TLR 20

Chapter 20 …

“Haa.”

As if noticing her realization about his long hair, Junhyuk let out a sigh and brushed back the strands that had fallen below his forehead.

Seol looked away, pretending she hadn’t seen anything, before stealing another quick glance at him.

After standing still for a moment, Junhyuk opened every single built-in cupboard one after another.

Then, he stood there in silence again, staring into the open cabinets. It looked less like he was preparing a meal and more like he was searching for something.

It felt as though things weren’t progressing very smoothly. Seol pushed herself up from her seat.

“Let me help you.”

“It’s cramped, so just sit down.”

“Okay.”

Overwhelmed by his imposing voice, Seol sat right back down.

It took him a while to find the frying pan, and even longer to switch on the induction stove that hadn’t been plugged in.

Still, everything moved fast after that. Junhyuk slathered butter generously onto slices of bread before laying them onto the pan.

By the time the fragrant smell of butter filled the studio apartment, four glass cups were set on the dining table. Junhyuk poured two glasses of milk and two of orange juice.

“Ah, jam.”

Junhyuk muttered to himself and turned around.

“Here. Spread whichever one you like and eat.”

Peanut butter, strawberry jam, apple jam, and chocolate spread were set down in front of her.

“Thank you for the food,” Seol greeted with a slight bow. Junhyuk opened the jam jars, every single one of them brand new.

Seol spread a little bit of apple jam and took a bite of the nicely toasted bread.

Between bites, she kept looking for a chance to say things like, “The toast is really delicious,” or “The plates are so pretty,” but Junhyuk maintained a completely expressionless face the whole time.

In the end, Seol couldn’t bring herself to say a word until her very last bite.

“You finished it all.”

“Yes, thank you for the meal.”

“Should I toast more bread if it wasn’t enough?”

“No, I’m good.”

“In that case…”

Junhyuk stared intently at her, trailing off.

So this is where I get scolded. Seol hunched her shoulders and held her breath.

“There’s apples, bananas, pudding, and yogurt.”

“Huh?”

“Did I get the order wrong? They say you’re supposed to eat fiber first.”

Frowning slightly, Junhyuk stood up and brought back an apple.

“It says these were pre-washed.”

Junhyuk tore open the plastic bag, pulled out the apple, and split it in half with his hands.

“Woah…”

“Eat.”

“Okay…”

She was full and didn’t really want to eat, but the striking image of the apple splitting open with a crisp snap was too vivid to ignore. Seol took the apple half with both hands.

The moment she finally finished it, Junhyuk—who had already devoured his half and had been silently watching her—stood up yet again.

A banana, pudding, and yogurt were lined up in a neat row on the table.

“Eat. In whichever order you like.”

“…I’m actually really full now.”

“I thought you ate a lot?”

Junhyuk asked back with a look of genuine confusion.

At the memory of how well she had eaten in front of him up until now, the tips of Seol’s ears flushed bright red.

“I just don’t usually eat much for breakfast.”

“Ah, some people are like that.”

Leaning back at an angle against his chair, Junhyuk picked up a banana.

Seol waited quietly while Junhyuk ate two more bananas.

“So then…”

Junhyuk spoke almost like a sigh, staring intently at her.

Guess I’m finally getting scolded now. Seol squeezed her hands together so tightly her skin turned red.

“I should make an apology.”

“Huh? Ah, yes, I’m sorr—”

“Because no matter how much I tried to wake you, you wouldn’t budge. I thought about leaving you at a motel, but it felt dangerous to leave an unconscious woman by herself. The floor here was cold, too. And I can’t sleep unless I’m on a bed.”

Junhyuk cut her off and blurted out the words in a flat tone.

“That wasn’t an apology, it was a compilation of excuses. Well, that’s roughly the story of what happened last night. I’m sorry.”

“Wait, you’re not going to scold me?”

“Who am I to scold you, Seol-ssi?”

Junhyuk let out a dry laugh.

“No, earlier you said you were going to lecture me… Do you know how nervous I was because of that?”

“Ah, so you wanted to be scolded.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Junhyuk wiped every last trace of amusement clean from his face.

“If you ever drink alone with another guy besides me in the future…”

His eyes were as cold as a snow-capped mountain in the dead of winter.

“I’m going to kill the bastard, so keep that in mind.”

