Episode 12
Tae-seo glanced over
the nu, imagining what dish to order. The course he had enjoyed last ti didn’t seem appealing today, so he passed on several options. Tae-seo, who tended to focus on individual items, lingered over each dish na with his eyes.
“Seafood seems fishy.”
Although it wouldn’t actually taste fishy, it just didn’t appeal to Tae-seo.
“The at seems tough.”
Again, it would probably be tender when eaten, but Tae-seo thought otherwise.
“Ah, what should I eat?”
Unable to easily decide, Tae-seo let out a groan of frustration. Eventually, after agonizing over his decision, Tae-seo chose one dish. Before covering
the nu, he called the server over and placed his order.
“A cheeseburger, please.”
He casually omitted any ntion of premium or high-quality ingredients. Even the thought that the at might be tough was suddenly forgotten.
Though he ordered it thinking it would be sowhat satisfying, compared to his hunger, the burger didn’t seem very appealing.
“Will there be anything else you need?”
“No, just bring that.”
“Understood.”
As the server left with
the nu, Tae-seo imdiately reached for his glass, his hand trembling. He had considered ordering a cola with his burger, but strangely, he didn’t feel like having soda. So, he sipped on cold water while waiting for his al, when suddenly, a long shadow fell across the table. Had the server returned to say sothing? Tae-seo looked up, his eyes widening in surprise.
“What are you doing here, looking so lost?”
“? Lost?”
“If you were duped, you should’ve just gone ho quietly instead of coming all the way up here.”
“I was hungry.”
What’s so suspicious about coming here to eat?
Tae-seo hesitated, unsure whether to greet Kang Se-heon, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, or tell him to go away. He lifted his head, catching a familiar scent from Se-heon. Then, still standing, Tae-seo spoke decisively to Se-heon.
“Did you follow
here by any chance?”
“Why would I follow you?”
“Then, please go
if you’re not.”
Se-heon wasn’t soone who treated the hotel like his own ho, and from head to toe, he seed perfectly composed, indicating he had co for a reason. Feeling reassured by the appropriate question, Tae-seo thought he could just leave him alone.
At Tae-seo’s brief clarification, one of Se-heon’s eyebrows raised slightly. Already looking down at him with a mismatch in their eye levels, with the added elevation of his eyebrow, Se-heon’s gaze seed even more arrogant. It felt like he was saying, “Who are you to tell
to go?”
“Shall I see you off?”
Though he didn’t know where Se-heon was headed, Tae-seo was glad to see a familiar face and hoped to greet him warmly, wagging his tail like a puppy. Seeing Se-heon sitting there motionless, Tae-seo asked after a while, puzzled. Then, Se-heon, with a mixture of absurdity and amazent in his eyes, sat down across from Tae-seo.
“Why are you sitting down?”
“To eat with you.”
“Are you saying you’ll eat with , or you want
to feed you?”
“Sure.”
There wasn’t really a need to do so, but it didn’t seem like refusing would make him leave. From the mont he ntioned feeding him, Tae-seo’s opinion seed to be disregarded. Instead of pushing Kang Se-heon away, Tae-seo brought up sothing else.
“But I wasn’t fooled.”
“The atmosphere seed nice.”
Tae-seo narrowed his eyes at Se-heon’s words. It seed like he had definitely seen sothing…
“Did you see
with Han Mi-rae?”
“I was eating alone, thinking the outco wouldn’t be good…”
“Where’s the problem? Han Mi-rae said she didn’t have ti now, so we agreed to et later. No, why am I even explaining this?”
“Even though college students probably don’t have ti to study, they have ti for blind dates.”
“How did you know it was a blind date?”
Though Tae-seo was eting Se-heon for the first ti, he knew that he had t Han Mi-rae earlier and even knew it was a blind date.
“Then could that atmosphere be a business eting?”
“What was the atmosphere like?”
“It was very pleasant, almost youthful.”
“Wow…”
It would’ve sufficed to say it looked nice, but each word seed unnecessarily sarcastic. Tae-seo was about to ask why he was speaking like that, but then he changed his mind.
“Is this much interest necessary?”
Tae-seo leaned on his hand, tilting his upper body. Despite saying it wasn’t much, as he leaned forward, Se-heon recoiled, showing his bitterness.
“What?”
“You drew a line not to co near .”
Tae-seo pointed with his finger to an imaginary line drawn in front of Se-heon. It seed like he was trying to express that Se-heon had drawn such a line before.
“Why are you so interested in ?”
