YHP 29

Braised short ribs, shepherd’s purse soybean paste stew, and multigrain rice.

Side dishes: Seasoned balloon flower root, seasoned spinach, dried radish, young radish kimchi, radish water kimchi broth.

Dessert: Sweet potato candy, jasmine tea, matcha chocolate.

It seemed like something was written on the back again. Jeong-in flipped the sticky note over.

I put ointment in with it. Make sure to apply it.

A new tube of ointment lay neatly with cotton swabs on top of the still-warm dishes.

Jeong-in glanced down at his wrist. The gauze that Ho-jin had carefully applied was long gone, and now only a hint of redness remained on the long scratch, except for the very tip. There seemed to be no need to apply anything else.

He set the ointment aside for now and opened the lid of the topmost container. A savory aroma wafted up. The glossy, glistening meat was piled high, studded with small pieces of carrots and chestnuts. He hadn’t even realized he was hungry, but seeing it made his mouth water.

Of course, he didn’t like Ho-jin’s actions. The very idea of someone constantly coming and going at his door was unsettling.

…But even so, he shouldn’t throw away the hard-earned produce of farmers and ranchers.

Quickly rationalizing, Jeong-in took out the spoon wrapped in silk cloth and placed it on the desk, then began to take out the remaining containers one by one.

The braised short ribs, rice, and soybean paste stew were in insulated lunch boxes, and the cold side dishes were in small glass bowls. He arranged the sesame-sprinkled spinach and fragrant seasoned balloon flower root in a row. Once he had taken out the honey-glazed sweet potato candy, two small chocolates, and the tea in the thermos, it looked quite presentable.

Jeong-in slowly picked up the spoon. He placed a piece of braised short rib on top of the still-warm rice and put it in his mouth.

“Mmm…”

The tender meat melted in his mouth. The subtle aroma of jujubes and ginkgo nuts added a savory flavor, and the rich juices and sweet seasoning of the meat were perfectly balanced, with not a hint of gaminess. It was of a quality that would not be out of place as the main course in a Korean set meal restaurant.

He took a bite of each of the other side dishes as well. All the side dishes retained the flavor of the original ingredients while having their own unique characteristics, and the textures were perfect. He wondered how they could all be so clean and refreshing. After washing down the deep, rich flavor of the braised short ribs with the cool radish water kimchi broth and taking a spoonful of the shepherd’s purse-scented soybean paste stew, half of the rice had disappeared before he even realized it.

Finally, he finished his meal and bit into the neatly arranged sweet potato candy. After sipping the jasmine tea, he felt like his stomach would burst. Still, he finished off the two matcha chocolates.

“…”

He didn’t want to admit it, but Ho-jin’s cooking skills were top-notch.

He sat quietly facing the wall with the now-empty side dish containers in front of him, feeling like he had lost somehow. After a moment of small anger, Jeong-in gathered the dishes one by one and pushed them into the sink in the room. He felt like he should at least do the dishes.

Fortunately, there were some utensils left in the corner of the cabinet, apparently left behind by the previous tenant.

He took out a tattered scouring pad and half-empty detergent and slowly made some foam. In fact, he had usually had someone to do the housework for him, both when he lived at home and when he lived in an officetel, so he had rarely done such things himself. He scrubbed as hard as he could, but his form was clumsy and the dishes kept slipping. After dropping them a few times with a thud, he barely managed to finish lathering them, and the whole place was a mess of water.

Then, at some point, one of the glass bowls that he had placed next to the sink because there wasn’t enough space suddenly fell to the floor. He reached out to try to catch it, but failed. Of course, the bowl shattered with a tremendous noise.

“Really…”

Leaving the water running, he began to pick up the pieces of glass one by one.

He roughly gathered the large pieces and placed them on a frying pan, and swept the small pieces into a corner with a broom. Meanwhile, the sink, which did not drain well, was filling up with water. When Jeong-in finally turned back to it, it was already overflowing onto the floor.

“Ah, no.”

Startled, he turned off the faucet. The submerged dishes floated in the detergent foam.

He never imagined that he would experience a disaster of this magnitude in exchange for a single meal. Jeong-in, drained of energy, slumped to the floor. But something felt strange. It was a place where water had clearly not reached, but somehow the palm of his hand felt slippery.

“…What.”

Wondering what it was, he looked down and saw that it was soaked in blood. He quickly turned his palm over. Blood was dripping from his fingertips. He must have been cut while cleaning up the glass shards.

Perhaps because he hadn’t stopped the bleeding immediately, the floor that Jeong-in had touched was covered in gruesome bloodstains, even though it wasn’t that big of a wound. It was as if he had cut off his finger.

