Chapter 25: A Reason to Meet Again

When he took his phone out of his coat pocket to check, he saw a message from Woo Tae.

Among the messages was a photo of a ramen packet sitting on the dining table.

Only then did Yooha realize he hadn’t contacted Woo Tae at all, and he hurriedly sent a reply.

[Sorry, I suddenly had plans and came out to eat.]

[Woo Tae: Huh??? Suddenly?]

[Yeah, sorry. You can eat dinner by yourself, right?]

Because Shin Joowon’s contact had been so sudden, and because thinking of him made everything else go blank, Yooha hadn’t even thought of Woo Tae, who would be waiting for him.

While he was anxiously sending replies out of guilt, he heard Shin Joowon’s curious voice.

“Who is it?”

“My brother… I forgot to contact him.”

“Ah, Woo Tae?”

Yooha gave a slight nod to Shin Joowon and checked the messages from Woo Tae that had arrived in the meantime.

[Woo Tae: Whoa]

[Woo Tae: No way]

[Woo Tae: That rich Alpha hyung??!!!!]

[Woo Tae: Right, right, you met that hyung, right!!]

Yooha found himself in a bit of a difficult position at the sentences that naturally brought Woo Tae’s excited face and voice to mind.

Even though he had clearly told him that he would be angry if he did it one more time, Woo Tae didn’t seem to have taken it to heart at all.

He wanted to reason with him gently, but since he was with Shin Joowon right now, he couldn’t drag it out for long.

[Yeah, I’m eating dinner before heading home, so make sure to feed yourself. Sorry.]

Putting his phone back into his coat pocket, Yooha returned to his seat.

When he gave an awkward smile out of embarrassment, Shin Joowon smiled warmly as if to say it was fine and spoke to him.

“You really seem to get along well with your brother.”

“Yes….”

“How old is he? He still seems like a student.”

“He’s in his second year of high school.”

Shin Joowon silently nodded his head as he briefly recalled Woo Tae, who didn’t look much like Yooha.

Then again, since he was a cousin and not a biological brother, it wasn’t strange that they didn’t look alike.

Yooha said that Woo Tae took good care of him, but Shin Joowon also had older brothers, so he knew that such a thing alone wasn’t enough to keep siblings on good terms.

‘Jin Yooha probably cherishes his brother just as much and treats him well. If Jin Yooha is living a life different from mine, where I have to act hypocritically even to my family.’

“Woo Tae is your cousin, but do you have any biological siblings? An older brother or sister?”

“…No. I’m an only child.”

‘He must be an only child, then.’

Shin Joowon, who was about to pass over it lightly, tilted his head slightly as he looked at Jin Yooha’s face when he said he was alone.

It was because an inexplicable dark shadow had cast over it.

However, Shin Joowon didn’t think deeply about it.

Because that shadow, too, vanished quickly.

Before long, the door opened, and a staff member entered, placing a plate in front of each of them.

On a reddish seashell lay a bite-sized piece of food.

Yooha’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the food, the identity of which he couldn’t grasp, having never seen anything like it in his life.

Even after lightly bowing his head to the staff member who wished them a delicious meal and bowed, Yooha just stared at the food.

“It’s a scallop. The thing on top is caviar. Try it.”

It was so neat and pretty that he wondered if it was even okay to eat.

Shin Joowon let out a small laugh as he watched Yooha, who couldn’t bring himself to eat, clearly showing that he was encountering such food for the first time.

Then, as if telling him to follow his lead, he slowly picked up the scallop with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

An air of elegance even drifted from Shin Joowon, who ate cleanly without spilling or smudging anything.

The worry that the food here would be expensive remained, but because he couldn’t make Shin Joowon uncomfortable on his account, Yooha picked up his chopsticks for now.

The moment he put the food in his mouth and chewed, the plump roe first burst open in his mouth.

With the moderately refreshing and salty sauce and the chewy scallop, all the flavors harmonized perfectly.

It was so delicious that he immediately thought this food was special.

“How is it?”

“It’s delicious….”

Shin Joowon only asked after waiting for Yooha to fully taste it.

The answer that popped out without a moment’s delay was undoubtedly sincere.

He could naturally picture Yooha looking at the dishes to follow with the same unfamiliarity and wonder, and then slowly savoring them.

Somehow, thinking that it would be fun to watch that face made Shin Joowon’s lips curve into an arc of their own accord.

As he had pre-ordered, new dishes came in as soon as the plates were emptied, right up until the main course was served.

Yooha wondered why they brought such small portions of food on such large plates, but Shin Joowon seemed very used to this situation.

The dishes, whose names he didn’t even know, had unfamiliar shapes and ingredients, but Yooha diligently repeated the action of putting them in his mouth and chewing, following Shin Joowon’s lead.

