While looking around the room at various things, Go Yoon must have finished showering, as he shook off his wet hair and stuck close to Ka Jerim’s side.
“What are you doing?”
Ka Jerim turned around at Go Yoon’s voice and was startled seeing the clinging t-shirt and wet hair, as if he had rushed out without properly drying his body.
“You’ll catch a cold!”
“I won’t catch one from this much.”
“Hyung, you catch summer colds easily too.”
And Ka Jerim snatched the towel from Go Yoon’s hand to press firmly on his body, then tried to shake off his hair.
However, Go Yoon, who was taller than Ka Jerim, didn’t lower his head to make it easy for him to dry his hair, but rather pulled it back, so Ka Jerim, who was relatively short, couldn’t dry Go Yoon’s hair.
“Ah, seriously!”
Ka Jerim grumbled, realizing Go Yoon’s prank. When he was Cha Hohyeon before, he was tall so this kind of thing couldn’t have happened.
“Why?”
“Hyung!”
“Hohyeon-ah, where are you?”
Finding such a Ka Jerim cute, Go Yoon giggled and stood on his heels with his chin up, dodging Ka Jerim’s hands this way and that, teasing him asking where he was standing. Finally, Ka Jerim wrapped the towel around Go Yoon’s neck as a last resort and pulled it down sharply.
Because of that, Go Yoon had no choice but to bend his waist and bring his face close to Ka Jerim’s face.
“Yoon-i hyung, you’re all wetㅇ……”
At a distance where their noses almost touched, Ka Jerim’s eyes widened at Go Yoon’s playful face smiling brightly. Go Yoon had been exhausted from work and practice, but was smiling at this surprise visit from Ka Jerim along with his cute behavior.
“Why? I was just standing there.”
“That―”
Water dripped from Go Yoon’s hair. Through the drooping hair, Go Yoon’s eyes looked at the fumbling Ka Jerim, and water droplets kept falling even while his eyes curved like crescents.
Tap―
Go Yoon, who had been watching Ka Jerim stare at him with a dazed face for a while, chuckled and tapped his nose bridge with his hand, then straightened his back.
“Come back when you’re taller.”
The tense string that had been slightly taut loosened at Go Yoon’s playful behavior. Go Yoon snatched the towel from the upset-looking Ka Jerim’s hand and finished shaking off his hair, then pointed to a large backpack placed in one corner of the living room and asked.
“What’s that backpack? Are you by any chance sleeping over at our place?”
Ka Jerim shook his head saying no. Go Yoon picked up the backpack as if disappointed and shook it. It was slightly heavy, making him curious about what was inside.
“Then what is this?”
Actually, that backpack was packed with gifts the members had prepared when they found out Ka Jerim was going to Go Yoon’s house, thanking him for promoting them with the cover video last time. Ka Jerim tried to explain that, but Go Yoon seemed to lose interest in the backpack, put it back down, and asked Ka Jerim if he had any schedules.
“That backpack is actually―”
“Do you have any schedule tomorrow by any chance?”
At the sudden topic change, Ka Jerim went “uh uh” but soon got swept up in Go Yoon’s pace and fumbled before answering.
“Uh, well, I don’t have a schedule tomorrow……”
“Then sleep over.”
“But.”
However, Ka Jerim hesitated as sleeping over seemed quite uncomfortable. At that moment, Go Yoon strode over, looked down at the troubled Ka Jerim quietly, then grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers.
“Ah.”
Ka Jerim hurriedly tried to pull his hand out of Go Yoon’s, but Go Yoon, whose hand size was overwhelmingly larger, wrapped Ka Jerim’s hand and hummed as he said:
“A precious hostage.”
“Hyung!”
Go Yoon, finding this situation funny, burst into laughter and tied the towel around both their wrists. Then he shook their hands vigorously and burst into laughter like a child.
“If you sleep over, I’ll make you happy. Let’s go to the mart and buy some delicious food, and watch a fun movie.”
Suddenly stopping shaking their hands, Go Yoon met the gaze of Ka Jerim who still had a blank expression.
“So, hostage.”
“……”
“Don’t go.”
Eventually, Ka Jerim sighed deeply.
“Sigh.”
Seeing Ka Jerim make an expression of disbelief at Go Yoon’s puzzled face, Ka Jerim eventually smiled at Go Yoon’s face that was completely lost.
“How can a hostage run away alone?”
“……”
“If you tell me not to go, I shouldn’t go.”
Go Yoon smiled brightly.
* * *
Hyung has become strange. This wasn’t the Yoon-i hyung who would throw tantrums like this, and I wondered if I hadn’t come to see Yoon-i hyung so often that I didn’t even know hyung had become strange.
“I’m not going so please let go of this.”
“I don’t want to.”
The arm tied with the towel was cumbersome and uncomfortable. When I glared at Yoon-i hyung once for not wanting to untie it, he said he surrendered and unlocked our intertwined fingers and stepped back.
“Hyung, you know what? I actually prepared something.”
“What?”
I passed by hyung and picked up the discarded backpack. Then I fumbled around and took out what I had brought.
“Hyung, take this.”
As I took out red ginseng sets, books, figures, fabric deodorizer, etc. one by one, Yoon-i hyung stuck close to my side and looked with interest. I pushed the items toward him.
