Irresponsibility Chapter 3.1

The man had been talking to me often these days, and Yeoun found it uncomfortable.

“Should we try ordering from somewhere else?”

“……”

“You don’t like lunch boxes? Do you prefer home-cooked meals?”

When he didn’t answer, Baek Geonhyuk bent his back slightly and looked into his face. Joo Yeoun, startled, staggered and stepped backward.

“You don’t like lunch boxes?”

After hesitating, he nodded his head, and Baek Geonhyuk asked again.

“Then what do you like?”

“Anything….”

As long as it could fill his stomach, he didn’t care what it was.

“Anything?”

At the sight of him tilting his head and asking back, Yeoun suddenly became anxious.

“Ah, ah, no. Just…. just….”

He felt like he had to say something, but he couldn’t think of anything he wanted to eat, so he kept repeating the same words. Joo Yeoun, his large eyes darting here and there, finally managed to mumble.

“I can ju, just eat rice. Bu, but there’s no rice.”

At those words, Baek Geonhyuk raised his eyebrows.

“You know how to make rice?”

The way he looked him over, as if surprised, was a little unpleasant. So Yeoun spoke as if to himself.

“Wi, with a rice cooker, wh, who couldn’t….”

“I was wondering if you couldn’t.”

Alright. Answering readily, he turned on the water at the sink and said.

“I’ll buy some rice and put it here. Should I buy some eggs too?”

“Yes….”

Joo Yeoun answered in a whisper. To avoid stuttering, he had to relax and speak, and because of that, his answer came out sounding a little drained of energy.

Baek Geonhyuk looked back at his pale face and slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

“Yeoun-ah.”

“Yes….”

At the response he received, his smile deepened.

“I’ve been thinking. If our times match, let’s have dinner together.”

“……”

I don’t want to. I didn’t think food would go down my throat while facing that person. Yeoun was about to shake his head, but the man beat him to it.

“I’ll come home early today. Let’s have dinner together?”

“I don’t….”

“Ah. What should we eat?”

Baek Geonhyuk muttered as he turned away. He must have seen his lips moving, but it seemed like he was deliberately pretending not to have seen.

Feeling a surge of anger, Yeoun glared at the huge back. But soon, he turned away helplessly.

Even though he knew the man wouldn’t hit him, Yeoun was still scared of him. Besides, it was not his place to talk back to someone who was much older than him.

Returning to his room, Yeoun brushed his teeth and sat blankly on the bed. After a short while like that, he heard a sound from outside the door.

“Yeoun-ah. I’m leaving.”

He did not answer.

But on second thought, it seemed like he was being quite rude. There were several times he hadn’t answered the man’s words.

…Not just several, but. A lot.

Most of the time…?

Joo Yeoun shifted his feet for no reason and pretended to be distracted. He made an embarrassed expression and fiddled with the blanket, even though no one was watching.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on the blanket. Yeoun buried his nose in the blanket and sniffed. It seemed to have a slightly musty smell. Tilting his head, he pondered for a moment before getting up.

In any case, they had decided to live together, but the man was taking care of all the housework. And he wasn’t that sick anymore.

Yeoun stripped the blanket and sheets and took off the pillowcase as well. He wasn’t sure about the blanket, but the pillow definitely seemed to need washing. There had been times he was sick enough to break out in a cold sweat, and hadn’t he been lying in bed for almost a whole month?

Once the thought of it being grimy occurred to him, his movements quickened. Holding the thick blanket in both arms, his vision was blocked, naturally causing him to take short, quick steps.

As he passed through the living room and into the utility room, he bumped slightly into the corner. After stumbling backward, the thought of the CCTV camera suddenly popped into his head.

It’s not like I’m doing anything bad.

Yeoun repeated it like a charm—confidently—and put the pile of blankets into the washing machine. It was a large-capacity washer, so the sheets and blanket went in all at once. If it had been the washing machine in the studio apartment where he used to live, it would have been impossible. He thought it would be nice for doing laundry.

After starting the washer, he went toward the hallway where his room was. He picked up the vacuum cleaner he had seen while passing by, went into his room, opened the window wide, and meticulously cleaned the floor.

Since he couldn’t just do his own room, he also vacuumed the living room and kitchen. And then with a glance, his gaze turned to the room by the front door.

Baek Geonhyuk’s room.

“It’s just cleaning….”

Muttering slowly, Yeoun, already pushing the vacuum over a spot he had already been to, stealthily entered the room.

Just like in the living room, he opened the window wide and meticulously vacuumed. Then, he silently set down the vacuum cleaner and searched the room.

However, in a room with only a clothing rack and a portable bed without any furniture, there wasn’t much to search. In the end, he left the man’s room without any particular findings.

After putting the vacuum cleaner away, he felt a little disappointed, when he suddenly remembered the mop he had seen in the utility room. So, he finished up by thoroughly mopping the floor with water.

Perhaps because he had moved his body for the first time in a while, he was exhausted. Yeoun stood with his hands on his waist, catching his breath, and then finished wringing out the mop.

