Do Not Feed Recklessly - Chapter 8 - END

After quitting her job, Jia surprisingly quickly found work that suited her. She started posting cute comic strips on social media, and a few comics she had uploaded as a hobby gained a huge following, prompting her to dive in full-time. The content mainly revolved around her school life in Australia and her international dating experiences.

In less than three months, her social media following reached almost 100,000. This was astonishing for an account that simply posted comics. As a result, Jia began to receive advertis*ments. Her income far exceeded her previous salary.

Ethan has had to attend his language school every weekday since classes started. Lately, he had become very sympathetic to Jia’s reluctance to go to work. Still, he seemed genuinely interested in learning Korean and was quite happy to do so.

“Jia, is this grammar correct?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Ethan had improved enough to carry on basic conversation, although his pronunciation was poor.

[Practical Korean! Daily Korean. Awesome, right!] 

[Practical Korean! Daily Korean. What is this?]

Not only that, but he had discovered some strange YouTube channels and was constantly watching them under the pretext of learning Korean. The problem was that they were comedy channels for Koreans, not real educational content.

“Ah, Ethan! I told you not to watch that.”

“Why? This is great! It’s funny!”

“It doesn’t matter how funny it is, you really shouldn’t learn from that. Please.”

“a sharp turn!”– ‘Middle finger!’

“Seriously, don’t learn from that.”

Their daily life was peaceful and calm. While Ethan attended language school during the weekdays, Jia worked on her comics at home. When Ethan returned, they would either order delicious food together or explore local eateries for a walk and a meal. 

Ethan looked at Jia, nestled in his arms, with a contented smile. He gently kissed her sleeping face and playfully squeezed her cheek. Seeing her face contort into a funny expression made him laugh softly.

When Jia woke up, she felt her disheveled appearance and angrily slapped Ethan’s hand away.

“Ah, what are you doing?”

“Why? You’re cute.”

“Ugh, that’s so cheesy.”

“Calling you cute is a big deal. Should I just keep calling you ugly?”

“…Well, that’s better.”

Seeing Jia’s disgusted reaction, Ethan’s mischievous smile widened. His blue eyes sparkled with playfulness.

“Oh really? Then I should start calling you ‘pretty girl’ from now on.”

“Ah, please don’t!”

“What was that? Pretty girl?”

“If you keep this up, just go back to Australia!”

As Jia spoke, her cheeks turned bright red. Desperate to hide her blush, she turned away and buried her face in the blanket.

“So when are you going to promote me from ‘d*ldo’ to boyfriend?”

“…I don’t know, but if you keep that mouth shut, I might think about it.”

That was true. But one thing hadn’t changed: Jia still hadn’t officially promoted Ethan to boyfriend status. Of course, it was just a matter of words; in reality, they were no different from a couple. She thought of him as such and was even working on a comic based on their international romance.

Jia’s playful responses were just her way of teasing, but Ethan, fully aware of this, found her blushing face endearing.

“I love you,” he whispered, pulling her into a tight embrace.

The sound of his voice, soft and gentle, filled her ears. Whenever she lay still in his arms, memories from their first meeting to the present flooded her mind and brought a smile to her face.

Lost in those nostalgic thoughts, Ethan nudged her gently and asked.

“So, Jia, do you love me?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I mean, do you love me?”

Having grown up in a quiet suburb on the outskirts of Sydney, they were very happy living in the city. The best part, especially for them, was the abundance of takeaway food available even in the early hours of the morning.

As he asked, his hands slipped under her clothes.

“What? Why don’t you tell me?”

Ethan asked, his large hands groping for her waist and slowly moving up, cupping and squeezing her perky br*asts.

Ethan showered her face with kisses like a gentle rain. She soaked up the affection but feeling too embarrassed to express her feelings, she simply pursed her lips.

Ethan wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in the nape of her neck and letting out a soft whimper.

“I………”

“I what?”

“……I love you”

Jia choked out, covering her face and kicking wildly at the air.

“Oh, ugh… that’s so messed up, I’m losing my mind,” Ethan whispered, a pleasant smile on his face. 

“I love you too, Jia.” 

Suddenly, the memory of the first day she met Ethan flashed in her mind, and it felt odd. She had never imagined she would become so entangled with that annoying Ethan Taylor.

“Okay, so stop watching that YouTube channel with the Daily Korean or whatever it’s called, okay?” 

“No, it’s not. OK?”  

“No, that’s kind of…” 

Whatever it was, it turned out to be a happy day.

Jia would never know that the day she gave Ethan the gochujang sandwich was the first time he felt a strange emotion towards her. It was a secret he would carry with him for the rest of his life.

END.