"I'll help too."
And then Seongho too
"Unhak, I'll make it delicious for you."
and
"You know, Unhak? This is my specialty."
Taesan also steps forward. What kind of combination is this, Yeoju? Seongho and Taesan? Anyway, Joyeon, Jaehyun, and others step up to do the dishes. Jihyun is left in the kitchen with only the four remaining people and Unhak, who will be the one to judge the taste.
"Um... first, I'll make pasta."
"But Unhak, what kind of combination is pasta, kimchi stew, and rice?"
"Why, Yeoju? The combination of Western and Korean food is my favorite."
"Yeah.. Then I'll make kimchi because I've done it before."
"Oh, Yeoju's kimchi stew is so delicious."
"I've never eaten it."
"That's what I'm saying."
While exchanging small talk, Yeoju comes back with a plethora of kimchi, meat, and other vegetables. I increased the quantity for Unhak, but the ingredients alone are no joke. I put the onions on top and slowly walk away, but I can't even see the floor, and the onions are barely trying to move. As expected, onions don't listen to me. One isn't enough, so I drag Chin-guk in, and two fall, hitting Yeoju's feet and falling. Yeoju, I really want to scream.
"Don't tell me, I would have helped you."
"Uh...thank you..."
"Do you want to join us?"
"...Do you know how to make it...?"
"Because I've seen a lot."
Taesan picks up the fallen items one by one and transfers all the ingredients, including the one that was in the armful, to Yeoju, and then he immediately sneaks in to make it together. Taesan, who has seen Yeoju make it many times because Yeoju always makes it, blurts out those words at Yeoju's cautious concern. To others, it might sound like he enjoys watching cooking videos, but to Yeoju, it's just selling memories.
.
.
.
Taesan does all the cleaning. Even if Yeoju tries to grab the knife absentmindedly, Taesan will never let go.
"Um... Now rest, I'll do it."
"I'm almost done."
"So I'll do it right now."
"Because I like writing things"
"I like it too"
"Because your face is not well-groomed."
"....Why...I'll just do it myself.."
Even though I helped Taesan, who was still trimming the meat, I kept telling him to stop, but he didn't listen to me, to the point where I wondered if it was noise canceling. Seeing that Yeoju and Jihyun were looking at him strangely, I quickly whispered in his ear.
"Huh? Why are you talking in my ear? Hahaha"
"..Huh? Me? No?"
"Don't talk in my ear."
"...No, that's not it"
"Because I have a weak heart lol"
"....do you want to die...?"
"ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋI almost had a cardiac arrest just now"
"Shut up, I was really surprised."
Suddenly, Yeo-ju, who was so flustered that she didn't know how to speak loudly, almost beat Tae-san with the green onion she was holding. While doing so, she whispered in his ear. For some reason, Yeo-ju can't beat Tae-san. That's the kind of person he was born with. If she stays with him any longer, Woon-hak will look at her strangely, so she quickly turns her attention to Ji-hyun, saying that it looks delicious. After eating some of the pasta Ji-hyun gives her, she comes back and forcefully takes the data from Tae-san, demanding that she give it to him for real. The cheeky Yeo-ju quickly makes kimchi stew regardless of whether Tae-san is looking or not. After a few minutes, the smell rises, so Woon-hak sticks to her and sticks a spoon in, saying that it looks delicious. She is a kind Yeo-ju, who says that it is hot and puts meat on her spoon.
.
.
.
.
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As several people descended, two tables were set aside. As soon as Taesan sat down, Jiye, as if she had been waiting, took the seat next to him. Yeoju, seemingly unfazed, took her place between Unhak and Nihyeon. Trying to close her eyes to the sight of the two facing each other, she tried to eat, but somehow her throat felt uneasy.
After finishing the meal and trying to clean up, Taesan is talking to Jiye. Hmm... I tried not to be naughty, but my body reacted first, so I intentionally walked towards Taesan and Jiye and cleaned up the dishes. Then, I called Woonhak over and asked if he liked games and asked if he wanted to play with me. This happened without Yeoju knowing. It wasn't planned, my body reacted first. Maybe Jaehyun's words were 99% correct.
Even after ten minutes of playing games with Unhak, I can't seem to get my hands on the games I used to be good at. Even things that used to be easy are now impossible no matter how many times I try.
"You did well, my lady."
"I'm originally good at it"
"I'm the weakest at this, but I win all the times."
"Oh, did I eat too much?"
"? I always eat a lot, let's stop."
"Stop what you're doing"
Unhak, who had never played this game before, easily defeats Yeoju. Unhak is deeply suspicious of Yeoju's skills. Then, Yeoju's self-esteem plummets again, and she can't stand to see that happen.
"Do you want to do it with me?"
"....? Oh, come to think of it, I think it would be best to stop."
"Taesan hyung, do you want to do it with me?"
".....okay"
Huh? Why did Yeoju-ssi do that? Why didn't we just play together once? She suddenly put down the game console and blurted out the words, and now it's past the time when she was wondering why she did that. Anyway, she's already moving her body towards the stairs, and Taesan-ssi's expression just now looks quite puzzled. She hesitates even as she climbs the stairs. But what can she do? Yeoju-ssi enters the room and lies down on the bed. It's not that she really didn't want to play games with Taesan-ssi, but she's not happy about it either, and here we are again. Today was so comfortable and nice, but when an uncomfortable feeling creeps in again, she just closes her eyes.
