By Zephyria 
If you ask how he ended up doing it so much, the time invariably returns to his early twenties.
Back when he lived with Kim Ji-woon, unlike himself, who had a fair amount of time to play and relax, Ji-woon was an office worker who left home in the morning on weekdays and didn’t return until after seven in the evening.
Consequently, Eun-ha naturally began to handle most of the meal preparations. A sudden ambition to do it properly if he was going to do it at all led him to devote himself to studying cooking for a while—something that had never been in his destiny. Eventually, he took over that role entirely.
It was, above all, labor for the convenience and pleasure of Kim Ji-woon. It was a backstory that would make his mother or friends clutch the back of their necks in shock. After all, Eun-ha had been born into a prominent wealthy family and raised delicately, without ever having to get a single drop of water on his hands.
At one time, housework had been an act from some distant world, something he never needed nor had a reason to touch in his entire life. In his immature childhood, yes. He lived under the arrogant value system that there was a separate class of people meant for such labor. As he said, it was a very immature time.
Although that boundary had begun to blur slightly from the moment he was kicked out of his house and started living on his own, in truth, Eun-ha’s friends likely still maintained very similar lifestyle habits. To be precise, Eun-ha himself still had one foot in those values.
Because that was how he had been taught as he grew up. That was the entirety of the world he had seen and heard. He had simply adapted to a changed reality and had begun to act his age, if only a little.
In other words, it was a role he never needed to shoulder as a one-sided obligation. Especially since it was effort spent for someone else, not for his own gain.
Looking back now, it was a kindness that was utterly pathetic and foolish. A ridiculous act that constantly triggered self-derision: Why did I do that back then? Why did I go that far?
However, Eun-ha knew that even if he returned to those days, he wouldn’t make a different choice. Because the nature of love is to make a person endlessly and stupidly foolish.
It felt as if he were watching his own past, which is why he felt unnecessarily uncomfortable and bothered, but he gradually let his guard down. At the very least, that boy didn’t harbor any foolish intentions born from a brain fried by love, as Eun-ha’s had been.
‘He’s probably just doing it with the intention of making me plump…’
Eun-ha occasionally projected his own past onto Yeon-jun. In the way the boy revealed his heart completely without knowing how to hide it, or in the way his youth was so blatantly apparent.
Especially when watching him be at a loss due to his affection, it felt like looking at himself from years ago, blindly clinging to the other person, which made him feel strangely concerned.
But in truth, if you set that point aside—and the clumsiness stemming from the age gap and lack of experience—Yeon-jun and he had nothing in common. They were opposite in nature. In that the boy possessed a steady set of standards and self-assurance that Eun-ha had completely lacked.
And in that the elder, Eun-ha, was unstable in many ways, while the boy was always the one to calmly soothe him.
I’m just doing this because I’m greedy, purely.
Returning to the main point, at the voice where greed was momentarily prominent, Eun-ha tilted his head as if he found it hard to understand.
“…How long and how often have you even seen him to be greedy?”
Of course, the boy was exceptionally talented in his major, and he was also remarkably diligent, upright, and quite kind. He was a talent of the era that anyone would covet. But Park Hyun-ji wouldn’t know those things. He had only encountered Yeon-jun a few times, and only briefly by chance.
Hey. Are you asking because you don’t know? He’s crazy handsome. And tall.
“-Ah.”
Eun-ha was momentarily stunned by the answer. Adjusting his grip on the phone, Eun-ha spoke as if he hadn’t expected it.
“…That’s the only reason?”
You’re making it sound like it’s no big deal. Of course that’s the reason. Do you know how much value external beauty holds? You should know that too.
“What do I know?”
Look at me, saying “What do I know.”
Eun-ha responded with silence. He was objectively aware of his own appearance, but separately, he had always lived believing it to be a completely useless value. For humans are at their ugliest when they are not humble.
Along those same lines, the type of people he disliked most were those who acted arrogant because they believed they had something to boast about. Eun-ha didn’t particularly like handsome people. Because there was no one in the world who was handsome yet not arrogant, who didn’t look down on others internally, and who remained humble and upright…
And yet, recently, his thoughts had changed slightly. It turned out such people did exist in the world.
Just ask him once. If he says he’s not interested, then it can’t be helped.
After a look of deep thought, Eun-ha made a quick judgment and replied that he understood. He felt it might be a decent experience. He was well aware that Park Hyun-ji was someone growing quite rapidly in his field.
That evening, during dinner, Park Hyun-ji’s request suddenly came to mind, and Eun-ha brought it up. Yeon-jun listened quietly, then spoke with a hint of interest in his eyes.
“What kind of work is it?”
“I’m not entirely sure myself…”
Eun-ha furrowed his brow like someone struggling to recall. Park Hyun-ji had spoken at length, but since Eun-ha didn’t know much about that field, almost nothing had stuck. He searched his memory and explained to the extent of his knowledge. He said it was some kind of assistant work? Something about production work, taking photos, and things like that, but he didn’t really know…
“Anyway, it’s a design business… You won’t lose anything. Just for the experience. He has a pretty good reputation in the industry.”
“Ah. I think I heard that from the assistant instructor.”
His department’s assistant instructor was a peer of Park Hyun-ji. Eun-ha nodded.
“Do you want to try it?”
He added that if Yeon-jun was curious, he could try calling Park Hyun-ji tomorrow. Yeon-jun took a moment to consider. For some reason, he stared intently at Eun-ha as if scrutinizing him during that time.
Eventually, the boy answered with a faint, eye-crinkling smile.
“I’d like that.”
* * *
Yeon-jun was successfully cast by Park Hyun-ji and decided to work part-time under him. Without even a common formal interview, it was decided immediately after a short phone call. Eun-ha thought that Park Hyun-ji must have liked him quite a bit. Recalling Yeon-jun’s appearance, Eun-ha nodded in agreement.
One day, he accepted Park Hyun-ji’s invitation and scheduled a visit to the office with Yeon-jun. To see them in person, and although the order was completely flipped, to let Park Hyun-ji conduct something like an interview with Yeon-jun.
It was a lunchtime where the maximum temperature approached 37 degrees. Arriving at the provided address, Eun-ha habitually parked in the small lot behind the building and stepped out. Immediately, the direct sunlight beat down intensely.
Squinting his eyes, Eun-ha looked at Yeon-jun getting out of the passenger seat. A black short-sleeved shirt, dark jeans, canvas shoes, and the piercing that always seemed like a focal point. He was dressed beautifully today as well. Or perhaps it just looked that way to his eyes.
He certainly understood what point Park Hyun-ji had become fixated on. Because he was tall, even a casual outfit looked decent and drew the eye. As Eun-ha found himself momentarily evaluating him, the boy approached and stood beside him. Sensing the attentive gaze, Yeon-jun smiled slightly with a look of curiosity. As if he were a bit shy because he was being stared at like that.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s go inside. It’s hot.”