“Should I go grab something to drink while we wait? There’s a café over there.”
“No, we’ll be getting on soon.”
Since it was the weekend, the line was ridiculously long. Watching him stare blankly at his phone the whole time, I let out an involuntary sigh.
“What’s so interesting? You’ve been glued to your phone this whole time.”
The moment I leaned in, he quickly hid his phone behind his back.
“It’s nothing. Just useless chatter. Someone taking a leave of absence, someone coming back… stuff like that.”
“Ohh, I see…”
“It’s the group chat for our year.”
Back when he was thinking of quitting school, he had no interest in the department at all, but it seemed like he’d been getting along with his classmates somewhat afterward. That was a relief, but still…
I let out a small sigh and stepped back, only to feel a sudden impact against my leg.
“Ah!”
Turning around, I saw a little kid clutching a toy with both hands, looking completely lost. He must’ve crashed into me while running around without watching where he was going. He was the one who ran into me, yet the way he looked like he was about to burst into tears reminded me exactly of Sa Shin-jae.
As soon as our eyes met, the kid caught a glimpse of Sa-yoon’s face and hiccupped, starting a fit of hiccups on the spot.
“You okay?”
Sa-yoon crouched down, deliberately softening his voice.
“I-I’m sorry…”
Realizing the adult he’d bumped into wasn’t angry, the child finally let out a deep bow, apologizing properly.
“As long as you’re not hurt, it’s fine.”
It wasn’t like he’d hit me that hard. I ruffled his hair absentmindedly, but the kid didn’t budge. His small hands were clenched tightly around something. When I looked closer, I saw that a piece of his toy had fallen to the ground.
“Want me to fix it for you? I’m pretty good at these things.”
It was a simple toy, nothing complicated. I easily snapped the pieces back together, and the kid’s face lit up instantly.
“Thank you, hyung!”
“Yeah, just be careful and don’t run around, okay?”
When I spoke gently, the kid gave a polite nod before scampering off toward the back of the line. His parents were probably waiting much further back.
As he waved his little hand enthusiastically, I suddenly felt a sharp stare burning into the back of my head. Turning around, I met a pair of icy eyes.
What now? What’s he pissed about this time?
“Are you always this nice to everyone, hyung?”
“…What?”
“Since when did random kids start calling you ‘hyung’ and ‘oppa’…?”
“Oh, is that so? Well, I guess I’m more like an uncle than a hyung, huh?.”
As soon as I muttered my belated realization, Shin-jae’s face scrunched up in irritation.
“Next group, please board.”
“Anyone watching would think you actually knew that kid.”
Snapping at me, Shin-jae stormed inside.
Left standing alone, Sa-yoon finally put the pieces together and gaped in shock.
Wait, was he seriously jealous of a five-year-old?
The round cable car glided out over the sea, and Sa-yoon plopped down next to Shin-jae. Their thighs brushed slightly, making Shin-jae flinch, but he didn’t move away. Sa-yoon considered letting him sulk for a while, but given what just happened, it seemed better to handle it sooner rather than later.
“My dear boyfriend, what’s got you so upset? Hm? Something seems to be bothering you.”
“It’s not because of that just now.”
“Ohhh, of course not.”
“…Was it that obvious?”
“I only ever look at you. How could I not notice?”
Sa-yoon teased him affectionately, watching as Shin-jae’s lips twitched again. His whole body was practically screaming his feelings—pouting, twitching, shifting around—it was like he was speaking in pure body language.
“Hyung’s starting to feel a little hurt, you know?”
“Why would you be hurt? If anything, I’m the one who should be upset.”
Shin-jae grumbled and turned his head away. Sa-yoon honestly couldn’t tell if he was raising a giant cat or just taking care of an adorable younger boyfriend.
“Alright, alright, it’s my fault. But I can’t fix it unless you tell me why.”
“That’s exactly your problem, hyung. You just say sorry first without even knowing what you did wrong.”
That felt a little unfair, but Sa-yoon wisely kept his mouth shut and tried to think it over. Judging from Shin-jae’s confident tone and the way he was acting, it was clear that Sa-yoon was, objectively, without a doubt, in the wrong this time.
And judging by how Shin-jae was waiting for him to figure it out instead of just saying it outright… Yeah, this had happened before.
It didn’t take long for the memory to surface. Last time, it was when Sa-yoon had promised to come home early from a gathering with his classmates but instead stumbled back home drunk in the morning.
“Ohhh. You wouldn’t be acting like this for no reason, right? It must be something I did.”
“Hmph.”
Wow, he was really sulking. Sa-yoon quickly replayed everything from this morning until now, trying to pinpoint what had set him off.
“Hyung never realizes unless I spell it out.”
