SMW 12

This Noona is making me have scandalous thoughts first thing in the morning. I wonder why I’m so focused on this. I muttered primly, pushing away the recurring image of Choi Seol’s sweat-soaked shirt.

“I don’t know, maybe to devour him?”

• A noblewoman could hardly do such a thing. Think of how much she has to lose just to take in one servant.

“It’s fiction anyway, why are you being so realistic? Then why did she feed him?”

• Because she was grateful. Grateful.

“Grateful for what?”

• For existing in this world with a body and face like that.

“…….”

• Thanks to him, the eyes that have been dirtied by living in this harsh world are purified.

“I’m hanging up.”

• Wait! You should at least make sure that flower boy eats some white rice—

I hung up the phone without mercy. Grateful for what? She’s never bought a single piece of meat for the neighbor’s younger brother, yet she says she’s grateful for the existence of the guy who cleans out that brother’s wallet.

White rice, my foot. I’m going to go and change whatever white rice is left into barley rice right now. Barley rice is what Dolsoe deserves. The thought of the book shoved back into the dust bin flickered briefly in my mind, but I turned on my heel and headed for the kitchen.

Unlike the bathroom, the kitchen hadn’t been completely renovated; it still retained its old appearance, with things like the hearth and the cauldron. Still, it had electricity and basic modern cooking utensils. If it hadn’t been for this, living here for over a year would have been an unthinkable dream.

Anyway, he really did everything.

The electric rice cooker placed by the door leading to the backyard was already puffing out steam, and the kitchen was filled with the savory scent of soybean paste stew. The delicious smell instantly quelled the irritation I felt because of Noona.

Choi Seol had started cooking from his second day in this house. Whenever I opened my eyes, he had already woken up, finished his walk just like today, and completed the cooking. And once a day, he always set the table himself.

“He’s more like a Snail Groom than a Dolsoe.”

I took eggs out of the refrigerator. There was no meat, but I felt I needed some protein. It was just as I was filling a new pot with water to make steamed eggs and putting it on the stove. Hearing a familiar cry, I looked toward the backyard door and saw Il-sun-i lingering at the entrance.

“Meow.”

“Want food?”

Did Choi Seol not give her any?

Come to think of it, he had been the one feeding the cat lately. I tried to stop him once or twice, but since he insisted on doing it while he was indebted to me, I couldn’t stop him further. Since he woke up earlier than me and finished everything, there wasn’t even a gap to intervene. I suddenly felt a surge of fear that I might actually get used to this life. The fact that I was even worrying about such a thing was proof that something was going wrong.

“Meow.”

“Alright, I’ll feed you.”

“I already did.”

“Yikes!”

I had been about to head into the backyard following Il-sun-i, but I jerked my head up at the voice sounding close by. Before I knew it, Choi Seol was standing in front of me. Moreover, he was shirtless.

“Wha—what are you doing? Why are you here?”

“I was going to shower and heard the sound of a stone falling, so I came to check. Part of the wall had collapsed slightly.”

“The wall? Did this little one knock it down again?”

I glared at Il-sun-i. Choi Seol chuckled and said,

“I think another male cat did it, not her. I’ve already picked up the fallen stone and put it back in place.”

“Good job. But… why are you shirtless?”

“Since things turned out this way, I thought I’d just rinse off quickly and eat first.”

“Rinse off… quickly?”

“I’ll wash here.”

The place Choi Seol pointed to was the outdoor faucet right next to the kitchen door. Indeed, unlike city tap water, the water here had a unique, crisp coolness, and I sometimes intentionally washed my face or splashed water on myself there.

But washing and this were on entirely different levels.

Those unbelievable abs, that chest, those broad shoulders.

In that moment, I fully understood Noona’s words. The perfect Dolsoe, whom the mistress would want to feed white rice so badly, was right before my eyes.

“Wait a moment. I’ll just splash some water a few times.”

Choi Seol went to the faucet next to the kitchen door and began pouring water over his head with a basin. The stream of water started from his head, passed over his sculpted face, and flowed down his elegantly defined upper body muscles below the collarbone. As I took in the sight, saliva kept pooling in my mouth. I knew I shouldn’t, but my eyes, wanting to appreciate him in nano-scale detail, wouldn’t budge, leaving me frozen.

Eventually, only after watching Choi Seol splash water exactly five times and perfectly slick his wet hair back did I manage to pick up the rice scoop. And to Choi Seol, who approached while drying his wet body, I said:

“I’ll give you plenty of white rice. Let’s go out and buy some meat today, too.”

“……?”

“It’s because I’m grateful, grateful.”

“I ate well,” Choi Seol said, putting down his spoon. My conscience pricked me seeing him empty the bowl without a single complaint, even though there was more rice than usual. Unlike ten years ago, I had been stolen contentarrogant enough to think that as an [unauthorized copy]adult I could control my emotions, yet I was shaken by a mere water show.

