Chapter 9

“There are weeds growing thick in the backyard. Mujin-ssi can’t do it because of his injured hand, so you can pull some weeds as payment for your meal. At least your limbs are perfectly fine.”

It was absurd. They expected the great Kwon Heeseong, who had barely done a single hard day’s work in his entire life, to weed a field as payment for a meal?

“This is ridiculous. You expect me to weed a field because I ate one measly bowl of food? Hey, Jeong Iwon. I don’t think you’ve quite grasped the situation yet.”

Kwon Heeseong let out a scoff and pulled out a wallet stuffed with checks from inside his jacket. He took out several checks and arrogantly tossed them at Jeong Iwon’s feet.

“This should buy more than a thousand bowls of that crap, shouldn’t it? Keep the change.”

Just as Yoon Mujin, who had followed Jeong Iwon outside, began to look furious at the arrogant display of money,—

“…Ha.”

Jeong Iwon gave a hollow laugh, then bent down and picked up the checks scattered across the ground. He gathered them into a bundle and hurled them straight at Kwon Heeseong’s face.

Flutter, flutter—

The pieces of paper slapped against Kwon Heeseong’s cheek before falling to the ground.

“Hey, I have money too, you know?”

Even though he had been kicked out of his family home, Jeong Iwon had received quite a substantial amount of property and wealth from his family since childhood. It wasn’t as if he was desperate enough to lose his mind over a few checks right in front of him.

“If you don’t want to work, then don’t eat! Get out of my house right now!”

At Jeong Iwon’s thunderous shout, Kwon Heeseong was rendered speechless. In all his life, Jeong Iwon was the first person to throw money in his face and tell him to get lost.

He did feel as though he had gone too far, but his pride wouldn’t allow him to admit it. Kwon Heeseong glared at Jeong Iwon’s retreating back, then slowly made his way down the hill, got into his car, and drove back to Seoul as though fleeing the scene.

From that day on, Kwon Heeseong suffered from severe withdrawal symptoms.

He went to the finest omakase restaurants and even tried French restaurants where he ate caviar, but nothing could satisfy him. He kept remembering that huge bowl of bibimbap, its rich sesame oil aroma filling his head.

“I’m seriously going crazy!”

As a last resort, he even asked the housekeeper who came and went from his home to make him bibimbap. He visited famous Korean restaurants as well, but none of them tasted right.

Why had that sloppy bowl of bibimbap, covered in a little dirt and made with whatever leftovers were lying around, been so damn delicious?

He had never been troubled by something like this in his entire life.

After suffering for several days, Kwon Heeseong eventually lost his battle against his ravenous appetite, climbed back into his car, and slammed his foot on the accelerator.

His destination was, of course, Jeong Iwon’s house.

As luck would have it, Yoon Mujin was away helping another elderly villager with some work, leaving only Jeong Iwon at home.

“Hey! Bibimbap! Make me some bibimbap!!”

Kwon Heeseong burst through the gate and boldly demanded food. Jeong Iwon, who had been sitting on the wooden veranda trimming green onions, looked up at him as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Are you insane? I told you not to come if you weren’t going to work.”

“I’ll work. Fine, I’ll do it!”

“You really mean it?”

“I really mean it!”

“Then work first. I don’t trust you.”

Jeong Iwon pointed toward the hoe in the corner of the yard with his chin.

“The field is behind the house.”

Jeong Iwon’s tone was firm.

Kwon Heeseong gritted his teeth.

He could simply turn around and leave, but his stomach was staging a noisy protest, demanding that damn bibimbap.

In the end, Kwon Heeseong, who stood at the pinnacle of capitalism, completely surrendered to his appetite.

“…What do I do?”

A short while later.

Under the blazing midsummer sun, a man sat crouched in the dirt with a purple work cushion strapped around his backside and the trouser legs of his several-million-won suit rolled up.

“Ah, fuck. Why won’t these weeds come out?! Argh! A bug!”

Jeong Iwon watched the miserable sight of Kwon Heeseong, still wearing his suit as he hacked away at the soil with a hoe, and nodded in satisfaction.

He was terrible at the actual work, but perhaps because he was an Alpha, he certainly had plenty of strength.

At least he looked capable of getting through today’s work somehow.

Back at the house, Jeong Iwon made bibimbap just as he had before.

The labor under the scorching sun had been brutal. For someone like Kwon Heeseong, who had never done anything like this before, it was nothing short of hell.

“I’m done.”

His expensive suit was covered in sweat and dust, and dirt was packed underneath his fingernails. When he straightened his back, a sharp pain shot through him as though his bones were about to snap.

Kwon Heeseong staggered toward the wooden veranda.

Just as promised, a huge bowl of bibimbap was waiting for him.

This time, it was generously topped with crispy, sweet-and-salty stir-fried anchovies that Jeong Iwon had prepared that morning.

“Eat.”

Kwon Heeseong didn’t even have the energy to answer. He simply picked up his spoon.

“…Holy shit.”

It was even more delicious than last time.

After sweating everything out under the scorching sun, the combination of carbohydrates, salty anchovies, and all the other side dishes was enough to overwhelm his taste buds.

Still wearing his suit, Kwon Heeseong sat on the veranda and buried his face in the bowl, throwing away every last shred of dignity as he devoured it.

