128 – AC

“Mmm…. Darling.”

Waking up to the empty space in his arms, Cha Se-jin saw Eun-won sitting up instead of lying down and drowsily pushed himself up. Eun-won was so focused on the screen that he didn’t even notice Se-jin waking. Wondering what on earth he was watching at this hour of the morning, Se-jin peeked at the screen with sleep-filled eyes and rested his chin on Eun-won’s shoulder.

“Darling, can’t you sleep?”

Only then did Eun-won feel Se-jin’s presence and turn his head in surprise. Equally startled, Se-jin slid his hand under the covers and gently stroked Eun-won’s stomach.

“Sorry, did I scare you? You were watching so intently.”

“Executive Director….”

“Yes.”

“…….”

“What is it? It’s okay. Tell me.”

Seeing that Eun-won had something to say but was hesitating, Se-jin glanced at the screen where someone was still eating ramen. As he recalled the reason why someone would wake up in the middle of the night to watch a video of eating ramen, a lightbulb went off in his head.

“Can’t you sleep because you want ramen?”

Once the answer was out, Eun-won finally gave a small nod with a face that looked like he might cry. He was so cute that Se-jin felt like he might faint, and he wanted to just shower him with kisses and laugh, but fearing that Eun-won would be embarrassed if he laughed, Se-jin held it back and spoke tenderly.

“You should have woken me up. Why are you enduring it alone? It’s not a difficult request.”

“…It was too late. I thought if I just held on a bit longer, it would be morning. And I thought you might be tired, Executive Director….”

“I’m not tired at all. And even if I were, it hurts me more to know that you’re sitting here alone, suppressing your craving for ramen because you’re worried about me. We agreed to tell each other everything, right? Hmm? Promise me. From now on, whenever there’s something you want to eat, tell me right away. Whether it’s dawn or morning, whether I’m at the office or anywhere else.”

“…Okay….”

“Promise.”

When Se-jin leaned his face in as if asking for a kiss Read on Read BL Novels[stolen content]to seal the promise, Eun-won smiled softly and tilted his face closer. Soon, a sweet chu sound echoed.

“Now, let’s go eat ramen.”

“…There isn’t any ramen at home.”

“Ah…. Is that so? There should be some in the main house. I’ll go get some.”

“I’ll go too.”

“No. You’re too tired. Just come down with me and wait in the living room. Oh, should we move the bedroom to the first floor? I don’t think constantly going up and down the stairs is good for you. It’s dangerous, and unnecessary.”

“I’m okay for now.”

“Still. Let’s go down together first.”

Springing out of bed and throwing on some clothes, Cha Se-jin walked down the stairs with Eun-won. He settled Eun-won comfortably on the sofa and wrapped a blanket around him. He didn’t forget to saturate the blanket with his pheromones.

“I’ll be right back. Watch something.”

“Yes…. Please go ahead.”

“Mm.”

After planting a kiss on Eun-won’s cheek, Se-jin left the annex, looking back several times. He then passed through the quiet garden and entered the main house.

Since it was past two in the morning, the house was silent. Passing through the empty living room and entering the kitchen, Se-jin turned on the light and stepped into the pantry.

“Where was the ramen?”

In truth, since he had always eaten only what was prepared for him, he had no idea where anything was. He had a rough idea of the annex since it was where he lived with Eun-won and didn’t have resident staff, but the main house was different. The kitchen, in particular, was not his domain.

Inside the pantry, various sauces, oils, cans, and noodles were neatly organized. Seeing pasta noodles, he hoped there might be ramen too, but the kind of ramen he knew was nowhere to be found.

“What, why isn’t it here?”

He checked other doors and opened the Read on Read BL Novelsones in the back, but there was no ramen unauthorized copyRead on Read BL Novelsanywhere. After checking all the way to the bottom shelf, Se-jin sighed and straightened his bent body.

Surely there would be ramen in the main house. Though they didn’t eat it often, he had seen his parents eat it very occasionally, and he had seen Cha Se-na ask for spicy ramen to be cooked at night when she was stressed. So, there had to be emergency ramen somewhere. The problem was not knowing where.

