“Okay. Rest and leave at 6.”
“…”
At the tone that suggested he didn’t want to talk anymore, Sangho closed his mouth and quietly lay down on the bed. So, did Nam Dohyun really not like Wonha? Were they just close families? And when Wonha caused trouble, Nam Dohyun was just the one who cleaned up after him? Besides, what Dohyun had said really bothered him. Wonha was really kind and a good person. What could it mean that his views on relationships were complicated?
Then what was that alpha pheromone in the studio apartment?
Surely Kyungoh couldn’t have smelled it wrong. Somehow the situation seemed to be flowing very differently from what he’d been thinking. Sangho agonized for two hours feeling like he was lying on a bed of thorns, then grabbed his dead phone and fled from Nam Dohyun’s room as soon as it turned 6 o’clock.
Sangho, who came to the janitor’s break room in one breath, plugged his phone into the charger first. After some time passed and the phone turned on, it showed an enormous number of missed calls from Wonha and Kyungoh. Then immediately a call came from Wonha.
“H-hello. Wonha.”
— Hyung?! What is it? What happened? Why didn’t you answer your phone? No, more than that. Where are you right now?
“Uh, I’m at work now. Yesterday… yesterday I had dinner with colleagues and stayed out late. I’m fine. My phone battery died.”
— Colleagues?
“Yeah. More than that, where did you go yesterday? I don’t think I heard you had filming.”
— Ah, ah… That. Um, there was a family matter. I also came home late in the evening, but you weren’t there, so I was worried.
“…Yeah.”
— Hyung. You’re coming straight home after work today, right?
“Yeah.”
— Ha… okay. See you later.
The call ended with a relieved voice. Sangho stood blankly in the break room for a moment.
He was with Kyungoh, but why is he lying?
Of course, he also inadvertently failed to mention that he had dinner with Nam Dohyun. Sangho looked at his phone with a complicated expression, then shook his head and left the break room.
The dormitory was the same as usual. The difference was that Nam Dohyun wasn’t visible in the lounge where he usually stayed. It seemed he’d wrestled with his laptop all dawn and finally fell asleep in his room when the sun rose.
Sangho worked harder than usual. He swept, wiped, and scrubbed stained areas vigorously with a rag. While he was at it, he also cleaned the blackened rags and cleaning tools thoroughly. He needed something to focus on. Otherwise, he felt like he couldn’t bear the various thoughts circling in his head. After finishing cleaning his area like that, Sangho left work feeling somewhat exhausted.
On the way back to Kyungoh’s apartment, a text message came. He’d posted on a secondhand site a while ago to sell his computer, and it was a message saying someone would come to buy it. It was a computer he’d bought to play games to his heart’s content. These past few months he’d been struggling at the gym, and recently he’d been spending time in a daze meeting Wonha and Kyungoh, so he hadn’t played the games he’d stored up in his library. He’d have to move soon anyway. So Sangho decided to sell the computer. The person buying the computer said they’d visit around 7 PM.
I should go to the studio apartment once.
Moving houses once would be good after all. Sangho had grown sick and tired of that old, dark semi-basement studio apartment. In a few weeks, Kyungoh’s wrestling competition would be over too, so he should look for a place to move on the weekend. Thinking that, Sangho leaned his head against the bus window. If what Nam Dohyun said was true… living together at the art studio like Wonha suggested wouldn’t be bad. Playing console games together there. Making and eating delicious food. And, actually, I really… like you,
‘He has complicated views on relationships.’
Nam Dohyun’s words suddenly popped up. Somehow he felt anxious. But he’d spent much more time with Wonha than with Dohyun, whom he’d only met two or three times. He didn’t want to doubt Wonha’s heart that approached him warmly.
Sangho, who returned to the apartment, washed up briefly and changed into comfortable clothes. In the meantime, two messages had come to his phone.
[Hyung. I think I’ll be late today. Eat dinner first ㅠㅠ]
[Sleeping at the training camp today and coming back tomorrow.]
They were from Wonha and Kyungoh.
Again, both at the same time… No. Let’s not think useless thoughts.
Sangho shook his head lightly and went to the living room to plop down on the sofa. The late spring afternoon had a very leisurely yet desolate atmosphere. Around this time yesterday, I was looking at the scenery from the mountaintop. Looking down at the bustling city, my heart felt unburdened and I felt good.
