Won-hyeok froze solid for a moment, like stone. When he opened his eyes, the face of Han-gyeom in front of him was burning bright red.
“I-I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable. I just felt so sad because I won’t get to see you for five days.”
“……”
“Then I’ll get going! Drive safely.”
As if fleeing the scene, Han-gyeom quickly got out of the car while covering his embarrassed face. By the time Won-hyeok came to his senses, Han-gyeom had already slipped inside the building.
Staring blankly at the place where Han-gyeom had disappeared, Won-hyeok let out a breathy, disbelieving laugh. That set him off, and he laughed like a madman before finally covering his mouth and sinking deep into the seat.
The cheek his lips had touched was hot, as if it had been burned. The sensation from that brief contact kept replaying in his head.
“Ah, what the…….”
He felt something damp on his palm, so he looked down and saw blood on it. When he hurriedly touched around his nose, sure enough, a nosebleed was running down.
***
A dry, haggard face reflected in the mirror from lack of sleep. As if showing exactly how poorly he’d slept last night, the dark circles visible behind his glasses stood out especially clearly.
“Sunbae wasn’t upset, right…….”
Han-gyeom muttered like a complaint to himself as he washed his face. Last evening, he had gone and done something incredibly bold to Won-hyeok, who had driven him home. He had kissed him on the cheek. Just as expected, impulse was followed by regret, and after getting home last night, Han-gyeom spent quite a while in self-reflection mode.
But when he saw Won-hyeok, who had come all the way to see him before the trip and had even personally made sure he ate dinner, his heart had surged so fiercely he could hardly put it into words. The urge to somehow express it and let it burst out had egged him on, so he couldn’t help himself.
Without even noticing the water running down his face dripping onto the bathroom floor, Han-gyeom stood there for a long while, once again spending time reflecting. Only after arriving at the lesson that next time he should ask if it was okay first did he hurriedly get ready to go to his part-time job.
He arrived a little earlier than his usual shift time. Since Hae-jun wasn’t there today, he steeled himself to stay even more alert than usual. If something went wrong while Hae-jun was gone, that would’ve been way too much trouble to cause him.
When he opened the door and went in, the rich aroma of coffee drifted through the air. Hae-jun was especially affectionate toward the café, so he was very particular even about choosing the coffee beans he brought in. Han-gyeom liked the distinctive scent of the beans here. Even if he wasn’t very good at drinking coffee.
“Oh, you’re the new part-timer I heard about?”
Han-gyeom, who had once again been absorbed in the scent of the beans, flinched at the voice coming from inside. A person soon emerged from the kitchen area. The tall man, nearly as tall as Won-hyeok, had particularly large eyes, delicate features, and a handsome, clean-cut appearance.
“Hae-jun hyung told you, right? That someone would be coming to help today.”
“Ah, yes. Hello. My name is Kang Han-gyeom.”
Maybe it was amusing to see Han-gyeom bow his head and introduce himself so diligently, because the man gave a small laugh.
“Right, I’m Do In-seok. Hae-jun hyung—I mean, the owner here—and I are close, like real brothers. We’ve known each other a long time.”
“Saying greetings should be returned with greetings, don’t you think?” Do In-seok held out his hand. Judging by the way he spoke casually and acted quite friendly as naturally as flowing water, he seemed to have an outgoing personality. Before he knew it, Han-gyeom had shaken his hand and then gone into the changing room.
As he put on the shirt the café had given him and tied his apron, a thought suddenly crossed his mind. The overall impression of Do In-seok’s face was rather similar to Won-hyeok’s.
Won-hyeok wasn’t just handsome—he was absurdly, god-tier handsome—so Han-gyeom had never imagined anyone could resemble him. But that man just now had felt a little different. Of course, if you looked at their features one by one, they were definitely different, and Won-hyeok was much more handsome, but the aura they gave off was similar.
When he came back out after changing, he saw In-seok handling a customer. The moment the payment was finished, Han-gyeom heard the order and pulled the shot.
“You’re quick with your hands. There was a reason Hae-jun hyung praised you to the skies.”
When In-seok suddenly came up close from behind, Han-gyeom turned around in surprise.
“Ah, sorry. I’m not great with personal space. But you……”
As the shot poured, the scent of espresso spread sharply through the air. Without warning, In-seok poked Han-gyeom on the cheek with a finger. Han-gyeom’s startled eyes widened.
“Your skin is seriously so clear. What toner do you use?”
“T-toner?”
“I’d like to order.”
At that moment, another customer walked up to the register. Only after In-seok quickly went over to the counter did Han-gyeom finally relax. His social instincts were incredible. Far beyond anything Han-gyeom could even imagine.
