He’d been worried he might get indigestion from forcing himself to eat in such an uncomfortable situation, but fortunately that didn’t happen. Rather, after eating, he seemed to become more level-headed. That’s why they say rice is the best medicine. Once nutrients entered his ailing brain, his confused mind calmed down.
“I can do the dishes though.”
“Just stay still. Don’t keep staggering around looking pitiful.”
Lee Jiwoo spoke coolly, but the large pot seemed hard to wash as strange clanging and banging sounds kept coming. Isn’t he going to break it? It felt like it would be more comfortable if he just did it himself, but he stayed obediently still.
Sitting in the dining chair, he stared blankly at Lee Jiwoo’s back as he washed dishes.
If he knew he’d taken photos of the notebook with his phone, Lee Jiwoo was acting right now. The Lee Jiwoo he’d seen until now had lied as naturally as flowing water. He seemed to have no guilt about it, and hyungnim had said Lee Jiwoo had been like that since he was young.
If lying was that much a part of daily life, naturally he’d be incredibly good at acting too. The problem was why Lee Jiwoo was going this far with his acting.
Was it because he went all the way to Chile and still couldn’t meet hyungnim? Anyway, since this wasn’t something he could figure out by worrying about it, he just left the possibility open for now.
And another possibility. That Lee Jiwoo didn’t know his true identity. He didn’t know about taking photos of the notebook either, and there were no home cameras in this house.
Then why did Lee Jiwoo’s attitude suddenly change like this? The most likely assumption was that sex with him was worse than expected. Or maybe after sleeping together once, his interest dropped.
“……”
Is that too extreme? But if Lee Jiwoo really had a change of heart for that reason, he’d feel too hurt. Even though he wasn’t gay, even though he was the one deceiving….
Suddenly feeling dizzy, he squeezed his eyes shut. Still, seeing that he bought samgyetang, it probably wasn’t the latter.
Bzzzz-
Then he heard the sound of a phone vibrating. Turning his head toward the sound, Lee Jiwoo’s phone was on a small table next to the refrigerator.
“Who is it?”
Lee Jiwoo, who was washing dishes wearing rubber gloves, turned his head to look at him and asked. He got up unexpectedly and checked the phone.
“It’s a text.”
“Who? Is it hyung?”
“One moment.”
The newly purchased phone didn’t seem to have a lock set yet. He checked the most recent text.
“It’s a text from the carrier. Saying to pre-order the latest phone and receive special benefits…. Is this a new phone?”
“Yeah.”
“Did your number change?”
“Yeah, call from your phone and save the number.”
At those words, he casually tried calling himself from Lee Jiwoo’s phone. No, he hesitated before pressing the number. Glancing up, he could see Lee Jiwoo’s back.
As if possessed, he entered the message window and scrolled all the way down. Perhaps because it was a newly purchased phone, there weren’t many texts. Most were advertisements and bank withdrawal….
“……”
Looking at the withdrawal history absentmindedly, he discovered something strange. Because he saw texts for card payments at a taxi and Yonggung Baeksuk. Yonggung Baeksuk was a famous restaurant that people came from other regions to eat at, so he’d heard the name too.
The problem was that the payment amount was 20,000 won. Then that’s the price for one bowl? Even scrolling up, he couldn’t see any other payment history from restaurants.
It was puzzling, but he couldn’t think about it long. Out of habit, he pressed the recent apps list button to call himself but hesitated again. He saw an internet window. There was a large photo displayed on it.
“……”
It was some blogger’s love gel recommendation post.
He was more flustered than when Lee Jiwoo asked for his hair as a gift. Pressing back, he could see the search terms typed directly.
Warming love gel.
The search list was all still there.
search
search lubricant too cold
search how to warm lubricant
search lubricant microwave
search hot love gel
search heating gel
search what to do if lover says lubricant is cold
search samgyetang restaurant
“……?”
With a bewildered expression, he called himself. Soon an unsaved number appeared on his phone. He immediately hung up and put Lee Jiwoo’s phone back on the table.
