CH 11.1

Chapter 11 Stranger of the World (2)

I saw Yeon Woojeong’s back when I opened my eyes. Seeing his bare skin, I stretched out my hand and covered the blanket over him. Then, he tossed around and turned facing me.

The sky outside the window behind him was brightening up. It was Saturday morning. A restful weekend without alarm to disturb his sleep. However, both him and I would leave the house, so there would be no time to enjoy that restful time.

I came closer to Yeon Woojeong, wrapped my arms around his waist, and closed my eyes. His temperature made my body warm.

It was completely bright outside the window when I opened my eyes again. I overslept because I was up late and didn’t feel like sleeping. Yeon Woojeong was still sleeping, and I saw the trace I left on the chest shown under the blanket.

I thought I didn’t bite it that hard. After pulling up the blanket all the way up to his neck, I got out of bed. 

I entered the bathroom and then I looked at the mirror while holding a toothbrush. There was a bruise in the area around my neck to my collarbone. After touching that area, I brushed my teeth and washed my face.

I went to the kitchen and made a fresh pot of rice and whisked an egg. I was hungry. After moving the simple omelet on the plate, I took out the side dishes. While I was hesitating about whether to wake Yeon Woojeong up or not after getting some rice, the door to the bedroom opened.

Yeon Woojeong, walking with a sleepy face, smiled when he saw me. He entered the bathroom. I stopped scooping the rice and waited for him.

“You should have eaten first.”

After taking a bath, Yeon Woojeong walked over. When I sat down after getting two bowls of rice, he also sat across from me. 

“Ah, my back hurts.”

He spoke, as if intentionally wanting me to hear it, and then took the spoon. When I pushed the plate with omelet to him, he put a spoon of rice into his mouth and pulled his lips up while chewing on it.

“Your face looks better overnight.”

His tone sounded as if he was talking about last night, so I ignored him and asked.

“When will you go out today?”

“After I finish this. And I think I can’t get home today.”

“Are you that busy?”

“Something has come up. I’ll go back early tomorrow.”

If Yeon Woojeong didn’t get home today, then it might be okay to work until dawn. But since I didn’t know when he would go back, I had to leave once I got enough tips.

It was ridiculous to say that things are going well, but I wondered how the time could be so perfect. Once I made some money and solved the urgent problem today, I would be able to breathe easier.

“It’s good. What did you put in?”

“Sugar and salt?”

“Do you usually put both in?”

Tilting his head, Yeon Woojeong took a big bite of the omelet. I felt butterflies inside looking at him chewing the yellow omelet with a disheveled look.

While swinging my feet, I brushed Yeon Woojeong’s leg. He glanced at me and then tapped my leg with his foot. Mine was a mistake, but his was intentional. 

When our eyes met, his toes grazed past my shin.

“What are you doing?”

Yeon Woojeong didn’t answer me and only flashed his eyebrows. He had a cheeky look as if asking if I had a problem with that. As I kept his legs between mine, making them unable to move, he smirked.

After finishing his meal, Yeon Woojeong immediately changed his clothes. Considering that he had to dress up neatly from head to toe even on weekends, being a prosecutor seemed like a tiring job.

“I’ll be back.”

Yeon Woojeong, who had worn his shoes in the entrance, looked back at me. He, looking at me intently, soon grabbed the doorknob. The moment he opened the door, my hand moved before I knew it.

I grabbed his hand tight before letting it go. Yeon Woojeong blinked.

“See you.”

It was a very common greeting, but since I practically never said it, it felt awkward. Yeon Woojeong, who paused for a while because of me, bloomed with a smile.

“Yeah.”

I became alone as Yeon Woojeong left. I wandered for a while at the entrance before coming inside.

There was some time left. Useless thoughts seemed to come to mind as I thought about the remaining time, so I moved my body. There was nothing to clean, but I swept and mopped the second floor. I felt a bit weird thinking that I would leave this place once we moved.

It was my first time living in a 2-floor house. It annoyed me to go up and down the stairs, but I guess I would often think of the scenery I could see from here. Leaning on the railing, I looked out the living room window. 

I had nothing to do, but the time moved fast. Time always seemed to be going in the opposite direction of my mind. 

I changed my clothes and went outside. I emptied my mind while riding the bus. Work. Money. I decided to keep only those two things in mind. 

I looked for the restaurant by looking at the maps. It was 5 past 6 when I found the restaurant that looked normal from the outside. It seemed like Han Juhyeok hadn’t come yet. The window was covered with curtains, so I couldn’t see inside. It was when I was about to check the time again after looking through the dark gaps.

“Hey!”

A tap on my shoulder made me turn around. It was Han Juhyeok, with something in his hair and sparkly earrings.

“Early, I see? Let’s get in.”

The door, which I thought was locked, opened easily. I came in following Han Juhyeok. I thought all the lights were out, but there was a small light along the path. 

Going deeper, there was a staircase when the door behind the kitchen was opened. The staircase was bright and neat. As we went down and opened a door again, a wide space came into view.

“Oh, Juhyeok. You’re here?”

The man in a uniform, who was standing at the entrance, greeted Han Juhyeok and then scanned me.

“Is it him? Your friend?”

“Yes. Please take care of him.”

“Wow, holy shit.”

The man opened his eyes wide. He brought his hand to the front of his face and then moved it up and down. I had no idea what that meant, but it irritated me. Han Juhyeok laughed and put his hand on my shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

I removed his hand by heaving my shoulder. The room near the entrance we got in was the staff lounge. There were two doors at the end of the lounge, one for the men’s locker room and one for the women’s locker room. 

We walked into the men’s locker room, and there were two people changing uniforms.

“Good evening, brothers.”

“Hey, Juhyeok.”

“This is my friend Kim Jiho. Please take care of him.”

The two men scanned me. One of them asked.

“Ladies? Men?”

“Haha, no. Only serving.”

“Really? Why?”

The man took a second look at me as if he really couldn’t understand. I had no duty to make the man understand. I let them talk by themselves and picked up the hanger with the uniform on it.

There was no name or sign, so it seemed that I could just wear it. I turned around. The two men left, and Han Juhyeok approached me.

“Yes, you can wear that.”

It was a white shirt, a black vest, and pants. In addition, a bow tie. It was really outrageous.

After I changed into my uniform and wore the tie, Han Juhyeok led me to the mirror. He frowned upon seeing me.

“Erm… Hmm… How about you put your hair up?”

“Why?”

“Well, how should I put it? Now that you dress like this… you kinda make people want to hit on you?”

“…”

“It doesn’t mean I want to do that! Don’t look at me like that. Erm, you also kinda look young. If you put your hair up like me, you’ll get fewer words commenting on your age and such.”

I nodded, figuring it wasn’t a big deal to put a touch on my hair, and he was speaking from experience, so I didn’t have to say no. Han Juhyeok unscrewed the cap of the gel in front of the mirror and applied it to my hair. 

My hair was done while I closed and opened my eyes a few times. I thought of Yeon Woojeong as soon as I saw it. He looked good with this style as if he was born with it, but I looked awkward somewhat.