Time Together
After returning home, Hyun-soo had spent more time in Na-yeon’s house on the first floor than in his studio on the third floor for a full week.
And it was Sunday evening that day.
On the table downstairs, neatly arranged were sundubu jjigae, fried eggs, anchovy stir-fry, bean sprouts, and jangjorim. Na-yeon placed the freshly scooped rice from the rice cooker in front of Hyun-soo.
“Na-yeon-ssi’s homemade food is really delicious.”
Hyun-soo said with a smile, looking at the table set in front of him.
It had already been over a week since he started eating the homemade meals prepared by Na-yeon.
“I knew you’d say it’s delicious. You always say the same thing.”
She smiled with a smile.
Rather, as if waiting for praise, she placed one more egg roll on top of Hyun-soo’s rice and sat down.
“How many times have I gone up to the third floor in a week? Really.”
“Yeah.”
Na-yeon said while scooping a spoonful of sundubu jjigae.
“Once to run the washing machine, once to pick up the phone charger. That’s all?”
“Something like that.”
Hyun-soo nodded his head while eating the side dishes.
The toothbrush plugged in the bathroom and the scene of Hyun-soo’s folded t-shirt in one corner of the living room were now familiar.
“But be honest.”
“What?”
“The homemade food is delicious, so you come down. Or…”
Na-yeon trailed off the end of her sentence and ate the namul side dish with chopsticks. Her eyes, watching Hyun-soo’s reaction while chewing, were full of mischief.
Her expression had changed noticeably over the past week. The cautious landlady’s face from when they first met had disappeared.
The face of someone who waited and cared for someone had settled in. Today she had light pink tint on her lips.
“The rice is delicious, but I can’t say it’s just because of that.”
“Huh…”
Although saying it was cute, Na-yeon’s mouth corners were smiling.
“And I bought beer. Eat your rice and drink.”
She said it casually, but the fact that she knew Hyun-soo liked beer and prepared it separately revealed her heart intact. Na-yeon ate a spoonful of rice while looking at Hyun-soo.
“Eat a lot. You need to gain some weight. You…”
“I was starving?”
“I was starving a lot.”
A soft smile came after the nagging words.
After the delicious dinner, Hyun-soo picked up a can of beer from the fridge and moved to the sofa, sitting down and opening the can.
“You really know how to read the situation.”
Then he drank it coolly.
Na-yeon was wiping her hands with a dishcloth while listening to Hyun-soo’s words.
“If saying ‘you know how to read the situation’ means buying a few cans of beer, it’s cheap…”
She said while wiping her hands with a dishcloth, but couldn’t hide the slight upturn of her mouth corners.
Na-yeon took out one can of beer from the fridge and walked to the sofa, sitting next to Hyun-soo.
Click.
The sound of opening the can echoed, and after taking a sip, she folded her legs and put them on the sofa.
“This place feels just like my home. Not the third floor, but like living together.”
When the word “living together” came out, Na-yeon’s hand stopped on the beer can. Her gaze swept the living room. Hyun-soo’s Air Max next to the shoe rack, the men’s towel hanging on the bathroom door hook, the folded Hyun-soo’s t-shirt on one side. In just a week, Hyun-soo’s traces had seeped into this place. Na-yeon took another sip of beer and licked her lips and opened her mouth.
“Living together… that word is a bit scary…”
“Scary word?”
“My husband hasn’t been registered in this house’s family register yet.”
“That’s right…”
It wasn’t wrong.
She was a married woman and had a proper husband.
She hugged the beer can and stared blankly at the TV.
“He hasn’t come for over a month. Now he probably doesn’t even think about coming into the house.”
She said it calmly, but the action of scraping the water droplets on the can’s surface with her fingertips showed her anxiety. Then Na-yeon turned her head and looked into Hyun-soo’s eyes. The light pink tint was spreading on the beer can, and under her eyes, it was softly draped by the fluorescent light.
“This week is over a month?”
“Yeah… That’s why I was worried. If I get a call from my husband, I have to quickly clean it up.”
But no call came this week.
“But that’s strange. Not getting a call from that person now doesn’t make me sad.”
Na-yeon gave a bitter smile and leaned her head on Hyun-soo’s shoulder.
“Because you’re here, it doesn’t feel like an empty house… I like that.”
Her face leaning on the head still had a bitter smile.
“So it’s scarier. I can’t get used to this.”
Na-yeon’s fingers slowly tapped on Hyun-soo’s knee, but contrary to the words, her body was already getting used to daily life.
