It seemed like Mo Taehee had read our entire conversation in that short moment. My heart dropped to my toes several times at Mo Taehee's words, which sounded like nothing.
"Just think a little less about other things. Think about what to do in the future, things like that. Who would be the best, things like that."
"...Huh...?"
"They say you should choose the lesser of two evils. But in this case... I wonder if they're all the worst."
No, this crazy bastard... So, explain a little about what I'm choosing. I was still just listening to Mo Taehee's words with a dumbfounded look on my face.
"Me... I mean... who am I choosing between, and why should I think about who's the best?"
"Who do you think it is?"
I slapped away Mo Taehee's hand that was caressing my cheek.
"Why do you think so?"
Mo Taehee's added words flowed out from between his lips, close to my ear. My body flinched involuntarily when his warm, moist breath spread around my ear.
"It's homework. Figure it out by the time we go on our trip next weekend. By yourself."
I racked my brain to solve Mo Taehee's absurd homework. Who could it be? Who would be the best? I need to know who it is to even choose.
Since I didn't know the subject, the question went around and around like a Möbius strip, eventually returning to its original place.
I stole glances at my housemates who occasionally wandered through the open doorway, and my body flinched when their gazes turned to me. These crazy bastards pretended not to notice as they passed by, checking to see what I was doing.
I mostly lay in bed. I was lying down so much that my back was about to break, but I just lay there, feeling an uneasy premonition that someone would come in and talk to me if I sat up. I kept rolling around with my head on the pillow, only getting up when Mo Taehee, Seo Jaehoon, and Nam Kangwoo took turns telling me to come out and eat.
My housemates took care of three meals quite diligently. Far from not knowing what to do with such extreme hospitality, I wondered why these bastards were feeding me so much.
I was constantly being called to eat before my stomach even had a chance to empty, so I ended up getting indigestion twice in a few days, having my fingers pricked, throwing up, and making a fuss about going to the hospital or not. Ah, of course, that was those bastards, not me.
It was tough because of those guys who had no sense of moderation.
It was none other than Seo Jaehoon who shook me awake after I had stayed up all night trying to find the answer to the homework and finally fallen asleep around dawn. This bastard must have a ghost attached to him who died because he couldn't feed himself, because he came into my room and woke me up before 9 a.m.
He gently stroked my face, which couldn't even open its eyes, removed the sleep from my eyes, and gently brushed my hair, sweetly telling me to eat breakfast. I had only been asleep for about four hours, so there was no way I could be hungry. This clueless idiot dragged me out without even considering my condition and sat me down at the table.
Seo Jaehoon, who had personally ground green vegetables for me, who couldn't come to my senses in the morning due to low blood pressure, smiled with pride plastered on his face. He looked back and forth between the green liquid he had placed in front of me and my face, urging me on with eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"Eat it, quickly. Drink it. Don't eat rice, just drink this for breakfast. Try it."
"...What... what is this...? Am I going to... die if I eat it...?"
I was uneasy. I pulled my body back, unable to open my eyes properly as I watched Seo Jaehoon urge me to drink the unidentified thick liquid. Even though my eyelids were heavy and I couldn't open my eyes properly, the green color was too vivid. The smell... it felt like I shouldn't eat it.
"It's good for you, so try it. I put in a ton of apples because they said it can't taste bad if you put in apples."
"This..."
"See that over there? The glass bottle. You're going to drink one bottle a day from now on."
I checked the long, thick glass bottle that was sitting alone on the island table, past the devastated sink. And the unidentified green liquid that filled it.
I let out a faint sigh without realizing it. This crazy bastard... you eat it, you...
"I've been thinking, breakfast is too much for you. Just drink something like this. It has everything that's good for you in it."
Everything is good when you look at it separately, but would it really be good when mixed together? Seo Jaehoon, who didn't seem to have any intention of finding out the compatibility between the vegetables, seemed to have just put in all the green things that were good and ground them up.
"...Jaehoon... did I... did I do something wrong...? Maybe?"
I cautiously asked Seo Jaehoon. Was this some kind of punishment? I was somehow bothered by that individual play, fair play game that only I didn't understand. I guess this is the punishment after all.
I carefully watched Seo Jaehoon's reaction. This bastard snorted as if he was dumbfounded by my cautious question.
Why is he like that, really...
I nervously ran my cold fingertips along the lip of the tall glass.
"You didn't do anything wrong. What the hell, why is the conversation going in that direction? You're really... I felt sorry for you throwing up after forcing yourself to eat, so I juiced it for you."
Seo Jaehoon made sure to pronounce the word "juiced" accurately when he said it. Jui.ced. It really hit my ears.
"Huh?"
"This is so good, what the hell. It clears your blood, doesn't destroy nutrients, and it's sweet because I put in a ton of apples."
Seo Jaehoon muttered in a voice mixed with resentment and lamentation. Then, with a look that said this wasn't right, he picked up the glass in front of me and emptied the contents.