Wondering if he should wake Cha Se-na, Se-jin left the pantry and stepped further into the kitchen. As he scanned the numerous cabinets, feeling lost on where to look, he heard footsteps.

“…Young Master?”

Startled, he turned to see an elderly servant in pajamas standing there with a surprised expression.

“Is there something you need?”

“Ah, what brings you here at this hour?”

“Ah…. I couldn’t sleep, so I went out to the garden for a bit, and I came in because I thought I saw the kitchen light on.”

“Ah…. You’ve come at a good time. Do you know where the ramen is?”

“Ramen?”

“Yes. Eun-won said he wants some.”

At those words, the servant’s expression softened. He knew why Eun-won would suddenly crave ramen in the middle of the night.

“I will cook it for him. Which kind of ramen does he like?”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll do it myself.”

The servant habitually entered the pantry and reached into a deep spot that Se-jin had completely overlooked, pulling out several types of ramen. Seeing the items that had been invisible to his own eyes, Se-jin shook his head.

“I’ll take all of these. I’m not sure which one he’ll like.”

“Yes. I’ll pack them for you.”

“By the way, do I just cook the ramen as it is in the bag? I’ve never done this before.”

“Ah, yes. However, it will taste better if you put Read on Read BL Novelsin about 100ml less Read on Read BL Novelswater than what’s written. Also, don’t boil the noodles [visit our site]for too long; turn off the heat when they are just the right amount of chewy.”

“100ml less water, noodles chewy.”

The servant smiled at the sight of Se-jin seriously repeating the instructions and continued, covering his mouth with his hand.

“And it’s best to ask Young Master Eun-won before adding an egg. It changes the taste of the broth, so it depends on preference.”

“Ah, preference. Yes, I understand.”

Fearing that Se-jin might forget, the servant wrote down the water amount and cooking time on a piece of memo paper.

“I’m in staff quarters room 101, so if it doesn’t go well, please let me know anytime. I’ll go and cook it for you.”

“Yes, thank you. Please get some rest.”

Carrying the bag of various ramens provided by the servant, Se-jin left the main house while reading the memo. He was anxious to see Eun-won eating it deliciously.

Upon entering the annex, Eun-won, who had been covered in [Read on Read BL Novels]the blanket, stood up [Read on Read BL Novels]from the sofa and approached. While holding Eun-won with one arm, Se-jin poured all the ramen he had brought onto the dining room table.

“I didn’t know which one you’d like, so I brought one of everything. Which one do you want?”

After quietly looking at the various ramens, Eun-won picked up a spicy one and looked up at Se-jin.

“I want to eat this one. I’ll cook it.”

“I should be the one to cook it for you.”

“…Can you do it, Executive Director?”

“I’m good at everything I do. Just wait here a moment. I’ll be right back. You’re hungry, so drink this for now.”

Taking a bottle of Eun-won’s favorite juice from the refrigerator and pouring it into a glass, Se-jin pulled out a chair for him to sit in and headed to the kitchen alone.

“…Pot.”

Opening several cabinets under the kitchen sink, Se-jin pulled out a suitably sized pot and checked the bag with a stolen contentmeasuring [stolen content]cup. It said to add 550ml of water, so he figured 450ml would be enough.

After measuring the water, he placed the pot on the induction stove and increased the temperature. He waited for the water to boil, then added the noodles and soup base, checking the noodles against the cooking time.

“Ah….”

While boiling, he suddenly remembered the advice to add an egg based on preference, so Se-jin went to the dining room and asked Eun-won.

“Darling, should I add an egg?”

“Yes.”

Smiling at the cute nod, Se-jin took two eggs from the container, cracked them, and put them in the pot. Since it was his first time cracking eggs, it was a mess—some got on his hands and shells fell inside—but he managed to fish them out with chopsticks and fix it.

Still, seeing it bubbling with the eggs added, it looked quite plausible. Se-jin lifted the noodles with chopsticks to check. Since he was told to turn off the heat when they were chewy, this seemed just right. He turned off the heat immediately and, as written in the memo, waited about 30 seconds before pouring the ramen into a deep bowl.

