Chapter 53

The cigarette between Ryu Yi-jeong’s fingers slipped and tumbled to the floor.

Our sweet, gentle Yi-seon is…

Yi-jeong had never seen Mugyeol let anyone manhandle him like this, and he had certainly never seen Yi-seon this furious. Finding them asleep in each other’s arms had been strange enough; this was somehow even harder to process.

After shaking out a good portion of his anger, Yi-seon finally let go, panting. Mugyeol dropped into a squat on the rooftop, hair completely wrecked, and leveled a razor-sharp glare at him.

Ryu Yi-jeong tensed. If Mugyeol retaliated, there was no chance Yi-jeong could physically stop him. He was already preparing to throw Yeon Hangyeol—who at least had a comparable build—between them when Mugyeol lowered his head and let out a long sigh.

“Haah… Ryu Yi-seon, that dogshit temper of yours…” Mugyeol’s hair was a complete bird’s nest. He roughly raked a hand through it, then caught Yi-seon’s clenched fist and pried the fingers open one by one. Several black strands were trapped in Yi-seon’s palm. Mugyeol dusted them away. “Hey. Are you trying to make your husband bald?”

“What?”

“Do people know your temper is this unhinged? Don’t you dare go around acting all sweet and innocent. What kind of person rips out his own husband’s hair like this?”

“Husband…”

Mugyeol wrapped both arms around Yi-seon’s waist and rubbed his sides with his palms. Looking up from the rooftop floor, he grinned as though nothing had happened.

“If you don’t like it, you be the husband. I’ll be the wife.”

“…”

“Are you going to do this again? Going to keep resorting to violence, darling? Huh?”

At the relentless barrage of “husband” and “darling,” Yi-seon’s fists trembled with rage.

“You really… make people so fucking pissed off…”

“I’ll admit to that, darling.”

“…Haah.”

Yi-seon tipped his face toward the sky and squeezed his eyes shut, taking several deep breaths until his temper eased. He had already made enough of a scene for one morning.

Completely unconcerned by Yi-seon’s fury, Mugyeol nuzzled his cheek against Yi-seon’s lower belly and idly stroked his waist and hip.

Once the tension had eased, Ryu Yi-jeong finished his cigarette and rose from the blue plastic chair. “Well, this nuisance will get out of your way. I’ll call before I come next time, so let me off the hook for today.”

“No, hyung. You can come without calling.”

“You don’t need anything else? Do you have enough laundry detergent?”

“Yeah, I have plenty. It’s fine. Hyung, you already spend so much on bus fare coming back and forth to Seoul. Why do you keep buying all this stuff…? Be honest. The tuna and half of this—you just took it from home, didn’t you?”

“What? …Not all of it! I bought some too! Besides, hyung’s monthly allowance is over four hundred thousand won! And since I don’t have friends, I don’t spend money on drinks! I even got a scholarship last time, so I still have plenty of cash!”

Yi-seon patted his indignant brother on the back. “All right, all right. We should have had a meal together later, though.”

Ryu Yi-jeong glanced past Yi-seon and met Mugyeol’s eyes. Mugyeol was squatting in a corner of the rooftop like a thug. The same guy who had just been grinning like an idiot while bickering with Yi-seon was now glaring at Yi-jeong as though he wanted him dead.

We fought again because of you. The message was written all over Mugyeol’s face: if you’re done, get lost.

Ryu Yi-jeong read it immediately, patted Yi-seon’s shoulder, and nodded. “Next time. I’ll come by again.”

“Okay, hyung. Get home safe.”

After walking Ryu Yi-jeong down to the first floor, Yi-seon returned to the rooftop. As soon as he emerged, he heard Mugyeol on the phone, standing casually with one hand shoved into his pocket.

“Yes, Driver Oh. Exactly. Something about the situation feels off. I don’t care how long it takes—find out where he stayed, why, and the full background. Be thorough and make sure it’s accurate—”

Mugyeol noticed Yi-seon and immediately lowered his voice. The small act of secrecy stung more than it should have. Yi-seon brushed past him and went inside, leaving Mugyeol to finish the call with Driver Oh, the man who handled miscellaneous errands for him.

Good grief. It’s not like I had any intention of eavesdropping on your secret phone call anyway…

Yi-seon began unpacking the household supplies his brother had brought. When Mugyeol finally came back inside, Yi-seon washed his hands, took out the first-aid kit, and pointed to the floor.

“Sit here.”

“Huh?”