"It tastes great, what the hell. How many apples do you think I peeled to feed you this..."
Seo Jaehoon left green juice stains on his white face and continued to complain. Why is this crazy bastard so annoyed? I would have eaten it little by little if he had left it alone, why is he acting like this after drinking it all himself?
I carefully watched Seo Jaehoon's face and slowly lowered my gaze. How many apples did he peel to be like that...
My gaze, which had gone down at the words that came out as if he was showing off, reached the hand holding the glass. Band-aids were wrapped around his white fingers. There were also red traces of blood on the crookedly wrapped band-aids, as if the bleeding hadn't stopped long ago.
"Your hand... your fingers are a mess."
I looked at Seo Jaehoon, who was foul-mouthed but kind, and burst out laughing in disbelief. It was cute that he had made his hands a mess from peeling apples since morning to make that green juice.
When I looked at Seo Jaehoon after only seeing scary guys, I thought that at least this bastard was cute. Mo Taehee and Nam Kangwoo were always scary, but Seo Jaehoon was only scary sometimes, so I guess that's why I felt that way even more.
"...Potato peeler..."
"What?"
"You can peel it with a potato peeler... then you won't hurt your hand."
Seo Jaehoon made a blank expression at my words.
"What the hell is a potato peeler..."
Seo Jaehoon muttered in a voice mixed with lamentation. I smiled weakly at the voice that muttered "potato peeler" softly and stroked the fingers with the band-aids on them. Seo Jaehoon flinched at my sudden action, then folded his eyes and smiled, spreading his hand out in front of me.
His face is his weapon, this bastard. My heart was pounding. Even if an enemy came to take revenge for a thousand years, they wouldn't even dream of revenge if they saw that smiling face.
"I thought I was going to die from the pain. I didn't know the knife was so sharp? Huh? If you don't eat the green juice after I made my fingers a mess like this, wouldn't I be pissed?"
Seo Jaehoon grabbed my hand and rubbed his hand with band-aids all over it. As if telling me to touch it more. My heart was pounding so much because he was smiling with his handsome face on purpose. Crazy bastard... why is he smiling like that?
I lowered my head sharply, wondering if my flushed face would be obvious, and poked the band-aid hard. The more I did that, the more Seo Jaehoon exaggerated and laughed, saying ouch, ouch.
"Hey, Ha Yeoul."
"Yeah?"
"Aren't you going to blow on it, or something?"
Seo Jaehoon grabbed my hand and blew hot air on it, showing me what he wanted me to do. This crazy guy, really.
"Wh-what are you doing? Cough, cough- cough!"
I swallowed hard at Seo Jaehoon's cheesy behavior and coughed, shaking my whole body. Crazy, crazy bastard- what do you mean blow on it. Goosebumps popped up all over my body. I stood up, hiding my flushed face.
"I, I, can I go in, ha... can I go in?"
I was out of breath after coughing. As I slowly took my hand away from my mouth, Seo Jaehoon also stood up.
"Ha Yeoul."
"Uh-huh?"
I tried to calm my voice, which was breaking in several directions, and looked up at Seo Jaehoon.
"We're leaving tomorrow."
"Huh? Ah... yeah..."
"Who are you going to share a room with?"
Huh? What does this mean? Mo Taehee definitely said he was booking rooms according to the number of people. I was puzzled. What is it, why do I have to share a room with someone... maybe Seo Jaehoon doesn't have a room...
"What... what do you mean? Tae-hee said... he'd get rooms for everyone... Jae-hoon, you, is your room... is your room taken...?"
"...What?"
"Are you asking because you don't have a room?"
Seo Jaehoon frowned slightly at my somewhat stupid question, then smiled with a faint smile on his face.
"Yeah, I don't have a room. I guess Mo Taehee couldn't book a room."
"Ah... then... then... what should we do... th-then... my room... together... will you share it with me...?"
I asked hesitantly with a face that didn't really want to. It was just an empty offer, an empty offer. Just a word I was throwing out. A word I was throwing out expecting a rejection. So... reject me with tact.
"Yeah. Okay."
"Yeah. Okay. Huh? What?"
I muttered a response to Seo Jaehoon's answer, expecting "No, it's okay." Something felt wrong.
"Ha Yeoul said we should share, so we have to. Even if it's uncomfortable."
"Uh...? No... it's not... if you're uncomfortable."
"Hey, if you're going in, take the green juice with you. I'll kill you if you throw it away, really."
Seo Jaehoon quickly filled the glass he had emptied with green liquid again and handed it to me with a happy face. I felt bad looking at that. I felt like I had been tricked for some reason, but there was no way to undo it now.
I took the green juice with a sullen expression and looked at Seo Jaehoon before moving my feet. My heart was pounding in a different way. I think I shouldn't have said I would go. I tried to use my head to connect with Park Min-ah, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was on a doomed route.
Me and those scary bastards, even though Park Min-ah is there, a trip...
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