Chapter 104
Of course, it was Cha Yoon who opened the door. He grabbed Seo-jung’s car door tightly with a face full of discontent.
Seo-jung tried to pull the door from the opposite side, but it didn’t budge at all. Finally, he sighed and spoke.
“I told you I have to go to work.”
“So you couldn’t wait for just 3 minutes? I know you have plenty of time until your work starts…. You know, when I look at you, you’re really stubborn too? I asked you not to go, to wait, and you still left, making me run after you.”
As Cha Yoon’s grumbling continued without pause, Seo-jung lowered his gaze. When will this ever end? He was filled with thoughts of wanting to leave this place.
Noticing that Seo-jung was only half-listening to him, Cha Yoon stopped talking and held out his hand.
“Fine, just take this then.”
In Cha Yoon’s hand was a shopping bag. Not just any shopping bag, but one with a large heart printed in the center.
What’s this now? As Seo-jung looked at it suspiciously due to its unusual appearance, Cha Yoon added an explanation.
“Why are you looking at it like that? It’s nothing weird, okay? It’s just breakfast I brought for you.”
If you don’t believe me, you can check it yourself. Cha Yoon opened the tightly held shopping bag to show its contents. As he said, inside the bag were orange juice and a sandwich neatly packed in a small box.
“I made a sandwich instead of rice because I thought you wouldn’t eat breakfast with me.”
“……”
“I made an egg salad sandwich because you said you like it, so eat it on your way to work.”
Thinking he had sufficiently proven his point, Cha Yoon closed the shopping bag and held it out to Seo-jung.
Seo-jung couldn’t readily accept the shopping bag. It was because memories of Cha Yoon from before he lost his memories overlapped in his mind.
Eating breakfast together had been like a routine for the two of them, but it was different on days when they overslept due to the aftermath of the previous night. In situations where they were barely able to prepare and leave in a hurry, there was no time for breakfast for the two. Instead, on such days, Cha Yoon would without fail prepare a simple breakfast and place it in Seo-jung’s hands, and the egg sandwich was one of those breakfast menu items.
It was when they got in the car together to go to work. Cha Yoon suddenly reached out his hand towards him.
‘Honey, this is breakfast I made for you to eat on the way.’
‘You were busy getting ready too, why did you make something like this?’
‘Does that mean I shouldn’t prepare breakfast? That’s just making excuses. What’s more important than feeding and taking care of Ki Seo-jung?’
‘Is that what someone who kept begging for just one more round at dawn thinks?’
Seo-jung playfully poked Cha Yoon’s cheek, who was sitting in the driver’s seat. He blinked at Seo-jung’s touch and then grasped the hand that had touched his face.
‘That’s why I made it even more delicious as a sign of repentance. Filled with my love and affection.’
It’ll probably be really delicious. So eat this and forgive me, okay?
Cha Yoon rubbed his cheek against Seo-jung’s hand that he was holding. With a face that was lovely just to look at and even acting cute, it was impossible not to give in.
‘Alright. Since you say you made it more delicious, I’ll forgive you.’
‘Ah, as expected, my boyfriend is such an angel.’
Seo-jung burst into laughter at Cha Yoon’s following quip.
In this way, small but meaningful memories had accumulated, and the egg sandwich, which had no particular likes or dislikes before, became one of Seo-jung’s favorite foods. Although he couldn’t bring himself to eat it after breaking up with Cha Yoon, that’s how it had been.
But now, to eat an egg sandwich made by none other than Cha Yoon? The moment he accepted it, he could clearly see himself wavering. That’s why he shouldn’t accept it. Although it was just a sandwich the size of a palm, it held more meaning to Seo-jung than expected, which made it even more so.
“I’m fine, so you eat this, Cha Yoon.”
“No. I made it for you, why should I eat it?”
But Cha Yoon wasn’t one to back down easily.
“I can’t stand seeing myself going hungry.”
“……”
“So don’t skip breakfast and take this.”
Seo-jung flinched at the words that pierced his ears. My own. Another nonsensical statement.
“Who on earth says I’m yours?”
“Who else would it be? It’s you, hyung. I just told you earlier.”
“……”
“A promise is a promise.”
What promise…. Unable to bear Cha Yoon’s brazen behavior of mentioning words that weren’t even written and continuing to lie so nonchalantly, Seo-jung finally blurted out what he shouldn’t have said.
