WOEIWHMB – Chapter 10

Chapter 10

At the subtle pressure to remember, Yeon Dong-woo’s lips stuck out in a pout.

He slurped up the noodles and put some kimchi in his mouth. He took a bite of the cake too, but Kang Mu-hyeok’s gaze felt burdensome, and the food wouldn’t go down.

“My stomach doesn’t feel good.”

“Then stop eating.”

While Kang Mu-hyeok finished the cup noodles with about one bite left, the cake pieces all ended up disappearing into Yeon Dong-woo’s mouth.

Leaving one slice of cake behind out of conscience, Yeon Dong-woo went into the bathroom. As he washed up and brushed his teeth, he looked into the mirror.

“Huh? Crow’s feet.”

He stopped mid-sentence. I wasn’t twenty-six anymore. I was twenty-nine, heading toward thirty. He stuck his head out of the bathroom and asked,

“Hey, um… what happened to the studio apartment I used to live in?”

“I put it up for rent two years ago.”

Yeon Dong-woo nodded and finished brushing his teeth.

That ten-pyeong studio had been the first place I’d ever owned.

In my last memory, I still had a bit of loan left, so the fact that it was now earning rent made me feel good.

Rinsing his mouth, Yeon Dong-woo looked at the neatly arranged disposable toiletries off to one side.

He packed the unopened soap and toothbrush, then grabbed the tea bags, coffee, and sugar from the tea table too.

As he put them into a pocket of his suitcase, he suddenly paused and turned around.

Kang Mu-hyeok was quietly watching everything he was doing.

“They give you new ones again tomorrow. These are included in tonight’s room fee…”

Worried he might look too stingy, his voice trailed off.

“Use the body lotion here. Don’t take it. I never use it, so it always gets thrown away.”

“……”

Yeon Dong-woo quietly put the body lotion back in the bathroom.

Still feeling reluctant, he fiddled with it, then opened the cap to smell it. It was unscented, and the texture seemed pretty good.

Why wouldn’t he use it?

Who doesn’t use lotion? If you have it, you use it.

Yeon Dong-woo brought the body lotion back out and carefully put it into his suitcase. Feeling oddly guilty under Kang Mu-hyeok’s stare, he spoke first.

“This is all money. You use it after showering, so why wouldn’t you take it? If you buy it, it costs money. It’s better to keep it and use it later.”

“Okay.”

After glancing at Kang Mu-hyeok answering so casually, Yeon Dong-woo lay down on the bed.

What would a guy who’d always lived comfortably know?

Yeon Dong-woo, who’d worked all kinds of part-time jobs since high school, valued every single won.

Why do you think I never skipped school lunches…

Rice with kimchi. Rice with a fried egg. Rice with ramen.

A guy who’d never eaten three meals a day like that wouldn’t understand.

Spending five thousand, ten thousand won on a single cup of coffee was unthinkable.

If I wanted coffee, I drank it in the office pantry. I’d grab two candies and eat them at home as dessert after dinner. I packed my lunch diligently too.

Seriously, why is food so expensive?

Once I started bringing lunch boxes to work, an overweight coworker joined in to diet, and married employees who brought lunches made by their wives joined one by one.

At some point, the lunch group kept growing, and then Kang Mu-hyeok, the CEO, openly said he wanted home-cooked food while looking straight at me, so he started bringing one too.

Of course, it wasn’t free. I took a month’s worth of meal money from him. Sometimes, after eating, Kang Mu-hyeok would buy coffee.

Every time, I ordered a café mocha.

It was damn good.

A magical flavor that made you want to buy it every single day.

And that was just yesterday…

Sleepiness washed over him, and as he yawned, the bedroom lights went out.

He felt Kang Mu-hyeok lie down beside him after finishing his shower. Along with the fresh scent of water, he heard the man’s tired, steady breathing.

Feeling bad about how Kang Mu-hyeok must have had to go to the emergency room twice in a foreign country, Yeon Dong-woo wanted to say thank you.

But hearing his even breathing, he decided to say it tomorrow and closed his eyes.

* * *

In the darkness, the man’s eyes opened, sharp.

His gaze, fixed on Yeon Dong-woo sleeping at the far edge of the bed away from him, held a trace of dissatisfaction.

“Hoo…”

A sigh slipped from Kang Mu-hyeok’s lips.

