Chapter 28: The Habit of Looking After Someone

“I was about to eat cup ramen, so this is a relief.
Wow, I don’t even know how much I was craving real rice.”

“That’s good to hear.
You were holding that cup ramen so carefully, I was worried you might not want rice.”

“……Carefully—no.
It’s not that.
The plastic just wouldn’t tear.”

“Right.”

Hyun Wooyoung gently took the cup ramen from Sim Eun-chan’s hands, where he was still cradling it to his chest.

Eun-chan muttered again that it wasn’t like that, but Wooyoung simply replied that he understood and walked toward the stove.

“Hyung, just sit down.
You must be weak since you’ve been sleeping so much.”

“……Ah…….”

So sleeping too much meant he was living an easy, lazy life now?

“Huh?
What did you say?”

“No, nothing.
What are you doing?”

Eun-chan waved it off, but his eyes widened slightly as he watched Wooyoung tear open a packet of instant seaweed soup and pour it into a pot.

“I’m heating up soup,” Wooyoung answered, then immediately took out a bowl of instant rice and put it in the microwave, moving like a robot following a preset routine.

Beep, beep.

As the microwave hummed, Eun-chan asked quietly.

Wooyoung turned to look at him, as if he genuinely didn’t understand what he meant.

“No.
I just thought maybe it was my imagination.”

He wanted to ask outright whether Wooyoung spoke that way on purpose, but it felt awkward.

People interpreted things differently, after all.

Picking at it like this might just mean Eun-chan was being too sensitive.

Or maybe it was because he was hungry and on edge.

He remembered the time Wooyoung had come to his room just to ask why he hadn’t eaten dinner.

Now, Eun-chan realized, he was doing the same thing.

In situations like this, it was better not to assume and simply ask directly.

As Wooyoung put the side dishes back into the fridge, Eun-chan watched his back.

Tapping his lips lightly with his finger, Eun-chan’s gaze shifted to the plastic bag Wooyoung had brought.

It was empty, as if it had only contained the instant rice.

Eun-chan spoke up.

“But why did you come back to the dorm?
Did you have something to do?”

“I heard you woke up, and there’s no food at the dorm.”

There was a sense of déjà vu in Wooyoung’s casual reply.

Sure enough, it was the same thing he’d said earlier when he came in.

He’d brushed it off before, but taken at face value, it meant there really was no other reason.

Wooyoung had come back solely to make sure Eun-chan ate.

“……Nothing else?”

“No.”

Ding—

The microwave announced it was done, perfectly in sync with his clear answer.

“You came just for that?”

“Yes.”

Eun-chan stared, mouth slightly open, as Wooyoung took the rice out of the microwave.

Maybe this was just normal for someone who took food seriously.

He stopped trying to read between the lines.

Once you started twisting someone’s words, there was no end to it.

And the Wooyoung he knew was not that kind of person.

If he said no, doubting him to the end would just be a waste of time.

Deciding to stop overthinking, Eun-chan reached out to take the rice.

He assumed Wooyoung would hand it over in the plastic container, but he was wrong.

Instead, Wooyoung transferred the rice neatly into a bowl.

He didn’t even use the spoon he’d scooped the rice with, deliberately taking out a clean one and setting it in front of Eun-chan.

“Go ahead.”

At Wooyoung’s prompting, Eun-chan picked up the spoon.

The moment he took his first bite, the warm soup was placed on the table as well.

It was a proper meal.

“You might choke, so eat slowly.
Even if you’re hungry, chew well.”

Wooyoung sat down across from him.

With food in his mouth, Eun-chan couldn’t answer out loud and just nodded.

After shoveling in three or four spoonfuls, he finally felt a bit more at ease.

Only then did Eun-chan notice the glass of water sitting in front of Wooyoung.

Don’t tell me—

“Are you waiting for me to finish eating?”

“Eating alone makes food taste bad.”

“Mm…… well.”

To be honest, Eun-chan wasn’t the type to care much about that.

Sometimes the members ate together at the dorm, but when he ate alone, he was used to scrolling on his phone.

It wasn’t common for someone to sit there just to wait while another person ate.

