#Side Story 6
It can’t not be real, guys. They’re basically married.
They live in the same house anyway, so they might as well be married.
To those few overly invested fans of YY Esper, give up girls. This man isn’t from our world.
I was in a hurry to take photos in case I got caught looking, so it’s a bit shaky, but take a look at my treasure shots.
(Too_much_handsomeness.jpg)
At the bottom of the post was a photo of Oh-yul holding a hot dog covered in mustard sauce with a slightly perplexed expression, and Ho-woo smiling brightly. Although only Ho-woo’s side profile was visible, he was surprised looking at the photo.
Did I smile like that?
Ho-woo touched his mouth. At that moment, Han Seong-won cleared his throat. Ah, right, they were in a meeting. As Ho-woo straightened up from leaning towards Yu Hee-eun, Han Seong-won continued with a slightly gloomy face.
“What’s important is how this monster entered the city. We’re thoroughly investigating the area around the amusement park and checking if there were any previous witnesses.”
“Han Seong-won Esper.”
At Oh-yul’s calm, low voice, Han Seong-won straightened his hunched shoulders. With a clearly tense expression, he waited for his respected superior’s next words.
“I don’t think I asked to hear things we already know.”
“……”
The fingers lightly tapping the desk stopped. Oh-yul stood up from the head seat and looked at the PPT screen with disdain.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to create a city for the future?”
“Y-yes, that’s right!”
“Then you should put in effort. Not with useless reports like this.”
Why is he like this again?
Ho-woo silently offered Han Seong-won sympathy in his heart while looking at Oh-yul. If his boss was like this, he would have already written his resignation and left, but this was Han Seong-won’s lifelong job.
Passing by the man ground down by the wheels of a hell where resignations aren’t accepted, Oh-yul held out his hand to Ho-woo as if to leave. Taking his hand and walking out of the conference room towards the office, Ho-woo casually asked.
“Why are you being petty again?”
“Me?”
“You were towards Han Seong-won Esper.”
Whether he was pretending not to know or truly unaware of his actions, it was hard to tell from his brazenly nonchalant expression.
“More importantly, are you close with Yu Hee-eun guide?”
It felt like a question he had received before with just the name changed. Ho-woo, who had become familiar with this man he didn’t want to be familiar with, realized why Oh-yul’s mood had suddenly hit rock bottom. It seemed he had picked on Han Seong-won because he was displeased with the brief moment Ho-woo had been close to Yu Hee-eun.
“Within reasonable bounds, I suppose we’re friendly.”
From the start, Yu Hee-eun had been favorable towards Ho-woo, and since becoming part of the same team, perhaps due to a sense of liberation from Oh-yul’s guiding, she tended to look after Ho-woo more. Although she played mischievous pranks sometimes, she wasn’t ill-natured, so it was comfortable to talk with her.
However, the one Ho-woo was conversing with now was more arbitrary than reasonable.
“Don’t get too close to her.”
In a relationship that was nothing more or less than work colleagues, how much more distance did he need to keep? Ho-woo let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
“Oh-yul.”
Oh-yul, who was opening the office door, turned around at the call.
“You don’t have friends, do you?”
“Do I need such things?”
Ah, I expected this answer.
Somehow, Ho-woo disliked how his understanding of Oh-yul had increased. Still, he didn’t want his human relationships to narrow like this. If left alone, it was obvious things would flow as that man wanted, so it seemed better to correct it to some extent now.
“Hee-eun is a kind of friend, so you don’t need to be so wary.”
“Fri…end.”
Oh-yul’s brow furrowed.
“You mean like Kim Do-hyun?”
“Well, if you think about it, I guess so?”
To be honest, it wasn’t as deep a relationship as with Do-hyun, but since they could be placed on the same line and defined by the word friend, Ho-woo nodded in agreement.
“I see. Understood.”
Ho-woo felt relieved that Oh-yul seemed to have understood. They would be working together as team members for a long time, so acting like this just because of a little conversation was unfair to the team.
“And about the monster that appeared at the amusement park…”
Wondering if it might have entered when the defense wall was lowered, Ho-woo showed signs of anxiety. Oh-yul enveloped his star with the vast sea. Although it was a one-sided imprinting by Oh-yul, Ho-woo, surrounded by the energy of his imprinted partner, quickly regained stability.
“It’s alright.”
Oh-yul lightly kissed Ho-woo’s forehead, eyes, and then lips, gently biting his lower lip.
