60.
“The rolled omelet. Should I make it?”
Haseo offered tentatively, but Mujin merely glanced at him.
“Why? Don’t you trust me?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Though what Mujin said was actually true, Haseo kept his mouth shut.
“It’ll be ready soon, so check the rice.”
“Okay.”
Haseo checked the electric rice cooker nearby. After confirming there was still time left, his task was finished. Still feeling he should do something, he fidgeted and set out the dishes.
Psshhhh.
Steam escaped from the rice cooker, and after a few minutes, the rolled omelet was also ready. Though its appearance was a bit rough, it was cooked enough to be edible.
“It’s ready. Let’s eat.”
The meal consisted simply of white rice, kimchi stew, and rolled omelet. Yet it was so delicious that Haseo mindlessly emptied two bowls of rice. Despite knowing this wasn’t the situation for it, he was incredibly hungry. Mujin also finished two bowls of rice like Haseo and even did the dishes.
Though his skill was good, the clothes he was wearing got splashed with water and became a mess. Haseo stared at Mujin’s shirt and asked:
“Why do you always wear suits?”
“Because they’re comfortable.”
Suits? Haseo narrowed his eyes and looked at Mujin’s shirt. No matter how he looked at it, it wasn’t a convenient outfit for everyday life. Seeing his look, Mujin added an explanation:
“There’s no need to choose what to wear.”
It takes a certain sense to dress well. But Mujin, who had grown up just picking up whatever clothes were around, lacked that sense. However, after gaining his title, he needed to pay attention to his attire. After all, someone holding the position of Director at Isaac Finance couldn’t just wear any clothes. So his solution was to wear suits. After hearing the reason, Haseo made an incredulous expression.
“If I pick out clothes for you, would you wear something else?”
“Why, you want to pick them out?”
“If that’s allowed.”
Despite being dragged here by Mujin and ending up in this situation, Haseo still liked him. And if he was going to live like this anyway, he felt the need to adapt. No matter how frightening Mujin was, since he couldn’t leave, he should at least try to make him less scary.
“You really want to pick out my clothes?”
Though he couldn’t know Haseo’s thoughts, Mujin asked calmly.
“Yes.”
“Alright, let’s go to a clothing store.”
And Mujin’s idea of a clothing store was a department store. Haseo had been to one before, so it was less awkward than the first time. He naturally avoided stores with suits and chose ones with casual clothing.
Though he sometimes forgot because Mujin was older than him, being in his 30s meant he was still considered young in society. Just as more people were living to 100, Mujin was still a youngster in a way. So Haseo felt at ease picking out clothes. Since Mujin always wore achromatic colors, Haseo wanted to dress him in different colors this time.
Looking around, Haseo found a pink sweater with a cozy-looking texture.
“Do you have this in other sizes?”
“What size are you looking for?”
Not knowing, Haseo looked at Mujin, who told the employee his size. Hearing the size, the employee looked back and forth between them with round eyes and smiled awkwardly.
“Ah, so it’s for this customer.”
It seemed the employee had thought it was for Haseo.
“Yes. Do you have that size?”
“Yes, I’ll bring it right away.”
The employee moved quickly. Soon, Haseo was holding a pink sweater in Mujin’s size.
“Try it on, please.”
Haseo pushed Mujin into the fitting room with the sweater. Mujin, with a curious expression, obediently went inside. It didn’t take long for him to take off his suit and come back wearing the sweater.
“It fits well.”
The outfit fit Mujin perfectly. It fit perfectly, but…
“Yes, it really fits well.”
The employee smiled awkwardly and agreed with Haseo. It really just fit well. The pink sweater didn’t suit Mujin at all. It had looked sophisticated when hanging on the rack, but once Mujin put it on, it looked like a mismatched part of the picture.
Haseo tilted his head, then picked up another sweater. It seemed this man didn’t suit soft colors. So this time, he chose a darker blue.
“This is better than before.”
This time, the employee just kept quiet. After trying on different outfits, they finally settled on a black turtleneck. It was described as appropriately thin for autumn, and wearing it showed off Mujin’s toned body.
“You must work out. It fits perfectly.”
