# Chapter 63
“How are you going to get away with such obvious lies?”
Dohyuk gently tapped the corner of Junseo’s mouth as he smiled weakly, feeling genuinely concerned. Except for kicking Seungmin awake during a mission, Dohyuk had never woken anyone up before, and he awkwardly whispered to Junseo. He hadn’t said anything particularly significant, but strangely, his insides tickled every time his lips moved.
“…Junseo, wake up. I can’t be late today. I need to be flawless on my day off.”
Day off? In fact, Junseo had planned to linger in bed for a while longer just to torment Dohyuk, but he suddenly sat up like a dog responding to the word “walk.”
***
Today, his body felt much lighter. It was definitely different from yesterday when he had been tossing and turning with less energy than a sick chicken. Dohyuk was gently massaging the nape of his neck when the image of Junseo’s unusually pale face came to mind.
Could Junseo have stayed up all night guiding him? Since he had plunged into a dreamless abyss of sleep, he wasn’t even sure if Junseo had gotten proper rest. When he first woke up, Junseo had been acting childish, so he hadn’t paid much attention.
Now worry started to build up. In his imagination, Junseo’s face became even whiter and thinner. He hadn’t looked like he’d gotten much sleep either. Dohyuk furrowed his brow as he thought about it. If Junseo had been by his side as usual, he would have asked him right away, but right now he was temporarily separated from Junseo due to his lab schedule.
When he arrived at the laboratory, now familiar to the point of disgust, a research assistant recognized Dohyuk and informed him that Dr. Jeong would be about an hour late. The attitude, not even offering a courteous apology, was familiar. Dohyuk just nodded vaguely, then looked at his phone with an impassive face. Aimlessly fiddling with his phone was a newly formed habit. It was rather appealing in that he could easily focus on something else even in unpleasant places.
Coincidentally, as soon as Dohyuk checked his phone, the screen lit up with a message notification. Just as one’s tongue might moisten at the sight of the word “lemon,” naturally thinking of Yu Junseo first at every notification sound wasn’t just Dohyuk’s problem. It was largely due to Junseo, who had been sticking close to him and chattering away as much as time allowed. It had reached the point where it felt strange not to have him nearby.
But the sender wasn’t Junseo. Dohyuk unknowingly lowered his shoulders, but his disappointment was brief. It was someone he was quite happy to hear from.
Seah
Are you feeling better, mister?? ㅠㅠ Are you really taking the day off today??
She must have been quite surprised, even while pretending not to be, at seeing Dohyuk so low on energy for the first time in her life. Dohyuk silently smiled at the following message: ‘I told you to take care of yourself in advance! You’re almost thirty now!’
Choi Dohyuk
Am I already thirty? I don’t think so.
Seah
If you’re in your late twenties
You’re practically thirty tomorrow! An age where you should take care of your health!!
Choi Dohyuk
I’m much better than yesterday. Don’t worry.
Seah
Still need to check if I can believe you when you say you’re fine
Lunch go go
Found a really delicious place Hell Fire Taste Tteokbokki
It was amazing how the phone kept vibrating immediately after he sent his reply. How could anyone type replies so quickly? Dohyuk, who was more accustomed to communicating through voice rather than text, awkwardly tapped the small keypad in his palm before finally calling her.
“Hello, Seah. Is it okay for you to talk now?”
[It’s okay, that’s why I answered. Are you calling because you’re too lazy to text again?]
“No.”
[Oh, really? I hope you’re not calling because texting is too hard for someone who isn’t even thirty yet.]
“Stop teasing me. I have something scheduled today, so I can probably have lunch with you around 1 o’clock at the earliest. Is that okay? But is tteokbokki really a proper meal?”
[What are you saying? Of course we’ll also order kimbap and sundae.]
Seah answered solemnly, as if she wouldn’t allow even a single item to be subtracted.
“And um… can I bring one more person?”
Dohyuk casually slipped in the real question. Seah immediately figured out who he was referring to.
[Ah, Junseo oppa? Sounds good. Then we can order fried food and dumplings too.]
Whether she was happy about Junseo coming or about being able to order additional fried food wasn’t clear, but Seah’s voice blossomed without showing any sign of discomfort. Dohyuk was still amazed at how Junseo had managed to win over even Seah in less than three hours. Though Seah had a bright personality, she was oddly shy with strangers and would have had difficulty speaking comfortably from the start. Of course, Dohyuk’s status as her partner Guide would have lowered Seah’s initial wariness considerably, but it was Junseo’s ability to use that as a stepping stone to become close so easily.
