Ch.6868. Yearning Heart

Though it’s a bit embarrassing to say this myself, when it comes to competing over who’s better at physical affection, I naturally have the advantage with my greater experience.

In other words, victory in the First Kiss Battle (which I named arbitrarily) was practically mine from the start.

“Hey, Hwa Nabi?”

I called out thinking we should have dinner soon, but instead of answering, she just snorted. With no response from Hwa Nabi, I awkwardly scratched my cheek.

“…Hmph.”

Arms crossed, looking anywhere but at me—anyone could tell she was sulking. But was it really something to sulk about? Honestly, I don’t even understand why she’s upset. All I did was kiss her cheek, forehead, and earlobe.

Right. We were showering each other with kisses on various body parts when our eyes suddenly met, and she quietly closed her eyes, so I was about to kiss her lips when my phone rang and I stopped.

Nothing else happened… so why is she sulking? Surely she’s not upset because I stopped before kissing her.

…Could that really be it?

I licked my dry lips and discreetly turned my head to observe Hwa Nabi. Her lips were still cutely pouting as she kept her arms crossed.

She looks just like a rabbit when she does that. So cute. Would her lips retract if I poked them with my finger?

With that silly thought, I got up from my seat.

Well, she doesn’t seem too upset, so she’ll probably feel better if I leave her alone. For now, I should take care of my hunger.

“I guess I’ll make dinner now.”

At my deliberately audible mutter, Hwa Nabi’s shoulders flinched. Even though we had filled up at the dessert shop, quite some time had passed. She must be getting hungry by now.

Pretending not to notice her head starting to turn, I headed straight to the kitchen.

After rolling up my pajama sleeves and putting on an apron, I opened the refrigerator to assess the ingredients. As I was doing so, I heard movement behind me.

“…Ahem.”

Pretending not to care while clearly curious, she cleared her throat and lingered behind me, peering over my shoulder.

When I turned around with ingredients in hand, she quickly pretended to be uninterested.

“What, curious about what I’m making?”

“No, I’m not interested.”

Despite her words, her eyes were fixed on the eggs and milk in my hands. I walked past her as she fiddled with the rabbit ears attached to her hat.

“Really? I was going to ask if you wanted to eat together, but I guess I’ll just make enough for myself.”

“……”

For dinner, I planned to make chicken breast salad and cheese meringue cake. The former would be shared, while the latter was bait to appease her sulking.

I made several trips between the refrigerator and table to gather all the ingredients. Watching me, the corner of Hwa Nabi’s mouth twitched slightly.

“I think that’s all the preparation I need…”

I was thinking I should whip the meringue while boiling the eggs for the salad when suddenly, I felt something soft and elastic against my left side.

“…What are you doing?”

The pouting Hwa Nabi had wrapped her arms around my waist, or more precisely, my left side.

…What’s gotten into her all of a sudden? I was momentarily flustered but maintained my composure outwardly, freeing my left arm as I asked. But Hwa Nabi said nothing, only tightening her arms around my waist.

“I can’t cook like this.”

“Are you taking out insurance?”

“No, that’s not it…”

As I was about to reply that I was just stating a fact, I noticed Hwa Nabi staring intently at the side of my face. I turned my head mid-sentence. She was looking up at me with eyes full of disappointment.

“…So I’m in your way?”

“…”

When she asks with those eyes, I can’t bring myself to say yes. Swallowing a sigh that threatened to escape, I finally responded.

“…Just stay still.”

Since I’m not using a knife, I suppose it doesn’t matter if she stays attached to me. Upon receiving my reluctant permission, she nodded with a slightly pleased expression. Then she promptly nuzzled her face against my side, near my armpit.

“Hey, I said stay still…”

“I am staying still like this.”

An even closer position than before. I could almost feel her warmth through my pajamas. I tried not to be conscious of her presence at my waist as I began cooking.

I cut the vegetables for the salad into appropriate sizes and put some eggs in a pot to boil. Meanwhile, I separated egg whites from yolks to make meringue with just the whites.

“What are you making with the meringue?”

“Cheese meringue cake.”

“You know how to bake too?”

“Yeah, more or less.”

Thanks to having a hand mixer, it took less than five minutes. I set aside the finished meringue and heated milk in two pots—one for the sauce and the other to cook the meringue directly.

“That’s not how you cook.”

“…”

“Isn’t the heat too high? You should use low heat when boiling milk.”

Her occasional comments were quite annoying. To signal her to be quiet, I wrapped my left arm around her waist.

Immediately, the chattering Hwa Nabi became docile. The rest was just finishing touches, which I could manage with one hand.

“Done.”

After some time, the cooking was complete.

I placed the finished dishes on plates and set them on the table. Hwa Nabi’s portion was meringue cake with cheese sauce, while mine was chicken breast salad.

It might seem a bit light for dinner, but since we’d inevitably snack on other things later, I deliberately kept it light. Calorie control is a serious matter.

Though after eating so much at the dessert shop earlier, I wonder if the diet is already a lost cause… but I’ll refrain from pointing that out.

I offered the food to Hwa Nabi, who was still clinging tightly to my side.

“Here, try it first.”

“…Thank you for the food.”

Hwa Nabi stared at me for a moment before taking a piece from the top of the meringue with her fork. A piece of meringue cake with cheese and chocolate sauce that looked extremely sweet.

Munching with her tiny mouth, her expression changed moment by moment as she tasted the cake.

Slight suspicion.

