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Chapter 29
Self-Protection Instinct
Today, Na-young had called her mother on purpose to ask for recipes because she wanted to cook the dishes herself for the housewarming.
When she mentioned that she was hosting a housewarming, her mother was surprised.
“Did you invite people on your own?”
Her mother was pleased, noting how much she had changed. Na-young herself could feel the change after meeting Professor Choi Tae-hyuk. She had always kept a careful distance from others, but with him, that was impossible. Gradually, she found it harder and harder to stop a man who continually crossed boundaries and approached her unexpectedly.
Whether it was because of Professor Choi Tae-hyuk’s audacious personality or her own growing awareness of him, Na-young couldn’t tell.
Still, today, it was just the two of them dining together, so she wasn’t tense at all. That was until Oh Seung-jun and Seung-hee had to leave because of household matters, leaving just the two of them. Na-young glanced at him and asked:
“So, are we eating just the two of us?”
“Why? Is someone else coming?”
Na-young shook her head. Hearing that no one else was coming, Tae-hyuk nodded in satisfaction and took a seat at the table.
“Then I guess we have no choice but to eat together. Sit down.”
Seeing him act almost like the host, Na-young let out a small laugh. He was truly someone who never worried about what others thought, no matter where or when.
“Would you like some beer too?”
“Sure.”
For a moment, she considered that maybe they shouldn’t drink since it was just the two of them. But then she thought it might make the atmosphere stiff if she avoided drinking, so she opened the fridge and grabbed some beer.
Ironically, the first meeting with Professor Choi Tae-hyuk had been the most natural. She figured it had to do with the alcohol, so today she relied on beer again.
“Thank you for helping me become independent.”
“No need to mention it.”
Tae-hyuk replied lightly, clinking his glass against hers. He took a sip but was about to put it down when he noticed Na-young drinking hers in large gulps and stared in surprise.
Seeing her finish the entire beer, he asked:
“Did you get stressed while cooking?”
Unable to reveal the real reason, Na-young smiled awkwardly.
“Please, try it. It might not taste as good as Mrs. Hwang’s, but I followed my mother’s instructions, so it shouldn’t be terrible.”
Tae-hyuk picked up his chopsticks and reached for the galbi-jjim first. Some dishes had burned in the pressure cooker because of time, so she had separated only the ones that hadn’t burned.
Na-young watched him nervously as he ate.
“How’s the taste?”
“Burnt.”
As expected, he couldn’t lie about food. Na-young immediately reached to remove the dish, but Tae-hyuk grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“Just leave it; I’m still going to eat it.”
“But you said it’s bad.”
“I’ll eat this with my heart, not for the taste.”
“What does that mean?”
It sounded teasing, but also not exactly teasing.
“If I could ever eat my mother’s cooking even once, I would have eaten it all, even if it tasted like coal.”
Hearing his first mention of his mother, Na-young froze. She had suspected a little from her talks with Mrs. Hwang, but hearing it from him directly made her more concerned.
“You’ve never eaten your mother’s cooking?”
“Nope.”
Tae-hyuk brushed off the sad topic lightly and took a piece of the japchae Na-young had made.
“This actually tastes like real japchae.”
His backhanded compliment made Na-young bristle.
“The galbitang is made with real ribs too.”
“Then why aren’t you eating?”
Finally, Na-young reached for a piece of galbi in the soup and took a bite. Immediately noticing the burnt taste, she glanced at him.
“Maybe we should just throw the galbitang away.”
“No, I’ll eat it all.”
“Are you really going to finish it?”
Na-young didn’t want to eat the burnt galbitang at all. Thinking he was trying to impress her by eating it, she warned him in advance:
“Don’t blame me if you get sick.”
Because of that warning, it seemed he actually avoided taking a bite. Tae-hyuk ended up finishing the burnt galbitang himself, while Na-young only had one bite of the galbi and got the upset stomach.
Watching her pale, distressed face, Tae-hyuk commented:
“You look even prettier when you’re in pain.”
Na-young didn’t have the energy to be angry, only furrowing her brows.
Tae-hyuk stopped teasing and helped her lie down on the sofa.
“Do you usually have a weak stomach?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must have some medicine. Where is it? I’ll bring it.”
“It’s in the drawer next to my bed.”
Tae-hyuk nodded and went to her room.
The moment he stepped in, he paused. Na-young’s room, filled with her belongings, was unfamiliar and awkward for him. Realizing he was there to get the medicine, he went straight to the bedside drawer and took out her stomach medicine.
