“I’m not going to say anything. There’s no one with a designation in my village anyway. As long as I keep my mouth shut… no one will ever know… and nothing will change.”
Haram muttered those words as if vowing to himself, eyes fixed on the empty air. Tae-yi nodded in agreement.
“You’ll have to go through designation education. You can take the sessions at the hospital or watch the videos—whatever’s more comfortable for you.”
Judging by Tae-yi’s tone, there seemed to be quite a few mandatory programs. Haram nodded, focusing on Tae-yi’s voice—then suddenly lifted his head.
“I need to go back to the countryside…”
“Chief Yoon already went down there early this morning.”
“Really?!”
At the unexpected news, Haram’s silvery-gray tail shot straight up. Chief Yoon really went down?
“Is the peanut field okay? No raccoons or birds messing things up?”
Haram asked excitedly, peppering him with questions. But only a few minutes after promising with a pinky swear, Tae-yi couldn’t bring himself to lie outright. With Haram staring up at him with those wide, earnest eyes, he ended up giving a vague response.
“…A damn mutt did a little damage.”
“A… mutt?”
Wait, like an actual dog? Sure, there were a few families in the village who kept dogs, but none that would tear up a field. That had never happened before.
“Was it really a dog? Did Chief Yoon see it?”
“He’ll fix it.”
“Still, I think I should go down there and—hng!”
Haram couldn’t finish his sentence—Tae-yi had suddenly sunk his teeth into his neck. He flinched and tried to wriggle away, but Tae-yi’s arms only tightened around him. Each time his tongue licked over Haram’s soft skin, his eyes fluttered shut involuntarily.
“Don’t… ngh, don’t do that…”
Chup. Tae-yi pulled away with a soft, low voice.
“Don’t go.”
“It’s harvest season. I have to go. I’ll come back afterward. If you want me to… if you ask me to come back…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say “come with me,” so his sentence trailed off. Tae-yi stared directly at Haram, who was now nervously fidgeting and avoiding eye contact.
“When are you planning to harvest?”
“Within two weeks. If I leave it too long, they’ll rot.”
Two weeks. Tae-yi leaned his forehead against Haram’s shoulder and murmured, That’s going to be tight.
“Then let’s go together in two weeks.”
Haram’s face immediately lit up.
“Really?”
When he asked again, like he couldn’t quite believe it, Tae-yi added, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
So it’s a given. Just hearing those words filled the empty part of Haram’s heart. They hugged each other tightly without speaking, but then a phone started vibrating.
“Sorry. This call might take a while—can you wait in the other room?”
Haram nodded and stood up, heading for the stairs. He scampered up to the second floor, but once he got there, he hesitated. Should he go to his own room… or Tae-yi’s?
Which room did he mean?
After pacing the hallway a few times, Haram ended up heading for Tae-yi’s study. Something had sparked his curiosity.
The moment he stepped in, a chill settled over him. Even though the AC wasn’t on, the room felt cold. Sitting down, he turned on the computer and carefully began typing on the keyboard.
“Lon…g… dis…tance… re…la…tionship.”
He pressed the enter key firmly. The screen instantly filled with the results he’d been hoping to see. But as he scrolled through, Haram’s face began to harden.
Articles about long-distance relationship struggles, breakups, and how to cope—all overwhelmingly negative—popped up, and he scrunched up his delicate brows.
“…It’s too far.”
Tae-yi worked in Seoul. Haram farmed in the countryside. The distance between them felt impossibly vast. Heavy sighs poured from his lips.
Forcing his stiff fingers to move, Haram clicked on a blog post titled “Tips for Long-Distance Relationships.” As he scrolled down, reading in earnest, a series of shocked little gasps filled the room.
***
“How’d it go?”
–She threw salt at me.
So… he’d been kicked out. Hard. Tae-yi swallowed down the sigh rising in his throat and continued.
“What’s the situation in the village?”
–Everyone’s been asking about Da Haram. I told them he went to visit relatives in Seoul. His phone’s off, so people are getting worried.
In the rush to bring Haram to Seoul, he hadn’t even grabbed his phone. But in hindsight, maybe that was for the best.
–Sir, the land-owning grandmother is no joke. I think Secretary Kim from Chairman Kang Tae-jin’s side paid her a visit too, but even he got a faceful of salt and was chased out.
