There were times when Saehyeon felt that daily life was like a dam. When it was blocked, it was really terribly blocked, but once it opened, it flowed away quickly. At those times, it wasn’t easy to try to control it no matter what. The easy way was to let go and be swept away by it.
But what should he do if he didn’t like that, or couldn’t do that?
After returning to the city from the beach whose name he still didn’t know. Daily life really flowed exactly the same. It was enough to mistake it for really being a dream if he wasn’t careful.
The problem was the change in mindset of the person who experienced that incident.
Saehyeon rested his chin and opened his eyes narrowly. While pretending to look elsewhere, the destination his rolling eyes reached was obvious.
It was the alpha sitting loosely a little distance away, the owner of this house, a tyrant, and the second lunatic.
“Why do you keep staring?”
“…When did I?”
He did it even though he clearly knew he’d be caught by someone with sharp senses. Saehyeon whipped his head away from the other person who met his eyes brazenly. He was surely making an annoyed expression, so not looking was the best strategy.
“Yeah.”
Fortunately or unfortunately, Gil Taeseo was busy these days without time to even breathe. The proof was that even now he was answering the phone after trying to say something. Though he clicked his tongue and frowned, he’d stopped ignoring calls as he used to before.
Saehyeon skillfully took advantage of that gap. He pretended not to know and looked at the man again as if dissecting him.
Gil Taeseo wore an outfit not much different from before. His shirt tightly wrapped around his solid chest, so firm it would be strange to cling to someone else’s flat chest. Wrinkles formed here and there, stretching according to his body’s shape.
‘Does he prefer wearing things that fit his body exactly? I don’t think he did that before.’
Unlike Saehyeon, who usually preferred wearing things large, Gil Taeseo always wore clothes that seemed to fit his body exactly. It could be a simple preference, or it could be because there was no need to hide his well-built body.
Even for Saehyeon, he’d only started preferring particularly large clothes after waking up in a 28-year-old body.
Just as Saehyeon, who had selected clothes as a reason for examining someone else’s body, was about to slowly turn his eyes away. The taut chest moved as if surging. It was because Gil Taeseo raised his body.
“I’m going.”
Saehyeon also got up from his seat. Contrary to his intention to act naturally, his body moved in the exact opposite direction. Saehyeon’s shoulders shrank at the sound of the pushed chair’s legs mercilessly scraping the floor. But the man who had already turned around just walked toward the doorway as if he hadn’t heard.
White, thin feet and small feet breathlessly followed the path the man walked with his large strides.
Gil Taeseo, who had been gripping the doorknob, turned his head at the small presence. Then he stopped dead in his tracks.
“…Ahem.”
Having the man who just stood still without saying anything in front of him made him feel awkward for no reason. His body naturally twisted, and for no reason he swept the instep of his other foot with the sole of his foot.
Beside the hesitating Saehyeon, a small child was clinging tightly. The child’s small mouth, which had been looking up at him with big eyes, opened. And then secretly whispered soundlessly.
‘Please leave quickly.’
Gil Taeseo, who read that, let out a hollow laugh. To adults the child liked, like the housekeeper or Lee Saehyeon, the child acted sweetly and like an angel.
But that didn’t apply to Gil Taeseo. The momentum of whining and hopping around like a cunning fox cub only increased day by day. The appearance of crying pitifully on the first day, saying it was okay to leave him behind, was nowhere to be found.
But was that feeling bad… it wasn’t. Rather, if it was anything, it would be on the welcoming side.
Yes, it really wasn’t bad. To the point where he thought it wouldn’t be bad to have his liver and gallbladder torn out alive if only he could continue to stay like this.
In the end, the man raised his hand and roughly swept his face.
“…Fuck. This kind of thing…”
He stared at him then suddenly made a complicated expression and muttered as if chewing, making Saehyeon’s body flinch. His heels even lifted slightly as if he’d pull his feet back a bit.
It was a movement according to instinct that preceded reason. Saehyeon, who noticed that belatedly, straightened his body. Then he asked as if nothing was wrong.
“What?”
That feigned calm quickly crumbled at Gil Taeseo’s next words. Because after chewing on curses a few more times, Gil Taeseo suddenly said this.
“Should I not go?”
Wasn’t there urgent business? Judging by the frequency of calls, it was clearly urgent. But then suddenly saying he wouldn’t go in front of the door seemed like some kind of whim.