.
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When she suddenly opened her eyes, it had been over 30 minutes since she'd closed them. Wondering when she'd fallen asleep, she picked up her phone and saw it was well past 8 o'clock. It was soon 9 o'clock, and the area below was a bit noisy. Taesan's voice, glimpsed from the dimly lit room, made Yeoju hesitate as she was getting up. She didn't have the confidence to step into the bright light. She sat on the edge of the bed in the dark room, aimlessly embarking on a phone journey by the dim glow of her phone cord.
Time can pass quickly if you don't even realize what you're doing. The sound of the quarterly rising from above makes you instinctively hide under the covers.
"Heroine? Sleep?"
"Huh? No?"
"What are you doing? Come down, it's dark."
"Huh? Oh, I see."
"If you're tired, you can stay"
"No, no, I just woke up after taking a nap earlier."
"Yeah, come down slowly."
As expected, it seems that Jihyun is the only one who takes care of Yeoju. My heart aches for no reason. Yeoju and Jihyun prepare in the dim light that they have left on and go out the door. Slowly going down the stairs, she looks down and sees Taesan, Seongho, Joyeon, and Jiye. Yeoju, wondering where Jihyun, who had been calling her, has gone, passes the living room where they are gathered and looks into the kitchen, but Jihyun is not there. Perhaps it is a bit difficult to join that group now, and Yeoju is considering going upstairs. She tries to move to the makeshift living room through the kitchen.
"Where are you going?"
"Huh? I'm going over there..."
"Let's play together over there"
"...I'm tired so I'm going to rest."
"Shall we go together?"
"No, you go play over there and go alone."
"....."
When Taesan, who was holding my hand, let go of my hand a little and tried to take a step forward,
"Why did you turn back into a hedgehog?"
"...huh..?"
"You look upset, just to me."
"Do you have to be happy?"
Also, I don't know why he's being so sharp. Taesan hasn't done anything wrong today, but it seems like he's going through a late puberty again, and he's really shaking up Yeoju's emotions.
"Smiling and talking like that with Unhak"
"Shall I talk to you while laughing?"
"In the morning, they leave everyone alone and go out as they please."
"Clean up well, I messed up everything."
"...What's wrong? Why did you come back? Did you change direction?"
The direction is changing, but there is no direction to change. It's just a late puberty. The female protagonist doesn't know, but she seems to know, but she doesn't know.
"You go now"
"Are you really telling me to just go?"
"Ah, I want to rest."
"I really don't know, Kim Yeo-ju."
"....."
"...I want to go with you, I want to be with you, Kim Yeo-ju."
Taesan, what is it that you like so much about Yeoju that you are so capricious and self-willed that you want to be with a timid adolescent girl who keeps nagging you to leave. Even Yeoju herself is very curious about what you like about Yeoju that you want to stay with her. If you say something like this, you would usually just leave her alone. Why doesn't Taesan leave her alone? If Yeoju closes her eyes tightly, Taesan will...
"It's scary if we just keep going like this."
"what"
"It seems like you really hate me again. Was it a dream earlier?"
"What are you so worried about?"
"I'm only like this with you. I can't help it. So please stay with me while I struggle. Let's at least dream like before."
She thought she won a little, but Taesan always tickles her heart with his ticklish words, so Yeoju can't help but lose. Even as they head to the makeshift living room together, Yeoju wonders if this is right. She wonders if it's right for her to accept Taesan like this. In fact, when she thinks about it, it was she who suddenly acted so rudely in the morning, so she also wonders how strange it must seem for Taesan to suddenly act coldly like this. Right now, she feels a little uncomfortable looking at Taesan.
"I'm really sleepy, I'm going to sleep."
"...Okay, I'll go with you."
"...Can't I go alone?"
I don't know why you keep insisting on going together. Isn't this place a maze? We have to go together to get to the room?
"I don't like being left alone, so if I send you away like I did earlier, I'm sending you away alone. If you go to your room alone to sleep, I'm sending you away alone. I don't like leaving you alone. My feeling of being alone is when we're not together. It doesn't mean there's no one around you."
.
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Even though Yeo-ju came up to the room, her mind was not working, so she went back into her room without even saying goodbye. He made Yeo-ju lose her again with those words. The day that Yeo-ju thought would go her way ended up being swayed by Tae-san again. Is it true? Did what she said earlier come from Tae-san's regret? Jae-hyun's words won't leave my head. It's not possible for Yeo-ju to believe Tae-san, who makes her believe. But Yeo-ju's belief and doubt are mixed up dozens of times a day. Even today, when she almost believed, her past doubts suddenly pop up and torment her.
Anyway, Taesan is the one who abandoned her, and she doesn't know whether it was because her feelings had left her or not, and she believes Taesan who acts like a lover after only a few days of meeting here. The female protagonist thinks that if it was going to be like this, she shouldn't have come out in the first place. She just thought naively that if things were going well with someone, she would curse and swear to her heart's content. In reality, she can't even swear comfortably, but on the outside, she acts like she hates him and curses him, but Taesan is a difficult person for the female protagonist, so she can't do that.