The consideration felt unfamiliar—gratifying, but also a little burdensome.

“But why did you ask earlier?”

“Ask what?”

“It felt like you were checking something.
I thought there might be a reason.”

Sharp kid.

Eun-chan hesitated, staring at Wooyoung.

He’d planned to let it slide, but with someone who asked this directly, that wasn’t easy.

Rather than making vague excuses and leaving things awkward, it seemed better to be honest.

“I think I was on edge because I was hungry.
People say you get sensitive when you’re hungry, right?
You know that too, Wooyoung.”

“Yes.”

Eun-chan added a longer explanation so there wouldn’t be any misunderstanding.

“When you said I must be weak from sleeping, it sounded like you were saying I had too much time to laze around.
I know that’s not what you meant, though.”

Wooyoung’s brow creased slightly.

“That’s how it sounded to you?”

“I twisted it in my head.”

“But then you suddenly decided it wasn’t like that?”

“Because you said it wasn’t.”

Wooyoung’s expression turned strange.

“I trust you because I know you’re not that type.
You don’t talk in circles—you say things straight out.”

“……Eun-chan hyung.”

It seemed he understood exactly what Eun-chan was referring to.

Wooyoung covered his face with both hands and dragged them down slowly.

“Back then……
About that.
Please forget it.”

“Come on.
It left too strong an impression for that.”

At Eun-chan’s unhidden teasing, Wooyoung bit his lip lightly and looked at him with wounded eyes.

That reaction amused Eun-chan.

He’d expected embarrassment, but not this much.

Even the way Wooyoung rubbed the surface of the table with his fingers looked restless, unlike his usual self.

“No, it’s fine.
It’s something I did.
My own karma.
……Eat while it’s still warm.”

He used oddly mature words, like someone half resigned.

Since the topic had come up again, Eun-chan took it as a chance to ask something he’d been curious about.

“But back then, you said you had to become the best.
Was there a reason for that?”

“……”

At Eun-chan’s question, Wooyoung’s fingers, which had been dancing on the table, stopped.

“It didn’t really sound like ambition.
Did I ask something strange all of a sudden?”

“It’s not that,” Wooyoung said, but only after a pause did he finally speak again.

“It’s just something trivial.
Not even worth explaining properly.”

It was hard to believe he’d acted that way over something so trivial.

More importantly, it meant he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

Eun-chan had no intention of prying.

It wasn’t important enough to dig into.

“Okay.”

Since there was nothing more to say, Eun-chan scooped up another bite of rice.

They were both short on time, so it would be better to eat quickly and get going.

He took a bigger bite than usual.

“Hyung, wait.
Eat slowly.
If you eat like that—ah, you’ve got something on your lip.”

“Huh?
What?
Where?
There’s nothing.
……Hey, you’re joking, right?”

“Why would I joke about that?
Hold still.”

Eun-chan wiped at his lips with his finger, but nothing came off.

Wooyoung reached out and rubbed Eun-chan’s lips himself.

Caught completely off guard, Eun-chan froze, then reacted a beat too late, leaning back.

“Here.”

A small piece of seaweed was stuck to Wooyoung’s finger.

“Oh.
It really was there.
Thanks.”

Unlike Eun-chan, who felt awkward, Wooyoung showed no sign of embarrassment at all.

As Wooyoung wiped his hand with a tissue, Eun-chan took a sip of water and spoke.

“You could’ve just used a tissue from the start.”

“Yeah.
I guess it’s a habit.
I moved before I even thought about it.”

“A habit?
You even have habits like that?”

He asked, genuinely thinking it was unusual.

“I have three younger siblings.”

“……Wow.”

Eun-chan froze mid-bite and stared at Wooyoung.

The exclamation was sincere.

Four siblings—what a rare family setup.

As the thought settled in, Eun-chan slowly put his chopsticks down and looked at Wooyoung.

In this context, there was only one thing that explanation could mean.

“……Wait.
Did you just treat me like a younger sibling?”

“Huh?
No.
I mean—no, that’s not it.”

Wooyoung, unusually flustered, waved a hand in denial.

But then he frowned, thought for a moment, and continued.