Not knowing other people’s speed

Ding-dong, ding-dong. His phone alarm rang.

There were some who chastised him, asking why his alarm sound was so analog in this day and age, not even music, but Doha stubbornly refused to change it.

Rather than preferring familiar things, he simply didn’t care what the alarm sound was.

He tilted his stiff neck left and right, making a thud-thud sound, then slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the familiar ceiling, shaking off the lingering sleepiness, then suddenly looked beside him.

Sana was nowhere to be seen. He raised a hand and pressed his eyebrows, sitting up. Come to think of it, Sana had been awake before him yesterday too.

“You’re awake? You woke up much earlier than yesterday.”

Perhaps because the alarm sound reached the living room, Sana was standing at the door.

Doha just waved his hand instead of answering. His head wasn’t clear yet, so his thoughts weren’t functioning normally.

“Are you eating breakfast?”

At the next question, he finally realized that this guy had prepared a meal on his own again.

It was astonishing that he was using someone else’s kitchen so freely, but he was a guest after all, and the fact that he was making him move bothered Doha, so he got out of bed.

Coming into the living room, the smell of grilled fish filled the air.

“Where did you get that?”

There was no way there would be fish in his house. He had never even bought canned goods, let alone fish.

“I went to the nearby mart, and they were selling it.”

Sana answered nonchalantly, gesturing towards the window. There was a large mart on the way from the main road into the residential area, and he seemed to be referring to that.

Even so, who usually thinks of cooking fish in someone else’s home?

When he got closer, he saw two well-cleaned fish sizzling golden brown in a frying pan.

“There weren’t any suitable side dishes.”

As Sana said, the table only had the stew from yesterday, kimchi, and rice. Sana, thinking the fish was done, looked for a plate. He opened various cupboards but couldn’t find one.

Watching him fumble, Doha opened the bottom drawer of the sink and pulled out a large plastic plate.

“Ah, it was there.”

Sana, taking the plate, seemed curious what else was in the drawer and bent down to check. As a result, his T-shirt shifted forward, and the neckline opened, revealing his bare skin.

Only then did Doha realize that Sana had changed out of the hanbok and into the clothes he had given him yesterday.

“Ah, I changed clothes on my own. Because you gave them to me yesterday…”

Sana, noticing Doha’s gaze, quickly made an excuse.

“You’re not going to say it’s not allowed today or something, right?”

At his question, asked cautiously, Doha cleared his throat and turned his head. He had given him the clothes yesterday, so there was no reason to tell him not to wear them now. The problem was…

Doha’s eyes subtly shifted back to Sana. Sana, relieved that Doha wasn’t complaining about the clothes, seemed to relax and was putting fish onto the plate.

The clothes… were too big. Doha had tried to find the smallest among his own clothes, but it was because Sana was originally so small. Giving an XL size to a guy who looked like he could wear women’s clothes naturally meant it would be baggy.

If he bent down even a little, the clothes would sag forward, revealing everything inside.

‘That’s probably very problematic…’

“Hey!”

He tried to look away, but his gaze drifted down, and he gasped.

Bare legs extended below the T-shirt. He was sure he had given him training pants as well, so he couldn’t understand why he was in this state.

“What happened to the pants?”

“Ah…”

Only then did Sana understand Doha’s reaction and stared blankly at the sofa. On the sofa, the pants Doha had given him were neatly folded.

“They were too big, so I couldn’t wear them.”

‘Training pants?’

“The waist just kept slipping down. It doesn’t matter, does it, since the shirt is long enough to cover everything anyway?”

Sana looked up at Doha and smiled brightly, oblivious to Doha’s distress. 

Ughhh, Doha swallowed a long groan and raised a hand to cover his face. He didn’t know where to look. This guy clearly hadn’t understood the warning he gave yesterday. Or perhaps he truly didn’t care what happened.

“You really…”

He tried to say something, but seeing Sana’s face looking up at him with such a clear expression, he lost his words. Scolding him about having a sense of danger or not seemed utterly meaningless at this point.

“Don’t go outside dressed like that.”

That was all he said, along with a sigh. Sana smiled and nodded, as if it were obvious.

“Sit down. It’s all ready.”

Sana placed the well-grilled fish on the table, then found chopsticks from the utensil holder above the sink and placed them in front of Doha.

The series of actions was so natural that he felt he couldn’t tell whether he or Sana was the owner of this house, and he no longer asked, “What are you doing?”

Sana, sitting opposite him, picked up his chopsticks but didn’t immediately eat, instead staring intently at Doha.

“Why?”

“Aren’t you eating?”

“Eat.”

