His chest felt tight. Normally, Yi-beom would have told the other person to wait and prioritized his call. Just as Eunho was fidgeting his fingers in an unexplainable frustration, Yi-beom spoke again.
[Where are you? I’ll come pick you up.]
“I’m at the intersection in front of the school……”
[When did you get all the way over there?]
His voice was tightly restrained with suppressed anger. After a brief pause, he let out a sigh and continued.
[Stay there. I’m on my way.]
With a rustling sound, the call ended. As instructed, Eunho stood in an alley a little removed from the main road and waited for him.
Judging by the cigarette butts scattered across the ground, it seemed to be this neighborhood’s unspoken smoking area. Squatting down, Eunho nudged the cigarette butts with the tip of his shoe. Among the pile, he spotted the logo of the brand Yi-beom smoked.
“Ahjussi’s acting weird.”
No matter how he thought about it, it was strange. Answering his call only to start talking to someone else, telling him to wait and then abruptly hanging up.
“Usually he would’ve asked who I met and what I did.”
They were the kind of questions only someone with paranoid jealousy would ask, but having grown used to Yi-beom’s interrogations, Eunho didn’t even realize what was odd about their absence. His rabbit ears, which had slipped out through his hair at some point, drooped limply, mirroring his mood.
“Is there another tiger Beastman at the office or something……?”
As soon as that thought reached him, the corners of Eunho’s mouth fell. That would be bad. Maybe Yi-beom might feel the same sense of comfort around another tiger Beastman that Eunho felt when he saw rabbit Beastmen. Things Eunho didn’t have. Things he never would.
Still rolling cigarette butts back and forth with his shoe, Eunho suddenly found a shadow falling over him.
“Are you perhaps a rabbit Beastman?”
When he looked up, he saw a man with rabbit ears just like his. Eunho tilted his head.
“Who are you?”
“Ah…… well……”
The man scratched his head shyly with a sheepish smile. Up close, Eunho was much prettier and cuter than he had looked from afar.
“I’ve been watching you from over there…… Do you have a boyfriend?”
Without even managing to meet Eunho’s eyes, he pulled out his phone and held it out.
“If you don’t, maybe your number……?”
“What are you doing here?”
A familiar voice cut in. Both the man and Eunho turned their heads at the same time. Yi-beom was standing tall at the entrance of the alley.
“Baby.”
The cringe-inducing pet name flowed from his mouth. With a face so calm it was hard to believe he had just said that, Yi-beom walked toward Eunho. He must have come straight from the office; he was dressed in a white shirt and black slacks.
As if shielding him from the man, Yi-beom pulled Eunho in by the shoulder. Eyes wide, Eunho looked up at Yi-beom’s profile. His face was as expressionless as ever, but one eyebrow was slightly raised. It was the look he wore whenever something displeased him.
“Ahjussi?”
“How long are you going to keep calling me that? Baby.”
“Th-that’s what I’ve always…….”
“I told you I was wrong. No matter how mad you are, how can it be ‘Ahjussi’?”
He trailed off, sounding genuinely upset. B-but I’ve always called you Ahjussi. If he said that, Yi-beom’s eyebrow would probably rise even higher, so Eunho swallowed the words.
“Let’s go. I parked in front.”
Yi-beom naturally guided Eunho toward the car parked at the mouth of the alley. Watching the two of them—both acting awkward and uncertain—the man called out.
“Excuse me……!”
At the voice behind him, Yi-beom turned his head. His face was completely ruthless now.
Take care of him. Yi-beom mouthed silently to one of his subordinates waiting behind the man, careful not to let Eunho notice.
If he didn’t get the message, then we’ll have to take care of the bastard. Yi-beom tightened the arm wrapped around Eunho. Fortunately, the man’s voice didn’t continue.
***
Throughout the entire drive, Yi-beom said nothing. He silently fastened Eunho’s seatbelt and simply drove.
It was their first fight, so Eunho felt just as awkward. Does this even count as a fight? He glanced sideways at him.
Eek.
……Either way, it was clear Yi-beom was furious. His jaw was set so tightly it showed no sign of loosening.
Eunho randomly rolled down the window once, then glanced under the seat as if looking for something. After fidgeting around, he opened the glove compartment in front of him.
Clatter, clatter—a tube identical to the one in the bedroom drawer rolled out.
“……”
“……”
Both Yi-beom and Eunho froze, their mouths shut. Why is that here? Eunho whipped his head toward him.
“Ahjussi. Is this the bedroom?”
“……No.”
“If it’s not, then why is something that’s supposed to be in the bedroom here?”
“You—”
Yi-beom finally brought up what he had been holding back.
“Why were you talking to that guy?”
“I don’t know him.”
“He was a rabbit like you.”
