Hyun Tae-oh in yellow had no concept of moderation.
Because of Catdog and Hayangi, Chi-yu hadn’t gone out and had been spending his days idly at home, and during that time Tae-oh paraded around in a yellow T-shirt and yellow sweatpants he’d somehow gotten his hands on.
The outfit was so gaudy it reminded Chi-yu of that old Asian actor who had once earned fame for wearing something similar.
At least Tae-oh’s pants weren’t skin-tight like that actor’s—that was a small mercy.
Head to toe in yellow, Tae-oh trailed Chi-yu everywhere, endlessly asking if he didn’t want him right now.
Chi-yu liked Tae-oh’s blond hair well enough, but he still preferred the original, black-haired Hyun Tae-oh. So he shook his head firmly and said,
“If it’s yellow, sure, I want it—but the one I really want is the real Tae-oh.”
He only said it to put an end to Tae-oh’s antics of wrapping himself in yellow from head to toe. But when it came to Kang Chi-yu, Hyun Tae-oh never knew the meaning of enough.
At those words, Tae-oh vanished in a flash, reappeared with his hair restored to black, and announced that he had something even more irresistible to offer—before pinning Chi-yu beneath him.
With Tae-oh’s weight pressing down and his body filling him, Chi-yu swore he would never again say he wanted anything in front of Hyun Tae-oh.
***
“Puhahahaha!”
“Ke-ke-ke-keuk.”
Min Yu-hyun and Lee Jun-hyung doubled over laughing after hearing the story of Hyun Tae-oh’s dyed hair.
“How can that guy never have a middle ground? Not once.”
“So that’s why he asked Do-il for a salon that does hair dyes?”
Chi-yu gave a heavy sigh and laughed awkwardly.
“Until yesterday he was coated in yellow from head to toe. I never even knew so many different yellow tracksuits existed. One whole section of the dressing room is nothing but yellow now.”
“Keheheheh… oh, Hyun Tae-oh.”
“He’s gone completely crazy for you.”
“I knew he was crazy from the moment you moved in together.”
“Could you not insult my boyfriend?”
“How’s that an insult? It’s the plain truth.”
“Still, I’ve got to admit—it’s impressive. Must be reassuring, huh?”
At Yu-hyun’s words, both Jun-hyung and Chi-yu glanced at him. Yu-hyun only shrugged before continuing.
“These days—or maybe ever since we started dating….”
“…Don’t tell me you’re feeling insecure?”
Jun-hyung asked. Yu-hyun rubbed his chin and fell into thought.
“When Do-jae and I first started out, we couldn’t stand each other. You guys know that, right? I hated him, he hated me. But somehow we ended up liking each other, started dating, and we’ve stayed together since then. Still, sometimes I catch myself thinking—how long can we really last like this?”
“…Why would you even think that?”
Chi-yu asked, and Yu-hyun answered with a bitter half-smile.
“Good question. Maybe because I feel like the size of my feelings and his aren’t the same…?”
“You feel they’re different?”
“Tae-oh shows his feelings for you in everything he does. Do-il can’t even hide how crazy he is about Jun-hyung. But Do-jae….”
“Hyung, Do-jae’s just a different kind of person from Tae-oh or Do-il. Of course he acts differently.”
Jun-hyung cut in. Yu-hyun gave a small nod.
“I know that. I do. But still… he doesn’t give me enough certainty to feel secure without him showing it. Feels like I’m the only one in love.”
It was clear Yu-hyun had fallen even deeper for Yoon Do-jae.
Anxieties like that usually came when someone’s feelings had grown, piling on the unease that came with loving more.
Chi-yu knew the feeling well—he often carried the same kind of worry himself. The form of the fear might have been different, but the unease underneath was the same: There was no guarantee love would last forever.
And that was what frightened him—that the Hyun Tae-oh who lived and breathed only for him might one day suddenly turn cold.
It felt like a needless worry, yet it always came back. After all, people, even when life seemed stable, couldn’t help but imagine what might go wrong.
So whenever the unease crept in, what mattered was reassurance. Confirmation that nothing had changed, that love was still the same, that feelings hadn’t wavered.
Hyun Tae-oh excelled at giving that reassurance, almost to excess. Yoon Do-jae, on the other hand, did not.
Sometimes Chi-yu thought it would be perfect if Yoon Do-jae and Hyun Tae-oh could be mixed halfway together.
Of course, Beom Do-il was just as blindly devoted to Jun-hyung as Tae-oh was to him—but since Jun-hyung actually enjoyed it, that was in a category of its own.
“Why don’t you just tell him you want him to show it more?”
Jun-hyung suggested. Yu-hyun only shrugged.
“Say that with my own mouth?”
There was no way he could ever bring himself to tell Do-jae outright that he wished he’d show his love more often through words or actions. That was something Yu-hyun could never say, not even if he died and came back.
“What’s so impossible about that? If you’re anxious, just say you’re anxious.”
“Yeah. Better than keeping it bottled up alone….”
“You guys can say that because you’re not me.”
Leaning back against the sofa, Yu-hyun cut him off and added,
“If Do-jae loved me with the same kind of obsession Tae-oh or Do-il have, I wouldn’t even think to doubt him.”
“Do-jae does love you.”
At Chi-yu’s words, Yu-hyun nodded slowly.
“I know. I do know. But still.”
“You just need something more concrete?”
Jun-hyung asked. Yu-hyun frowned faintly.
“I don’t even know what kind of certainty I’m looking for. Just… here I am, loving him this much, but maybe he only loves me this much? Or maybe even less? Or what if that amount keeps shrinking?”
As he spoke, Yu-hyun shaped a circle with both hands and gradually shrank it smaller.
“Tae-oh and Do-il keep showing you guys how much they love you so you never have to feel anxious. But Do-jae doesn’t. So of course I’m insecure.”
“……”
“…Anyway. That’s all.”
Propping his chin in one hand, Yu-hyun muttered as he gazed out the window.
Jun-hyung and Chi-yu exchanged a silent look.
***
A few days later, Yoon Do-jae appeared with his hair dyed a blazing red.
It was because Jun-hyung had given him a hint—he’d told Do-jae that Yu-hyun was anxious, advised him to be more attentive, even pointing to Hyun Tae-oh’s over-the-top gestures as an example.
Do-jae had no intention of imitating Tae-oh, but since he couldn’t think of any other way to reassure Yu-hyun, he ended up dyeing his hair red.
Yu-hyun looked startled at the sudden change, and Do-jae, uncertain how else to comfort him, explained that he’d dyed it Yu-hyun’s favorite color.
He admitted that such a small gesture could never express the whole of his feelings—but he swore he loved Yu-hyun far more than Yu-hyun loved him.
Yu-hyun was moved, and the two of them grew close again.
If it had ended there, it would have been the perfect romantic gesture.
But then came the twist: hearing that even Yoon Do-jae had followed Tae-oh’s lead and dyed his hair, Beom Do-il suddenly showed up with his hair dyed bright blue, making Lee Jun-hyung’s face twist with horror.
Wearing his new blue hair with all the confidence in the world, Do-il looked at Jun-hyung and declared,
“Guess it’s true that blue suits me since I’ve got the water attribute, huh?”
In reality, the color couldn’t have looked worse on him.