He picked up his chopsticks and took a mouthful of rice, and only then did Sana start eating as well.

‘Is he waiting for me to eat first? Because I’m the older adult?’ He chuckled, thinking he was finding politeness in strange places.

He was truly an unpredictable guy. He was strange and annoying, but his actions weren’t hateful. That’s why he kept giving him leeway.

As Doha began to prepare to go out, Sana looked restless. If left alone, he seemed ready to follow him out soon.

“I told you not to go out dressed like that.”

Sana was still sitting on the sofa wearing only a T-shirt, his legs drawn together and curled up. Because of that, his underwear was clearly visible, and Doha hadn’t looked that way since earlier.

“If I change into my clothes…”

“That’s up to you, but if you’re planning on wearing those clothes and following me around, forget it. It’s a nuisance.”

When Doha said it bluntly, Sana quickly looked glum again and buried his face between his legs.

“Stop working at the club too. If you need money, find another job instead.”

Sana visibly flinched at his next words. A sigh almost escaped him at that reaction. He didn’t like that he was forcing himself to do unfamiliar work because of him.

“Instead, if you have nowhere to go right now, you can stay here for a while.”

He said casually, slipping his arms into his jacket. At those words, Sana raised his head again and looked at Doha. He seemed surprised by the changed reaction compared to yesterday.

“Just for a few days. Not to stay indefinitely.”

He made it clear, but whether it was for a few days or not seemed not to matter to Sana, whose face brightened.

Ah, he seemed to be captivated by that smiling face.

Because he smiled like a child like that, he worried that he might get into trouble with bad people if he went out, and so he couldn’t bring himself to heartlessly kick him out like yesterday.

Ding-dong. A cheerful bell sound was heard first.

“Welcome!”

The clerk standing at the counter greeted Doha with a picture-perfect smile.

“Are you looking for something?”

The clerk who came closer asked. Doha looked around the store instead of answering. Perhaps because it was a large store with two floors, staff in uniforms were scattered around, assisting customers.

“I’ll look around and decide on my own.”

At his polite refusal, the clerk smiled and retreated, saying, “Of course.” Doha first approached the display rack where colorful T-shirts were neatly arranged.

‘What size would he be?’ He was smaller than Doha, of course, and smaller than most other men. Roughly judging, he seemed about the same size as the female clerk who had just spoken to him. His gaze naturally drifted towards the section where women’s clothes were displayed.

As he walked that way, another clerk approached and spoke to him.

“Are you choosing clothes for your girlfriend?”

The clerk asked, making a guess, perhaps thinking that the clothes wouldn’t fit Doha, given his physique. Doha only frowned instead of answering.

‘Still, he’s a man, so wouldn’t his bone structure be different from women’s? If I buy something by eye and it’s too small, he won’t be able to wear it…’

“He’s a man…”

As he said that much, the clerk smiled brightly and explained that men’s clothes were not in this section but where he had first looked, and that this was the women’s section.

“I know. But his build is small for a man.”

“Ah.”

The clerk nodded with an understanding expression.

“Then how about these clothes? These are unisex models, so they can be worn by both men and women. They also come in a wide range of sizes.”

As the clerk said, at a glance, the clothes on display looked like women’s clothes, and also seemed like they wouldn’t look too out of place on men.

“Are you looking for T-shirts?”

He shook his head again at the clerk’s question.

“T-shirts, pants, everything generally. I’m going to pick several outfits.”

At that answer, the clerk’s smile deepened even further.

“We have clothes with various styles, so please take your time looking around and call me. I’ll help you find sizes.”

Fortunately, she didn’t persistently follow him around trying to explain.

Doha nodded and examined the clothes on display. He picked up a white V-neck T-shirt, then frowned and put it back down.

The V-neck was too deep; if he bent his head, his inside would be visible.

Of course, it wouldn’t be as baggy as his own clothes, but it seemed better for his mental health to avoid clothes that were too revealing.

He rummaged through colorful pastel-toned plain T-shirts and picked a few suitable ones. They only had a small line of English written in the center, so they were designs that wouldn’t stand out too much on anyone.

He also picked up a white and a black T-shirt. He thought they were the most versatile clothes.

After choosing a few T-shirts, he headed to the pants section. He examined a variety of jeans and training pants, then frowned. He could roughly guess the size of T-shirts, but pants were even harder to predict. ‘

Was his waist this size when I put my arm around it?’ He circled his arm in the air, and a nearby clerk looked at him with a strange expression. Noticing her gaze, Doha cleared his throat and put down the pants he was holding.

‘What am I doing right now? Not only do I have an unidentified guy living in my house, but I’m even picking out his clothes.’