Harmonious Love

The Harmony of Yin and Yang Is Not as It Seems PART1(21)

***

After applying a cold compress for some time, surprisingly, the pain in his dick subsided.

When he woke up after dozing off briefly, Tae Young-won was no longer beside him, and instead, he could hear the sound of dinner being prepared. Somehow hearing the rustling from the bed, Tae Young-won came into the bedroom like a ghost and checked between his legs.

“See, I told you it would get better. From now on, let’s soothe it like this after sex, okay?”

“…Yes.”

Mo Yeon nodded with a troubled expression.

Honestly, more than having to apply a cold compress to his dick after every sexual encounter, the fact that he was now in a relationship with Tae Young-won seemed even more unbelievable, making everything else seem insignificant in comparison. However, Mo Yeon obviously had no other way to avoid his suspicion.

Has he lowered his guard somewhat now? Mo Yeon glanced at his expression.

Yesterday, Tae Young-won had frantically pounced on him, saying he needed to confirm Mo Yeon’s feelings because he was suspicious. He had nearly been in danger of having his stomach pierced. But today, after just one night, he only touched him a little without pouncing like yesterday. Rather, he was applying cold compresses and preparing meals, so it should be considered more peaceful.

‘Did it work?’

Could it be that the efforts of offering his body yesterday and today…?

When he went outside with the blanket wrapped around his shoulders, Tae Young-won was in the kitchen. Indeed, he was preparing dinner.

Earlier there had been beef soup with basic side dishes, but now there was newly heated soup with rolled omelet and sausages added. It was like dinner side dishes for an elementary school student.

“Um, sunbae, can I have some pants now?”

Honestly, having to make such a request was embarrassing from the start. However, Tae Young-won didn’t seem to mind.

“Eat first. I saw you didn’t eat anything earlier.”

“I did eat…”

Throughout the meal, with his body covered by the blanket, Mo Yeon’s gaze kept going to the large window visible in front of him. Then he remembered the locking mechanism that had been particularly tricky to open.

“I noticed earlier that the door looked a bit unusual, did you have a break-in once?”

From what he remembered during his brief examination, it seemed like a structure where you had to press a certain pattern of keys in order or use a special key to open it. If not that, outsiders who didn’t know how to open it would randomly press various strange buttons, triggering the security alarm.

With such a complicated locking mechanism, it would certainly be possible to catch a thief who came in and couldn’t get out, and hand them over to the police.

“Ah, that.”

After a moment’s thought, Tae Young-won seemed to be considering whether to tell Mo Yeon or not.

“When I was young, the cat I was raising ran away from home. Even though the door was well closed, it managed to open it by itself and leave, and the whole family had to search for it for days.”

Mo Yeon had worried that if he showed any sign of trying to open the door, Tae Young-won might pounce on him again like yesterday, asking if he was trying to leave. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

“Since then, I’ve been using a rather unique security system. Even though I don’t have a cat anymore, it’s become a kind of habit.”

“…”

Honestly, doing this even while living in a different house than before felt more like an obsession than a habit. Mo Yeon nodded silently.

“I hate unexpected goodbyes the most. So I don’t like losing my things or people to others, whether they’re objects or people.”

As if the mere thought was unpleasant, he muttered with a deep frown between his brows.

“Then what if Han Chae-yeon sunbae suddenly transferred to the Economics department and only hung out with people from there?”

Tae Young-won frowned as if to say, “What are you talking about?” Is he getting upset so quickly? As Mo Yeon looked at him curiously, an unexpected answer came back.

“Are you serious?”

“Pardon?”

As Mo Yeon stared blankly, Tae Young-won made an indecipherable expression.

“You’ve been friends for quite a while, since you were freshmen, right?”

Mo Yeon had rather blurred boundaries when it came to understanding how much intimacy or attachment others have based on the nature of their relationships.

For example, when he entered high school, surprisingly, Mo Yeon immediately made a friend.

Kim Sung-jin, whom he naturally became close to after meeting as desk mates in class, was basically the epitome of an outgoing male high school student of that age. He was relatively quiet in class but had quite a few friends due to his wide social circle. However, Kim Sung-jin didn’t seem to like Mo Yeon becoming close with his friends.

