Chapter 47
A sigh-like murmur escaped between his lips. Seo-jung rubbed his face. The handwriting was all too familiar to him. It would have been stranger if he hadn’t recognized it.
Seo-jung lifted the cover. After confirming the contents, he couldn’t do anything. He even forgot to breathe. All Seo-jung could do was take in the sight of the food in the bowl with his eyes.
He gripped the table with both hands. Seo-jung lowered his head and closed his eyes.
Inside was porridge. Specifically, the beef and vegetable porridge that Cha Yoon used to make for him occasionally before he lost his memory.
Unlike Cha Yoon, who was healthy and rarely fell ill, Seo-jung would get seriously sick once a year like clockwork. At those times, Cha Yoon would stay by his side and take care of him as if they were one body.
The beef and vegetable porridge was one of those things. For Seo-jung, who couldn’t eat seafood, Cha Yoon had come up with his own version of a nourishing porridge.
‘You know you have to eat well to get better quickly. Eat it all even if you don’t have an appetite.’
‘I’ll eat it all even without you saying that. How could I leave anything when you made it?’
Cha Yoon, who was staying by Seo-jung’s side, nagged him in his own way. Seo-jung savored those pleasant words as he took a big spoonful of porridge and put it in his mouth.
How can even the way you eat be so pretty? You’d be even prettier if you weren’t sick. Thinking this, Cha Yoon let out a big sigh.
‘Ah, I wish I could take away all of Ki Seo-jung’s sickness.’
‘I told you not to say things like that.’
‘It’s because I think it would hurt less for me to be sick than to see you sick, hyung.’
‘You don’t think I feel the same way?’
‘……’
‘I feel the same. It would be a thousand times better for me to be sick than to see you sick.’
So don’t say things like that. Cha Yoon mulled over Seo-jung’s words and smiled.
‘A thousand times? Ki Seo-jung must really fucking love me.’
‘……’
‘But I win. What’s a thousand times? It can’t be expressed in numbers for me.’
Although he said it jokingly, Seo-jung knew well that he was more sincere than anyone. Cha Yoon leaned forward and lightly kissed Seo-jung’s lips.
‘So get better soon, hyung.’
A conversation he had once shared with Cha Yoon flashed quickly across his darkened vision. Seo-jung took a deep breath after closing his eyes tightly and opening them again.
He slowly pulled out a chair. Sitting in front of the porridge bowl, Seo-jung picked up the neatly placed spoon.
Seo-jung took a spoonful of the porridge Cha Yoon had made and put it in his mouth. The cold porridge rolled around in his mouth.
The taste of the porridge was ordinary, but at least for Ki Seo-jung, it was special.
A familiar taste that Seo-jung knew very well. A taste he could never forget until he died. It was the taste of longing, so intense that it tightened his throat.
Ki Seo-jung bit his lip at the pain he felt in his chest. Tears that had welled up in his eyes finally rolled down his cheeks. He hurriedly rubbed his eyes. But once the crying started, it wouldn’t easily stop.
Seo-jung forcefully scooped up more porridge. He chewed and swallowed the porridge that filled his mouth. Tears fell occasionally, but Seo-jung didn’t stop spooning until he emptied the bowl.
***
What did you eat for breakfast?
– There was porridge on the table, so I ate that.
You cried while eating the porridge. Why did you cry?
– It was just… such a familiar taste. I think I was reminded of the past without realizing it.
Do you know who made the porridge?
– …Yes.
Comments 6784
– ??
– Oh my.. What’s this, why is he crying
– Why is Seo-jung suddenly crying
– My heart hurts ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– Did he become emotionally weak because he’s sick??
⤷ Seems like it
– It must be lonely being sick aloneㅠㅠㅠ
⤷ True.. When I lived alone, I missed home the most when I was sick
⤷ 333 I know that feeling, it’s heartbreaking
– Seo-jung, don’t cry, stop it
– But his crying is just like a melancholic male lead
⤷ Seems like he might have a deceased wife..
⤷⤷ Damn, I haven’t eaten but I feel full
– He’s been pushed around a lot by Cha Yoon since entering X House, I’d burst out crying too if it were me
⤷ Agreed
⤷ Cha Yoon’s personality finally made Seo-jung cry
⤷ Huh? Why is Cha Yoon suddenly mentioned?
⤷⤷ 222 Cha Yoon went to the hospital with him, didn’t he?
⤷⤷ 3
⤷⤷⤷ Who was the reason they went in the first place lolㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Don’t fight, look, the interview is out
– Wait
– Wow
– My heart is racing so fast right now
– He nailed it.
– I held my breath at the last answer
– What is this? What is this really??? Is this for real????? Not a hidden camera?
– He says it’s a familiar taste and he knows who made it?
– Damn, wow what is this..
– I’m going crazy with dopamine
– At this point, isn’t it a script?
⤷ 2 It would be stranger if it wasn’t a script
– What’s really going on here?
– Seo-jung cries eating porridge made by Cha Yoon -> Reason: Reminded of the past + Knows who made it = ??
– Damn, all the Cha-Jung shippers on my timeline are going crazy
– For Cha Yoon’s porridge to feel familiar, how many times must he have made it;;;
– What kind of past narrative did these two have to make him shed tears
– They must have married twice and divorced three times
⤷ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– I don’t know about anything else, but they must have been really close to make porridge when sick
⤷ True
⤷ Agree agree
– What if Seo-jung is just mistaking it for porridge his ex-girlfriend made?