After working with In-seok for about an hour, Han-gyeom had gotten a rough grasp of what kind of personality he had.
“Han-gyeom! Just organize that a bit. I’ll take the order.”
First of all, he had no hesitation and was exceptionally sociable.
“Then how about this menu item? I think it’s a dessert that would suit someone as bright and lovely as you, customer.”
In many ways, he was extremely light and easygoing. Han-gyeom stared blankly as the customer’s earlobes turned red at In-seok’s words. In the end, before leaving, the customer handed him a note. Curious, Han-gyeom sneaked a glance and saw that the small Post-it had a phone number on it and a message asking him to get in touch.
“You get stuff like this a lot too, don’t you? Seems like you would.”
While there were no customers for the moment, In-seok spoke to Han-gyeom.
“I’m not sure. But I can’t accept things like this.”
“Why? You’ve got someone you’re dating?”
“Yes. I was told that if I ever got a note while working, I shouldn’t even read it and should just tear it up.”
Apparently that answer was completely unexpected, because In-seok burst out laughing.
“Wow, your lover’s personality is no joke.”
But even as he said that, In-seok didn’t so much as glance at the paper in his hand. He crumpled it up and tossed it away. The note bounced off the wall and went neatly into the trash can.
“Um, well…….”
“Call me hyung. I’m older than you.”
Maybe In-seok had instantly noticed Han-gyeom wondering what he should call him, because he even suggested an appropriate form of address.
So that’s why he’d spoken casually the moment he saw me—he already knew my age. It seemed Hae-jun had probably told him a rough bit about him beforehand.
“H-hyung?”
“Yeah. What’s the problem?”
At the words, “What else would you call someone older than you?”, Han-gyeom found himself persuaded. He called Won-hyeok sunbae because they went to the same school, but In-seok wasn’t a university senior of his or anything like that. Besides, for some reason, he also had a feeling he was going to run into this person often while working at this café.
“H-hyung, do you have a lover too?”
Other than when calling Baek Han-seo hyung, he had never used that title before. So it didn’t come naturally, and even his voice sounded awkward.
“Huh? No. I don’t.”
“Then why the note…….”
Han-gyeom stared for no reason at the note now resting peacefully in the trash can.
“I’m just not all that interested in dating.”
“Why?”
“Hmm…… because I don’t like wasting emotional energy and stuff like that? At first people act like they’d die without each other, but later the affection fades and the relationship goes bad—it’s obvious that’s what’ll happen, so why bother doing something like that?”
It didn’t seem like In-seok was just saying he wasn’t interested in dating as empty words. Han-gyeom wasn’t unaware that relationships had negative sides, but right now he was spending very happy days in his relationship with Won-hyeok.
“But still……”
“Isn’t a relationship that falls apart because one side unilaterally ends it kind of pointless?”
At the word unilaterally, Han-gyeom faltered. Come to think of it, that wasn’t wrong. A relationship between lovers was, by nature, something maintained through the interaction of two people. Whatever the reason, if one side no longer wanted to continue it, then just as In-seok said, it would end.
Han-gyeom would never do that, but he couldn’t be sure about Won-hyeok. To begin with, Won-hyeok probably hadn’t suggested dating him because he sincerely liked him. Whether it was curiosity or some other reason, honestly, it didn’t matter. Just being with him already made Han-gyeom happy.
But if someday Won-hyeok got tired of him, or as In-seok said, wanted to end things unilaterally, then this relationship too would become uncertain. And then it really might come to an end.
“Ah, sorry. I talked too carelessly in front of someone who’s dating.”
“T-then you just have to try harder.”
“Hm?”
Han-gyeom bit down hard on his lower lip and clenched his fist tightly.
“You just have to work hard so the other person won’t let go of the relationship on their own. That’s what I’m going to do.”
In-seok blinked at the sight of Han-gyeom, who looked delicate but was speaking with conviction in his own way. Then he burst out laughing again, saying it was ridiculous.
“I don’t know who your lover is, but he seriously hit the jackpot.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. Let’s work. Hae-jun hyung may not look it, but if you don’t do your job properly, he gets really scary.”
Han-gyeom tilted his head. Hae-jun, with that angelically gentle personality, getting scary? Even when he tried to imagine it, he couldn’t really picture Hae-jun angry.
“But I’ve never seen the boss get angry even once.”
“What?”
In-seok, who had been about to grab a fistful of straws from the supplies area, stopped short. Then he muttered quietly, “So he only gets mad at me after all, this hyung.”