“I’ll fix it for you.”
I promised, didn’t I?
The soft words were soon swallowed by the overlapping lips, swirling inside their mouths. Waves rose over the entangled sensations. Trembling hands desperately clung to the strong neck, draped over solid shoulders.
Ho-woo thought with his eyes closed.
Kissing Oh-yul was like drowning. The rough incoming waves and breath-stealing sea overwhelmed Ho-woo dizzily.
“Haa…”
When breath had risen to the tip of his chin, Oh-yul released Ho-woo. Wiping Ho-woo’s wet lips as he gasped for air, he let out a sweet laugh.
“Nothing will happen.”
It was like a firm declaration.
***
Christmas was just a day away.
In other words, today was Christmas Eve. On December 24th, the day that should be filled with the most anticipation, Ho-woo looked around the house with a troubled face. He didn’t feel even a speck of excitement.
To be honest, decorating and setting up a tree was a very bothersome task. He had never bothered with such things while living alone. It would be unfair to condemn it as unromantic; only those who had prepared and cleaned up themselves could understand Ho-woo’s reluctance.
Still, should I do something?
He surveyed the empty house again. The clean and modern interior was spotless thanks to Oh-yul’s daily cleaning. Oh-yul hadn’t brought in any household appliances to prevent Ho-woo from cleaning, so it lacked the feeling of a lived-in home.
“Hmm…”
If he prepared now, he could probably place a small tree in the corner. There was Daiso where they sold everything. Ho-woo checked the time and left the house with his coat. He planned to return home and finish decorating before Oh-yul came back.
Arriving at the Daiso he had located beforehand, Ho-woo pondered in front of the few remaining Christmas decorations. The quality wasn’t to his liking. But there wasn’t enough time to go elsewhere, so he reluctantly swept the better-looking items into his basket.
Picking things at random resulted in a messy mix of decorations too large for the knee-high artificial tree, but since there were few he actually liked, Ho-woo just finished checking out.
The rustling bag was quite heavy. He wondered if he was doing something unnecessary. Ho-woo, who had been considering giving up the whole way back, felt even more despair as he unpacked the items at home.
“This is a mess.”
He set up the tree and wrapped it with lights. The alternating yellow and blue lights were too long. It seemed he had mistakenly bought ones meant for a large tree. Still, after wrapping them around the tree without leaving any excess, he momentarily felt dizzy, unsure if it was a tree or just a mass of lights. Nothing was going as planned.
Ho-woo took out the mixed decorations one by one and hung them on the tree. A star too small compared to the tree, large stocking ornaments. A snowman with one eye missing, smiling grotesquely, and a Santa hat.
“……”
Wouldn’t it be right to give up now?
Set up in a corner of the living room, the sparkling tree looked quite shabby. He regretted not preparing in advance. Ho-woo placed the small shopping bag he had bought before under the tree. It looked even worse. Damn it.
Although grumbling wouldn’t change anything, Ho-woo muttered to himself as he cleaned up the messy living room. He organized the scattered bags and gathered the trash, pushing it firmly into the trash can. After finishing the cleaning, it was almost time for Oh-yul to return, so Ho-woo sat on the sofa like a statue, staring at the entrance.
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
Not long after, when the sound of lightly pressing the door lock rang out, Ho-woo straightened his back. Contrary to thinking there was nothing to be nervous about, he swallowed dryly.
“Ho-woo, I’m home…”
Oh-yul, who had entered calling Ho-woo as usual, didn’t finish his sentence and slowly opened his eyes wide.
“…Ah.”
A small exclamation burst from his well-shaped lips. His lips, which had hesitated and quivered, soon pressed tightly shut. Ho-woo rolled his eyes around. Oh-yul’s expression was slowly contorting.
Is it really that bad?
Even to himself, it looked like a complete mess. Ho-woo awkwardly scratched his cheek.
“Well, the shape isn’t great, but…”
Ho-woo, who was about to make excuses that he had tried his best, closed his mouth at the tear that fell. As if that small droplet was a signal, overwhelming joy flowed down the white cheeks. Silently, the monster just shed tears. Ho-woo tightly embraced Oh-yul, who was standing blankly, unable to wipe away the flowing tears.
“Happy birthday.”
A suffocating embrace returned the low congratulations.
Ah, my poor sea.
Embraced by a being both hateful and unbearably lovable, Ho-woo accepted the heavy weight.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