“Slow down. Is someone chasing you?”

Jeong Iwon clicked his tongue and pushed over a large bowl of cool barley tea.

Kwon Heeseong downed the barley tea in one go, then scraped the bottom of the bowl clean with his spoon.

Only after the fullness finally settled in did he feel alive again.

“You’ve finished, right? You’ve paid for your meal and eaten it, so now go.”

Jeong Iwon gave him a firm dismissal as he cleared away the empty bowl.

But Kwon Heeseong’s body felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Go? Now? After driving four hours one way?

He had driven for hours that morning, then worked in the scorching midsummer heat. If he got behind the wheel now, he felt like he’d collapse from exhaustion in the middle of the highway before he even made it back to Seoul.

“I can’t.”

Kwon Heeseong sprawled out across the veranda.

“What? Are you kidding me? Get up!”

“Ah, I said I can’t! Do you know how many hours I’ve been driving today? And then I weeded the field. If I drive now, I’ll die in a drowsy-driving accident. I’m leaving tomorrow morning, so don’t bother me.”

Jeong Iwon stared at the stubborn man in disbelief.

Even if he wanted to drag him out, what was he supposed to do with a man that enormous?

“Haah, seriously, what did I do to deserve this? Fine, do whatever you want! But you absolutely cannot come into the room. Sleep on the veranda or in the yard, I don’t care.”

Jeong Iwon took a thin summer blanket and a wooden pillow from the main bedroom and tossed them at him before coldly shutting the door.

When Yoon Mujin returned later, he stared at Kwon Heeseong lying on the wooden veranda with an incredulous expression.

“What? Never seen someone sleep on a veranda before?”

Yoon Mujin shook his head and went inside.

Darkness settled over the countryside.

Left alone on the wooden veranda, Kwon Heeseong lay down with the hard wooden pillow beneath his head.

“Fuck. I can’t believe I’m sleeping in a place like this.”

For a man who insisted on sleeping only in proper beds, the wooden veranda felt like a torture device.

But he was so exhausted that his eyes slowly began to close.

Just as he was about to fall asleep—

Bzzzzzz—

An ominous buzzing sound circled his ear.

“Ow!”

He opened his eyes after feeling a sharp sting on his arm.

A gigantic mosquito, the likes of which he had never seen in Seoul, was sucking his blood.

And that wasn’t all.

A huge moth flew around his face, and mysterious insects began chirping and buzzing throughout the yard.

“Fuck, get away! Ah, shit!”

Kwon Heeseong frantically waved his hands through the air and thrashed around like a madman.

When he scratched the spot where he’d been bitten, his skin swelled red.

At this rate, he’d spend the entire night serving as a mosquito buffet and donating blood.

I can’t do this.

In the end, Kwon Heeseong swallowed his pride, wrapped himself in the blanket, and cautiously reached for the bedroom doorknob.

He slowly opened the door without making a sound, careful not to wake Jeong Iwon.

Then—

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Gah! You scared me!”

Someone was sitting with his arms crossed in the darkness, directly in front of the threshold.

It was Yoon Mujin, who had been lying down only moments ago.

“I believe I told you to sleep outside.”

Yoon Mujin frowned menacingly and blocked Kwon Heeseong’s path.

His enormous frame completely obscured Jeong Iwon, who was sleeping peacefully inside the room.

“There are fucking enormous mosquitoes outside! I’m going to get drained of blood! I’m a guest too, you know. You should at least give me a room!”

“Uninvited guest, more like. Iwon-ssi told me not to let you into the room. Go outside.”

“Hey! I even worked in the field today! If I’ve paid for my meal, isn’t it only fair that you give me somewhere to sleep?”

As Kwon Heeseong stubbornly tried to squeeze through the doorway, Yoon Mujin grabbed him firmly by the shoulder with his good left arm.

A tense killing intent hung between the two men.

It looked like they were about to have a second round of yesterday’s fight.

They would have—

if Jeong Iwon hadn’t gotten up, unable to tolerate the commotion.

“Ah, seriously! What the hell are you two doing in the middle of the night?!”

Jeong Iwon, his hair tousled from sleep, glared at the two men with a deep frown.

“Why the hell are you opening someone else’s bedroom door?!”

“There are mosquitoes the size of mountains outside! Am I supposed to get drained of all my blood and die? Let me sleep in the room too!”

“The room is too small! Three grown men can’t fit in there! And since when were you so sensitive?”

Jeong Iwon irritably scratched his head, then picked up a box of green mosquito coils from the corner of the room and threw it straight at Kwon Heeseong’s chest.

“Burn this and sleep.”

“How do I use it?”

“Take one out and light the end. There’s instructions on the back.”

“I don’t have a lighter.”

“Didn’t you used to smoke?”

“I quit.”

More precisely, he had quit so that he would look better in front of Baek Hamin.

“Haah.”

Jeong Iwon rummaged through a drawer and handed him a disposable lighter that had been lying around.

“If you open that door one more time, I’m seriously calling the police. Close the door, Mujin-ssi.”

Bang.

Standing miserably in front of the ruthlessly slammed bedroom door, Kwon Heeseong was left holding nothing but a mosquito coil and a lighter in his hands.