By Zephyria 
Immediately after the Exorcism Bureau collapsed, Yoon Tae-hee confessed everything to Jeong-ju. Jae-gyeom was already well aware of these facts, having heard them from Yoon Tae-hee himself. However, he hadn’t considered that Yoon Tae-hee might have spoken about the relationship between them.
Jae-gyeom jumped, as if he had been burned.
“You told him? About us, too?”
“Yes.”
“U-um, from where to where?”
“Just that I liked you and chased after you.”
That was exactly where Yoon Tae-hee stopped.
He didn’t mention that Jae-gyeom had accepted his feelings, that he had heard a confession of love from Jae-gyeom, or that they had ultimately become lovers. He felt he could draw a line at the fact that he had unilaterally liked and chased Jae-gyeom, framing it as his own personal matter. Because of that, mentioning it didn’t really matter, but he believed that revealing anything more to Jeong-ju might be something Jae-gyeom didn’t want.
Although Jeong-ju and Jae-gyeom were as close as family, even between family members, there are parts of one’s life that one prefers to keep buried or hidden. Yoon Tae-hee believed it was Jae-gyeom’s decision whether to reveal those things or not. However, separately, he thought Jeong-ju might have already guessed.
“And what did Jeong-ju say?”
“Just, well, ‘Oh, is that so’…”
“And?”
“That was it.”
That was it?
Considering Jeong-ju’s usual personality—unable to withstand curiosity—this was an unexpected conclusion. Jae-gyeom had thought he would have thrown out questions like What’s the deal between you two? or Are you dating? but the reaction had been incredibly plain.
“…….”
Jae-gyeom’s mind became complicated.
“Why didn’t you just tell him everything?”
“Just in case. I thought it might be outing you.”
“What’s that?”
“Uh…”
“No, forget it. Whatever. He probably noticed a long time ago anyway. He’s a fox.”
“Yes. I think so too.”
It occurred to him that the quick-witted Jeong-ju might have already noticed the current flowing between lovers.
Looking back, Jae-gyeom had asked him to protect Tae-hee during the final battle, and he had openly written in a letter that Tae-hee was a precious existence to him. Of course, if one were to be extremely generous, that could have been seen as treating him specially because he was his master’s son… but since Yoon Tae-hee had later personally said he ‘liked him and chased after him,’ there was no way anyone but a complete dunce wouldn’t know what the relationship between him and Yoon Tae-hee was.
“Do you dislike that Jeong-ju knows?”
At Yoon Tae-hee’s question, Jae-gyeom muttered with a troubled face.
“No, it’s not that…”
Of course, it wasn’t that he intended to go out of his way to hide the fact that he was dating Yoon Tae-hee. Jae-gyeom no longer wanted to hide anything from Jeong-ju. The problem was simply that he felt embarrassed to face him.
“I just don’t know how to bring it up right now.”
Regardless, what was certain was that Jeong-ju knew the relationship between him and Yoon Tae-hee wasn’t simply that of friends or colleagues. Yet, Jeong-ju treated Jae-gyeom and Yoon Tae-hee with the same attitude as before, as if he knew nothing or didn’t care, and he had never once brought up their relationship to Jae-gyeom.
“You don’t have to rush, so just talk to him slowly later.”
“Yeah. I should.”
Yoon Tae-hee added that he hadn’t had a conversation with Jeong-ju on that topic since then either. Jae-gyeom thought he should have a candid talk with him sometime. He felt that Jeong-ju’s silence might be his own way of being considerate.
“Shall we get up now?”
“Yeah. Jeong-ju will be waiting.”
While they were talking, it had already become completely dark outside.
Jae-gyeom and Yoon Tae-hee tidied up and left the cafe.
Yoon Tae-hee didn’t park in the school parking lot, but used a paid parking lot located a short distance away from the school. He said the parking lot he used was about a ten-minute walk.
As they walked and chatted about various things, they soon arrived at the parking lot. There were quite a few cars, but Jae-gyeom recognized Yoon Tae-hee’s black sedan at a glance and walked briskly ahead.
Climbing into the passenger seat, Jae-gyeom habitually fastened his seatbelt and then slowly slipped off his shoes. Then, he plopped his sock-covered feet up on the dashboard. Having ridden in the seat next to Yoon Tae-hee so often, he had naturally learned that this position was the most comfortable.
Thus, Jae-gyeom didn’t realize that this behavior was contrary to etiquette, or that from the driver’s perspective, it made it difficult to see the right side mirror because it was blocked by his legs. Yoon Tae-hee didn’t mind at all and simply let Jae-gyeom do it.
Yoon Tae-hee spoke as he started the car.
“Departing now.”
“Depart, then.”
Yoon Tae-hee smiled pleasantly and began to drive slowly.
When the car left the parking lot and entered the road, Yoon Tae-hee, while keeping his eyes on the road, reached out his right hand toward Jae-gyeom. It was a sign for him to hold his hand. Jae-gyeom looked down at Yoon Tae-hee’s palm and then unhesitatingly placed his own hand on top of it.