This was all because Hae-sook Noona had injected scandalous thoughts into a person who had been starved of romance for three years. It also helped that my first love was uselessly handsome, both then and now. I glanced again at Choi Seol’s upper body, now covered by a thin cloth, before fixing my gaze on my rice bowl.

“Are you unable to eat because there’s no meat?”

“Huh?”

“You said let’s go buy meat earlier. Isn’t it because you want to eat some?”

I stopped my spoon, which had been poking at the grains of rice, and looked up. Choi Seol was looking at me with a worried gaze. Another arrow pierced my already pricked conscience.

“Um… I do like it, but not to the point where I can’t eat without it. I just thought… since you’re a patient, you should probably get some protein… that thought just occurred to me.”

In times like this, it seemed I really was a brazen adult. Ten years ago, my face would have turned red and I would have stuttered while lying. Of course, it would have been better if that guy had lost ten years’ worth of intuition along with his memories. It wasn’t easy to deceive someone who was naturally a master of reading the room.

“I don’t think that’s it.”

“You’re right.”

However, my ten years of brazenness were also formidable.

“I just don’t have much of an [unauthorized copy]appetite today. You might have woken up [stolen content]and even exercised, but I haven’t been awake for long. My stomach isn’t great in the morning.”

“I guess you’re as sensitive as ever.”

“…….”

“From my perspective, that’s a stamina issue.”

I started to have a bad feeling.

“Exercise with me.”

“I don’t want to! I’m absolutely not exercising. You do it yourself.”

I jumped up from my seat in horror. Choi Seol seemed flustered by my intense reaction, but regardless, I hated exercise so much that I wouldn’t do it even with my first love.

“Was the army that hard?”

“I’ve always hated moving my body.”

“But you always played soccer during lunch break.”

“That’s because Gyeong-ho always stolen contentdragged me out saying his team was short on people, so [unauthorized copy]I had no choice… But how do you know that?”

“Know what?”

“That I played soccer every day. You always went up to the rooftop during lunch.”

“That’s because…”

Choi Seol stopped responding and stared at me. A strange look in his eyes triggered a second bad feeling. Sure enough, a question flew in instead of an answer.

“How did you know I went to the rooftop every day?”

I’ve dug my own grave. How did I know? Because I watched you every day, of course. But that wasn’t something I could offer as an answer.

“Well, you were famous…”

“Han Yeo-reum! Come out for a second.”

It was just as I was squeezing out a desperate excuse. I heard a voice calling me from outside the main gate. It was Hae-sook Noona. Thinking this was a perfect escape, I told Choi Seol to wait a moment and ran to the gate. Seeing her in casual clothes, it seemed today was her day off.

“What is it?”

“Just take this first.”

Wondering if she had come to gawk at the ‘Dolsoe,’ I asked warily, and Noona held out a black plastic bag. As I took it instinctively, I felt a heavy weight.

“What is this?”

“Meat.”

No, this Noona… I widened my eyes and glared at her.

“Why are your eyes like that? You should be bowing to me.”

“I was wondering if I should accept this lump of impure ulterior motives. I feel like someone is going to devour my friend whole at this rate.”

“Hey. What do you take me for?”

Surprisingly, Noona’s expression turned serious.

“Do I look like some nuclear waste that touches a younger sibling’s friend?”

“No, why is it getting so serious? I’m not your biological sibling, and we’re both adults.”

“The problem is that he doesn’t think of himself that way.”

“Think of what that way?”

When I made a face of genuine confusion, Noona clicked her tongue as if looking at a pitiful soul.

“The kid believes he’s seventeen. If you suddenly treat him like an adult, he’ll be confused, so you have to be careful.”

Come to think of it, the hospital doctor said that too. That he needed consideration from those around him.

“I didn’t know you were such a delicate person, Noona.”

“I am on that side.”

I had tried to mock her, but since she took it so readily, I had nothing more to say. I felt an impulse to tell anyone and everyone how much that woman, who firmly believes she is delicate, had tormented me in my childhood. Just then, Noona suddenly ruffled my hair.

“Ah, what is this?”

“You brat, you were sulking earlier, weren’t you?”

“……What?”

“You were sulking because I only [unauthorized copy]took care of feeding your unauthorized copyfriend [stolen content]meat, not the flower—no, not you.”

I shut my mouth, having been hit right on the mark. Noona ruffled my hair again as if I were cute.

“Ah! Noona, stop!”

“Why? You said it was okay to do this much.”

“I said you could put your hand on my head, not make a mess of it!”

“Did I?”

“You did!”

“Alright. I’ll be careful from now on. Eat the meat and cheer up. I went to the market and bought that for you.”

“……Really?”

“Yeah. And feed your friend some as a bonus.”

For some reason, I felt like I was the bonus, but regardless, my mood improved.

“Thank you.”

“Oh my. He’s happy again.”

And Noona’s hand headed for my hair again. I wondered if she was going to ruffle it again, but Noona was someone who kept her word once given. I figured it was okay for my hair to be a bit of a mess right now, so I stayed still without dodging. That was when a hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.

“Hello, Officer.”

It was Choi Seol.