And his voice was as chilling as a frozen stream in a mountain valley.

“Did that live up to your expectations? That was the boyfriend version.”

Seol blinked her eyes slowly.

She’d heard him, but it felt like her brain couldn’t quite process what she’d just heard.

“I’m asking you, Seol-ah.”

Even in sweatpants, the man oozing a heavily overbearing aura gestured toward her with his chin.

“What…?”

“Did it satisfy you, getting scolded by your boyfriend?”

Seol swallowed her dry spit. The answer was already decided. She was certain that if she said she wasn’t satisfied, something far more intense would come back at her.

And for some strange reason, she actually felt a little satisfied.

“Yes, I was very satisfied.”

“Then today is officially our Day 1.”

“Day 1 of what?”

“Dating. You just acknowledged that I’m your boyfriend.”

“Huh? No! You’re not my boyfriend!”

“If you hate the idea that much, you’ll hurt my feelings. I’m human, too.”

“Ah…”

“’Once Seol-ssi’s circumstances improve.’ Do you remember that?”

Junhyuk stood up from his seat and continued.

“That I pulled number one in line.”

As he passed by her, Junhyuk patted her head. Even though it wasn’t skin-on-skin contact, a heat so intense it felt scalding radiated through to her.

Seol bit down on the inside of her lip. This was no time for this. There was no way her circumstances were going to improve.

Yet, despite that, the man kept walking right into her heart.

The sun had risen and there were people on the streets, but the somewhat crisp air felt more like dawn than morning.

They reached the fork in the road. Junhyuk pulled his hand out of his pants pocket and extended it toward her.

“Hand over your phone.”

“Ah, okay.”

Seol obediently pulled her phone out of her bag and handed it to Junhyuk.

“Who’s this ugly kid? Your younger brother?”

“Yes. But he’s not ugly.”

“He’s not handsome, either. Unlock it.”

Pouting her lips slightly, Seol punched her passcode into the phone.

“I saved my number.”

Junhyuk handed the phone back.

Since she had known what he was trying to do, Seol didn’t say much and simply nodded.

“Then I’ll see you at the café this evening.”

Junhyuk naturally made plans for their next meeting.

“Okay.”

They’d just spent the night together, yet making a fresh plan to meet up felt embarrassingly formal. Seol answered in a voice that had grown a notch smaller.

After parting ways with Junhyuk, Seol walked up the hill. Her steps as she climbed the stairs of her apartment building felt heavy, as if she were wearing shackles.

Still, it was a problem she couldn’t bypass. Taking a deep breath, Seol opened the front door.

“Is that you, Seol-ah?”

Donghee, who had been sitting on the living room floor, brightened up and asked.

“Yeah.”

“Did you sleep at a friend’s place last night?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah…”

“Seol-ah, Mom is sorry. It was all Mom’s fault.”

Donghee wasn’t drunk. Seol had been fully prepared for her mom to blow up, but she wasn’t even angry.

However, there was no telling when she might make a sharp turn and plunge off a cliff again. Seol stared at Donghee in silence.

“Still, no matter how upset you were, how could you stay out overnight and not even answer your mother’s calls?”

It was a voice sweet as honey. Just like the tone she used when speaking to Jiwan. It seemed she remembered every single thing she’d said.

“I’m sorry.”

After a moment’s thought, Seol accepted the reconciliation gesture Donghee was extending.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to confront her and ask why she had said those things to her, or if that was really how her mother felt deep down.

It was just that the desire not to dig any deeper took precedence.

She had to work all day again today and needed to save her energy, and she didn’t want to ruin the cheerful mood she’d felt while eating breakfast with Junhyuk.

“Right. You have to go to work now, don’t you? Mom will whip up a meal for you real quick.”

“I ate already. I’m going to wash up.”

“You ate? Did you eat with your friend? Whose house did your friend stay at, then?”

“A friend from college. Mom, I don’t have time.”

“R-Right. Go wash up quickly.”

Seol could see Donghee glancing at her out of the corner of her eye, looking like she wanted to pry further. Seol pretended not to notice and headed for the bathroom.

Later that afternoon, on her way to catch the subway after wrapping up her shift at the bakery, Seol looked down at her vibrating phone screen.

[HJ HR Team]

Had she really not deleted this number yet? With a dissatisfied look on her face, Seol pressed the call button.