There were a lot of people in the ice cream shop.
Jung Haon watched the man standing in line, pretending to read the shop’s colorful English sign. The man stood a step apart from a noisy, chattering group.
I was going to wait with him, too.
But after scanning the unusually crowded interior, the man had told Haon to go grab a seat first. He offered to stand in line instead, but Haon had firmly refused.
The shop, decorated with adorable trinkets, echoed with children’s laughter. Maybe there’d been a local gathering—about a dozen young children and their neatly dressed guardians were waiting their turn to order.
After the man joined the queue, the eyes of the young mothers shifted from their kids to him. With a model-like frame and a face handsome enough to make actors jealous, it was no surprise.
What started as quick glances soon turned into blatant stares. A few even openly gushed. Just like someone else he knew.
Haon, used to the man drawing attention wherever he went, glanced over as well and pulled a napkin from the dispenser on the table.
Even from a distance, he could feel the heat of those stares. The man had to be aware of the attention centered on him.
But he remained completely unfazed. He looked utterly used to it. Calmly, he scanned the menu posted on the wall, occasionally flashing Haon a soft smile.
Haon, who had been smiling along, scratched at his left chest and turned his gaze to the window.
For some reason, his heart just kept pounding today.
Back in the elevator when they’d talked, his pulse had surged so intensely it echoed in his throat—he honestly thought something might be wrong with his heart.
Fidgeting with the napkin, he silently hoped it wasn’t anything serious.
Then, he blinked. His lips parted slightly as he looked down.
He had folded the napkin into a heart. Absentmindedly, without thinking.
He used to be obsessed with origami—ever since Seong-gu’s cousin noona taught him during a childhood trip to the countryside. Even now, he could fold most things as long as he had paper. Hearts were basic. He could make birds, frogs, even flowers.
Out of all the shapes he could’ve made, why a heart?
Embarrassed for no reason, Haon unfolded the neatly creased heart to smooth it back out.
“Oh my! I’m so sorry!”
A loud voice called out from the line.
Looking over, Haon saw a child had apparently run face-first into the man’s knee.
“Didn’t I tell you not to run?”
The mother, who had been standing directly in front of the man, turned around with a bright smile.
She seemed thrilled to have an excuse to talk to him.
“I’m sorry. He’s just so energetic…”
“It’s fine.”
Even as she scolded her son, she kept sneaking glances at the man.
The boy pouted and whined that he wanted his ice cream right now.
“You should apologize first. Say sorry to the handsome hyung—go on, hurry.”
The woman gently scolded her son while slyly slipping in a compliment about the man’s looks, her cheeks turning a soft shade of red. The child gave a half-hearted bow and looked up at the man, pausing mid-movement. Even to a little kid, the man’s appearance seemed extraordinary.
“You shouldn’t run in crowded places, okay?”
The man bent slightly at the waist to meet the boy’s eye level and spoke with a gentle tone. As the corners of his long, slender lips curled into a soft smile and his deep-set eyes followed suit, the watching mothers collectively forgot to breathe.
Handsome and kind? What kind of blessing must his partner have been born with?
The mothers’ eyes slowly drifted toward the window seat—toward Jung Haon. What had been looks of envy shifted to expressions of understanding the moment they saw his face.
Haon, for his part, didn’t notice any of it.
He sat gripping the napkin tightly in his hand, silently watching the man talk to the child. When the kid gave a short “Okay,” the man crinkled his nose and grinned, clearly enjoying the moment.
He really likes kids. Haon had just discovered something new about him.
He suddenly glanced around at the other children nearby. All their round, flushed faces, lit with anticipation as they waited for their ice cream, looked cute and sweet. Even the sound of them whining, “Mommy, mommy,” came off as charming.
He continued watching the chattering kids like they were tiny sparrows, then went back to fiddling with the napkin. He smoothed out the wrinkles and folded it neatly again, eyes drifting toward the window.
Outside, the rain was still pouring down in thick sheets, showing no sign of letting up.
“You’ve been waiting a while, huh.”
While Haon was staring blankly out at the rain, the man sat down across from him with a pink tray in hand. He handed Haon a spoon and picked up a cup of coffee for himself.
“You’re not having ice cream?”
Haon asked as he took the spoon. The man placed a big bowl of multicolored ice cream right in front of Haon. He’d only brought a single spoon.
“Coffee’s enough for me.”
He raised the hot cup lightly, then told Haon to let him know if he wanted something else to drink.