⤷ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
⤷ Damn lolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅌㅋㅌㅋㅋ
– (GIF) Meanwhile, Ki Da-jung who made an RJD gif
⤷ First time seeing a man cry so prettily;;;
⤷ Why isn’t he an actor
⤷⤷ For real
⤷⤷ He should become an actor after PTMX ends
⤷⤷⤷ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋAgree
– So envious of the PTMX production team
– Why didn’t I watch this live
– I want to faint and wake up when the final episode is uploaded
***
As the red sunset receded and the sky darkened, the front door of X House opened. The first to arrive were Cha Yoon and Yeo Ji-yoon.
“Oh my, I’m tired. Cha Yoon, you worked hard today going around.”
“Yeah, you too, Yeo Ji-yoon.”
Ji-yoon patted her legs and waved her hand. Cha Yoon nodded briefly and headed straight for the kitchen. What greeted him as soon as he entered was an empty dining table.
Feeling his heart rate increase, Cha Yoon approached the sink. Next to the clean dishes, he saw a bowl with water droplets still on it. It was the bowl he had put the porridge in.
“…Looks like he ate it.”
Cha Yoon mumbled softly. The corners of his mouth were raised sky-high.
Was it delicious? Did you know I made it when you ate it? Aren’t you grateful to me? He had a mountain of questions he wanted to ask Ki Seo-jung.
Cha Yoon walked out to the living room, his steps quicker than usual. By then, the contestants who had gone on dates had arrived one by one, and the entrance area was quite busy.
Of course, that was none of Cha Yoon’s business. Just as he was turning towards the second-floor stairs, ignoring the noise made by the contestants:
Cha Yoon had to stop in his tracks. It was because he spotted Ki Seo-jung, who had been his goal. Their eyes met head-on.
Cha Yoon naturally scanned Ki Seo-jung’s face and frowned. His eyes were redder and more swollen than usual. As if he had been crying…
“You’re back?”
Ki Seo-jung’s soft voice interrupted Cha Yoon’s thoughts. His voice was unusually gentle, as if he knew that Cha Yoon had made the porridge for him.
Smoothing out his expression as if he hadn’t been frowning, Cha Yoon opened his mouth.
“Yeah. Well, did you rest well…”
However, Cha Yoon couldn’t finish his sentence. Because Ki Seo-jung brushed past him, as if to tell him it was all his imagination.
“Seo-jung, look at this. This is a mousse cake that Sae-young made herself, it’s really amazing, right?”
“Yes. It looks too pretty to eat.”
Turning around, Cha Yoon saw Ki Seo-jung’s back as he conversed with Gong Min-wook and Kim Sae-young.
Damn, so Ki Seo-jung is ignoring me now?
The answer to this question came quickly. No matter how positively he tried to think about it, this couldn’t be anything but ignoring him.
Cha Yoon let out a bitter laugh. We even made eye contact, but not a single word asking how my day was. While he welcomes others so warmly. I even made porridge for him to eat. I’m the only one in this X House who cares about him.
Once again, a wave of disappointment washed over him.
He remembered how he couldn’t focus on the date because he was thinking about Ki Seo-jung the whole time, how he stepped on the accelerator to get home even a little faster. He felt like an idiot.
His mood plummeted in an instant. It was torturous to keep watching this shitty situation.
Cha Yoon went up the stairs. With each step, he made a thunderous noise as if he was going to break the stairs.
Min-wook and Sae-young, who had paused their conversation, turned their gaze to Cha Yoon, but Seo-jung stubbornly refused to look.
***
As always, when night fell, a drinking session began. It was under the plausible pretext that they couldn’t let the weekend pass like this. Everyone except Seo-jung, who had to go to work the next day, had a glass of alcohol in front of them.
While others were chatting in small groups, Cha Yoon was drinking beer, making no effort to hide his bad mood. The contestants who occasionally glanced at Cha Yoon all had the same thought.
If he’s in such a bad mood, wouldn’t it be better to just go to his room? But they couldn’t stop him if he wanted to stay. Let’s just ignore him. The contestants naturally turned their eyes away and continued talking with the people they had become close to.
“The side dishes are delicious too, shall we all make a toast together?”
“Sounds good!”
At Min-ha’s suggestion, the contestants one by one raised their glasses. Seo-jung also joined in, raising his water glass. Cha Yoon snorted at the sight of Ki Seo-jung. It irritated him that he ignored his words so well, yet listened attentively to such meaningless talk.
Thoroughly annoyed, Cha Yoon blatantly ignored Min-ha’s words and emptied his glass alone. Min-ha blinked, seemingly taken aback by Cha Yoon’s sudden action.
Just then, as if on cue, a ding-dong doorbell sound rang out. Min-ha jumped up from her seat.
“Oh, I’ll go check!”
The sight of Min-ha disappearing down the entrance hallway seemed familiar, as if he had seen it before.
“Oh, oh…?”
A moment later, Min-ha’s surprised voice was heard from afar. What’s going on? The contestants murmured and turned their attention towards the hallway.
Soon, Min-ha appeared. Her face was flushed. What’s up with her? Even Cha Yoon was puzzled by Min-ha’s expression. His curiosity was quickly satisfied.
Cha Yoon’s face froze. It was because he made eye contact with the woman who appeared behind Seo Min-ha.
He reflexively turned his head towards Seo-jung. Seo-jung’s surprised expression was tinged with pleasure.
“Hello.”
A new face had arrived.
It was the appearance of Shin Da-bin, the catfish that would overturn the dynamics of X House.
