Under the warm sunshine, it was a perfect morning for brunch, and despite the early hour, the outdoor tables were quite full.
As the two figures looked around the outdoor space filled with colorful flower pots that had bloomed after surviving the scorching summer heat, Junyoung, who had already secured a table, raised his hand but stopped mid-gesture.
“Wow… these con artists.”
As Junyoung laughed in disbelief at the sight of the couple who appeared completely smitten with each other, Jaehyuk, who was pulling out a chair for Junghyun, admonished him while still smiling.
“Shut up.”
“These days they record videos too, so be careful of your lip movements,” Junghyun warned as Jaehyuk, after making sure Junghyun was seated, took the seat right next to him. Junghyun then smiled and greeted Junyoung.
“It’s been two weeks since we last met.”
“Indeed. We must really be destined for each other. I was surprised when I heard you were Jeonghoo’s brother.”
At Junyoung’s natural greeting, Junghyun tilted his head slightly.
“You know my older brother too?”
“We’re high school classmates. But you two really don’t look alike at all.”
At Junyoung’s comment about their personalities and appearances being different, Junghyun smiled.
“We both take after different sides of the family.”
“Even biological siblings can be completely different in some families. Come to think of it, did this guy tell you? We’ve actually met you when you were very young.”
As Junyoung brought this up, saying he had also recalled it yesterday, Junghyun, who had been constantly smiling, turned to the side with a confused expression for the first time. As his face seemed to ask what that was about, Jaehyuk casually replied while accepting the menu from the staff.
“I remembered seeing you when I was in my first year of high school. Just once.”
Calculating the ages, Junghyun slowly nodded.
“If it was when you were in your first year of high school, that would have been when I lived in that house for about two years, so it’s possible. Still, it’s impressive that you remember something from 15 years ago.”
“What you said was quite memorable.”
“What did I say?”
“That’s for later. You haven’t had breakfast yet, right?”
“No.”
“The food here is good.”
“What do you recommend?”
“Is there anything you don’t eat?”
“Nothing I can’t eat.”
Leaning toward Jaehyuk to see if there was a menu item he liked, Junghyun pointed at the menu and asked for his opinion. Jaehyuk, as always seeming casual yet affectionate, gave detailed explanations about the menu.
Jaehyuk was quintessentially himself—moderately affectionate and moderately indifferent—and Junghyun seemed to accept this naturally, as if familiar with Jaehyuk’s manner.
Even when people are deliberately putting on an act, there’s usually an awkwardness or superficial feeling between those who aren’t yet comfortable with each other, but there was none of that between these two.
Well, Jaehyuk treated everyone, whether acquaintances or strangers, similarly, but Junghyun was remarkably natural—everything about him was.
To be precise, they genuinely seemed to match well.
Especially in their appearance.
The size difference was ideal, and Jaehyuk’s particularly striking presence that attracted attention wherever he went, paired with Junghyun’s clean, cool appearance, created a strangely compatible atmosphere that made them believable as a couple.
It seemed like even with deliberate casting, it would be difficult to match two people who complemented each other so well.
“You two look good together.”
At his unintentionally honest comment, Junghyun, who had been leaning on Jaehyuk with a slightly tired expression while resting his chin on his hand, pointed at himself with his right index finger and asked in surprise.
“Us?”
“Yes. Your looks complement each other well, I’d say. Your styling is similar too… Jaehyuk likes your type of style. From clothes to hair, overall, you’re Jaehyuk’s taste.”
At those words, Junghyun looked at Jaehyuk’s face.
“Is that why you bought me drinks that day?”
At Junghyun’s probing question, asked with a smile on his lips, Jaehyuk murmured casually.
“No, that was just because you were funny. Thanks to you, I didn’t even remember my breakup story.”
“The jajangmyeon and dongpo pork were impressive. It was also funny when this guy said he would shave the chairman’s head.”
Since the team owner Junghyun had been talking about was Jaehyuk’s grandfather, Junyoung said he couldn’t help but laugh when Junghyun threatened to shave the Elephants’ team owner’s head, and even now, recalling it made him break into a broad smile.
Come to think of it, Junghyun remembered that it was Junyoung who had first approached him that time.
