Absinthe

Chapter 38: Indecent Proposal

"So Jeremy's your brother, huh?" I asked as Jiwoo and I hauled the groceries out of my car and into the

elevator.

"Let me get that," he said as he grabbed the shopping bags I was carrying.

I keyed in my door code and let Jiwoo enter.

"Wow, this place is something."

"You can take your shoes off and use one of these," I said, pointing to the fluffy indoor slippers I kept in

a shoe cabinet by the door. We went inside, with me leading the way toward the pantry. "The groceries

can go in here. I'll just take a quick shower before doing the preps."

"I'm helping out," Jiwoo declared as he carefully placed the bags on the kitchen counter.

I nodded to quietly thank him. "So we just passed the living room," I said as I pointed to the sitting area

near the door. "If you go further there, you'll run across Derrick's room."

"You guys live together?"

"Temporarily, yes," I replied. "Derrick's house is under construction. He's staying with me until all that's

finished."

Jiwoo nodded and brought his gaze to the opposite hall. "And this leads to your bedroom?"

"Uh-huh," I said. "Just past the kitchen is our entertainment area. There's a couch there, too, if you'd

rather sleep with the TV on or something. You can see the dining area from here. The first room to the

left is the library. The one on the right is my bedroom."

Jiwoo continued to study the walls and corners of the condominium, seemingly lost in thought.

"There's a shower room inside the utility room. That one was meant for the house help, but mine

comes and goes every day. It's already stocked with towels and toiletries. You can use it right away."

Jiwoo nodded and flashed me a smile. "Thanks. I'll take a shower then."

I went to my room, showered rather quickly, and rushed my skin care routine, too. But when I got to the

kitchen, Jiwoo was nowhere in sight. I hadn't expected him to take a longer time to shower, but I

decided to go ahead and start cooking breakfast and snacks for tomorrow.

We had gotten some fresh chicken thighs earlier as I'd thought it would be nice to make some roasted

chicken sandwiches with caramelized onions. I preheated the oven while seasoning the chicken with a

generous amount of salt, pepper, and paprika powder.

I started making some brioche next, and when the molds were in my bread oven, I proceeded with the

slow process of caramelizing white onions without sugar. I had to make sure the onions would become

extra creamy as I was not using any other sauce to dress up the chicken filling for the sandwiches.

After that, I moved on to baking some chocolate and banana muffins. I figured that amount of food was

more than sufficient for the eight-hour ride to Benguet. As I was about to pipe the muffin batter, I

noticed I didn't have the muffin liners with me. I went to the utility room to get them, but dear Lord, what

I saw cause me to literally fall to the ground.

Jiwoo was standing there, half-naked, drying his hair with a small towel. And I know that being a

Scorpio meant that my libido was on the higher side, but the sight of Jiwoo standing there with all of the

lines in his torso and the way his chest redefined the word "art" made me feel like I hadn't been that

thirsty my entire life. And to think that I'd had my fair share of hot ex-boyfriends.

"Sorry," I managed to say. "I just need some muffin liners."

"Where are they?"

"Um, in that cupboard over there." I pointed to the topmost cupboard in the utility room.

Jiwoo turned his back to me, and I feasted my eyes on the way his back muscles became prominent

with every movement. And his tattoo! And his arms when he started to reach for the liners! I was totally

debating whether to leave now or stay because I was afraid of getting a boner. Nothing would be more

embarrassing than that.

"Here you go," Jiwoo said, handing me what I had come for.

I took them from him and made a beeline for the kitchen. I felt my entire face turning hot, so I poured

myself some ice-cold milk. I pressed the cold glass on my neck to try and lower my temperature. I was

definitely sleeping with Robert the next chance I got. Being chaste for the past couple of months was

taking a toll on my sanity.

"Hey." It was Jiwoo, now fully dressed in a plain white shirt that did nothing to conceal the lines of his

body and a pair of pastel-colored shorts.

"Sandwiches?" he asked. "Those would be good for brunch. I see you made muffins, too."

I nodded and forced back a smile. "That should be enough, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Jiwoo said. "We just need some coffee in tumblers, and we're all set."

"Good idea!" I said. "But that can wait until tomorrow morning, before we set off. That way, the coffee

will be fresh and hot."

Jiwoo nodded in agreement, but his face hinted that he had other ideas. "I think cold coffee is better for

road trips. And there's this recipe I really want to try out."

"What's that?"

Jiwoo showed it to me on his phone. It was a recipe for a type of Korean bread called soboro, which

involved using coffee. "Korean coffee buns. Are you familiar with them?"

Realization hit me as soon as I heard the name of the bread. So that was the recipe for the fluffy, novelbin

coffee-flavored bread they sell in coffee shops around Seoul.