Sitting alone in the empty apartment, Sangho followed with his eyes a few dust particles fluttering up and down in the pouring afternoon sunlight. And at some point when the dust disappeared from focus, Sangho felt a loneliness that seemed to dig endlessly into the quietness.
Sitting alone in a daze, Sangho watched as the sun gradually set and the sunlight pouring into the living room became weaker and redder. It was about time to visit the studio apartment for the secondhand transaction. The buyer happened to send a message saying they’d arrive a bit earlier. Sangho stretched his stiff body once and got up from his seat.
After a long time, he crossed the main road and passed through the alley where villas were packed tightly together, and the villa built with red bricks came into view. The person buying the computer had already driven their car and was in front of the studio apartment. After a simple greeting, when he brought out the computer from the room, the buyer paid through the account and left just like that. Sangho was now silently looking around the now completely empty semi-basement studio apartment.
“Ah, B07. Haven’t seen you around lately?”
A rough male voice rang out from behind. When he whirled around, the landlord in a worn shirt stood with his hands clasped behind his back. When Sangho bowed in greeting, the landlord said.
“Are you renewing next month?”
“Ah, no. I’m planning to move.”
“Then you should have said so earlier. I need to put the room up too…”
The landlord took out his phone while giving a rebuke as if displeased. It seemed he was going to list the house with a real estate agent right away.
“Geez. Are you also moving because of that strange bastard?”
“What?”
“A while ago there was an alpha bastard who sprayed pheromones in several rooms where people lived alone in this area and ran away.”
“Pheromones?”
“Yeah. They caught that bastard. A few days ago. Anyway, we’re not thinking of lowering the monthly rent. The market rate in this area has gone up a lot in 2 years, so we should raise it by 50,000 won, but because of that weird bastard, we’ll keep the rent the same for now.”
“Ah…”
“But the water bill has been coming out too high lately. So we’ll raise that by 50,000 won.”
Isn’t that raising it either way?
In case Sangho might request a contract extension, the landlord looked up and down at the gaunt young man standing before him. Sangho sighed lightly and answered.
“…I’ve cleaned up the room, so please send the deposit on the expiration date.”
“Tch. Do that then.”
As if displeased, the landlord grumbled and headed upstairs. Even so, Sangho could feel him glancing at him. Normally with the landlord’s personality, he would have made a fuss saying he should have given notice two months ago, or that if a new tenant didn’t move in before the expiration date, he couldn’t give back the deposit, but it was a surprisingly clean retreat.
More than that, there was someone spraying pheromones in studio apartments? I guess I wasn’t the only one targeted.
It was something distasteful. He’d thought Nam Dohyun had left after spraying a bunch of pheromones. Come to think of it, that was only in that BL comic, and there was no evidence that Dohyun had actually done that. Besides, had anything matched the original work so far? It wasn’t like that either. Sangho scratched the back of his head with a somewhat deflated feeling.
Returning to Kyungoh’s apartment again, Sangho sighed at seeing the still dim and empty house. Even though he’d seen the empty house every day originally, he felt lonely every time he opened the quiet entrance. Sangho, who quickly turned on the lights in the house, opened the refrigerator and pondered what to eat, then just took out a pack of ramen from the cupboard. He didn’t have the motivation to make anything else.
After roughly cooking and eating ramen and washing the dishes, Sangho spread out bedding in the living room early. Glancing at the clock, it wasn’t even 9 o’clock yet. He said he’d be a bit late. Sangho hugged the blanket tightly with a sullen heart.
Beep beep. Click.
At the sound of the front door unlocking, Sangho bolted up. Thump thump, his heart pounded as he fixed his gaze on the slowly opening door, and Wonha entered the house with a slightly tired face.
“Hyung. I’m ho—”
Thud.
Before the door even closed, Wonha caught Sangho who had rushed over pattering and jumped into his arms. As Sangho buried his face in his chest and rubbed against him, Wonha’s lips trembled and rose on their own. A faint blush gradually bloomed on his face. With a somewhat overwhelmed expression, Wonha let out an exclamation.
“Wow… wow. This is so good. Really… really good.”
Wonha quickly hugged Sangho’s body tightly and kissed his crown with smacking sounds, then rubbed against him wildly. The tired face that had briefly shown earlier seemed to have flown away in an instant. The feelings of disappointment Sangho had been feeling seemed to melt away at Wonha who laughed hehe, hugged him tightly, stroked his back wildly, and rubbed his face. Right. You were always this affectionate. There’s no need to be swayed by what others say.
