By Zephyria 
Seo Yi-kyung pulled down the blanket covering his chest and braced himself against the bed with his left hand.
As he pushed himself up, Han Seung-jae sat on the edge of the bed. His hair was slightly damp, perhaps because he had just showered downstairs.
Han Seung-jae reached out and without hesitation gripped Seo Yi-kyung’s chin, examining him from various angles.
“I heard you went to the hospital?”
Seo Yi-kyung nodded. With his face held in Han Seung-jae’s grip, he couldn’t move much. The scent of white sandalwood pheromones clinging to the large palm spread thickly at the tip of his nose.
In the darkness, Han Seung-jae’s eyes glinted. Half of his face was cast in shadow, making it difficult to quickly discern his expression. Suddenly, he let go and stood up. Seo Yi-kyung’s gaze followed him. For some reason, he had an ominous feeling.
“Wh-where are you going?”
“I have something to ask Butler Do. And if necessary, I’ll have him leave.”
“……!”
Seo Yi-kyung was startled. At Han Seung-jae’s sudden movement, he haphazardly pushed aside the blanket and practically scrambled down from the bed.
“Wait. Seung-jae, I’ll tell you.”
Han Seung-jae reached out and pressed a button. The room was instantly flooded with light. Seo Yi-kyung squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them against the light pouring down from the large chandelier. Before he knew it, Han Seung-jae was standing right in front of him.
“I… I met Dong-hu… no, Hyung at the hospital.”
“And?”
Throughout Seo Yi-kyung’s words, Han Seung-jae’s expression remained indifferent. Despite being the one who had made Seo Dong-hu’s arm like that, he didn’t even bat an eyelid. Had he not known the original plot, one might have thought that Seo Dong-hu’s condition had nothing to do with Han Seung-jae.
“W… was it you, Seung-jae… who did that?”
Seo Yi-kyung’s pupils wavered. He wanted to confirm if the person who had done that to Seo Dong-hu’s arm was indeed Han Seung-jae. Though the middle part of the sentence was mumbled and omitted, the meaning would have been conveyed. He was a man with intuition superior to anyone else. Moreover, asking so bluntly wasn’t comfortable. But he had to confirm it.
“That’s right.”
Seo Yi-kyung’s heart thudded. He stared blankly at Han Seung-jae, who admitted it so easily. The man leaned his upper body forward slightly.
“Because I made your hand like that.”
Seo Yi-kyung’s fingers, wrapped in a cast, twitched. In the first place, it happened because Seo Dong-hu had grabbed the part that was hurting because of Han Seung-jae. However, there was no way he could say that the one who provided the pretext was him.
“So, were you grieving?”
That wasn’t it at all. The back of Seo Yi-kyung’s neck stiffened. It was because Han Seung-jae had moved even closer. Just then, a growl escaped from Seo Yi-kyung’s stomach.
“…….”
Han Seung-jae’s gaze lingered on Seo Yi-kyung’s flat stomach, hidden by his pajamas. Fearing that he might say he’d send Butler Do away, Yi-kyung beat him to the punch.
“I’m not saying I’ll eat. No, I-I-I mean, I was so tired after coming back from the hospital that I slept and couldn’t eat dinner—”
Seo Yi-kyung hurriedly reached out with his left hand. His hand flailed through the air.
“……I did.”
He grabbed the wrist of Seo Yi-kyung as he finished his sentence. However, he had loosened his grip enough that Yi-kyung could have escaped if he twisted his hand. Nevertheless, Seo Yi-kyung blinked as he was pulled along.
Han Seung-jae called for Butler Do. A flustered Seo Yi-kyung didn’t know what to do, but Han Seung-jae wasn’t the type of person to keep such things in mind. Soon after, the chef was summoned.
Seo Yi-kyung fidgeted with his toes, his face anxious. At this rate, every single person in the house would be called out. Not that Han Seung-jae was the type to care if that happened.
The two sat facing each other at a ceramic dining table. Han Seung-jae asked nonchalantly.
“Tell me what you want to eat.”
The chef waited for Seo Yi-kyung’s answer. With a troubled expression, Seo Yi-kyung pondered a menu that would be simple to prepare and said “bread,” but he was flatly rejected by Han Seung-jae.
“Something else.”
“But that’s what I want to eat……”
“You say everything you want to say to me, yet you’re walking on eggshells around these people?”
Butler Do looked back and forth between the two people conversing. Though he was disoriented from being called out so suddenly while sleeping, he was gradually becoming more alert as he watched the two bicker.
……Could he say it? Actually, there was a menu suitable for eating late at night. And he happened to be craving that food. Eventually, Seo Yi-kyung bit his lower lip and then let go.
“S-soy sauce egg rice……”
“What is that? Did you hear? Can you make it?”
Because he had worked until late, fatigue was evident on Han Seung-jae’s face as he pressed his temples and swept back his hair. He looked at the chef. The chef, sensing the mood, asked again to confirm.
“I didn’t hear clearly, could you please say that again?”
The chef bowed his upper body politely. It was to hear Seo Yi-kyung’s words better. Seo Yi-kyung mumbled.
“You just put soy sauce in the rice, and put an egg on top of butter……”
The corners of Han Seung-jae’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“…….”
An expensive plate was placed in front of Seo Yi-kyung. On it, rice with white steam rising from it was piled high. The chef placed small dishes containing soy sauce and butter beside Seo Yi-kyung. Similarly, two golden-brown fried eggs were added on a leaf-shaped plate.
