IH Ch 15

Chapter 15

When he opened the dessert refrigerator, the inside revealed itself to be impossibly vast and deep—nothing like what could be imagined from the outside. Seeing the neatly organized desserts inside, his expression softened. He picked out the strawberry cream cake situated near the middle. It looked small resting in his large palm, but it was enough to serve four adults. Looking at it with mock satisfaction, he grabbed a fork larger than a spoon and walked out. And then, he came face to face with the boy who had been tiptoeing quietly.

“……”

Apparently planning to sneak back into the room, the boy’s eyes widened in surprise at Hwang Jae-i’s sudden appearance. Even as panic flickered visibly in his eyes, Hwang Jae-i remained indifferent.

He figured there was no point caring—once the boy was back in the room, he’d be silent as a mouse. With that thought, he walked past him and sat on the sofa. He brought the fork to the cake and sliced off a large piece, stuffing it into his mouth. It melted immediately. The sweet taste and refreshing aroma of fresh strawberries blended together exquisitely. As expected, nowhere else matched this place. He made a mental note to make another reservation while savoring the flavor and took two or three more generous bites.

From the start, he hadn’t taken out a whole cake to nibble away at. He preferred eating until his mouth was full, and in doing so, he was soon down to a single slice. A pity. He thought he might get another one and turned his head—and that’s when he noticed the boy, still standing in the hallway unlike usual.

The boy was clutching the front of his loose pants tightly to keep them from slipping, and he was staring—not at Jae-i, but at the cake in his hands.

His black eyes sparkled blankly, as if entranced. His slightly parted lips looked wet. Drooling? Jae-i raised one eyebrow at the thought.

Usually, the boy would flinch immediately at any sign of displeasure from Jae-i, but this time he stayed still. Because his eyes weren’t on Jae-i—they were fixed solely on the cake in his hand.

“……”

Jae-i slowly extended his arm, holding the cake out in front of him. The boy’s eyes followed it, lips parting slightly more. Then, Jae-i raised his arm, and the eyes followed again, mouth opening even wider. Narrowing his eyes, Jae-i lifted the last remaining cake piece on his fork and shoved it into his mouth.

“……!”

Only then did the boy’s gaze, which had been fixed on the cake, lift to Jae-i’s face. His expression, dazed as if under a spell, froze in shock.

Chewing deliberately and swallowing all at once, Jae-i grinned triumphantly. The boy, staring blankly at him, pressed his lips together, lowered his head, and quickly walked away. Jae-i snorted at the sight of him leaving.

Did he really think he’d get some just by looking at it like that? If he was done, he should’ve gone quietly—why stop and stare?

Crossing his legs, Jae-i licked the cream off the fork. Humming like he was in a good mood—but that only lasted a moment. His expression slowly stiffened.

“……”

Jae-i’s eyes fell again on the spot where the boy had been standing.

He hadn’t bought the cake to share with anyone. So why did the boy look so devastated when he ate it all? Did he really think that just because Jae-i had given him food the day before, he’d keep feeding him?

“Ridiculous.”

Muttering how absurd it was, Jae-i roughly set the cake plate and fork down on the floor and stretched out on the sofa. The lingering sweetness of strawberries and cream lightened his mood. But even so, the way the boy had looked at him lingered in his mind.

“……”

He didn’t want to care. He truly wanted to ignore it—but he couldn’t. Grimacing, Jae-i sat up abruptly.

He needed to go ask him why he had looked at him like that. Maybe then this disgusting feeling would ease. Did that brat even understand his situation? Did he think he had the luxury to eat comfortably and live peacefully somewhere?

If it got out that he’d been part of Lee Myunghwan’s lair, there would be more than a few people who’d try to kill him on the spot. He was only safe because he was here. If he’d stayed with the Association, he probably would’ve ended up locked in a cell. Then again, at least he’d have been fed three meals a day… probably?

That sudden thought made Jae-i stop in his tracks. Standing before the closed door, he tilted his head back in irritation.

If he hadn’t had anything to eat, Jae-i wouldn’t have cared. But there were still leftovers in the fridge that Johan had brought. They’d go to waste if left there. Better to let someone who actually wanted it eat it. That’s all it was. Jae-i looked at the boy, who seemed ready to drool at the sight of warm grilled meat and salad laid out on a large plate.

