“Yes. I’m fine.”
The fever reducer he’d taken early in the morning had worked remarkably well. The fever that had been hovering around 38 degrees quickly dropped, and he didn’t feel particularly tired even while cleaning all morning. It was partly because the weather had warmed up, but also thanks to his body and mind thawing from sleeping pressed against Chaeho all night.
“Lunch… I’ll eat.”
“I’ll prepare it.”
Soohyun was quick-witted. Having always lived reading people’s moods since childhood, he caught the meaning behind Seojun’s words and hurried into the kitchen. He’d planned to go grocery shopping in the afternoon to make various side dishes, but for Seojun who wanted to eat right now, he had no choice but to rummage through the refrigerator.
‘There’s only bean sprouts and potatoes.’
Soohyun quickly put his mind to work—he used half the bean sprouts to make soup and turned the other half into seasoned vegetables with perilla oil. He julienned the potatoes finely, stir-fried them with finely chopped bacon, and finished with a touch of pepper. Then he gathered the leftover vegetable scraps, minced them finely, and made fried rice with butter and rice. After setting the table, Soohyun called Seojun.
“The meal is ready.”
The time had just passed 1 PM. It happened to be Soohyun’s lunch time.
“…Thank you.”
Having skipped breakfast and gone to work out, Seojun let out an involuntary exclamation at the sight of the warm rice and side dishes laid out. Until Soohyun came, he’d mainly eaten store-bought side dishes or spicy, sweet, stimulating delivery food, so Seojun found this seemingly simple meal truly welcome.
“Then I’ll excuse myself.”
Watching Soohyun carefully as he tried to leave the kitchen holding something, Seojun stopped him. He was curious about what Soohyun was holding, and he wanted to be with him a little longer.
“Lee Soohyun-ssi, aren’t you going to eat?”
“…I was planning to eat.”
Only then did Seojun realize that what Soohyun was holding was a lunchbox. He couldn’t take his eyes off the small two-tier lunchbox in his hands. What kind of side dishes had Soohyun packed in his lunchbox? Seojun was so curious.
“Why don’t you eat with me? I’m bored eating alone.”
Seojun, being an actor, was truly someone with rich facial expressions. Unable to refuse his request with his eyebrows drooping at the ends, Soohyun sat down across from him at the table.
“Have you been bringing a lunchbox all along?”
“Yes.”
“You could just eat what I’m having…”
Seojun’s words weren’t wrong, but somehow even that made Soohyun uncomfortable. He preferred to comfortably eat what he’d made with his own hands.
“It’s not difficult since I just pack leftovers from making breakfast.”
After a few clicking sounds, Soohyun’s lunchbox revealed itself. Seojun’s gaze lingered on the thick rolled omelet.
“That looks delicious.”
“Pardon?”
Realizing he’d said what he’d only meant to think, Seojun’s face flushed red. For South Korea’s top actor to be swallowing his saliva at the sight of a rolled omelet in the lunchbox of a household employee who came to work at his house. Looking at Seojun’s face, Soohyun picked up a piece of rolled omelet with his unused chopsticks and placed it on Seojun’s plate of rice.
“It’s nothing special, but… try it. We ran out of eggs at home so I couldn’t put any in the fried rice. I’ll go grocery shopping later.”
“Ah… th… thank you for the food.”
Seojun put the piece of rolled omelet Soohyun had given him into his mouth and chewed slowly. Though it had cooled, the vegetables had a nice crunch and the subtle savory and sweet flavors blended well, making it tasty. With an admiring expression, Seojun asked Soohyun with a very innocent face.
“Wow. This is really delicious. What do you put in to get this taste?”
Soohyun smiled faintly, finding Seojun’s face somehow innocent as he exclaimed how delicious it was. Meeting Soohyun’s smile head-on, Seojun stopped chewing the rolled omelet and stared intently at his face.
“When I beat the eggs, I add a little milk. Then it becomes much softer and has a subtle sweetness. As for vegetables, I just add whatever I have at home. I always make sure to include onions.”
“I… I see.”
“I’ll make some and leave it for you today.”
Seojun remembered that tomorrow was the weekend. This week, his schedule had gotten tangled up and he didn’t have much work, which was why he could meet Soohyun like this, but thinking that he might find it hard to see him next week when things got busy made him feel strange.
“Um… Lee Soohyun-ssi.”
“Yes.”
“I…”
Seojun wanted to apologize for being rude to Soohyun on the first day they met. He didn’t have enough courage to say sorry right away, but at least he wanted to express his gratitude that he liked both the cleaning and food Soohyun provided.
