Chapter 26
This was a reaction she hadn’t anticipated. Quite startled, Heena flinched and clutched the collar of her T-shirt.
“When did I ever show you my chest….”
“The way you flap your T-shirt. You do it like a habit. You haven’t been doing that elsewhere, have you?”
His persistence ignited. Yohan took another bold step closer. The bridge of his nose almost brushed against hers, and Heena pulled her head back.
“Of course not. It’s because I’m comfortable with you, so I do it unconsciously without even realizing…!”
“Ah, is that so?”
Only then did Yohan’s stiff expression soften.
“I was worried.”
She didn’t know what he had been thinking, but he let out a hollow laugh as if finding himself absurd. They were so close that his breath touched her forehead.
Lowering her head slightly, Heena rubbed her forehead with her palm, avoiding Yohan’s gaze.
“Are we done talking? I’m going up now.”
After climbing the stairs and entering her room, Heena leaned her back against the door, her legs giving way as she slid down to the floor.
She knew she shouldn’t feel this way, but every time Seo Yohan got close, her heart pounded unusually. It even made her flutter. As if living together wasn’t enough, Seo Yohan had even started appearing in her dreams.
Heena buried her face in her hands.
“Ah, seriously, not a second time….”
She was trying with all her might to push Seo Yohan into the category of someone she shouldn’t see as a man, but it wasn’t working as she intended.
✦⋆🍒.₊ ⊹
The day finally dawned for the Hankuk University students to arrive for their rural experience program. Filled with anticipation, Heena had spent the night with her eyes wide open. She would never admit it was because she had napped too much during the day.
Kicking off her blanket at 6 AM, Heena left her room and headed to the kitchen, intending to show off her cooking skills for the first time in a while. She had felt apologetic for constantly being fed by the homeowner.
First, she put rice in the rice cooker. A thorough search of the refrigerator revealed spinach, carrots, beef, and mushrooms; a perfect combination for making japchae. She took out the ingredients and began soaking the glass noodles in water.
As she was seasoning the beef in a stainless steel bowl, the front door lock beeped and swung open.
Startled, Heena went to the entrance, still wearing her sanitary gloves. Dressed in a plain white short-sleeved shirt and training pants, Seo Yohan walked in, dripping with sweat.
“When did you go out? I thought you were sleeping.”
“Am I you? About an hour ago.”
“Did you go for a run?”
“Yeah.”
Without hesitation, he grabbed the collar of his T-shirt and pulled it off in one motion. His torso, solidly packed with muscles of all sizes, was revealed before her eyes. Heena couldn’t say a word, just blankly admiring his body.
“First my face, and now my body? This side costs more than the face.”
It was a beautiful body that made one willing to pay. While his face could be seen without him undressing, his body was subject to the restriction that it could only be seen when he chose to take his shirt off.
“Uh… how much is it? Tell me the rate for the unlimited plan.”
At the word “unlimited,” Seo Yohan scoffed.
“There’s no such thing. Trying to see someone else’s body for free. Wipe your drool.”
When they were dating, she could have seen and touched that body to her heart’s content…. The saying “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone” seemed to have been created just for her current situation.
Smacking her lips in disappointment, Heena went back into the kitchen and finished seasoning the beef. She sliced and stir-fried the onion, mushrooms, and carrots, and blanched the spinach.
Around that time, Seo Yohan, fresh from a shower and smelling of body wash, entered the kitchen. Without a word, he filled a pot with water and began boiling the glass noodles. It seemed he had instantly recognized she was making japchae just by looking at the ingredients she had prepared.
“I was looking forward to you cooking for the first time in a while, but it turns out you’re making your favorite.”
That was all he said, tossing the words out casually.
“You like japchae, too.”
“I just pretended to. You’re the one who likes japchae.”
“……”
Heena, who was taking soy sauce out from the cabinet, turned to look at him with wide, round eyes.
Is that how it was?
“I can make this with my eyes closed now. You used to love it when I made it with seaweed soup, saying it felt like a birthday meal. There should be some seaweed around here somewhere.”
He remembered.
To be honest, she had thought that Seo Yohan had forgotten all their good memories. To add a bit of exaggeration, they had broken up after a blood-boiling fight, so she assumed he was only filled with resentment.
