Seo Jaehoon’s car slid smoothly down the road. With no idea of our destination, I sat beside him, unable to fight off the encroaching drowsiness, and began to nod off.
This bastard, who always had music on, was now driving with his lips firmly shut. Every time my head slumped forward, I would jolt my body and straighten up. And each time, I could hear him laughing beside me, which somehow felt so humiliating.
“Ha Yeoul.”
“...Huh?”
My voice cracked at the end, just from dozing off for a moment.
“Sleep.”
“...Huh?”
“I’ll wake you up.”
Seo Jaehoon took one hand off the steering wheel and gently pushed my forehead. He made me lean back against the seat and pressed the walk-in switch to recline it. As the seat slowly tilted back, I let my body sink into it, not holding back the yawn that escaped me as I shifted around, trying to find a slightly more comfortable position.
I think I blinked my eyes slowly, and then, at some point, my vision went black. I must have fallen asleep right away.
When I woke up again, I couldn't feel the vibration of the car. It seemed we had stopped somewhere... I barely managed to lift my heavy eyelids.
“You’re awake.”
My blurry vision was filled with Seo Jaehoon.
“You were sleeping so soundly.”
“...”
“Because you won’t be able to sleep much later.”
That crazy bastard... As my vision gradually cleared, I took in the sight of Seo Jaehoon before glancing over his shoulder. Where the hell is this...
“Ah, here.”
Seo Jaehoon was quick to notice my curiosity. He let out a soft laugh, and with a hand that brushed over the door trim, the lock released with a *click*.
“Get out and see.”
All around us... were trees.
“We have to go in a bit further, but the view from here is pretty, so I waited to show you.”
“...”
I hesitated before opening the car door and getting out to look at the view as he said. My mouth fell open at the sight of the mountains and trees that would probably be even greener when it got warmer. The view from what looked like an observatory was dizzyingly far down and breathtakingly steep.
“In these mountains, it’s just you and me.”
“...”
The words spoken from behind me somehow sent a shiver down my spine. Crazy...
Feeling the words didn't fit the mood, I turned from the view to meet Seo Jaehoon's eyes. I was needlessly scared, but the face I met was flushed with heat.
“...Here...”
“Yeah.”
“...You’re not going to do something like in the movies, like leave me here alone, are you...?”
The sun was just about to set, and darkness would fall much faster in the mountains. I thought my question was absurd even as I asked it, but since he said it was just me and this bastard, I couldn't help but feel anxious.
I tried to remember where I put my phone, but the sight of Seo Jaehoon’s face, smiling like sunshine right in front of me, made all the thoughts that filled my head turn white and vanish.
“Let’s go.”
Instead of answering, Seo Jaehoon grabbed my wrist with his hot hand and put me back in the car. His steps were, uncharacteristically, a little rushed.
* * *
The place, packed densely with trees, felt like a fortress. I finally understood what Seo Jaehoon had meant when he said the entire mountain was private property, and I nodded my head dumbly as I looked around. Right, now I think I understood what he meant by it being just the two of us.
Opening the magnificent door before us, Seo Jaehoon’s eyes sparkled like someone showing off a new house. My gaze, which had been scanning the surroundings, turned to him as I heard him mutter, "I did tell them I was coming." I had thought it was strange that the interior felt warm...
“Have a look around. I need to see what’s here.”
Seo Jaehoon mumbled towards me and started walking. I looked up at the high ceiling, then walked towards the window as if in a trance. The wall, made entirely of glass, framed the scenery outside like a picture.
A warmer spring, a hot summer, autumn, or winter. It seemed like it would be breathtaking no matter when you came to see it. It was already so magnificent now that words failed to come out.
As I stood leaning against the glass, looking up at the sky where the sun was just beginning to set, I felt a presence behind me and straightened up.
“What are you looking at?”
“...Just, outside.”
“Are you...”
Is he asking if I'm hungry? I looked up at Seo Jaehoon's face, trying to decipher his meaning, and shook my head. Not really. I was more tired than hungry, and the sleepiness hadn't gone away, still making me drowsy.
“You can’t sleep anymore now.”
“...You crazy bastard...”
A curse unwittingly slipped through my parted lips.
“You can’t sleep even if you swear.”
Seo Jaehoon pulled me in by the waist, his lips close to my ear.