He doesn’t like sweets? Then why did he even come here?
Haon tilted his head slightly, puzzled, then scooped up a bit of the colorful ice cream and tasted it.
“Uh, this is kinda…”
Off?
He couldn’t bring himself to say it outright and looked up at the man with an awkward expression. The texture had felt weird even while scooping—now it was thick and sticky in his mouth, like it had been sitting out for way too long.
“Does it taste weird?”
“No, the flavor’s fine, but…”
Oddly enough, the taste wasn’t bad. As long as he ignored the soggy, overly gooey texture, it was actually decent. Still, it didn’t taste like any ice cream he knew—he wasn’t sure he could keep eating it.
The man reached out, took Haon’s spoon, and put a bite of the remaining ice cream into his own mouth.
Watching him so casually use a spoon that had touched Haon’s lips made Haon’s heart start pounding again like crazy.
“Tastes fine to me. Want to get something else?”
“Ah, no. It’s just… really sticky, so I thought maybe it had gone bad…”
The man tilted his head slightly as he chewed the remaining chocolate cookie in his mouth. There was nothing wrong with the ice cream.
“Is this your first time trying gelato?”
Haon narrowed his eyes at the unfamiliar word. Gelato? His puzzled expression said it all, and the man lifted his coffee cup to his lips to hide a laugh.
“It’s a little different from regular ice cream. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.”
“Oh, so… it’s supposed to be chewy like this?”
Now that it wasn’t spoiled after all, Haon could enjoy it properly. He let out a quiet sigh of relief and swallowed the lingering sweetness in his mouth. Knowing that the texture was intentional made it taste better than before.
“It’s good. Kinda reminds me of half-frozen tteok.”
He wanted to take another bite and glanced at the spoon in the man’s hand. But since they only had the one, he couldn’t go for it.
“Haon-ssi, do you… not like being called cute?”
Just as Haon was considering whether to ask for another spoon, the man suddenly threw out an unexpected question.
Finally pulling his eyes away from the spoon, Haon met the man’s gaze—and immediately became aware of his own racing heartbeat again.
“If you don’t like it, I won’t say it.”
The man said it with a wide grin he couldn’t hold back, pressing the spoon into Haon’s hand. His smile was so dazzling that, if it weren’t for the odd tightness in Haon’s chest, he might’ve smiled right back. But the pounding in his chest was so intense, he didn’t even have the room to pretend.
“Um…”
While Haon hesitated over how to respond, a stranger’s voice cut in.
It was the mother of the child who’d run into the man earlier.
“Sorry to interrupt. Please, take this.”
She had come over with her child before leaving the store, holding out a small snack.
“My son wanted to give it to you.”
The kid looked like his mom had totally forced him into it, bowing his head as he held out a snack box. It was a pack of dried fruit sold at the shop.
“Enjoy it.”
The man let out a soft chuckle at the kid’s awkward tone, accepted the small box, and thanked them.
He kept waving as the child clung to his mother’s leg and walked toward the exit.
The boy stared right at the man as he slowly backed away, giving a timid wave before burying his face in his mom’s leg.
He really was an adorable kid.
Even after the children disappeared, the man continued gazing at the door with a soft smile lingering on his lips.
Haon couldn’t see him from where he sat with his back to the entrance, but the man’s eyes still seemed to be watching the little ones.
Even without him saying a word, it was obvious how much he adored kids.
“You’d make a great dad.”
Haon said it without thinking, the thought slipping out as he quietly watched the man. It honestly felt true. If he could be this warm to someone he had no connection to, just imagine how much love he’d give his own child.
“You’re right.”
The man replied playfully, touching the rim of his coffee cup. Then, glancing down at the now lukewarm coffee, he added softly—
“I’d make a good husband, too.”
Though Seo Inho had answered lightly on purpose, he truly meant it.
He hadn’t been a good person, a good son, or a good brother—so at the very least, he wanted to become a good husband and a good father. It was the only role he hadn’t ruined yet.
“Wanna eat it now?”
He shook the snack box he’d been given, and Haon quickly shook his head, choosing instead to continue with his ice cream.
As he recalled the sound of the children’s laughter from earlier, his heartbeat—so wild just moments ago—finally began to settle for no reason he could name.
Maybe it wasn’t anything serious after all.
Relieved, he took another bite of the sweet ice cream.
Strangely, it didn’t taste as good as before.
It was the exact same flavor, yet somehow, it felt completely different in his mouth.