He remembered the ointment that had come with the lunch box and was just about to get up when he heard a knock. It was Ho-jin, with his voice saying, “It’s me, Ho-jin.”

“What.”

He rolled up some tissue and stopped the bleeding from his finger for now. He asked through the door, and Ho-jin replied.

“I thought you’d be done eating by now. I came to get the dishes.”

“…I haven’t finished washing them yet.”

“You can just give them to me.”

Jeong-in hesitated for a moment. In fact, just looking at the things floating in the sink, which was not draining, made him feel suffocated. But he really couldn’t just eat everything and return the dirty dishes. Then, Ho-jin’s voice came again from beyond the door.

“I’m going to put them in the dishwasher anyway. Just give them to me.”

“…Really?”

He didn’t know for sure, but he figured it would be okay if a machine was doing it. Tempted, Jeong-in finally opened the door slightly.

He saw a face that was smiling brightly as always. There was a little moisture left on the ends of his hair, as if he was on his way back from training. Jeong-in gestured towards the sink.

“But it’s in this state right now. Wipe off the water and…”

“Huh? What happened to your hand?”

Before he could finish speaking, Ho-jin grabbed Jeong-in’s wrist in a hurry, his face hardening. The tissue that had been pressing down on his fingertip was now stained crimson.

“Are you hurt?”

“Ah, well.”

He carefully removed the tissue that was starting to stick to the wound.

“I broke a bowl. I got cut a little while cleaning it up.”

At those words, his neat eyebrows furrowed. Jeong-in quickly apologized.

“I’ll buy you a new bowl, I’m sorry.”

“That’s not what’s important right now…”

Stopping mid-sentence, Ho-jin took a deep breath. His gaze suddenly turned to the floor.

“Let’s treat the wound first. I’ll come in for a moment.”

Passing by the gruesome bloodstains, Ho-jin strode into the middle of the room and immediately opened his bag.

“Sit over here.”

Jeong-in shuffled over and sat in front of him. As before, Ho-jin took out the tweezers first and began to soak a cotton ball in alcohol. At first, he seemed to be just dabbing a few drops, but then he suddenly clamped his mouth shut and poured in a huge amount. Ho-jin lifted the cotton ball, now soaked as if it would drip with just a slight press, and said, “Give me your hand.”

Just looking at it, Jeong-in knew it would hurt if that touched him. Jeong-in bit his lower lip and held out his hand. Then, Ho-jin gently wrapped his hand around his wrist and said, “…Ah.”

He pressed the wet cotton ball firmly on the wound. The alcohol that flowed down seeped into the wound. Startled by the more painful sensation than he had imagined, Jeong-in’s hand shot up. But because of the tight grip that prevented him from moving even a little, he ended up returning to his original position.

“It stings, doesn’t it?”

The even-toned question reached him.

“Of course it does.”

“…Why did you do that?”

The end of the approaching voice was trembling. Jeong-in glanced up. He saw Ho-jin’s face, distorted as if he would cry at any moment. It wasn’t an expression he should be making over such a tiny wound. Looking at it made him feel unnecessarily awkward, as if he had cut off his finger.

“How can a person live without getting hurt even once? And it’s not that big of a wound.”

“It’s not about that.”

Ho-jin wiped the wound once more and carefully spread ointment over it.

“I’m saying that because I was upset that you talked about the bowl first when you saw me.”

“…”

“You must have been very surprised and hurt.”

A small bandage was wrapped around his fingertip. The edges of the adhesive surface met without the slightest misalignment.

“How could you do that? How could you think that I would care about a bowl when you’re hurt, Hyung? How could you think that?”

His voice was dripping with disappointment. Ho-jin raised his eyes and met Jeong-in’s gaze.

He was hesitating, not knowing what to say. Ho-jin, who had been quietly looking at Jeong-in, chuckled. His eyes were still as if he would cry.

“If the same situation happens again, please don’t do that next time. I don’t mean don’t get hurt, but I mean that if you get hurt, I hope you’ll tell me first.”

A gentle voice fell into his ear.

Jeong-in suddenly thought of Hyo-jun, who was sleeping in the next room. More precisely, the words he had said.

‘Grab any guy who likes you and try dating him, preferably someone who would pretend to die at your every word.’

‘That way, you won’t make mistakes when you meet someone you really like.’

Of course, he had no intention of doing such a thing, but he suddenly became curious. Looking into Ho-jin’s clear eyes, Jeong-in swallowed a random question.

How far are you willing to go at my every word?

“…Do you understand?”

At that moment, Ho-jin suddenly raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.

It was as if he would willingly say that he would pretend to die any number of times.