“Don’t you think the same?”
“That’s…….”
“You don’t have to say it. Want to go look in the mirror in the bathroom?”
Eden stayed where he was, rubbing his cheek. Looking at himself in a mirror right now would probably be bad for his mental health.
“I know you pretty well now too.”
Riding the momentum, Somerset puffed himself up smugly. Though before long, he ended up saying something completely different.
“I’m out here spilling every bit of information about myself, while you only donate tiny little scraps about yourself. It’s unfair. I could even tell you the color of my underwear today.”
He was expressing his disappointment over the fact that Eden had brushed off several questions. For Eden, merely selecting which questions to answer and which not to answer was already a massive concession, but Somerset, who had no way of knowing Eden’s usual boundaries, pouted.
“You don’t like me knowing things about you?”
It wasn’t a matter of liking or disliking it. Measuring how much he could allow him, Eden leaned slightly forward. Resting his chin in his hand, he looked at Somerset and quietly let him in on a secret.
“Gray.”
“Huh?”
“Wasn’t that what you were curious about?”
It was exactly the kind of information needed to satisfy starving Somerset’s hunger. Under the table, he lightly tapped his foot, then bit down on the lips that had been sticking out in a pout. Faced with a flushed expression like a child thrilled over receiving a present, Eden felt a slight pang of guilt.
The underwear he was actually wearing wasn’t gray. It was black.
Still, unless his pants came off, the truth would never be exposed, so he acted calm. Even when Somerset’s gaze slowly drifted downward and he swallowed hard.
After his Adam’s apple bobbed several times, Somerset asked,
“Briefs?”
He had quite the imagination.
“You answer first.”
“I usually wear briefs.”
“I don’t think you were wearing any last time, Mr. Pervert.”
“When? The day we got caught in the rain? I told you I wore them to match my skin tone.”
Forming a triangle with his fingers, Somerset shoved it toward Eden’s face.
“Do I look like the kind of person who wears underwear on his head?”
“That’d be funny, but no. I’m checking whether briefs would suit you.”
“Think whatever you want.”
“Then I guess you really are a pervert. Since you’re probably the one not wearing anything underneath.”
“That’s sexual harassment.”
“You started it.”
Their back-and-forth gradually mixed with laughter. Eden, whose lips twitched upward first, gave a small reward to Somerset, who had won their unspoken little contest.
“Boxer briefs.”
This time, it was true. He really was wearing black boxer briefs today.
“Gray boxer briefs.”
Having obtained an answer that contained both lies and truth, Somerset murmured with a proud expression. As if he’d achieved some grand feat.
Aware of his unusually intense reaction, Eden crossed his legs. There was no way the underwear inside his pants could actually be visible, yet he still felt conscious of it. Whenever he was with Somerset, not only did he do things he normally never would, but he also had a tendency to lose his senses entirely.
Thinking back on it, he slightly regretted getting involved in a conversation about underwear in the first place.
A self-mocking sigh slipped through his teeth, and he brushed a thumb across his lips as if wiping it away. Somerset’s gaze obsessively followed even that trivial movement. In his head, there was probably an image of Eden in gray boxer briefs, touching his lips with a provocative expression.
So what exactly are you planning to do with a version of me like that?
Eden tried to guess just how dirty-minded Somerset really was. Sexy but innocent—it was difficult to judge him. Maybe he was overthinking it. Maybe Somerset wasn’t thinking anything at all, and Eden, being the pervert himself, was simply dragging him into the same category.
“I’m thirsty. Feels like I’m in a desert. A desert surrounded by oases. There are so many things I can’t reach, and it just makes the thirst worse.”
Muttering to himself, Somerset gulped down his cocktail. Eden found himself wondering, Am I the oasis?
It wasn’t exactly an original metaphor, but it wasn’t bad.
Around then, the old pop song flowing from the speakers transitioned into jazz. The deep, sticky voice thickened the atmosphere into something more mature. Several customers swayed their shoulders to the rhythm with satisfied expressions.
Sure enough, Somerset naturally started nodding his head along as well. The empty cocktail glass dangling between his fingers looked like a jazz instrument. Following his lead, Eden emptied his own glass and asked,
“You’re ordering another one, right?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Me too.”
While they waited after ordering drinks recommended by the bartender, Somerset held out his phone.
“I realized I still don’t know your phone number. We run into each other so naturally and so often that I never even thought about it. We can meet without contacting each other.”
“Do you know that if you know someone’s phone number, it’s basically like knowing half their personal information?”
“Huh? Never heard that before.”
“Of course not. I just made it up.”
Eden typed five digits into Somerset’s phone.
“Your number’s unusual.”
“I’ll tell you the rest next time.”
“Is your major maybe ‘Making Somerset Quinn Desperate’? Or ‘Making Somerset Quinn Think Only About Me’? I learned today that Ivy League schools teach things like that.”
Even while speaking sarcastically, Somerset saved the five digits anyway.
Under the name ‘Bad Guy.’
“You’re not planning to give me one digit every time we meet from now on, are you? If you do that, you’ll gain another major. Specifically, ‘Humiliating Somerset Quinn.’”
“Well, if I’m a bad guy, shouldn’t I act the part?”
“Why are you trying so hard to fit the image of a bad guy? You should be trying to escape it already.”
Nodding slowly at the sincere advice, Eden handed him the new cocktail.
A cocktail layered in blue and orange sat inside an inverted triangle-shaped glass. Though he’d ordered it for himself, it suited Somerset much better.
