He started to say something, but the words he actually wanted to say wouldn’t come out. He needed to ask, the way Han-gyeom had requested, whether there was anything Won-hyeok needed or wanted, but he genuinely couldn’t think of any natural way to bring it up.
“What. If you called me, then talk. Are you a fucking idiot?”
At the curse suddenly hurled at him, In-seok’s eyebrow twitched. He’d gone through the trouble of coming all the way here for this guy’s sake, and now he was just getting cursed at, which suddenly made him pissed off.
“Can’t you seriously do something about that mouth of yours?”
In-seok snapped angrily, but Won-hyeok merely turned the page of his book as if nothing had happened. Looking at him like that was enough to make even In-seok’s blazing anger cool down on its own. Yeah, what was the point of getting mad at that psycho? He’d just be the one suffering.
“What the hell Han-gyeom even sees in you…”
In-seok was grumbling as he reached out to grab another apple when suddenly a fork shot in from beside him and stabbed hard into the apple he’d been about to take.
“…”
In-seok swallowed hard. Just thinking that if it had veered even a little, that fork might have gone through his hand made a chill run down his spine.
“Are you seriously fucking insane? Please, if you ever have time, go see a hospital. Go see a psychiatrist, a psychiatrist.”
Even as he said it, he glanced cautiously toward the kitchen. It was because he was checking whether Won-hyeok’s mother might be there. No matter how close they were as cousins, saying something like that in front of someone’s parent felt a bit much.
“What did you just say?”
“I said go see a psychiatrist.”
“No, not that.”
Not that? Several question marks practically bloomed across In-seok’s face.
“That thing about Han-gyeom saying he likes me—what exactly does he even see… that?”
Won-hyeok nodded. Then, with his eyes, he urged him to explain in more detail. Still looking baffled, In-seok recalled the conversation he’d had with Han-gyeom in the changing room. Leaving out the part where Han-gyeom had been asking for help with the gift, he relayed only what Han-gyeom had said when asked what exactly he liked about Won-hyeok—that he liked everything.
“When I told him to say just one thing, he said one thing wasn’t enough. So…”
But then, all of a sudden, it was quiet beside him. By now, it wouldn’t have been strange for some kind of response to come flying back at him. Chewing on his apple, In-seok looked over at Won-hyeok.
“…”
And once again, he witnessed a sight he could hardly believe. Won-hyeok had closed the book he’d been reading and was covering his mouth with his hand, but absurdly enough, his face was red. He looked flushed like someone who’d just received a shy confession. Maybe it was because he was sitting under the sunlight pouring in through the full-length windows, but his face was all the more visible.
“…Wow, gross.”
Dropping the apple he’d been eating, In-seok sprang up from the sofa.
“Hey, what the hell was that just now? What was with that disgusting expression? Your face was all…”
“Shut up.”
In-seok sat back down, brushing rapidly at the goosebumps that had risen all over his body for no reason. The great psycho Do Won-hyeok, blushing. In-seok still couldn’t believe it. It even felt like he might be dreaming.
And once again, the thought hit him anew. Won-hyeok really was serious about dating Han-gyeom. And yet he claimed he wasn’t the type to get obsessive. Could it be that he himself hadn’t even realized it? Then again, this was a guy who’d spent twenty-three years thinking he was the greatest thing in the world. There was no way he’d want to admit he’d fallen head over heels for someone.
In-seok was about to tell him that maybe, actually, he liked Han-gyeom a whole lot more than he thought, but then decided against it. Why should he do something that nice for him? Thinking of it as revenge for everything he’d suffered so far made him feel refreshed inside.
“Anyway, you’d better hide it well. Han-gyeom can’t find out that your true nature is filthy.”
“…”
Won-hyeok went quiet again. Usually if someone said something like that, he’d immediately fire back with curses—something like I’m handling it just fine, so shut the fuck up, or go fuck yourself—but unexpectedly, he merely sat there with a serious expression.
“…Would he hate me if he knew?”
Won-hyeok muttered lowly. He had never intended to show his true nature to anyone. Life was long, and over the course of it he would meet many other people, but Won-hyeok had never wanted to be deeply or lastingly connected to anyone. That was why, even if he dealt with others while wearing a mask, he felt no guilt or remorse or anything of the sort. After all, they were relationships and ties that would eventually break off anyway.
But strangely, when it came to Han-gyeom, it was hard to think that way. Han-gyeom had already witnessed a few moments when his true nature had slipped out. If Han-gyeom kept directly seeing more and more of what he was really like, then what?
It was the first time in his life he’d ever worried about something like this, so he couldn’t come up with an answer at all.
“Would he get scared?”
“Huh?”
The words, muttered almost like a sigh, landed squarely in In-seok’s ear. Earlier he’d been blushing; now his expression looked rather downcast.
“He’d probably try to run away, right?”
When Won-hyeok asked the question seriously, In-seok actually started thinking it over seriously too.
“W-well, probably, yeah, wouldn’t he? Just look at the kid. He’s pure white like that. If he saw you like this, he’d freak the hell out. And if that happened, what would you do?”
“If Kang Han-gyeom runs away?”
In-seok nodded. Won-hyeok stared into empty space for a moment, then glanced off to the side, seeming to think it over with a seriousness of his own. Then at last he looked at the neatly arranged plate on the coffee table and opened his mouth. Fresh fruit was displayed there, each piece showing off its own perfect form.