“Stop lying. You never wrote such things.”
“How would you know that, hyung? Didn’t you say you didn’t look at the message?”
“……”
“Don’t tell me you lied to me? Did you check the message and say you didn’t? Is that it?”
Cha Yoon poured out words as if he had been waiting for Seo-jung to confess the truth. It felt like he had fallen for it again, unable to resist that little bit.
Seo-jung realized that whether he confessed the truth here or told a lie, he couldn’t steer the situation in the direction he wanted. The best method in this situation was to ignore it.
“I’m late, I need to go now.”
“Wow, changing the subject.”
“This is fine, so take it and share it with the other contestants.”
“Am I crazy? To give to others what I made for you? Absolutely not.”
“Then eat it all yourself. Are you going to keep holding onto the car door?”
Seo-jung glanced at Cha Yoon’s hand tightly gripping his car door, hinting at him. Cha Yoon let out a dry laugh and then nodded.
“Alright. I won’t ask any more about the message. But in return, since I’ve compromised, you take this too.”
“Cha Yoon.”
“I woke up early and even went to the bakery to make this for you. What’s the point if you don’t eat it?”
I worked hard to make this, you know. Come on. As if changing tactics, Cha Yoon pretended to massage his shoulders and put on a pitiful expression.
Every time Cha Yoon blinked, his long eyelashes fluttered. Momentarily distracted by this sight, Seo-jung eventually sighed.
Cha Yoon noticed that this was a sign of Seo-jung’s permission. He had been lowering his eyes, but now he smiled as if nothing had happened and placed the shopping bag handle in Seo-jung’s hand.
As their fingers intertwined, Seo-jung recalled the situation at the table yesterday. Cha Yoon’s hand placing a tangerine in his hand after dinner. It seemed that Seo-jung wasn’t the only one reminded of that moment, as Cha Yoon brought up the previous night’s events.
“I saw last night that you didn’t eat the tangerine I peeled for you and just left it on the table, but don’t do that with this.”
“……”
“I’ll make it for you again, so don’t feel like you need to save it.”
“What are you talking about? I never felt that way.”
“That’s what I’m saying. If you don’t want to be misunderstood as not eating it because you’re saving it, just eat it deliciously.”
Cha Yoon tilted his head as if challenging Seo-jung to refute if there was anything wrong with what he said. But when no particular rebuttal came from Seo-jung, Cha Yoon grinned as if pleased and continued speaking.
“Just don’t bring it back uneaten. I’ll think you were just looking at it, feeling it was too precious to even put in your mouth.”
If you don’t want me to misunderstand, just do well on your own. Okay? Cha Yoon warned him several times as if threatening him, then slowly let go of the hand he was holding. As the warm touch that had enveloped his hand moved away, Seo-jung looked up. Cha Yoon met his eyes as if he had been waiting for this.
“Have a safe trip to work. Don’t forget to come back early without stopping anywhere on your way home. I’ll be waiting for you at home. Got it?”
“……”
“Take care.”
Having said everything he wanted to say, Cha Yoon finally relaxed his grip on the car door. Seo-jung looked at Cha Yoon’s face for quite a long time before getting into the driver’s seat.
With the sound of the car door closing, the two were completely separated. Taking a deep breath, Seo-jung placed the shopping bag he was holding on the passenger seat and quickly started the engine.
Soon, Seo-jung’s car slowly began to move. As he was getting quite far from the X House, Seo-jung, who had been looking straight ahead, rolled his eyes to look at the side mirror.
He could see Cha Yoon still standing in the same place, watching him, even though the car had departed. Just go inside already, why are you still standing there? As he was thinking this and unable to take his eyes off, it happened.
At that moment, as if he had sensed Seo-jung’s gaze, Cha Yoon lightly waved his hand.
“…What the.”
Seo-jung was flustered by the timing that matched perfectly, as if it had been planned, even though there was no way Cha Yoon could see him from outside. It felt like his inner thoughts, which he absolutely didn’t want to be discovered, had been exposed.
Seo-jung quickly turned his gaze away and increased his speed. Even at times like this, quickly leaving the place was the best method.
A moment later, Seo-jung’s car, which had been moving away from the X House, soon completely disappeared from view. Only then did Cha Yoon lower his waving hand and disappear into the X House.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
