# Chapter 6
[SJH: You left first]
[SJH: Just to eat someone else’s sandwich?]
‘You really are a young master, Seol Jiho. I can tell by how arrogantly you talk.’
Yeomin didn’t reply to Jiho’s messages. They weren’t worth responding to.
“This guy… should know when he’s being ignored.”
But what does ignoring accomplish? This crazy guy just kept making the chat notification ring.
[SJH: Why aren’t you answering]
[SJH: Are you hanging out with Taeyang sunbae?]
[SJH: In class?]
[SJH: When are you coming home?]
[SJH: Let’s eat dinner near campus before going home]
[SJH: Let’s eat something delicious]
[SJH: You’re not going to have dinner with Taeyang sunbae, are you?]
[SJH: Hyung]
[SJH: Why aren’t you answerinh]
[SJH: Hyung]
[SJH: Hyung!!]
Now he was completely spamming. The notifications were going crazy, making it impossible to concentrate no matter how hard Yeomin tried to ignore them.
Unable to stand it anymore, Yeomin warned him:
[Stop sending]
[Before I block you]
Finally, it seemed like he got the message…
[SJH: I bought a phone]
[SJH: I saved your number first]
Seriously. Why did he save my number first when I never even gave it to him?
[SJH: Save my number too]
[SJH: You don’t know my number yet, right?]
[SJH: 010-XXXX-XXXX]
[SJH: What are you going to save me as?]
Let’s see.
After considering for a moment, Yeomin registered Jiho’s contact.
What did he save him as?
<Sundoli>
Wags its tail when fed, constantly whimpers, jumps up wanting to play…
And then bares its teeth as if it’s going to bite—exactly like the dog “Sundoli” that Yeomin used to play with whenever he visited his grandmother’s house.
Of course, the difference is that Sundoli was a “puppy,” while Jiho is more like a “son of a bitch.”
“He really is like Sundoli…”
It had been more than 10 years since he last saw Sundoli, but maybe Yeomin had sensed it from the moment he brought Jiho home.
Even if he held the leash, he would never be able to control the walking route.
But still,
“I could leave a dog with a professional trainer, but how am I supposed to correct Seol Jiho’s behavior?”
Send one message at a time, don’t bother seniors unnecessarily, don’t whine.
Do I really have to teach all these things one by one… discipline is never easy.
* * *
That afternoon. As soon as class ended, Taeyang suggested:
“Joo Yeomin, let’s go eat pork cutlet~ My treat.”
“Not interested.”
“What? What did you just say?”
Taeyang asked in disbelief. It was unheard of for Yeomin to turn down free food.
“The Joo Yeomin who would run anywhere, anytime for free food is rejecting a free meal?”
“I have plans.”
At those words, Taeyang’s eyes narrowed. He stared at Yeomin for a long time before interrogating him.
“Don’t tell me… you’re dating someone?”
“Dating? Yeah right.”
“True. You and dating don’t go together.”
Taeyang conceded in one second. No matter how you look at it, “Joo Yeomin” and “dating” were words that could never be in the same sentence.
Whatever. Yeomin put on his backpack and left the Business building.
After that, he headed to a boiled pork soup restaurant in front of the school. Today, he was craving hot broth and meat.
Plus, they had a special discount on Mondays—5,000 won per bowl.
As he entered the restaurant, the first person he noticed was Jiho, dressed in a way that didn’t match the place at all.
He was reading the menu with a serious expression.
“Seol Jiho.”
Yeomin sat across from Jiho. The restaurant was in a secluded area of the food alley in front of the school, so the chances of running into people from their department were slim.
“Two bowls of boiled pork soup, please. One spicy.”
Yeomin took the liberty of ordering for both of them. Jiho, who had been studying the menu intently, belatedly raised his hand.
“And a Sprite, please!”
“Are you paying?”
“Of course. Hyung, order whatever you want. But is this really enough?”
Definitely not! If I had known, I would have eaten something more expensive.
But his stomach felt like it was sticking to his back, making it too late to move to another restaurant.
“If you bought a phone, does that mean you found your wallet too?”
“I borrowed some money from someone I know. Let’s go to the mart again today. I bet we can buy everything you want, hyung!”
“Did you buy those clothes this morning too?”
“I asked someone to bring them secretly.”