“It has to get used to it… I’ll be next to you all the time.”
The weight of the hand wrapping her shoulder made Na-yeon’s body stiffen then relax. Hearing that he’d stay next to her, Na-yeon picked up the beer can and couldn’t say anything for a long time. The TV was still making noise, but it didn’t reach her ears. She slightly lifted her head from leaning on Hyun-soo’s shoulder and looked up at his jawline.
“Is that true?”
Her voice was serious.
It wasn’t a joke.
“I’m a married woman. A woman sleeping with her tenant because her husband cheated.”
Na-yeon laughed self-deprecatingly and took a sip of beer.
“If you keep saying you’ll stay next to me, I’ll really believe it.”
She placed the beer can on the table and put her palm on Hyun-soo’s chest.
“A week ago, I was a tenant who hadn’t paid rent. Someone who came down to eat rice.”
“Yeah.”
Hyun-soo said calmly.
“But now, I’m taking care of your rice, buying your beer, and doing your laundry together. What is this, really…”
Hyun-soo would normally go up to the third floor to do laundry if there was laundry. But recently, he wasn’t doing that. For several days, Na-yeon had been doing Hyun-soo’s laundry herself.
The end of the sentence trailed off.
Her eye rims were slightly red.
It wasn’t crying.
Emotions were rising.
Na-yeon sniffled once and buried her face in Hyun-soo’s arms. The scent of fabric softener from the t-shirt. The scent of the laundry she had washed herself.
“It’s funny to say this while not getting a divorce.”
Hyun-soo gently hugged Na-yeon’s shoulders.
“I like having you here too. When I wake up in the morning, you’re there, and there’s someone to eat dinner with. I don’t know how much I hated eating alone in this big house for two years.”
Na-yeon’s hand wrapped around Hyun-soo’s waist.
“So, keep saying you’ll stay next to me. Don’t say it lightly. If you say it once, take responsibility.”
Na-yeon lifted her face buried in Hyun-soo’s chest with wet eyes and smiled. In that smile, anxiety and expectation were mixed half and half.
“I’ll take responsibility.”
Hyun-soo placed the beer can on the table.
The sound of the beer can being placed on the table, and right after that, their lips met. Na-yeon’s eyes opened wide then slowly closed. Hyun-soo’s tongue pushed into her mouth, and Na-yeon accepted it without resistance, naturally extending her tongue to mix.
“Mmm…”
“Chop… mmm…”
The sound of saliva intertwining spread wetly in the quiet living room. A tear rolled down her cheek from her wet eye rims, but not because of sadness. The two words “I’ll take responsibility” hit exactly in the center of her chest, and it was the feeling of somewhere that had been closed for two years opening silently.
When the arm wrapping her shoulder pulled the entire back, Na-yeon’s hand wrapped Hyun-soo’s nape. Na-yeon sucked Hyun-soo’s tongue and let go, taking a breath.
“Idiot…”
The voice flowed from the gap where the lips barely parted.
“What responsibility does a bachelor have…”
It was Na-yeon who pouted and then brought her lips again. On Hyun-soo’s lips, beer and tint spread and the taste overlapped.
“Chop…”
“Haaap… mmm…”
While kissing, Na-yeon grabbed the hem of the shirt with her fingers.
It was the clothes she had washed and dried herself.
The clothes she chose at the shopping mall.
The fact that her handprints were now on the entire daily life of this man was both exhilarating and scary.
“Really… taking responsibility?”
“Yeah…”
Hyun-soo said with a smile.
Na-yeon naturally cupped Hyun-soo’s cheek.
“Then don’t run away.”
Her voice trembled.
“Don’t disappear in the morning. Don’t make me set the table and sit alone.”
“Would you like that?”
“Yeah…”
Na-yeon nodded her head.
In that word, all the two years of loneliness she suffered from her husband was melted. Na-yeon kissed Hyun-soo’s lips once more.
Then she leaned her face on his chest.
“Don’t go up. Sleep here…”
It was a small voice, but it was the words she wanted from Hyun-soo the most.
And.
Soon, only empty beer cans were on the sofa.
The sofa where the two were sitting was empty.
The TV still had voices, but other sounds were also heard.
From inside the closed bedroom.
A seductive sound was heard, and Na-yeon’s top was lifted up while lying on the bed.
“Uuuung…”
With natural continuing foreplay and touches, the bra was pulled down, revealing the breasts that were bouncily jiggling.
She took the breasts into her mouth and sucked them.
“My breasts are too delicious…”
She rolled her tongue and sucked again.