Chapter 64
Feeling mischievous for no reason, Minhyeon called out to Yuwon once more.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“…Do you like that person a lot?”
It was an impulsive question. Only then did Yuwon’s rabbit-like eyes turn toward Minhyeon.
But he only stared without readily opening his mouth. He seemed to have momentarily lost his words at the embarrassing question that had suddenly come at him. Just then, a spicy aroma cut through the awkward silence.
“Tteokbokki is ready! The rice cakes are all cooked, so just boil it lightly and eat.”
“Thank you.”
Minhyeon gave a small greeting to the staff member and turned on the burner as he spoke.
“To be honest, I’m a bit hurt.”
“What are you hurt about now…”
“Hyung doesn’t tell me anything. Last time too, and today too.”
Minhyeon’s gentle eyes drooped. Just a few years ago, there were no secrets between us. Whether it was good or bad, we used to confide everything to each other. But Yuwon, whom he was meeting after a long time, was busy hiding his situation. Of course, things couldn’t be exactly the same as before, but feeling him so obviously putting up walls was bound to make him feel sad.
Looking at the dejected Minhyeon, Yuwon reluctantly opened his mouth.
“What are you so curious about? Tell me.”
Minhyeon’s eyes, which had been dim just moments before, immediately sparkled. Not missing the opportunity, Minhyeon immediately threw out his question.
“I’m curious about how you met.”
“I met him while working part-time. You remember the meat restaurant Boss Park ran? There.”
“You worked part-time together?”
“No, he came as a customer.”
“Ah, a customer…”
So it wasn’t even someone he worked with, but someone whose heart was stolen by a mere customer. Minhyeon buried his face deeply to hide his expression that was about to crumble pathetically.
Did he fall for him at first sight? How pretty could he be to capture Yuwon’s attention at once? Getting upset for no reason, he bit the inside of his lip, then pretended nothing was wrong and asked his next question.
“How long have you been dating? Is it long?”
“No, it’s not that… it hasn’t been quite six months yet.”
“But you’re living together?”
“Yeah. It just happened that way somehow.”
Yuwon said this while stirring the tteokbokki once with the ladle. Hot steam was rising from the tteokbokki that was now bubbling away.
“Hey, it’s boiling now. Let’s eat.”
Yuwon served tteokbokki onto a small plate and placed it in front of Minhyeon. The green small plate was filled with fish cakes that Minhyeon liked, and on top was a single seaweed roll.
“You liked the seaweed rolls here. Hurry up and eat.”
“You remembered.”
“Of course. Everyone knew you were a seaweed roll fanatic. The Director used to wrap bean sprouts in seaweed and make them for you herself sometimes.”
“Right. That was more delicious than buying them outside.”
“Remember how you used to follow the Director around with seaweed all the time? You were really cute back then.”
Lost in memories, Yuwon smiled faintly and found another seaweed roll buried in the tteokbokki and placed it on Minhyeon’s plate.
“Here, there’s another one.”
“That’s yours, hyung.”
“I’m fine, so you eat them all.”
Yuwon grinned and served his portion of tteokbokki onto the remaining small plate. Minhyeon, who had been watching him quietly, lowered his gaze to stare at the two seaweed rolls piled on his plate.
Whenever Yuwon treated him this kindly, he felt pointlessly bitter. Because his pure kindness held no meaning for him. Such kindness shown to anyone was nothing but false hope.
But without even this kindness, I would wither and die. Soothing his aching heart, Minhyeon slowly picked up his chopsticks. He had no appetite, but pretended otherwise and forced a seaweed roll into his mouth.
The two finished all of the tteokbokki for two without leaving any, and even ate fried rice at the end before coming out. As they came out of the snack shop patting their full stomachs, the midday sun was warmly illuminating the afternoon streets.
They hadn’t even walked a few steps when Minhyeon already felt regretful. He didn’t want to let Yuwon go home like this.
“Hyung, want to have coffee before going in?”
“Coffee? You drink coffee too?”
“Of course. I’m only one year younger than you, hyung.”
Finding it amusing that Minhyeon got indignant at being treated like a child, Yuwon laughed a bit loudly.
“Don’t laugh. I’m even taller than you now, hyung.”
“Yes, yes. Good for you being tall.”
