LMO 21

“Since you said you can’t eat shrimp with soy sauce, I’ll trade you my eel.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Eat a lot.”

“But… I don’t have any money.”

Cook! Yeon Su-hwan laughed gleefully when he heard my hesitant words. Come to think of it, I’d gotten used to the cook sound now. I casually thought about it, then realized something was strange and closed my mouth a beat late. It was a small but significant realization that sent shivers down my spine.

I didn’t need to get used to things like this!

“I’m buying it for you.”

“Really? Thank you.”

“Hae-jun, if you wanted sushi, you should have told me.”

Seong Hae-min, who always seemed eager to do things for me, interjected urgently. Yeon Su-hwan smiled leisurely, like someone who had gained the upper hand.

“You should have read my mind first. I read Hae-jun’s mind. We’re connected.”

“Is that true, Hae-jun?”

“Do you really think so? I’m going to eat.”

They say desperation makes one short-sighted. He believed something that offered no explanation, which was absurd. But Yeon Su-hwan was also wicked. Why did he always have to provoke Seong Hae-min’s brother complex? Did he find pleasure in poking Seong Hae-min’s temper?

I answered Seong Hae-min perfunctorily and popped a piece of sushi, dipped in soy sauce, into my mouth.

“……!”

Wow.

“How is it? Is it good?”

“It’s really delicious.”

“Eat a lot, Hae-jun.”

It was a taste that truly made my eyes pop open.

Was this what it meant to melt in your mouth?

The saltiness of the soy sauce, the aroma of wasabi, the freshness of the fish, the chewiness of the rice – everything was perfect.

Enjoying the thrill with each bite, I swallowed it down, and soon my bento box was empty. It was literally gone in an instant. It had been so long since I’d eaten something so deliciously that I barely registered eating it. Although I regretted eating it so quickly, it was a very satisfying meal.

“Eat mine too.”

“What about you, Sunbae?”

“I already ate. Don’t worry about me.”

Yeon Su-hwan pushed his bento box towards me as I savored the taste after finishing my meal. Leaning on my chin, Yeon Su-hwan had been gazing at me intently. When our eyes met, he smiled faintly.

‘What is it?’

Had he been watching me like that? It was a bit uncomfortable.

But the thought didn’t last long. My gaze returned to the sushi in front of me. The question of why he bought two boxes when he said he’d already eaten crossed my mind briefly, but I quickly dismissed it. It was his business. If he said he was fine, there was no reason to refuse. Especially when it was such delicious sushi.

With a word of thanks, I readily accepted the bento box Yeon Su-hwan handed over. With one piece of sushi disappearing at a time, the packed bento box was empty in no time. On top of the bento box, which I had finished at an incredible speed, only two shrimp with soy sauce sushi remained.

“Are you full?”

“Yes. Thank you very much for the meal.”

“That’s good.”

I politely thanked the person who bought me an expensive meal. Yeon Su-hwan, who smiled brightly, picked up one of the remaining shrimp with soy sauce sushi. Then, he calmly explained.

“It’s a waste to leave it.”

It wasn’t that I had looked at him with the intention of asking why he was eating the leftovers, but Yeon Su-hwan, receiving my gaze, offered it as an excuse. It was his money, and whether he ate it or threw it away was none of my business, so I just nodded.

Just as Yeon Su-hwan was about to put a shrimp with soy sauce sushi into his mouth, a hand suddenly reached out from beside him and picked up one of the remaining sushi. Jeon Jae-hyung, who had been sitting quietly beside me eating bread, also had a shrimp with soy sauce sushi in his hand.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Silence fell.

Did Jeon Jae-hyung want sushi too? If he had said something, I would have shared. Though, of course, I didn’t buy it.

Yeon Su-hwan and Jeon Jae-hyung stared at each other as if in a staring contest. Jeon Jae-hyung spoke softly.

“You said you had dinner…”

“……”

“Two is… a lot for you, isn’t it.”

I looked at Jeon Jae-hyung with surprised eyes. So he did know how to speak at length!

Yeon Su-hwan, who had stopped just before putting the sushi in his mouth, raised one eyebrow with interest and stared intently at Jeon Jae-hyung. Then, he slowly lowered the sushi.

“Haha… Jae-hyung, you’re usually quiet, so I didn’t know you were quite the jealous type?”

“……”

At Yeon Su-hwan’s sudden remark, Jeon Jae-hyung didn’t answer and quickly put the sushi in his mouth and chewed. Yeon Su-hwan also ate the sushi he was holding. And then…

The two began to glare fiercely at each other.

Chewing the sushi in their mouths like a battle, Jeon Jae-hyung and Yeon Su-hwan engaged in a staring contest, or rather, a facial expression contest. If translated into emoticons, it was a battle between (-_,-)(chewing) and (^_,^)(chewing). I, placed in the middle, just looked between them with a bewildered expression.

