Absinthe novel Chapter 38

"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, 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.