LIGHTNOVELWORLD #009
#009
Auntie had hurriedly prepared food for two people, yet she had set up a generous spread on the dining table. While telling Sun Woo to look around the house, I tried to heat up the soup, but then I noticed—an induction stove? This was my first time using one…
I went into the living room, thinking I’d search for instructions on my phone. Sun Woo, despite being told to look around, was sitting quietly on the sofa. When I approached, he stood up.
“Stay seated a bit longer. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”
“Let me help.”
“It’s okay. I just need to heat up the soup.”
After asking Sun Woo to stay seated, I took out my phone and searched for “induction stove instructions.” With my head down, studying the operating manual, I headed back to the kitchen. Standing in front of the induction stove, I cursed the unfriendly appliance.
“If it’s a power button, it should be labeled ‘power.’ What kind of power button is this?”
I was stumped by the induction stove, which only had symbols. While fidgeting with my phone, trying to find different instructions, I moved aimlessly, my back bumping into something. The sensation wasn’t hard, but soft, which was strange. Thinking, No way? I turned around and found Sun Woo standing very close to me. I had been so focused on my phone that I hadn’t noticed him approaching. Looking up, I saw his head was slightly above mine. He was taller than I thought.
“Should I turn this on?”
“Ah, yes. Auntie said to heat up the soup.”
“I’ll do it.”
Sun Woo simply turned on the power and adjusted the temperature. As I watched in amazement, he showed the tiniest hint of a smile. Well, how slight? Like an ant’s drop? It was so subtle that it would be embarrassing to even call it a smile.
“You’ve never used one before, have you?”
“Huh? No.”
Having only used gas stoves before, I answered honestly, but Sun Woo seemed to assume that Ha Jin, coming from a wealthy family, had never done any kitchen work at all. I was just someone who had never used an induction stove before.
Not good at studying, can’t even operate something like this. I wonder how much of an idiot Sun Woo thinks I am…
Soon, the soup was bubbling, and Sun Woo and I sat across from each other to eat. I praised Auntie’s cooking skills and mentioned how she had packed lunch for me, telling him how much I laughed when she made character-shaped food.
It was like a 99:1 ratio—me doing 99% of the talking, while Sun Woo contributed 1% with responses.
His replies were mostly just “yeah” and “mm-hmm,” but I was touched that he was actually listening.
“It’s funny how I’m touched by just this.”
After finishing the meal, Sun Woo helped clean up. When I hesitated at the sight of the dishwasher, which I’d never used before, he smoothly operated it without a problem.
How cool. Our protagonist.
After cleaning up, we went to the study room to prepare for exams. I had Sun Woo sit in the nice chair while I brought over a backless stool and sat beside him. It felt strange studying so close to him for the first time.
In the webtoon, Sun Woo never let Ha Jin get close to him, so Ha Jin probably never got to smell that soap scent coming from Sun Woo, right? Being close to someone who was good at everything, handsome, and smelled nice made me feel… good.
Plus, thanks to the protagonist, my nearly-failed midterms might be salvageable. He’s just so lovely.
“Sun Woo, do you wear perfume?”
“No.”
“But you smell nice.”
When I leaned in to sniff, Sun Woo rolled away in his chair to distance himself from me. I couldn’t follow, since my stool had no wheels. Thinking I might have seemed creepy, I just laughed.
“I’ll stop. Come back.”
Sun Woo shot me a suspicious look before rolling his chair back to its original position. And so began Sun Woo’s tutoring session. I opened my laptop and carefully noted down everything he said, responding with “yeah” and “right.” Unlike during dinner, now it was 99% Sun Woo talking and 1% me making dumb “yes, you’re absolutely right” responses.
As Sun Woo continued explaining, the professor’s lectures from class started lining up in my head, organizing themselves into relevant folders. Ah! So that’s how the professor’s words apply here. That’s why they used that example. Oh, so that’s what they meant!
I was gaining enlightenment as if receiving divine revelation.
The study guide, which had been half-done, was now almost finished. Everything was thanks to Sun Woo’s genius mind. While I was barely keeping my tired eyes open trying to listen, my head suddenly dropped and hit the corner of the laptop.
“Ouch.”
Even when I opened my eyes in surprise from the pain, I felt dazed.
“You seem tired. Let’s stop here.”
“Sorry. I’m so sleepy.”
I stretched my stiff body and let out a big yawn. Blinking my dry eyes, I saw Sun Woo packing his things into his bag.
“I should go.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Let’s stop for today.”
“No, I mean… you’re leaving? It’s late. Just stay over.”
“It’s fine. I have to go to my part-time job tomorrow.”
“You could sleep here and go in the morning. Where do you work? I can drive you tomorrow.”
“No need. My home is close by.”
“But it’s so late now.”
Looking at the clock, I saw it was 2 AM. Crazy. I had kept him here, tiring him out, when he had work tomorrow, without even noticing the time pass. I smacked my forehead and got up, grabbing Sun Woo’s bag.
“Just stay. We have a spare room.”
I quickly placed his bag on the desk and grabbed his wrist. As I stood there with my eyes half-closed from sleepiness, suddenly a scene from the webtoon flashed in my mind. The scene where Ha Jin forcefully brought a drunk Sun Woo home and grabbed his wrist to drag him to the room. And then there…
A chill ran down my spine.
I carefully let go of his wrist and apologized with an awkward smile, saying, “Sorry.” Sorry for what Ha Jin did to you when you were drunk. Sorry that I read that kind of webtoon.
Sun Woo wrapped his grabbed wrist with his other hand and quietly looked at me. I smiled and made one final attempt.
“Stay over.”
