Lee Jiwoo went to brush his teeth and I cleaned up in a slightly dazed state. Since I’d just thrown everything together and stir-fried it in a pan, there wasn’t much to clean up or wash, so I finished quickly.
“I was going to do the dishes.”
Lee Jiwoo, who came out with a much more refreshed face, muttered as if talking to himself. Certainly, perhaps because he’d filled his stomach, he looked less tired than when he first arrived here.
As expected, food is a cure-all. When you’re hungry, you feel cold, miserable, depressed, and sleepy for no reason, but when you’re full, at least you can think normally…
Wait, hold on. Could it be that Lee Jiwoo’s strange behavior was all because he was in a weakened mental and physical state from not sleeping or eating? That made some sense.
“Are you going to sleep?”
“Mm. But I have to go somewhere in a bit…”
It sounded like he wasn’t going to sleep, but Lee Jiwoo was already deeply buried in the thick blanket. And less than exactly 5 minutes after that, he was out cold.
“……”
Just like when he’d fallen asleep at the seolleongtang restaurant, his breathing was already different. Without a single tense muscle, completely relaxed, he was in a perfectly comfortable state.
Can someone fall asleep this comfortably in someone else’s house they’re visiting for the first time? It was absurd, but since he looked exhausted every time I saw him, I couldn’t wake him.
Come to think of it, didn’t he say his work ended at 4 AM? What kind of work does he do? At first I wasn’t curious at all, but after seeing him repeatedly, I was starting to get curious about Lee Jiwoo.
I mean, the trivial things that I didn’t necessarily need to report to hyungnim. Maybe it was even more so because he was such a peculiar human being.
I went into the bathroom carefully so I wouldn’t make any noise with my footsteps. I don’t know how he washed up, but the walls and floor were flooded with water.
I roughly cleaned up, put the scattered things back in their places, squeegeed away the water, and came back out to the living room. Lee Jiwoo was still in that initial position, still deeply asleep.
I moved quietly in case he might wake up, but even when I accidentally dropped something, Lee Jiwoo didn’t even flinch. So I gradually just acted normally like usual.
Even though I’d only left it empty for about a month, Seogong’s room was no different from an ice cave. I ran the vacuum, mopped, cleaned it spotlessly without a speck of dust, and washed all the blankets Seogong would use. There was so much dust on the window frames and screens that time flew by quickly as I cleaned.
“Oh, kerosene.”
I needed to get kerosene too. I looked up the kerosene man on my phone and called him, and not long after, he arrived.
“Welcome.”
“Oh, Seoun. Have you been well? How much are you putting in?”
“Fill it up completely.”
Just then, the man who had been at the front door widened his eyes looking behind me.
“Did Seogong already get discharged?”
“That’s not Seogong, it’s a friend.”
“Ah.”
“Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“I’d like that if you’re offering.”
I went to the kitchen and made instant coffee in a paper cup. Whether this level of commotion couldn’t wake Lee Jiwoo, he still slept soundly.
I put the money envelope in my pocket and went outside with a cup of coffee. In the meantime, the man who had already finished filling the kerosene received the coffee and asked:
“How’s Seogong doing?”
“The surgery went well. When he’s discharged next week, I think I just need to manage his diet and keep an eye on him.”
The morning air was cold and painful like broken ice, but still refreshing, so my head cleared. I took out a white envelope from my pocket and gave it to him.
“Oh, and this is for the overdue kerosene bills. You must have been in a difficult position not being able to ask for money, but thank you so much for understanding our situation. Oh, right. Wait a moment.”
I quickly ran back home and brought out the gift set I’d bought in advance.
“Please accept this too.”
“What’s this? Oh my, you didn’t have to give me this. Just buy yourself some snacks.”
Somehow I couldn’t help but laugh at his tone that clearly showed he was troubled.
“Ajeossi, I’m 22 years old now. I’m past the age of eating snacks.”
“What does age have to do with eating snacks?”
“Anyway, it’s a New Year’s gift, so please just accept it. It’s nothing special, just Spam and stuff like that. I remembered you said last time that Hyunwoo likes Spam, so I bought that.”
“Hyunwoo? Oh my, what’s the point of giving that to that kid who doesn’t even study. I’ll just have to eat it all myself. But I feel good receiving it. Thanks.”
