Contrary to his true feelings, Taeju lowered his eye corners and raised his lip corners, making quite an apologetic face.
Seeing the docile person glare with wide eyes was quite appealing. His sensitive reaction made him want to poke at him more.
“Show me the other rooms.”
Taeju reached his hand toward Iseo’s shoulder out of habit, then quickly withdrew his hand like someone who’d startled himself. It was an act.
When he hung an awkward smile and looked down at Iseo, he opened the doors to the other rooms on the second floor as if he’d never raised his voice.
The remaining rooms on the second floor were empty guest rooms, a simple dressing room, and a study. A bookshelf with various books inserted haphazardly continued to the ceiling. Seok Iseo gave quite a diligent tour of the house.
“Hyung, what’s that place?”
When Taeju pointed with the tip of his chin at the corridor continuing from the first floor kitchen, Iseo frowned slightly.
“Just, a workshop.”
“Workshop? What kind of workshop?”
“For this and that, it’s messy right now. I’ll show you later when I clean it up.”
“Really? Okay.”
***
The next day, Taeju woke up leisurely and took a big walk around the estate. Behind was a gentle mountain ridge and in front the ocean spread out. It was a heavenly view.
The water was good and the weather was moderate, but the beach was quiet. No, rather than quiet, there wasn’t a single person to be seen. It was probably Seok Iseo’s family’s private property.
The waves were gentle, so while surfing would be difficult, it seemed fine for ocean swimming. If only the weather got a bit warmer, he should go swimming, he thought, then Taeju put aside such thoughts.
Was ocean swimming the problem right now? Gently coaxing Seok Iseo came first. While walking around, he called his mother. When he asked Seok Iseo’s age, the answer came back that he was two years older.
Taeju scoffed at those words. He didn’t look two years older but two years younger. He said his spinal something-or-other hurt, so maybe his growth had stopped.
When his mother asked, unable to contain her curiosity, how Iseo was, Taeju answered that he seemed to be living well. Interest and excitement colored his mother’s voice.
‘No, why keep such a livable kid holed up there instead of bringing him in?’
He agreed. Taeju just leisurely answered, “Right?” and nothing more.
There must be a reason. Taeju was certain. Either Seok Iseo, who seemed livable, was really terribly sick, or he had a fatal flaw serious enough that they couldn’t expose him to the outside. It would be one of the two.
Taeju checked the time once and moved his feet toward the estate. The words Seok Iseo had said with his white, strange face that he hated being touched came to mind.
The actual timing he’d said it was when his forearm had been exposed. As if what he hated wasn’t being touched but being seen. Whether he hated being touched or being seen could be confirmed gradually.
“You’re here? Come sit down. Young master Iseo also came first and is waiting.”
When he entered the house, the employee auntie welcomed Taeju with a fuss.
“If young master also has anything you want to eat, tell me, I’m in charge of all the cooking in the house…”
“Just call me Taeju. Young master is embarrassing.”
Taeju smiled good-naturedly. The employee smiled happily and nodded her head several times saying she understood.
Compared to when they first met when there had been no greeting or response and she’d just stared blankly, the change in attitude was dramatic.
Taeju, accustomed to manipulating people at will, treated people arbitrarily according to his emotions. He was good-natured and deeply considerate, then a punk who knew nothing of courtesy or manners. The spectrum and depth were wide and varied.
Taeju followed her quick steps into the dining room. In the dining room, Seok Iseo was sitting demurely with a rice bowl in front of him.
Taeju chuckled at the sight. Not eating first, just sitting quietly like performing an ancestral rite was funny.
“Hyung, did you sleep well?”
At the sound of someone entering, the gaze that had been looking into the distance finally moved. The eyes rising to Taeju’s face were calm.
“You?”
“I slept well. Maybe because the air is clean, my body feels light. Auntie, I’ll eat well.”
“Student Taeju, eat a lot, young master Iseo also eat plenty.”