It couldn’t be helped. At this stage, my husband Yeon Dong-woo had a clear boundary of his own.

He would get close, then draw a parallel line, never letting their paths meet.

If I took one step closer, he didn’t just step back once or twice. He bounced completely out of my space. And it wasn’t just with me.

‘This is the first guy Dong-woo hyung has talked this much about.’

That was what I’d said to the men he’d been seeing, the ones I’d pressured him to meet. Of course, I only said it when Yeon Dong-woo stepped away briefly or went to the restroom.

It wasn’t meant kindly. It was deliberate.

Just hearing another man come out of Yeon Dong-woo’s mouth made my insides churn.

‘Dong-woo hyung likes drinking.’

That wasn’t a lie. He had a can of beer every night to wrap up his day.

When I casually nudged two people together like that, Yeon Dong-woo would soon make a fuss.

‘Ugh… it’s too much. All he does is drink.’

After being forcibly kissed once, he showed clear discomfort even if someone’s physical advances got just a little stronger.

That was how he scared off every guy he met, except Cha Hyun-do.

Because he was a gentleman, apparently.

Recalling the past, Kang Mu-hyeok crossed his arms and let out a hollow breath.

Of all people, it had to be that guy…

His sharp gaze moved to the small head nearby.

Yeon Dong-woo was just under average male height, but his slim build and proportions were good. His head was small too, so he looked great in photos.

In pictures or videos, he looked tall, but seeing him like this in person, he was small enough to fit perfectly into one’s arms.

Trying to start dating again with someone as guarded as Yeon Dong-woo made his chest feel tight.

Still, at least we were already a married couple who’d even registered our marriage.

The corner of Kang Mu-hyeok’s mouth lifted slightly.

Thick, long fingers gently twirled a strand of pitch-black hair and held it.

“You won’t get away this time.”

Murmuring in a low voice, Kang Mu-hyeok picked up the air conditioner remote from the bedside table. The sound of lowering the temperature clicked several times.

Soon, Yeon Dong-woo squirmed as if he felt cold and moved closer to Kang Mu-hyeok.

Kang Mu-hyeok extended an arm to let him use it as a pillow and pulled the blanket up to his neck. He even patted his hip, as if praising him.

Yeon Dong-woo shifted and settled into a comfortable position.

One of Yeon Dong-woo’s legs naturally draped over Kang Mu-hyeok’s thigh as they pressed close.

Only after confirming he was deeply asleep did Kang Mu-hyeok raise the air conditioner temperature slightly.

Then he adjusted his phone’s brightness and continued reading articles related to memory loss.

His gaze drifted to Yeon Dong-woo, sleeping softly.

Lowering his head slowly, he pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. He stared at his face for a long moment, then looked back at his phone.

The light from the screen reflected sharply in Kang Mu-hyeok’s eyes.

He paused while searching for flights back to Korea with a layover.

At the very least, they needed to spend the first night together so he wouldn’t start thinking about anything else.

Accepting him firmly as a husband had to come first. Going back to Korea after that wouldn’t be too late.

He tapped the hotel app and extended their stay. Then he searched for countries he could go to immediately after the honeymoon ended.

Places where you could arrive by direct flight, but return to Korea only with a layover.

Places with few Koreans, where it would be hard to get help.

He searched for tickets only to those countries.

At twenty-six, Yeon Dong-woo had never even traveled abroad before. He’d never booked tickets, let alone dealt with layovers.

In a situation where he had no choice but to rely on me, opening his heart would be the natural next step.

Just like back then, when he agreed to date me.

* * *

He’d only closed his eyes for a moment, but morning sunlight was already streaming dazzlingly through the blackout curtains.

Still, Yeon Dong-woo couldn’t get up from the bed.

His cheeks flushed, he glanced at Kang Mu-hyeok, still drowsy with sleep, and fell into thought.

Was it because the air conditioner was cold?

Or had we always slept like this?

Unlike last night, when he’d slept with his back turned, he woke up resting his head on Kang Mu-hyeok’s arm, one leg draped over his thigh. If that were all, it would’ve been fine.

Even Kang Mu-hyeok sleeping shirtless was understandable.

The problem was where my hand was.

My hand was, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, inside Kang Mu-hyeok’s underwear.

The number one position men take while sleeping.