Se-heon’s expression gradually hardened at Tae-seo’s playful gaze and subdued laughter. Despite knowing Tae-seo’s peculiar personality, he couldn’t help but express his true feelings of disapproval. But Tae-seo didn’t back down. Sothing was really off.
Se-heon suppressed the urge to get up and leave right now.
If only he hadn’t coincidentally entered the lounge alone, he would’ve left the hotel imdiately.
Fortunately, the waiter arrived at the right mont with
the nu, interrupting their conversation. Se-heon lightly scanned
the nu Tae-seo had ordered from and then shrugged.
“Let’s eat.”
“You’re not going to eat and just watch ?”
“If I’m hungry, I’ll eat.”
So, he’s going to order, or he’s going to talk. Tae-seo grabbed the burger with both hands, ignoring the utensils that were laid out from the start.
“Why cling to the stereotype that burgers must be eaten with your hands?”
“I’ll manage.”
Tae-seo had no intention of putting down the burger he had already picked up. So, with even more determination, he opened his mouth wide in front of Se-heon and took a big bite of the burger. Cheese flowed out between the bread as it dripped down his hand. As Tae-seo smiled satisfactorily, his lips glead with sauce.
When he ordered, he didn’t feel much inclined, but now that he was actually eating the burger, his appetite suddenly returned, and it couldn’t be that delicious. Every expression Tae-seo made, from his slight shoulder shake to his furrowed brow, revealed everything to Se-heon. It’s just ground at sandwiched between bread, so why make such a fuss about how tasty it is?
“You really…”
“You’re enjoying it thoroughly, aren’t you? It’s my first al of the day, so it’s delicious.”
“…Sure.”
Every ti they had a eting, Kang Se-heon, who always managed to make others feel intimidated and tongue-tied, seed to have beco their spokesperson instead. Tae-seo couldn’t help but think he was handso and charming, but also shaless.
“Are you not difficult for ?”
“? Why would I be?”
Tae-seo’s eyes widened in disbelief at the absurd question, and he even cocked his head.
“Do you not know who I am?”
“You’re Kang Se-heon. A company employee.”
“But you don’t seem like just an employee.”
“I’m not even your superior, and I don’t see you as soone to treat differently based on rank.”
“You speak well.”
“I can do more. With that big build of yours, you seem like soone who might hurt a lot of people, but you wouldn’t hit .”
There was no reason for
to find Kang Se-heon difficult to deal with. Of course, there was one thing that bothered .
“Kang In-hyuk’s cousin.”
So, it wasn’t good to be sitting face to face with Kang Se-heon when I was considering cutting ties with Kang In-hyuk in the future. It would’ve been best
if we had just parted ways as I initially suggested…
Tae-seo tapped his finger holding the burger. Since he had sat down to eat alone, he thought it would be nice to finish eating and leave. Objectively, the burger was delicious, but eting Kang Se-heon made it even more enjoyable…
“But do you like this hotel?”
As Tae-seo sucked the cheese dripping from his finger, he turned his gaze to Kang Se-heon. Then he pondered over the question he had asked. Since they had t in the hotel so many tis, maybe that was why he asked…
I liked the hotel because my parents run it, so naturally, I liked it. But it’s not like I co here often just because I like it.
“I like it.”
Tae-seo brushed it off with a simple answer. There was no need to explain in detail, and I didn’t want to reveal too much information since Kang Se-heon knew Kang In-hyuk’s cousin.
“You… would be quite entertaining to confess to soone else.”
Tae-seo’s brow furrowed. What confession is he talking about? But Kang Se-heon, looking at Tae-seo’s ssy mouth and finger, continued.
“When you confess, you seem like you wouldn’t feel much tension. Just don’t impulsively confess while eating.”
“Whether soone confesses or not is their own business.”
“Mi-rae doesn’t like it.”
“This old man keeps crossing the line.”
Tae-seo raised his eyes with the burger in hand.
“Whether I confess while eating a burger or while eating kimchi stew, that’s my business. I’ll handle talking with Mi-rae in the future, so please don’t say anything more.”
Tae-seo grumbled and took another big bite of the burger. Despite having cooled down considerably during the conversation with Kang Se-heon, it still tasted delicious. All I did today was sleep, wake up, chat a bit with Mi-rae, and eat a high-calorie burger. And now, I have to deal with this nosy old man…
“So, are you going to confess to Mi-rae?”
Tae-seo’s actions abruptly stopped at the answer that seed to miss the mark.
Reviews
All reviews (0)