Chapter 94
“Geon-woo. Let’s eat.”
Mitchell called me as I was sitting quietly on the bed, lost in thought. I secretly had some expectations as I thought I smelled something delicious. There was a pot in the middle of the table, three or four Korean side dishes including kimchi, and even white rice. Of course, the rice was just heated instant rice.
Even from here, it looked like Korean food, upside down it was Korean food, even doing a somersault and looking at it, it was a Korean meal. I was moved.
Although the identity of what was in the pot was a bit scary, at least it smelled good. When Mitchell opened the lid, appetizing meat and vegetables cut to the right size were floating. Something that looked like cabbage was visible too.
Since the kimchi was washed, it wasn’t red at all but clear. Or should I say it had a pink tinge…
“Wow… Mitchell… I’m already full without eating. How is this possible? You’re really amazing. I’m full without even eating!”
As I hesitated to even sit in the chair, Mitchell frowned. It seemed the perceptive Mitchell had noticed my reluctance.
Feeling sorry for our dejected-looking great actor, I quickly sat down and picked up my spoon. I ate a spoonful without hesitation and immediately gave a thumbs up.
“It’s the best, Mitchell.”
The name of the soup Mitchell made was something like this:
Pork drowned in water with mushy vegetables, accompanied by bland kimchi in a curry soup?
This guy must have brought curry powder from somewhere and added it. While there was no seasoning at all, the curry flavor was overwhelming.
“Is it okay? I thought I had completely messed it up.”
Mitchell, sitting opposite me, had very accurately assessed his own cooking. I almost clapped my hands in agreement but quickly regained my senses.
“It’s delicious. Thanks for going through the trouble of cooking. I really appreciate it.”
“No need to thank me. You eat it all.”
“…What about you?”
“I’m good. It’s not to my taste.”
Then is it to my taste?
I wanted to flip the pot onto the hand that was pushing it towards me. Still, since he made the effort, I was planning to eat it somehow.
Having finally managed my expression, I buried my face in the table and moved my spoon quickly. There was no point in dragging it out; I couldn’t leave this table until I finished a bowl of rice. It was better to end it quickly.
Mitchell rested his chin on his hand and watched me eat with satisfaction. This guy had big hands, so the portion was disgustingly large. It looked like enough for almost three people.
With the power of the tasty rice and the decent kimchi, I managed to swallow the unidentified soup, and finally achieved the feat of eating half of it.
My stomach felt queasy, but I felt elated at the thought of having accomplished it. The something trickling down from the corner of one eye must be just my imagination.
“Mitchell, I really enjoyed the meal. It’s the best.”
“Really? I’ll make it for you again next time.”
“…Haha.”
I just couldn’t respond.
Mitchell did all the dishes and cleanup alone. His cleaning was somewhat clumsy, but fortunately, the helper was coming tomorrow.
Standing in front of the bathroom door, I watched Mitchell finish cleaning up and enter the bedroom. With a toothbrush in my mouth making brushing sounds, I naturally walked to the kitchen.
Should I throw it away now?
I was seriously considering dumping the leftover soup in the sink. Or maybe if I left the pot in the backyard, a passing deer might eat it. I brushed my teeth vigorously while imagining the face of a deer spitting out the food. Of course, there are no deer on our private property.
After a string of useless fantasies, I erased my plan to secretly throw it away. Suddenly, I remembered his dejected face.
I didn’t want to see Mitchell, who had terrible cooking skills but a first-class chef’s heart, be disappointed.
Next time, I should stop him from cooking from the start.
I smiled to myself. A corner of my heart felt warm and fuzzy. Although it wasn’t tasty, who else would show me such sincerity? Thinking of Mitchell fumbling around while making kimchi stew, I felt both endeared and grateful.
After finishing my preparations, I entered the bedroom to find Mitchell sitting with his back against the headboard. As usual, he was looking at his phone.
I quickly took a seat next to Mitchell and peered at his phone. He was exchanging messages with someone with an unfamiliar name, but Mitchell hastily turned off the phone, so I couldn’t see the content. I barely caught the name ‘Olly’.
“What’s this? Why won’t you let me see?”
Mitchell didn’t answer my question.
“I want to know everyone around you. I was about to look up everyone in your phone book but stopped because I thought of you, but if you don’t cooperate like this, I’ll really get angry?”
It’s like a passing robber getting angry because you didn’t voluntarily give him the money in your wallet. Even though it was an absurd threat, I was confident, and Mitchell seemed unfazed by my behavior.
“Sorry, this isn’t possible.”
Mitchell apologized but still didn’t show me the phone.
“I’ll look when you’re asleep.”
“I’ve deleted all fingerprints. It’s a numeric password now. You can’t open it.”
“You bad guy!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t cheat on you.”
“What cheating? Are you my boyfriend? You’re trying to control me in advance, worried I might do something weird behind your back like when I hired the Korean teacher.”
“Whatever it is.”
“So you really won’t show me? Who is it that you won’t show me? Why? Even if you don’t show me the phone, you can at least tell me who it is, right?”
