94.
#Don’t Think About Anything
Wow…
Dawoon couldn’t help but be amazed at the impressively prepared food on the table. The world truly was unfair. A man who was good at everything, lacking nothing, was even good at cooking. How were other men supposed to live when faced with such a person?
“Is this really that surprising?”
Hayun smiled as if it was no big deal, looking at Dawoon’s stunned expression.
“It’s impossible not to be surprised when it’s you, hyung.”
Dawoon answered honestly, and Hayun’s smile deepened.
“These days, you can find pretty much any recipe online. It’s not difficult.”
If following a recipe was all it took, why would there be chefs? Countless people failed even when following the same recipe.
Once, Na-eun had brought cookies she made. She gave some to Ui-hyeon and Dawoon to try. They looked fine on the outside, but the moment Dawoon bit into one, he experienced a whole new world. The inside was undercooked, and he could taste the raw flour dough. Unable to swallow or spit it out, he was glancing around when Ui-hyeon nudged his arm and gestured with a forced smile. Feeling the unspoken pressure to swallow, Dawoon made up an excuse about suddenly needing the bathroom and fled. Ui-hyeon probably had to eat the rest of the cookies.
Having seen Na-eun’s case, it was even more surprising that Hayun had managed to cook properly. He was someone who had spent even less time in the kitchen than Na-eun.
“You said you were hungry. Let’s eat.”
Hayun picked up his knife and fork first and started cutting the steak in front of him. He hadn’t just grilled the meat; he had even roasted potatoes in the oven and plated everything nicely.
As Hayun cut into the meat with his knife, the cross-section of the perfectly cooked steak was revealed. It was cooked to medium, exactly to Dawoon’s taste. After cutting the steak into bite-sized pieces, Hayun switched his plate with Dawoon’s.
“This is really impressive.”
Dawoon couldn’t find any other words. Jeong Hayun cooking steak for him – if others heard about this, they might think he was being spoiled.
“When did you prepare all the ingredients?”
“I asked the caretaker before leaving the company earlier.”
It seemed he had planned to come to the villa and cook from the beginning.
“What if I had said I was hungry on the way and suggested we eat anywhere?”
“This isn’t just for today. We could have cooked it tomorrow.”
Hayun answered easily. So there were more ingredients in the fridge besides what they were eating tonight.
“You’re not planning for us to stay cooped up here without taking a single step outside, are you?”
Suddenly, Dawoon felt a chill down his spine. The thought of being trapped in the villa all weekend just having sex made him genuinely want to run away right then.
“Is that what you want?”
Hayun asked with a playful tone, smiling.
“No.”
Dawoon answered immediately without a moment’s hesitation, making Hayun laugh out loud.
“If that’s what you wanted, I’d be willing to oblige, but the vacation I had in mind isn’t like that, so don’t worry.”
Hayun answered honestly, probably because Dawoon’s face had visibly tensed up. At his words to go ahead and eat, Dawoon finally picked up his fork and took a piece of the steak Hayun had cut for him.
“Try it. How is it?”
Hayun was curious about Dawoon’s opinion, as this was his first time cooking. Dawoon looked back and forth between Hayun’s face and the piece of meat on his fork before putting it in his mouth. It wasn’t much different from steaks served in decent restaurants. In fact, the texture seemed even better, perhaps because of the high-quality meat used.
“It’s delicious.”
At Dawoon’s honest, half-amazed response, the corners of Hayun’s eyes curved prettily.
“I’m glad.”
It seemed he had been worried too. Seeing that Dawoon liked it, Hayun cut more of his own steak and put it on Dawoon’s plate. Even when Dawoon said he couldn’t eat that much, Hayun didn’t listen. At Hayun’s insistence that he eat a little more to gain some weight, Dawoon couldn’t refuse until the end and looked down at the pile of steak on his plate.
Hayun wasn’t eating, just smiling and watching Dawoon. His smile grew more pronounced with each piece Dawoon ate. It was obvious how pleased he was just watching Dawoon eat.
That’s why. That’s why his heart was fluttering.
***
After the meal, Dawoon offered to do the dishes, but Hayun stopped him. Dawoon had no response when Hayun pointed out that aside from cooking, he had never done dishes either. Fortunately, there was a dishwasher, so Hayun said not to worry about it, and Dawoon was essentially pushed out of the kitchen.
The veranda in the living room faced directly onto the sea. Being nighttime, it was dark, and the open sea looked like pure blackness. The beach area was barely visible thanks to scattered streetlights outlining its shape.
Dawoon opened the veranda door and stood looking at the sea. Unlike the air-conditioned interior, the outside air was quite humid and warm. Still, the sea breeze made it feel refreshing rather than hot.
Splash, splaaash.