“Just because you’re both tigers doesn’t mean you know every tiger either. And I—I asked him first.”
Eunho lifted his chin again. Usually he could be as clueless as a frog, but in moments like this he was frustratingly articulate.
Meanwhile, the cylindrical tube rolled into the backseat. Each time the car rattled slightly, a faint clunking sound came from behind.
Yi-beom opened and closed his mouth several times. He had no sense of how much he should say. Younguk’s words from earlier at the office flashed through his mind.
“The more distant you get, the more you have to go back to the beginning, hyung-nim.”
“What?”
Lowering his voice like he was sharing a crucial secret, Younguk leaned in and whispered quickly.
“There were times my wife and I grew distant too. What couple doesn’t? When you’re stuck together long enough, there are days you can’t even stand the sight of each other.”
I never said I couldn’t stand the sight of him. Just as Yi-beom was about to refute that, Younguk continued.
“That’s when you go back to the beginning. Back to when just holding hands made your heart race. Back to when you debated whether or not to hug. Take sister-in-law out on dates. Eat good food together…….”
Like a cram school instructor emphasizing key points, Younguk stretched out his fingers, wagging them arrogantly from side to side, so smug Yi-beom wanted to cut them off.
“The key point is—you absolutely do not talk about anything related to sleeping together.”
“Why?”
“Because brand-new couples don’t talk about that stuff!”
Insisting it was the most important point, Younguk repeated it several times. His lecture only ended when Jinwon snapped at him to stop talking about sex.
Listening to the love gel rolling around, Yi-beom pondered.
When we first started dating…… I didn’t say things like that, did I?
If I say I kept it in the car because I wanted to do it with you, that won’t work. He stole a glance at Eunho, who was clamping his lips shut. In his effort to show how angry he was, he seemed to have momentarily forgotten his fear of Yi-beom.
This looks better than him being scared.
Yi-beom decided to trust Younguk’s advice. Even if he acted like an idiot, he was still a father of three who’d succeeded up to his third child. Swallowing back what he had intended to say, Yi-beom turned the steering wheel with one hand and held out the other.
“Can I hold your hand?”
“Huh?”
Caught off guard, Eunho blinked.
“I want to hold it.”
The sharp lift at the corners of Eunho’s eyes softened instantly. Yi-beom, who usually just grabbed him if he wanted to or hugged him without asking, was suddenly seeking permission—it made Eunho’s heart itch strangely.
“Can’t I?”
“Why, why are you even asking that?”
“Because I want to ask.”
His hand hovered close, as if urging Eunho to take it quickly.
“If you say no, I won’t.”
After hesitating, Eunho slowly moved his hand toward him. He was still afraid of holding hands, but he was more afraid of the hurt expression Yi-beom might wear.
Worried that Yi-beom might notice his trembling, Eunho laced their fingers tightly together.
Feeling the warmth, Yi-beom’s lips twitched upward. Even dog shit has its uses—Younguk’s tip wasn’t bad at all.
Watching Yi-beom’s mood visibly improve, Eunho’s insides grew complicated. Who was that person on the phone earlier? Why did you call me baby? Why is that love gel in the car? Ahjussi, what are you really……
Instead of those questions, something else slipped from his mouth.
“Ahjussi, you’re really…… s-so shameless.”
The moment the words left him, Eunho gasped. He covered his mouth with both hands and glanced at Yi-beom nervously.
“That’s why I’m dating you.”
Without taking his eyes off the road, Yi-beom let out a short laugh.
“If I’m going to completely devour a twenty-year-old, I’ve got to solder my face on properly, don’t I?”
“S-solder……?”
How could you make a face like that out of metal? Yi-beom’s face was far too perfect to be the result of soldering. Yi-beom always said Eunho was cute and pretty, but in Eunho’s eyes, the cute and pretty one was Yi-beom.
Sneaking a glance at him, Eunho muttered softly,
“You soldered it…… r-really well…….”
Yi-beom burst into laughter.
***
The place Yi-beom took him was a movie theater. Eunho looked around, as it was somewhere they hadn’t visited since they first started dating. Holding his hand, Yi-beom walked with him to the elevator.
He could already smell buttery popcorn. For no reason at all, excitement bubbled up inside him, and Eunho squeezed Yi-beom’s hand.
“Why did we come here?”
Ever since Eunho started going in and out of Yi-beom’s house, they hadn’t come to a theater. The TV in the living room was big enough to make a cinema unnecessary, and Yi-beom always held popcorn for him anyway, so there had been no need.
On top of that, at home they could cuddle, play with each other’s hands. If they got bored, they could kiss.
“To show you a movie.”
“We can watch movies at home, though?”
“It’s different watching it here.”
Just as Eunho was about to add something else, the elevator doors slid open with a soft ding.
“Ah…….”