As he was about to leave, his eyes fell on a stuffed toy on her bed. It was not unusual for a girl to have one, but this bear was the only one she owned, and it looked quite old.
‘Why does this bear look so familiar?’
He had never owned a toy himself, except for once when he bought one for a sick girl at a hospital. That bear resembled the one on her bed.
Tae-hyuk reached for the bear just as he heard Na-young moving quickly outside. He grabbed only the medicine and left the room.
The sofa where she had been lying was now empty, and the sound of her vomiting came from the bathroom.
Tae-hyuk knocked gently and asked:
“Are you okay?”
After a while, her voice came from inside:
“I’ll be fine once I get it all out.”
It was the same as saying that if it hurt enough, it would get better.
“I’ll go to the hospital and bring an IV.”
Na-young said it wasn’t necessary, but he could be heard leaving the house. She rested her head beside the toilet. Inviting people over and ending up sick herself—how pathetic. And this happened because she had eaten the food she cooked herself. Truly the worst housewarming ever.
After receiving the IV Tae-hyuk brought from the hospital, Na-young began to feel a bit better. Watching him carefully check the drip’s flow, she asked:
“What did you tell them at the hospital while getting this IV?”
“I told the truth.”
“What? You told them I was sick?”
Startled, she tried to sit up, but Tae-hyuk pressed her shoulder down.
“I said you were sick.”
He didn’t look sick at all—he looked like someone who could wrestle an ox with bare hands.
“And the nurse believed that?”
“That’s none of my business.”
Na-young thought she could never live like him even if she were reborn.
“Professor, did you become so brazen after becoming a professor, or were you always like this?”
“I’ve been like this since I was young.”
“You must have been really hard to raise.”
She had said it without thinking, but Tae-hyuk’s gaze darkened in a way that made her uneasy.
“Are you upset about what I said?”
Even though he often said worse things to her himself?
“No, it just feels like my past is chasing me.”
Na-young, too, had a past she wanted to forget. Events from that past had changed her life completely, so she could empathize with his reluctance to talk about his past.
“Then I won’t ask about your past at all.”
When she promised, Tae-hyuk’s lips curved slightly—but then he immediately looked serious and asked:
“Wait! Does that mean you’re not interested in me?”
Na-young furrowed her brows, surprised by the sudden shift. Professor Choi Tae-hyuk was openly scolding her.
“I even ate all the galbitang, and this is too much.”
She had never forced him to eat it. And if he had eaten it expecting some reward, she should have felt disappointed.
Turning her back to him, she spoke in a tired voice:
“I’m going to rest now. Please, leave.”
“I can’t leave like this.”
The guest had suddenly become a nuisance.
“Do as you please. Anyway, I’m going to sleep.”
Tae-hyuk frowned as he watched her lying down. Even though their bodies were close, it wasn’t easy to get closer to her mentally.
Feeling his movement, Na-young finally asked:
“Are you leaving?”
“No, the bathroom.”
She gave him a dumbfounded look—he had gone to the bathroom as soon as he arrived, and now again?
Tap.
After closing the bathroom door, Tae-hyuk took out his phone and called Cha-hyun.
Rrrrrrrrrrr Rrrrrrrrr-
Click.
As soon as Cha-hyun answered, Tae-hyuk, without greeting, blurted:
“I even ate all the burnt galbitang, and Moon Na-young still keeps her distance. What on earth am I supposed to do?”
Suddenly hearing a friend’s complaint, Cha-hyun didn’t flinch and immediately gave dating advice.
[Moon Na-young cooked for you. She put her heart into it, and you ate it all while expecting something in return?]
It felt like he was calling Tae-hyuk greedy, which annoyed him.
“I’m on the verge of getting kicked out of this house. And that’s all you have to say?”
[What did you do at the housewarming that you’re about to get kicked out?]
Cha-hyun asked, trying not to laugh.
“I just asked if she wasn’t interested in me.”
Tae-hyuk slumped on the edge of the bathtub, speaking listlessly.
“If she said yes, it wouldn’t be awkward at all.”
[They say she’s like a knife when rejecting a man.]
“Oh! So it’s awkward because she said no?”
His expression immediately brightened.
[Only Moon Na-young knows her own heart. But she has a stronger self-protection instinct than anyone, so she will only open up fully if she truly feels your love. Just eating burnt galbitang isn’t enough.]
Tae-hyuk thought he understood Na-young’s heart perfectly. That was why he approached her first. Yet, when it came to love, he felt completely clueless.
“Does love suit me?”
Cha-hyun laughed at the question.
[That answer, she’ll give someday.]
