Chapter 6

Haji, who had run over, stood next to Seojin with a red face. She let out a small breath, stealing a glance at Seojin’s face. It was clear he hadn’t heard her conversation with the employee. If he had, it might have made him uncomfortable.

She recalled the employee’s comment about Seojin carrying the box for her, calling her his princess.

“Hm…”

Is that how it looked to others?

“Why?”

“Huh?”

“You keep staring. Intently.”

Realizing she had been staring, Haji awkwardly shifted her gaze. Her head followed belatedly.

Of course not. There’s no way Sunbae would treat me like a princess. If anything, he’s more like a prince.

He was someone who seemed more suited to giving orders than receiving them.

“Right…?”

Lost in thought, Haji mumbled and nodded to herself.

“What are you thinking?”

“Nothing. I just heard something that didn’t make sense.”

She dismissed it lightly, as if it wasn’t worth thinking about.

“That you’re a princess?”

“You heard?”

“I heard. It’s not bad, right? How about Thumbelina?”

Is this what it feels like to be too shocked to speak?

Haji’s expression showed her astonishment. She couldn’t close her mouth. She stepped back slightly and shook her head vigorously. Seojin’s lips curled into a mischievous smile at her reaction.

“That’s creepy. Don’t do that.”

Haha, Seojin’s laughter rang out.

***

Before they knew it, the car carrying Seojin and Haji was back at the apartment where she had woken up that morning.

“Let’s get out.”

As Seojin got out first and picked up the box, Haji quickly approached him, remembering the employee’s comment.

“Let me carry it.”

“The princess should rest.”

“Please… don’t say things like that.”

She was genuinely scared someone might hear.

With a face flushed red, Haji looked around nervously, bringing her index finger to her lips. Shh, shh, seeing Haji’s anxiousness, Seojin’s face brightened.

“This makes me want to say it more.”

It was the moment she realized why he was teasing her. With this kind of reaction, he wanted to keep doing it.

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you hungry? What do you want to eat?”

Haji, who hadn’t heard his previous comment, asked belatedly, but Seojin pretended not to notice.

***

The dim light covered the living room. Click, the lights turned on, brightening the surroundings.

“The lighting seems to be all set.”

“I’ll turn them on.”

Though it wasn’t moving day, the two had ordered Chinese food and decided to assemble the furniture in the remaining time. Haji focused for a long time. Starting with simple items, she found it fun to assemble them one by one.

“I’ll make the bookshelf now.”

“I’ll handle the shelves.”

Dividing the tasks, they could finish quickly. The bookshelf was simple, stacking one shelf on top of another. As she placed the last shelf and stretched her hand, Haji’s center of gravity shifted backward.

“Huh?!”

As Haji fell backward, she saw the bookshelf that had hit her hand coming apart. The last thing she saw was it tumbling towards her before she tightly closed her eyes.

“You should be careful.”

A low voice brushed her forehead.

Despite the sound of crashing, she felt no pain. She only felt something firmly gripping her waist. Realizing the warmth wasn’t her own, she opened her eyes wide.

“… Thank you.”

Seojin, who had caught her, was so close their breaths mingled.

“I’m okay now…”

Understanding her words, Seojin carefully released his grip on her waist. She felt a strange, inexplicable pounding in her chest.

“How did you get here so fast?”

Seojin had been quite far away. Though they were in the same space, it wasn’t a distance he could cover in that short moment.

“I have long legs. Unlike you.”

“Geez…”

He had become quite adept at subtly teasing her about her height. Pouting briefly, Haji looked at the scattered bookshelf on the floor. If she had been under it, she would have gotten at least minor bruises.

“Thank you. I didn’t expect to fall suddenly.”

“I’ll finish this. Our food should arrive soon. Take a break.”

“Okay…”

Nodding, Haji began exploring the house. For someone living alone, it had many rooms. Most were empty.

However, one room wasn’t empty. It seemed intended as a study, with one wall filled with bookshelves.

“There are so many books.”

Entering the room, Haji slowly looked over the books. Most were related to architecture. Among them, one book stood out, not fitting the surroundings.

“Why is this here?”

It was an album familiar to Haji. It was her high school graduation album.

Though it seemed to belong to Seonghee. She remembered Seonghee mentioning her album had gone missing.

Srrrk, as she pulled out the album, the door opened.

“The food is he…?”

Thud, startled by the sudden presence, Haji dropped the album. Before she could bend down to pick it up, the album had disappeared from the floor.

Seriously, is he Iron Man or Spider-Man?

She watched the man with a knack for appearing in the blink of an eye.

“Isn’t this Seonghee’s graduation album?”

“It must have been misplaced.”

“Oh, I see. Seonghee was looking for it.”

“I’ll tell her.”

Strangely, Seojin held the album tightly.

“Let’s eat. You’re hungry, right?”

The mention of food made her realize how hungry she was. Looking at and assembling furniture had taken a lot of time and energy.

***

Watching Haji focus on eating her jajangmyeon and tangsuyuk, Seojin picked up a tissue.

“Is it good?”

As he naturally wiped the sauce from her mouth, Haji’s face turned red.

“Ah… I-I can do it.”