Yi-seon made Mugyeol sit and examined his hand. Mugyeol’s earlier shout about the fire had been nagging at him. Sure enough, a red burn marked the skin between the index and middle fingers. It was superficial, but it looked painful.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“You told me it was hot, but I kept losing my temper… And you got hurt.” Yi-seon bit down on his lower lip as he stared at Mugyeol’s hand.

Truth is…

Truth is, I was just so upset.

Hearing you say that wasn’t how we started felt like proof that your heart holds nothing for me. That’s why I got hurt. That’s why I got angry.

I hurt you because my own feelings were hurt. I’m sorry. It isn’t your fault that you don’t feel the same way.

He felt utterly childish for having lashed out simply because Mugyeol’s feelings didn’t mirror his own.

Feelings were rarely equal in any relationship. It had been true with his parents, and it could be true with Mugyeol too. There was nothing more foolish than building expectations by himself and then blaming the other person when he got hurt by them.

As Yi-seon silently applied ointment to the burn, Mugyeol was the one who became visibly flustered.

“Ryu Yi-seon? I’m seriously fine, you know? It doesn’t hurt. If something like this hurts, I’m not even a man. Might as well chop off my dick.”

“…”

“You know how big my dick is, right? You saw it yesterday. Cutting this off would be a total national loss.”

“What kind of ridiculous nonsense are you spouting?”

Yi-seon finally cracked a smile at the shameless nonsense. Only then did Mugyeol visibly relax and pat him gently on the head.

“It really doesn’t hurt. Don’t worry.”

“…”

“I’m sorry for being a dick to Yi-jeong hyung, too. I was on edge because there was something bothering me. I won’t do it again.” Mugyeol looked at the bandage Yi-seon had wrapped around his fingers and gave a sheepish grin. Yi-seon returned the smile for a moment, then looked away and stood. “Rest. I’m going to sort out the things.”

Yi-seon began putting away the supplies Ryu Yi-jeong had brought. While he stacked rolls of toilet paper into the cabinet, Mugyeol wandered over to help and upended another plastic bag, sending cans of Spam and bottles of cooking oil clattering across the floor.

Yi-seon was just about to thank him when the torment began.

“Honey. Should we put the ham in this drawer?”

“…”

“I’ll put the tuna away here, okay?”

“…”

“Hey. Your darling is talking to you.”

Darling, honey.

Mugyeol used the pet names with such shameless ease that Yi-seon felt dizzy. Worse, this was entirely Yi-seon’s own fault. It all traced back to one stupid text he had sent Mugyeol.

—Yes, darling.

Those few syllables, sent purely to mess with Mugyeol, had summoned this nightmare. Ever since then, Mugyeol had attached every ridiculous pet name imaginable to him. Why had Yi-seon’s fingers ever typed that reply?

As he put away the groceries, Mugyeol kept up an endless stream of honey, darling, hubby, and every other pet name he could invent. Yi-seon refused to respond, but that only seemed to encourage him. The relentless attack was enough to make Yi-seon break out in a cold sweat.

“The cupboards are full. Hubby here was planning on filling them all up for you.”

While stacking toilet paper in the cabinet by the bathroom, Yi-seon finally snapped and spun around. One look at Mugyeol’s sly grin drained the fight right back out of him, and he turned away to resume stacking the rolls.

Mugyeol finished the kitchen quickly, then wandered over and began hovering uselessly around Yi-seon. After the third pass from one side to the other, Yi-seon pointed to the floor beside him.

“You’re making me dizzy. Sit.”

“Sure.”

The moment Mugyeol actually sat beside him, however, Yi-seon regretted the decision. Mugyeol was too close, his gaze too intent. Even the low sound of his breathing made Yi-seon’s skin prickle.

In the heat of getting angry and feeling guilty earlier, he hadn’t fully registered it, but…

The two of them had done far too much the night before—naked, explicit things Yi-seon had never done with anyone in his life. He was not shameless enough to face Mugyeol the next morning and act as though none of it had happened.

Yi-seon squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to erase the images from the night before. Instead, he saw Mugyeol even more vividly: the feverish look in his eyes, the flex of his hand, the line of his throat as he tipped his head back.

…It was so lewd.

“Ah, damn it…”

“What? Why? Did I do something wrong?”

Yi-seon swallowed and edged sideways to create some distance. Now that he was conscious of every point of contact, even their shoulders and arms brushing made heat crawl over his body. Mugyeol, apparently oblivious to the reason, simply slid over by the exact same amount and closed the gap again.

