When I returned to the room, a meal was laid out, but Jeong Seyeon was nowhere to be seen. The table setting for one person stirred my empty stomach, which hadn’t eaten anything while wandering the mountain.
“Looks delicious.”
I sat down in front of the table, rubbing my growling stomach. Steaming rice and soup, freshly seasoned vegetables, crispy roasted seaweed, tangy pickles, stir-fried eggplant, and perfectly fermented young radish kimchi. All the side dishes were modestly presented in simple bowls, not overdone. I could tell at a glance—this was Jeong Seyeon’s cooking, which had changed my palate over the past month.
‘I might cry when hyung gets married someday.’
Touched by his care evident in the meal, I sat at the table. Since it must have been brought in just as I finished bathing, it was not just warm but hot, so I blew on it repeatedly as I ate.
“Thank you for the meal.”
After a warm bath and a hearty meal, it felt like paradise. He had somehow even known how much to serve—my stomach felt pleasantly full, giving me a comfortable sense of satisfaction.
“Is there a separate kitchen nearby?”
I opened the door intending to clear away the empty table and peeked outside, where my eyes met with Jeong Seyeon, who was removing his shoes to step onto the wooden porch.
“Was the meal all right?”
“Yes, it was delicious.”
I nodded automatically at his casual question before pausing.
‘Does he even know my meal times?’
He could have guessed when I’d finish bathing, but appearing right as I finished eating made me feel strange.
‘When you live together, you might know these things.’
Or it could simply be a coincidence.
Dismissing it as nothing significant, I opened the door wide and moved aside to let him enter.
Surprised to see him immediately try to pick up the dining table, I quickly stood beside him.
“Hyung, let me do that.”
“You must be tired. It would be better if you rest now.”
“But still…”
“Woo Jeongjae-ssi, have you forgotten you’re here because of me? Staying put is how you can help.”
Put that way, I really had nothing to say. At home we shared household chores since we lived together, but this was Jeong Seyeon’s house. Even if I put myself in his position, his response was normal. Standing awkwardly next to him, I lightly grasped the end of his sleeve. He watched what I was doing, moving only his eyes with no change in expression.
“Then let’s go together.”
“…”
“Is the kitchen far away?”
“…It’s not far.”
“Then there’s no problem.”
A faint sigh escaped from Jeong Seyeon’s lips. He moved away from me, looked at the wide-open door, and nodded slightly.
“All right, but hold up your pants instead of my sleeve.”
I looked down at his words. I had simply thought it felt drafty because of the outside air, but somehow my pants had fallen to the floor.
“Ah, haha, these pants are a bit big.”
My face instantly burned with embarrassment. Though I pulled my pants back up to my solar plexus in a second, it didn’t resolve the awkward atmosphere.
“I’ll, return the pants later.”
Jeong Seyeon broke the silence with those words, and I shook my head while keeping it lowered.
“It’s fine. I’m going to sleep soon anyway, so it would be troublesome. I’ll just wear these.”
At my words, he neither agreed nor disagreed, just stared at me silently before turning and crossing the doorway first. This time, I followed behind him, firmly holding onto my waistband.
The kitchen was located at the very end of the hanok, not far from my room. I liked that we could move across the wooden porch without having to put on and take off shoes.
As I watched Jeong Seyeon clearing the table from the side, I suddenly wondered where his domestic qualities originated. With my arms crossed, I casually asked him.
“Since when have you been cooking like this yourself?”
It was a scene I’d always seen at home, yet it felt like a new question even to me.
“I learned cooking from my father when I was 13.”
It was a younger age than I’d expected. Not hiding my surprise, I asked Jeong Seyeon.
“Was your father a chef?”
“No.”
“Then was your dream to become a chef?”
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t such a cute reason.”
Jeong Seyeon finished washing the dishes neatly and pulled at the waist of me, who was fidgeting beside him. No, to be precise, he was pulling up my sagging pants, but the end result was the same—I ended up in his arms.
“Are you deliberately letting go of your hands for me to see?”
Caught off guard with my face buried in his chest, I was startled by his words and quickly escaped from his embrace.
“It’s because yours are too big. Normal pants don’t run this large.”
Though my face flushed with embarrassment, I defended myself firmly. I pouted my lips but quickly retracted them, fearing he might offer to bring me different pants.
“So, for what reason did you learn cooking at such a young age? Don’t change the subject this time.”
Looking at me as I returned to the main topic, Jeong Seyeon answered with a brief silence. Though I couldn’t perfectly read his expressionless face, I had a feeling that digging deeper wouldn’t lead to a pleasant story.
“I don’t necessarily need an answer. Since I have no talent for cooking, I’m just envious of you…”
“My mother died of poison.”
I had deliberately tried to shift to a lighter topic, but his deep voice, which canceled out everything else, landed heavily in my ear.
“The winter I turned 13, my mother got caught in a power struggle within the organization.”
“…”
Faced with this unexpectedly heavy topic, I was at a loss for words. As I was confused about what expression to make or what face I was showing, Jeong Seyeon’s hand patted my head.
“That’s why my father taught me cooking. My sister was too young at the time, and my father was too busy to cook for us himself.”
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I was already accustomed to handling knives before that anyway.”
Jeong Seyeon casually made a statement that was frightening when understood fully, and took my hand.
“Let’s go.”
