son changed? Was Ryu Doha originally this family’s son?
* * *
That night, Doha visited Jaei’s parents’ bedroom with the thought that he, the betrayer of the family, should resolve this matter. He had the mindset that he might have to accept being slapped by the father, but as an actor, he would rather avoid being hit in the face if possible.
Surprisingly, Doha, who rolled into the bedroom with his arms raised above his head forming a heart, made his entrance accompanied by a congratulatory song, “Doha is a Kissy Kid.” After passionately singing along with them with an expression full of emotion, he talked with them while shedding tears of happiness and then fell asleep.
Jaei’s parents said they had already noticed their relationship 19 years ago. Young Doha didn’t show it much, but young Jaei showed it too much. From a parent’s perspective, it would have been stranger not to notice Jaei’s feelings, as the worryingly sensitive and timid child changed significantly after the appearance of a friend named Ryu Doha.
Jaei, who belatedly learned this fact, was feeling intense shame as he reflected on his life under the premise that his parents knew everything. Even though the family event had ended and his parents had left Korea, he maintained crimson cheeks for three days and two nights.
Conversely, Doha, who had received acknowledgment from Jaei’s parents, was in a state where he was no longer afraid of anything in the world. He had essentially entered into a public relationship on his own.
Every morning, Jaei, who monitored the news articles while lying on Doha’s body as a recliner bed at a perfectly comfortable angle, blinked several times in speechlessness at Doha’s new interview that had just come out.
[Interview] Ryu Doha: “Lee Jaei, who is like a real brother, is learning to cook for me these days”
Interview for November drama ‘Vesta: Goddess of Fire’ promotion… Revealing recent life
“When I was young, (Jaei) hyung often cooked. When he was busy, I did it. We prepare meals alternately according to the situation, and hyung started learning to cook during his break for me, who will be busy soon. I tend to rely on intuition when cooking, but hyung is meticulous and follows recipes exactly. When the two of us cook together and do the dishes, it feels just like a newlywed couple. (Laughs) Hyung and I are neighbors in the same apartment. We’re on different floors, so we see each other every day.”
Jaei wrinkled his brow. The purpose of the interview and the content of the article didn’t match at all. Why was he talking about the recent activities of Lee Jaei, who was on a break, during an interview to promote his new starring drama?
Doha, who returned after giving this strange interview, pretended not to know his mistake, gave Jaei a peck on the cheek. Jaei, whose mood immediately improved after receiving the kiss, smoothed his brow and rubbed his cheek against Doha’s cheek as he revealed today’s breakfast menu.
“I’ll make you buckwheat kimbap and stir-fried vegetables, Doha.”
“Okay, okay, Jaei. I’ll make lunch. What do you want to eat?”
The two, who were meal mates and fasting mates, unfortunately don’t eat dinner. To look even more handsome tomorrow than today.
