“Wow….”
He couldn’t eat any more.
Dawoon put down his utensils, regretting that he only had one stomach. If he ate any more, his body would be so heavy he wouldn’t be able to walk at all.
“Want some digestive medicine?”
Ryu Taeha, who had been clearing away the empty dishes, naturally brought over some digestive medicine. Dawoon tried to help clear the dishes, but Ryu Taeha stopped him, saying he’d do it himself.
“I’ll do the dishes.”
“There’s nothing to do. The dishwasher takes care of everything.”
“Then… I guess I have no choice.”
Thanks to eating his fill, Dawoon, who had become drowsy just at the right time, sat still and took some digestive medicine. There was a risk of getting an upset stomach since he’d eaten frantically according to his original appetite.
But even so, he had no regrets. It was a taste worth suffering for.
“Leader, quit the guild and open a Korean restaurant. I think you’d do even better.”
“Stop flattering me. I’ll make it for you often from now on.”
“No, I’m not saying this as empty words, I’m serious. This is a skill that should be widely known for the public good.”
Dawoon, full and drunk on food, said with a pleasant smile. The cat, who had already finished eating much earlier, was sleeping with its head resting on Dawoon’s bulging stomach.
“If you’re this good, you should’ve done it sooner. Why waste such precious cooking skills….”
His lips, which had been continuing with praise, gradually closed. Dawoon, who had suddenly shut his mouth, glanced at the back of Ryu Taeha as he transferred dishes to the dishwasher.
Wait a minute. Am I being too excessive right now?
Moved by a proper home-cooked meal after so long, he’d ended up gushing too much. He’d even emptied three bowls of rice in the blink of an eye.
If it were Jeong Dawoon, he would have nibbled a few bites and stopped. He was someone who survived on greens and nutritional supplements, after all.
This… might look a bit suspicious.
Along with his belated worry, his stomach began to feel bloated. Feeling like indigestion was coming up, he took another digestive pill.
Then the cat, opening its eyes slightly, pressed its ear right against Dawoon’s stomach and rubbed its body. As the warm stove-like creature wriggled around and pressed on his stomach, he felt a bit more comfortable. The medicine must be starting to work.
“Is your stomach okay?”
“Ah, yes. It’s fine.”
Ryu Taeha, having finished organizing the kitchen, sat down in the seat across from Dawoon. He even prepared warm tea to drink as dessert and handed it to Dawoon. The service was really top-notch.
“I’m glad you ate well, but I’m worried you might get indigestion.”
Dawoon sipped his tea while facing Ryu Taeha, who wore a languid smile. He didn’t seem to find it strange that Dawoon was suddenly eating a lot.
Hmm, was I worried for nothing?
“I was really hungry. And my appetite has been coming back lately.”
“Yeah, it seems that way.”
“I’m going to eat even more from now on. I want to gain weight and get healthy.”
“That’s admirable.”
Dawoon, who had been adding a few words just in case, let go of his worry slightly. Ryu Taeha, who was grinning, seemed simply delighted rather than finding Dawoon suspicious at all.
“I feel good seeing Dawoon eat well.”
Reading his sincerity, Dawoon also smiled comfortably and sat in a relaxed posture.
“I’m even happier. Having a Leader who cooks well.”
It was a compliment thrown out without much meaning. The kind of praise anyone would give after eating food delicious enough to leave a lingering aftertaste.
However, it seemed to reach a bit deeper for Ryu Taeha.
He turned his eyes to the warm tea and smiled while covering his mouth with the cup. But regrettably, it wasn’t covered at all, so his smiling face was clearly visible to Dawoon.
I’ve never seen him smile so dopily before…. It was just when Dawoon was finding this new side of Ryu Taeha fascinating.
“I want to kiss you.”
With his following statement, the fondness that had formed for the first time got chipped away bit by bit.
“Should we? It’s been a while and the atmosphere is good.”
“Go do your work.”
When Dawoon tried to get up from his seat while holding the cat, Ryu Taeha smiled and stopped him.
“I have something to talk about. Not about kissing.”
“…What is it?”
“Sit down first.”
Dawoon sat in the chair thinking he should get up right away if Ryu Taeha said something weird. Perhaps sensing that feeling, Ryu Taeha simply got straight to the main point.
“Is your body okay?”
It was a question he hadn’t been able to ask while enjoying watching Dawoon eat enthusiastically.
“You saw me eat. I’m perfectly fine.”
“No fever? Dizzy or anything?”
“I slept well so I’m fine. Much better than yesterday.”
“Did you take your suppressant?”
Dawoon, who had been answering faithfully, hesitated. The suppressant… he hadn’t even thought about taking it.
“You didn’t take it? Why?”
“Well… it seemed to have settled down. I don’t really have a fever either.”
“You said you’d suppress it with medicine from now on. Then you need to take it regularly.”
Dawoon muttered that he forgot. His condition was so surprisingly good that he hadn’t thought about the suppressant at all.