“……”

Dohwa resisted the urge to grab the food immediately, glancing at Jae-i several times. Seeing that, Jae-i scowled and repeated himself.

“Chew ten times with every bite. If you just swallow it down in a hurry—”

No need to finish the sentence. The boy looked at him with eyes that said he understood, nodding his small head up and down vigorously. Still displeased, Jae-i jerked his chin.

“Eat.”

Only then did the boy clutch his chopsticks and carefully pick up the largest piece of meat, placing it in his mouth.

Even the time it took to bring the food to his lips seemed unbearable for him. Lowering his head, he opened wide and began chewing quickly. He chewed exactly ten times, just as instructed, then swallowed—and his eyes widened slightly. A quiet “Wow” slipped out, and he quickly picked up another piece of meat.

“……”

Must be really good.

Well, the restaurant Johan brought it from was good enough for even picky Jae-i to visit a few times. For a kid who’d been living on nutritional pills, this was probably a whole new world.

Thinking it’d be better to serve it warm, Jae-i reheated a portion and transferred the salad too. There wasn’t much else the kid could eat anyway. It was his way of saying: eat at your own pace.

Whether the boy understood or not, he devoured it eagerly. The food was good, but it seemed he was also starving—his small mouth moved constantly. Jae-i wasn’t sure how much a normal person ate since he was always surrounded by Hunters, but that plate should be enough for one meal. Still, judging by how fast the meat disappeared, maybe it wouldn’t be.

He had planned to get up after making sure the boy was eating, but he couldn’t. He was too fixated, watching the boy as the food quickly vanished. Wondering why he was eating so fast, but since he was chewing ten times like instructed, Jae-i couldn’t say anything. Then he noticed the boy repeatedly pushing aside fallen strands of hair with the back of his hand.

“……”

Seeing him fuss with his hair so often, Jae-i approached. The boy, cheeks stuffed full of meat, looked up. Sitting, he seemed to shrink back slightly, but Jae-i ignored that and reached for his long hair.

As he grabbed the boy’s hair, the boy flinched and lowered his head, but Jae-i didn’t care. Holding the hair with one hand, he twisted it into a bun and tied it off, like knotting the top of a long bag. The firmly tied hair now dangled at the nape of the boy’s neck. Though the ponytail still fell down his back, it was better than before. But the boy, acting like it wasn’t his own hair, set down his chopsticks and reached up with both hands.

He must’ve momentarily forgotten, focused on eating. Normally, he would gather his hair to hide his face when Jae-i stared at him. Now, realizing too late that his face was fully exposed, he seemed unsure what to do. As his hands fluttered nervously, Jae-i clicked his tongue and lightly swatted them away.

“Leave it.”

“……”

Even after being told to stop, the boy kept trying, so Jae-i clenched his teeth and made a sharp tss sound. The boy flinched and covered his chin and mouth with his hands.

Ridiculous. Jae-i had just watched him eat, and now he was trying to hide his face? Jae-i was about to scoff but then remembered—when they first met, the boy had been wearing a steel mask. If he’d hidden his face that long, maybe it felt wrong to show it now.

It was the same as how he would want to hide something he disliked or was uncomfortable with.

“Your face is fine.”

At those blunt words, the boy hesitated and looked up. Even as he tried to hide it with a pale, slender hand, his delicate features couldn’t be concealed. Finely drawn eyebrows, round wide eyes, a high nose bridge, and red lips.

“……”

It was the same face Jae-i had seen since splitting that steel mask in two. He hadn’t thought it was bad the first time. And since then, he’d never found it ugly or strange. It was certainly not the kind of face one had to go to such lengths to hide.

He wanted to tell him to stop fussing and eventually trim that ghost-like long hair—but swallowed the words. The boy stared at him, eyes waiting to hear what he’d say. Jae-i’s chest itched strangely. Hesitating, lips parting slightly, he finally spoke.

“Do you want some cake?”

“……”

The boy’s black eyes instantly lit up.

Still covering half his face with one hand, he asked cautiously.

“That one from earlier?”

“……”

The question, asked with such hopeful expectation, made Jae-i freeze.