Seongjo opened his eyes to the breeze gently flowing through the crack in the door. The moderate sunlight that had slipped through the open window was tickling the corners of his eyes.
Letting out a faint groan, he checked his phone—it was half past twelve in the afternoon. For Seongjo, who usually woke up at similar times every morning, this was a rare late sleep-in.
He must have been quite tired last night. He couldn’t even remember what dreams he’d had, if any.
When he sat up and did some light stretching, his shoulders felt a bit stiff. Still, it was fortunate that it ended with just a bit of stiffness. His body, with its good recovery resilience, seemed to have returned to an almost perfect state today despite being so exhausted last night.
Once the drowsiness had somewhat faded, Seongjo, who had been sitting there in a daze, finally got up from his spot. As he walked out, running one hand through his disheveled hair, the open floor was flooded with sunlight. The moment he turned his head, what he saw was the dazzlingly clear midday sky.
“Are you awake?”
Yujeong’s voice was heard. Carrying a tray table, he spread it out on the floor and looked back at Seongjo.
“How are you feeling?”
“Fortunately, I’m not bedridden just from doing a little work.”
Seongjo replied with a smile, then asked in turn.
“Do you have clothes I can change into? I’m going to wash up and come out.”
From the direction Yujeong had come from, there was a fragrant smell of freshly cooked rice. Seeing him spread out the table, it seemed he was about to set the meal, but there appeared to be a little time left, so he’d asked the question. At those words, Yujeong, who had been looking at Seongjo for a moment, said:
“I’ll leave them in front of the door.”
Without much comment, Seongjo nodded and headed to the bathroom.
Last night, due to his exhausted body, he hadn’t been able to look around properly, but contrary to the hanok’s exterior, the bathroom was a familiar Western style. Thanks to that, he was able to finish showering without difficulty this time as well.
When he opened the door slightly, just as Yujeong had said, neatly folded clothes had been stacked there.
The clean white tee without a single stain or speck of dust fit Seongjo well, though it seemed slightly roomy. The black pants were comfortable tracksuit material, but they weren’t as awkwardly sized or well-ventilated as what he’d worn yesterday.
Having finished changing, Seongjo looked in the mirror and guessed they were Yujeong’s clothes. Yujeong’s height was similar to Seongjo’s, but when standing side by side barefoot without the subtle difference of shoe heels, he was slightly taller. Their builds probably didn’t differ much either, but still, Yujeong’s side seemed just a little bit thicker. Quite unlike a math teacher.
Yujeong’s tee had that fluffy scent characteristic of freshly washed clothes. Seongjo, who had become strangely aware of this, examined his appearance in the mirror for a moment, then soon shook out his hair with a towel and left the bathroom.
The empty meal table had been filled while Seongjo was washing up.
White rice in jade-colored bowls, fluffy steamed eggs, appetizing-looking salted squid, and sesame-flavored wild vegetable side dishes—these neat side dishes caught his eye. Finally, Yujeong, who had placed a ladle in the stew pot set down in the center of the table, offered Seongjo a seat.
However, he himself stood up from his seat again to bring utensils. So instead of quickly sitting down, Seongjo stood there pressing down on his hair and asked a question.
“Why did you prepare so much?”
Was this a farmhand’s meal given as payment for yesterday’s work? Inwardly thinking such silly, playful thoughts, he looked at Yujeong. Yujeong was staring intently at Seongjo. He wasn’t turning back toward the kitchen, nor was he saying anything, yet he kept his gaze fixed on him, which was puzzling. When Seongjo tilted his head to one side with curiosity, only then did Yujeong open his mouth.
“The clothes look roomy. That’s good.”
So, Yujeong had apparently been checking out Seongjo’s appearance in his clothes. While wanting one’s lover to wear one’s clothes was supposedly a desire most men had, setting aside the fact that Yujeong and Seongjo weren’t lovers, there were several problems.
First, the difference in their builds wasn’t significantly large. Second, he wasn’t sure if such a desire even applied to someone who seemed as cool and dignified as Yujeong.
“Why, does it give you impure thoughts?”
Seongjo narrowed his eyes and smiled teasingly. When he approached Yujeong, draped one arm over his shoulder, and brought his face close, he wore an expression that was either disgusted or serious—it was hard to tell—and stepped back a couple of steps. Even so, it was just like Yujeong not to act roughly, such as swatting away Seongjo’s arm itself.