At that, Yoon Tae-hee silently bit the inside of his cheek and gently interlaced his fingers with Jae-gyeom’s. When he reached out his hand like this without a word and Jae-gyeom promptly took it, he felt a surge of exhilaration that made his palms tingle and the hair on his neck stand up.
Only a few months ago, this would have been unimaginable.
The two only held hands like this when they were alone where no one could see. They hadn’t promised to do so, but it happened naturally. It was the time when they finally became each other’s lovers.
Yoon Tae-hee held Jae-gyeom’s hand the entire time he drove with one hand. Even when changing gears, he didn’t let go, sometimes pulling the gear lever while overlapping Jae-gyeom’s hand over it, or playing with his fingers and nails, or tickling his palm with his fingertips.
Even after turning off the engine, the two held hands for a while.
“Shall we go up now?”
“Yeah.”
As they opened the door and entered, Jeong-ju and Yu Nam-saeng, who had come out to the entrance upon hearing the sound of the front gate, greeted them warmly.
“Jae-gyeom, welcome back. Tae-hee, please come in.”
Yoon Tae-hee, who bent over to pet Yu Nam-saeng, spoke.
“Jeong-ju, you must be hungry, right? I’ll prepare dinner tonight.”
“No, I’ll do it. You must be tired after work.”
“It’s okay. I’m not that tired. And since you made dinner yesterday and the day before, let me do it tonight.”
“Oh, well…”
After a brief tug-of-war, it was decided that Yoon Tae-hee would handle dinner. Dinner preparation was usually rotated between Yoon Tae-hee and Jeong-ju.
Unlike the two of them, Jae-gyeom lacked a talent for cooking; it took him a long time to make something, and the quality of the result wasn’t very good, so he had naturally been excluded from the dinner duty.
Of course, regardless of his skill level, Jae-gyeom was willing to make anything if they just let him. It was just that neither Jeong-ju nor Yoon Tae-hee ever gave him the chance.
After going into his room to change clothes, Yoon Tae-hee stood at the sink, washed his hands thoroughly, and then dove into the full preparation of the meal.
Jae-gyeom followed Yoon Tae-hee around and asked.
“What are you making for dinner?”
“I’m thinking of making rice cake dumpling soup.”
“Hmm. Rice cake dumpling soup sounds good.”
Jae-gyeom lingered around Yoon Tae-hee as he prepared the meal.
Jeong-ju hated it when people hovered around while he was cooking. He said it was distracting. Even if asked if there was anything to help with, he would often say, ‘Staying still is helping me.’
On the other hand, Yoon Tae-hee didn’t mind if someone watched from the side. So, on days when Yoon Tae-hee prepared the meal alone, Jae-gyeom would linger nearby and watch him cook, just as he was doing now.
Yoon Tae-hee was good at whipping things up quickly, so it was fun to watch. According to Jeong-ju, Yoon Tae-hee basically had an excellent sense for cooking. While Jeong-ju was the type who was strong with soups and side dishes, Yoon Tae-hee preferred one-bowl meals or single-menu dishes.
Surprisingly, Yoon Tae-hee excelled in housekeeping, including cooking.
During his childhood at the temple, he had to help with laundry, cleaning, and cooking every day, partly by choice and partly by force. Later, during the time he lived with Seok Ju-ryeon, he had discouraged Seok Ju-ryeon’s idea of hiring a housekeeper and took charge of most of the domestic labor.
Perhaps because of this, Yoon Tae-hee was proficient not only in cooking but in general housework. In the past, the house where Yoon Tae-hee lived alone had been empty, his desk messy, and when Jae-gyeom had opened the refrigerator, there was almost nothing edible, so he had assumed he was a novice at housekeeping, but he was surprisingly capable.
“Tell me if there’s anything to help with.”
Even Jae-gyeom, who usually just received the meals, helped with things like prepping ingredients. When an order came to peel garlic or trim chives, Jae-gyeom would sit at the table without complaint and do as told.
Then again,
“Are you making egg garnish?”
“Yes.”
He would pretend to ask while stealthily picking bits of food to taste the seasoning, or,
“I’ll scoop the rice.”
“Rice? It’s rice cake dumpling soup… you eat this with rice?”
“So I can mix rice into the broth after I’m done. It’d be a waste to throw the broth away.”
He would take the initiative to scoop the rice without being told, or,
“Put lots of seaweed flakes on mine.”
“This much?”
“More.”
“More? At this rate, it’s practically seaweed soup…”
He did his part by making custom requests in advance so that the cook wouldn’t have to do it twice.
Finally, when the meal was ready, the household gathered around the table. After portioning the completed rice cake dumpling soup into bowls, they sat down.
“I will eat well.”
“I’ll eat well too!”
“Enjoy your meal.”
Jae-gyeom took a sip of the broth and his eyes widened.
“Wow. This is delicious.”
Yu Nam-saeng simply buried his face in the food and began to eat.