Shin Joowon quietly stared at Yooha, who was eating well without making any grating noises.

When he put food in his mouth, his cheeks quickly puffed up, and his large black pupils moved busily from side to side.

It even looked like he was trying to recall which of the foods he had eaten before tasted most similar to this.

The sight of him quietly and thoroughly chewing and swallowing his food wasn’t dynamic, yet it kept drawing Joowon’s gaze.

Every time he came here, he rarely had a comfortable meal because the family members he didn’t really want to face were sitting across from him, but today, unlike usual, his mind was incredibly at ease.

In contrast, Jin Yooha looked uncomfortable because he showed too much clumsy and awkward behavior, but even that was a unique source of interest for Shin Joowon.

‘The fact that he’s so thin despite eating well must be because he moves around that much.’

Thinking as he looked at Yooha’s slender wrist and long fingers, Shin Joowon gave a bright smile when their eyes met.

“The food is good, right?”

“Yes… everything is delicious.”

Yooha, his face slightly flushed, lowered his head and took a napkin to dab his mouth.

Looking back, he felt like he had just eaten too much without saying a word, and embarrassment finally washed over him.

But Yooha, who lacked conversational skills, didn’t know what kind of story to bring up at a time like this.

He just answered honestly whenever Shin Joowon asked.

By the time they were somewhat full from the many courses, the main dish, steak, arrived.

Yooha picked up his knife and fork, following Shin Joowon, and carefully cut the meat to put in his mouth.

Thinking that it looked similar to the steak he had eaten at the pasta restaurant and therefore wouldn’t taste much different, the moment he chewed the meat—

“…….”

A taste so tender and heavy that it couldn’t even be compared to that time filled his mouth.

He didn’t know how to express it, but he could definitely say it was the most delicious food he had ever eaten in his life.

Yooha temporarily forgot his money worries and took another bite of the steak.

A look of great interest filled Shin Joowon’s face as he watched Yooha, who was now absorbed in eating with a slightly flushed face.

Why was it fun to just watch him eat without saying anything?

His facial expressions barely changed and his actions weren’t loud, yet Joowon couldn’t take his eyes off him.

His healthy-looking cheeks, his puffed face, and his lips that moved as he chewed.

Everything about the Jin Yooha he was looking at right now seemed far from hypocrisy or a concept.

‘Then why on earth did he scheme against me?’

His thoughts about Yooha repeatedly swung toward the positive before returning to square one.

If he hadn’t intended to get close to him on purpose, there was no reason for him to keep offering to buy meals when his financial situation was so poor.

When he was treated to lunch at the pasta restaurant, he could have just thought of Shin Joowon as a sucker he used well and ignored him, just like many of the people who had passed through Joowon’s life had done.

Even by the time they finished the dessert following the main dish, Shin Joowon hadn’t found the answer as to why Jin Yooha had schemed.

Since Jin Yooha seemed different from the countless people he had experienced so far, it might be absurd to find the answer in just one day.

Instead, Shin Joowon reached this conclusion.

‘Simply getting closer isn’t enough. We need to become more intimate and close.’

‘Only then will I be able to properly find out what kind of human Jin Yooha is.’

If he had to pick the most interesting thing in his life right now, it was Jin Yooha, and since investing time in interesting things was always enjoyable, there was no reason to hesitate.

All he had to do was continue to be involved with Jin Yooha.

Whether Jin Yooha popped up unexpectedly, or whether Joowon deliberately made excuses like today, there was nothing Shin Joowon couldn’t do.

Shin Joowon decided he should find out Jin Yooha’s timetable right away, if only to arrange meetings disguised as coincidences.

“Did you enjoy the meal?”

“Yes… it was delicious. Everything was my first time eating it, so it was fascinating…”

As they left the room after finishing the meal, Shin Joowon asked in a gentle tone.

While answering, Yooha was suddenly hit by the worry about money that he had pushed aside for a moment, and his expression quickly froze.

It was because the dishes, whose price range he couldn’t even fathom, flashed before his eyes like a panorama.

Carefully taking his wallet out of his bag and stuffing it into his pocket, Yooha left the annex door with a stiff expression.

Outside stood the staff member who had guided him and Shin Joowon here.

“You can exit this way. The car has been prepared in advance.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Yooha reflexively bowed back to the staff member who bowed deeply, and then followed behind Shin Joowon.

He had naturally assumed they would exit through the way they came in, but Shin Joowon turned left and was walking toward another area.

‘Are we paying somewhere else?’

While he was wondering and touching the wallet in his pocket, Shin Joowon stood in front of a black iron door.

Before long, as they passed through the opened door, the white car they had arrived in came into view.