#058
“To stabilize your mind and body, meditation, yoga, walking, or drinking warm tea are also good methods. Or…”
After finishing his counseling session, Yeonwoo read the instruction sheet in his hand.
‘It’s over.’
After receiving his regularly scheduled counseling, he always returned home with heavy hands.
But today was different. Just one sheet of paper.
He was told to be careful of stress, but that was a problem everyone should be careful about.
He wasn’t sick anymore. That fact made him excited.
He decided to share this joy with Kang Dojun, who had been promoted from a close hyung to lover a few days ago. The voice came through before the ringtone even rang a few times.
– Did your treatment go well?
“I’m all better!”
– I thought so.
At his calm attitude, Yeonwoo was flustered and rolled his eyes.
“How come?”
Kang Dojun didn’t answer the interrogation and changed the subject with a voice tinged with laughter.
– You have plans, aren’t you late?
“There’s still an hour left.”
– Yeah. Have fun and see you later. Contact me if you need anything.
After dating Yeonwoo, Kang Dojun boldly abandoned his habit of turning off his phone during filming.
“Yes. Work hard on filming.”
Yeonwoo hung up the phone and quickly took a taxi home. As he mentioned in the call, besides visiting the hospital in the morning, he had another schedule.
***
The doorbell rang and Yeonwoo burst open the front door. In front of him was Kim Haseon, whose body was stiff as a piece of lumber and creaking.
“What are you doing?”
“This… this is my first time at a celebrity’s house. How do I enter when going in?”
“Say ‘excuse me.'”
“When leaving?”
“Goodbye.”
Yeonwoo closed the front door at the same time as those words.
Originally, Yeonwoo was supposed to visit Kim Haseon’s house, but with Kang Dojun’s permission, he invited Kim Haseon to his house instead.
The clear doorbell sound rang again. He opened the front door.
“Excuse me!”
“Come in. What’s in your hand?”
“Housewarming gift. But can I enter wearing shoes?”
Yeonwoo’s face crumpled like paper. He had invited him on Kang Dojun’s suggestion to play at his house rather than go to Kim Haseon’s house, but it seemed like he had done something unnecessary.
“No, I mean do you enter wearing shoes like overseas…”
“Dojun hyung is Korean. This is Korea too.”
“Oh, right. Right. His face is so heavenly that I momentarily forgot.”
He neatly took off his shoes and carefully stepped inside. Yeonwoo’s gaze turned to the bag in Kim Haseon’s hand.
“What’s that?”
“Knife set.”
Knowing it wasn’t food, Yeonwoo lost interest.
Kim Haseon looked around the house. A celebrity’s house! Then his gaze settled on the kitchen.
“Why is there so much bread?”
“Hyung bought it for me to eat. Should I give you one too?”
“…Doesn’t he see you as a pig? But where is the homeowner?”
“Filming.”
Yeonwoo answered while pouring water into a glass. The sleeves of the thin long-sleeved shirt he was wearing kept falling down and bothering him. The clothes looked too big for his build.
“Are those your clothes?”
“No, hyung’s.”
“You you you you you… Take it off right now! Bang! You shouldn’t wear other people’s clothes without permission! Did hyung teach you that on the boat?”
“Stop being crazy again. Don’t do it.”
He swatted away Kim Haseon’s hands that were roughly trying to take off his shirt as if annoyed. But due to their evenly matched strength, the shirt started to ride up.
Eventually, Yeonwoo just shouted.
“Ah! I got it, I got it! I’ll go change!”
Grumbling that Dojun hyung gave it to him to wear, he went into his room and slammed the door shut.
“Where are you going?”
During their time sharing the same cabin on the deep-sea fishing boat, they had seen each other naked countless times, so he wondered if he was suddenly being shy.
When he followed and tried to open the door, the handle wouldn’t turn as if it was locked. Soon the door opened and Yeonwoo appeared, having changed into different clothes.
“Happy now?”
“Why did you lock the door? Are you being modest?”
“What bullshit. Let’s just eat.”
Yeonwoo lightly pushed Kim Haseon, who was blocking the doorway, and headed to the kitchen to rummage through the refrigerator.
Kim Haseon came over and tapped the yellow character band-aid stuck to his face.
“But what’s this? Did you fall somewhere?”
“Yeah. Want to grill meat? Or sashimi? I bought some yesterday since you were coming.”
“Oh, thanks. Definitely meat. And in summer, it’s better to remove band-aids for better ventilation.”
“I’ll handle it myself.”
He remembered Yeonwoo from their deep-sea fishing boat days, when his great-grandmother had passed away and he was going through a particularly sensitive period.
‘If you’re done with work, go sleep quietly.’
Yeonwoo on the deep-sea fishing boat was the epitome of prickliness. It was only after time passed and he gradually got used to life that his personality became blunt.
Actually, even then Yeonwoo wasn’t particularly scary or anything. With his gentle face, being sensitive was just that. Moreover, he would silently finish all his work and even help the elderly workers.
‘A puppy growling is still just a puppy.’
Rather, he monopolized the sailors’ affection.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Kim Haseon played the role of his parent there.
