#69
“That’s why I borrowed Esper Woo Tae-sik’s car.”
As he hung up the phone and got into the car, Ho-woo tried to estimate how much this luxurious interior might cost.
Even after the appearance of monsters, although people’s living radius had shrunk to within the city, there wasn’t a complete absence of travel between cities. Rather, after the monsters were somewhat sorted out, trade and transactions between cities became quite active.
Transporting goods with Espers assigned to the city as escorts was already considered a luxury, so Ho-woo couldn’t even begin to guess how much this car, made in another city, might have cost.
“Um… Wasn’t this expensive?”
“Honestly, I didn’t worry much about the price. My priority was safety. I chose the sturdiest one.”
As he said this, winking one eye, he looked quite adorable.
“Now you need to fasten your seatbelt.”
Yul leaned over to fasten Ho-woo’s seatbelt before starting the car. The car, which started smoothly without any vibration, was worth its high price.
Even though the windows were tinted black, the outside was clearly visible from the inside, so it didn’t feel claustrophobic.
“More importantly, are you feeling alright? I was a bit worried this morning that I might have pushed you too hard when you could barely walk. As I said, since I had such a short period of not being an Esper, I’m not good at gauging these things, so please feel free to share your opinion anytime.”
“It’s okay. This is just because I haven’t exercised…”
Suffering from full-body muscle pain after running just 7 laps around what was essentially just a large space could hardly be considered healthy. Since this was likely to be repeated several times in the future, Ho-woo impulsively asked something that suddenly came to mind while patting his sore thighs.
“By the way, is it good to sit on a donut cushion when you have muscle pain?”
“…A donut cushion, you say?”
Yul kept his eyes on the road, his face contorting strangely as if he had heard the strangest thing in the world. With an odd expression that seemed like he might burst into laughter or sadness, he twitched the corner of his lips.
“Today when I went in groaning, the person next to me gave me one to sit on. I thought it was for hemorrhoids, I didn’t know it was good for muscle pain too.”
It didn’t seem to have much effect though.
Ho-woo kept massaging his body, which felt no different either way. If it’s good for muscle pain, maybe I should buy one instead of borrowing. It probably wouldn’t be too expensive, so it might not be a bad idea to keep one.
As Ho-woo was lost in thought about whether to look into it or not, Yul glanced at him while stopped at a traffic light.
“By ‘the person next to you’, do you mean the person I met in front of the company last time?”
“How did you know? He’s my senior, so he sits next to me.”
“Well… I thought so.”
Yul avoided a direct answer, trailing off at the end of his sentence.
“So, have you heard that it’s good for muscle pain?”
“No.”
At this firm answer, Ho-woo carefully reconsidered the morning’s situation.
Himself, trudging in with his legs not straightening properly due to muscle pain, and Seong-jo, whose face turned pale when their eyes met.
Somehow, a hypothesis he really didn’t want to apply came to mind.
Am I…
Let’s not think about it.
Ho-woo quietly buried in his heart the reason why Seong-jo had handed him the donut cushion. He didn’t want to utter that word starting with ‘h’ out loud.
It was unfair and embarrassing, but it was obvious that if he went and said, “That’s not what it is,” it would lead to an even more embarrassing situation.
Anyway, it was a misunderstanding that would soon disappear, as the muscle pain would likely subside to some extent after just one more day of suffering.
“I guess he misunderstood. More importantly, why did you suddenly decide to pack me lunches?”
Ho-woo deliberately changed the subject. Yul, not needing to dwell on a topic Ho-woo found uncomfortable, gently went along with this effort.
“I wanted to do it for you.”
The concise and clean answer was the unadorned truth.
A packed lunch…
Ho-woo turned his head away from Yul and swallowed a bitter smile. When he was young, he used to envy the kids who brought lunches packed by their mothers on field trips.
Although the children who received packed lunches grumbled about it being troublesome, Ho-woo just envied them. His father was busy. Their family situation wasn’t affluent enough for him to be spoiled. The child had to grow up early, and he would quietly sit in a corner and cry, unable to even take out the lunchbox he had filled himself by rummaging through the refrigerator.
Looking back now, it seemed like a trivial matter, but as a child, it felt like quite a big wound. The hushed glances and murmuring rumors from those around him were like a stigma that followed him from his earliest memories until high school graduation.
With his current temperament, he would have snapped back, “Yeah, it must be nice to have both your parents!” But back then, Ho-woo chose to smile instead of shedding bitter tears.
“Alright, I’ll look forward to it.”
