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Emergency Exit 25

25

[Taein] [Lee Wuyong]

It was a number he had saved almost by force. Taein looked at the text with just his name appearing twice and didn’t press it at all. Pretending not to check it, he looked around at other menus.

Lee Wuyong sent another message.

[Taein I have something to tell you] [Lee Wuyong]

[I need to say what I couldn’t say yesterday ㅎ] [Lee Wuyong]

Taein startled and sat up as if struck by lightning at “what I couldn’t say yesterday,” pressing his thumb to one temple.

“This fucking bastard… what the hell.”

Lee Wuyong continued sending messages like a text bomb.

[where are you now] [Lee Wuyong]

[don’t worry about Wanjae] [Lee Wuyong]

[you have to care about me anyway right] [Lee Wuyong]

Each text he sent felt like a threat. Taein recalled yesterday when he had been watching Lee Wuyong’s mood thinking “surely not, surely not.” Then Gu Wanjae came in and… he hadn’t heard anything from Lee Wuyong. When he came home, he thought he had overreacted for nothing. Lee Wuyong spoke lightly, but he alone had felt guilty and heard it that way. That’s why he could half-forget it.

Taein broke out in cold sweat at another text that arrived from Lee Wuyong.

[let’s keep it a secret between you and me ㅎ] [Lee Wuyong]

[I’ll take responsibility] [Lee Wuyong]

Fucked. No other thoughts came to mind. One hundred percent, this bastard knows. But how did he find out? Taein read the text that popped up in a new window, then pressed one to bring up the reply window. He didn’t know what to send. What should he say? Tell him to be quiet? But what if he’s wrong? Countless thoughts came in all at once and his head felt like it would explode.

In the end, Taein wrote and sent just one short text.

[where are you]

Lee Wuyong immediately replied to that text.

[should I come to Gaepan side? or should I go there] [Lee Wuyong]

Taein quickly read the text and contorted one side of his face. He wrote just one more text.

[I’ll come]

* * *

Taein got off the bus and passed the path to school. When he entered an alley, Gaepan playground came into view. A place where school guys often gathered. It wasn’t a place where they gathered to do good things. A place where they gathered to extort money from underclassmen or make them run errands. Or they drank or smoked. Taein stopped walking at the sight of Lee Wuyong gradually coming into view.

In front of Lee Wuyong, two male students who appeared to be underclassmen were bowing their heads. It was the weekend so they weren’t wearing uniforms, but they roughly seemed to be guys from the same school. Taein started walking slowly and heard Lee Wuyong’s voice.

“Is this enough, you fucking bastards? Huh? Is this enough?”

Lee Wuyong was in the middle of dealing with underclassmen. Whether he had also taken money from those guys, he had bills in his hand. He alternately tapped the underclassmen with those bills. Then he jerked his head around.

“Huh? Taein.”

Lee Wuyong immediately stood up. He put the money in his pocket and seemed to spread both arms wide, then spat out words telling the underclassmen to go. Behind Lee Wuyong approaching, the guys hastily escaping from Gaepan could be seen. Taein’s eyes reached the end of Gaepan then returned.

“You came quickly?”

“Yeah.”

For someone who had sent threatening texts, his face looked relaxed. Taein also didn’t want to show his mood, so he answered every question asked.

“What did you take to get here?”

“Bus.”

“Wasn’t traffic heavy?”

“…Not really.”

But they couldn’t just exchange meaningless words forever. When there was a brief lull, Taein struck first.

“What you sent by text.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you mean?”

They were walking through the alley together. If they kept going straight, they’d reach the school and a convenience store. Lee Wuyong only made “yeah” responses to Taein’s words and didn’t answer. It was only when they reached the downhill that some words were heard.

“What if someone hears?”

“…What.”

“It would be a bit awkward if someone heard.”

Shaking his head left and right. Mischief was visible in Lee Wuyong’s movements. Taein glanced at him and quietly exhaled through his nose. He felt uncomfortable as if his weakness had been caught. Lee Wuyong said they should leave this place first, that they needed to go inside and talk. They continued down the downhill like that.

