#58
“…Why am I so dizzy?”
Eunsol sighed deeply as he got up from where he’d been lying down.
A month and a week had passed since the day his heat cycle had suddenly erupted. Rubbing his forehead did nothing to relieve the throbbing in his head.
He wanted to stay in bed a little longer, but he had things to do. Lightly patting his cheeks to regain his energy, he headed to the kitchen.
“Ugh…”
When Eunsol opened the refrigerator door, he hastily covered his nose and mouth with his hand and stepped back, overcome by a sudden wave of nausea.
The inside of the refrigerator was neatly organized. There was nothing that should have smelled particularly bad, yet his stomach churned strangely.
He barely managed to close the refrigerator door and drank a glass of water. But even the water had a fishy taste. In the end, Eunsol couldn’t drink more than a few sips before setting the glass down on the counter.
“…Maybe I have indigestion.”
He had eaten more than usual for lunch. Recently, sleep hadn’t been relieving his fatigue, so his routine had become seeing Hyun-oh off at dawn and then going back to bed.
Falling asleep that way, Eunsol would only leave the bed late in the day, when the sun was high in the sky. Having his first meal long after the typical lunch hour meant he ate more.
Today too, his appetite had been better than usual, so he’d eaten about two more spoonfuls than he normally would, which seemed to have caused the problem.
“I need to prepare dinner.”
Eunsol bit his lip with a dejected expression. Today was special; Kim Myungjun had discreetly informed Eunsol that Hyun-oh would be leaving work on time.
He occasionally helped like this to advance the relationship between Hyun-oh and Eunsol.
So Eunsol couldn’t hide his excitement about having dinner with Hyun-oh after a long time. Just imagining sitting across from each other at a table he had prepared, having a casual conversation, made him smile.
But there was a problem. Eunsol took a deep breath as he rubbed his sternum, which had a dull pain.
When he tried opening the refrigerator door again, the complex smells that hit his nostrils made him cover his mouth and rush to the bathroom.
“Ugh, urgh…”
Everything he had eaten for lunch came back up, dirtying the previously clear water. Eunsol flushed the toilet, got up unsteadily, and turned on the faucet at the sink.
He rinsed his mouth with somewhat cold water and also washed his face, which was damp with cold sweat.
“Of all days…”
He felt upset. Hyun-oh had become even busier since the new year. Now he was addressed as Chairman rather than Director. He was significantly younger than the chairmen of other groups.
Han Hyunyong had disappeared abroad after extensively gracing the society pages of newspapers. As it turned out, he had committed heinous crimes against numerous aspiring entertainers, just as he had attempted with Eunsol.
There were dozens of victims, not just one or two. The charges weren’t just a few; they included not only sexual crimes but embezzlement, tax evasion, assault, and even solicitation of murder. Somehow, Han Hyunyong had managed to flee to Southeast Asia before a travel ban was issued, and he continued to live as a fugitive.
As the case had become a major social issue, Interpol had issued a red notice for him, and he was expected to be caught soon.
After Han Hyunyong became an international criminal, the forces that had followed him and those who had remained neutral turned to Hyun-oh’s side. Following Chairman Han Chihun’s passing, Hyun-oh succeeded him as the next head of TH Group.
“I even prepared a cake…”
Since Hyun-oh had become Chairman, he had been incredibly busy, so Eunsol hadn’t been able to properly congratulate him.
More people sought out Hyun-oh than before, and his workload had increased accordingly. With more frequent overtime and business trips than before, occasions like tonight’s dinner were all the more precious time for Eunsol.
“Let’s try anyway.”
He could have called someone to cook for him, but since this was a celebration for Hyun-oh, Eunsol really wanted to serve dishes he had prepared himself. Even if someone called him foolish, all Eunsol could offer Hyun-oh was something made with sincerity.
* * *
“You don’t look well.”
“N-no, I’m fine.”
Eunsol discreetly bit the inside of his cheek hard. After much struggle, he had completed a fairly impressive spread. Since the smell kept making him gag, he moved around with tissue paper rolled up and stuffed in his nostrils.
He removed the tissues only when tasting the seasoning, then quickly plugged his nose again and cooked as if on a mission.
Perhaps Eunsol’s efforts had paid off. Hyun-oh was in the process of tasting all the dishes Eunsol had prepared without putting down his spoon.
