After finishing his meal reluctantly over quite a long time, Junghyun stood in the kitchen, scanning the cabinets with his eyes.
He wanted to have some tea… but didn’t know where anything was.
Though he had lived in this house for three months, this was only the fourth time he’d entered the kitchen.
Partly because it felt like Director Jang’s space so he was reluctant to enter, but also because he wasn’t familiar with kitchens in general, so he hadn’t been conscious of the space itself.
That’s why he was at a loss. He really had no idea. How things were arranged.
Feeling it would be rude to rummage through everything, he was surveying the unnecessarily spacious kitchen when a low voice suddenly came from behind.
“What are you doing standing there?”
Startled by the slightly awkward, somewhat stiff voice, he turned around to see Jaehyuk standing at the doorway connecting to the dining room, still in his suit with his jacket and coat in hand.
Surprised by his sudden appearance and hesitating for a moment, Junghyun quickly pretended to be casual and turned his head.
“I was looking for tea.”
“Tea?”
When Junghyun shrugged his shoulders at the implied question of “you?”, Jaehyuk asked again with a puzzled look.
“Then shouldn’t you open the cabinet doors?”
The implication was clear: unless he suddenly developed X-ray vision, he wouldn’t be able to see where the tea was just by standing there.
Junghyun knew that.
But…
“I’m analyzing.”
“…Analyzing?”
“Usually heavy items are stored below and lighter ones above, so it should be in the upper cabinets, but considering Director Jang’s height and movement patterns, it’s probably in the lower cabinet of the island counter near the water dispenser and kettle.”
“That’s correct.”
Saying it was right there, Jaehyuk tossed his outerwear on a chair, came further into the kitchen, and opened a drawer.
Then he asked, “Coffee?”
“No.”
The answer came out too quickly, and Junghyun momentarily felt dismayed, but it was already said.
Nothing he could do about it.
“Just some warm tea. I think I’m coming down with something.”
“Then ginger tea might be better, right?”
“Any warm tea is fine.”
Feeling somewhat awkward and tense, he deliberately avoided eye contact while answering.
Then he stood with his arms crossed as if hugging his stomach. Jaehyuk took out a cup, filled it with hot water, and retrieved a small bottle from the refrigerator. Watching him naturally mix ginger syrup with the hot water, Junghyun felt curious.
“…You surprisingly know well what’s in the refrigerator.”
“It’s my house, so I should know where things are. It seems stranger that you’ve lived in this house for over three months and can’t even find tea?”
“I was taught not to touch other people’s things.”
At those casually dropped words, Junghyun himself paused. But the words had already left his mouth.
He had intended to say that the kitchen was Director Jang’s space so he felt uncomfortable touching things, but it came out as usual.
Short and unfriendly.
Remembering his uncle’s advice that all his tragedies begin with his mouth, he slightly moved his lips, when Jaehyuk asked again.
“Have you eaten?”
“I have.”
“That’s good.”
As Jaehyuk handed him the cup of ginger tea with slight concern, Junghyun carefully took it.
Holding the cup with both hands, feeling its warmth, he blew on it to cool it down when Jaehyuk unexpectedly began speaking.
“The right refrigerator mainly stores side dishes and food ingredients, the middle one has drinks, bottled water, fruits, and tea. And the left one is the freezer.”
Momentarily stunned by Jaehyuk’s sudden kitchen introduction, Junghyun paused while Jaehyuk continued with his next explanation.
Quickly, like a briefing.
“It’s better to use hot water from the purifier when making tea. And ice is in the freezer. You can use the espresso machine for coffee, but… you probably can’t use it, so use the capsule machine.”
“That’s okay. I won’t be drinking coffee for a while.”
“…Why?”
To the implied question of whether he hadn’t always had coffee every morning, Junghyun pretended to drink his tea and vaguely answered.
“I’m trying to cut down. I’ve heard from various sources that coffee might be causing my sleep problems.”
It was just a made-up excuse based on something he’d heard somewhere, but fortunately, Jaehyuk accepted it easily.
“That’s possible. After all, caffeine is a stimulant that affects the central nervous system. Good thinking. Tea is better than coffee, even for your stomach. I’ll have them prepare various types of tea. It would be good if I quit along with you.”