Startled by the unexpected touch, Haji hesitated and grabbed a tissue. Her lips, rubbed hard, turned the same color as her flushed face.

“You’ll peel your lips. Stop and eat.”

“… By the way, why are there so many rooms?”

Haji, still feeling the tingling sensation on her lips, changed the subject. She had no tolerance for this kind of skinship.

“This was all that was left.”

“I see.”

“Haven’t you found a place yet?”

Haji shook her head slightly. She had to move out as her lease had recently expired. She had considered extending it, but the landlord had urgently asked her to leave.

Seojin seemed to remember what she had briefly mentioned at Seonghee’s house last time. Seonghee had been insisting that she stay at her place while looking for a house, but Haji had been refusing.

Having recently opened her café, she was too busy to look for a place. Time was running out. Seeing Seojin’s house made her realize she should find a place nearby. It wasn’t far from her work, which was a big plus.

“When are you planning to look?”

“I’ll start tonight and visit real estate agencies tomorrow.”

She planned to resolve it on her day off. It was too late to see proper listings today.

“Hmm…”

As her stomach became full, a yawn escaped. It was partly because the tension was releasing as the busy day was coming to an end.

“I’ll take you home. Let’s go.”

“Wait a moment.”

Seeing the cluttered table, she couldn’t just leave it. As she hurried to clean up, Seojin stopped her.

“It’s fine. You had a tough day. I’ll handle it.”

“But…”

“Enough.”

His firm refusal made it hard to argue. It was true she was tired.

Following Seojin out of the house, she suddenly stopped.

“Oh? It’s the lady from next door! Mom, it’s that lady from yesterday.”

“Don’t point at people with your finger. Hello.”

The mother, correcting her child, greeted Haji and Seojin kindly. As Haji greeted back, she suddenly remembered Seojin mentioning he had to apologize to the neighbors because of her drunken antics.

There was only one next-door neighbor. It had to be them.

“Lady, you sang yesterday, right?”

“Uh, what?”

The child’s knowing question made Haji flustered. Embarrassed and apologetic, she couldn’t lift her head.

“I’m so sorry. You must have been startled with a baby at home because of me.”

“I’m not a baby!”

“It’s okay. Your husband contacted us via intercom first. He apologized enough. We weren’t asleep at the time anyway.”

As the child protested, the mother patted him and smiled kindly. Something felt off.

“He said there was a baby at home…”

“Us? A baby?”

“I’m not a baby!”

The mother looked puzzled at her son, who shouted again.

“We only have one son.”

“What?”

“Pardon?”

As Haji asked in confusion, the child’s mother also asked back with a puzzled expression. Haji quickly turned her head to look at Seojin. Seojin was pretending not to know, looking elsewhere with his head turned.

This man, really!

“What’s going on?”

After hurriedly apologizing to the mother, Haji glared at Seojin. He avoided her gaze, waiting for the elevator.

“What?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’? You shouldn’t be saying ‘what’!”

Mimicking his tone, Haji lowered her voice, making Seojin chuckle.

“You’re tired, right? Let’s go quickly.”

“Whose fault is that?”

Seeing him trying to hurry her, Haji crossed her arms and lifted her chin. As they rode the elevator down, Seojin didn’t change his expression or meet her eyes.

Look at this shameless man.

“Do you know how startled I was this morning? How sorry and uncomfortable I felt? Why did you lie?”

“It wasn’t a lie.”

She stared intently at Seojin’s calm face reflected in the elevator door. She felt she had to glare at him out of spite. The embarrassing moment with the neighbor replayed in her mind.

“If it wasn’t a lie, then what?”

Following Seojin closely, Haji questioned him.

“To my eyes, he looked like a baby.”

“What nonsense! You said you bowed deeply to apologize? The mother said you contacted her via intercom?”

“I bowed deeply in front of the intercom. Sincerely.”

Calling a child who looked like a third or fourth grader a baby? 

Haji’s lips pouted at Seojin’s absurd words.

“It’s true I carried you. Maybe that’s why my back hurts.”

The man who claimed to be in pain didn’t look like it at all. Huh, a hollow laugh escaped Haji’s lips. Click, Seojin opened the passenger door and gestured for her to get in. As she climbed into the car, Haji’s momentum slightly dampened. Once Seojin got into the driver’s seat, Haji continued speaking.

“Yeah, I did get drunk and cause trouble…”

“That’s right.”

“But don’t exaggerate. You don’t look hurt at all.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Seojin, without starting the engine, hesitated for a moment and then grabbed his shirt as if to lift it.

“W-What are you doing?”

Haji, blinking at the sight, stammered.

Why the shirt? What is he doing?

Why is this man acting like this?

“You said I don’t look hurt, check for yourself.”

“No. Wait a minute!”

Haji hurriedly stopped his hands, which were indeed about to lift his shirt. She quickly pulled down his shirt with both hands, taking a deep breath.

Huff, huff.

“How can I see if your back hurts with my eyes? They’re not X-rays!”

“Right? That’s true.”

Seojin’s easy agreement was irritating. His slightly curled lips were equally annoying.

It seemed he had planned to tease her from the start.

“I didn’t know you were this kind of person.”

Annoying.