The more Chief Yoon talked, the more Tae-yi’s head throbbed. Of all people, why did that stubborn, eccentric old woman—who didn’t even need money—have to be the village’s biggest landowner? And why did that damn squirrel peanut farmer have to be so attached to her and that land? It was a complete mess.
–So, uh… can I come back to Seoul now? There’s still salt falling out of my hair when I shake my head.
Chief Yoon’s pitiful pleading continued. Tae-yi hesitated, then said,
“There’s a loan shark who made contact with Haram. Bring him in. I’ve got questions.”
–Should I take him to the warehouse?
“No. Bring him to the house. I’ll put him in the basement.”
Hopefully, that bastard would prove useful. As Tae-yi headed up to the second floor, he tried to recall the man’s terrified expression.
***
Haram wasn’t lazing around on the bed like he expected—he wasn’t in Tae-yi’s room at all. His own room was also empty. Frowning slightly, Tae-yi made his way to the study. He gently opened the door and spotted Haram sitting at the computer, staring at the screen like he was about to climb inside.
Haram didn’t even notice his presence at first. Only after a moment did he flinch in surprise and start frantically clicking the mouse—clearly trying to close the window. Tae-yi chuckled.
“Hey, what were you watching?”
“W-Welcome back!”
“Was it something dirty? What’s with the guilty face?”
“W-What?! No! I-I wasn’t—!”
Tae-yi raised a skeptical brow, and Haram’s panic deepened.
“Your face is all red too.”
“That’s because you’re teasing me!”
Tae-yi hoisted Haram right out of the chair and plopped down, settling him on his thigh. As he pinched Haram’s burning cheek, he laughed softly. Haram gave a weak, embarrassed smile in return.
“So, what were you doing?”
“…I was just looking something up.”
“Like what?”
“Just… stuff…”
The way he trailed off only fueled Tae-yi’s suspicion. He took the mouse and clicked a few times—pulling up Haram’s search history.
“H-How’d you do that?”
Tae-yi grinned as Haram’s eyes went wide with awe—he clearly hadn’t known that was even possible.
“Long-distance relationships?”
“Since we’re in one… I just thought I’d look into it.”
Haram mumbled, sounding sheepish. Tae-yi’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Long-distance? What the hell?
“You keep talking like you’re already leaving.”
“I have to… That’s where I live.”
It was a simple, obvious truth, but Tae-yi’s expression made him nervous. Maybe he’d said the wrong thing?
“I’ll come visit often!”
“Why should you be the one visiting?”
“Huh? Oh… I mean… you work in the city, and I’m a farmer, so…”
Misunderstanding Tae-yi’s irritation, Haram wilted, thinking he wasn’t welcome. Tae-yi lightly tapped his cheek.
“You’re being way too self-conscious. You weren’t like this before.”
Tae-yi had been relieved when Haram kept using informal speech even after learning his real age. But now, this constant nervousness was starting to bother him.
“I’m not being self-conscious.”
But his actions betrayed his words.
“Don’t be. If anyone should worry, it’s me.”
“You?”
With a sly smile, Tae-yi wrapped his arm tighter around Haram’s waist—then grabbed his ass.
“I deflowered a twenty-one-year-old. I should be on edge.”
The filth coming out of his mouth was escalating. Haram quickly turned away, pretending not to hear. Tae-yi chuckled darkly.
“So, did you get any good tips?”
“Yeah! Apparently, it helps if we share a hobby!”
Haram began rambling in excitement. There were lots of suggestions: exchanging gifts on non-special days, surprising each other with sexy or unexpected looks, and so on. He’d looked up what a “sexy surprise” even meant—and had been bombarded by a wave of bizarre, skimpy outfits that left him stunned.
And of course, Tae-yi had walked in right then…
As those flashy scraps of fabric resurfaced in his mind, Haram shook his head rapidly to chase the images away.
“You’re acting weird today.”
Tae-yi reached out and smoothed down his tousled bangs. As his fine silver hair settled into place, Tae-yi’s hand wandered back down to grope his ass again.
Haram really wanted to say, You’re the one being weird, constantly groping me like that! But Tae-yi’s light, affectionate touch wasn’t entirely unpleasant… so he kept his mouth shut.
Tae-yi looked at him with a smile still tugging at his lips.
“What should we do for these two weeks?”
“Aren’t you going to be busy?”
So, he did have something in mind. Tae-yi’s eyes sparkled with energy as he gave a warm smile—and patted Haram’s ass again, urging him to speak.
