Yes, It’s Me. The Obsessive Side Top

#044

Grandmother entrusted me with lighting the fire in the brazier. 

As I was fanning to light a fire after putting in dry firewood, Grandmother was next to me, telling me this and that.

“Jin-i. If you shake it too hard, the fire will go out.”

Doing it hard wasn’t always good. I stopped fanning, having shaken my arm to the point of breaking.

“Then should I do it slowly?”

“You have to coax it gently.”

I started moving the fan I had been shaking violently in a light, fluttering motion.

When it got hot enough, we greased the pot lid and put black pig pork belly on top. With a sizzling sound, the meat cooked and the fat flowed to the center, gathering in one place.

Just looking at that was enough to make my mouth water, but Grandmother didn’t stop there and put well-fermented kimchi on top, chopping it with scissors. The kimchi cooked, making a sound like frying something.

“Why don’t restaurants do this great thing?”

Kim Shin spoke in an excited voice as if he had discovered something amazing.

“Some restaurants do it. They call it pot lid pork belly.”

“What, Ha Jin, you knew? Did you go without telling me? When?”

“I didn’t go, I just know from hearing about it.”

“Hmm, let’s go together when we think of this after going up to Seoul.”

Saying that, Kim Shin immediately clung to Grandmother’s side and asked her this and that, as if he didn’t need to hear my answer.

“Grandmother, do you often eat like this?”

“I do eat it often. I can’t eat like this alone.”

“Then make it for us like this whenever we come.”

“Oh my, alright, alright. Shin-nie has good affability, just like Jin-i.”

“That’s because we’ve been really close friends since we were young. Don’t people who are together start to resemble each other?”

“Is that so? Friends are good. Friends since childhood are forever friends.”

For some reason, the words “forever friends” gave me goosebumps. Do I have to be with Kim Shin forever? I alternated my gaze between Grandmother and Kim Shin, then turned to Sun Woo. He had a nonchalant face, and perhaps sensing my gaze, he looked at me. And he smiled very calmly.

“Now you look a bit lonely?”

“A little?”

As Sun Woo said, I felt a bit like Grandmother had been taken away by Kim Shin.

“You’re being childish.”

When I glared at him, dumbfounded by his words, he lightly flicked the tip of my nose with his finger. It was an action that treated me like a child, as he said. As the smiling Sun Woo approached closer, my body’s senses became extremely sensitive, as if it was a learned effect.

“I’ll accept all your clinginess, so try being clingy once. It would be cute.”

I internally replied that there was no way I would ever do that. What’s cute about a grown man? To avoid Sun Woo, I also went to Grandmother’s side and sat on a small chair.

After finishing dinner, Sun Woo finally threw a question at Kim Shin.

“Aren’t you going to leave now?”

Sun Woo seemed puzzled by Kim Shin, who didn’t leave even after the sun had completely set. He didn’t say a word to Kim Shin, and the first thing he finally says is that. If it were me, I would feel sad, but Kim Shin didn’t seem to be affected at all.

“I’m going to stay here for a few days. It’s so nice here. Grandmother is nice too. Wow, it’s been so long since I breathed this fresh air.”

Kim Shin, who took a deep breath with a refreshed face, sat on the wooden bench, tilted his head back, and looked up at the sky. Sun Woo had an expressionless face. On the outside, he seemed to have no particular thoughts about Kim Shin staying, but the content of what he said next clearly seemed like he wanted Kim Shin to leave.

“There are no rooms left though.”

“What? You’re not kicking me out because there’s no room, are you?”

Kim Shin slyly pulled his body towards where Grandmother was sitting and sat next to her.

“Grandmother, you’ll let me sleep here, right? You can’t chase me out.”

“Darling, why wouldn’t there be a room? If darling sleeps with me, and Jin-i and Shin-nie sleep together, it’ll work out.”

‘Nice, Grandmother!’

I inwardly cheered at Grandmother’s Solomon-like solution.

“Yeah, that would work.”

Kim Shin grinned and laughed, while Sun Woo quietly looked at me and held his breath. I don’t know why he’s shooting arrows of blame at me. I can see his displeasure a bit, but I also nodded my head, feeling happy.

“That would be best. Three people in that room would be too much.”

“It’s been a while since I slept together with Ha Jin, huh? When we were young, we often slept together in my bed. You used to cling to me, saying you didn’t want to go home. You were really cute.”

Young Ha Jin was indeed cute.

Sun Woo sat there silently with a cold face. Who would think he’s the male lead seeing a face like that?

Sun Woo, who seemed to be thinking about something, opened his mouth with a furrowed brow.

“I think it would be fine for the three of us to sleep together.”

“Oh my, darling, why would you three huge guys cram in there to sleep? Darling can sleep with Grandma.”

Grandmother said that and took off the stems of the strawberries she had bought at the market and put them on a plate. I reached out to pick up a strawberry, but Sun Woo snatched the one my hand was heading towards. Is he picking a fight now? My eyes naturally narrowed, and as I moved to pick up another one, a strawberry was pushed into my mouth. Dumbfounded by Sun Woo’s hand forcefully trying to put the strawberry in my mouth, I had no choice but to eat it. He was using enough force to crush the strawberry if I didn’t open my mouth.

“What?”

“You said you don’t have hands, Ha Jin. So I fed you.”

When I asked while chewing the strawberry, Sun Woo replied with a face devoid of any hint of laughter.

If I didn’t have hands, he should have fed me when we were eating fried chicken or pork belly earlier too. Why is he doing this only now? As I couldn’t erase my dumbfoundedness, Sun Woo picked up another strawberry. I had a bad feeling, and indeed, his hand was heading towards my mouth again.