It would be a lie to say that Kim Haseon’s cooperation wasn’t necessary for Yeonwoo to become the gentle person he is now.
That is to say, to put it nicely, he was very interested in others, and to put it badly, he was severely meddlesome.
Just like now.
“Cook it more before flipping.”
“……”
“Aren’t you going to cut it?”
“……”
“Cut this bone part too.”
He had tried his best to serve the guest who had come to visit, but he was a very demanding guest. Unable to bear it anymore, Yeonwoo eventually threw down the scissors and tongs.
“You grill it.”
Kim Haseon, who seemed more comfortable with that, quickly grabbed the scissors and tongs.
Tired of the continued interference, Yeonwoo flopped down on the living room sofa. Then, remembering what he and Kang Dojun had done here last night, he blushed and quickly sat up.
‘No, that big thing…’
“Ahem.”
As an adult, he knew how relationships worked. And he wasn’t unaware of how to do it with a man either.
If they were to go all the way, the position would definitely be me on the bottom…
‘I won’t see blood, right?’
Good thoughts. Muttering good thoughts, he flipped through TV channels he had no interest in.
“What dishes should I use?”
“Anything.”
“What do you mean anything?”
Someone else’s house. Moreover, a celebrity’s house he had only seen on screen. Kim Haseon automatically became cautious in his actions and paid careful attention even when touching small objects.
He nimbly avoided the terrain with flexible movements. It was a ridiculous gesture of worrying not about his own body getting hurt, but about obviously expensive-looking objects getting scratched because of him.
Watching his clumsy movements, Yeonwoo eventually got up to get the dishes for him.
After setting the table together, Kim Haseon put the meat he had personally grilled into his mouth.
Meat was meat, so how could it not be delicious, but having made various comments, he seemed to have some expertise with meat, and it was indeed delicious.
Kim Haseon, who was making wraps, asked a question.
“Did you watch the last episode of ‘Rural Conquest’?”
“I watched it with Dojun hyung yesterday.”
“You’re really born lucky. How do you become friends with that Kang Dojun? You didn’t cling to him annoyingly, did you?”
Although he didn’t show it outwardly at the praise of his lover, he couldn’t hide the slight upturn of his lips.
“Since we’re at it, let’s watch the last episode.”
“I said I watched it yesterday?”
“Originally when eating, you watch things you’ve already seen again.”
Unable to resist Kim Haseon’s persistence, he reluctantly replayed the VOD he had purchased and watched yesterday.
Kim Haseon, who was quietly watching the screen, was impressed.
“Lee Yeonwoo has become human. He even folds his blanket when he wakes up in the morning.”
“If I don’t fold it, hyung does.”
“On the deep-sea fishing boat, you wouldn’t fold it even if you died?”
Yeonwoo chewed his food silently.
For exactly 9 days, the blanket he had kicked around carelessly in the morning would be neatly folded when he returned.
He would rather listen if he nagged him to fold the blanket, but seeing the blanket folded without a sound and Kang Dojun being as affectionate as usual made him feel guilty even when he hadn’t before.
“Huh huh huh? Why is he doing dishes?”
“Why are you making such a fuss?”
He frowned at Kim Haseon’s behavior of constantly being surprised by trivial things.
“That pot should be scrubbed with a steel scrubber.”
“Just eat quietly before turning it off.”
“……”
Kim Haseon, who had been quietly eating with his tail down, couldn’t hold back and opened his mouth once more when he saw Kang Dojun taking care of all the cleanup as soon as Yeonwoo left.
“See, Kang Dojun ends up doing it again anyway.”
Yeonwoo, whose anger gauge had been steadily accumulating from the continued meddling, spoke sharply.
“Is hyung your friend? Kang Dojun, Kang Dojun… when you don’t even know him well.”
“He’s the same age as me. If you’re going to say that, why don’t you call me hyung?”
…Sigh, I miss hyung. Hyung accepts whatever I say.
Ring ring.
“Who, who is it? Kang Dojun? Did he come already?”
At the sound of the front door opening, Yeonwoo’s eyes, which had been bored throughout, snapped open. Like Pavlov’s dog, he reflexively ran out.
“Hyung! …Hello.”
“It’s been a while, Yeonwoo-ssi. Dojun said he left something behind, so I came to get it.”
“Ah…”
His bright face lost its light and dimmed.
Park Daeho took off his shoes and headed to Kang Dojun’s closed room. He seemed to be on a call as conversation could be heard through the door. After staying there for a while, he came out empty-handed.
‘Was the thing he left behind small? Did he put it in his pocket?’
“Who is it?”
“Dojun hyung’s manager.”
Kim Haseon got up and nudged Yeonwoo’s side while whispering quietly, but what came back was a booming voice loud enough for anyone to hear. Park Daeho offered a greeting along with his business card.
“I’m Park Daeho, Kang Dojun’s manager. Nice to meet you.”
“Ah… yes. Nice to meet you.”
Kim Haseon, who shook hands with him, glared at Yeonwoo with resentful eyes. Regardless, Yeonwoo was only curious about Kang Dojun’s whereabouts.
“Is hyung filming?”
“Yes. So about that…”
Park Daeho hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“If you two have time, would you like to visit the filming site?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