The place they eventually arrived at was the karaoke place that Gu Wanjae and he frequently visited. Sometimes he would run into Lee Wuyong and Choi Chan, and other guys at this karaoke place, and there were times when Lee Wuyong said he had booked time there and made reservations as if flattering them, telling them to come play. Coming into a familiar place made him feel much more comfortable. It was a karaoke place with many happy memories with Gu Wanjae. The distinctive artificial air freshener smell was remembered as Gu Wanjae’s scent.

Taein followed Lee Wuyong into Room 1 and sat in the chair by the entrance.

“Ah, here again.”

“Lee Wuyong.”

“Yeah?”

“Since we came all the way here, let’s talk. What do you mean?”

“Hey, Taein. Can’t I sing just one song? I’m feeling a bit off.”

“Song?”

“Yeah.”

Taein said “ah” and touched his head, then gave the answer “whatever.” Lee Wuyong immediately made a reservation.

Like that.

Lee Wuyong sang two songs straight without even skipping interludes, even though he wasn’t good at singing. When he made a reservation for a third song, Taein slammed his hand on the table and gave Lee Wuyong a hint. Lee Wuyong seemed not to even hear that and added his voice to the third song’s accompaniment. It seemed like even if any animal was given language ability, it would sing better than that. Taein couldn’t stand it anymore and pressed the cancel button with the remote.

“Hey.”

“What? Huh?”

Lee Wuyong, who had been immersed in the sad song, turned around with a very bewildered face.

“Hey, did you come here to sing… This isn’t right.”

Taein shook his head with a face that said he didn’t understand and looked at Lee Wuyong sneakily approaching this way. Lee Wuyong had been smiling since earlier. He only immersed himself briefly while singing, but otherwise he was smiling even during interludes, and even when he finished ruining the song and turned around, he had a smiling face. Taein unconsciously looked up at Lee Wuyong’s face shadowed by the karaoke lighting. Really ugly. Even in the midst of this, it was a face that made him think such thoughts.

“Ah, the thing to talk about. Are you in a hurry?”

“Hey… whether I’m in a hurry or not… if you sent texts like that and called someone, you should say something.”

“Ah, right. That’s true.”

Lee Wuyong put the microphone he was holding back in its place. Then he sat across from him with a “hmm” cough. Regardless of the atmosphere, Lee Wuyong’s face continued to be smiling. He looked happy.

“It’s important to clarify things like this.”

“……”

“I honestly know.”

“…What.”

“Ah, it’s a bit awkward to say.”

“……”

Lee Wuyong only brought up the main point after roughly rubbing the back of his neck. His face could be seen turning slightly red.

“How you think about me. I know?”

“…Huh?”

Taein barely suppressed his heart that started beating rapidly and asked back while tilting his face diagonally.

“What do you know?”

“I said I know how you think about me.”

“How do I think about you?”

“It’s a bit… to say.”

Lee Wuyong could be seen touching the back of his neck again. His face said it was too embarrassing to say. While Taein was flustered by Lee Wuyong’s face he was seeing for the first time, he silently waited for his next words.

“……”

“You like me, don’t you.”

“…Huh?”

Taein made the exact sound that came from his mouth and created all kinds of wrinkles on his smooth face. Between his brows, under his eyes, around his nose. He covered his eyes with both hands while contorting his face to the maximum. The words “what the hell are you talking about” quietly popped out from his barely visible mouth.

Hyacinthus B
Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus

Emergency Exit

Emergency Exit

비상구
Status: Completed Author: Released: 2023 Native Language: Korean
'Is it okay for us to do this when we're friends?' Gu Wanjae and Kang Taein were inseparable friends. Though different in nature, they built their friendship thinking well of each other as good guys. Then, something goes wrong with Kang Taein's body. He receives an Omega diagnosis at the hospital. In Kang Taein's mind, there's nothing but the thought that things are over between him and Gu Wanjae, but Gu Wanjae is surprisingly calm about it. So what? What's he supposed to do about it? Just like always, putting loyalty and friendship first, he reacts nonchalantly even to his friend becoming like that... Perhaps it's the price of being too complacent. To make matters worse, something strange happens to Gu Wanjae's body too. If you become an Alpha, and I become an Omega. Can we still be friends? 'Why can't friends do anything together?' They're friends, but something feels off somewhere. 'Is it okay for friends to do this?' When they come to their senses, they've become crazy bastards who, despite being friends, have done everything there is to do.

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