“Ryu Yi-seon. By the way, do other people know you don’t have hair on your dick?”

“…What?”

The shameless question made Yi-seon drop a roll of toilet paper. It bounced away with a thump-thump until Mugyeol caught it and calmly stacked it for him. “I’m the only one who’s seen it, right?”

“Are you seriously insane?”

“Don’t go to public bathhouses or places like that from now on.”

“Why.”

I don’t go anyway. It’s embarrassing… not having hair down there.

“From now on, if you want to go somewhere like that, go to a private hot spring with me. Otherwise I’ll ask Grandfather to buy us a house with a huge bath. This hyung is serious.”

“Who are you to tell me where I can and can’t go, hyung?”

“You still don’t know who hyung is? Your husband, your hubby, your darling.”

“…”

“Just try waving that smooth dick around in front of other bastards. I’m serious, you’ll be dead.”

Mugyeol finished putting away the toilet paper, then hooked a hand around the back of Yi-seon’s neck and pulled him close.

“Answer me, honey.”

Their foreheads pressed together, Mugyeol delivered the half-threat with an almost savage glare.

Stunned, Yi-seon jerked his head forward instead—crack!—and head-butted him before scrambling away. His own skull throbbed from the impact, but anger and disbelief overwhelmed the pain.

“You take care of yourself first! While you walk around dangling something like a fucking elephant!”

Did getting engaged automatically make people talk this filthy? Considering how reliably they ended up fighting every time they met, Yi-seon wondered whether this too was simply the fate of a contract marriage.

Still huffing with embarrassment, Yi-seon dove beneath the blankets. Heat had spread through his entire body so thoroughly that standing felt impossible. For once, it was fortunate he had not yet folded up the bedding.

He could not believe the phrase ‘dangling something like a fucking elephant’ had actually come out of his mouth. Apparently he was losing his mind too.

But there had been no helping it. What he had seen yesterday… That really was an elephant.

How had Mugyeol played soccer and basketball all these years with that thing attached to him? It had to be uncomfortable. His underwear must possess extraordinary elasticity and structural integrity. Yi-seon silently offered condolences to every pair forced to support Mugyeol on a daily basis and curled tighter beneath the blanket.

Meanwhile, after finishing the living-room cleanup, Mugyeol began clattering around in the kitchen. Yi-seon lowered the blanket until only his eyes showed and watched Mugyeol’s broad back move busily in front of the sink. Before long, a savory aroma filled the room.

A short while later, Mugyeol set a pot and several plates on the low floor table with a pair of clatters. “Darling. Dinner is served.”

“Alright…”

The smell of ramyeon finally coaxed Yi-seon out from under the blanket. Only then did he realize how hungry he was. Since waking up, all he had done was yank Mugyeol around by the hair and endure a nonstop stream of obscene remarks, so perhaps that was understandable.

The food on the table was mildly astonishing. The ramyeon was so pale and watery it deserved the nickname ‘Han River ramyeon.’ Beside it sat five mangled fried eggs: two burned, one passable, and two still undercooked.

According to Mugyeol, three eggs were for ‘hubby’ and two for him. He had apparently wanted to make six so they could split them evenly, but the pan was too small.

Picking up the chopsticks Mugyeol had neatly laid out, Yi-seon offered his thanks.

“I’ll eat well. Thank you. But this is the first time I’ve ever seen someone put ham in ramyeon. Is this how you eat it at home?”

“No. I just saw it lying around, so I threw it in.”

“You’ve never put it in when making ramyeon before?”

“Don’t know. This is my first time cooking ramyeon. Next time I’m buying a measuring cup or something. Getting the water right is too hard.”

“Wow, what a young master.”

Grinning, Yi-seon served himself some ramyeon. The noodles were overcooked, and the ham looked as though Mugyeol had attacked it with a knife rather than sliced it.

Mugyeol has absolutely no talent for cooking. I’ll cook from now on and make him do the dishes.

While Yi-seon quietly assigned their future household chores in his head, Mugyeol took a mouthful of ramyeon and muttered, “Crazy… It’s bland as fuck.”

“If you eat it with the ham, the seasoning is just right.”

Yi-seon fished out a piece of ham and dropped it into Mugyeol’s bowl. Mugyeol ate it with the noodles, declared that the seasoning was indeed perfect, and raised a thumbs-up while praising his fiancé’s brilliance. Yi-seon found the whole performance cute enough to make him pause and laugh softly.