#090
“You came without even a single call?”
“No news is good news.”
Just like a married couple with Grandma Suni, the question was exactly the same. Yeonwoo gave the same answer to the same question and brought out his body that had been hidden behind Kang Dojun.
The dogs, much calmer than before, welcomed Yeonwoo.
“Sit.”
However, they still wouldn’t obediently sit. Yeonwoo approached Kang Dojun and whispered secretly:
“I think it’s because I didn’t give them treats.”
“You rascals, get your act together. Sit!”
“They listen well to Grandpa Jongsu though?”
At Kang Dojun’s question, Yeonwoo answered quietly:
“…He’s their owner.”
“What are you two whispering about? If you’re here, hurry up and greet properly. Are you secretly badmouthing me?”
“We badmouthed the dogs a bit.”
Yeonwoo pushed forward with a shameless attitude. Annoyed that they wouldn’t listen to him but listened to Grandpa Jongsu like gospel, he grabbed a dog’s face and pressed it firmly.
You’re not getting royal jelly anymore. He didn’t forget to threaten them either.
Grandpa Jongsu stomped the ground with his foot – thud!
“What did our puppies do wrong?”
“If you stomp the ground like that, your knees will give out.”
Your back is already bad from farming. Yeonwoo grumbled with concern and subtly showed his bleeding arm to grandpa. It was a scratch from the dogs.
“…Ahem. Go rest. Pick some corn to eat on your way.”
Yeonwoo’s eyes sparkled.
“There’s still corn? I thought Cheolsu ate it all.”
“I held back what I was going to give as dog food! If you hadn’t come today, there wouldn’t have been any left.”
“Aw, there you go again. We have many places to visit, so we’ll go first. See you later.”
Yeonwoo forgot about his arm wound and led Kang Dojun away. The dogs with their tongues out kept staring at him, but at Grandpa Jongsu’s “Wait,” they stayed quietly in place.
Kang Dojun quietly approached the grandfather. The situation had passed so quickly that he hadn’t been able to greet him properly.
“Hello. Have you been well?”
“Yeah, you must have a hard time dragging that blockhead around.”
Since this year’s crops were the result of Kang Dojun and Yeonwoo’s help, he also told him to eat plenty of corn on the way.
“Thank you.”
Kang Dojun bowed his head and then looked over the dogs sitting obediently. For dogs that had supposedly pounced on Yeonwoo, their eyes looked bright and gentle. Maybe it was because they were in front of their owner.
Then he carefully began:
“Well… even though it’s the countryside, large dogs should definitely wear muzzles and leashes.”
With so many outsiders visiting, wearing muzzles and leashes could prevent various gossip and potential incidents.
“I looked into it, but they don’t sell them at the nearby mart.”
But he couldn’t just not walk them… Grandpa Jongsu also grumbled that it was difficult.
“I’ll order them online. Including Kkamie, would six be enough?”
At Kang Dojun’s words, Grandpa Jongsu patted his shoulder.
“Oh, that would be appreciated? You’ve had a hard time with the dogs too, young man. I’ll give you the money through Yeonwoo.”
“No, the money is fine.”
‘Dogs?’
He hadn’t really suffered from just seeing them for a few minutes. A question mark appeared on Kang Dojun’s face.
Yeonwoo, already far ahead, urged him on:
“Hyung! Hurry up! We need to eat corn!”
Ah, dogs. Now he understood what grandpa meant.
Kang Dojun politely said goodbye and followed Yeonwoo.
“Grandpa said to eat to our heart’s content.”
Yeonwoo moved energetically as if his scratched arm didn’t hurt at all.
After gathering portions for Kim Haseon, Shin Gihyeon, and Grace, he carefully collected enough for himself and Kang Dojun to eat.
That day, they had gotten up before dawn, arrived in the countryside, and then wandered around all day to let the village elders know that Yeonwoo had come.
The question about coming without contact wasn’t limited to Grandma Suni and Grandpa Jongsu. Getting tired of answering the same question with “no news is good news,” he eventually ended with “I’m sorry.”
When they arrived home, the sun was already setting dimly. A day in the countryside felt very short.
That day, Kang Dojun called Park Daeho to ask about dog muzzles and leashes.
Park Daeho, though not having a large dog, had a companion dog named ‘Louis’ so he knew those products well, and even recommended pee pads and waste bags to bring when going out.
At the text message that slipped in a question while sending several links, Kang Dojun couldn’t help but burst into hollow laughter.
「Why dog supplies all of a sudden? Yeonwoo-ssi?」
Yeonwoo spread thick blankets on the floor as much as on a bed and patted them firmly.
“We need to buy a bed.”
Kang Dojun laughed playfully.
“One?”
“Even if we have two, we’ll only use one, right?”
That’s what they were doing in Seoul now, and Yeonwoo answered while rubbing his bandaged arm.
“Right. Let’s buy the biggest size. Sturdy.”
“Right. It would be bad if it collapsed while we’re at it.”
“Yeah, you have bad sleeping habits, so it would be terrible if it collapsed while sleeping.”
As playful words were exchanged, they kept responding to each other but somehow the conversation wasn’t connecting.
“Oh, I told Uncle Cheolsu to rest for a while. I’m going to take care of things for now.”