“Fuck, it doesn’t seem bad to throw it all away and just shut myself in the house and live without even stepping over the threshold.”
Moreover, Gil Taeseo’s whims were usually like this. It meant they deviated from common standards and were considerably twisted in many ways. Of course, it was Saehyeon himself who got caught up in it. He would clearly be included in this suddenly sprung-up self-confinement.
“…What kind of bullshit is that all of a sudden?”
In Saehyeon’s eyes, who was trying to follow the context of the conversation, the current situation was organized step by step. Wasn’t the sight of standing awkwardly at the door with the child like… seeing someone off? It was also easy to make it look as if he was sorry to see Gil Taeseo leave. Especially if the other person was someone who twisted situations like breathing, the possibility was even greater.
“Wha, what…! No, this is… I just had something to say.”
Being flustered, his tongue kept getting tied. He tried to make more excuses but just closed his mouth. The more he rambled like this, it was obvious how he’d appear. They’d know he was roughly making excuses with lies.
It seemed to be the correct answer. Gil Taeseo, leaning obliquely against the door, had his lips curve slightly in an arc.
“Something to say? What is it?”
‘Why did it turn out like this again?’
Originally, he’d planned to casually notify him when the other person was busy. But somehow it ended up looking like he was setting the stage in a strange atmosphere to say it.
At the crossroads of whether to receive an unfair misunderstanding or just bring up what he’d prepared to say, Saehyeon chose the latter.
“…I’m going to find work and earn money from now on, so once my working hours are set, don’t call me then.”
Another goal to follow the frustrated re-enrollment could be found quickly. It was money. And to earn money, he had to find work.
There was another problem with this. For the past few months, Saehyeon had been completely adjusting himself to his relationship with Gil Taeseo. Since he was unemployed and had a lot of time, and gained a lot too, he couldn’t help it even if it was annoying.
But now once he started working, there would be working hours. If he was summoned during those hours, he couldn’t just pop out right away, could he? That’s why he tried to notify him in advance.
“Work? With that body?”
There was also this reason for deliberately trying to notify him when he was distracted. It was from the thought that Gil Taeseo would somehow oppose it.
As expected, Gil Taeseo snorted.
“What’s wrong with my body? I can hold the kid for a long time and even run around outside now, you know?”
He knew his body was shabby compared to the man and his subordinates. Still, he couldn’t play forever, and Saehyeon himself was feeling that his physical condition had improved quite a bit.
Enough to smoothly pass over the eyes looking at a ward escapee patient insisting they were fine.
“Well, it’s because you do it,”
The man who was speaking glanced down.
“Every other day.”
Saehyeon could roughly tell that Gil Taeseo had chosen his words conscious of the child. And the original meaning too.
“Anyway, I’m going to work. I have to put food on the table, don’t I?”
“Use the card. Are you going to save that up and what, make soup for your parents?”
That damn card. After forcibly shoving it at him at the beach, Gil Taeseo completely wouldn’t take the card back. He wondered what kind of confidence that was. Did he know where and how much he’d spend money? As if reading such thoughts, the next words followed.
“Even an asshole who only bought one lump of sugar at a place where ridiculously expensive things are scattered everywhere, how much could you spend?”
The man didn’t forget to smirk brazenly. It was because he’d realized that sometimes subtly scratching at someone was more effective than gently coaxing them.
Saehyeon wasn’t unaware of that shallow trick either. He certainly felt a surge, but thinking that getting involved was losing, he could suppress it without difficulty.
Gil Taeseo’s words weren’t wrong. He was someone who had several good houses, several cars, and easily commanded people around. Even if he and the child spent a little, it would probably be like ants slightly nibbling at a corner.
“First of all, I have no reason to use your card.”
But Saehyeon was always someone who thought about the price of what was provided. No matter how much he tried to overlook it, Gil Taeseo was already giving a lot, to a bizarre extent. Enough to make Saehyeon keep looking at him and want to find the reason.
“Let’s say I use it, giving in a hundred times. Even so, how long would I use it?”
Added to the anxiety and discomfort about what was excessively provided without reason, there was also the issue of sustainability. When Gil Taeseo’s whim ended, everything would end. After this relationship ended, Saehyeon would have to stand alone. Even with a child attached at that.
Gil Taeseo seemed to have understood the intention contained in those words. At the sharp gaze that pierced straight in, Saehyeon gulped down his saliva.
