SMW 11

As an awkward silence stretched between us, I leaned against the tree, my strengthless head repeatedly tilting. In my lowered field of vision, Choi Seol’s broad shoulders shimmered. He really is tall. Come to think of it, his chest was quite wide, too. Wide enough for me to be completely enveloped in his embrace…

Get a grip. I shook my head to clear the heat rising again and tried to straighten my posture, but I had to give up on that too under Choi Seol’s gaze. In the end, I obediently turned my eyes toward the stream.

Before long, my sweat-soaked bangs fluttered in the cool breeze. As the heat filling my head gradually subsided, my tension eased with it. All the strength drained from my body. Everything was quiet, and the gentle breeze and the wide shade sheltering me were pleasant.

It was just as I closed my eyes, momentarily forgetting that Choi Seol was beside me.

“I have this book.”

I heard the sound of a page turning, followed by a voice that had grown considerably softer. When I opened my eyes and turned my head, there was a familiar book in Choi Seol’s hand. I wondered where I’d seen it, and as I shifted my gaze, I saw my backpack resting right next to him.

“That’s my book…”

“I think you borrowed it from the library. Did you borrow the whole series?”

“…No, just that one volume.”

It was such a popular fantasy novel that when I went to the library, only one volume was left. There was no telling when the others would be available.

“I have the complete set. Want to borrow them?”

My eyes widened at the unexpected offer.

“Is that okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll bring them tomorrow.”

“…Really?”

When I asked back, unable to believe it, Choi Seol frowned.

“Do I sound like I’m lying?”

“No, it’s not that… I’m just happy.”

The mere fact that Choi Seol was offering to lend me something felt surreal, but the fact that it was a book I actually loved made it feel like a dream. However, I felt that if I asked again, he might actually change his mind, so I lowered my gaze to the ground and murmured timidly.

“I’m just so happy. Thank you.”

Even to my own ears, my voice sounded incredibly shy. Since my face was flushed from the heat, I must have looked quite ridiculous to Choi Seol. But there was no immediate response. After a long silence, I slowly lifted my head to find Choi Seol staring intently at me. Under a gaze that looked as if he were seeing something quite peculiar, I instinctively touched my cheek with the back of my hand.

Is it too red after all? Because I’m prone to flushing, I’ve often been teased for this, along with my name. Fearing that I might accidentally make the book offer disappear, I stayed still and sullen, when suddenly a heavy scent wafted in. Simultaneously, Choi Seol’s face drew close. His hand touched my forehead, and then his forehead touched mine.

“You don’t seem to have a fever.”

“…”

Silence lingered for a moment. His expression, which had been scrutinizing me with almost serious intensity, soon softened into a small smirk. Then, straightening his bent waist, he slung his bag over his shoulder.

“I should get going. Rest a bit more before you move. I’ll swap bags with you at school tomorrow.”

As it turned out, Choi Seol had taken my bag. Before I could say anything, he left his own bag behind and leisurely crossed over to the sidewalk behind the tree.

I couldn’t move. There was nothing physically restraining me, but I felt as if I were tightly bound by a noose.

What was that just now? It seemed like he was checking for a fever, but still, his palm touched me, his forehead touched mine, and then… something incredibly hot touched me. The moment I realized that was his body heat, my face flared up.

Neither the leaves blocking the scorching sun nor the breeze blowing from the stream could take that heat away. The day was hot, and this place, where I had come to cool off, was far too hot.

Perhaps on a day like this, in such a heatwave, it was only natural.

I just told myself that.

One sweltering midsummer day, when I missed winter so much. I told myself I wavered because it was such a day.

Foolishly, I believed it.

“Ugh, dust.”

When I pulled out the book that had been neglected under the bookshelf for a whole week, a clump of old dust came with it. Scowling, I brushed off the dust and examined the cover from front to back. Fortunately, aside from a single dried-up dead spider clinging to it, the book was clean. Still, I didn’t feel great about it. This was a book I had kept carefully wrapped in plastic for the past ten years. To leave it in a dust pit for a week… Even now, if I hadn’t given up thirty minutes of morning sleep to wake up early, I wouldn’t have dared to take it out today.

“This is all because of your original owner.”

Just as I was about to stand up, mumbling excuses while clutching the book as if to deflect responsibility, the sound of footsteps on the wooden veranda grew closer. The moment a warning bell rang in my head, I shoved the book back into the dust pit.

“You’re up early.”

Sorry, book. Please forgive your pathetic owner.

With tears in my eyes, I gave an awkward smile to Choi Seol, who had just stepped over the threshold.

“I just happened to wake up. You must have finished your walk early today. Doesn’t it usually take about an hour?”

“Today, I did a light jog up to Yongso, the place you told me about. It’s a pretty good walking course.”

Is that even a walk? I asked back, doubting my ears.

“You went there? Round trip for a distance that takes thirty minutes?”

“It takes about fifteen minutes if you run.”

What a tenacious bastard. That’s basically the same thing.

The path he ran, the one along the rice paddies, had been well-paved due to construction a few years ago, making it a decent course for a stroll. Even so, there wasn’t a single patch of shade, making it a path where one wouldn’t dare walk, let alone run, during the day. Even if it was dawn, it was currently midsummer.