Just then, the front door on the upper floor opened and the landlady came out.
“What brings you up so early today?”
When the man asked playfully with a laugh, the landlady came down the stairs holding a garbage bag. Then she put the trash outside the gate and came back in saying:
“How can I sleep when you’re making such a racket outside from the crack of dawn?”
“Come on, what’s so noisy? You’re just sulking because only I got a gift, lady.”
“Who’s sulking? Did you have breakfast?”
“I can’t, I have to go to other houses. Have breakfast with Seoun.”
Before I could say anything, the conversation continued rapidly. And as if on cue, now our front door opened. Three pairs of eyes moved simultaneously toward the sound, and there stood Lee Jiwoo, not fully awake.
His mottled hair was pressed down on one side and puffed up on the other side, a complete mess. With his eyes barely open, he dragged his slippers and approached us, and without a word, too naturally pulled the kerosene man into a waist hug.
“Oh my.”
Suddenly embraced at the waist by a man he was seeing for the first time who was wriggling against him, the man hesitated, flustered. I was so surprised I’d frozen in place, then hurriedly grabbed Lee Jiwoo’s nape and pulled him back.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Uh… ah…”
Without any sign of surprise, Lee Jiwoo slowly withdrew his hands, then this time pulled me into a waist hug. And he buried his face in my neck, rubbing against it while yawning.
“……”
“……”
In the heavy silence, I could see the landlady and the man exchanging glances with flustered expressions. I quickly came to my senses and said while slapping Lee Jiwoo’s back as if sweeping it:
“My friend must not be fully awake.”
“R-right. He must be very tired. Anyway, thanks for the coffee. And thanks for the gift. I’ll tell Hyunwoo that Seoun hyung gave him Spam. Lady, I’m going.”
“Oh, okay. Drive safely.”
The man hurried out the gate like that, and in the courtyard where the cold wind was blowing, only the landlady, me, and the out-of-it Lee Jiwoo remained.
“Is he your friend?”
“Y-yes.”
“Then want to have breakfast with your friend? I’ll set it out, so come upstairs.”
“Ah, well, I…”
Normally I would have readily agreed, but right now I wasn’t alone. But while I was stammering, the landlady had already gone up the stairs.
“Ugh, it’s cold…”
Lee Jiwoo muttered while shivering noisily. I let out a sigh, grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him away.
“Why did you come out here while you were sleeping? Hey. Step back a bit.”
“I said I’m cold.”
“That’s why I’m asking why you came out here when it’s cold. And why are you hugging people without saying anything?”
It’s not even just touching, but hugging this tightly? This was practically sexual harassment. Of course, I didn’t commit the mistake of saying that word out loud. Because if I did, I might get kissed again like when we first met, and that would be terrible.
“What were you doing? Something about Hyunwoo? I think you were saying something or other. Who’s Hyunwoo?”
Lee Jiwoo yawned long again while mumbling. As if he hadn’t heard my question at all, he completely ignored it and changed the subject. I considered pressing further, but it was awkward to keep staying here, so I dragged Lee Jiwoo along and went home for now.
“He’s the son of the ajeossi that Lee Jiwoo grabbed earlier.”
“Who’s that ajeossi?”
“The person who fills our kerosene.”
“Are you that close with that ajeossi because you’ve known him since childhood? Even making him coffee.”
As we entered the house, it was full of warm heat. I stood in front of the door and pushed Lee Jiwoo’s shoulder away. Unlike before, he obediently separated.
“Why did you suddenly hug the ajeossi? You surprised him. And you didn’t even apologize.”
When I frowned, Lee Jiwoo yawned again. Maybe because I’d been watching him do it, tears welled up in my eyes without realizing it and I let out a big yawn.
Lee Jiwoo looked at me with moist eyes and laughed as I yawned following him.
“Should I sleep a bit more?”
“I have to go to my part-time job later. And the landlady said to come eat breakfast.”
“Then let’s eat first.”
Lee Jiwoo grabbed my wrist and tried to go back out the front door. I couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Are you going to eat too, Lee Jiwoo?”
“What, you’re going to eat alone? How cold.”
“No, you already ate breakfast earlier.”
“That was earlier.”
While having a useless conversation, we’d already arrived on the 2nd floor.