‘Why does the atmosphere feel strange?’

Suddenly, I felt like an unwelcome guest wedged between the two. As I hunched my upper body in embarrassment, Seong Hae-min said, “Hae-jun, if you’re done eating, come here,” allowing me to escape the spot where I was sandwiched. I quickly pulled my chair and fled the uncomfortable situation.

As soon as the meal was finished and the bento boxes were tidied up, the hospital room door burst open. It was Min Si-hu and Lee Beom, who had gone out to buy dinner. They carried paper bags full of items, like people returning from a department store shopping spree. Min Si-hu, with one arm laden with paper bags extended forward, shouted triumphantly.

“Jjuni!! I bought eel sushi!!”

“Huh?”

“Seong Hae-jun, this place is tastier than that shop. I guarantee it.”

“What is that idiot Lee Beom saying! Ah, what? You already finished eating!?”

They laid out what they were carrying in their hands. From the many paper bags, bento boxes emerged endlessly.

“Eel?”

“Yeah!”

I muttered in disbelief, and Min Si-hu replied with a bright, proud smile. Everything Min Si-hu and Lee Beom had bought was eel sushi, and the packaging showed they had even bought from different shops. They must have craved eel sushi too, since I mentioned liking it earlier.

“Did you guys want eel too?”

“No! Because Jjuni said he liked eel!”

“Huh?”

I looked at Min Si-hu with a stunned expression. His answer was irrelevant, and I was bewildered. What did my liking eel sushi have to do with them buying eel sushi?

After hearing Min Si-hu’s answer, the gazes of the people in the room shifted to Lee Beom beside him. Lee Beom stood under the pressure of their expectant gazes. He was silent for a moment.

“…You said you liked it.”

“…Huh?”

Lee Beom, who had suddenly stood up and approached, thrust a bento box at me. As I looked at him questioningly, he averted his gaze, perhaps embarrassed by everyone’s stares. The mountain of eel bento boxes before me was bewildering.

‘This feels like déjà vu.’

Suddenly, the strawberry candy and strawberry milk I had received from those two this morning flashed before my eyes.

For some reason, I felt uneasy…

“Eat it.”

“I already ate.”

Lee Beom’s eyebrows twitched in displeasure. I kept my mouth shut, but I couldn’t suppress the grumbling of my inner resentment. Can’t a person even say they’ve eaten?

“Then eat more.”

“Huh?”

Is he crazy?

“Hae-jun says he’s full, Lee Beom.”

As Lee Beom stubbornly insisted, I cursed him silently in my mind. Yeon Su-hwan intervened, mediating the situation. He subtly pushed away the bento box that had been pushed right in front of my nose. Lee Beom’s eyebrows twitched vigorously.

Honestly, I was intimidated. He wasn’t angry because I wouldn’t eat it, right?

“Fine. Then eat it later when you’re hungry.”

Unexpectedly, Lee Beom was cool about it.

With a stiff expression and twitching eyebrows, Lee Beom opened the refrigerator and put away the sushi he had bought. Min Si-hu also put his eel sushi in the refrigerator. Min Si-hu didn’t forget to emphasize that his sushi was much tastier. I nodded reluctantly.

“Uh… thanks.”

“Thanks?! Then Si-hu, a kiss!”

“Min Si-hu, that’s enough.”

“Wooo~!”

Seong Hae-min stepped in to block Min Si-hu’s demand for a kiss as payment. Just when I let my guard down, it was Min Si-hu, as expected.

And so, Min Si-hu and Lee Beom began their meal, bickering as usual.

Yeon Su-hwan, who had claimed to have already eaten dinner, seemed to enjoy tormenting the kids so much that he kept snatching sushi from Min Si-hu and Lee Beom. Min Si-hu complained, “Ah! Sunbae, you already ate with Hae-jun!” but Yeon Su-hwan just kept stealing sushi with a smirk. He was indeed a strange person, incomprehensible.

I watched Lee Beom and Min Si-hu continue to fight like cats and dogs even after I had finished eating, and Seong Hae-min sighed and shook his head. And amidst this chaos, Jeon Jae-hyung was already asleep, hugging a stuffed toy. He was consistently boring, just like always.

When night fell, Seong Hae-min was horrified to see me trying to doze off on the makeshift bed as I had the day before, without a second thought. Seong Hae-min insisted that I couldn’t sleep on the makeshift bed any longer since he had to go to school the next day. Thanks to him, I headed home.

Of course, the ever-worried Seong Hae-min wouldn’t send me off alone.

“…….”

“…….”

Lee Beom handed me a motorcycle helmet with his usual sullen and prickly expression. I stood there blankly, making no move to take the helmet.