I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 17
“Your neck, doesn’t it hurt?”
Mujin asked as if he cared.
“… It hurts.”
Jaewoo was staring at Mujin, aghast at his nerve. If it wasn’t for Hyunjin’s sake, he would have kicked him out right then and there. He turned away, trying to shake off Mujin’s hand, but Mujin followed after him. He grabbed Jaewoo’s throat once more, wrapping his hand around the back of his neck.
Jaewoo was dragged forward helplessly, and in the blink of an eye he was face-to-face with Mujin.
“Really.”
Jaewoo held his breath. His eyes started to water.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
Mujin’s gaze was piercing. It felt like it was going to sear through Jaewoo. Mujin’s voice was soft and his words seemed kind, but his gaze was brutal. Jaewoo desperately tried to think of something, anything else that could break the sudden tension.
Maybe breakfast tomorrow? They could discuss the menu…
“Not going to answer?”
Mujin loosened his grip on Jaewoo’s throat, then gently slapped his cheek as he pulled back. It didn’t hurt, but the implication made Jaewoo sweat. When he thought of the Jaewoo in the novel being murdered by the person in front of him, it sent shivers up his spine.
“It hurts a lot.”
Mujin looked satisfied as Jaewoo answered in a defeated tone.
“Ah, I see. My bad.”
‘If you’re going to say something like that, at least try to look like you mean it.’
Jaewoo was trembling. His cowering form reminded Mujin of a beaten puppy, so he decided to stop tormenting him. After all, it wasn’t satisfying if the opponent was too weak. With that, Mujin let Jaewoo go.
As soon as he was free, Jaewoo skittered away from Mujin. Then he ran away to the kitchen without even grabbing the dirty cracker bowl first. It was only once he was away and safe that he realized – Mujin was staying in Jaewoo’s room. Where was he going to sleep?
He couldn’t sleep in the same room as Mujin. His heart wouldn’t be able to take it.
‘I’ve been kicked out of my own room.’
Jaewoo took a deep breath. He was considering what he should do now when he suddenly became aware of a presence behind him. He spun around, heart racing, only to see Hyeonu standing in the kitchen with an empty bowl.
“Oh! You boys finished it all?”
“Yes, it was delicious.”
Hyeonu nodded, and Woohee, who appeared behind him, agreed.
“It was really tasty!”
“Good, good. Then I’ll be sure to make it again.”
“Yay!”
Seeing the children so excited helped Jaewoo calm his nerves.
“And…”
Hyeonu hesitated, even after handing Jaewoo the bowl. As usual, Woohee was the first one to speak up.
“Sleep with us!”
“What?”
When Jaewoo responded in embarrassment, Hyeonu explained further.
“My older brother said that you should sleep in our room. He said your room isn’t safe, and we shouldn’t let you stay in there.”
When he heard that, Jaewoo’s heart swelled. Even while he was getting ready for work, Hyunjin had still worried about Jaewoo. And the boys had made sure to relay his instructions precisely, to make sure that Jaewoo was safe.
“Are the two of you alright if we have a sleepover?”
“Yes!”
“I’d like to.”
Woohee answered bravely, and Hyeonu smiled at him. The two of them took Jaewoo by the hands and led him to their room. It was a small, cold room. The only thing that radiated warmth was the heating pad.
‘I need to do something about that.’
Could he rip up the floor and install heaters underneath? And in the meantime, the four of them could all stay in Jaewoo’s room. In his heart, that was what Jaewoo wanted. But since he didn’t know how Hyunjin would react, he’d need to approach it delicately.
The children had done a good job of laying out the bedding. After they had changed, they burrowed under the covers, and Jaewoo settled down under the blanket next to them. Thanks to the heating pad and the thick duvet, although Jaewoo’s face was cold, his body was nice and warm. It reminded him of when he’d woken up here the other day. Without meaning to, he suddenly remembered how he had pressed his face up against Hyunjin’s chest while sleeping.
At the memory of Hyunjin’s muscles inches away from his face, Jaewoo went into a coughing fit.
“Are you sick?”
Hyeonu asked in a worried voice.
“No, no. I’m not sick, it’s okay.”
“You have to be careful not to catch a cold.”
“I’ll be careful, I promise.”
What nice kids. How had Hyunjin gotten so lucky? Jaewoo patted Hyeonu’s head gently, like his mother used to do when he was little. Seeing that, Woohee started to complain, wanting Jaewoo to fuss over him as well.
“Gladly.”
Jaewoo patted the children to sleep. The room was cold, but it was a warm night.
Eeuurrgh. Jaewoo squinted his eyes open for a moment before closing them again, embracing the warmth in front of him. It always took him time to wake up in the morning, often tossing and turning while thinking to himself about how he really needed to get up. He was not a morning person.
‘I’m so tired…’
He’d been so worried about the Mujin situation that the stress must have caught up to him. Then, a thought suddenly penetrated his sleep-deprived brain: this wasn’t his room. Jaewoo’s eyes shot open.
He knew it. The warm body that Jaewoo was pressed up against belonged to Hyunjin.
‘Aaaaaaaaaaaahhh.’
Hyunjin’s hand! Why did he keep doing this? Jaewoo slowly lifted the hand off his waist and returned it to Hyunjin. He wiggled his way off the bed and stepped outside, taking in a deep breath of the cold air. Winter was nearly here.