That’s why Ho-woo couldn’t help but be weak to this man. The affection and kindness poured out without conditions were so sweet that he couldn’t help but give his heart to Oh-yul’s existence.
“I noticed an empty side dish container in the bag hanging on the door handle, so it seems you finished all the side dishes I gave you last time.”
“Side dishes?”
“The dried shredded squid. Did it suit your taste?”
“Ah…”
Ho-woo suddenly remembered the dried shredded squid he had thrown into the food waste bin intact, too angry after hearing about Yul’s news to eat it. Although he hadn’t taken it out to eat many times, it had suited his taste quite well.
“Was it not good?”
Yul, who had now parked the car in the apartment parking lot, cast a sideways glance.
“It was delicious.”
Answering without having eaten it all made Ho-woo’s conscience sting painfully. Still, it’s better than saying I threw it all away, right? This is just a white lie.
Convincing himself, Ho-woo nodded slightly.
“It’s fortunate that from now on, we can eat dinner together without having to prepare separately. It seems my efforts have paid off.”
Yul got out of the car and picked up two heavy bags from the back seat. Ho-woo, who had been gathering his own bag to get out, quickly approached the side and reached for the bags, not having realized they were in the car.
“Let me help you.”
With the guilt of throwing away the dried squid weighing heavily on his conscience, he couldn’t let Yul carry the visibly heavy bags alone, especially since they were just going next door. The fact that everything in those bags was ingredients made Ho-woo’s conscience sting even more sharply.
“…”
“What’s wrong?”
However, Yul, firmly gripping the bags, just looked down at Ho-woo with a strange gaze without loosening his grip.
“Sometimes it seems you forget that I’m an Esper.”
“No, I’m well aware that you’re an Esper. Come on, loosen your grip a bit. Why are you holding on so tight?”
Ho-woo pouted at the fingers that wouldn’t budge even when he applied force.
“Wouldn’t it be better for me to carry these then?”
“If we’re talking about strength, sure.”
Certainly, Espers were stronger than ordinary people and had superior basic physical abilities.
But so what?
Just because someone has good abilities and is strong doesn’t mean they have to do everything alone. A relationship where one person unilaterally takes care of everything isn’t a relationship. It’s devotion.
“I don’t like making my partner do all the hard work either.”
At the gentle curving of Ho-woo’s eyes and the light tickling touch on his tightly clenched hand, Yul slowly loosened his grip.
“That’s right.”
As if coaxing a young animal, Ho-woo didn’t miss that moment and snatched away the rather heavy bag.
“It’s quite heavy.” The small voice muttering to himself dispersed. Ho-woo looked back at Yul, who had a slightly dazed expression, while adjusting the slipping bag.
“This is heavy, let’s hurry inside.”
At Ho-woo’s urging, Yul put on a faint smile.
‘Really, how could I not love you?’
He smiled bitterly as he moved his feet.
***
Ho-woo held the lunchbox, recalling the morning just a few days ago. Today too, he had shyly smiled and handed Ho-woo a lunchbox. It must be troublesome to wake up early and pack side dishes, but Oh-yul seemed to wake up at some ungodly hour because the lunchbox Ho-woo received always had a slight warmth to it.
‘Thank you. But isn’t it troublesome?’
To remind him that he could stop anytime, Ho-woo carefully asked as they commuted together.
Yul, who greatly enjoyed not only packing lunches but also driving Ho-woo to work in his newly acquired car, tilted his head as he personally opened the passenger door.
‘What is?’
‘Driving me, or the lunchboxes?’
‘Oh, all of this is my pleasure, so please don’t worry about it. Rather…’
He seemed about to say something more, his lips parting, but then he closed his mouth. At this reaction, Ho-woo urged him on, seeming a bit frustrated.
‘Rather what?’
‘I meant to say that I’d be sad if you were uncomfortable with it.’
Only after personally fastening Ho-woo’s seatbelt in the passenger seat did Yul sit in the driver’s seat. Today too, he showed off his sparkling, unfading appearance from the morning.
‘Everything is for you.’
Ho-woo fiddled with the small bag containing the lunchbox that still held some warmth. The expensive car smoothly left the parking lot, and after that, the day continued as usual.
Packing lunches, driving him.
Honestly, it was comfortable. He had now become quite accustomed to the care that seemed to be slowly taming Ho-woo, attending to everything one by one. In fact, he might even feel a bit empty if there were no lunchbox or if he wasn’t driven.
Moreover, his lover was overjoyed, his eyes crinkling completely into a smile when Ho-woo brought back the lunchbox containers cleaned after emptying them neatly.
