DPGR 170

Episode 1. Jealousy

The early summer sunlight stabbed through his eyelids. Dojin frowned a few times and he tossed, groping at the space beside him.

“Mmm….”

His fingertips touched nothing. No, they touched something, but it was not what he expected.

‘Again….’

This was already the seventh time. He woke up alone because the space beside him was empty.

Dojin barely opened his eyes and he turned his head to look around. He already knew, but when he saw the empty bed his mood sank.

“Jiho….”

His voice came out muffled and cracked. He checked the clock on the bedroom wall.

9:35 in the morning.

Since returning to the status of an ordinary person, Dojin had started sleeping more, probably because he no longer felt so tense. He lifted his heavy body after a rare long sleep and he stretched.

Only pajama pants covered him. The muscles of his back and chest moved and showed clearly. Dojin rolled his neck a few more times and he stepped out of the bedroom.

Tok tok tok tok

When he opened the door he smelled savory food and he heard a knife hitting the cutting board.

Dojin stared at Jiho’s back in the kitchen. Jiho wore only pajama tops and focused on cooking. Pale legs stretched out straight below the hem of his clothes, and they caught Dojin’s eye.

Their lovemaking had ended only at dawn. Jiho had fallen asleep as if he had fainted, and Dojin was the one who wiped away the fluid between those thighs.

He remembered clearly that he put his own top on Jiho afterward and that he did not bother to find underwear for him.

“……”

He became curious about what Jiho’s hips looked like under the clothes. Heat rushed down his body and his mouth went dry. He strangely felt hungry, but it was not food that he wanted.

At that moment Jiho noticed his stare and turned to him.

“Oh? Hyung. You’re awake?”

The serious line of Dojin’s lips loosened. He stepped quickly toward Jiho and he wrapped his arms around his waist.

“Were you hungry? Then you should have woken me.”

He rubbed his lips against Jiho’s nape as he spoke. Jiho let out a small giggle.

“I wasn’t hungry…. I wanted you to eat right away when you woke up, so I was preparing.”

“What can I help with?”

“I finished already. Hyung, go sit.”

“But.”

“Quickly.”

Dojin wanted to stay close to him longer, but Jiho urged him to go sit. Jiho finally pushed him away and moved around the kitchen busier than before.

He dropped a handful of red chili slices into the boiling stew. He sliced the rolled omelet neatly and poured ketchup on it. He took side dishes out of the fridge and arranged them well on the table.

Jiho concentrated on cooking and did not even glance at Dojin. Dojin sat quietly at the table, his expression a little sulky.

‘He keeps doing this lately.’

Since Dojin regained consciousness, he disliked these new sides of Jiho.

After waking from his long sleep, Jiho had become used to life without him. Contrary to what Dojin feared, Jiho cooked on his own, cleaned well, and sometimes even seemed to enjoy housework.

Before, Jiho needed Dojin’s hand for everything, whether eating, sleeping, or even dressing.

At first Dojin felt pleased at Jiho’s growth.

‘Now maybe he doesn’t need me.’

The thought that Jiho no longer needed him made him nervous. Jiho did not notice and kept treating Dojin like a patient.

Even though his rehabilitation was already complete and he had long regained his old condition. Maybe Jiho wanted to take care of him now, the way Dojin once took care of Jiho.

He also seemed eager to show off how much more mature he had become.

“Here! Eat now!”

Jiho finally finished setting the table. He pushed the dishes toward Dojin with a broad smile. Dojin forced a smile under Jiho’s expectant gaze that followed him until he scooped stew into his mouth with a spoon.

“How is it?”

“It’s good. Your cooking gets better every day.”

“Hee. Right? Try the omelet too. It’s the dish I do best.”

Not long ago he had served Dojin burnt sugar-fried eggs.

Dojin bit into the moderately salty omelet and he nodded. When he said it was good, Jiho laughed and finally picked up his own chopsticks.

For a while the only sound above the table was the clatter of dishes. Dojin glanced at Jiho again and again while he quietly ate. Jiho’s expressions and mood seemed to have changed a little, not just his actions.

‘Did he become more adult?’

His lips moved while he ate. In the past he sometimes chatted in a low voice during meals, but these days he did not talk while eating.

He did not spill food and he did not get rice stuck to his cheek or clothes. Dojin disliked the way Jiho quietly focused only on eating.