Seo Yi-kyung looked at Han Seung-jae sitting in front of him, then picked up a spoon with his left hand and drizzled a bit of soy sauce over the rice. Now that the food he wanted was right before his eyes, he swallowed hard. He couldn’t hold back any longer. He added the butter, and with Butler Do’s help, the eggs were placed on top.
Han Seung-jae picked up the glass in front of him. He watched Seo Yi-kyung while drinking whiskey with ice.
“Then, if you need anything, please let me know.”
Butler Do stepped out of the kitchen, sensing the atmosphere. Seo Yi-kyung repeatedly moved his spoon. Watching this, Han Seung-jae lightly swirled his glass. The whiskey sloshed at his fingertips.
“Is it delicious?”
His tone didn’t sound like he was genuinely curious about the taste of the food. Though they had eaten several meals together, it was closer to suspicion, seeing him eat so proactively for the first time.
Seo Yi-kyung nodded almost imperceptibly. He might have enjoyed the taste more comfortably if Han Seung-jae weren’t there, but as he was hungry, such thoughts faded.
Han Seung-jae swirled the glass. Soon, it touched his well-shaped lips.
Seo Yi-kyung recalled the sight of Seo Dong-hu he had seen at the hospital.
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t surprised. He really hadn’t known that Han Seung-jae would make Seo Dong-hu’s arm like that that very day. However, it wasn’t that he didn’t know Han Seung-jae was this kind of person.
Suddenly, their eyes met, and Han Seung-jae tilted his glass.
“For now, just eat.”
Only then did Seo Yi-kyung, who had been lost in thought, move his frozen spoon.
Han Seung-jae tilted the glass of whiskey. He looked at Seo Yi-kyung eating the rice.
—Why? He’s your family.
—It doesn’t matter anymore.
The words they had exchanged on the terrace that day scratched through his mind. The eyes of the Seo Yi-kyung who spoke those words had been full of emptiness.
He thought the attachment between the family members was extraordinary. Han Seung-jae emptied the glass of whiskey. It seemed many things were different from the reports he had received.
* * *
The sky was clear after the rain stopped.
Seo Yi-kyung put snacks on a tray and had a leisurely conversation with Butler Do in the garden.
He spent most of his time that way, and when Butler Do had to work, he would sit on the terrace of his bedroom and look down at the garden as if giving him space. A lukewarm breeze brushed through his hair.
Whenever he walked around the house and saw the paintings hanging on the walls, he thought of the painting he had seen at the art exhibition. However, the exhibition had already ended.
Seo Yi-kyung stared at his right hand, which had the cast removed, and lightly clenched and unclenched his fingers. Then he carefully rotated his wrist. He no longer felt any pain.
“I feel relieved.”
At Seo Yi-kyung’s words, Butler Do handed him an ice pack he had prepared just in case.
“Still, you must be careful not to get hurt like before.”
“Yes.”
Seo Yi-kyung pressed the ice pack to his wrist. The lukewarm breeze blew, making the ice feel refreshing. Just then, it became quite noisy outside the iron gate.
A helper from inside the house came out. She looked around and walked straight toward the two people in the garden.
“Butler Do, there is a guest outside. They say they are from the Atelier Gallery; what should I do?”
It was a name that sounded familiar. Butler Do opened the iron gate and went out. He had already heard from Secretary Park in the morning that something would be arriving at the house. It seemed it had arrived now.
People carefully set down a large object. It was wrapped in paper, so the contents were unknown, but it looked like a framed painting. A familiar face was visible in front of it.
It was Im Jeong-yun. Her lips, wearing a light lipstick, curved brightly.
“Hello. We meet again.”
Seo Yi-kyung, who had been sitting in the garden, slowly pulled his knees up. The ice pack rustled in his grip.
A sudden commotion arose as people moved in and out of the drawing room. From there, Im Jeong-yun’s voice spread pleasantly.
“As you know from visiting in person that day, this is Artist Seok’s representative work.”
As the paper was removed, a painting depicting sunlight shining through a window where flowers had bloomed was revealed.
The work, which evoked a lazy afternoon, provided a sense of comfort, as if one were standing by the window looking out.
“It’s hot, so please be careful.”
Even as he placed a teacup and a three-tier dessert tray in front of Im Jeong-yun, Butler Do had a bewildered expression. Im Jeong-yun added a comment toward Seo Yi-kyung, who couldn’t take his eyes off the painting.
“Seeing that you liked this painting, Director Han requested that it be brought here after the exhibition ended.”
To be precise, Secretary Park had said those words. However, he didn’t need to check to know where that instruction had come from.
Looking at Seo Yi-kyung’s face, which still couldn’t look away from the painting, Im Jeong-yun picked up the coffee cup in front of her. Then, Seo Yi-kyung murmured.
“I was actually wanting to see it again.”
Seo Yi-kyung looked at the painting, which preserved the peaceful and warm sunlight, as if engraving it into his pupils. Im Jeong-yun sensed the change in atmosphere and spoke.
“Artist Seok tends to use soft and cozy colors. But if you see him in person, he’s not that kind of atmosphere at all.”
Seo Yi-kyung’s face, as he continued the friendly conversation with Im Jeong-yun, brightened noticeably. Throughout the time he listened to her, his eyes were full of curiosity. After talking about Artist Seok for a long while, Im Jeong-yun continued.
“I heard he enjoys painting landscapes; may I see some of those as well?”