—It’s not like that. Anyway, I have some things to do.
If it had been the old Sunjeong, he would have whined and kept prying to find out even a tiny bit of what Taeon was hiding, but he couldn’t do that now either.
“Well, you must have your own things to do. Okay then. See you Saturday evening.”
—Uh, Go Sunjeong, right…
Right when Taeon was about to say something, Sunjeong hung up the phone.
What was he trying to say? After pondering for a moment, Sunjeong figured Taeon would call back on his own, but Sunjeong’s phone remained quiet for quite a while.
It was only a few days later that Taeon called. Sunjeong stared quietly at Taeon’s name displayed on his phone screen before answering.
“Hello.”
—What are you doing?
“I was about to eat. It’s 12 o’clock.”
—Yeah.
Taeon on the other end of the line was just quiet, as if he didn’t know why he’d called.
It was Taeon who broke the silence first.
—You haven’t been coming to the cafe lately.
“It doesn’t match your changed work hours. The time slot.”
Ah, did I make it too obvious that I go to the cafe because of you? Sunjeong hesitated for a moment, but there was nothing he could do about it. It was also the truth.
—Ah, I have some things to do, so now I only work until 6 PM.
Taeon hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.
—Come study sometimes when I’m there. I’ll give you coffee. Part-timer privilege.
Sunjeong burst out laughing at Taeon’s ridiculous words. I should say I’ll just buy coffee with my own money at a nearby place. But what actually came out of his mouth was different.
“Okay, I’ll come sometimes.”
—Yeah, and…
“And?”
—The day after tomorrow, you said it was Yoonwoo’s birthday party.
Come to think of it, the day after tomorrow was Yoonwoo’s birthday party. Actually, Yoonwoo wasn’t having a birthday party or anything—it was just a pretext. When Sunjeong said yes, Taeon showed signs of hesitation while speaking in as casual a voice as possible.
—Since I don’t know his tastes.
“Huh?”
—Let’s go buy a gift together.
“A gift?”
It was a seemingly reasonable thing to say. Right now, no matter what anyone said, Taeon had been invited to Yoonwoo’s birthday party. So it was the bare minimum courtesy for an invited person to prepare a birthday gift, even a small one.
It was just surprising because things like birthday gifts, or saying let’s go buy a birthday gift together, didn’t suit Taeon at all.
—Well, I don’t know how to look at that kind of thing, so, Go Sunjeong, help me out a bit.
“……”
At the unexpected words, Taeon fell silent for a long time.
—Come with me.
If you say it like this, I have no choice but to go. Sunjeong puffed out his cheeks for no reason and said,
“Sure, why not. But you’re buying the meal.”
—I will. You must be busy with studying, thanks.
Soon the call ended. As if the business really was only about Yoonwoo’s birthday gift.
But for some reason, a feeble laugh leaked from Sunjeong’s small mouth. It was because he kept thinking Taeon was acting cute.
The meeting place was the shopping mall where Taeon occasionally appeared with that omega of unknown identity. The cafe they were meeting at happened to be that cafe too.
Running a bit late due to his schedule, Sunjeong hurried his steps to enter the cafe and spotted Taeon waiting for Sunjeong beyond the large window.
Sunjeong’s steps suddenly became very slow because Taeon was doing something he’d never done before.
Taeon continuously scribbling something in a large notebook. And sometimes writing something, staring blankly into space while muttering.
What on earth is he doing?
Just as Sunjeong, full of questions while watching Taeon intently, was about to step inside the cafe, Taeon’s gaze also turned toward Sunjeong.
Go. Sun. Jeong.
The shape of Taeon’s mouth as he looked out the window was calling Sunjeong’s name. At the same time, Taeon’s hands were quickly clearing away the items on the table.
It was suspicious. Really suspicious. Sunjeong was determined to find out about Taeon’s suspicious activities today no matter what.
When he entered the cafe, the table where Taeon sat was already in a clean state with nothing on it.
“What do you want to drink?”
Taeon’s hair, as he asked this, had already grown out quite a bit. Still, it was much shorter than Taeon’s original hair length. Thanks to that, Taeon’s features stood out more clearly. Sunjeong was leisurely as he slowly took in the all-too-familiar eyes, nose, and mouth with his gaze.
“I do want to drink some coffee, but let’s get it to go and leave. If you’re done.”
At Sunjeong’s words, Taeon nodded his head quietly.