When did he give me that cold shoulder at school? Now Jiho seemed to be in a good mood.
Although Jiho’s behavior earlier was annoying, Yeomin’s heart had already softened thanks to the free meal.
Yeomin asked:
“So you’ve found a place to stay too?”
“Why are you looking at me with such hopeful eyes? You want to kick me out, hyung?”
“If you have someone helping you, then you don’t need to stay in a place like that.”
Jiho just looked gloomy without responding. He always made that face suddenly, making people feel like trash.
“I like staying there.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. How could you possibly like that place?”
Though it was the modest apartment where Yeomin had lived for over a year, objectively it wasn’t a very cozy place.
Especially for someone like Seol Jiho, it would be difficult to stay even for a day. Is he the type who enjoys experiencing how commoners live?
Despite the skepticism, Jiho innocently replied:
“It’s not so narrow that it feels haunted, and it’s fun to hear people talking in other houses… Oh! Also, the boiler is broken, so the water alternates between cold and hot, which seems good for your health.”
Is he messing with me? He says it so innocently that I don’t even feel like scolding him.
“And the room smells like you, hyung.”
Yeomin’s face stiffened.
“…I smell?”
Did the musty semi-basement smell get on him? Yeomin buried his nose in his shoulder and sniffed.
“That’s not what I meant…”
Jiho burst out laughing at Yeomin’s honest reaction.
‘Is it funny? Yes, I’m sure it’s funny to you.’
Yeomin wanted to be stubborn, but the arrival of the Korean fast-food soup made him reconsider. Meals should always be eaten with reverence.
When Jiho was about to drink the plain broth directly, Yeomin stopped him with his hand. Then he pulled over the tray of condiments.
Yeomin gave a crash course to Jiho, who wasn’t familiar with eating soup.
“You sprinkle salt and pepper on it.”
“This much?”
“Adjust the seasoning as you taste it.”
Jiho diligently added the seasonings as Yeomin taught him. Just like an elementary school student following a teacher.
‘Does the young master only cut steaks every day? It doesn’t seem like it though, seeing how well he ate ramen.’
Yeomin observed how Jiho was doing. It seemed that Jiho enjoyed the soup as well.
According to him, he really hadn’t eaten anything since morning, “not even a sip of water.”
‘If it were me, I would have eaten food in the time it took to change clothes and activate a phone.’
Yeomin couldn’t understand Jiho, but… is there a need to understand him? He wouldn’t understand me either.
The two of them quickly emptied their soup bowls.
Coming out after eating their fill, Jiho asked:
“Can I stay at your place tonight too?”
“Why even ask? It’s not like you wouldn’t come if I said no.”
“Take me with you. I have nowhere to go.”
Unbelievable. That those words would come out of his mouth.
“There are countless motels around here better than my place. You have money, right?”
“I was told not to go to such dangerous places carelessly.”
“You crazy…”
Yeomin gave up arguing. It’s not like he wouldn’t follow him even if he left him behind. Plus, he had received a watch from him. And since Jiho paid for the soup today, he decided to put up with him for one more day.
“Here, have this.”
Yeomin handed Jiho one of the nurungji candies he had carefully taken from the soup restaurant.
“Thank you, hyung. I’m touched thinking about how you secretly grabbed this for me.”
“Can’t you just shut up and eat it?”
They both put the candies in their mouths and walked the path toward home.
Deliberately maintaining distance from Jiho as he walked, Yeomin suddenly saw him exclaim “Oh!” and run off somewhere.
‘What’s with him? Like a dog off its leash.’
Following slowly from behind, Yeomin saw Jiho reappear and hold something out in front of his eyes.
“This is my gift to you.”
It was a yellow, very ye-llow flower… of course not. It was a yellow cup holder.
The very thing Yeomin tried so hard to collect every day.
“Hyung likes these the most, right?”
Yeomin couldn’t help but smile. So that’s why he ran off with those long legs.
For the first time today, Yeomin thought it was a good decision to take Jiho in.
“You ran like that for this?”
Yeomin patted Jiho’s head like praising a puppy. “Good job.” At the praise, Jiho’s ears instantly turned red.
And then,
“I’ll find more for you!”
Maybe Seol Jiho is actually well-suited for this kind of life…? If trained well, he might become a very loyal trained dog.