No matter how much he insisted he was big, only his body had grown, and in Yuwon’s eyes, he still looked exactly like his sixteen-year-old self. Getting worked up over just this much was childish in itself.
But if they were going to drink coffee, he thought he should contact Jeonghyeok. Even as he took out his phone, he worried whether he’d get nagged for no reason if he said he was going to a cafe. It won’t take long anyway, maybe I shouldn’t bother telling him. He even had such thoughts.
Then suddenly he felt upset, wondering why he had to worry about such things. Having to read his lover’s mood even for having a cup of coffee with a close friend—wasn’t this the perfect submissive relationship?
“Hyung, where should we go? I know a cafe with really soft sofas.”
“Ah… really?”
“It’s not far from here. About 10 minutes? We can walk there.”
Minhyeon said this while pointing in the direction of the cafe. He didn’t seem to imagine at all that Yuwon would refuse.
“We’re going there?”
To Minhyeon asking for his opinion once more, Yuwon answered let’s do that. And he put the phone he was holding back into his pocket.
It wasn’t like they were going somewhere far—just a cafe 10 minutes away. How long could it take for two guys to drink coffee? He couldn’t live having to get permission for every little thing like this.
Rationalizing it this way and taking steps forward, that was exactly when it happened.
A short honking sound was heard right next to them. It wasn’t a very loud sound, but he flinched and hunched his shoulders in surprise.
With an ominous feeling somehow, Yuwon quickly turned his head. A car with hazard lights on was parked at the edge of the narrow road. It was a very familiar car. It didn’t take long to recognize that it was Jeonghyeok’s car.
At the unexpected appearance, his heart pounded loudly. But that wasn’t the end. Soon the driver’s door opened, and Jeonghyeok got out.
Yuwon froze for a moment, completely stunned. Am I seeing things now? Having such an absurd thought, he suddenly recalled the conversation he’d had with Minhyeon standing next to him.
“The person who dropped you off this morning… that’s the person you live with, right?”
“What kind of work does he do to drive such a nice car?”
He gasped involuntarily. He had confessed everything to Minhyeon that the owner of that car was his lover. If Jeonghyeok showed himself in this situation…
Before finishing his thought, Yuwon looked at Minhyeon. Unfortunately, Minhyeon’s gaze was fixed on Jeonghyeok without wavering. His eyes, colored with shock, were trembling aimlessly.
At the expression of aversion that was so nakedly revealed, he felt breathless for a moment. This was exactly what he had been hiding all this time.
The reason he had kept Jeonghyeok’s existence hidden not only from Minhyeon but also from those around him was none other than this. What was love to him might not be love to others.
He didn’t want to see someone he cared about look at his lover with horror. But in the end, this is how it turned out.
“J-just wait here for a moment, Minhyeon. Just a moment.”
Yuwon stammered and hurriedly ran to Jeonghyeok. Jeonghyeok, who had gotten out of the car, had come up to the sidewalk and was standing in front of the passenger door.
Yuwon shouted in a low voice, suppressing his voice.
“Ajeossi, what are you doing right now?”
“What do you mean?”
“How can you suddenly show up without saying anything!”
“Why? Is that not okay?”
Of course it wasn’t that it wasn’t okay. If he had been alone, it would have been fine a hundred or a thousand times. But that wasn’t the case right now.
Unlike Yuwon, who was frantic, Jeonghyeok leisurely opened the passenger door. He even gave a look as if to say get in, appearing quite relaxed. To anyone watching, it would look like a caring lover who even acted as a driver.
Yuwon sighed in exasperation. He could guess Jeonghyeok’s intentions. As always, he was doing this on purpose. On purpose, to make me uncomfortable…
“Ah, Yuwon was with his friend.”
Just then, Jeonghyeok’s voice went past Yuwon’s side. Wondering what this was suddenly about, Yuwon turned his head in bewilderment, and before he knew it, Minhyeon had approached right next to him.
Why did you come here too? Even as he sent a reproachful look, Minhyeon’s gaze was directed only at Jeonghyeok. Jeonghyeok also looked straight at Minhyeon and asked.
“Kim Minhyeon-ssi, right?”
“…Yes.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Yuwon. Nice to meet you.”
Jeonghyeok smiled kindly and extended his right hand.
“I’m Moon Jeonghyeok.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