“Hmm…”

Intrigue.

“Mmm…?”

And then, surprise.

“…Huh?”

As if surprised by her own reaction, she let out a short exclamation, covering her mouth while looking at me. Her face showed that she’d discovered something amazing.

“Siwoo, this is incredibly delicious!”

“Of course, it’s my masterpiece.”

“Wow, why is it so sweet? Wasn’t it just a regular meringue cake? How is it this delicious?”

Seeing her forget her sulking and enjoy the food makes me feel proud. I answered while eating a piece of chicken breast with my fork.

“I told you, I’m good at cooking.”

Actually, meringue cake is so simple it barely counts as cooking. Due to the circumstances today, I couldn’t show my full skills, but next time I get the chance, I should really put in the effort to treat her properly.

“I had no idea you were good at baking too. So you’re not just good at making porridge, but cooking in general. Did you learn somewhere?”

“Where would I have learned to cook?”

Even a dog at a Confucian school can recite poetry after three years—how could I not cook this much after ten years of living alone? When you live by yourself for as long as I have, you become perfect at most dishes.

“Exactly, if you’re this good without formal training… Siwoo, don’t you have a real talent for cooking?”

“Is it that delicious?”

“Yes, extremely. Could you make it again sometime?”

“Sure, I’ll make it again. But before that.”

I smiled at Hwa Nabi, who tilted her head innocently, seemingly clueless.

“B-before that?”

Her cheeks flushed slightly as she repeated my words. She seemed to have some strange expectation. To meet her expectations, I said what I had prepared.

“…Before that. Now that we’ve finished eating, it’s time to study.”

“…Pardon?”

“Since tomorrow is a day off, let’s study lightly until 3 AM. You can do that, right?”

Hwa Nabi’s face froze.

***

Current time: 2 AM.

“…This person really did it.”

I muttered unconsciously while coming out after washing my face. His dinner-time declaration of “Let’s study until 3 AM” wasn’t just talk, apparently.

“Sigh…”

My shoulders ached from studying so late. I was so tired I wanted to collapse into bed immediately, but I couldn’t do that when he was using his own time to help me study.

I lightly patted my cheeks, regained my determination, and returned to the living room.

But.

“…?”

He was dozing off on the sofa. No, not dozing… was he actually sleeping?

“Um, Siwoo…?”

There was no response even when I called him carefully. Had he really fallen asleep? To confirm, I approached and quietly sat down beside him.

And I listened to his sounds, holding my breath for a moment.

-….

…After maintaining silence for a while, all I could hear from him was faint breathing. He had fallen asleep in the brief minute I’d been in the bathroom.

“…You must have been tired.”

Well… even I was extremely tired just attending the lesson, so he must have been doubly exhausted as the teacher. It’s not incomprehensible that he fell asleep like this.

“If you’re going to sleep, you should go to bed.”

I grumbled under my breath while examining his sleeping face.

The bridge of his nose, his lips, his chin, the thick line descending to his Adam’s apple…

“…”

It was such a masculine appearance that my heart fluttered, but the reason I liked him wasn’t simply because of his looks.

After all, what good is being handsome? It’s not like you can eat someone’s face to survive. For me, unlike others, what matters most is a person’s inner self.

And this person.

“…Is it even allowed to be like this?”

…He had an inner self that appealed to me so perfectly it seemed almost unfair.

His lack of awareness has nothing to do with his inner self, and watching him today, it seems he might be even better at cooking than me, which makes me a little jealous, but anyway.

“Really…”

When his eyes are open, his expression tends to be sharp, but with his eyes closed like this, he looks incredibly gentle.

Can a person look so different just by opening or closing their eyes? With that thought, I slowly reached out my hand.

He seemed deeply asleep, so maybe I could touch him just a little. As I lightly touched the bridge of his nose.

-Thud.

His arm, which had been resting on the sofa headrest, fell and wrapped around my waist.

“…!”

Is he awake? I was startled and examined his face. But he still had his eyes closed. His breathing was steady, and his lips were gently closed, looking very peaceful.

Phew… that really scared me. It seems he moved his arm in his sleep because I touched him, but the timing was so coincidental that I thought my heart would stop.

Calming my startled heart, I very carefully moved closer to him and gently pressed against his body. Resting my head on his shoulder, which rose and fell with his breathing, I murmured his name once for no reason.

“Siwoo.”

-….

“Siwoo is really stupid.”

If he were awake, he would have responded with something like “Why am I stupid?” The thought made me chuckle. After stopping my monologue, I raised my gaze to look at his face again.

“…”

Just being this close to him makes me burn with desire, yet the very person who makes me feel this way is sleeping soundly, oblivious to everything.

That it feels so vexing… must be because of my greedy nature. Though I try to hide it in front of him, I’m actually a very greedy person.

I want to share more intimate moments with him. I want to embrace him tenderly and whisper affectionate words into each other’s ears. Then, looking into each other’s eyes, I want us to kiss.

Yes, as much as I yearn for him… I want him to desire me too.

“…So.”

I carefully placed my hand on his waist. And gently pulling him closer, I pressed our bodies together without any gap.

His scent at the tip of my nose.

It’s such a reassuring and comforting scent… making me drowsy.

I didn’t resist the oncoming sleep. Fully taking in his scent, I slowly closed my eyes. And in my heart, I thought.

“…Someday.”

Definitely.

I will receive his love.

With my body.

“…It won’t be long now.”

…Truly.