The problem was Eunsol. He couldn’t plug his nose with tissue in front of Hyun-oh as it would look unsightly, so he had to smell the food directly.
He was forcing himself to put food in his mouth and swallow it so that Hyun-oh wouldn’t notice anything strange, but he inevitably had to eat in smaller bites than usual.
It was impossible for Eunsol’s unusual behavior to escape Hyun-oh’s keen eye.
“This is delicious.”
Hyun-oh nonchalantly picked up a piece of braised beef rib and placed it on the small plate in front of Eunsol. A rosy flush gradually spread across Eunsol’s previously pale cheeks.
“…Thank you.”
Despite it being food he had prepared himself, just the act of Hyun-oh picking up and giving him a rib made Eunsol’s clear face smile as if he had been given the world. This evoked a strange emotion in Hyun-oh, who quickly dropped his gaze to his own rice bowl.
The curved eyes tickled a corner of his heart. As time passed, whenever he faced Eunsol, Hyun-oh deliberately hardened his expression due to his heart’s strange reactions.
Eunsol picked up the rib Hyun-oh had given him with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. Although he had tasted it when checking the seasoning, unlike then, now he felt like he could eat the whole rib despite the repulsive smell.
“Urgh…”
It was fine until the first bite of the rib. But as the meat broke down into smaller pieces in his mouth, an unbearable revulsion rose from within.
Eunsol hurriedly picked up his water glass and took a sip, but ultimately couldn’t endure and covered his mouth.
One of Hyun-oh’s eyebrows raised slightly. He had noticed Eunsol’s unusually pale complexion today, and it seemed he wasn’t feeling well. Despite that, Eunsol had gone so far as to cook for him, which made Hyun-oh put down his utensils.
“Go rest. Don’t stubbornly try to endure.”
However, the large eyes only wandered over the table full of food. Seeming to read Eunsol’s mind, Hyun-oh continued.
“I’ll eat all the food you prepared, so don’t worry and go ahead.”
Though the image of an unlit cake crossed Eunsol’s mind, his physical condition had worsened. It seemed he really did need to rest, as Hyun-oh suggested.
Anxiety filled his heart that if he continued to force himself to smell the food, he might end up showing an unsightly display in front of Hyun-oh.
“…Yes. I’m sorry.”
Eunsol rose from his seat and bowed his head deeply to Hyun-oh, as if he had committed a grave mistake. For once, Hyun-oh was having a meal with him, and had even given him a rib on his plate.
He felt guilty, as if his physical condition had ruined what could have been a good time.
“It’s alright.”
Although Eunsol had been fine for a while, now he was being overly cautious around Hyun-oh again, just like when they first met, causing Hyun-oh’s brow to furrow slightly.
How much time would have to pass before Eunsol realized that they weren’t in a superior-subordinate relationship, but were a married couple?
Every time Eunsol acted this way, Hyun-oh felt as if a deep river had been placed between them. It bothered him like a tiny thorn stuck under his fingernail.
Hyun-oh suddenly realized that Eunsol had never shown him a bright smile. That smile, which he occasionally showed to Kang Ye-ryeong and Ryu Jeong-woo, was not permitted to him.
Even the household staff were often shown a faint smile. The only expressions of Eunsol that Hyun-oh saw were ones with large, trembling eyes, or those of someone intimidated and afraid.
…However, there was also an intimate expression that only he could see. When his thoughts reached that point, his unpleasant mood somewhat subsided. Still, his feeling of frustration hadn’t completely disappeared.
Instead of expressing his complex emotions, Hyun-oh suppressed them with practiced ease. Then he subtly indicated to Eunsol to leave.
In consideration of Eunsol’s effort in preparing the meal, he would finish eating, but he had an important agenda that needed to be reviewed and approved by the end of the day.
“Understood, so please go ahead. After dinner, I plan to go to the study to work. So don’t wait for me and go to sleep first.”
“…Yes.”
Was it his imagination that Hyun-oh’s voice sounded colder than before?
Eunsol lifted his head, which was about to droop again, and left the dining room. As the food smell receded, his churning stomach improved somewhat, but his heart still fluttered with the memory of Hyun-oh’s cool gaze.
He stopped his steps toward the bedroom and turned his head back. Wondering if perhaps a voice calling for him might be heard.
Although their conversation had ended, for some inexplicable reason, a sense of regret lingered, and it took quite some time for him to resume his steps after stopping once.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