After blowing his nose, Jaewoo turned to head towards the kitchen when we spotted a human figure sitting on the floor. It was Mujin. He was smoking a cigarette, though Jaewoo had no idea where he got it from. He looked very cool, exhaling smoke in the morning light. Despite that, Jaewoo needed to speak up.
“Hey, no smoking here.”
Mujin raised an eyebrow at him, then took his lit cigarette and stubbed it out on the floor. Jaewoo approached with a face full of anger. As expected, there was a round, black scorch mark left on the wooden boards!
“Who puts out a cigarette like that!”
“I do.”
Jaewoo argued with him while trying to cool his temper. Yesterday, he had been trembling while he scolded him, which Mujin found intriguing. He believed that Jaewoo was really terrified, but he still spoke his mind. How strange.
“…Then you definitely can’t smoke here!”
“Sure, sure. When’s breakfast?”
Mujin changed the subject without warning.
“It’ll be ready soon.”
Jaewoo entered the kitchen with thumping steps.
‘Oh, I’m so pissed.’
In his mind, Jaewoo wanted to tear into him, but he held back. He knew what Mujin’s reaction would be if he did! But that didn’t help the anger burning him up inside.
Jaewoo’s face was red as he quickly prepared breakfast. He grilled tofu, seasoned vegetables, and grilled some meat. Meat is the best for people who do physical labor. Under his capable hands, the meal was completed quickly. The first plate went to Mujin, although Jaewoo wasn’t happy about it. He was tempted to give him only plain rice and water, but held back in consideration of his injury.
“Here.”
“Ohhh, finally, a proper meal.”
Was he saying the food yesterday wasn’t good? Walking past a stunned Jaewoo, Mujin examined the spread. The food wasn’t gourmet, yet Mujin found himself getting hungrier just looking at it.
He took a spoonful of warm rice first, then followed it with some vegetables. The well-seasoned fernbrake1 was tender and cooked to perfection. The bean sprouts were also to his liking. Finally, the soybean paste stew and the grilled tofu were delicious, worthy of a top chef.
“It tastes even better when you mix them together.”
Saying so, Jaewoo handed Mujin a large bowl. It was true. Add the rice and vegetables to a bowl, add a little bit of soybean paste stew and some red pepper paste2, and it’ll taste heavenly. Mujin usually only ate in order to fill his stomach, but now he was actually enjoying the taste.
“Where did you learn to cook?”
“I picked it up here and there. It’s a hobby.”
“A hobby, huh?”
Wasn’t this food too good to just be a hobby? Mujin put his spoon down and stared at Jaewoo.
“Would you like some more rice?”
“I’ll take some. But before that, I have something important to discuss with you.”
Mujin’s gaze was piercing.
“Come work for me in my house.”
“What?”
Jaewoo’s eyes went wide in surprise. What sort of proposal was this?
“I’ll pay you as much as you want.”
Mujin said it impulsively, but in retrospect, it was a good idea. He hated having people in his house, but it might be acceptable if it was Jaewoo. He still reminded Mujin of his childhood pet, and he was easy on the eyes to boot.
“Sorry, but that sounds kind of troublesome.”
Of course Jaewoo refused. Once Mujin and Hyunjin became a couple, they weren’t going to want to have Jaewoo around as a third wheel, cooking for them. The whole idea was ridiculous!
“What’s the problem?”
“It’s too far to travel, for one.”
“Are you saying you know where my house is?”
Jaewoo’s breath caught in his throat. Mujin was laughing, but it was obvious that his suspicions had been raised. Jaewoo needed to come up with an excuse, quickly.
“I know you don’t live nearby, anyway. I’m a person that takes a taxi for anything more than three steps!”
He was spitting out complete bullshit, but Jaewoo didn’t regret it. Even if it made him look insane, he couldn’t afford to get mixed up with Mujin.
“Then just take a taxi.”
“Do you know how much taxis cost these days?”
“I’ll pay for the fare.”
“You can’t just spend money frivolously like that!”
“Taxi fare is a drop in the bucket for me.”
Jaewoo shouted in exasperation.
“I’m not okay with that!”
“Jaewoo-ssi.”
“Y-Yes?”
“I’m asking nicely.”
Mujin’s lips curled up slightly, but his eyes were cold. The implication was terrifying. Mujin was asking nicely for now, but both of them knew that he could use threats if he wanted to.
‘Why, why are things like this?’
Jaewoo lamented.
“…There’re lots of people who are much better at cooking than I am.”
“None of them would suit my palate.”
“You can’t know that for sure. If you just tried some of them-”
“Jaewoo-ssi. Stop talking.”
Mujin’s large hand reached out towards him. Against his will, Jaewoo tensed up. Nothing good ever happened when Mujin touched him.
“You need to listen more.”
A large hand gently stroked his hair. But to Jaewoo, it felt more like Mujin was checking the shape of his head before crushing it.
“P-Please stop.”
“You know who I am, don’t you?”
Of course Jaewoo knew who he was. Thanks to the novel, Jaewoo knew him better than probably anyone else.
“I heard you talking in the yard yesterday. You should really do something about the soundproofing here.”
Fortunately, Mujin didn’t seem to realize the extent of Jaewoo’s knowledge. Thanks to Hyunjin’s words the other day, he seemed to think that Jaewoo was some sort of naive do-gooder.
Footnotes
고사리 – a type of large, course fern, also known as bracken. The young ferns, known as ‘fiddleheads,’ are often used in Korean cooking
