“Okay.”
“Order the drinks in advance with my card.”
“What are you going to have, hyung?”
“Iced Americano.”
One iced Americano and one drink for himself. After finishing the input, Kang-woo headed inside the café. He ordered two drinks at the counter and then settled into a seat by the window.
Through the large open window, he could see Seok-ho standing outside. Even standing still, the man exuded an oppressive presence. Despite wearing an outer coat, his solid, muscular physique couldn’t be concealed.
Between his thin lips, he held a white cigarette. The pale smoke that flowed out with his exhale dispersed faintly into the air.
Why do adults like cigarettes so much? No—actually, it’s not just adults who like them. Come to think of it, even though he was a minor, Baek Kyung-wook was an enormous chain smoker.
When did Seok-ho start smoking? In the military? Or when he was in college? Or… had he started back in high school too? As Kang-woo pictured the possibilities, none of them felt out of place.
Shaking off the thought, Kang-woo focused again on the person in front of him. Even after finishing his cigarette, Seok-ho remained standing there for quite a while, staring down at his phone.
Did he get an important message from somewhere? He isn’t out while busy, is he? Kang-woo worried for a moment before suddenly realizing that he was observing Seok-ho far too intently.
He quickly turned his gaze toward the mountain in front of him. The softly rounded peaks were painted in vivid shades of crimson and orange. Even as he admired the beautiful scenery, his eyes kept drifting sideways.
Only after about ten more minutes did Seok-ho return, carrying with him the faint smell of cigarette smoke. During that time, Kang-woo had been sipping the drink he’d already received. The warm, sweet taste of hot chocolate made his mood feel buoyant. Kang-woo casually spoke up to Seok-ho as he naturally sat down across from him.
“Did you get an important message or something?”
“No. Why?”
“You were looking at your phone for a long time.”
Seok-ho took a sip of his iced Americano and chuckled.
“You were watching me the whole time?”
“Well… you were in my line of sight.”
He thought it was a reasonable explanation. If someone you know is standing outside the window, it’s only natural to look, isn’t it? Seok-ho gave a nonchalant nod.
But he didn’t offer any further explanation.
Kang-woo hadn’t really intended to press him anyway, so he neatly gave up on expecting an answer. Turning his head, he looked out the window again. The weather had grown slightly darker than before.
What a shame. It would’ve been nicer if the sun had been shining brightly.
After spending about an hour there, the two of them returned to the car. Then the car began driving endlessly toward somewhere once again.
Kang-woo didn’t deliberately ask their destination. Wherever Seok-ho was taking him, it didn’t seem bad to go without knowing anything.
Calm music flowed from the Bluetooth-connected speaker. Judging by the songs that had played so far, it seemed to be Seok-ho’s playlist. Most of them were soft, relaxing pop songs.
When studying, Kang-woo usually listened to instrumental music so he could focus on the problems. But in everyday life, as long as it wasn’t something loud like rock or EDM, he could listen to almost anything, so he quietly listened along.
Moreover, Seok-ho’s music taste suited Kang-woo as well.
Unconsciously, Kang-woo began humming along to the familiar melody.
And at that moment, Seok-ho—sitting in the driver’s seat—realized something. Kim Kang-woo, who (according to Kwon Jun-seo) was supposedly talented in everything, had absolutely no musical talent whatsoever.
His voice itself was pleasant to listen to, which made it even more unexpected. With a voice like that, it wasn’t easy to sing this badly. The completely disastrous pitch—on the level of rearranging the song entirely—made Seok-ho nearly laugh, though he barely managed to hold it in.
Meanwhile, Kang-woo, busy looking out the window, continued humming diligently, completely unaware.
Before he’d been fed, he’d looked like a steamed bun that had been pressed down somewhere—but now he seemed to be in a much better mood.
The song, whose pitch and rhythm were both completely off, didn’t last long before stopping abruptly. After eating a full lunch and sitting inside the warm car, drowsiness from post-meal fatigue began to creep in.
