Lunch Box
Lunch Box
Over an early lunch,
A-ra, wearing a slightly troubled expression,
brought up a work-related matter.
Apparently, she had to go on a 2-night, 3-day trip to Gangwon-do for a variety show shoot.
Gangwon-do only brought to mind beef and potatoes for me,
so I couldn't begin to imagine what kind of fun program they would be filming there.
Anyway, Gangwon-do from Seoul was quite a distance.
Hadn't she gone to Busan before?
"Gangwon-do is a bit far."
"Yeah. I think I'll have to be away for about two days."
As A-ra picked at her rice with her chopsticks,
I had wondered what she was trying to say,
and it turned out she had to leave the house empty for two days because of work.
"Celebrities really are busy. Well, variety shows
are only fun because you have to rush around busily, I suppose."
"Yeah...."
"But why do you look so down?"
"I'm worried about leaving Seong-hwan all alone..."
"I manage just fine on my own. Don't worry."
I smiled brightly and scooped some rice into my mouth with my spoon.
Rice cooked in a pressure cooker really was delicious.
Electric rice cookers could never match this taste.
"Whenever I go far away, something always happens to you...
How could I not worry?"
"Hmm... I don't think anything that major has happened."
"If a run-in with a rapist isn't a major thing, then what is?"
A-ra set down the chopsticks she had been fidgeting with
onto the table with a clack.
It seemed she was genuinely worried.
"If you're that worried, I just won't go outside at all while you're away filming your program."
"Really? Can you promise that?"
"Why couldn't I? Should I install a CCTV in the room too?"
"Huh? Could you?"
"......"
"Just kidding. I have no intention of oppressing you or anything, even if you are my husband.
Still, since you said you won't go outside, I do feel incredibly relieved, you know?"
A-ra picked up her spoon and smiled.
A-ra, who until just moments ago had been picking at her food,
began moving her spoon and chopsticks at a rapid pace and started eating.
"Then we can stay stuck together all day today, right?"
When I looked at A-ra with a lonely face,
A-ra, who had been wearing an extremely apologetic expression,
stood up and walked over to me.
Then she hugged me tightly
and began rubbing her cheek against mine.
"You can stick to me all you want. As much as you want!"
"Oof... Noona, I c-can't breathe...!"
After rubbing cheeks, A-ra buried me snugly against her chest, and her face
looked immensely satisfied.
"Pwah..."
Having barely survived, I sucked in all the breath I hadn't been able to take
in one go.
Probably because I thought I was going to suffocate to death, a cold sweat had started trickling down too.
"Noona... I thought I was gonna die just now..."
"S...Sorry, are you okay? You're sweating so much."
A-ra pulled a few tissues from the table and brought them over,
starting to wipe away the sweat dripping down.
"Seong-hwan, I'll wipe your sweat, so take off your top."
"No doing anything weird, okay?"
"What do you take me for! If you hate it, should I drag you into the bathroom instead?"
What do I take her for, indeed.
She just ate, so I can see plain as day she's planning on having me for dessert.
I had no choice.
Since she was wiping me down with quite a serious attitude,
I took off my top.
If A-ra dragged me into the bathroom, I would have to spend the rest of the day with a limp, worn-out body.
Though A-ra's gaze was a little heated,
she really did only wipe off the sweat,
so I looked at her with a bit of a wry smile.
I had thought she'd at least touch my chest.
"Anyway, seems like you've put on a little muscle?"
No sooner had the thought ended than she started touching my chest and forearms here and there.
Seeing my body, which had changed over half a year, A-ra seemed slightly surprised.
Because it was vacation and I was stuck at home with nothing to do,
I had gone to the gym and jogged a little on the treadmill
or consistently lifted things like dumbbells,
so even this anchovy-like body of mine had begun to show small changes.
Now I had built up enough stamina
that I wouldn't collapse even when carrying heavy grocery bags!
"You keep using your strength at night... your body is gradually becoming more womanly..."
"No, the muscle didn't come from nighttime activities; I built it at the gym?"
Certainly, that activity consumed a lot of stamina and was strenuous,
but to hear my muscles, which I had undeniably built up through hard work at the gym,
attributed to that—I was so dumbfounded that I blurted out the truth.
In an instant, I clamped my mouth shut,
but they say you can't put spilled water back in the glass...
"...Seong-hwan? You went to the gym without my permission...?"
A-ra's eyes, which had been smiling gently, turned sharp.
Should I say it was a look mixed with a little worry and anger?