Sa-yoon laced their fingers together, shaking their joined hands playfully. Shin-jae’s lips jutted out again, only to quickly press back into a neutral line.
Somewhere in the middle of his complaints, Sa-yoon caught words like shameless and hyung always does this, but he ignored them.
“…Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
The moment Sa-yoon coaxed him enough, Shin-jae finally got to the point. Sa-yoon focused on those plump, pretty lips as he spoke.
“This morning.”
“Mmhmm.”
“You asked me to call your phone this morning because you couldn’t find it, remember?”
“…Yeah, and?”
Sa-yoon responded absentmindedly, more out of reflex than anything else. What was there to be upset about?
“It hurt my feelings… because of the way you saved my contact.”
“…What?”
So that was the problem.
“Is that how you save the names of people you’re dating?”
“Ah…”
“Or are you worried someone will find out about us?”
Sa-yoon froze at the unexpected accusation. It felt like someone had just smacked him across the back of the head. His hesitation must’ve been obvious because Shin-jae’s face crumpled even further. So, that wasn’t the reason.
Realizing he’d just confirmed it without meaning to, Sa-yoon scrambled to grab his phone. There’s no way… But when he opened his call history, the evidence was staring him right in the face.
[Business Admin Shin-jae, Junior]
…Yeah. This was definitely his fault.
Clutching his forehead, Sa-yoon quickly pieced together what had happened. That morning, when he couldn’t find his phone, he’d absentmindedly asked Shin-jae to call it for him. Then, after finding it first, Shin-jae must have checked the screen before handing it over.
“So to you, I’m just some junior from another department?”
Now that he was paying closer attention, it wasn’t anger in Shin-jae’s voice—it was hurt. His voice was trembling slightly, thick with emotion. A heavy wave of guilt crashed over Sa-yoon.
Saving contacts by department, full name, and relation—it was just a habit. With over 800 contacts in his phone, there had been too many times when he’d struggled to remember who was who.
But this was different. His boyfriend wasn’t just another name in a list. There was no excuse.
Of course he’d be upset, fuck…
“Ah, shit. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
Shin-jae narrowed his eyes, lips pressing into a pout.
“And another thing.”
…There’s more?
Sa-yoon squeezed his eyes shut. What the hell, Cha Sa-yoon? How much of a dumbass have you been today?
At this point, he had no right to defend himself.
“At the restaurant earlier, you gave your number to those girls.”
“…What? When?”
Sa-yoon jerked up so fast it felt like he’d just left his body. He was so stunned that for a second, he actually thought he might have. But no matter how strongly he denied it, the doubt in Shin-jae’s teary eyes refused to fade.
“I saw everything. When I went to the bathroom after lunch, you were smiling and talking with them.”
“No, that was—”
“And I saw them hand you a phone. You typed something in and gave it back.”
…Shit. Okay. Looking back, it was something that could easily be misunderstood.
Honestly, this was all on me.
Sa-yoon dragged a hand down his face but froze midway. Being falsely accused of something so ridiculous had him sweating in his palms.
“They were just asking for directions. I happened to be standing in their way, so I helped them with the map.”
He tried to keep his voice steady, but he wasn’t sure if it worked. Carefully, he shifted his hand from his thigh and rested it on Shin-jae’s arm.
Thankfully, the sensitive little cat in front of him didn’t slap it away. Encouraged, Sa-yoon gently ran his thumb along the inside of Shin-jae’s wrist as he explained.
“It was just a small GPS error. The place they were looking for was actually in the next alley over, and I happened to know it, so I pointed them in the right direction. That’s it. I didn’t give them my number or anything. It’s seriously just a misunderstanding.”
“…Really?”
“Hyung wouldn’t lie about something like this. You already know I’m gay.”
“But you were smiling so brightly at them…”
“…The GPS told them their destination was 32 meters underground.”
“And what’s so funny about that?”
“Well, it just reminded me of that time with Cerberus, when we had to dig up that bastard buried 32 meters deep… Sorry.”
The way Shin-jae shot him a sharp look had Sa-yoon immediately apologizing again. But unfortunately, his sins didn’t end there.
“And at the rest stop, you left me behind when that cat that looked like Sesame showed up.”
“No, I just wanted a picture, but it ran away—”
“You even pulled your hand away from mine.”
“I was chasing after it and got carried away… You should’ve told me then.”
“And then there was that kid just now! You barely said a word to me, but you gave him all your attention—”
Shin-jae’s grievances spilled out endlessly, proving just how much had been building up inside him all day.
When Sa-yoon gently cupped his cheek, the heat radiating from Shin-jae’s skin made it clear just how worked up he was.
“I mean, the kid literally ran into me—”
“I’m your kid, aren’t I? Shouldn’t you be looking after your own first?”
