Chapter 10
It was the third day since his younger brother ran away from home.
Jaeha’s eyes trembled with anxiety as he looked at the still-full refrigerator.
“Ugh… the meat’s going to spoil at this rate.”
Jaeha was more worried about the meat than about Jaeyoon, who had declared he was running away.
“If it were winter, I could at least store it on the balcony. Why did he have to run away and cause all this trouble now, seriously.”
Without Jaeyoon the meat ghost, there was no way to consume all the Black Pig. The meats, packed so tightly that there wasn’t even space to take out kimchi, were about to overflow.
“What am I supposed to do with this mountain of meat…”
There was a limit to sharing the refrigerator meat with his close friends.
He had already made jangjorim (soy-braised meat) in kimchi containers for long-term storage and simmered kimchi jjim in a large pot, so now Jaeha’s house was even out of kimchi. He tried making pork jerky, but despite kneading, grilling, and drying all day like a jerky factory, there was still a lot left.
“This isn’t a jerky factory… seriously, someone save me.”
He needed someone to dump this on.
Thinking he should pass it on to people living nearby one by one, he checked his contacts when one name popped up.
Kyun Jiho.
“Ah, come to think of it, my little brother told me to get friendly with this guy.”
Coincidentally, his house was close, just a 10-minute walk away.
As much as he tried not to worry about his brother running away, that wasn’t possible. All of Jaeyoon’s unbelievable words remained as Jaeha’s concerns.
“Why did it have to be Gaeho of all people?”
The nickname for Kyun Jiho that was often used among friends slipped out.
Kyun Jiho had no reason to be disliked, except for his issues with women.
He was respectful to seniors, but he had no close male friends. He snatched up all the pretty women, regardless of whether they were classmates, juniors, or seniors, crushing the dreams of male classmates who fantasized about campus romances.
“Coming to university just to find it’s a men’s bath.”
This university already had few women. On top of that, because of ecosystem-destroyer Kyun Jiho, the environment was no different from an all-boys high school.
“Hmm, should I contact him with a gathering as an excuse?”
Due to various university-recommended gatherings, Kyun Jiho also had to participate in regular department meetings. None of the contact coordinators wanted to reach out to Kyun Jiho. They didn’t really care, thinking that one of his many girlfriends would inform him anyway.
“Should I send him a message…”
Remembering his brother’s sulking gave him a bit more courage. After pacing around the living room hesitantly and seeing the pot full of kimchi jjim he had prepared, Jaeha steeled himself.
He wrote and deleted messages on his phone repeatedly, then decided to keep it concise and sent a brief message.
“What’s up?”
After sending it, he felt very awkward and embarrassed.
“Damn, it’s not like I’m texting an ex-girlfriend in the middle of the night.”
Just as he was about to delete the message, the “1” disappeared.
Even though he thought it was too late, Jaeha deliberately held his head up high.
“Well, I didn’t say anything strange, right?”
He waited for a response.
While wondering if his name was saved in Jiho’s contacts and whether he should have introduced himself first, a somewhat slow reply came.
“I have a fever. No medicine and I’m out of water.”
Sensing what seemed like aegyo in the message, Jaeha unconsciously pulled his neck back and frowned.
“Ah, that Gaeho bastard. Don’t you have fingers? Just order delivery.”
He was about to type that response sincerely when he stopped his fingers.
Meanwhile, a new message popped up.
“I’m hungry too. I skipped breakfast.”
‘No, wait. There’s no need to be snappy with someone who’s already lying flat saying they’re sick.’
After all, Jiho was a target to dump the meat on and someone his brother wanted him to become friends with. Since things had come to this, why not build a relationship by bringing some food along with medicine?
Though he wondered if meat dishes were appropriate for a sick person, he thought it would be better than something insubstantial, so he crammed side dishes and meat dishes into airtight containers. Feeling satisfied with the refrigerator finally showing some empty space was a bonus.
* * *
“Wow, how can a house be so complicated?”
Kyun Jiho’s house, which was almost like public property, was easy to find.
As rumored, it was a high-end officetel, so finding the building was very easy, but he started getting lost from the entrance. He couldn’t even figure out how to get inside from the main gate and was in complete confusion.
While fumbling around trying to find the entrance with heavy containers of side dishes in both hands, a security guard approached Jaeha.
“What brings you here?”
“Ah, hello. I’m here to see my junior, Kyun Jiho. Ah, you probably don’t know him by name…”
“If it’s student Jiho, I know him well. He’s a popular kid, isn’t he?”
The guard’s attitude became friendly as soon as he heard Kyun Jiho’s name. After confirming the visitor’s name, he showed excessive kindness by even pressing the elevator button for him.
While Kyun Jiho was so hated by men at school, outside, it was easy to see men showing him goodwill.
‘Well, I guess he is a decent guy if women aren’t involved.’
When Jaeha arrived at Kyun Jiho’s house with his hands full, the door was already wide open. Jaeha hesitated, thinking he would just give him the medicine and food at the door and greet him saying they should get along well in the future.