No. I can’t sleep.
Even though Kang-woo was used to being driven around by a chauffeur, he still knew basic etiquette.
The passenger seat isn’t a place meant for comfortably sleeping when you’re tired. It’s a seat where you should keep the driver company by constantly talking so they don’t get bored—and stay alert together in case something happens.
But knowing something and actually putting it into practice were clearly two different things.
I shouldn’t sleep…
Nodding his round head as he fought a fierce battle against sleep, Kang-woo eventually lost to his heavy eyelids and drifted into deep slumber.
Then, at some point, his eyes snapped open.
Seok-ho was right in front of him.
With his arms crossed, Seok-ho had completely turned his body toward the passenger seat and was staring directly at Kang-woo.
“……”
“……”
Their eyes met, and neither of them moved as they watched each other.
In the depths of those dark pupils, Kang-woo could see his own reflection. At that moment, a strange sensation overtook his body.
As if entranced, Kang-woo found himself captured by those eyes.
“You’re awake.”
It was a strange thing to say. Only after they had been staring at each other for quite a while did Seok-ho whisper it, as though informing him of a fact.
The time that had seemed momentarily frozen began to flow again with his words.
As if a spell had been lifted.
Barely regaining his senses, Kang-woo slowly blinked, pretending nothing was wrong. He rubbed his dry face with one hand and raised his upper body.
“When did we arrive?”
His voice came out hoarse, clearly revealing that he’d just been asleep. Embarrassed, Kang-woo cleared his throat.
Seok-ho checked the time on his phone.
“About ten minutes ago.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You were sleeping so soundly.”
But even so… did he really just watch him? It must’ve been boring. Thinking that Seok-ho might have been looking at his sleeping face for ten whole minutes made Kang-woo feel oddly embarrassed.
No—maybe not. Their eyes had only met by chance. There was no guarantee that Seok-ho had actually been watching him the entire time.
“Where are we?”
Kang-woo slowly turned his head and looked around. Seok-ho’s car was parked in a parking lot somewhere.
As he glanced around, Kang-woo let out a gasp.
“Oh—there’s the sea.”
Behind the car, the ocean stretched out.
A vast, majestic sea of deep blue.
Instead of answering, Seok-ho simply unbuckled his seatbelt and gave a short command.
“Get out.”
For a moment, Kang-woo had been standing there in a daze, but he quickly followed, unbuckling his belt and opening the door.
The moment he stepped out of the car, a cold sea breeze rushed toward him. His hat almost flipped off and flew away, but he caught it just in time.
Perhaps because the weather had suddenly turned colder, the beach was empty except for the two of them. Realizing there was no one else around, Kang-woo removed his hat and clutched it in one hand.
His hair fluttered wildly as the cool wind seeped into his scalp.
The biting air penetrated deep into his nasal passages, cold enough to drive even the cluttered thoughts out of his head.
Without saying a word to Kang-woo, Seok-ho strode toward the sea.
Kang-woo hurried after him, following the man walking ahead. They crossed the asphalt ground and stepped onto the beach.
His feet sank repeatedly into the sand. Gritty grains slipped into his sneakers, but Kang-woo didn’t mind.
With wide strides, he moved closer and closer to the sea. When Seok-ho—who had been walking ahead—finally stopped, Kang-woo slowed down as well.
From far away, the waves surged forward, roaring with a frightening sound.
It was a magnificent noise that seemed to squeeze his insides tight, but Kang-woo didn’t retreat.
Standing before the sea, he felt fear and exhilaration at the same time.
A strange swirl of conflicting emotions rose up and swallowed him whole.
The sea was a place no human power could ever truly conquer.
Looking out at the free and endlessly wide ocean made the suffocating feeling in his chest suddenly clear away.
Kang-woo passed Seok-ho and stepped closer to the deep blue sea.