[What about Seungmin mister?]
Yesterday, as soon as Seah called Junseo “oppa,” Seungmin had complained jokingly, “Why am I ‘mister’ while Guide Yu Junseo is ‘oppa’?” Of course, he couldn’t argue with Dohyuk’s retort: “That’s disgusting. Do you really want a high school student calling you ‘oppa’ at your age?” Seungmin had grumbled that it was too harsh, but Dohyuk responding before Seah was actually good for Seungmin’s mental health. This was because Seah had been preparing to answer, ‘Junseo oppa has a face that doesn’t get called mister, unlike Seungmin mister.’
“Yeah, Seungmin said he’s busy today. He said he doesn’t even have time for lunch.”
[I see. Anyway, I’m fine with it! I’ll brag to my friends that I’m having lunch with Junseo oppa. They’ll be super jealous. Especially this girl at the center who treated me like a liar yesterday. She…]
Seah chattered excitedly for quite a while. Dohyuk listened silently before finally letting out a laugh. At times like this, Seah still seemed like a small middle school student.
“Is Junseo popular?”
[Very. He’s even better looking than celebrities. But I don’t think photos do him justice. He looks much better in person.]
“Junseo is handsome, that’s true.”
Dohyuk felt strangely proud. His shoulders had risen noticeably.
Although he thought he was speaking quietly on the phone, the research assistant, busy with their own work, seemed to hear differently. Feeling awkward under their sidelong glance, Dohyuk briefly closed his mouth and rubbed the back of his head. Somehow misunderstanding this brief silence, Seah quickly added:
[You’re popular too, mister! You’re the best-looking among the misters. Actually, Jihyun calls you oppa, but I think that’s a bit off. I’m comfortable calling you mister. You understand, right?]
Her words were all over the place. What did she mean by being the best-looking among “misters”? Her sharp discernment was impressive, comforting Dohyuk while making it clear that he wasn’t in the “oppa” age bracket. Of course, Dohyuk didn’t care what Seah, eight years his junior, called him.
“Yeah. Oppa would be a bit… I still vividly remember you fidgeting around in middle school.”
[The way you talk, it sounds like you raised me. Are you going to make me get your permission before I date someone?]
Dohyuk took Seah’s sly comment as a joke.
“Of course. I’ll come visit with a switch in hand to check out his face. There are so many weirdos in this world.”
Seah’s laughter continued for a while. “What era are you from, talking about switches?” she said, gasping for breath as she laughed. She finally caught her breath. Her voice cracked thinly, as if laughing so much had been exhausting.
[Well, there are a lot of weirdos these days. My senior at the center just got a boyfriend, and you know what? He’s a total jerk!]
A senior at Seah’s center would be a rookie Esper. Dohyuk responded appropriately to her chattering.
“Yeah, how so?”
[The unnie pays for almost all their date expenses. I mean, the guy isn’t an ability user, I think. Unnie earns more because she’s an Esper, but still.]
“Well, it’s not necessarily bad for the one who earns more to pay more for dates.”
As Dohyuk responded, he unknowingly thought of Junseo. He wasn’t sure which word in Seah’s statement had triggered this association. The image of a face beaming with a bright smile just naturally appeared in his mind.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t spent any money lately. Though it wasn’t dating, wasn’t he the hyung after all? No matter how wealthy Junseo was, he wasn’t digging up money from the ground. Considering his young age and the average salary of headquarters Guides, most of that enormous wealth must belong to his family, and here Dohyuk was, just mindlessly accepting everything while Junseo spent extravagantly.
Unaware of Dohyuk’s self-reproach, Seah continued.
[Still, this time he showed up with nothing but himself and suggested they live together, you know?]
Dohyuk swallowed.
“…He wanted to move in with just himself?”
[Yes. He’s called a boyfriend, but he’s more like a bandit, right? He even says he won’t pay rent because how much water and electricity can one person use? I honestly don’t know what my unnie lacks that she’s still dating such a guy. It seems like if you like someone, you lose. Everyone becomes a fool, I guess. If it were me, I would have broken up with him as soon as he started talking nonsense about rent.]
Bandit.
Although the circumstances were different, the word stung oddly, and Dohyuk fumbled for words.
“I, um… No, I just randomly thought of something while listening to you, with no particular reason.”
