After finishing the grocery shopping, they headed straight back to the apartment, but it was already later than their usual dinner time.
Seongjo wasn’t normally the type to be sensitive to hunger. It was common for him to forget meal times when he was focused on other things, so in a way, it was only natural.
However, perhaps because he’d grown accustomed to Yujeong feeding him dinner at the same time every evening, today he felt strangely hungry and found himself looking forward to the meal. In a sense, you could say he’d been trained by Yujeong.
When the elevator made a ding sound and stopped at Yujeong’s floor, Yujeong threw out a question the moment the doors opened.
“Did something happen?”
“What do you mean, did something happen?”
It was an out-of-the-blue question. Seongjo glanced back at him with a puzzled expression as Yujeong answered.
“You seemed oddly drained of energy today.”
“Really? Wasn’t I the same as usual?”
He answered with a laugh. He even added a joke that maybe it was because he was hungry, but far from laughing along, Yujeong’s expression was stern and serious.
“You were definitely different from yesterday.”
“……”
Seongjo quietly closed his mouth and turned his head. It seemed like it wasn’t just a simple matter of noticing his hunger.
Was it really okay for him to be this perceptive? Even a fortune teller famous for their accuracy probably wouldn’t read people this well. It was probably because of Yeongbeom’s visit last night… but had Seongjo’s expression and demeanor really looked that different?
Seongjo stared intently at Yujeong as if trying to figure him out, then soon opened his mouth.
“Something did happen. I worked on company business until morning and then went to sleep.”
Yujeong didn’t answer right away. He couldn’t tell what Yujeong was thinking. Was he naturally assuming it was a lie? It was possible, given that look on his face that seemed to have picked up on something.
Eventually, Yujeong spoke.
“Did I take up your time?”
At those words, Seongjo briefly wore a puzzled expression, then soon understood the meaning and waved his hands in denial. It seemed Yujeong thought company work had piled up because he’d gone to Gangwon-do with him.
“Hm? No, no. I was the one who said I’d go, wasn’t I? I didn’t go because I was forcing myself. Work suddenly came up after we got back.”
Though he’d cleverly deflected, it was actually true. Yeongbeom’s sudden appearance to upset him before leaving was indeed something that happened suddenly. It was also true that he’d worked until morning, and it wasn’t wrong to say that it happened because of something that suddenly came up. Since it wasn’t a lie, Seongjo’s expression was confident. Yujeong simply nodded and said,
“You work hard.”
Since that somehow sounded like it was unexpected, Seongjo chuckled and replied,
“Didn’t you know? Did I seem like a lazy person?”
“That’s not what I meant……”
Though he denied it, at the playful tone, Yujeong also laughed along with Seongjo. If working hard was unexpected… that wouldn’t be so strange.
“Well, in dramas… it doesn’t seem like they show businesspeople working much.”
Dramas featuring wealthy people usually moved on to romance, so what kind of work they did probably wasn’t treated as very important. Yujeong nodded at those words and added,
“Actually, I don’t watch much drama either. I really don’t know anything about them.”
“Then you don’t know this either? ‘Since when has Jeon Yujeong-ssi been this pretty?’ That kind of thing?”
Seongjo didn’t know dramas well either, but he at least knew famous lines like that. However, Yujeong seemed quite displeased with what Seongjo had brought up. He turned to look at Seongjo with an overtly disgusted expression. As if he’d just heard something ridiculously cringeworthy……
‘Okay, I get it. I can see you don’t know it.’
But did he really need to look at him like that? It was just meant to be a light joke, but the atmosphere had become quite awkward. When Seongjo subtly averted his eyes, Yujeong finally answered.
“I do know it.”
He even knew the line. And yet he’d made all those faces. Ha, Yujeong ignored Seongjo’s hollow laugh once again and headed to the kitchen.
