Yoonjo kept his eyes on the elevator beyond the parking lot, then looked at his phone worriedly. It was good that he had gone out to the park in front of the house to walk Dongtae, but what came after was the problem.
Seonwoo received a call from somewhere, his face turned pale white, and he ran frantically.
His hands were trembling, and he didn’t look well at all. Because of this, Yoonjo had to stop Seonwoo from driving. Somehow getting Seonwoo into the car that Yoonjo was driving, Seonwoo hurriedly made calls here and there after that.
‘Are you sane? Why is that story even coming up! First, that it leaked… Hah… Just tell me first.’
His voice got loud once in a while, but each time Seonwoo noticed Yoonjo and lowered his voice. He didn’t have to do that… Yoonjo pressed his lips together, feeling like he had become an obstacle for no reason. He didn’t feel like joking around as usual.
‘Go straight home. I’ll talk with the CEO and come back right away too. Don’t wait here, make sure to go home. Got it?’
‘Uh… Yes… Have a safe trip.’
Like that, Seonwoo disappeared urgently without even receiving Yoonjo’s farewell. After the storm passed like that, Yoonjo was left alone. More precisely, together with Dongtae in the back seat.
Perhaps reading his owner’s anxiety, even the chatty Dongtae was quiet today. Looking at him through the rearview mirror, Yoonjo reached out and rubbed Dongtae’s body.
“Hyung must have had something very urgent. It’ll be resolved soon.”
Dongtae only glanced up at Yoonjo, then licked his fingertips. At the warm, moist breath, Yoonjo smiled and petted Dongtae, then fastened his seatbelt again. Just as he was about to start the car, a text message arrived as if it had been waiting.
「Can we meet again today? I’m here… at a cafe near Samjeong Station, there’s something I need to discuss about the group project. I have to go back to work starting tomorrow and I don’t think I’ll be able to contact you then. I think it would be good to roughly plan it out now.」 6:12pm
It was Baek Sijin. Yoonjo looked back and forth between Dongtae and his phone several times before answering.
「My house is nearby so I can get there quickly. But I’m out with my dog so I might be a bit late… If I stop by home, about 20 minutes? I think it’ll take about that long. I’ll come quickly.」 6:13pm
「It’s fine. I like dogs. Then I’ll move to a cafe where dogs can come in. There happens to be one nearby. I’ll send you the address right away. Come there.」 6:13pm
After replying that he understood, Yoonjo hesitated for a moment, then conveyed the story to Seonwoo.
「Hyung, do you remember the group project I’m doing? My sunbae said he has to go back to work tomorrow so he urgently asked to meet. I’ll do the assignment together and come home in the evening. Don’t worry about me… I hope hyung’s matter gets resolved well. Let me know later when you have time.」 6:14pm
Naturally, the read receipt didn’t appear. Yoonjo hesitated, then stepped on the accelerator. Even while quietly leaving the parking lot, his gaze kept going to the rearview mirror. More precisely, to the pedestrian entrance reflected beyond it.
Yoonjo, who had parked the car in the cafe parking lot, entered the cafe with Dongtae. As they said pets were allowed, he could see dogs here and there. Looking around, Yoonjo soon found Sijin and walked straight over.
“Hello, sunbae.”
“You’re here? What drink should I get you?”
“No, it’s okay. I came in a hurry so I couldn’t bring writing materials, but I’d be grateful if you could just lend me those.”
“I have my laptop, so I’ll organize it and send it to you. And I was about to freeload, but I’m the one earning money, so I should buy the drinks.”
Although Yoonjo said it was okay, Sijin had already headed to the counter with his wallet. Standing awkwardly, Yoonjo sat down in a chair when Dongtae plopped down at his feet.
Dongtae seemed to keep looking gloomy, perhaps because of Seonwoo’s behavior earlier. After patting him a few times, Yoonjo continued talking about the assignment with Sijin.
“Then regarding existence and reality, let’s do it this way… Let’s give examples. I’ve sorted out a few related papers, what about you?”
“I’ve also picked some out from the paper website. The professor said making a PPT is optional, but I think it would be better to make one anyway. What do you think, sunbae?”
“I heard that half of what that professor says is lies. Even if he says it’s optional, you have to make it. Oh, I got the exam cheat sheet, I’ll share it with you.”
“Ah, wow! Really? Thank you! I was really at a loss, wow… Sunbae, thank you.”
Bowing his head, Yoonjo smiled lightly. After that, the two coordinated the scope of their research. Toward the end, they ate sweet honey bread and talked about various things.
“The dog is cute. Is it yours?”
“Uh… Yes… I guess so.”
“It’s a Samoyed, right? This breed was super famous. It became trendy when Ki Seonwoo appeared on a variety show with his dog.”
He wondered why Seonwoo’s story suddenly came up, but Yoonjo joked around nonchalantly and laughed.
“That’s right. Maybe that’s why so many dogs named Dongtae appeared. This one’s name is Dongtae too. Ah! That doesn’t mean he’s a dog I’m raising because it’s trendy. Right, Dongtae?”
When his name was called, Dongtae perked up his ears. Yoonjo found it cute and let out a laugh. Then Sijin narrowed his eyes slightly, then curved them softly. It was a gaze as if gauging something.
“How did it go with the person who likes you?”