"Th-that... is... um...? Being home alone was too lonely, and there was no one at the gym, so..."
I ardently argued that it was inside the apartment complex, so how dangerous could it be.
No, I had tried to argue.
I had done so several times before, but A-ra wouldn't listen.
"I told you, didn't I? You never know when women might catch your scent and come looking, so you shouldn't go carelessly even to empty places.
Do I need to show you how scary a woman can be when her eyes roll back, enslaved by lust in broad daylight?"
"N-Noona? Th-that was about the game room, wasn't it?... I didn't go to the game room..."
"I also said this along with it, didn't I? That it's really dangerous for a weak boy like you, who lacks stamina and faints from time to time, to go to the gym."
"You certainly did... but..."
A-ra, with a completely serious expression, snatched my wrist.
No matter how much I tried to muster strength to somehow escape,
my stamina, which was less than the dirt under A-ra's fingernail—A-ra who easily handled an idol's schedule—
could not break free from her.
"I'll make you feel it in your bones just how terrifying women can be."
A-ra, who had turned frightening, headed toward the front door
and brought back a few long, slender objects.
They were things commonly called cable ties,
convenient items used to bundle multiple strands of wires together.
A-ra wound them tightly around my thumbs and pulled them all the way through,
rendering both my hands immobile.
And then she bound my toes tightly too,
and my body became completely unable to move.
"N-noona? Instead of this... can't we go on a date?"
"No,"
She lifted me up with both hands in a 'princess carry'
and began heading for the master bedroom.
***
"Noona, are you asleep?"
"..............."
"Noona?"
"..............."
"She's asleep... Her face is so smooth and glossy, you know."
I didn't want to feed my wife, who was going far away for work,
something like commercially sold gimbap,
so I decided to prepare a dosirak.
A-ra, who had wrung me completely dry and was sleeping contentedly,
probably had no idea in her dreams, right?
I headed to the dress room, changed clothes, and came out.
Since there was nothing worth making as side dishes, I was going to stop by the mart
to do some grocery shopping as well.
"First... meatballs and... Vienna sausages and..."
Because A-ra liked moist things,
she preferred ground meat or meat that had undergone intense heat treatment to grilled raw meat.
It was really fortunate that it went well with a dosirak.
"Hmm... And also..."
Thinking deeply about what to make that would make A-ra happy,
I boarded the elevator.
The elevator, which had been descending for a while, stopped midway.
The 8th floor was used as officetels,
so it was probably an office worker going home.
"Hello."
"Hello."
"Hello... Oh my."
As I greeted the woman and man entering,
they returned the greeting.
Seeing how they had their arms linked, they must have been a couple.
Looking at them linking arms like that
made me miss A-ra too.
While I was thinking that, the woman turned around and checked my face.
The man beside her whispered quietly into her ear, 'That's rude.',
but she paid no heed and started pulling something out of her bag.
I wondered what she was taking out, but it was a notepad and a ballpoint pen,
so I immediately recognized that she wanted an autograph.
"Um... You're Mr. Seong-hwan, right? Could I please have just one autograph...?"
"Yes, yes, of course."
I took the notepad and pen, scribbled my name with a bit of flair,
and wrote down the date too.
The woman who received the autograph was so happy she kept bowing her head deeply,
then linked arms with the man again.
"Is he famous?"
The man tapped the woman's shoulder and began asking questions.
Apparently, the man didn't know who I was.
I couldn't be happier!
"You don't know Seong-hwan? He's A-ra's husband. He's been doing Qtube recently too."
"Ah... I don't really use the internet, so I wouldn't know. He must be quite famous."
The man turned back, scratched his head, and apologized.
Not recognizing someone was hardly a fault worth apologizing for...
"No, no. Famous? It's just a casual hobby I enjoy for a bit."
"Judging from my wife knowing you, it doesn't seem like it..."
"Anyway, you must live here, right? If you lived here, I feel like I would have run into you at least once."
Hmm... Should I answer?
I was worried something like the incident at the previous house might happen again.
The people living in the apartment had loyalty and housing price concerns,
so they were keeping quiet and not spreading the fact that A-ra and I lived here.
But I wasn't sure whether the employees of the companies occupying the officetels
would extend that same consideration to us or not.
So I answered appropriately that I was on my way back from visiting a friend's place.
"Oh, I see. Well then, goodbye. I enjoy watching your Qtube videos every time!"
"Yes, yes... goodbye."
From now on, I should only take the residents' elevator down.
All because I took the public elevator for no reason...