While Yujeong unpacked the grocery bags, Seongjo familiarly headed to Yujeong’s bathroom. After washing his hands thoroughly and coming out, Yujeong entered the bathroom like they were passing a baton. When Seongjo went to the kitchen first, he saw some ingredients still in their unopened packages laid out, while everything else had been put away and was nowhere to be seen.
Even looking at the ingredients, he couldn’t guess what dish Yujeong would make. While he was pointlessly picking up and putting down the bags, Yujeong appeared after washing his hands.
Finding Seongjo loitering in the kitchen, he smiled faintly.
“Lee Seongjo-ssi, you’re really like a child sometimes.”
“Me? Why this time?”
Without answering, Yujeong gestured toward Seongjo and the ingredients he’d been rummaging through. Admittedly, he had been looking at them with curiosity……
Did it look that way? Seongjo took his hands off the counter and stepped back. He had no way of knowing whether Yujeong calling him childlike was objectively because he only showed childlike aspects in front of him, or if it was simply that Yujeong saw Seongjo that way, as if something was clouding his vision.
Smiling at Seongjo, Yujeong proceeded to unwrap the ingredients and prepare to cook. The way he rinsed the vegetables in a colander, took out a cutting board, and neatly cut them all looked extremely skilled.
Seongjo suddenly became curious. When had Yujeong started cooking? And had he ever cooked like this for anyone other than himself?
Had he started living alone since college? Was he a good son who helped his mother cook when he was at home? Or had he started with simple cooking for people living alone after coming to Seoul, knowing nothing, and gradually improved his skills to this point?
He surely hadn’t had zero dating experience until now—were they all women? Or were there men mixed in too? Though it hadn’t been said in words, it seemed certain that Yujeong also had some interest in Seongjo. If so, he might have had experience dating men before……
How many of the people he’d dated had passed through this kitchen? Seeing how he consistently and diligently cooked for Seongjo even though they weren’t even in a relationship, he must have been a good boyfriend to his past lovers too.
While he liked that Yujeong was that kind of man, the thought that someone else might have experienced this kindness didn’t feel entirely pleasant.
It was jealousy. He had no desire to deny that feeling. The feeling didn’t even seem unpleasant. So instead, Seongjo gazed at Yujeong’s profile with a slight smile.
“Do you have something you want to say?”
“Mm……”
Should he just say everything that was on his mind right now?
After pondering, Seongjo soon shook his head.
“Not really.”
Yujeong said while making rhythmic tapping sounds as he cut carrots,
“Lee Seongjo-ssi, do you know what kind of food you like?”
It was somehow an odd question. Not ‘what kind of food do you like’ but ‘do you know yourself what kind of food you like.’ Seongjo answered while lost in thought.
“Well… I don’t think I’m that picky. I like it when the taste is clean.”
It was a vague expression. In reality, Seongjo tended to approach meals without being too picky. There weren’t any ingredients he couldn’t eat either. Of course, regardless of the ingredients or the dish, he didn’t like food that was cooked poorly.
Yujeong nodded calmly as if he’d expected as much and said,
“I think I understand now.”
“What? What I like?”
Since it was a subject even Seongjo himself couldn’t answer clearly, it sounded puzzling.
“You like dishes that go down smoothly and don’t have strong aromas. It’s true that you eat everything without being picky, but your eating speed and expression are all different.”
Seongjo looked at Yujeong’s face, somewhat at a loss for words. He couldn’t think of what to say in several ways. First of all, it was amazing that someone could determine a person’s preferences by observing such things. Wasn’t that the kind of thing a top chef would say on a broadcast? But actually, more than that, what was more impressive was that Yujeong had observed him closely enough to know all of that.
You wanted to cater to my tastes that badly.
Seongjo looked at the counter with a light smile. Certainly, all the ingredients Yujeong had laid out were things that didn’t have strong characteristic aromas and were soft.
Even the vegetables consisted of things without strong textures or aromas like paprika or mushrooms—bean sprouts, cabbage, bok choy, and the like. The carrots, which also become soft and unobtrusive when cooked, were the same.
“Were you that interested in me?”