At the out-of-the-blue words, Yoonjo blinked and spoke. Before he knew it, a big smile was hanging on his lips.
“We’re doing well… Ahem, mm… It went really well with the person I like. Sunbae, you asked me if it was a two-timing situation. So I was being too coy, and that pe-, no, that person…”
“Are they older?”
“Uh… Yes. Anyway, it went well! Ah… I’m so happy. My friend said that when you’re in love, the world looks pink, and it’s really like that. Here, even Dongtae looks pink.”
Yoonjo, who vigorously petted Dongtae, giggled. Then he paused. It was because he remembered Seonwoo’s face just before they parted. Running his tongue over his lips for no reason, Yoonjo forced a smile and bowed his head.
“It seems like we’ve roughly finished, can I leave first?”
When Yoonjo tried to get up from his seat, Dongtae also jumped up. From then on, it was chaos. Huff, huff! He kept chattering incomprehensibly and anxiously went back and forth around the area. At that sight, Yoonjo quickly poured the remaining drink down his throat as if gulping it, then quickly headed outside.
“Then I’ll be going. I’ll contact you when I’ve made the PPT to some extent! Ah, Dongtae…!”
“I’ll take you.”
“Uh… No! No! It’s really okay. My house is nearby, it’s a 5-minute cut. Dongtae, be good, okay?”
At the words “nearby,” Sijin’s gaze persistently followed Yoonjo. After staying still for a moment, he opened his mouth.
“But, Yoonjo.”
As they entered the alley toward the parking lot, Sijin called Yoonjo. Yoonjo stopped walking and turned around. Then Sijin spoke in his characteristic slow manner.
“Do you like men?”
He thought it was quite narrow-minded to divide people liking people by the gender categories of men and women. But when faced with a question that cut right in, Yoonjo couldn’t answer easily.
Seonwoo flashed through his mind momentarily. The thought that he should hide it crawled up first. Without realizing it, Yoonjo tightly grasped Dongtae’s leash and asked. Beside him, Dongtae kept whining.
“May I ask why you’re asking?”
“It’s strange. Wouldn’t you normally say no?”
“I’m sorry, but my friend is in the rainbow club and I don’t think that friend is strange. You’re stranger for asking that, sunbae.”
“So do you like men or not?”
As he persistently asked, Yoonjo’s brows began to narrow little by little.
“What about you, sunbae?”
“What do you think?”
“How would I know that?”
“If you answer first, I’ll tell you.”
“I’m not curious. Why do you keep asking that?”
“Because it seems like you like men.”
Putting more strength into his hand and clenching his fist tightly, Yoonjo raised his voice a little.
“I don’t like them!”
“……”
“I said no! I’m telling you it’s not like that. Does sunbae like men? Is that why you’re asking?”
“Yeah.”
At the clean affirmation, Yoonjo rather closed his mouth. Regardless, Baek Sijin let out a chuckle.
“I asked because I’m interested in you, but since you say no, there’s nothing I can do. Go ahead. See you later.”
Yoonjo stood blankly in place, then barely came to his senses. Dongtae beside him was tapping his knee with his nose.
He wondered what he had just heard. Do you like men? That he’s interested in him? Was Baek Sijin a rainbow club member? Why was he asking that?
All sorts of thoughts kept continuing like a string of sausages, then snapped. Surprisingly, the answer wasn’t far away.
“No… It’s right that I don’t like men. I like Seonwoo hyung, I don’t like the gender of men itself, right?”
Now that he said it, it made too much sense. Yoonjo muttered while vigorously petting Dongtae’s head. Before he knew it, Dongtae had become quiet.
“Geez, that sunbae is really strange. Do I have to like all men just because they’re men? Just because he’s interested, do I have to be interested in sunbae too? I only like Seonwoo hyung, right? Wow… I had all sorts of thoughts about such an obvious problem. Right, Dongtae?”
Walking lightly toward the parking lot, Yoonjo discovered someone in front of the car. A black hat, a mask, and a familiar silhouette on top of that. It was Seonwoo.
“Hyung…!”
Approaching with a beaming smile, Yoonjo grabbed onto Seonwoo. But seeing his eyes visible beyond the mask, he closed his mouth. It was because he looked somehow gloomy. Seeing that, his heart was pricked for no reason.
“Did the matter… get resolved well…? How did you come here? Ah, I sent you a text. That, um…”
After staying silent for a while, Seonwoo spoke slowly.
“I told you to go home… Why are you at a place like this? I came to find you.”
“That… Because of the assignment… I was meeting my sunbae…”
Hemming and hawing, Yoonjo licked his dry lips with his tongue and took a short deep breath.
“To tell you the truth, I was going to go straight home. But just as I was stepping on the accelerator to leave the parking lot, my sunbae contacted me. You remember, right? The employment-oriented sunbae who tried to make me a bus driver. He took a day off work to help me, and he said let’s do a final review before going to work tomorrow. I was going to not go, you know? I was going to at least drop Dongtae off and go, but sunbae kept saying it was okay. So somehow I did the assignment and was about to go home when Dongtae suddenly started crying and making a fuss, so I was comforting him. I even pushed the drink I ordered down in a way that skipped my esophagus and went straight to my stomach. But just now that sunbae was spouting nonsense… Hyung, why are you laughing?”