Taeha, resting his chin on his hand, let out a deep breath through his nose. Since the real main point remained, he didn’t drag it out.
“A newly organized list of Guides will come out by the day after tomorrow.”
That was the real reason he’d come to find Dawoon.
“I was going to give it to you today, but it’s taking some time.”
He began calmly while observing Dawoon’s expression.
Taeha wasn’t unaware of why the youngest had made a fuss. He also knew it was a topic Dawoon would dislike.
“If you increase the contact intensity, there will inevitably be a physical reaction. The Guiding won’t fail to work.”
So he brought it up as carefully as he could. So that Dawoon’s delicate and sensitive emotions wouldn’t explode.
“You don’t have to do it for long. First, let’s just check if the Guiding is absorbed. It won’t take long.”
Slurp, Dawoon swallowed his tea and just listened silently. It was an expression hard to predict whether he was contemplating or just full.
Taeha, who almost habitually grabbed Dawoon’s gloved hand, changed direction and grabbed his cup instead.
“Or I’ll go in with you.”
“Where?”
“When you’re receiving Guiding.”
Dawoon was disgusted. Where does that pervert think he’s going to enter?
“I’ll punch you in the solar plexus right away. Just try coming in.”
He held out his fist as a warning. He’d be naked in the Guiding room to increase the Guiding intensity, and he wants to come in there? Just hearing about it made him naturally furrow his brow. Really, as expected of a pervert, he doesn’t give any room to let one’s guard down.
“Does that mean you’ll receive it?”
Ryu Taeha, who had been watching Dawoon, tilted his head to the side. He had a face similar to when Dawoon mixed rice into the stew.
“I have to. If there’s no other way.”
It was something he’d already decided in his heart, so there was nothing to contemplate. Dawoon reported his decision in an indifferent tone.
“It’s not urgent right away, so I won’t do it immediately. When the situation calls for it, I’ll do it.”
And he said firmly, meaning he’d take care of his own business so don’t worry about it. He abandoned the idea of clumsily imitating Jeong Dawoon’s personality and just pushed forward his own way.
Actually, even if they find him suspicious, there’s no problem. He has a plausible excuse.
He can just insist that he’s going to eat a lot now and live with a different personality than before. If he says that’s what he’s going to do, what can they do about it?
At least it would look less strange than claiming he was possessed by a character from a novel. Even if he told them, they wouldn’t believe it anyway.
“Can I get up now?”
Dawoon asked Ryu Taeha, who was just silently looking at him. He was quietly tilting his head with an unreadable expression.
“Then I’ll head up first.”
The moment Ryu Taeha opened his mouth while watching Dawoon get up from his seat, his pager rang with impeccable timing.
Beep-beep-beep, beep-beep.
The vibration was weak, so it wasn’t an emergency situation. Still, it must be ringing because they needed him.
“Go quickly. I’ll go up and rest too.”
“…Yeah, rest.”
Dawoon left his thanks for the meal and left first.
His full stomach made it a bit hard to climb the stairs. With his heavy body and the added weight of the drooling, sleeping cat, the stairs felt even higher.
After somehow making it back to his room, he first laid the cat on the bed.
They say cats sleep a lot. Perhaps because it was a kitten, it had fallen asleep again as if knocked out just from filling its belly.
“How big are you planning to grow, sleeping this much? You’ll probably be about 2 meters tall.”
Hoping the well-eating, well-sleeping kitten would grow well, he lightly stroked its head. The cat didn’t budge at all even at the touch, just sleeping.
Dawoon went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, moving his body for digestion.
Savoring Ryu Taeha’s cooking skills that made him exclaim in admiration even thinking about it again was brief. Suddenly looking in the bathroom mirror, Dawoon examined his pale neck closely.
“Oh… it disappeared on its own.”
The bite marks and red traces the young Esper had accidentally left on his neck had all disappeared. He’d left them alone because he didn’t have the energy to heal them.
“What? My feet are fine too.”
Dawoon, who unwrapped the bandages on his feet just in case, was shocked. The missing toenails had all grown back, and the torn soles of his feet were completely healed. The soles, which didn’t even have scratches left, were just clean.
“What the….”
There’s no way he healed himself in his sleep…. Is it because he’s an Esper?
He knew Espers had self-regeneration abilities, but he didn’t know it would be to this extent. It seems he has pretty good regenerative power, probably because he’s a Healer.
How fascinating. Muttering to himself, he finished brushing his teeth and left the bathroom.
With his feet cleanly healed, his body felt even lighter. His stomach, full of food, was still heavy, but it was all good.
When was the last time his condition was this good recently?
His physical state was too good to be cooped up in his room. He thought about going out to the field since everyone seemed busy, but remembering the researchers’ reminder to rest for a while, he sat on the bed.
“I have no choice but to rest well.”
Since he didn’t know when this fragile body would act up again, he chose rest for now. Dawoon lay down next to the cat, decided to enjoy his laziness, and rolled around freely on the soft bed.
Knock knock.
Just then, a calm knocking sound interrupted.
