#55
In the previous world, during the days when he was rolled around here and there while active, Ha-seong had a dream. Living quietly in a big, nice house without being disturbed by anyone. A space where everything could be resolved inside the house.
Indeed, a big, nice house meant a detached house with a yard, surrounded by walls where privacy could be well protected. The interior ceiling would be high, with at least three rooms and about two bathrooms attached.
Yes, for instance, a house like this one right now.
Ha-seong couldn’t help but be amazed as he stepped into Do-hyeok’s house. The ceiling was high and the interior was spacious. The house, notable for its clean white-toned interior, was in a word, neat and tidy.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
Do-hyeok pushed slippers in front of Ha-seong.
“How much does a house like this cost?”
“…Hyung connects everything to money.”
After putting on the slippers and entering inside, it was even more spacious. No way, this bastard lives here alone? Quite enviable.
“Ah.”
But now wasn’t the time to be drooling over his dream house.
“But why am I here?”
No, why exactly, for what reason, for what purpose was he here at Cha Do-hyeok’s house? This was really at the level of kidnapping.
“Because I brought you here.”
“No, who doesn’t know that? So why did you bring me here?”
“Hyung is a patient right now. Living alone.”
Do-hyeok summarized Ha-seong’s current state in one sentence as if matching rap rhymes. Of course, he knew that living alone with an injury to his right arm would be inconvenient. Eating, washing, changing clothes—even the most basic things for living would be difficult. But if he endured a little, the wound would heal quickly and he’d be able to use his right arm, so he wondered if this was really necessary.
“So you’re going to nurse me or something?”
“Rather than nursing, I’m going to help you a bit. Stop being so prideful when you can’t even change clothes properly by yourself like earlier.”
Ugh, that bastard was beating him down with facts. Since it wasn’t wrong, it was even harder to open his mouth further. Because if he refused any more from here, it would really be just showing off his pride.
“Hey, I don’t live alone. I live with a pig, you know? I have to take care of him. Otherwise, he’ll eat all the cabbage by himself… no, he might starve to death.”
So Ha-seong decided to use the pig as an excuse instead of putting forward his pride. No matter how heartless that bastard was, he wouldn’t just leave a life to starve to death.
“I’ll ask Shin-woo to take care of it. Give me your house address and password.”
“Hey, that’s…”
“Honestly, from the pig’s perspective, it might be better to stay with Shin-woo, who’s a professional.”
It was Ha-seong’s complete defeat. He had nothing more to say. When Ha-seong kept his mouth tightly shut, Do-hyeok opened his mouth with a satisfied face.
“That room over there is the guest room. You can use it.”
Do-hyeok pointed to the innermost room on the first floor. Ha-seong hesitated for a moment. Was it really right to stay at this bastard’s house? But rationally speaking, Do-hyeok was right. Right now, when he could barely use his right upper body, he did need someone’s help.
“…If you’re going to do that anyway, give me some clothes to change into too.”
After saying that, he quickly slipped into the guest room. For something called a guest room, this room was also quite large and spacious. A bed, table, and chair. Looking around the space filled only with simple furniture, Ha-seong flopped down on the bed.
Was it because he was the guild leader of Korea’s number 1 guild? He really did make a lot of money. The car Do-hyeok drove was domestic, and he didn’t wear expensive watches that any man would have romantic fantasies about. So perhaps that’s why he unconsciously hadn’t thought that he would have a lot of money.
“Enviable bastard.”
But coming to this house, he understood. What position that bastard held in this South Korea.
Knock knock—
Then he heard knocking. Probably the house owner had come with clothes to change into. When he opened the door, there was Do-hyeok, who had changed into comfortable clothes. Since he had only seen him always dressed formally, seeing him like this was a bit different.
Do-hyeok was looking down at Ha-seong while holding clothes in his hand. He reached out asking for the clothes, but he quickly avoided his hand.
“What?”
Was he trying to play? While he was figuring out the intention behind that action, Do-hyeok pointed to the side.
“You need to wash before changing clothes.”
Ah, come to think of it, he did feel a bit grimy. Even though it was just one day, he had been lying in a hospital bed the whole time. His upper body was full of bandages, so it would be difficult to wash. For now, he’d wipe his body with a wet towel and his hair…
Ha-seong touched his head. He could feel dried blood clumped in places. Well, he had been face-down in a pool of blood the whole time. It seemed like he should wash his hair.
“I just need to wash my hair.”
“Yes. Then come out.”
Leaving those words, Do-hyeok disappeared to the side with a whoosh. Thinking that must be the bathroom, he followed and it was right. It was several times the size of an ordinary home bathroom. The huge bathtub and interior reminded him of a hotel bathroom.
“How much does a bathtub like that…”
“Noisy, hurry up and come in.”
Do-hyeok showed an expression of being sick and tired, asking if it was money talk again. But it couldn’t be helped. This was already like a habit for Ha-seong.
“But have you ever washed someone else’s hair before?”
“No.”
With a completely untrustworthy face, Ha-seong took off his top. He had to change into new clothes anyway, and above all, it seemed like it would get wet. Do-hyeok silently stared at the bandages wrapped tightly around his body. And it wasn’t just those wounds. Scars were visible in places not covered by bandages too.
Do-hyeok somewhat understood why Ha-seong had said that gunshot wounds were nothing.
“Why are you staring at someone else’s body like that? Are you a pervert?”