If he insisted on leaving now, I was planning to let him go. After that webtoon scene came to mind, things felt quite awkward…
Sun Woo stayed quiet for a moment longer, then nodded.
What? What was that? That wasn’t a rejection, was it?
My half-closed eyes flew wide open in surprise.
“Oh! Then I’ll get you comfortable clothes. Want to shower?”
My voice came out sounding flustered. Feeling embarrassed about appearing as excited as a teenage boy, I felt my face growing warm. Really, I was being ridiculous.
Even seeing my reddened face, Sun Woo seemed unfazed.
“Where should I sleep?”
“Follow me.”
Sun Woo quietly followed me. After showing him to the spare room, I told him to wait a moment while I gathered a T-shirt and shorts to give him. Since there was an attached bathroom, all I had to do was close the door and say goodnight to Sun Woo. In this absurd situation, I stared blankly at him, wondering if this was really happening.
“Anything else?”
“When do you finish work tomorrow?”
“Around 9 PM.”
“Then want to come back here? So we can study together tomorrow evening too?”
I spoke and immediately regretted it. He’d probably be tired if he had to study continuously without rest. As I was about to take back my words, Sun Woo easily replied, “Sure.”
“Really?”
Shit… that just sounded totally dorky.
Sun Woo nodded slightly. Then, in my excitement, I went too far.
“I’ll pick you up.”
Sun Woo smiled—not ant-pee-sized, but ant-poop-sized.
“How would you know where?”
“Anywhere.”
“No thanks.”
Only after being rejected did I come back to my senses. Realizing I’d said something ridiculous—as if Ha Jin had temporarily possessed my body—I quickly said, “Good night,” and left.
Flustered, I hesitated briefly in front of the door before returning to my room. Though I knew I should shower, I just threw myself onto the soft bed. Ah, I should at least take off my clothes… But I fell asleep just like that, collapsed randomly on the bed.
In my sleep, I dreamed of Sun Woo staring at me like a grim reaper. I tried to beg him not to take me, but no words came out, only groaning sounds.
Gasp, the reaper Sun Woo was approaching. I tried to turn my head, but my body wouldn’t listen. Was this sleep paralysis? I tried to move, but could only twitch. Then reaper Sun Woo placed his hand on my forehead and gently covered my eyes. For a grim reaper, his hand was warm. At his touch, the paralysis lifted, and my body relaxed.
“Damn, what a weird dream.”
Waking up, I shuddered at the dream of Sun Woo as a grim reaper and checked the time. It was past noon. Wow, how long did I sleep? When I went straight to the room where Sun Woo had slept, he had already left, even folding the bedding.
The neatly folded blanket was so like Sun Woo that it made me laugh.
Sun Woo rang the doorbell shortly after 9 PM.
Waiting quietly at the entrance, I opened the door and asked as he entered, “Want to shower?”
Having blurted out something that sounded like a newlywed couple, I severely scolded myself inside, ‘Hey, you idiot.’
Sun Woo was looking at me with bewildered eyes.
I just shut my mouth and led him to the living room sofa. Following me, Sun Woo stopped when he saw the table.
Beer and delivered pizza were spread out on the table.
“Let’s eat something light before studying.”
Sun Woo silently looked at it.
“We can start studying right away if you prefer.”
Shit, shit, shit. Why did I thoughtlessly prepare this without thinking it through?
It was meant to be my way of showing gratitude, but now it felt awkward. Sure, between normal friends this would be natural, but things were still very awkward with Sun Woo. Somehow it felt like I was walking down a path of unrequited love for someone who had no interest in me.
How was I any different from Ha Jin at this rate? Just a different approach, that’s all.
After seeming to contemplate for a moment, Sun Woo sat beside me and opened a beer can. At that sound, I also opened one and blurted out the stupid words, “Good work today.”
Oh god, what’s wrong with me… Everything I say just keeps coming out wrong.
Feeling awkward, I turned on the TV and randomly put on some variety show channel. Then I drank a whole can of beer, using the pizza as a snack. As expected, cold beer was the best. Sun Woo and I started eating without much conversation.
After finishing one can, I reached for another, but I noticed a strong alcohol smell on my breath. The kind of smell you’d only get when completely drunk.
My body felt completely normal, but the smell of alcohol hit me strongly, making me pause before grabbing the can. The loud TV screen wasn’t blurry, and the sound wasn’t buzzing—everything was just fine.
Though I felt drunk inside, my body was functioning perfectly normally. Strange? I thought, as I grabbed and opened another beer can. But unlike the first refreshing, crisp taste, it felt like harsh liquor entering my body, making me freeze after just one sip.
Huh? Could it be?
Damn… So Ha Jin can’t drink alcohol either, just like they can’t eat sweets?
I felt anger rising at this character who just borrowed my face but made no sense. I can eat sweets and drink well, damn it. If they’re going to use my face for a character, they should match these traits too.
Above all, it lacks consistency. A character who does all sorts of terrible things, but is weak to alcohol? They made him such a lightweight that one can of beer is his limit?
Come to think of it, in the webtoon, even when everyone else was drunk, Ha Jin never was.
How could I have thought they were really good at holding their liquor when they just didn’t drink? Was that my mistake? Wouldn’t all readers think the same?
I sat quietly, trying to make sense of it all, when Sun Woo nudged me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sun Woo.”
I looked at him completely normally, calling his name clearly. My pronunciation was precise, and my eyes were sharp—so much so that it was hard to believe I was drunk. That’s when I realized it. While my body appeared normal on the outside, I couldn’t control it. If I were in my right mind, I wouldn’t be saying nonsense like this:
“Sun Woo. Your lips look delicious.”