“When are you selling honey?”
“Uncle and Cheolsu said they extracted honey and put it in containers.”
Yeonwoo stopped talking mid-sentence, buried his chin in the fluffy pillow, and stuck out his lips. Every time he spoke, the wound hurt, so it was more comfortable to keep it outside.
Kang Dojun examined the wound. Ah, why did I do that? Seeing him in pain made his heart ache. His already thin body, and if the wound hurts when talking, it must hurt when chewing food too.
I should make porridge tomorrow.
Not knowing his thoughts, Yeonwoo grinned, thinking he was getting attention again. Getting this much care over just a small wound made him think he’d like to receive it every single day from now on.
“So what about the honey?”
“In the apiary warehouse… it hurts.”
Yeonwoo’s pronunciation was slurred. It was because Kang Dojun was personally pulling down his lower lip so his teeth wouldn’t bump and touch the wound.
“In the warehouse? How much is there?”
“A lot… a lot it hurts.”
Yeonwoo answered while recalling the photo Cheolsu had taken and sent. It was frustrating that the words wouldn’t come out as he wanted. Taking advantage of the moment when Kang Dojun briefly let go of his hand, he buried his face in the pillow.
“Sell all of that to me.”
“What?”
At Kang Dojun’s words, he immediately lifted his head after burying it for only a short time.
“…All of it?”
“Yeah. It’s almost the holidays and I was going to give gifts, so honey would work.”
Kang Dojun reassured him that he wasn’t forcing a purchase and had uses for everything. Though he didn’t have colleague actors he considered particularly close, he could distribute them to company people and staff he worked with on this movie.
Rather than having Yeonwoo run around here and there selling honey, it was better for him to buy it all.
Soon he pulled the lying Yeonwoo into his arms.
“Now that you’ve sold honey, you have money again. Right?”
At the small nod Yeonwoo gave from his chest, Kang Dojun let out a low laugh.
He can stay in Seoul again.
Yeonwoo could also tell he was currently in a good mood through the trembling vibration of his body as he laughed.
Kang Dojun still had work left to do in Seoul since his contract period with the agency hadn’t ended yet. But he also didn’t want to leave Yeonwoo alone and go to Seoul. Buying honey was something he said impulsively, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea, so he was satisfied.
Yeonwoo rolled his eyes upward. Kang Dojun had his face buried in his head with his eyes closed. Was he trying to sleep?
His shortly cut hair might be prickly like a hedgehog’s spines, but his face was peaceful.
Yeonwoo, who had his face buried in Kang Dojun’s chest, made an effort to move his body up and rubbed his face against his shoulder. Kang Dojun also changed his position as he squirmed and tried to sleep.
As always, feeling drowsy when with him, he comfortably closed his eyes.
***
…Huh?
Yeonwoo got up from his spot despite his sleepy body and blinked. The warmth next to him had grown cold. It seemed like he’d been gone for quite a while.
He felt uncomfortable. The face he wanted to see first when opening his eyes in the morning wasn’t there.
If he were to rate today’s mood as high, medium, or low, it was medium leaning toward low. The savory smell penetrating his nose told him that Kang Dojun was currently in the kitchen, which was the only reason he gave it a medium rating.
Not fully awake, he staggered toward where he would be. Then, quite ridiculously, he bumped his face into the wall. His emotions leaned a bit more toward low.
Coming to the kitchen, he could see Kang Dojun’s back. No wonder the smell was savory – he was making porridge.
He quietly walked behind Kang Dojun and lifted up the top he was wearing, covering himself with it like a blanket. His bare skin touched his cheek. Even though he couldn’t see ahead, he just had to follow him, so it didn’t particularly matter.
“Did you wake up?”
Still, the first sound he heard after waking up in the morning was a low, warm baritone, so his gloomy mood lifted a little.
Yeonwoo, who was coming out of sleep, didn’t answer and hugged his waist tightly.
He felt Kang Dojun’s sign of wanting to move. Moving with narrow steps for him who couldn’t see ahead, his mood rose to medium.
“How’s your lip wound?”
He didn’t answer again. When waking up, he liked to gradually come to his senses while listening to his voice like a radio.
Kang Dojun knew this too, so although he asked questions, he didn’t expect answers.
“I made porridge because I thought it might be hard to chew food. Is there anything else you want to eat?”
Yeonwoo shook his head. This time it was a light answer he could show just through action. Only after feeling the presence from behind did Kang Dojun turn off the gas stove.
At the movement of ladling porridge into a bowl, Yeonwoo finally emerged from the covered top and checked the breakfast he would eat today.
“You put eggs in too?”
“Grandma Kyeong-i gave them.”
His mood rose to medium leaning toward high.
“Let me see your lips.”
Kang Dojun flipped Yeonwoo’s lower lip to check the wound. After sleeping one night, the wound had gotten worse than yesterday, making him frown involuntarily.
“Let’s eat and then apply ointment.”
Yeonwoo chewed his lips. Taking advantage of when Kang Dojun wasn’t looking, he touched the wound with his teeth. He even bit down a bit hard sometimes.
It was okay if it got worse. He hoped it would get worse.
When he was next to him, his emotional ups and downs became severe in a good way.
His mood shot up vigorously to high.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