“Even if you cry.”
“...”
The feel of his lips on the shell of my ear was strangely sensual. This crazy bastard...
I flinched, at the sound of Seo Jaehoon’s voice, which was completely different from usual. The sensation of his lips pressing onto the nape of my neck was vivid. Each time they touched me softly and pulled away, the breath that spread across my skin seemed to give me goosebumps.
“I’m, I’m...”
“You feel hungry now?”
I stammered out the beginning of a sentence, and at Seo Jaehoon’s question, I nodded. I wanted to eat something, anything, to buy some time. A sense of tension flowed through my entire body.
Seo Jaehoon did not pretend to be unaware of my tension. However, he also left the effort of easing that tension entirely up to me.
He looked down at my face, which I couldn't lift, and gently brushed the hair away from my forehead. The lips that pressed against my exposed forehead felt incredibly familiar. Shit, even things like this have become familiar.
After pressing his lips to my forehead a few more times, Seo Jaehoon hugged me tightly for a moment before slowly letting go. “I’m dying,” he said, his low voice making my body tremble again.
His eyes licked over me, scanning my state, before he grabbed my wrist and started walking. It felt like the sun had just begun to set, but the view outside the window was already completely black as night had fallen swiftly upon the forest.
Seo Jaehoon sat me down at a dining table and took out something that looked very familiar. That damned blender... A deep sigh escaped my lips as I wondered what he was planning to blend and feed me this time.
I sat perched on the island counter and followed Seo Jaehoon’s movements. He opened and closed the refrigerator several times, taking out ingredients one by one and preparing them with practiced ease.
Was he always that good? I thought, but then the memory of Seo Jaehoon with bandages all over his hands the first time he made me a drink came to mind, and I couldn't help but smile.
Seo Jaehoon rinsed green leaves under running water, chopped them up, and crammed them into the blender. So that green stuff is the culprit behind that green color, I thought. He peeled a few apples, cut them into chunks, and poured in a cascade of green grapes.
No, isn't he just mixing things randomly...? The unfamiliar combination made me suspicious.
“It’d be better if there were more ingredients, but this is all we have,” Seo Jaehoon muttered as he added a little water and turned the dial on the blender. I stared blankly at the contents being ground finely with a whirring sound, then looked at Seo Jaehoon.
“...Why...”
“What?”
“All the way out here...”
Why do we have to eat that all the way out here? Seo Jaehoon seemed to have caught my meaning because he burst out laughing. He laughed with a face that looked more amused than I had ever seen.
Judging by the amount in the blender, it wasn't just for one or two glasses. Shit...
“Drink it after we eat.”
“...But the amount is...”
“So you can drink it many times. Whenever you’re thirsty.”
The blender, which had been grinding with a soft noise, stopped. Seo Jaehoon looked at the finely ground green liquid and poured it into a glass bottle that was sitting nearby. The liquid flowed in with a gurgle, quickly filling the bottle to the brim.
Somehow, I felt like I knew what it tasted like just by looking at it.
“Want some?”
“...No.”
I thought I had answered quite quickly, but a glass was already placed in front of me. I don't know why he bothered to ask when he was going to give it to me anyway.
“Try it.”
Seo Jaehoon also lifted a glass, filled about half as much as mine, as if to taste it himself. He wrinkled his brow as he tasted the green juice that passed his red lips, then made a "hmm" sound as if it was quite decent.
I picked up the glass with a somewhat reluctant face. It looked thicker than what I had at home, which seemed even more disgusting. But I couldn't let it show in front of Seo Jaehoon. I brought the glass to my lips and let it trickle into my mouth little by little.
“It’s delicious, right?”
Right. They say a master craftsman doesn't blame his tools. Seo Jaehoon, too, could make anything taste good, no matter the blender. That crazy bastard... he was good at everything.
After confirming that I was drinking the green juice, Seo Jaehoon made a simple meal. Did he always cook like that? I wondered. Wasn't Mo Taehee the one who went to cooking class?
He put bread in the toaster and cooked scrambled eggs and bacon. He chopped a few kinds of fruit, put them in a deep bowl, and added some chopped green stuff. Damn greens... He drizzled dressing over it and moved the plates one by one to the table where I sat.
“Want some champagne?”
I nodded at his question. Yes, I needed to borrow the power of alcohol.
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