After hearing the bartender explain that it was inspired by the sunset of Florence, Somerset tilted the glass against his left cheek.
His amber eyes looked like a setting sun.
“New York sunsets are pretty nice too, huh?”
Wrong.
They weren’t just pretty nice—they were breathtaking.
No matter what kind of magnificent scenery unfolded before him, it would be difficult to steal his gaze away from Somerset.
I’ve already lost count of how many times I’ve admired you. That endless charm of yours keeps driving me into a dead end. Maybe your major is ‘Stealing Eden Reed’s Mind.’ No, maybe you don’t just major in it—you’re a professor of it. But please, don’t stand behind a podium. Don’t teach anyone else. It’s enough if only you know. That’s enough.
Suppressing the emotions boiling inside him with effort, Eden snatched back the cocktail he’d just handed Somerset.
“What the hell. That’s cheap.”
Ignoring the protest, he brought the glass to his lips. Alcohol touched by the light called Somerset was incredibly sweet.
They stayed at the bar for quite a while, but neither of them drank that much. Both were still well below their limits, so they left fully conscious. At most, there was only the faint scent of alcohol lingering around them.
Waving through the sandwich shop window toward Kitish inside, Somerset bounced around restlessly in front of Eden, behind him, then beside him. Both his legs and his mouth were busy.
“Maybe because it’s been raining lately, the heat’s died down a bit. It feels like the temperature from when I first saw you. Did you read every book Alex Howard wrote? You looked like you were about to.”
“No.”
Eden had lost interest in author Alex Howard for two reasons. First, he’d gotten tired of how boring every single book was. Second, the amount of time he spent reading had sharply decreased.
He barely read books by other authors anymore either.
The man currently stealing his time away from books was right beside him. Matching his steps to the terrible singing drifting from somewhere nearby, Somerset hopped lightly and kept talking.
“You probably read more books than anyone I know. People with hobbies that classy are rare.”
“Classy? Over something like that?”
“You don’t think waking up, sitting at a desk, and reading books is classy? There aren’t many people in New York like that.”
So that’s the image he has of me—a bookworm reading from early morning onward.
Though there had definitely been times when he’d stayed up late turning pages, telling himself he’d read just a little more. Eden shrugged.
“The classy citizens of New York are going to rise up in outrage.”
“That’d be a problem. If they capture and tie me up for spreading false rumors, come save me.”
Pulling his eyebrows downward, Somerset made a pitiful face.
“Even if I don’t go, someone would save you if you made that face.”
“It has to be you. You have to save me.”
Faced with his whining, Eden reluctantly said he would. Since the entire conversation was full of jokes anyway, he treated it as more of the same. He even went along with the ritual of bumping their fists together to seal the promise.
“Happy now?”
“One more time. Promises like this can’t be one-sided. I’ll come save you too if you’re ever in danger.”
“It’s fine. I don’t need that.”
Sliding a hand into his pocket, Eden changed the subject.
“I used to dream about lying on the grass in Central Park and leisurely reading a book. I thought that was everyday life for New Yorkers.”
“Seriously?”
“Of course not. I’m joking.”
Out of nowhere, Somerset suggested making that joke a reality.
Seriously, there was no predicting where he’d jump next.
“Come on. You know fun things happen when you’re with me.”
Whether to follow him or not was only the illusion of a choice.
The answer had already been decided.
“Shouldn’t we be going this way?”
Eden pointed in the direction of Central Park. Somerset’s body instantly whipped around that way.
“Congratulations on passing the first stage of the New Yorker qualification exam.”
Even most tourists would know where Central Park was. There was a good chance they’d already circled it on a map before even beginning their trip. The massive park built into the middle of the city offered travelers the thrill of feeling connected to New York, while giving New Yorkers a place to rest.
The forest standing opposite the skyscrapers was attractive no matter when he saw it. Reaching it, Eden inhaled deeply enough for his chest to swell. Deliberately making a bigger fuss because he was now someone who had passed Stage One of the New Yorker Qualification Exam, he earned a burst of laughter from Somerset.
“You’re seriously funny sometimes.”
“Sometimes……. Then why have I seen your smiling face so often?”
“That’s not because of your jokes. It’s just… I just end up smiling. It happens when I’m with you.”
Eden calmly accepted the strange symptom Somerset confessed in his rhythmic tone. Rather than surprise, he only felt pleased that his prediction had been right.
“Wait here for a second.”
Grinning, Somerset entered a nearby shop and came back out carrying a blanket. The design was flashy, covered in exotic patterns, but draped over his broad shoulders, it looked almost like a cape sold by some spa brand. If it weren’t summer, it probably would’ve looked even more convincing.
Fluttering the blanket dramatically, he led the way toward a nice patch of grass.
“A gentleman doesn’t make his companion lie down just anywhere.”
Declaring it solemnly, he spread the blanket out over the grass, then pulled a magazine from his back pocket and handed it over.
“There. Now we’ve more or less got the full setup, right?”
“We really do, more or less.”
Thinking about how pathetic they must look—reeking faintly of alcohol while lying on a blanket reading a gossip magazine—made Eden dizzy. But he couldn’t refuse. He didn’t want to disappoint the gentleman looking so proud.
Honestly, it also sounded kind of fun.
After hesitating briefly, Eden accepted the magazine and added a condition.
“Sit next to me. Don’t leave me alone.”