“……”
“……”
Neither he nor Lee Jiwoo said anything. He only heard the fierce sound of water and occasional clanging and banging by his ears. Having finished washing dishes, Lee Jiwoo walked toward him while drying his hands.
Without even looking at him, he passed by as if brushing past and asked.
“When are you leaving?”
With a dazed face, he gripped the table and stood up from the chair. And also without looking at him, he muttered while heading to the room.
“I’m going to leave now…. Now.”
He passed through the curtained hallway and entered the room. But his clothes that had been neatly folded before washing yesterday weren’t in that spot. He turned his head but only saw the open door—he hadn’t followed.
He hesitantly went back to the living room to find Lee Jiwoo. He was sitting on the sofa reading.
“……?”
He had no choice but to be bewildered again. Suddenly? He’s suddenly reading? The cover was full of English so he couldn’t tell what book it was.
“Lee Jiwoo.”
At his call, Lee Jiwoo answered without even looking at him.
“Speak.”
“My clothes are gone. I was wondering if you put them somewhere else….”
“Ah, I put those away. Wear mine. Whatever you want.”
What does he mean by put away? If a normal person said something like that, he would have interpreted it as just putting them in the washing machine to wash, but his opponent was Lee Jiwoo. Moreover, he looked in an extremely bad mood right now, so “put away” sounded like it meant the trash can.
He went to the dressing room he’d seen yesterday and found the most comfortable-looking thick hoodie and training pants. There was no underwear, but he couldn’t wear Lee Jiwoo’s, and it was hard to speak up again in that silence to ask if there were new ones.
He had no choice but to do the same thing Lee Jiwoo had done at his house. Still, there was a long coat that came down to his knees, so wearing that and buttoning it all up made him feel somewhat more mentally stable.
After grabbing his phone and thinking carefully if there was anything he was leaving behind, he went out to the living room.
“Lee Jiwoo, I’ll be going then. It’s cold so you don’t have to come out.”
Smiling brightly, he walked to the inner door without stopping once. He thought Lee Jiwoo would just keep reading and only say ‘Okay, take care,’ but he still followed to the inner door.
“I’ll call you a car.”
“I already called one.”
He put on his shoes and lightly showed his phone, then smiled.
“Thank you for letting me stay. I’ll contact you when I get home.”
“If you don’t like the apartment, look around slowly with Seogong and tell me. Not just apartments—villas or houses are fine too. The area doesn’t have to be around here either.”
He was just about to turn around and leave, but Lee Jiwoo brought up an uncomfortable topic to discuss right now. He gripped the front door and hesitated, then turned his head.
“I’ll just accept the thought for that. As a gift, next time you come, please buy me some cotton swabs. I ran out of cotton swabs at home….”
“……”
“Then I’ll see you next time. Take care.”
He bowed in greeting and went outside. Walking quickly down the stairs, he passed through the garden. At night it had just seemed like a maze, but now he saw it was full of perfectly managed landscaping trees without a single protruding grass branch.
He’d worried what if Lee Jiwoo followed him out and caught him, but that was groundless. I thought I’d have to ramble on again about something.
“……”
The sound of his footsteps on the ground rang out loudly, and he soon arrived at the front gate. But the gate-like door was firmly closed and didn’t look like it would open.
He tried pushing with his shoulder and pulling, but it wouldn’t budge. Don’t tell me I have to go back to Lee Jiwoo? Saying the door won’t open?
“Ah, please….”
If he saw that face again today, he might faint from excessive stress. Raising his head and looking at the azure sky, exhaling deeply, he suddenly made eye contact with a CCTV near the gate pillar.
“……”
He tilted his head and stared intently at the device. And soon the gate clicked open.
“……”
Don’t tell me he was watching everything through that? Cold sweat trickled down his back. With spasms in both cheeks, he smiled brightly and jumped up and down waving both hands toward the CCTV.
“I’m leaving!”
Then he hurried out the door and ran at full speed.