But seeing that Seo Yohan remembered what she liked and even why she liked it, she was struck by a fresh wave of emotion.
“Soak some seaweed.”
A rustling bag of seaweed was tossed into her arms. Cradling the seaweed, Heena watched Yohan’s side profile as he cooked for a long while. Then, Yohan, feeling her gaze, turned to look at Heena and said:
“What’s with that sentimental look?”
“Yohan….”
“Not gonna work. You soak the seaweed.”
However, the command that shattered her morning sentimentality made Heena’s upper lip twitch.
Right, what’s with the morning sentimentality, it doesn’t even suit me. I’ll just go soak the seaweed.
✦⋆🍒.₊ ⊹
“Seo Yohan, Seo Yohan, Seo Yohan!”
Excited, Heena rhythmically knocked on Yohan’s door, calling his name. However, there was no answer from inside.
Wondering if he had gone out, she opened the door slightly and saw Seo Yohan, wearing glasses, sitting back on the sofa in his room, looking at a tablet.
“Why are you so excited again?”
Confirming that Yohan wasn’t asleep, Heena’s heart fluttered with excitement.
“The farming experience students just arrived at Jinhong Elementary. Want to go check it out with me?”
At her words, Yohan furrowed his brow in displeasure.
“What for?”
“Just to look. I’m bored just being at home.”
“I’m not bored at all. You keep thinking I’m just playing around, don’t you?”
Having only ever seen the Seo Yohan who always made time for her, the fact that he was working still hadn’t fully sunk in. She forgot from time to time.
“Then I’ll go by myself?”
“Do as you please.”
Heena was used to wandering around on her own. Whenever she felt cooped up in her studio or at home, she would go out for a walk, stroll around the neighborhood, or visit a newly opened hot spot. It was the biggest advantage of being a freelancer. Now that she wasn’t even working, she was an even freer unemployed person.
Pretending to be taking a walk around the village, she left the house wearing a thin long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans. Jinhong Elementary School was near the village bus stop, about a 20-minute walk away.
Thrilled by the fact that new people were visiting Jinhong-ri, Heena hummed a tune. She didn’t forget to offer a light greeting and ask after the well-being of the elders she occasionally met.
As she neared Jinhong Elementary School, lively and energetic voices bustled from the schoolyard, which had been desolate without any children.
A few elders, also pleased by the news of the young students’ visit, were loitering near the school gate.
“Hello. You’re already out here? Have they all arrived?”
“Aye, granddaughter, you’re here. The bus just got here, and they’re moving their luggage now.”
“Why’d they bring so much stuff? We have everything we need here.”
“Oh my, oh my. Look at all those boxes of alcohol. They came here to drink and have fun, not to do the work they’re supposed to, eh?”
Heena also crossed her arms and peeked in among the elders, chiming in.
“It is the age to have fun.”
“If someone else said that, I wouldn’t know, but granddaughter, you’re at the age to have fun, too.”
“Ah, me? That’s why I’m having all the fun I can. The problem is I’m too bored.”
“To us, you and those students look the same.”
“Hey, that’s not true. They’re about ten years younger than me, you know?”
“You’re 30 years younger than us.”
“Then they’re 40 years younger. They say even mountains and rivers change in 10 years, you know? I probably can’t even communicate with them.”
An ahjumma she had eaten pork belly with at the village hall poked Heena in the side.
“Why don’t you go over there and say hello, granddaughter?”
“Me?”
“Aye, that’s right! Go and get your face known. I heard you and that young man next door are supposed to be leading them.”
Heena rolled her eyes, trying to respond to the elders’ enthusiasm.
“Should I?”
If we’re going to get to know each other anyway, isn’t it better to do it a day sooner?
“Go on now. Fighting!”
“Yes, yes. Fighting!”
She raised her clenched fists, drawing energy from the elders.
Heena mulled over what to say for her first greeting as she slowly approached the students who were moving their luggage.
“Um, hello.”
A tall, handsome male student who was bending over to move a case of bottled water looked back at Heena.
“I live in this village, I was wondering who the student representative is….”
“That would be me.”
The male student quickly took off his hat, tousled his hair, and came closer to Heena.