He would also demand things like replying to all text messages within 10 minutes, or asking for personal items like his favorite mechanical pencil or the cotton undershirt he wore daily under his school uniform shirt. If these demands weren’t met well, he would get upset and angry. What was a bit strange was that he didn’t show any of these aspects when he was with his other friends.

Although it was a bit uncomfortable, Mo Yeon was so happy to have made a friend that he went along with whatever he wanted.

But before the first semester even ended, Kim Sung-jin, after hearing rumors about Mo Yeon from his middle school friends, never spoke to Mo Yeon again. Once again, only dark ghosts remained around Mo Yeon. This was how most of Mo Yeon’s human relationships usually ended.

“That doesn’t matter. It’s true that I’m close with Chae-yeon, but… she’s not that kind of existence.”

Does he mean they’re not that close? If even Han Chae-yeon, who had always been close and intimate since they were freshmen, wasn’t that kind of existence, then what would be?

“I see… I didn’t know.”

Since most of his memories of friends after he grew a bit older were like this, it was difficult for Mo Yeon to properly understand what level of distance was normal in human relationships.

But to begin with, is it even applicable to people to say “I don’t like losing my things to others”? Having never had people by his side, this would forever remain an unknown realm to him.

“There’s no need to think it’s strange. I’m just used to it, so I keep using it.”

Is he in a position to find such things strange? Although it was regrettable that he couldn’t leave earlier, Mo Yeon was secretly glad to discover Tae Young-won’s flaws. As long as he could open the door, that would be enough.

“It’s not as strange as I thought, actually.”

“…”

After staring at Mo Yeon for a moment, Tae Young-won nodded with a quite satisfied expression. His grinning face looked playful.

“Well… no matter what I do, between the two of us, Mo Yeon is still the stranger one.”

“…You seem quite satisfied with that, don’t you?”

And it seemed that Tae Young-won had noticed Mo Yeon’s words.

“I think I am, actually. It’s strange.”

“But if you’re planning to get another cat, please don’t call me.”

After his curiosity was satisfied, Mo Yeon stopped talking about the door and continued eating.

“Why? Do you dislike cats?”

“I don’t particularly like them.”

Mo Yeon took a sip of water from his cup and felt that this situation was quite strange. More precisely, his relationship with Tae Young-won.

He had been satisfied with stalking Tae Young-won and knowing his flaws. Tae Young-won felt a strange satisfaction in knowing that Mo Yeon was odd. It was truly… a very strange relationship.

“…Hmm.”

When he looked up, Tae Young-won was staring at Mo Yeon with his chin resting on his hand.

The meaning was unclear, but it was an extremely peculiar expression.

Mo Yeon, whose stomach was now quite full, put down his spoon without finishing his bowl. It was because his gaze was drawn to the window visible straight ahead once again.

One question about this house had been resolved, and now the other remaining question in this house was that very thing.

From earlier, Mo Yeon had wanted to pull back those curtains in this house no matter what. There was a good reason for it. But he couldn’t do it when he was alone, and now it seemed like he could.

Mo Yeon slowly got up from his seat and approached the window.

“…”

And Tae Young-won’s gaze interestingly followed that movement.

Mo Yeon felt Tae Young-won’s gaze following his sudden action, but he thought that compared to the behaviors he had shown so far, this wouldn’t seem like such a strange action.

The covered window was what Mo Yeon was most wary of.

While normal people might expect the most pleasant sight when opening a window to be a blue sky or impressive city neon signs, Mo Yeon was different. It was because he had adjusted his entire lifestyle to always be careful not to attract the interest of ghosts. The window was just something connected to the outside, where one could never know what might be there.

Although not always, there were often things attached to windows, and if he happened to look down outside the window and make eye contact with a ghost, it would become troublesome, so he always lived with the windows tightly closed and curtains drawn, even at home. Even after moving to Tae Young-won’s officetel, the frequency of encountering ghosts in daily life had decreased a lot due to his influence, but still, it wasn’t easy to change a habit he had lived with for so long overnight.

“…”

Mo Yeon, who had carefully approached the window with the blanket wrapped around him, grasped the curtain. His hand, tightly gripping the thin ivory-colored curtain, hesitated for a long time.