It sounds exactly like asking me to go get it.
What kind of person is this? Kim Yu-shin had the talent to make others do things without lifting a finger.
Jun-wan snorted while looking at the ceiling. He could just ignore childish whining and that would be that.
He entrusted his body to the cloud-like bed and tried to sleep. After about 5 minutes passed, Jun-wan suddenly got up and headed to the bathroom.
He eventually brought back the wedding ring. Yu-shin, who was likewise preparing for bed, blinked both eyes as if dumbfounded.
“It’ll be a headache if you lose it.”
Jun-wan tossed the ring he’d gone to fetch onto Yu-shin’s chest. While Yu-shin picked up the ring rolling around on the blanket and put it on his hand, he returned to his own spot and lay down as if it was someone else’s business.
“……”
He’s really an unpredictable person. Seeming kind yet cold, and for things that could easily be let go, he goes out of his way to correct them. Yu-shin fiddled with the ring subtly squeezing his finger and thought. This was the first time encountering this type of person, and he found it simply fascinating.
Yu-shin buried his face deeply in the pillow as he always did. Strangely, sleep wouldn’t come. After a few minutes passed like that, perhaps because his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, the features of the man lying right next to him were clear. His unusually high nose bridge caught his attention.
“Park Jun-wan ssi.”
Even when he called out carefully, there was no response. Park Jun-wan’s eyelids were closed and his lips were also stubbornly shut, but Yu-shin was certain he was awake.
“Are you asleep?”
“I’m going to sleep.”
How stiff can a response be? But far from being intimidated, Yu-shin hugged his pillow and spoke again.
“Was today really hard? The articles keep coming out too. Nothing happened at school, right?”
Jun-wan let out a deep sigh. His closed eyelids also opened slightly. The gaze glancing sideways was extremely cold.
“Is that important enough to wake someone who’s trying to sleep?”
“Not particularly… but you came late, Jun-wan ssi. I don’t have any time to ask except now.”
“……”
Jun-wan tousled his bangs as if annoyed.
“Normally I come before 7 PM. Today I had no choice but to be late because work piled up.”
“Mmm. I see. Then, do you eat dinner before coming?”
“No, I’ll eat at home.”
Jun-wan, who had been answering readily, paused to think for a moment.
“That doesn’t mean let’s eat dinner together.”
“Why not? It’s fine to eat dinner together at least. I don’t like eating alone three meals a day either.”
“……”
“What time do you leave for work tomorrow?”
The persistently questioning voice was gentle. Gentle enough to disarm a sharp person. Thanks to that, Jun-wan’s stiff tone also loosened considerably.
“I have to leave at 8.”
“You’re really diligent. That’s a time when I’ll still be sleeping soundly.”
I never expected a send-off anyway. Jun-wan closed his eyes, expressing that he didn’t want to continue this conversation any further. Fortunately, Yu-shin also had the sense to shut his mouth.
Rustling sounds came from the blanket they shared. For Jun-wan with sensitive ears, sleeping with another person was bothersome in many ways.
He wondered if sleep would even come, but regrettably, the damn bed was too cozy.
***
There was nothing particularly special about their newlywed life.
The two of them were simply housemates living together under one roof. Jun-wan repeated his daily commute to and from work, and when he returned home, he did what needed to be done before falling asleep.
Two weeks had passed like this. For an ordinary person, it would have been enough time to adjust to a new life. And Park Jun-wan, instead of adjusting, was steadily accumulating stress.
Traditionally, a home should be a sanctuary and a place of rest. The problem was that he’d taken too lightly the idea of sharing that space with another person.
Not only could he not rest properly, but every little thing about Kim Yu-shin grated on his nerves. To be precise, their compatibility was like oil and water. Not just their living habits, but their personalities too.
First of all, Kim Yu-shin’s ability to take care of himself was close to zero. He seemed like someone who didn’t even consider tidying up.
He dresses neatly enough, so why does he leave traces everywhere?
When Jun-wan came home from work, the first thing he did was clean up the messy house. The clothes Yu-shin had worn and taken off were always piled on the chair’s backrest, and objects wandered around the sofa and dining table without distinction. What’s more, a blanket was abandoned on the terrace chair, and bread crumbs from lunch and a used glass remained as they were. From the traces scattered everywhere, Jun-wan could figure out where Yu-shin had stayed throughout the day and what he’d done.
Jun-wan absolutely couldn’t stand seeing things in disarray. He had to put used items back in their proper place immediately and hang up clothes right away to feel satisfied. But unfortunately, his housemate had a peculiar talent for making messes. Whatever Jun-wan tidied up would return to a chaotic state in less than a day. The funny thing was that even within that chaos, there seemed to be some kind of rule.