The employee was about to enter the kitchen when she smiled brightly at Taeju’s greeting and responded. She added that if there was anything he wanted to eat to tell her, then disappeared.
Seok Iseo watched Taeju speak friendly to the employee with an expressionless face, then lowered his gaze again.
“You eat regular meals, I see?”
Taeju asked carelessly as he put rice in his mouth. At those words, Iseo, who had been picking up a side dish, looked up.
“Yeah.”
“What’s your schedule for today?”
“Why?”
“I was wondering if there’s anything I could help with or do.”
Seok Iseo’s face slightly hardened then relaxed. As if he hated showing he was flustered.
“Not really, nothing like that. Just think of it as coming to have fun.”
“Aw, still. Your health isn’t good, hyung, so how could I just think of it as coming to have fun?”
“You asked about the workshop yesterday, right? I’ll show you around there.”
Iseo lowered his gaze and spoke in a small voice like a whisper. At those words, Taeju looked at him with a grin.
When Iseo lowered his head, his long eyelashes fluttered delicately. The sight was beautiful to look at, regardless of whether he was male or female.
“Did you already clean it all up? You said it was dirty.”
“I woke up earlier and cleaned it roughly.”
“Do you never go outside at all, hyung?”
This time his eyes widened. He was getting addicted to Seok Iseo’s reactions. Whatever he asked, reactions came back promptly without fail.
“You’re so pale. Living near the beach and being this pale.”
“Ahh…”
Whatever he’d been thinking, Iseo nodded as if he understood only then.
“You’re pale too, so what. I just don’t tan easily, naturally.”
“When the weather gets warmer, let’s swim together. The waves looked calm, from what I saw earlier.”
Seok Iseo quietly looked at him. With eyes that seemed to have something to say, his mouth didn’t open at all. He just stared intently.
“Do you hate swimming?”
“I don’t know how.”
“That’s perfect. I’ll teach you.”
At those words, Seok Iseo, who seemed to ponder for a while, nodded almost imperceptibly.
Throughout the meal, Taeju probed Iseo about various things.
Whether he didn’t swim because it strained his body, what exercise he did, what he did with his spare time, when the doctor came, and so on. If it had been someone else, they would have been annoyed long ago. Iseo answered diligently with an insincere face.
“He’ll come in a few weeks. Because there’s medicine left.”
Iseo put down his utensils without eating much. Then he quietly looked at Taeju. Sitting at the dining table with both hands placed, waiting for the other person—in one way it seemed polite, in another way it made things uncomfortable.
To Taeju, it just seemed funny. If he wanted to wait until the other person finished eating, he could at least pretend to use his utensils together, and if he didn’t want to wait, he could say something appropriate and leave, but instead he sat there staring at the person eating.
“Are you done eating?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you watching me eat?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking if you’re watching me eat. You put down your utensils and you’re just sitting there staring.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Seok Iseo seem to realize his gaze had been blatant, as he hurriedly lowered his eyes.
“You can keep watching. I like it when people look at me.”
It was meant to make him laugh, but Taeju was the only one laughing. Iseo didn’t lift his lowered gaze and looked around the table area.
When the meal was finished, the ajumma brought out tea and fruit. When Taeju asked if there was coffee, the ajumma made a troubled face.
“Ah, Young Master Iseo doesn’t drink coffee, so we don’t have anything suitable… Should I give you instant coffee?”
“Mm, no, it’s fine. I’ll try cutting back on coffee while I’m at it.”
“What coffee do you drink? Tell ahjussi to buy some.”
It was the fastest action Taeju had seen from Seok Iseo so far. Seok Iseo immediately picked up the phone and called another employee in the separate building.
“It’s fine, to go all the way down there just for a cup of coffee…”
“Ahjussi, please buy just one cup of coffee. What do you want to drink?”
At the question asked while holding the phone to his ear, Taeju shrugged his shoulders, saying ‘Iced americano?’