When he was about to order coffee at the kiosk, Taeon slipped out his card. Sunjeong couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Today’s gift is going to be pretty expensive. Save at least the coffee money.”
“I’m going to buy the meal anyway, aren’t I?”
An old check card full of scratches—who knows when it was even issued. It was familiar to Sunjeong too.
After staring at the check card for a moment, Sunjeong soon obediently accepted the card.
“I’ll enjoy it.”
Only then did Taeon show a relieved expression.
How was it originally? Sunjeong recalled days that now seemed to have become the distant past. He had always been the one to offer his card first, and each time Taeon felt uncomfortable, he’d act even more spoiled and pay with his card.
He didn’t particularly think that was wrong. Just as Taeon wanted to do things for Sunjeong, Sunjeong wanted to do things for Taeon too.
But now, in front of Taeon’s relieved smile, Sunjeong was gradually realizing more clearly the joy of receiving as well.
After getting one iced americano to go, Taeon and Sunjeong slowly looked around the shopping mall.
Actually, there wasn’t much to look at for a gift. Yoonwoo had no talent but loved cooking terribly. If they went to the living corner on the 6th floor, there would be plenty of dishes and such to give as gifts to Yoonwoo.
Without bothering to tell Taeon this fact, Sunjeong pretended to seriously think together with Taeon about what would be good as Yoonwoo’s birthday gift.
“Is he also a college student?”
To be honest, Taeon’s question was an unfamiliar type.
Among Sunjeong’s peers, there were absolutely no kids who didn’t attend college, except for Taeon. On the other hand, in Taeon’s neighborhood, a minority of kids who succeeded in escaping the neighborhood went to college.
“Yeah. He goes to Hanguk University but is taking a leave of absence.”
“Ah, I think I heard that back then.”
“As you know, they have quite a lot of things to resolve.”
He didn’t really know what kind of environment Yoonwoo originally lived in and had never asked, but Yoonwoo was clearly from a neighborhood similar to Taeon’s.
He’d said he attended high school on a scholarship, and even though the tuition was cheaper compared to other universities because it was a national university, it might have been difficult to enroll if he hadn’t received a scholarship from a scholarship foundation.
“Things to resolve?”
He’d said it thinking Taeon knew everything, but Taeon reacted like he was hearing it for the first time. Well, Taeon rarely took deep interest in other people’s lives.
“Jinhyeok’s parents are strongly against their relationship. They said no dating, and they even went to find Yoonwoo and gave him a hard time.”
“Ah…”
“It was okay before, but these days they’re being careful and just staying home.”
“The house they live in together?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t they come to the house? You’re not getting caught in the crossfire?”
What Taeon was really curious about was probably the latter question.
At Taeon’s words, Sunjeong decided to lie a little.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter to me.”
Actually, not long ago, Jinhyeok’s mother had called Sunjeong too, saying she thought only the two of them were living together and how could even Sunjeong deceive her, making a lot of gentle complaints as if trying to coax him. And she ended by asking him not to tell Sunjeong’s mother.
Since Sunjeong said it didn’t matter, Taeon didn’t say much else.
The two slowly looked around all sorts of stores.
Only when they reached the 6th floor did the destination Sunjeong had secretly marked as his goal finally appear.
It was also the first time being invited to the house, and given Taeon’s personality, he’d want to be appropriately courteous, so something moderately expensive would be better than something with too low a price range. But absolutely not something really expensive.
So the store Sunjeong chose was a relatively new ceramic brand famous for housewarming gifts with cup and plate sets in the 50,000 won range.
“Oh, let’s go over there. Yoonwoo likes things like dishes. Because he likes cooking.”
At Sunjeong’s gesture, Taeon obediently nodded his head.
He wasn’t usually the type to pay attention to dishes or cups, but looking around properly for the first time was just fun.
Sunjeong usually ate his meals as simply as possible at home, so he didn’t really need dishes. But wouldn’t something like this cute cup be okay? Sunjeong meticulously examined a bright yellow mug that clearly focused more on design than practicality.
No, it wasn’t right after all. He was too lazy even for water and only drank from bottled water—there was no way he’d use a cup like this properly. Soon putting down the cup, Sunjeong quietly looked at the coaster corner next to it.
Round coasters in a slightly high-saturation cherry color would surely make him feel wonderful each time if used with that cup, but…
Sunjeong left the cup and coaster corner with a slightly regretful heart.
Then he spotted Taeon meticulously examining something at the dish corner. He was clearly looking carefully, but his eyes were filled with puzzlement.