I felt uncomfortable for unintentionally prying into his family history. Perhaps I felt this way because my family environment was similar to his. My father passed away in an accident when I was in third grade, and my mother went missing when I was twenty. Now, though I’m in a situation where my younger sibling and I rely only on each other, I couldn’t arbitrarily judge his feelings based on that one fact.
‘Would it be rude to ask if he’s okay?’
Sympathetic words and comfort can sometimes be more cruel than indifference. Rather than calculating the sense of loss he must have experienced by my own standards, I decided to convey my feelings by firmly holding the hand he had taken. After all, feelings aren’t always communicated through words.
The walk from the kitchen back to the room was quick. I must have been lost in thought because when I came to my senses, we were in front of the door. With a creaking sound, the door opened, and Jeong Seyeon gently pushed my back. Before I knew it, I was inside the room, and I heard the door closing. When I turned around, he hadn’t entered the room with me.
I hastily rose and flung open the door. Catching sight of his back as he was just putting on his shoes to leave, I urgently called out to him as I crossed the doorway.
“Seyeon hyung.”
“Where are you going?”
“Is there something you need?”
Of course there was. The most important thing.
‘Can’t you stay a little longer?’
“You.”
“…”
Seeing Jeong Seyeon’s tightly closed lips, I quickly covered my own mouth.
‘Ah, what came out of my mouth was the opposite of what I was thinking.’
The saying “haste makes waste” exists for a reason. There was no way to take back words already spoken, no matter how much I blamed myself for the impulsive remark.
“Woo Jeongjae-ssi.”
I took in a sharp breath as a dark shadow loomed over my head—I hadn’t even noticed when he had stepped back onto the porch. I must have been quite flustered, not even noticing Jeong Seyeon coming right up to me. As I backed away from Jeong Seyeon, who was a head taller than me, my heel touched the threshold.
“What do you need me for?”
Jeong Seyeon asked while leaning against the wall by the door. I had nowhere to retreat, and his face was getting closer. Though he spoke nonchalantly with an indifferent voice and no expression, his size created an intimidating presence.
‘Is he angry?’
It suddenly occurred to me that from Jeong Seyeon’s perspective, what I had just said might have sounded presumptuous.
“Gu-guiding.”
I stuttered even though I was trying to clear up the misunderstanding.
Why am I stuttering now?
As I bit my lip slightly, Jeong Seyeon pulled it out and asked matter-of-factly.
“Didn’t I guide you on the mountain?”
“I also need it when sleeping, uh…”
As I spoke, Jeong Seyeon’s fingers, which he hadn’t yet removed, stimulated my lips. His fingers were thick and rough, giving me a strange feeling. Jeong Seyeon rubbed the tip of his thumb against my lips and whispered in my ear.
“Do you want to sleep with me?”
For some reason, his voice, which had seemed plain until just now, cracked slightly at the end, producing a husky sound.
“If it’s okay with you, hyung.”
The low sound of breathing was tickling my ear, but I didn’t know why my heart felt more ticklish. I hesitantly pulled at Jeong Seyeon’s clothes.
“What about you?”
Instead of answering, he gazed at me intently before lowering his head to rest his forehead on my shoulder.
“Woo Jeongjae-ssi.”
“Yes?”
I felt Jeong Seyeon’s hands encircling my waist. Pulled by the tight grip of his arms, I was pressed against his body. I awkwardly placed my two hands on his back. Even through clothes, his body temperature felt hot at my fingertips.
“Has it always been like this?”
As I stroked his back, which was bent to match my relatively short height, I raised a question mark at his words.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean calling Guides into your room every night.”
“Ah…”
A short sigh escaped my lips.
‘So Yang Garam knew, hyung knew too—everyone knew except me.’
When I hesitated without answering, Jeong Seyeon raised his head and looked down at me.
“Will I do as a replacement this time?”
“Well…”
Jeong Seyeon’s expression was quite different from before.
Though he had been consistently expressionless, his now more subdued gaze certainly didn’t look good.
“…Are you angry?”
When I cautiously asked, worried I might be misreading him, Jeong Seyeon’s long eyelashes fluttered. Following his lowered gaze, it was difficult to discern any emotion in his naturally hidden eyes. Instead of answering, he let out a long sigh.
“I’m not angry.”
He detached me from his embrace and pulled me into the room.
“Though you are quite willful.”
His additional comment was close to a mutter, almost to himself. But through that remark, I thought I understood why he was upset.
‘I was being a bit forceful. What Esper would ask for guiding even until bedtime? Not even a dedicated Guide would do that.’
Do Wonjin and Yang Garam had blended into my life so naturally that I forgot they were special cases. Generally, the unwritten rule in the relationship between a temporary Guide and an Esper was not to interfere with each other’s private lives. The very act of investing personal time to provide guiding was disadvantageous for the Guide. That’s why Espers don’t expect more than that.
‘I wonder if he agreed to guide me despite being reluctant enough to be upset, because of what his sister did…’
The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I felt. Despite being the one who had asked, being in the same room with Jeong Seyeon now felt like sitting on pins and needles.
“Woo Jeongjae-ssi.”
Having sat in the corner with my head lowered since entering the room, I looked up at Jeong Seyeon’s call. I knew he was tidying up the room, but the bedding had already been laid out. There was only one blanket but two pillows.
“Come closer.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