While he was having a breakup consolation party with his friends, Junyoung, who was drinking at the adjacent table, offered to buy him a drink if he would share his story in more detail. Almost crying, saying they were also having a breakup party.
“Oh, I forgot to ask at the time. Please introduce me to that restaurant. I really want to try it too. Actually, how about serving it as the main dish at your wedding? The food that brought you two together.”
“Jajangmyeon?”
Jaehyuk immediately rejected Junyoung’s suggestion as if it were ridiculous and called the staff to order food.
After the server took their order for a simple meal and coffee and walked away, Junyoung glanced around briefly and lowered his voice to get to the main point.
“I checked the file you sent yesterday. I’ve added the missing parts to match the prenuptial agreement format and sent it to Jaehyuk, so check it out.”
At those words, as Jaehyuk was checking his phone, Junghyun’s phone also rang with a message notification. It seemed Jaehyuk had forwarded the file, and Junghyun immediately picked up his phone to look at the screen.
“Review the file and give me feedback right away if there’s anything you want to change. Then I’ll coordinate both opinions and make revisions. Junghyun-ssi…”
Not knowing what to call him, Junyoung used the first form of address that came to mind, but then immediately shook his head as if that wasn’t right.
“No, since you’re also my friend’s brother, I’ll just call you Junghyun. Junghyun, contact me if you have anything you want to add or modify.”
“I’ll check it today and email you. Please give me your email address and contact information.”
At those words, Junyoung immediately took out his business card and handed it over. As Junghyun took the card, he paused for a moment.
“You’re with Dongha Law Firm.”
“Yes. You know it?”
“It’s famous.”
“Oh right, you were a law school graduate too, weren’t you? Why didn’t you go to graduate law school?”
“Because my father told me to go.”
Finding this answer a bit perplexing, Junyoung glanced at Jaehyuk before asking Junghyun again.
“…You’re not saying you didn’t go because you didn’t want to listen to your father, are you?”
“To be precise, I didn’t go to spite my father.”
“Don’t you get along with your father?”
“No.”
At his quick response, Junyoung nodded as if he had expected it. From what little he had investigated, that seemed to be the case.
After all, people don’t normally let a twelve-year-old child live alone.
“So that’s why you went into marketing?”
“A senior I knew started a company and asked me to join. Actually, I was planning to just be unemployed, but I owed that senior a bit, so I was forcibly dragged in.”
“A debt?”
“I was indebted to him in many ways during college. I was going to just ignore it, but he’s a persistent person, so to avoid trouble, I decided to work with him for a few years.”
“Was he also in the law department?”
“No. Sports and Leisure Studies. He was my club senior.”
“What club?”
“Surfing club.”
Surprised by this unexpected hobby, Junyoung looked at Jaehyuk once and then turned back to Junghyun to ask.
“You surf?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t look athletic at all…”
Junghyun smiled at those words, as if to say, I know you investigated me.
“We were in a hurry with the investigation, so we couldn’t get that far. We mostly focused on your relationships. Do you ride big waves too?”
“I do ride them.”
“How big?”
“Maximum 12. But I don’t take such risks often. I usually stick to waves between 6 and 8 meters.”
At these rather specific numbers, Junyoung looked at Jaehyuk with a surprised expression.
“Wow… unexpected gain. You must be happy? Having a surfing mate who can confidently go surfing with you? You always complained that most people either couldn’t match your schedule or wouldn’t ride big waves, so you preferred going alone.”
“I was actually thinking we’d exercise together from now on. He does climbing too.”
“Wow, your preferences are too similar! Did you do these with Jeonghoo?”
“If I had done them with my brother, I would have met you guys somewhere.”
Junghyun’s point was that since there weren’t hundreds of surfing spots or climbing gyms in Korea, and they would have likely frequented similar places, they would surely have run into each other somewhere if he had done these activities with his brother. Junyoung nodded in agreement.
“…That’s true. Our activity radius is pretty much in the same areas.”
After saying this, he thought that by that logic, it would actually be harder not to run into each other, but he understood that since Junghyun would have started much later due to the age difference, they probably wouldn’t have easily met. Besides, Jaehyuk mostly went abroad, and for climbing, he frequented exclusive membership-based social clubs.
Junghyun, by all appearances, didn’t seem like the type to frequent such exclusive clubs. Jeonghoo maybe, but not him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