“Did you prepare this?”
He asked me while holding an armful of items. Looking closely, Yoon-i hyung’s face was slightly flushed.
“The members prepared it for me. They said they’re so grateful for this matter, this is what Eden-i hyung told me to give, and this is……”
As soon as I told him who gave what, hyung suddenly loosened his arms. The gifts that had been held in hyung’s arms instantly fell to the floor with a clatter.
“I don’t like it.”
The gifts that had been held preciously just moments ago instantly escaped from Yoon-i hyung’s embrace and rolled around on the floor. Just seconds ago, his face had been sparkling, but now he just looked at the gifts with a completely disinterested face as if his interest had completely vanished. Then soon he saw the title of the book and let out a hollow laugh.
“《How to Deal with Annoying Bosses》? Who gave this?”
“That’s what Seol hyung gave. He said he was reading it and the content was so good that he really wanted to give it to Yoon-i hyung.”
“I thought it might be him.”
Hyung picked up the book, read the table of contents, and let out a hollow laugh. Then he closed the book and looked at me.
“Tell him I’ll read~ it well.”
“Okay.”
“He’s really dissing me like this.”
When I nodded, hyung looked at the book again and kept laughing as if absurd. Am I the only one who doesn’t understand? When I tilted my head in confusion, not understanding what hyung said, hyung patted my head as if it was nothing. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he held out his hand to me.
“So?”
Even seeing the hand suddenly held out, when I didn’t take any action, his face gradually changed to a strange expression.
“Hohyeon-ah.”
When I didn’t make any motion, Yoon-i hyung shook the hand he held out. Thinking he wanted something, I stared and inadvertently held out my hand and placed it on top of hyung’s hand, then Yoon-i hyung laughed low saying “you’re not a dog, why are you giving me your hand?”
“You don’t have a gift?”
“Ah, right.”
I almost forgot.
I quickly took out the things that had been shoved at the very bottom of the backpack. As I pulled out vacuum-packed carrots, paprika, onions, lemon, oyster sauce, soybean paste, red pepper paste, sugar, green onions, and kimchi one after another, hyung, who had been watching with wide eyes full of interest at first, gradually changed to a strange expression.
“Ta-da. I’m going to cook for you today, hyung.”
When I was in Fort, in the early debut days, the cooking duties were Robi hyung or Yoon-i hyung.
Robi hyung was really good at cutting and grilling meat, but couldn’t season well, so he was a kitchen assistant. Then who was the chef responsible for Fort’s meals? It was Yoon-i hyung.
“I won’t be as good as hyung, but I’ll do my best.”
Yoon-i hyung was cast in idol cooking shows and had excellent skills at seasoning, so his skills were no joke. Naturally, it was a different dimension from me who was inexperienced at cooking, so when I said that, Yoon-i hyung nodded saying “I am good at cooking” rather than being modest, and picked up the ingredients one by one.
“These ingredients, did you buy all of this?”
“Yes. Only fresh and expensive domestic products!”
In Abyss, the cooking duties were Onseol or Ma Doun. So even though I couldn’t remember the last time I cooked, I really wanted to cook a meal for Yoon-i hyung once.
Whether knowing my heart or not, hyung just silently stared at the ingredients I took out for a moment, then asked:
“How many types of dishes are you trying to make? Looking at the variety of ingredients, about 2-3 types?”
“It’s one type though!”
“……”
For a moment, Yoon-i hyung became speechless, but I continued talking regardless.
“The menu is kimchi fried rice.”
Yoon-i hyung, who had been silent, picked up the soybean paste.
“Soybean paste goes in kimchi fried rice?”
“Soybean paste has a savory taste, doesn’t it?”
“Then oyster sauce.”
“Don’t you put oyster sauce in all types of fried rice? Why do they always talk about oyster sauce when I watch TV?”
“The lemon……”
“Because it’s refreshing?”
Yoon-i hyung’s face became serious.
The more I answered, the more hyung’s face gradually turned pale step by step. Of course, I had no way of knowing the reason, so I was just looking at hyung with a worried face as his complexion suddenly worsened.
“I’ll just cook.”
After a short silence, he gathered the ingredients saying he would cook.
“Why? Don’t you want to eat what I make?”
So he doesn’t want to eat what I make after all.
Honestly, I understand to some extent. The reason Yoon-i hyung is actually good at cooking is also because he has particularly picky taste buds, so he naturally became good at cooking by making food at a level that satisfies himself.
I understand, but since I was rejected before even starting, I sat down with a sullen face. Hyung was flustered at my words for a moment, then slowly began to persuade me.
“Hohyeon-ah, actually with these food ingredients……”
“Right. I can’t cook, hyung has sophisticated taste…… I’ve never made anything for hyung before. I really wanted to do it this time.”
“No. You made soup for me before, remember? Don’t you remember?”
Yoon-i hyung stuck close to me as if trying to soothe me. But that wasn’t soup.
“That wasn’t soup, it was ramen.”
Hyung shut his mouth tight.
“Even though there was a lot of broth and the noodles were just floating around…… it was ramen.”
Anyway, I had only been fed by the hyungs and never properly made anything for them, so I wanted to treat hyung to a delicious meal at least once.
