“Mmm…”
I pushed up my heavy eyelids and stretched.
Thankfully, the pain that had made my whole body feel beaten before I fell asleep had faded.
My head still throbbed, and my throat felt scratchy every time I swallowed, but at least I could walk around on my own two feet now.
“Unnie…?”
The moment I turned to the side, I saw Seohui unnie asleep in a chair.
Her eyes were peacefully closed, her breathing even.
It was a face I didn’t want to wake, but when I looked out the window, the sun was already beginning to set.
‘Ah, Unnie said she had her bar part-time job today…!’
If I left her like this, she’d be late. No, her shift might already be cutting it close.
I carefully reached out and slowly shook her shoulder.
“Unnie, wake up. It’s already…”
“Mmm……”
At my voice, her eyelids trembled, then slowly opened.
“…Yeonseo? Are you feeling a little better?”
The moment she woke up, the first thing she did was ask after me, and something in a corner of my chest grew warm.
“I think my fever’s gone down a lot. I still feel a little cold-ish, though. More importantly, Unnie, you have your bar job today! You should hurry and go.”
Worried she’d be late, I urged her on in a rush.
But Unnie only narrowed her still-sleepy eyes and let a gentle smile rise to her lips.
“I guess… I’ll have to skip work today.”
“What? No! What are you going to do if your boss says something?”
“It’s fine… It’s my first time missing it…”
“…Still, isn’t it a little bad to cancel all of a sudden?”
Even if it was her first time, I wondered if it was really okay to tell them right before it started instead of long beforehand.
“What time is it now…”
Seohui unnie turned on her phone to check the time.
Six in the evening.
“This is plenty. My shift’s at ten, so it won’t be too late if I tell them now.”
“Is that so…”
Seeing that my expression still wouldn’t relax, Unnie asked cautiously.
“…Are you, by any chance, uncomfortable with me staying here?”
“No...!”
Since I didn’t dislike it at all, I denied it immediately.
Uncomfortable? If anything, I was so grateful she was taking care of me this sincerely that I could hardly stand it.
“It’s just… because of me, you’re even skipping the part-time job you always go to so diligently… I feel bad.”
“Pfft…”
At my words, Unnie gave a small laugh.
“Why are you laughing…”
“Because I’m happy you’re thinking of me like that.”
“So it’s really okay?”
“Of course. Don’t worry too much. I also really want to be here.”
Now that I thought about it, this unnie must have wanted to be with me somehow.
“…That’s a reason full of ulterior motives.”
“Do you hate it?”
“No… Today, I think I’ll lean on you a little more.”
Once I knew the reason, I was able to smile in relief.
“In that case, shall we have dinner now?”
After Unnie sent a text saying she’d miss work and tried to head to the kitchen, I sprang up and shouted.
“I—I’ll make it!”
Thinking about having her take care of everything for me all day made me feel far too sorry.
“The patient should wait quietly. Just tell me what’s in the fridge, and I’ll make something quickly.”
“But…”
“Are you worried because you think I can’t cook?”
“That’s not it!”
“I’ve been cooking since a long time ago, so don’t worry too much.”
At the stubborn look in Unnie’s eyes, as if she was determined to make it herself, I eventually gave up trying to persuade her.
Leaning against the bed, I quietly watched Unnie’s back as she bustled around in the kitchen.
When I listed off the ingredients in my studio apartment’s fridge, Unnie looked troubled for a moment.
“Mm… Most of these are things you can eat instantly…”
“I’m sorry… I haven’t really gone grocery shopping….”
“No, what are you apologizing for? Just wait a bit. I’ve thought of something perfect for a patient.”
Unnie immediately took a pack of instant rice from the fridge, tossed it into a pot, and poured in water.
She turned on the gas, and when the water began to boil, she pressed down on the rice grains firmly with a spoon, making them crispy.
Then she added more water and began stirring it carefully.
Along with the bubbling sound, a savory aroma spread through the small room.
Before long, Unnie turned off the heat and set a neatly filled bowl on the table.
“It’s ready, so come sit here, Yeonseo.”
At Unnie’s call, I carefully got out of bed and sat in front of the table.
Unnie took out a packet of roasted seaweed and set it beside me, smiling shyly.
“When I was little and got sick, my mom always boiled nurungji for me like this. This is the best thing to eat when you want something easy on your stomach.”
It was food dripping with warmth.
“Thank you so much, Unnie. I’ll enjoy it.”
I lifted my spoon, blew on the hot steam, and took a bite.
As the softly loosened rice and broth entered my mouth, warmth and savoriness spread through me.