Do-hyeok gestured toward the bathtub as if it wasn’t worth answering. It meant to bend his waist. Ha-seong followed his instructions without complaint. As soon as he bent his waist over the huge bathtub, he heard the sound of water coming from the showerhead beside him. Perhaps adjusting the water temperature, the water pressure kept getting stronger and weaker repeatedly.
“Tell me if it’s hot.”
“Yeah.”
Do-hyeok, who had rolled up his sleeves, carefully sprayed water on Ha-seong’s head. As soon as the water touched him, Ha-seong screamed “Ah!”
“Hey, are you planning to boil me? It’s hot.”
Then Do-hyeok, with a calm face, muttered “Is it hot?” and started adjusting the temperature here and there again. Perhaps because he was someone whose specialty was handling fire, steam was rising from the bathtub. After much trial and error, they found the optimal temperature, and Do-hyeok slowly wet his hair with water.
As the dried blood loosened, red liquid dripped down below. Ha-seong watched it indifferently. After most of the coagulated blood had fallen off, Do-hyeok squeezed out an appropriate amount of shampoo and applied it.
He continuously massaged Ha-seong’s hair while making foam with his fingers. Even just looking at it, he had thought Ha-seong’s hair would be soft, but touching it, it was even more so. It was soft and fluffy hair. Like the fur of a well-maintained dog.
Do-hyeok continued moving his hands, thinking he was washing the fur of a large dog. Ha-seong, who couldn’t know this, was being noisy, saying things like the soapy water shouldn’t get in his eyes and that he should wash thoroughly even inside.
Ha-seong, who had somehow finished washing his hair without incident, changed into the clothes Do-hyeok gave him. The sweatshirt and training suit were a bit big, but they fit reasonably well.
Coming out of the bathroom, Ha-seong felt refreshed. This feeling was, how to put it, like the feeling when you sweat it all out at a sauna, wash up, and come outside. He unknowingly became drowsy. That appearance was like a dog that had eaten its fill and was in a good mood.
“Ah, but now that I’ve washed, I’m hungry.”
Not knowing that Do-hyeok was looking at him like a dog, Ha-seong touched his stomach. When he had just woken up, perhaps because his body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, he hadn’t thought about food at all, but now that his body and mind were relaxed, his stomach clock seemed to finally be working.
“What do you want to eat?”
Do-hyeok asked while wiping the moisture from his hands as he walked out.
“Don’t you have that at your house?”
“What?”
Ha-seong looked at the clock. Well past midnight. If you ate something at this time, it was commonly called a late-night snack. And above all, the flower of late-night snacks was…
“Ramen.”
That was it. Moderately spicy and stimulating broth with chewy noodles. Ramen was incomparable as a late-night snack menu.
“I do have some.”
Do-hyeok strode to the kitchen and opened the upper drawer. Somewhere in that corner, he could see three ramen packages. Looking at the expiration date, there wasn’t much time left, but fortunately it hadn’t passed.
“You don’t like ramen?”
Seeing how he had stored it away like this and hadn’t eaten it until the expiration date was approaching, it seemed likely.
“Rather than not liking it, I just don’t eat it much. Just because.”
Well, Cha Do-hyeok seemed to not know the joy of eating food in general, not just ramen. He probably thought of meals as something you eat just to survive.
“I’ll cook it amazingly for you. If you eat what I cook, you might end up only eating ramen from now on.”
Ha-seong was confident in cooking ramen amazingly, if nothing else. In the past, he used to secretly hide a burner and aluminum pot in the association’s duty room, and whenever there was a gap until the next mission, he would never miss the chance to cook exactly one package of ramen.
That’s when Ha-seong acquired it. The max-level ramen cooking skill. Of course, there was no such skill, but it was definitely the menu he was most confident about.
“What can you do when you can’t even use your arm? Never mind. I’ll do it.”
“Hey, I can at least cook ramen. If you’re really concerned, just help from the side.”
Ha-seong firmly stopped Do-hyeok’s hand and began cooking ramen in earnest. It was a bit disappointing that there was no aluminum pot, but in this luxurious house, and with the house owner being Cha Do-hyeok, it didn’t seem like such a thing would exist.
When Ha-seong diligently measured the water and added ingredients, Do-hyeok only helped by stirring the noodles in place of him whose arm hurt. And before long, delicious-looking ramen was completed. Carrying the pot, the two went into the adjoining dining room.
“How is it? Delicious, right?”
Ha-seong looked at Do-hyeok taking a chopstick-full with expectant eyes.
“Yes. Well.”
But contrary to expectations, Do-hyeok only showed a lukewarm reaction and nibbled with his chopsticks. For such a tall guy, he should eat more heartily. Unable to watch anymore, Ha-seong ladled a large portion of ramen onto Do-hyeok’s plate with his clumsy left hand.
“People live on food energy. Eat more heartily.”
Seeing Ha-seong serving food in front of him with an unfamiliar hand, he somehow felt like laughing.
“Old soul.”
Ignoring Ha-seong’s sharp glare, Do-hyeok picked up his chopsticks again.
To be honest, he wasn’t sure if the ramen was delicious. Nevertheless, he didn’t dislike this moment. This moment past midnight, sitting at this wide dining table where he had always sat alone, blowing on ramen together with Do Ha-seong—Do-hyeok found it extremely comfortable.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