“It’s done, Eun-won.”

Placing the ramen and utensils on a tray, Se-jin hurried to [unauthorized copy]the dining room and set it in front of Eun-won. A smile spread across Eun-won’s lips at the sight of the ramen. Read on Read BL NovelsSeeing that beautiful smiling face, Se-jin smiled and placed the chopsticks in his hand.

“Try it.”

“I’ll enjoy it, Executive Director. Thank you.”

“Mm. Enjoy your meal.”

Nodding, Eun-won lifted a bit of ramen with his chopsticks, blew on it a few times, and put the chewy noodles in his mouth. After eating the long strands carefully so as not to make a sound, his eyes widened.

“It’s so delicious.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s exactly the taste I’ve been craving.”

“I did a good job, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did a very, very good job.”

Seeing Eun-won take more noodles, sip the broth after blowing on it, and eat with such gusto made Se-jin feel truly wonderful. He felt so proud that he thought he would be happy even if he quit his job and spent every day making whatever Eun-won wanted to eat. He wondered if it was okay to feel this much happiness just from cooking a single pack of ramen.

“Is it not too spicy? If it’s too spicy, drink some water.”

It was cute how Eun-won stuck out his tongue because it was spicy after a few sips of the red broth. Se-jin poured some water and pushed it toward him. After gulping down half the moderately cold water, Eun-won lifted the noodles—which still hadn’t become soggy—and put them in his mouth.

After eating deliciously for a long while, Eun-won finally put down the spoon and chopsticks after one last sip of the broth.

“I’m finished.”

Se-jin, who had moved from opposite to beside him, smiled with satisfaction looking at the bowl with only broth left.

“I’m glad to see you eat so well.”

“Because you cooked it for me, Executive Director, it tasted even better than I imagined.”

“You’re so sweet.”

Kissing Eun-won’s soft cheek, Se-jin carefully lifted him from the chair. Even as his feet left the floor and his body floated up, Eun-won was no longer surprised. Having experienced it many times, he simply wrapped his arms around Se-jin’s neck and buried his face in his shoulder with familiarity.

Carrying Eun-won up the stairs, Se-jin applied toothpaste to the toothbrush himself, despite Eun-won saying he could do it. However, he couldn’t do anything beyond putting the toothbrush in Eun-won’s mouth.

This was because Eun-won didn’t open his mouth wide enough for the toothbrush to move and instead kept his lips tightly shut while holding the brush. In the end, Se-jin had no choice but to follow Eun-won’s wish to brush his teeth alone and then come out. What power did he have? He had to let a beautiful boy do whatever he wanted.

“If you sleep right after eating, you’ll get indigestion, so let’s talk for about 30 minutes before we sleep.”

Thinking it wasn’t right to lie down immediately, Se-jin sat beside Eun-won, who was leaning against the headboard of the bed, and slid his hand inside the pajamas to slowly stroke his warm stomach.

“Did you want the ramen, Darling, or did Cream want it?”

“Hmm…. Maybe we wanted it together?”

“Cream, do you like ramen? Should I change your prenatal nickname to Ramen?”

Eun-won let out a small laugh at that and leaned his head on Se-jin’s shoulder. Even though it was deep into the night, past three in the morning, he wasn’t sleepy; he just felt wonderful. He loved that Se-jin had cooked the ramen for him, he loved stolen contentthe sight of Se-jin’s back as he [stolen content]reluctantly left after kissing his cheek several times while he stubbornly insisted on brushing his teeth alone, and he loved sharing these ticklish conversations in the middle of the silent dawn.

“Does your stomach not hurt from suddenly eating something spicy?”

“No, I’m okay. I don’t feel nauseous, and it feels great.”

“It feels great?”

“Yes. I feel really, really good.”

Looking at the smiling Eun-won, Se-jin lowered his head and lightly pressed his lips against that round, pretty forehead.

“I feel great too.”

It was a moment so perfect that there was nothing more to wish for.