The employee repeated the same phrase like a parrot. Haseo nodded solemnly and layered it with a cardigan that had a twisted pattern. Actually, a coat would have suited better, but that would defeat the purpose of choosing new clothes today. After all, a suit with a coat was almost a standard pairing.
The turtleneck with the cardigan looked better. They also changed the dress pants to jeans. Then Haseo approached Mujin, stood on his tiptoes, and messed up his neatly styled hair with both hands. Mujin remained still, allowing Haseo to do whatever he wanted. With his hair falling down, his sharp aura was somewhat subdued.
“Great. We’ll take these as is, so please ring them up.”
“Thank you!”
During the payment, Haseo tried not to look at the price tags on the clothes. No matter how expensive, they would be cheaper than designer suits. Anyway, it wasn’t Haseo who would be swiping the card.
“Now that we’ve got the clothes, let’s look at shoes.”
It seemed they only needed to replace the dress shoes now. Mujin carried the shopping bag containing his old clothes as they headed to a store that sold sneakers. And so, Haseo transformed Mujin from head to toe.
‘Hmm, he does look a bit less scary.’
Truly. Usually, when Mujin walked by in his suit, people in front would part to the sides to let him pass. Now, that phenomenon had decreased. Plus, dressed like this, he looked younger. It seemed the suit with slicked-back hair made people look older.
“Aren’t you tired?”
Though Mujin was the one who had been in and out trying on clothes, he was worried about Haseo.
“We’ve only walked a little.”
“Still, let’s take a short break before continuing.”
There happened to be a café inside the department store. So the two entered the nearest café and stood in front of the kiosk.
“Order.”
Since Mujin told him to order, Haseo pressed the kiosk buttons as he pleased. He stumbled a bit at first, but quickly got the hang of it after a few tries. He ordered a sweet potato latte that was said to be delicious these days, and after a moment’s thought, chose a strawberry latte topped with whipped cream for Mujin. He deliberately asked for extra whipped cream.
After receiving the number ticket and sitting down, Haseo finally felt at ease. Though he had acted nonchalantly while dragging Mujin around, his body had been tense. Well, just yesterday he had heard stories about pulling out fingernails—how could he be calm? Haseo inwardly swallowed a sigh.
“Number 32!”
At the call, Mujin rose from his seat. He brought the drinks back and wore a thoughtful expression.
“The sweet potato latte is mine.”
“I don’t like sweet things.”
“I thought so.”
Haseo spoke calmly as he took the sweet potato latte. When he placed the strawberry latte in front of Mujin, it seemed to increase his harmlessness. Why does a fierce person seem less dangerous when drinking a strawberry latte?
Because strawberry lattes are cute? It was inexplicable. Though Mujin furrowed his brow, he took a sip of the strawberry latte. Good, now seemed like a time when Haseo could ask what he’d been curious about.
“Hyung.”
He deliberately changed the way he addressed Mujin, calling him “hyung” instead.
“Yes?”
Mujin answered naturally.
“Why do you act this way with me?”
“What way?”
“I mean…”
Why are you so good to me? Why are you obsessed with me? Why do you make things difficult for me? The questions poured out. But if there was one thing he wanted to ask first:
“Is the reason you’re doing this to me because I resemble someone named Seo Jaewoo?”
That was it. Some might call Haseo stupid for choosing that question among many possibilities. It might have been a bomb that shouldn’t be touched. Still, that was what Haseo most wanted to know.
If he was really being treated this way because he resembled someone named Seo Jaewoo, what could Haseo do about it? Realistically, there was nothing he could do right now.
‘But.’
He could decide the direction of his heart. He had resolved to stay by Mujin’s side, but his heart was still uncertain. Though he liked him, the most changeable thing is a person’s heart. He hadn’t tried yet, but he could somehow try to erase these feelings.
Haseo clasped his hands tightly on his knees. Whatever answer came, he wouldn’t openly show disappointment. At least there were benefits from resembling this Seo Jaewoo person. If not, he might have been in big trouble when he first tried to scam. And he wouldn’t have been able to cover his grandmother’s hospital bills.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