“…Hyung? Is it not tasty?”

Dojin stopped moving his chopsticks because he was watching Jiho. Jiho noticed right away and he checked Dojin’s face. Dojin said no and he scooped a big spoonful of rice and stuffed it into his mouth.

Then Jiho pushed a glass of water toward him and spoke with worry.

“It’s morning, you might not have much appetite, so don’t push yourself. You might get indigestion.”

“No. It’s good. It’s not that I have no appetite….”

“……?”

The words he wanted to say caught in his throat. Instead of food, words clogged in his chest and it felt heavy.

Why had Jiho grown so mature, did he no longer need him, couldn’t he act spoiled again like before?

Childish complaints circled the tip of his tongue. Dojin swallowed them down together with the water Jiho gave him.

“I thought maybe we could go on a date this afternoon.”

He filled the silence with words both Jiho and he would like. As expected, Jiho’s face lit up when he heard the word date.

“A date?”

“Yes.”

He said it as an excuse, but it was not a bad choice.

Yes, Jiho probably did not cling to him because the space was too familiar. Jiho was the type to be shy in new places, so if he took him somewhere unfamiliar Jiho would lean on him.

‘Then, when I get the chance….’

He would bring up the things that had hurt him, well wrapped, and say them as dignified and reasonable as possible. Thinking that, Dojin opened his mouth.

“Is there somewhere you want to go?”

“Hmm… a cafe?”

“…Somewhere else. It would be better if it’s a place we have never been, something different.”

At his specific request Jiho looked puzzled. Dojin quickly added more.

“The weather is good, and it happens to be the weekend.”

It really was a clear day with no clouds. Jiho’s eyes sparkled as he looked out the window, then he suddenly turned back to Dojin. His cheeks were flushed red.

“Then.”

“Yes.”

“I…”

Jiho chewed his lips and searched for words. Dojin wondered what kind of place made him so hesitant.

He was ready to accept even if Jiho asked to go to space, or to fly to the other side of the Earth, or even to go on a world trip.

“Say it comfortably.”

He said that while thinking where his passport was, and then he heard an unexpected answer.

“The movie theater.”

“…The movie theater?”

Dojin was a little taken aback, since he had been picturing at least overseas travel. Didn’t they watch movies together in the living room every weekend?

‘Does he mean not watching at home, but going to the theater?’

Jiho’s cheeks reddened and he pulled out his phone to look something up. Soon he showed Dojin a poster for a recently released movie.

“This one, I wanted to watch it with you.”

It was a movie with famous actors Dojin also knew.

The story was about a couple in a rut. The male lead, five years older, had an accident one day and lost his memory. He started calling the female lead noona and pursued her again. It was a romantic comedy.

Dojin stared without saying anything, and Jiho’s cheeks flared even redder.

“I-it’s okay if we don’t watch this one. Just… I don’t think we’ve ever gone to a theater together….”

When he thought about it, it was true. Until now Dojin always used the TV in the living room to watch movies. He said it was to be considerate of Jiho’s shyness, but it was also because he did not like crowded places himself.

Since Jiho had always enjoyed watching movies in the living room, he thought it was enough.

“It’s not that I want to watch this movie…. It’s just, usually in dramas couples go to the theater on dates, so I was curious….”

“Alright.”

“…What?”

“Let’s go. To the movies.”

“……!”

“We’ll watch the movie, then go to a cafe, then have dinner too, okay?”

It was an ideal date course. For dinner, steak and pasta would be good. He should look up a cafe that young people like these days too.

While Dojin thought that, Jiho smiled brightly and nodded. His messy morning hair swayed lightly like dandelion fluff.

Dojin reached out and gently brushed Jiho’s soft hair and smiled back at him.

He felt it was going to be a good day.

***

Good day…

On the way home after the date, the car was colder than ever.

Neither Dojin nor Jiho said a single word. Both stared only forward.

Since the day they first met at the illegal facility, had they ever felt this awkward again?

“……”

“……”

Dojin glanced sideways at Jiho. Jiho felt his gaze and quickly turned his head toward the window.

The silent protest, like he did not even want to see him, made Dojin sigh heavily.

How did things end up like this?

Dojin turned the wheel in silence and went over the events in his mind. The quarrel had started back at the crowded movie theater.