"We can make a big batch and leave it for Derrick and your other friends," suggested Jiwoo.

The recipe did not look complicated, and I honestly missed eating that kind of bread. "Sure. Let's make

some."

Jiwoo almost looked like a robot with the way he efficiently prepped the kitchen counter with all the

ingredients we needed: flour, yeast, sugar, and everything in between. Even the measuring cups and

the weighing scale were arranged neatly, almost in the correct order in which we were to use them.

"So you've met Jeremy?" Jiwoo said as he watched me activate the yeast with warm milk and sugar.

"Yeah," I said uncomfortably. "Like he said, we met when he was—"

"With his sugar daddy," Jiwoo interjected to finish the sentence for me.

"Sorry," I said, kneading the dough.

"Is that a special technique?" Jiwoo asked as I alternated between quickly and slowly working the

dough with my fingers and knuckles.

I nodded. "Yup. Slow kneading allows for gentle incorporation of the ingredients and maximum flour

hydration. Quick kneading will let the dough become more oxygenated and work the gluten better."

"I see," Jiwoo said, a look of keen interest etched clearly on his face. "I found out about Jeremy and

Mowcah three months ago."

"I'm really sorry about that," I told Jiwoo.

"What are you apologizing for? It's not like you're the one paying to sleep with my brother."

I didn't know how to respond to him, so I just kept my mouth shut and focused on the dough for my

first-ever attempt at coffee buns.

"I got angry with him," Jiwoo continued. "Jeremy, I mean. If he weren't the materialistic asshole that he

is, we would have been fine without him having to do that, you know."

"Mowcah's not really a bad person," I managed to say. "It's a pity that your brother has to do that, but

don't you think it's unfair for Mowcah, too?"

"Don't get me wrong," Jiwoo said. "I have nothing against Mowcah. I just know for a fact that my

brother's straight."

"Which makes it more unfair for Mowcah, no?"

"Yes," Jiwoo said exasperatedly. "That's why I got mad at my brother."

We were quiet for a bit as I cut up the dough into smaller balls and placed them neatly on a baking

sheet. I covered them loosely with a cheese cloth to start the proofing process.

"I mean, why'd he have to leach off of Mowcah?" Jiwoo asked. "What had that person done wrong to

deserve that?"

I folded my arms across my chest. We had an hour to proof the dough before I had to flavor it with the

coffee. I guess I had no choice but to discuss the awkward topic at hand with Jiwoo.

"I've spoken with Mowcah about that," I said. "She seems to be happy with how Jeremy's treating her.

So I guess it's a win-win?"

Jiwoo shrugged. "Would you like it if I faked my love for you?"

I fought the urge to laugh and ended up snorting instead. "As if."

I suddenly realized that three months ago was the exact time Jiwoo and I had fought. And maybe, just

maybe, that was one of the reasons why he had acted that way.

"I tried to provide for my brothers," Jiwoo said, as though reading my mind. "So it was a pretty big blow

to realize that my efforts weren't enough for Jeremy, that he had to sell himself to get what he wanted."

"I think that's a bit of an overstatement," I managed to say. "Do you really think he's forced to do it? I

feel sorry for him and Mowcah, but look at it this way, Jiwoo: Jeremy's old enough to decide on what he

wants to do with his life."

"You're right," Jiwoo said. "I just felt like it was my fault somehow. If I'd just done the same thing when I

was younger, like what my mom and stepdad said—"

"You know, you're really confusing. One moment, you're against Jeremy leeching off of some gay guy.

The next, you want to do the same thing."

"Jeremy's straight."

"Like you aren't," I said.

"I thought I was," Jiwoo answered back.

"You are!" I protested. "You are straight. If you hate straight guys with sugar daddies, stop joking about

liking me then."

"Who said I was joking about it?"

"C'mon, Jiwoo. We both know you're heterosexual. And I understand your frustration with Jeremy."

"I'm not straight. At least not for you."

I rolled my eyes so hard I almost saw the back of my skull.

"Listen," I said as I started to top the buns with some hazelnut and peanut streusel. "Life's hard. I've

been there, too. In fact, I've had it worse than you. And as you already know, I've deal with scammers

who pretended to like me and all, but they were just there for money. And maybe there's nothing wrong

with that. Maybe, just like Mowcah and Jeremy, it's an option that I'd have to explore in the future. But

even if I do, I'd want to be honest about it. So please stop with the 'liking me' thing."

Jiwoo stared at me. It was difficult to fathom what he was thinking.

"Sex," he said.

"What?"

"Let's have sex. That should prove to you that I'm serious about you."