Behind The King: Eternal Monarch (MinEun)

III It Felt Different Here, Surrounded By Shoes Rather Than Cameras

She sat up, looked around, turned off the TV, realized sunbae covered her with a blanket, she smiled at that. She took the blanket and gently placed it on him. She wished she could lay him down too, but surely that would wake him up. 

Go Eun checked up on her nephews. Min Jun slept calmly, while Ha Rin was about to fall off the bed. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree" she repeated in her head, suddenly seeing sunbae's mischievous smile in her head. She tucked her back in and wondered if she should try to go back to sleep, but the unsettling feeling appearing in her stomach surely wouldn't allow that. She sighed and went back to the living room.

On the couch sunbae sat, eyes wide open and the blanket tightly clenched to his chin in between his fists. 

"What? Did you watch The Sixth Sense?" she mocked.  

"I see dead people" he whispered.

"Oh so that's why you laugh at my jokes? You are the only one that sees me?" she giggled, "This whole time I thought I just wasn't funny."

"Well for a ghost you are on the unfunny side."

"Come here" 

In big strides she got close to him and went for a punch on the shoulder. He laughed loud, opening his mouth like he usually did and grabbed her wrist. She giggled, stepping backwards, but her wrist remained in his hand. 

"Why are you awake?" he asked, his eyes smiling up at her. It felt weird being this close to him and being taller than him. 

"Ditto"

"Don't steal my lines."

"That's Lee Gon's not sunbae's."

"Rude... You woke me up with this" he showed the blanket and put it down on his lap, he tugged on her wrist, signaling for her to sit down. Finally he let her go and crossed his arms, yawning at the same time. He was being cute again. "Your turn" 

"I just woke up" she said.

They were silent then. Of course he read her. Go Eun gulped. This - she disliked. Crossing the line.

Then they were silent. He looked away. 

Then he took the blanket and spread it out so it covered both of their laps. 

Suddenly, they felt a lot closer. Suddenly, they shared the same warmth.

They were silent. He looked back at her. His look was gentle, warm. Rarely was it like that... Serious, meaningful. That was the way Lee Gon looked at Jung Tae Eul. She liked to keep those separate in her head, for her sake. And his. 

Then she gulped.

"Sometimes... At 4 am. Not a minute too early or too late, I wake up with a phantom feeling of hunger... It's just something... sometimes... since last year, I guess."

 "What's the difference between feeling hungry and being hungry?" he almost stated.

"I know I'm not hungry. I ate."

"Still, if you feel like it, you should eat." He said and got up, "Let's go"

"Where?... What?" she asked in confusion.

"Come on" he urged, offering his hand for her to take.

She ignored it so he walked to the kitchen on his own.

"Sunbae?" she raised her voice slightly at him and finally stood up to follow behind.

"Now, I have to warn you," he started, pretending to roll up his sleeves, since he had none, "Unlike his majesty, I can't cook for shit, but I can make some mean sandwiches."