Various shoes were neatly arranged through the open doorway, as if inviting him in. They were all men’s shoes, so it seemed like there was no girlfriend regularly staying over. Perhaps that was why he could maintain so many girlfriends—because he kept his private life separate.
While thinking such idle thoughts and looking down at the shoes, a sweet fragrance and warmth suddenly approached him.
“Oh? It’s not Jeha noona?”
Jaeha instinctively got goosebumps at Jiho’s languid, slow voice.
“Hmm… so Jaeha sunbae is Seo Jaeha sunbae.”
Truly, Jaeha wished Jiho wouldn’t call his name with that buttery tone. He wanted to tell him to use that tone only for the women he was trying to seduce, but he held back and pushed forward what he was holding in his hands.
“Take it.”
“What’s all this?”
“You said you were hungry, so I brought some food.”
Seeing Jiho just staring without accepting it, Jaeha wondered why he was hesitating after coming all this way and stepped inside.
After passing through the vast living room that was spacious for a single person, a picture-perfect kitchen that looked like a model house came into view.
Jiho, who seemed to have just finished washing up, was exuding heat and fragrance as he leaned against the wall, tightening his robe and watching. Though Jaeha was disgusted at seeing someone wearing a robe at home for the first time, he resolutely showed the side dish containers.
“This is jangjorim. I made it not too salty, so eat plenty.”
“Did you bring it from home?”
“This is pork chop steak. It goes well with bread too.”
“Hmm…”
“This is kimchi jjim, so heat up some instant rice and eat it together. Heat up two at once. You definitely won’t be satisfied with just one bowl, it’s that delicious.”
At Jaeha’s confident attitude, Jiho, who was leaning against the wall, raised the corner of his mouth. The dimple that appeared on one side of his mouth caught the eye. But seeing it, Jaeha’s brow furrowed.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“I didn’t know I had the ability to seduce men too.”
“Judging by that crazy talk, your fever must be high. Eat whatever appeals to you from these and take your medicine.”
He took out fever reducers and painkillers he had bought at a pharmacy on the way and tossed them next to the side dish containers. Staring at them, Jiho’s mouth corner rose even higher, deepening his dimple.
“Sunbaenim, it’s troublesome if you keep pretending and playing hard to get. That’s my thing.”
“Haah… don’t make such disgusting misunderstandings. From now on, just greet me when we run into each other at school.”
“Hmm. Misunderstanding?”
Jiho, who had been leaning against the wall, had somehow approached and was now standing across the table, staring at Jaeha.
His slightly relaxed eyes, perhaps due to the fever, along with a beauty mark at the end of them, made him look like someone born to be a playboy. His face, which would seem greasy to men but sexy to women, was handsome even with the redness from fever. With that face, Jiho placed both hands on the table, tilted his head, and slowly leaned toward Jaeha.
“A sunbaenim who rushed over with food from his own refrigerator after receiving a text about being sick… how could I not misunderstand?”
Gaeho. He’s Gaeho. Flirting is his daily routine, and he tries to seduce anyone. Never imagining this would apply to the same gender too, Jaeha had to endure this hell for his sin.
Having given medicine and food to a sick person, he had shown enough goodwill. At least when Jaeyoon returned, he could claim he had tried to get acquainted with Kyun Jiho and become friends, believing his words.
As Jaeha quickly tried to leave the house, he heard the sound of an airtight container opening.
“Wow. This smells good?”
Regardless of what Jiho was saying, Jaeha stuffed his feet into his sneakers. Why did the shoelaces have to come undone at a time like this? As he was trying to put them on hastily to leave, Jiho’s voice came from above his head, having followed him without Jaeha noticing.
“Your mother’s cooking skills are amazing?”
“Do I look like a mama’s boy? Why would I bring you something so precious?”
“Then did you make all this, sunbaenim? All of it?”
As Jaeha quickly opened the door to leave without answering, the admiring slow voice from behind made the back of his neck tense.
“Training with food before even dating is also a preference of mine.”
“Save that talk for your octopus-leg girlfriends.”
“A domestic woman, no, a domestic person is my ideal type, sunbaenim.”
Did he just change “woman” to “person”?
Since he wanted to become friends, not line up as a boyfriend candidate, Jaeha quickly denied it.
“I was just worried about a junior living alone and gave you some surplus food out of charity, so there’s nothing to be moved by or misunderstand.”
“Jaeha sunbaenim, it’s been over a year since we introduced ourselves.”
If another junior had said this, Jaeha might have apologized for not taking care of them. But because the other party was Kyun Jiho, the enemy of male classmates, Jaeha acted shamelessly.
“So what?”
Despite the curt response, Jiho’s eyes, reddened by fever, curved gently.
“I’m saying it’s cute how sunbaenim rushed over immediately after hearing I was sick.”
Help me.
This plan was all wrong.
‘Little brother, do I really have to become friends with this bastard? Seriously?’
Jaeha felt the limits of his patience just by not punching Jiho’s face as he leaned in close.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