“I have hands. I’ll eat with my own hands.”

I turned my head to avoid the strawberry coming towards me again, and Sun Woo withdrew his hand and put the strawberry into his own mouth.

What, why did his mood suddenly turn bad, and why is he taking it out on me again? Kim Shin was laughing with a face that seemed to find it hilarious.

While Kim Shin went to wash up, Sun Woo came into the room and helped spread out the bedding. Lastly, when placing the pillows, he puts two of them far apart. Still dissatisfied, he was pushing one pillow as if he would stuff it into the wall.

“At this rate, the pillow will go through the wall into the next room.”

When I put the pillow back in a proper position, Sun Woo grabbed my arm.

“Will it be okay? Sleeping with Kim Shin, just the two of you? I think it would be better for us to sleep together with Grandmother in her room.”

“It would be too much for three people to sleep there too. Plus, you said Grandmother is a light sleeper. If I go too, it would be uncomfortable for Grandmother.”

“I can’t feel at ease.”

“Is this a tiger’s den? Is Kim Shin a tiger?”

Speaking of which, the image of a tiger suited Kim Shin well. Things like his sharp eyes and fierce energy. Then, the door clicked open and Kim Shin came in. He seemed to have heard the whole conversation from outside, trying to hold back his laughter, but laughter kept escaping his mouth.

“Sun Woo. What are you so worried about? If someone hears, they might think I’m going to eat Ha Jin.”

“…”

“Well, Ha Jin might taste good if I ate him. But I want to live with our Ha Jin for a long, long time. So I don’t think I could even lay a finger on him?”

“This country house isn’t soundproof.”

Why is he bringing up soundproofing? I looked at Sun Woo as if he was talking nonsense. Kim Shin must have felt the same way, as he finally burst into loud laughter. I guess Kim Shin’s sense of humor matches Sun Woo’s.

“Ahaha… Sun Woo is a completely funny character. Ha Jin, how did you get Sun Woo to care for you like this? It’s so funny, I’m tearing up.”

Kim Shin made an exaggerated gesture and wiped his eyes with his fingers. There were no tears on his fingers at all. Kim Shin kept snickering and laughing.

“Who would eat a kid at Grandmother’s house?”

“…”

“Ah, was someone thinking of eating?”

Kim Shin sat down, still smiling leisurely.

“I’m tired, so I’ll sleep first. Sun Woo, if you have more warnings for Ha Jin, tell him.”

As if appealing that he was an upright citizen, Kim Shin lay down and even turned his back to me.

“Sun Woo.”

I called Sun Woo’s name and conveyed with my eyes that there’s no way Kim Shin would do what he had done.

Sun Woo stared blankly at Kim Shin’s back, then brushed my lips once and mouthed the words “scream” so Kim Shin wouldn’t hear, then left the room.

Thinking he was crazy, I turned off the light and lay down, thinking at least he didn’t kiss me here.

The feeling was completely different from lying down with Sun Woo. It felt unfamiliar and a bit uncomfortable to be lying in the same room as Kim Shin. Even when Sun Woo was close, it didn’t feel strange.

As I lay still, looking at the ceiling, Kim Shin, who had been lying on his side, turned his body and lay straight, making the sound of rustling blankets. Strangely on edge, I focused on that sound. When Kim Shin’s quietly exhaled breaths started to feel comfortable, he spoke to me.

“Sun Woo really cherishes our Ha Jin a lot, huh? I alone am enough to cherish Ha Jin. Don’t you think?”

“I don’t need either of you.”

“It’s a big deal that Ha Jin has gotten used to my care. It seems like he doesn’t know how to be wary of people.”

“I’m being sufficiently wary.”

“I know. Our Ha Jin’s wariness. It’s a solid iron wall. But these days, that iron wall seems to have lowered, and I think I can climb over it soon. Can I climb over?”

“No. Stay where you are.”

“Where I am? Staying in that spot is what I do best. When will Ha Jin look back at me?”

Kim Shin continued talking like that, lying straight without even looking at me.

“Lying like this reminds me of when we were young. Ha Jin was so cute, I wanted to put you in my pocket and carry you around. You were short too. You looked a year younger than me. When did you grow up like this? Our Ha Jin is all grown up.”

“If someone hears, they’ll think you raised me.”

“I did raise you. Our cute Ha Jin.”

“Kim Shin. Aren’t you tired?”

“Nope, not at all.”

But he told Sun Woo he was tired.

“Ha Jin, aren’t you curious if Sun Woo will come running if you make a noise?”

I had a feeling he would come running 100%. I just had that premonition. But I didn’t bother conveying my thoughts to Kim Shin.

“Sleep.”

At my brief words, Kim Shin laughed as if deflated.

“Good night, Ha Jin. I won’t eat you, so don’t worry.”

Ignoring Kim Shin, who was saying strange things, I closed my eyes. Contrary to my worries that I might not fall asleep easily with Kim Shin next to me, fortunately, I quickly drifted off to sleep.

Something was brushing against my neck. A warm sensation touched my nape and repeatedly lifted off. At the ticklish feeling, I slightly trembled, and the thing touching me disappeared. Then it brushed against my neck again. Finally waking up from sleep, I quietly opened my eyes. In a hazy state of drowsiness, I turned my eyes towards my nape, and I saw something pulling away.

Blinking a few times, something started to become visible in the darkness. That thing, with its head turned towards me from a slight distance, was…

Kim Shin.