“…I’d have to eat him up so he couldn’t run away, I guess.”
“…”
“If I kept him somewhere with good air and a nice view and made it so he couldn’t leave…”
“Hey, hey, stop talking. Don’t drag me into your crimes. I didn’t hear any of this, got it?”
Seeing the light in Won-hyeok’s eyes go pitch-black, In-seok nearly had a fit. At the same time, he thought it was a relief that his aunt wasn’t here right now.
“Just don’t get caught in the first place. Hide the fact that your personality is twisted for the rest of your life. That’s your specialty, isn’t it?”
Han-gyeom suddenly came to mind, and In-seok felt sorry for him.
“For the rest of my life?”
For the rest of his life… Won-hyeok rolled that single phrase over in his mind, and soon after, his expression changed into something meaningful. It was the kind of face that looked tangled with complicated thoughts, impossible to read.
***
These days, Han-gyeom enjoyed his part-time job. If he said that out loud, Woo-jin would definitely ask how a part-time job could possibly be enjoyable and whether he’d gone crazy, but he meant it sincerely.
“Han-gyeom, one iced Americano and one strawberry latte too, please.”
As he took the card Won-hyeok handed him, Han-gyeom tilted his head.
“Why the strawberry latte?”
“Hm? Ah, it’s for you to drink, Han-gyeom. You must be tired from working.”
This was exactly why. Lately, Won-hyeok had been coming by the café often. Sometimes he’d sit there for hours before leaving, and sometimes he’d wait and then go eat dinner with Han-gyeom when he got off work. Last time, they’d even gone to see a late-night movie together.
So of course coming to work had naturally become enjoyable. The moment he turned his head, he could see Won-hyeok, and being in the same space as him made him incredibly happy.
“You’re not buying mine too?”
“…What do you want to drink? Order yours too.”
With a sly grin, In-seok operated the register in Han-gyeom’s place, selected the most expensive menu item in the café—a smoothie—and swiped the card without a second of hesitation.
Apparently the two of them really were very close cousins. Han-gyeom barely had any contact not only with relatives or cousins, but even with his own family, so whenever he saw blood relatives getting along that well, it felt oddly fascinating.
Sometimes, when there were no customers, In-seok would chat with Won-hyeok too, and from a distance it was truly quite a heartwarming sight.
Today as well, Han-gyeom watched the two of them standing close together, talking. What were they talking about that made them look so cheerful?
“Hey, you wanna die? You ordered a smoothie? And an 8,000 won one at that?”
“Cheap bastard, acting stingy when you’ve got plenty of money.”
“How long are you planning to keep squatting here anyway? What kind of volunteer work are you doing so damn devotedly?”
Coming to see Han-gyeom was great, but having to see Do In-seok’s face every single time he came was incredibly annoying.
“I can’t help it. I’m helping a hyung I like. Unlike some people, I’m a person with a very kind heart.”
“You little shit, Do In-seok, you’ve been getting way too cocky lately, huh?”
Won-hyeok placed a hand on In-seok’s shoulder with a smack. Having no idea that he was smiling so wide his eyes were crinkling while filthy curses were coming out of his mouth, Han-gyeom simply smiled softly from afar.
Just then, someone opened the door and walked in. He spotted the two of them close together at one of the tables, then slowly approached and abruptly grabbed the hand resting on In-seok’s shoulder.
“What exactly are you doing to our employee?”
It was a gentle voice. Both In-seok and Han-gyeom looked startled as they stared at Hae-jun, who had appeared out of nowhere.
“Hyung.”
Won-hyeok quickly began assessing the situation. The fact that Do In-seok had called him hyung, the fact that he had just said our employee while grabbing his hand, and the fact that even Han-gyeom in the distance seemed to be watching him like he knew him—all of it strongly suggested that this was probably the owner of the café.
“It seems there’s been some misunderstanding.”
Won-hyeok smiled pleasantly and freed his wrist from the other man’s grip. But Hae-jun still hadn’t let go of his wariness toward Won-hyeok. He had probably seen Won-hyeok gripping In-seok’s shoulder rather forcefully when he came in.
“I’m In-seok’s cousin. My name is Do Won-hyeok.”
“Cousin?”
Instead of looking at Won-hyeok, Hae-jun turned to In-seok. His eyes clearly said, Explain.
“Y-yeah. That’s right. My cousin, Do Won-hyeok. Haven’t you heard about him before, hyung?”
Then, as if something came back to him, Hae-jun slowly nodded and let out a low, “Ah.” It seemed he’d heard about him a few times while helping as In-seok’s tutor, and he thought they may have crossed paths before too. But then he smiled gently and said,
“Ah, I’m sorry. I thought you were one of those nightmare customers.”
At the word nightmare customer, In-seok covered his mouth with his hand to stop himself from laughing. Won-hyeok’s eyebrow twitched for a brief second too, but something like that wasn’t enough to break through his ironclad mask of an expression.
“My apologies. I’m the owner of this café, Cha Hae-jun.”
After handing coffee to the last customer, Han-gyeom stepped away from the register. But instead of going straight to Won-hyeok, he stopped where he was. Seeing Hae-jun hold out his hand to Won-hyeok, and the two of them shake hands in a friendly way, his feet for some reason wouldn’t move.
Was it because, even from far away, the two of them looked surprisingly good together—an alpha and an omega, Do Won-hyeok and Cha Hae-jun? Without realizing it, Han-gyeom bit down on his lower lip.