Because he’d moved away, Seongjo’s arm that had been draped over his shoulder slid down smoothly. Seongjo let out a short exclamation—*hmm*—as if the fun had fizzled out, stepped back himself, and glanced at Yujeong. He was avoiding his gaze with a somewhat troubled expression.
“Mm?”
Wasn’t Yujeong’s face slightly flushed? Just as Seongjo was thinking this, he opened his mouth again. The words he’d been about to say—calling out “Jeon Yujeong-ssi”—didn’t continue to the end. Because Yujeong turned his body naturally as if nothing had happened and went to the kitchen to get utensils. Seongjo quietly watched his retreating figure for a moment, then awkwardly stroked one cheek with his index finger before turning his head.
Though the location had changed, Yujeong’s cooking skills hadn’t, so the meal was as delicious as always. The rice was even fluffier than usual, and the vegetable side dishes felt unnecessarily fresher. Even the tofu in the stew that Yujeong had ladled out tasted subtly different from the prototype.
Continuing the meal in silence, when the rice bowl was nearly empty, Seongjo spoke up.
“Now that I think about it… where did your parents go?”
“They’ll be back from their trip tomorrow. Since the weekend happened to include the school anniversary, I agreed to come watch the house.”
He hadn’t been able to ask properly last night since he’d been half-asleep. He’d thought it meant they’d stepped out briefly, but who would’ve known they’d gone on a full two-day, one-night trip? That meant he’d have to stay at this house alone with Yujeong until tomorrow.
If he’d been with his parents the whole time, that would have been burdensome in its own way, so if it was fortunate, it was fortunate. However, it was quite embarrassing that Yujeong’s parents had already left while Seongjo himself had just slept until the sun was high in the sky.
“I was sleeping and couldn’t even greet them. Why didn’t you wake me?”
“What would I wake you for when you were sleeping so well?”
To Seongjo’s sheepish words, Yujeong answered nonchalantly. Seongjo gave a small clearing of his throat and changed the subject.
“You said the work is done now. So what are we going to do until tomorrow?”
Yujeong paused briefly before his next answer. In a tone that seemed uncertain, he said:
“Rest?”
At first, he thought it was an absurd suggestion.
He’d talked as if he’d provide some grand change of pace, but on the first day he made him work, and on the second and third days he was supposed to spend time with nothing to do? But when Seongjo actually experienced the rest time Yujeong had mentioned, it was as sweet as sugar.
After finishing the meal, Seongjo sat at the sunny edge of the floor, then lay down as he was and looked up at the sky. Being moderately full and with the day moderately warm, his body naturally became drowsy.
While Seongjo was lying there leisurely, Yujeong carried away the finished dishes several times, folded up and put away the spread-out table, and disappeared into the kitchen to do the dishes. Watching that made him feel like he should do something too, but in the end, he didn’t move. He intended to thoroughly rest, just as Yujeong had said.
When Yujeong returned after finishing his work, Seongjo was just about to fall asleep again. Yujeong, who had approached closely, settled down next to Seongjo, slipped on his slippers so his feet wouldn’t touch the stone floor, and looked down at Seongjo. Seeing Seongjo’s drowsy face, Yujeong burst out laughing as if incredulous.
“Is my face funny?”
“No, you just look sleepy again.”
Compared to usual, it was ridiculous. Seongjo’s usual sleep time was at most about six hours. The experience of already having slept ten hours and getting sleepy again was unfamiliar.
Seongjo closed his eyes without answering. He hadn’t fallen asleep right away, but it was because the continuously beating sunlight was dazzling. Even with his eyes closed, the light that permeated through colored his dark vision orange. The orange light was completely blocked shortly after. Seongjo slowly opened his eyes with a puzzled expression.
Yujeong was making shade with his hand, covering Seongjo’s face. His face looking down at Seongjo was calm without much expression, but somehow Seongjo felt that his gaze held a temperature exceeding even the sunlight that had been beating down.
“If you sleep here, your face will get sunburned.”
Yujeong’s words were in quite a gentle tone. Seongjo answered curtly, equally calm.
“I don’t care about that sort of thing.”
Yujeong laughed out loud as if he’d expected that. He didn’t say more, but that was all that was bothering him right now. Seongjo unconsciously closed his eyes again.