The sound of waves repeated. Even though he was looking at a sea shrouded in darkness, he felt a sense of openness. It would have been nice if they had arrived during the day. Though slightly regretful, he could see it as much as he wanted after waking up tomorrow.
“This is nice.”
Hayun spoke, standing next to Dawoon. It wasn’t clear when he had come out.
“Just getting out of Seoul makes me feel alive. People are so fickle. This is still a place where people live, but it feels different.”
Dawoon instinctively thought of Choi Seon-gyeom’s photo exhibition as Hayun spoke, leaning on the railing. He could really feel the truth in the words about being able to see a different world just by turning your eyes a little.
And this place was close enough that they could come anytime if they wanted to…
As Dawoon stood blankly staring at the sea, he felt arms wrapping around his waist. Hayun had embraced him from behind. Dawoon glanced down to confirm Hayun’s arms but didn’t tell him to let go. There was no point, as Hayun wouldn’t listen anyway.
“Don’t think about anything.”
Hayun’s voice was heard near his ear. When Dawoon’s shoulders flinched at the breath brushing against him, Hayun’s lips touched his nape with a soft sound and then pulled away.
“If you’re going to do something, let’s go inside…”
Although the villa was in a secluded area with no one passing by, Dawoon still felt uncomfortable doing this outside and tried to turn around. But Hayun tightened his arms around Dawoon’s waist, preventing him from moving.
“I’m not doing anything. So just stay like this.”
Hayun’s lips were still brushing against Dawoon’s nape. It was hard to understand what he was thinking, saying he wouldn’t do anything while acting like this.
Despite Hayun’s words, Dawoon couldn’t relax and remained tense. But even after a long while, Hayun didn’t move an inch. The longer they stayed like that, the more acutely Dawoon felt the warmth of Hayun’s arms around his waist.
In the quiet darkness, only the sound of waves repeated. Neither Hayun nor Dawoon spoke. Time passed silently like that.
***
When Dawoon came out after showering, he took a deep breath at the sight of the large bed, his chest heaving. Hayun had said matter-of-factly that they would share a bedroom, and as a result, a king-size bed was now in front of him.
He’s going to do it after all, right?
Even if he hadn’t earlier, it was unlikely they’d get through the night safely. Recently, Hayun had been coming to Dawoon’s room frequently even on weekdays, so it was unrealistic to think he wouldn’t do anything now that they were in Jeju, away from home and anyone’s eyes.
Hopefully it won’t be to the point where I can’t move tomorrow. They were alone in this big villa, just the two of them. Would Hayun be more intense, using the excuse that Dawoon didn’t need to hold back his voice today?
Just thinking about these things made Dawoon’s waist feel tingly. He wasn’t sure if it was fortunate or unfortunate that tomorrow was the weekend.
“Why are you standing there like that?”
Dawoon turned at the voice behind him to see Hayun drying his wet hair with a towel, having apparently showered in the living room bathroom.
“That’s a really bad habit.”
Hayun muttered with a frown. Wondering what he meant, Dawoon just stared at him. Hayun found a hair dryer in the powder room connected to the bathroom and pulled Dawoon to sit on the bed. Warm air from the dryer poured over Dawoon’s head. At the same time, Hayun’s fingers ran through Dawoon’s hair.
“Even if it’s hot outside, the air conditioning is on inside. Summer colds are worse. Don’t be careless.”
Dawoon couldn’t help but smile at Hayun’s nagging. At times like this, it was clear that Hayun still treated him like a child.
“It’ll dry quickly even if you leave it.”
Dawoon tried to argue, but Hayun just sighed softly and didn’t stop the hair dryer until Dawoon’s hair was completely dry. Only when he felt Dawoon’s hair was sufficiently dry did the sound of the hair dryer stop.
“Give me that.”
Dawoon pointed at the hair dryer in Hayun’s hand. Seeing Hayun’s questioning expression, Dawoon snatched the hair dryer from him. After all his nagging, Hayun’s own hair was still dripping water.
Without a word, Dawoon turned the hair dryer back on and held it to Hayun’s head.
“Are you going to dry my hair?”
Hayun asked in an amused voice, but Dawoon didn’t answer. You always do things even when I tell you not to, hyung. There were many retorts he could have made, but he just didn’t feel like saying them.
Dawoon carefully ran his fingers through Hayun’s wet hair to help the dryer’s air circulate better. As he did this, he felt strange. As the moisture disappeared, the soft hair slipped between his fingers. Watching it slip away, almost catchable but not quite, made some emotion well up inside him.
Did hyung always feel like this? I should have offered to dry his hair earlier.
Unable to explain his feelings, Dawoon bit his lower lip hard to swallow his emotions. At that moment, Hayun grabbed Dawoon’s wrist.
