“Where is my phone?”
I awkwardly scratched my neck and glanced around.
Cha Rui pulled my phone out of his pants pocket and offered it to me.
He must have picked it up when it was rolling around and kept it safe.
As soon as I received the phone, I checked the missed calls and texts immediately.
I was worried that my father, who hadn’t been feeling well, might have worried all night, so I urgently moved my fingers.
But for some reason, no matter how much I searched, there was no contact from my father.
The conversation had completely stopped after yesterday’s text saying he would take care of dinner himself and to stay out and enjoy as long as I wanted.
My father was usually very worried because of his son who attracted trouble.
So, it should have been normal to have a pile of messages or missed calls now that I had stayed out without a word.
‘This can’t be right.’
A sudden uneasy thought crossed my mind, and I was about to press the call button.
With a ‘sizzle’ sound, Cha Rui placed a fried egg on a plate.
“I contacted him yesterday, so don’t worry.”
“You contacted him?”
When on earth? I naturally searched my memory, but no moment came to mind.
To be precise, we were together all day, so there was no time for it.
That meant he had contacted my father after I had fallen asleep, almost passing out.
He must have been tired himself.
I felt he was better than me, his own son.
‘Ah, what time is it now?’
I checked the time on my phone; it was just past 8:30 AM.
I suddenly felt worried that my father might have attempted to open the store alone.
“My father shouldn’t go to work alone…”
After the Lee Donghyuk incident, I didn’t want my father to be alone if possible.
That was the reason why the store was closed until I returned from Russia.
My father was always aware of the danger, but sometimes he was so dedicated to the store that he pushed that fact aside.
“I had my guild members handle that, so just sit down.”
Cha Rui, who must have overheard my muttered concern, opened the refrigerator to get orange juice and spoke.
The ‘guild members’ he mentioned could, of course, only mean the Cha Sung Guild.
While I wondered if it was appropriate to involve guild members in such a private matter, my concern for my father made a shameless question pop out of my mouth.
“A-rank?”
“Yes. Two high-ranking ones. They are with him now.”
“……”
“Your taste hasn’t changed, has it?”
I was about to answer that I would go straight to the store but quickly shut my mouth again.
Still, he had prepared it so early in the morning that I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.
In the end, I decided to eat quickly and leave, settling down in the chair.
“It’s all my favorites.”
Literally, the table was filled with all the foods I liked.
Although it might look a little simple and childish, these were the side dishes that I never tired of eating, even every day.
Especially the sausage stir-fry and the soft-yolk fried egg.
They were foods I barely ate in my previous world, but due to ‘Seo Inho’s’ influence, I strangely kept reaching for them since I came to this world.
Seeing that Cha Rui knew ‘Seo Inho’s’ taste so intimately made me think this might not be his first time at this house.
After all, he wouldn’t be able to learn all this just from school lunches.
“How is your body?”
As I quietly focused on eating, Cha Rui glanced down at my lower body.
I felt my face flush, knowing exactly what he meant.
My mind had been elsewhere, and the events of yesterday suddenly came rushing back to reality.
“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
“……”
I managed to chew and swallow my food, unnecessarily fiddling with the rice bowl with my chopsticks.
But when no answer came, I rolled my eyes awkwardly.
“My back is a little stiff, but this much is nothing…”
But before I could even finish my sentence, Cha Rui stood up abruptly and approached me.
Then, he started to examine my awkwardly seated waist.
“Here?”
A careful hand slid down the deeply recessed line of my spine.
He lightly pressed my lower back and also touched my tailbone, checking my condition.
Although the contact was natural and without any ulterior motive, I was the one imagining strange things.
‘Am I seriously crazy?’
I bit the inside of my cheek to try and shake off the impure thoughts, but then Cha Rui’s expression caught my eye.
My eyebrows twitched, and I saw his face was quite serious, as if he had misunderstood something.
“Wait… what’s with that expression. Don’t say you’re going to get a potion. It’s really not that bad.”
I knew that if he did, he would obviously bring a top-grade one.
Spending thousands just for a dull ache was absurd.
This was the kind of pain that would disappear in a few hours.
“I know, just finish eating.”
At my firm reaction, Cha Rui finally sighed softly and returned to his seat.
However, the fact that his gaze kept drifting toward my back showed he was quite concerned.
‘What’s there to worry about so much…’
Honestly, I felt good, but at the same time, I felt suffocated.
Ever since I learned Cha Rui’s true feelings, a corner of my heart had felt strangely heavy.
I took a sip of orange juice and quietly placed the glass on the island table.
We were both trying not to mention yesterday’s events, but we couldn’t just keep avoiding it.
“Cha Rui, about yesterday…”
“You don’t need to say anything.”
However, my words were cut off as Cha Rui interrupted.
He slowly closed and opened his eyes, then paused uncharacteristically, and continued in a voice that sounded like he was swallowing something.
“I just need to be by your side, just like now.”
“……”
“Just don’t leave without a word. Because I don’t know what might happen to me then.”
I couldn’t give any answer to that.
What kind of feelings must one have to inspire such unbelievable devotion?
It was hard for me to even guess at this point.
A sudden thought crossed my mind: was I perhaps hurting Cha Rui… no, all three of them?
I felt cowardly for being unable to make up my mind, solely because I was afraid one of them might leave my side.
About 30 meters away from my father’s store.
I had just arrived in front of the store, having gotten a ride in Cha Rui’s car.
Honestly, running would have been much faster during rush hour, but he insisted on driving me, so I had no choice.
I think it was because of my back, but even when I suggested running together, he acted like he hadn’t heard me.
Cha Rui rarely acted so stubbornly, so I had no way to win against him insisting on driving me all the way.
Fortunately, the traffic lights were in our favor, and it didn’t take as long as I thought.
“It’s going to be really busy again today.”
Looking out the window, I saw that, as expected, many people were waiting outside the store entrance.
The difference from usual was that they were all glancing toward the entrance and whispering.
‘Ah, those people must be them.’
Two unfamiliar men were standing rigidly in front of the closed door.
Without needing to check, they were the A-rank guild members Cha Rui had mentioned.
Just by their unusual aura, both men looked to be quite high-level.
‘So he wasn’t just saying that.’
Satisfied, I unbuckled my seatbelt to get out of the car.
“Yesterday was fun.”
Then, as I reached for the car door, my hand froze.
I suddenly regretted the words that had slipped out without thought.
What I meant was the fun of playing the crane game and taking pictures together, but the statement could easily be misunderstood depending on how it was heard.
I considered just ignoring it and getting out, but I felt I should correct it.
I didn’t want to seem like someone who just spent the night and left.
“Oh, I mean…”
“It was good for me too, after a long time.”
“……”
“In many ways.”
Cha Rui’s words held various meanings.
Realizing this a little late, I had no choice but to quickly turn my head away from his gaze.
Otherwise, I felt my flushed face would be exposed.
Cha Rui chuckled at my honest reaction and lightly tapped the doll hanging from the rearview mirror.
The red-haired doll swung back and forth, looking as if it were dancing.
The doll wasn’t particularly small, and I couldn’t understand why he would deliberately hang it here.
I didn’t care since mine was attached to my waist, but wasn’t this too noticeable?
“Isn’t that a little distracting?”
But Cha Rui only shrugged.
Come to think of it, he showed quite an attachment to it, carrying the doll around even on the street.
A cute doll in such a large, rugged car.
“Anyway, thanks for the ride. You must be busy, so you should go now.”
“Seo Inho.”
I had opened the car door by about a hand’s width when I reflexively turned around at his voice.
And before I could even register it, a soft sensation collided with my lips.