White waves foamed as they crashed and surged toward his feet with terrifying force—only to retreat just before touching the toes of his sneakers.
Gazing silently at the damp sand, Kang-woo soon lifted his eyes to the distant horizon.
“…It’s beautiful.”
His whisper sank into the harsh sea wind.
Heavy clouds drifted quickly across the sky, and between them the light of the sunset stretched out long rays. Watching the horizon slowly being dyed orange, Kang-woo buried his face into the scarf.
When he inhaled deeply, Seok-ho’s scent—soaked into the scarf—filled his nose.
It was a heavy yet somehow comforting fragrance.
The sharp wind that kept blowing brushed against his cheeks, sending a numbing chill deep into his bones.
And yet, strangely, a warm heat gradually filled one corner of his heart.
Searching for the reason, Kang-woo turned his head.
And within his view, he saw Seok-ho standing several steps behind him.
“Hyung.”
As he called out softly, a fierce gust of wind blew.
At the same time his hair whipped wildly in the wind, those calm eyes looked straight at him.
The memory of the warm hand that had wiped away his tears flashed through his mind.
Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded heavily—and faster and faster, accelerating to a frightening speed.
He had called out to him, but after that he couldn’t say a single word.
Heat spread through his mouth, instantly leaving it dry. Overwhelmed by the aching sensation he had never felt before in his life, Kang-woo clenched his burning hands tightly into fists.
Yes.
That was the fleeting moment when he realized his first love—cold and burning at the same time.
***
He stared blankly into the air.
Even blinking his eyes felt sluggish.
Kang-woo had been lying on his bed for dozens of minutes now, doing nothing but staring endlessly at the ceiling.
Lately, he often found himself spacing out like this at random times.
Everything had started from that day.
The day he went to see the piercingly cold sea with Seok-ho.
Ever since that dreamlike day, Kang-woo had been acting like someone who had left his mind behind there.
No.
He definitely had left his mind behind.
Otherwise, how could he possibly dare to feel something like this toward Seok-ho?
The moment he thought of him, his heart began pounding violently in his chest. It was a completely different kind of heartbeat from when he felt fear.
The intense pounding of his heart, tickling something deep inside him, raced wildly through every vein. Kang-woo’s body was now completely overtaken by adrenaline and dopamine.
Slowly sitting up, Kang-woo turned his gaze toward the desk. On top of it lay a neatly folded black scarf and hat.
When he returned home, he had tried to immediately return the things he’d borrowed, but Seok-ho had refused outright, telling him to just use them.
In truth, he could have stubbornly insisted that it was fine and refused—but Kang-woo hadn’t done that.
It would be more accurate to say he hadn’t been in the right state of mind to do so. His head had felt blank.
On the ride back home, Kang-woo had been swept up in a whirlwind of emotions.
Just moments before, he’d felt completely normal. But simply being alone with Seok-ho inside the cramped space made every nerve in his body stand on edge.
Tense the entire time, Kang-woo kept questioning himself over and over in his mind.
What exactly is this unfamiliar pounding feeling? Is his heart racing like this because he was deeply moved by the magnificent sea? Or… could it be…that he truly liked Seok-ho?
They say people fall in love in an instant.
Honestly, Kang-woo had never believed in things like fated love—those vague, dreamy ideas. He’d always thought such things only happened in movies or dramas.
But as if to shatter that misconception, those very things were happening to him. Realizing his feelings had happened in an instant. And so Kang-woo was flustered and confused. He wasn’t even sure whether it was right to define this feeling as “liking someone.”
Fortunately, Seok-ho didn’t seem to have noticed the change in him.
Kang-woo kept secretly glancing at him, whose indifferent face looked no different from usual.
“Why do you keep sneaking glances at me?”
As if the gaze had become quite noticeable, Seok-ho—who had been calmly focusing on driving—suddenly threw out the question.
Kang-woo was startled for a moment, but he replied in the calmest tone he could manage.