“An employee of my older brother’s company.”
I glared at him silently at this immediate answer.
“Really? If you’re lying, I’ll… I’ll… throw away the kimchi… stew… you made?”
Please tell me it’s a lie. Rather that than this.
“It’s definitely not a lie. I had asked for something, and this person is overseas, so they contacted me now. I told them to contact me regardless of the time.”
Judging by his unwavering gaze and smooth speech, it really didn’t seem to be a lie. Although it was strange to be in contact after midnight, it was possible if they were overseas. There wasn’t anything particularly suspicious about it.
“Sigh. Alright. I get it. Someone might think I’ve gone crazy because I can’t see your phone. Fine. I’m not curious. Not curious at all! Not in the least!”
I got under the blanket and lay with my back to Mitchell. Although it seemed petty to be upset over such a trivial matter, I was actually planning something bigger. I don’t know about Mitchell, but at least I’m trying not to lie to him.
That’s why I had to confess something right now.
It wasn’t that I was trying to hide it, but it was a memory that suddenly came to me today. The problem was that Mitchell might not like this memory.
So now was the perfect time. I’d casually throw it out while Mitchell was trying to soothe my anger, offsetting his potential anger with my own.
“Geon-woo. Are you angry?”
That’s right, you’ve taken the bait!
Mitchell embraced my back. Since we were both only in our underwear, I could feel his skin.
“Yeah. I’m a little angry. You’re the only one who knows my current number, right? I’m not in contact with anyone, but you are. And when I want to share that a little, you say no.”
“Our company people know your number. You’re part of our company now, so they have to know.”
“No… I don’t mean work-related stuff like that.”
“I understand. I’m sorry. It’s not just about me, that’s why. It’s absolutely nothing bad for you. I won’t let it bother you.”
I was taken aback by Mitchell’s uncharacteristically submissive behavior. It was good that he wasn’t pushing back, but I didn’t know why he was suddenly acting like this.
Could it be because I ate that thing I thought was kimchi… stew… with gusto?
“Hmm, I’ll let it slide just this once.”
“Thank you.”
Mitchell chuckled against my nape. This not-so-serious attitude finally seemed like the Mitchell I knew.
“Oh right, I have something to say too. It just came to me suddenly. I absolutely wasn’t trying to hide it. I swear to heaven, it just occurred to me today.”
“What is it?”
“Inbeom Yoon was my target in the past.”
Mitchell suddenly sat up. Even though I wasn’t looking at him, I could feel his intense gaze on me.
“You were obsessed with Inbeom Yoon?”
“Ah, not obsessed…”
“Anyway!”
“…Yeah. I did that.”
I turned my body that had been lying on its side. I was about to sit up following Mitchell but stayed lying down, thinking it might make the situation seem too serious. It was also a strategy to show that it wasn’t a big deal.
“But listen, Mitchell. It was just for one day.”
“One day?”
Sparks were flying. That man didn’t know how to hide his anger. It was better than him brooding silently, but it wasn’t easy to endure moments like this with my whole body.
“I only did that for exactly one day. No, to be precise, it was just a few hours. I was drinking at his place and got really drunk. It was the first time I drank five bottles of soju straight. Wow, I was really something back then.”
Mitchell’s eyebrows twitched as the story veered off course.
“A-Anyway, because I drank more than my limit and got drunk, I ended up talking about myself. About how I pick a target and get seriously immersed in it.”
I hastily stroked Mitchell’s thigh.
“So Inbeom Yoon, that guy found out, but the funny thing is, that gathering was the last drinking session before Yoon left for America. He left for the US the next day, so it all fizzled out. I couldn’t remember until today.”
I moved my body to rest my head on his thigh. Mitchell then began to touch my body as if he had been waiting for this.
“I kept thinking about it because of the story about drinking and dancing earlier. I’m sure I don’t remember dancing. That’s certain. And then suddenly, that moment just popped into my head. Even the conversations we had then. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Not amazing at all.”
“Hmm. Yeah, I guess it might not be…”
Although his tone was gruff, Mitchell’s hands caressing my body were gentle and careful. Of course, his expression was still that of a furious judge of the underworld.
Ignoring his face, I focused solely on feeling his touch. Even when he touched my chest, he didn’t pinch or hurt my nipples like on other days. He was just touching.
“So you’re saying you didn’t do anything to Inbeom Yoon? All the things you did to me.”
“Of course not! I didn’t do anything to him. To be honest, it’s more accurate to say I couldn’t. It’s true that we had that conversation, but you and that Inbeom Yoon are on completely different levels.”
“You didn’t give him your body, right?”
“Are you crazy? Absolutely not! Absolutely not!”
I emphasized it again and again. I might have danced in front of that guy, but there was absolutely no skinship like Mitchell was worried about.
“And there’s something more important. This is the most crucial part.”
“What is it?”
“It wasn’t that I designated Inbeom Yoon as my target, but Inbeom Yoon suggested it to me first. He asked me to make him my target. He wanted me to pay attention to him.”