“Well… after you came, things have been comfortable. The house is always clean. And I’m really enjoying the food. I even eat at home instead of outside whenever possible.”
“I see.”
“So! Th… ank you.”
Seojun’s voice was very small, but not so quiet that Soohyun couldn’t hear it. Soohyun’s chopsticks, which had paused for a moment, slowly began moving again. A gentle curve formed on his lips as he put rice into his mouth.
* * *
After the day he heard “thank you” from Seojun, Soohyun didn’t see him once for a whole week. In fact, that was natural. Seojun was always a busy person, and even when he didn’t have schedules, he was someone who invested time in acting practice and management.
‘Seriously, why am I suddenly so busy like this.’
Quite cruelly, Seojun had been fairly busy with schedules every day this week that Soohyun came to work. Seojun scratched the back of his head as he was about to leave the house.
“Jinwoo hyung, when do we finish today?”
“Well. I think we’ll be done around 2 o’clock. We’ve been running since dawn.”
A cheerful smile spread across Seojun’s face. He thought that if they finished at 2 and he hurried home, he might be able to catch Soohyun who left work at 3:30. Seojun straightened his back and shouted with determination.
“I’ll finish by 1:30.”
“Hey. That’s not possible…”
“I’ll finish by 1:30, so let’s go straight home when we’re done. Okay?”
“Well… suit yourself.”
It had already been a week since he’d seen Soohyun last Friday. Seojun’s eyes still vividly held the bright face that had smiled while handing him the rolled omelet. Fortunately, the remaining schedule was a magazine interview, so if he concentrated hard, he felt he could get through it quickly.
“Hello, Choi Seojun-ssi. I’m Kim Seongeun, a reporter from xx.”
“Yes, hello.”
Seojun continued the interview with his business smile. The mobile phone in his pocket had an alarm set for 1:30 PM.
* * *
“Should I… rest a bit.”
Soohyun’s usual break time was around 1 PM, but today it was later than usual. The bathroom cleaning had taken longer than expected, and after finishing cleaning one bathroom, his pants and shirt had gotten wet, so he thought he might as well clean the other one while he was already wet.
After finishing cleaning the living room, kitchen, three bedrooms, and even two bathrooms, the clock showed 2:10 PM. Having worked without eating lunch, Soohyun considered eating the lunchbox he’d brought, but craving rest more than food, he went into the small room and changed his clothes.
“…I’m sleepy. I need to eat to take my medicine.”
He’d rushed in the morning and forgot to take his panic disorder medication, but Soohyun’s condition wasn’t bad. So he planned to take the medicine after lunch. But right now, sleep was more urgent than food. Squatting briefly in the room that seemed prepared for guests with a small bed and a few pieces of furniture scattered about, Soohyun lay down as if collapsing, intending to get a little sleep.
“Just a bit… even 20 minutes…”
He set his phone alarm for 20 minutes later and closed his eyes. As soon as his eyelids closed, he felt like he was falling into a pit and his consciousness faded.
Beep-beep-beep—-.
Not long after Soohyun fell asleep, Seojun opened the door as if being chased. Thanks to concentrating with the determination to finish the interview by 1:30, he was able to part with the reporter before the alarm went off. Seojun, who rarely pushed people, was a bit different today. Jinwoo, who had been working with Seojun for several years now, sensed something was up and hurried the way home.
“Lee Soohyun-ssi?”
The time Seojun entered the house was around 2:30. There was a full hour until Soohyun would leave. He didn’t particularly have something he wanted to do with him, but he just wanted to see him.
“Lee Soohyun-ssi?”
But there was no sign of him anywhere in the house. Only the lunchbox neatly placed in one corner of the kitchen indicated that he was still in the house. Seojun looked around from the kitchen to the bedroom and even the bathroom, then paused to catch his breath in front of the small room Soohyun had entered. Now this was the only place he could be.
“……”
Seojun grabbed the handle and turned it carefully. Though it was his own house, somehow only that room felt like a different space. After slowly opening the door without making a sound, Seojun discovered his face sleeping soundly. The corners of his mouth rose so high they nearly touched his earlobes.
“Lee Soohyun-ssi…?”
He was a truly beautiful person when his eyes were open, but he was pretty even with them closed. The eyebrows that were neat even without grooming, and the eyelashes that curved softly upward. His facial features positioned properly as if that was exactly where they should be were freshly beautiful.