“Aren’t you overdoing it? The wound on your forehead hasn’t even fully healed yet.”

“A light jog is something I’ve always done. On the contrary, I wonder if I’ve been exercising consistently for the last ten years; my stamina is better than the ‘me’ I remember.”

I suppose so. Even at a glance, he had a body that showed he’d been quite thorough with self-care. Did I just look? My gaze naturally drifted to Choi Seol’s upper body. His sweat-soaked T-shirt clung to his skin, vividly revealing the contours of his firm torso. It was a very stimulating sight to encounter so early in the morning.

“Anyway, why don’t you get some exercise?”

“Okay… wait, do what?”

As I answered absentmindedly, I snapped my head up to find Choi Seol looking at me with a concerned gaze.

“You haven’t stepped outside once in the last week.”

“Me? I have.”

“Surely you aren’t talking about the yard?”

“The yard is outside too. And you went downtown to get your forehead disinfected.”

“The day I went to the hospital? I took a taxi the whole time then.”

“Don’t you remember walking for an hour or two before taking the taxi to run some errands near the hospital? By my standards, that’s a huge amount of movement.”

“Do you… by any chance, not exercise at all normally?”

“Eh, no way. I do a little.”

“You don’t.”

Tsk, caught. Whether then or now, clumsy lies never worked on that guy.

“How can you live like that?”

“What’s wrong with it? It happens.”

I shrugged nonchalantly. From those accusing looks to the nagging that would follow, I had heard it thousands of times from people around me, including my mother, so it didn’t even phase me anymore.

“Just letting you know in advance: no nagging me to exercise or not. For nearly two years in the army, I nearly died using my body all four seasons, from marches to winter training. That’s why I decided when I came here: unless someone pays me to do it, the only exercise I’ll do from now on is breathing.”

“…Doesn’t your body feel stiff if you stop after doing it for a while?”

“Stopping was like entering paradise.”

At my uncompromising attitude, Choi Seol let out a sigh.

“You’re going to get into trouble. Your body needs a moderate amount of movement to stay healthy.”

“I’ll take care of my own health, so worry about yourself. Someone who was in a car accident not long ago will get sick if they overdo it like that. Even if you have no memories, you’re still a patient. That’s why I haven’t said anything until now…”

I abruptly shut my mouth and looked at Choi Seol.

“What?”

“Nothing. Anyway, since I woke up early, I’m already hungry. You go wash up. I’ll start the rice.”

“I already did. I made soybean paste soup too, so you just need to heat it up. I’ll wash up and be right out.”

“…Okay.”

Choi Seol stepped outside first. The series of conversations that flowed so naturally always hit my reality belatedly. It had already been a week. In that short [unauthorized copy]time, Choi [unauthorized copy]Seol was rapidly infiltrating my life—to the point where it had become natural for him to go into the kitchen and cook.

“This is problematic.”

Just as my thoughts were becoming complicated, my phone vibrated. It was early morning, but I wasn’t even curious about who it was anymore. However, since I had accumulated many debts recently, I had no choice but to find my phone and press the call button.

• Oh, Flower Boy, are you home?

“Why? Did you see a hallucination of a Grim Reaper again today?”

• No, today it was someone more likely to exist in the living world. Relatively speaking, though the possibility of their existence is also slim.

“Who is it this time?”

• Dolsoe.

I doubted my ears for a moment. Was there a drama recently with a protagonist named Dolsoe? No matter how much I thought, no actor came to mind, so I asked back just in case.

“Did he help the elders with the rice paddies again?”

The reason I knew what Choi Seol was doing outside while I remained shut in the house was all thanks to this Noona’s diligence. During the week he spent here, Choi Seol had taken over not only my family affairs but also the neighborhood affairs.

He’d go for a walk at the crack of dawn and help the elders, then go for another walk in the evening and help them again, and in return, he’d bring [Read on Read BL Novels]back a mountain of produce. To think the guy I firmly believed was a ‘cold city man’ back in [visit our site]school was actually such a busybody. As expected, you [Read on Read BL Novels]only truly know a person once you live with them. Or perhaps my eyes were skewed and I picked up the wrong guy instead of Choi Seol.

• He did that, but he did something even more admirable.

Wait, there’s still more busybody work left to do?

I felt unnecessarily tense.

“What is it?”

• Running.

“…”

• So make sure he eats plenty of rice and meat soup today.

I suddenly felt irritated.

“Breakfast today is soybean paste soup.”

• Hey, how is he supposed to get any strength from that?

“Why does he need strength? And I don’t even have a scrap of meat to put in the soup. And I don’t plan on having any for a while.”

Between Choi Seol’s hospital bills, medicine, and clothes, my monthly living expenses had been cut in half, leaving me in a position where I’d have to suck my fingers for the time being. Just as I was starting to feel a bit slighted that Noona didn’t unauthorized copyseem to visit our sitecare about the neighbor’s younger brother’s situation…

• Listen. Do you know why the Mistress fed Dolsoe rice?