Once again, Jaehyuk’s way of speaking was consistently in the future tense.
Explaining the kitchen layout that Junghyun had no interest in, delicately preparing necessary things—through all these actions, what Jaehyuk wanted to convey was one thing.
There would be no divorce. That’s it.
But because Junghyun had already resolved to break up with him, talking about the future with him felt extremely unnatural and difficult.
He couldn’t halfheartedly go along with it, nor could he flatly say no.
Not knowing how to react to this absurd situation, he just kept sipping his tea, when Jaehyuk changed the subject.
“Go drink it in the bedroom.”
“…I’ll finish it, clean up, and then go.”
“Go drink it on the bed and rest. You look really unwell.”
This, too, was the same conversation continuing.
But it couldn’t be helped.
Even to Junghyun, he looked really unwell.
Thinking it would be stranger to claim he was fine with such a face, he found a suitable excuse.
“I tend to be like this in winter. My exercise has decreased a lot. And I overworked last month.”
“Then, should we take a short vacation to Hawaii or something? You haven’t been able to move around at all, so it might be good to get your body moving after so long. You haven’t been moving much either.”
As this disconnect in their thoughts continued, Junghyun stared at his cup and gave the most neutral answer.
“I don’t really like moving around in winter. And I don’t have a passport right now.”
“Why?”
“My father burned it.”
For a moment, Jaehyuk frowned as if the situation itself was incomprehensible.
“So, CEO Lee Wonjun burned your passport?”
At his reaction suggesting that this made no sense, a bitter smile escaped. At the same time, Junghyun newly realized how preciously Jaehyuk had been raised.
This is the kind of person he is. Someone who cannot tolerate anyone daring to touch his belongings.
Even if it’s his parents.
“He does that sometimes. Because I cause so much trouble and run away. He once completely scrapped a car I had only owned for a month, so burning a passport is kind of cute.”
Actually, a passport could be issued in a day, so if he had really wanted to, he could have gone anywhere even then.
But he deliberately chose not to because he knew there would be no end to it.
Now he regretted giving up so easily, but that’s how it was then.
“Even for a father, that seems tyrannical?”
“It happens all the time.”
“Things like that?”
“My family is actually quite moderate. I mean, I can’t say it’s normal, but it’s just so-so by our standards.”
“That level is violence.”
“That’s only how you see it because you’ve lived your entire life as someone in power…”
At that point, Junghyun realized his mistake and clenched his teeth.
He had spoken sarcastically again.
Despite needing to maintain a good atmosphere, his words came out aggressively as usual.
Thinking he had made another mistake, he hurriedly tried to smooth over the atmosphere by rambling whatever came to mind.
“Well, anyway, that level is fine. That’s why I meticulously scratched his most precious car with a crowbar after breaking all the windows. I even thoroughly cut the engine, so that car also went to the scrapyard. When he threatened to call the police, I told him I’d just set fire to the garage while I was at it, and he ended up not reporting it. Thanks to that, we reached an agreement, with lawyers involved, that he would never touch my car again.”
When Junghyun laughed, saying that’s why his car survived this time, Jaehyuk didn’t pursue the topic further.
“Still, it seems like dialogue is possible.”
“It’s dialogue with my uncle and lawyers in between. Direct conversation doesn’t work. Neither my father nor I listen to each other. If he tells the mediator to inform me that I’ll make headlines on page one of the society section for the unfilial crime of bringing a can of petroleum on my back to set fire to my father’s house, things go well. With various threats mixed in.”
“You really do seem like the type who would carry a can of petroleum on your back and ring the doorbell with a smile.”
“I wouldn’t even ring the bell. I’d pour the oil first.”
“On the garage,” Junghyun said calmly while drinking his tea, and Jaehyuk’s expression softened a bit.
When the face that had been stiff and serious until just a moment ago showed a somewhat natural smile, Junghyun glanced at him, examining his expression.
The atmosphere wasn’t bad.
It seemed like he could soon find a good timing.
“I’ll have to be careful not to scratch your car in the future.”
“If you’re going to scratch it, just crash it instead. Then I’d take your Bentley and run.”
“You can just use that one. It’s joint property anyway.”
“No thanks. I’d be scared to scratch that car above all.”
“It’s not the car you’re afraid of, it’s something else, right?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