With all the windows open, the air was chilly, making his nose run. As he was sniffling and wringing out the mop, a melody started to play from the washing machine just in time. The housework was finally finished only after he hung up the blanket as well.

Sniffle. Yeoun rubbed the tip of his nose and fixed his gaze on the laundry hanging in front of the living room veranda. The pillowcase fluttered and swayed in the breeze coming in from the window.

He had thought that because it was a thick blanket it might not dry quickly, but the wind was blowing a lot and the sunlight was warm, so it seemed like it would dry faster than he expected.

Looking around the living room, filled with yellowish sunlight, Yeoun took a deep breath. The pain in his ribs was faint, and he hadn’t had any gloomy thoughts at all during the few hours he was moving his body.

Yeoun stood in the middle of the living room and watched the hung blanket for a while longer.

*

That evening, Baek Geonhyuk returned home, holding a large box just as he had once before. He placed the box down in the kitchen and looked around the quiet house. His gaze lingered a little longer on the blanket hanging on the drying rack.

As if he had some sort of premonition, Baek Geonhyuk silently opened Joo Yeoun’s door.

Joo Yeoun was lying on the floor, taking a nap. It seemed he was lying on the floor because there was no blanket. Baek Geonhyuk glanced for a moment at Joo Yeoun, who was lying on his side using his own arm as a pillow, and then turned away.

When he returned, a thin blanket was in his hands. He gently covered the motionless body with the blanket and stepped back. His gaze remained for a while on the face that was breathing evenly.

Joo Yeoun only woke up when Baek Geonhyuk had set the table for dinner and knocked on the door. Seeing Joo Yeoun sitting on the floor and looking bewildered, Baek Geonhyuk let out a low laugh.

“Let’s eat, Yeoun-ah.”

“……”

His fair brow gradually furrowed, as if he had remembered a fact he had forgotten.

Even when sitting at the dining table, his expression was so clearly reluctant that Baek Geonhyuk swallowed a laugh.

“You’re not hungry?”

Joo Yeoun hesitantly nodded his head. It was obvious that he wanted to return to his room, but Baek Geonhyuk pretended not to know and said.

“Even if you’re not hungry, you have to eat.”

“Yes….”

“That’s how you grow tall and grow up strong.”

“……”

He was twenty-three years old. Seeing Yeoun’s frowning face, he chuckled.

“I bought them from a side dish shop.”

Yeoun looked at the dining table. Side dishes served in small portions on plates and, out of nowhere, a whole rotisserie chicken. When Yeoun’s gaze fell on the chicken, he added an explanation.

“They were selling it from a truck. Do kids these days not eat this kind of thing?”

Speaking as if to himself, Baek Geonhyuk said, “Let’s eat,” and picked up his spoon and chopsticks. Joo Yeoun also cautiously glanced at him and picked up his spoon.

Clatter. The sound of a metal spoon hitting a bowl rang out. It occurred to him that it had been a long time since he had heard that sound. All he had eaten recently were lunch boxes and instant porridge.

Joo Yeoun looked down for a moment at the white rice from which a faint steam was rising, then put a spoonful in his mouth. It was warm and fluffy.

“What side dishes do you like? Is there anything you dislike here?”

Two types of seasoned vegetables, egg-battered sausage, and stir-fried fish cakes. Yeoun, who had scanned the table, swallowed his rice and said.

“Th, there’s nothing.”

“You don’t have any food you can’t eat?”

“No….”

Hmm. The corners of Baek Geonhyuk’s mouth rose gently as he nodded his head.

Joo Yeoun felt strange. Although he was a guardian, the man was acting just like a parent. When he only ate his rice, the man subtly pushed the side dishes toward him, and with the rotisserie chicken, he used his chopsticks to pick the meat off the bone and pile it neatly on one side of the plate.

It seemed like he would keep picking the meat off if he didn’t eat, so he had no choice but to eat a mouthful. The tender meat and the salty skin.

Perhaps he was hungry from having used up his energy doing housework. The meal, eaten while facing the man, went down better than he thought.

His use of chopsticks was timid, but he finished about half of his rice. When he put down his spoon and drank some water, Baek Geonhyuk rested his chin on his hand and watched him. He had completely emptied his rice bowl.

“Yeoun-ah.”

“……”

“Why did you clean?”

“…I, I was bored.”

Yeoun answered hesitantly. Then, he cautiously watched him, wondering if the fact that he had cleaned would be a problem.

The man, who seemed lost in thought for a moment, soon said.

“Thank you. You must have been busy. Doing the blanket laundry too.”

His gaze flicked toward the hanging blanket. Yeoun felt a little awkward. He hadn’t done anything until now, and the man had even prepared dinner.

The man had promised to protect him, not to act as his nanny. The contract he had written himself said so too.

“Sh, sh, should I make it for you?”

“Huh?”

Baek Geonhyuk asked back, then realized what he meant after seeing his moving lips.