“Hey, I left that there on purpose.”
When Jun-wan swept up all the miscellaneous items rolling around on the dining table and shoved them into an empty box, Yu-shin, who had been lying on the sofa, pointed it out.
Jun-wan shot a glance toward the sofa. Kim Yu-shin, lying with layers of cushions as pillows, looked truly carefree.
If you personified laziness, wouldn’t it look exactly like that? Kim Yu-shin, who had clearly been lounging around all day doing nothing, lay with his head tilted at an angle, just wiggling his toes up and down. His expression was bright, as if he was thoroughly enjoying his independence.
Jun-wan had heard that Yu-shin normally stayed at home without budging.
It would be better if he went out and wandered around. Jun-wan detested incompetent and lazy people. No matter how well-off he was, seeing a twenty-five-year-old adult sprawled out lazily didn’t look good at all.
“I told you to put things back where they belong after using them.”
“I’m going to use them again anyway… Can’t you even allow that much?”
Yu-shin asked back as if he didn’t understand. Park Jun-wan, that’s obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is our home, let’s live comfortably. Grumbling followed.
“……”
Talking to him only makes me angry. Jun-wan didn’t respond and gathered Yu-shin’s clothes piled high on the dining chair, stuffing them into the laundry basket.
At least he didn’t just laze around completely—he seemed diligent about running the laundry. The basket that had been slightly full in the morning was empty. When Jun-wan opened the dryer, he let out a sigh. Thanks to running it without separating colors, Jun-wan’s white dress shirts had been dyed pink.
What should I do about this disaster? Should he buy color-catching sheets that he’d never used before? Would Yu-shin even know how to use the sheets properly? Jun-wan stood still in a whirlwind of thoughts.
After he’d been in the utility room for a while, Yu-shin approached and peeked his face in. Seeing Jun-wan pull out only the shirts, he seemed to realize his mistake.
“Ah… I ruined the shirts. I’ll buy you new ones.”
“It’s fine.”
Jun-wan replied coldly while washing his hands. At the same time, he scrutinized the utility room from corner to corner with sharp eyes like an inspection.
Even when he lived alone, he didn’t clean every day, but he at least maintained a tidy state. With one more person living here, the house had become a complete mess. And I can’t clean all this up every time. He was only receiving stress in various ways.
After drying his hands, Jun-wan headed to the kitchen. Even while walking, he surveyed every corner of the house. Yu-shin shuffled along behind him.
Perhaps planning to prepare dinner, Jun-wan rolled up his shirt sleeves and stood in front of the counter. Three mugs remained in the sink. Unable to just pass them by, he washed them right away. A sigh escaped automatically.
“Didn’t you say you’d hire help?”
“Mm… Isn’t it still manageable?”
To Yu-shin’s carefree response, Jun-wan silently shot him a look. His glare was so fierce. Yu-shin scratched his stinging cheek lightly.
“Isn’t it?”
“……”
“I’m fine with it…”
“Of course only you would be fine.”
“Then… Can I call someone I know?”
“Figure it out somehow.”
Jun-wan finished washing the dishes quickly. Afterward, as if it were the natural next step, he opened the rice cooker. Did he even eat anything? Inside the electric rice cooker, where he’d pressed the cook button before leaving in the morning, the white rice remained untouched.
Since they’d decided to eat dinner together, Jun-wan always took charge of meal preparation. At first, they tried sharing, but Jun-wan soon realized he shouldn’t leave cooking to Yu-shin.
No matter how much it was his first time cooking, Kim Yu-shin was far too clumsy at everything. Even a simple fried egg took over thirty minutes, and he burned even that black. In the end, unable to watch anymore, Jun-wan stepped in. It was more efficient in many ways for the skilled person to do it.
Jun-wan had a long history of living alone. While he couldn’t say his cooking skills were great, he knew the basics. The refrigerator was packed with side dishes both families had prepared for them. He stir-fried dishes that only needed simple reheating to bring out the flavor, and he always plated the side dishes properly.
Since he came home a bit late today, Jun-wan dove straight into dinner preparation without even changing his clothes. With his cumbersome tie thrown over his shoulder, he skillfully wielded the wok.
Yu-shin kept hovering around him. A delicious smell was already wafting. Jun-wan was just adding a bit of water to the cold braised short ribs and boiling them. Even so, the meat glistened. It looked completely different from the stiff braised ribs Yu-shin had eaten a bit of during the day and abandoned.
