It was an emotion he was feeling for the first time, and after his grandfather passed away, Ian had consecutively experienced terrible things he had never experienced in his entire life. So he hadn’t had the leisure to properly look at his heart.
Of all times, why did he realize it at this moment? He should hide his face that must have turned red unattractively, but he couldn’t move even a fingertip as he wished. Like a butterfly caught in a spider’s web, escaping from Ganghyuk’s gaze was impossible.
“Do you have a fever?”
A hand that approached suddenly covered his forehead. At the warm body temperature, his heart now beat with the momentum to jump out of his mouth. It’s not good when my heart beats like this. I need to calm my heart quickly.
However, contrary to his mind, his body gradually emitted more heat, and Ganghyuk’s eyes narrowed. His eyes, which rolled around the air once as if lost in thought, touched Ian’s face again.
“Is it because of what happened yesterday?”
At Ganghyuk’s question, Ian bit his lips in surprise. It was something he wanted to erase from Ganghyuk’s mind if possible. Asking if he could kiss him with a face drunk on alcohol. How ridiculous must it have been?
His awareness was just late, but apparently he had already liked Ganghyuk. No matter how drunk he was, if it had been another person in front of him, he absolutely wouldn’t have said such a thing. In the first place, there would have been no reason to drink so unguardedly.
“I’ve completely forgotten, so you forget it too and finish eating.”
Ganghyuk gestured with his eyes toward the rice bowl that was still more than half full. It was a statement that didn’t match the context before and after, but Ian nodded and bowed his head deeply.
He took a full spoonful of rice, but couldn’t taste anything. He only perceived Ganghyuk’s presence in front of him.
Even though it was morning, a pleasant scent came from Ganghyuk. Since he couldn’t have sprayed perfume this early, it was his pheromone scent.
An intense fragrance that made him wonder why he was only noticing it now lingered at the tip of his nose. It was a scent that could be overpowering, but it suited Ganghyuk more than anything.
Ian squeezed his eyes shut and opened them. Even sitting still, his head was dizzy. His genitals inside his shorts twitched. The corpus cavernosum that quickly hardened in the morning was cruel.
“If you’re hurting, take medicine. I’m getting up first, so eat slowly.”
While he hesitated, Ganghyuk’s bowl was quickly emptied. Even as Ganghyuk got up holding his empty bowl, Ian kept his gaze fixed only on the bowl.
He was fortunate to be sitting at the table. If Ganghyuk had caught him with an erection, it would have been an embarrassing situation incomparable to the drunken behavior from yesterday.
The leisurely footsteps grew farther and farther away. The faint sound of rustling came from inside the room, as if he was getting ready for work. The moment Ian imagined Ganghyuk taking off his clothes, he banged his head on the table with a thud.
At the same time as becoming aware of his first love, he also realized a fact he didn’t want to know. That he was an unspeakable pervert.
ლ
“Two soups here.”
“Yes. Just a moment.”
The small restaurant interior bustled with customers. Not long after the sign light came on and the ‘Open for Business’ placard was hung, tables began filling up one by one, and by lunchtime there was even a waiting line.
Ian placed two boiling earthenware pots onto a tray. He also heaped fresh kimchi generously into bowls and brought them to the table of the customer who had just ordered.
“Enjoy your meal.”
Even while exhausted, he greeted customers with a bright smile. Judging by the slightly familiar faces, they seemed to be customers who had often stopped by the restaurant when Grandfather was alive.
“I heard the old man passed away and thought I’d never taste this broth again. The grandson is a good kid.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Don’t young people these days not want to do this kind of business?”
“It’s good for us. Let’s hurry and eat. The broth here tastes best when you blow on it while it’s hot.”
At the voices coming from behind him, Ian scrunched up the bridge of his nose. Every time he heard stories about Grandfather, emotions surged up once.
At times like this, keeping his body busy was the best. He was trying hard not to recall what happened this morning along with thoughts of Grandfather.
“Please ring me up.”
“Yes! I’ll be right there.”
There weren’t many tables, but working alone, even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough. He ran around frantically until the soles of his feet burned.
After lunchtime passed and he finished clearing away the pile of dishes, his arms and legs were drooping like those of a mollusk.
He stretched his arms out and collapsed onto one of the tables. How on earth did Grandfather do this work every day? After working for just one day—no, just half a day—his stamina was completely depleted.
His vision grew dizzy at the fact that the dinner service still remained. The fresh kimchi was more popular than expected, so almost everything he’d made was gone. Only a few leaves and seasoning remained in the large basin.
He needed to make fresh kimchi again and cook new rice, but he didn’t have the energy to lift even a fingertip.
“I wonder if Executive Director had lunch…”
His head, which had been organizing what needed to be done, was suddenly filled with thoughts of Ganghyuk. After becoming aware of his feelings, his interest in Ganghyuk naturally grew as well.
He was curious about what he did from when he went to work in the morning until evening. Since he’d never worked at a company, he spread his wings of imagination based on the dramas he’d watched.
Since he said he was Managing Executive Director, it must be an incredibly high position. Come to think of it, he had many subordinates he brought around. Though they all looked like they’d appear in gangster movies rather than sitting at desks doing work.
Yesterday too, Ganghyuk’s subordinates had cleaned up the restaurant for Ian. When he came back from the market and looked inside the restaurant, he was shocked.
Seeing it organized even more neatly than when he’d done it himself, he thought you must do this kind of work well to work under Ganghyuk.
Imagining Ganghyuk sitting in a spacious office looking over documents, heat flowed from his ears. It seemed like it would be incredibly sexy.
Ian quickly rubbed his cheeks against the tin table. The cool sensation cooled his heated skin.
In his imagination, he even slipped glasses onto him. The sight of him wearing half-rimmed glasses and signing documents while scratching with a fountain pen was as splendid as a scene from a movie. It was when he was grinning.
Ding-a-ling.
At the sound of the door opening, Ian bolted upright. Two ladies wearing hiking clothes entered the restaurant.
“Can we eat now?”
“Yes. You can sit anywhere you’re comfortable.”
It was time to work again. He really wanted to see Ganghyuk, but it was still far from quitting time.
Moreover, to make a good impression on Ganghyuk, he had to work hard at the business. Recalling the memory of bragging that he could run the restaurant well, vitality circulated through his tired body.
‘I need to sell a million bowls from now on, so I don’t have time to be doing this.’
When he bought soup ingredients at the market and organized the account book, he tried tapping the calculator once. By simple calculation, he concluded that he needed to sell a million bowls to repay the 1 billion won.
Realistically thinking, it was a dizzyingly impossible number, but instead of despairing, Ian took strength.
He had grown up under the most sincere and diligent grandfather in the world. He was more confident than anyone at working with determination. As long as the restaurant remained, he planned to sell as many as possible.
ლ
Ganghyuk, who had opened the front door and entered the house, paused while taking off his shoes. The sound of deep breathing coming from the sofa brushed past his ears.
When he finished taking off his shoes and approached where the sound was coming from, he saw Ian curled up pitifully.
His languid gaze touched the wall clock. 10 PM. He’d gotten off work later than yesterday. An emergency meeting had been scheduled right before quitting time regarding the Daegu factory site. After having a meeting for five whole hours, the back of his neck was stiff.
While rubbing his gritty eyes, he sat on the back of the sofa. Had he fallen asleep exhausted from waiting? Come to think of it, he hadn’t contacted Ian separately. Since Ian didn’t have a cell phone.