When I ate it with a piece of salty seaweed on top, my appetite began to return.
Watching me empty the bowl cleanly, Unnie smiled in satisfaction.
As soon as I put the final spoonful into my mouth, Unnie took the bowl as if she’d been waiting, set it in the sink, then sat across from me again.
That deep gaze stared straight at me.
Whether because of the fever or because of Unnie’s eyes, my face flushed for no reason, and I subtly avoided her gaze as I asked.
“…Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”
Unnie kept gazing at me and asked as if tossing the words out.
“What are you going to do now? Isn’t it frustrating to just keep lying down?”
It was true that thanks to the medicine, my body felt lighter, and perhaps because I had only slept, my mind was clear.
“Mm... I guess so. I don’t really want to sleep again.”
When I said I wanted to do something, Unnie’s eyes sparkled.
“Then how about watching a movie?”
“Unnie, seriously… You’re acting like you’re going to sleep over at my place.”
At my words, half-joking and half-serious, Unnie shrugged as if it were only natural and answered.
“Yeah. I even skipped work because of you, so today I’m going to stick close to Yeonseo as much as I can.”
Was this what people commonly called “making a move”? At the words that came charging straight in, I momentarily lost what to say.
It was hard to refuse when she’d skipped work for me.
“Okay. Pick something fun.”
More than anything, I myself had decided to take one more step closer to Unnie, so I nodded.
I turned on the computer, logged into Oflix, and handed the keyboard to Unnie.
“Pick whatever you want to watch, Unnie. I’ll be on the bed.”
I climbed onto the bed, sat with my back against the wall, and quietly watched Unnie’s back.
The sound of her tapping at the keyboard and clicking the mouse rang through the quiet room.
After hesitating for a moment, Unnie chose a movie, pressed play, got up, and turned off the light.
Darkness settled over the room in an instant, and Unnie naturally came over and sat beside me.
“I really wanted to watch this with you.”
Along with Unnie’s low voice, the movie’s opening logo bloomed across the screen.
As the title appeared and music began to flow out softly, I fidgeted with the edge of the blanket for no reason, feeling strangely nervous.
[I Will Become the Hero’s Enemy.]
“Is this an action movie?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Do you not like it?”
“No. It’s just, for some reason I thought you’d pick a different genre…”
“I don’t usually watch action much either, but they say this one’s fun no matter who watches it.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
And so the first scene of the movie began, and we focused our eyes on the screen.
[Mom? Dad…?]
As the movie started, in a future city, the parents of the protagonist, Aite, lost their lives in an accident right before his eyes.
No, it wasn’t an unavoidable accident. It was a planned murder.
The culprit was a person everyone in the city believed to be a hero.
Aite swallowed his rage, fled, and resolved to become the hero’s enemy.
On the journey he began with a gun in his hand, he met new companions, grew close to them, relied on them, and moved forward.
In the process, he lost precious comrades as well, but in the end, the protagonist completed his revenge against the hero who had been hiding a conspiracy, and the movie concluded with a happy ending.
“Hoo… Even for a movie, that was really long. Two and a half hours.”
“I know. Still, I think it was worth that much.”
The action was flashy, but more than anything, what I liked most was watching Aite, who had been blinded by revenge, gradually mature and become just.
When the end credits rolled and the screen turned black, the room sank back into complete darkness.
Around the time only the sound of our breathing could be heard closely in the silence, Unnie very carefully opened her mouth.
“…Yeonseo.”
“What is it?”
“How did you feel when the revenge was over?”
“Mm… It was satisfying, but more than that, I remember Aite’s expression at the end. Even after he accomplished everything, he didn’t look happy.”
“You must have watched it properly.”
Unnie murmured in brief admiration and looked at me. Her gaze lingered a little long.
Beyond my eyes, now used to the darkness, I could see that Unnie’s eyes had sunk deeper than usual.
“…ss you?”
“What?”
Wondering if I’d heard wrong, I asked again, but Unnie didn’t give up and whispered in a slightly clearer voice.
“Can I… kiss you?”
I answered in a deliberately stern voice.
“Seriously… This is why you even skipped work, isn’t it?”
“Ahaha, okay, I’m sorry.”
Unnie laughed shyly and tried to pull back.
But I lightly caught Unnie’s shoulder as she was about to move away and gently kissed her on the cheek.
“…!”
Unnie, startled, froze as if she had turned to ice.
Even in the darkness, I could feel her face instantly flush red.
Looking at Unnie, who was so flustered she didn’t know what to do, I smiled slightly and added,
“…It’s a reward for taking care of me all day today.”