“Can you do that?”
He asked doubtfully, but it felt like Gu Baekyoung could do it. Even the Management Bureau treated Gu Baekyoung carefully.
There was a reason for that—he never backed down from what he wanted to do. As an example, he had once grabbed the Management Bureau Director by the collar over an order he didn’t like.
If he was someone who grabbed the Management Bureau Director by the collar, why couldn’t he handle the Guide Center Director? Onyul shook his head as if he couldn’t stop Gu Baekyoung.
“I can do it. Though the ‘what if’ won’t happen, if you’re still anxious, let’s add one condition.”
“What condition?”
“If, just in case Park Hanil Center Director really does come looking for you, then I’ll stake my life on it.”
The words about staking his life felt nothing but sincere. He really seemed ready to throw away his life.
“A-are you crazy? Who stakes their life on something like that?”
“It means I’m that serious.”
“Forget about your life…….”
Onyul’s mind raced.
He was in a dilemma. Abandoning the convenience store meant penalty fees, staying like this meant being dragged to the Management Bureau, and avoiding the Management Bureau meant becoming a criminal.
Moreover, if he didn’t listen to Gu Baekyoung, he would come every other day to pester him relentlessly.
Among these, the best option was to receive Gu Baekyoung’s help.
“But it won’t be a proposal without any conditions, will it?”
Gu Baekyoung smiled meaningfully as if he’d been waiting for this.
“Date me.”
“What?”
Is he possessed by a ghost that died unable to date? He’s been saying things like we dated, I want to buy you since last time…… now what does he want to do?
Did he like him enough to propose dating to someone who somehow resembled Kang Onyul?
But if that were the case, it was strange that he hadn’t felt any such signs while he was alive. He wasn’t usually that oblivious either.
Gu Baekyoung had followed Onyul without any sexual feelings. That’s why Onyul had taken care of him without any burden.
If Gu Baekyoung had wanted something sexual—for instance, physical contact with plenty of sexual meaning—he would have kept his distance.
“Of course, you’ll be flustered too, so let’s make it a contract relationship.”
“……How long?”
“One month. How about it?”
It wasn’t a long period, so the word “no” didn’t readily pop out.
Onyul compared dating Gu Baekyoung versus being dragged to the Management Bureau.
What would dating Gu Baekyoung, whom he’d only thought of as a pitiful dongsaeng, be like? Since he’d held hands and hugged him before, that level of physical contact should be fine, but…….
‘……Could I kiss him?’
Onyul stared at Gu Baekyoung’s lips. His bright red lips looked temptingly luscious for the first time.
His face, which was counted as handsome even within the Management Bureau, looked especially good-looking today. Perhaps because a blush had somehow spread across his white cheeks.
If that handsome face that you could never forget once you saw it came close to him, if his hot breath touched his skin, if lips as hot as his hands overlapped with his.
“……!”
Onyul was startled.
‘Why doesn’t that seem bad?’
It felt like he could kiss Gu Baekyoung.
“Um……. Even if we date, excessive physical contact isn’t allowed.”
No matter how much he thought he could kiss him, he couldn’t just kiss someone he’d lived with like a dongsaeng right away. Onyul’s conscience refused to allow that.
If Gu Baekyoung accepted even this condition, then dating him would be much better than being dragged to the Management Bureau.
“Okay.”
Gu Baekyoung readily accepted without hesitation. As if he hadn’t hoped for that much from the beginning.
“And even after a month, you’ll make sure the Management Bureau doesn’t come looking for me?”
“I’ll make sure they can never come looking.”
Gu Baekyoung’s voice as he spoke like making a vow was full of strength. It was a feeling that naturally inspired trust.
When he said he’d make sure they could never come looking, Onyul no longer had any reason to refuse this proposal.
“If you promise just that…….”
“You’ll do it?”
“And one more thing.”
“What?”
“I’ll say it again, but you absolutely cannot use your life as collateral.”
Onyul had struggled desperately to save Gu Baekyoung’s life.
‘When I worked so hard to save you, you can’t give up your life because of the reincarnated me.’
Even though he had become a different person, he wanted Gu Baekyoung to live completely.
“You really want me to live. Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Gu Baekyoung nodded with a somehow moved expression.
It felt unsettling as if the meaning had been somewhat misconstrued, but Onyul deliberately ignored that unease.
“Instead, if what Gu Baekyoung promised falls through…….”
The moment he realized that Gu Baekyoung liked his past life self enough to want to date him, one thought came to mind.
Onyul intended to make that thought a condition.
When Onyul took a breath, Gu Baekyoung’s expression subtly hardened. He quietly waited for the next words like someone waiting for a sentence.
“Forget Kang Onyul.”
Though it was a calmly spoken statement, the weight of the content within was by no means light.
Onyul didn’t want Gu Baekyoung to continue reminiscing about his dead self. Because it wasn’t right to long for traces of a dead person in someone else.
“…….”
At that impulsive proposal, Gu Baekyoung’s face completely hardened. He rolled his eyes around as if thinking about something, then soon smiled.
……Smiled?
This time it was Onyul who was at a loss for words.
He asked him to forget the hyung he liked, and he’s smiling?
Gu Baekyoung even folded his eyes prettily to express his joy.
Onyul was bewildered but the smile was so pretty that he couldn’t take his eyes off his face. Was he always this pretty?
At that moment, Gu Baekyoung stretched his hand forward and cupped Onyul’s cheek. In the blink of an eye, that pretty face approached right before his eyes.
“I will.”
Gu Baekyoung’s lips, speaking as if making a promise, descended onto Onyul’s cheek. Chu, along with the sweet sound of friction, he felt the warmth of unfamiliar lips.
His lips were hot as he had imagined. No, they were much hotter than that. Above all, they felt real.
Was touching someone this heart-fluttering? His fingertips trembled finely at just a light kiss.
Before long, the lips parted. Onyul inwardly felt disappointed, but Gu Baekyoung wore a happy smile as if satisfied.
Only then did Onyul come to his senses after being entranced by Gu Baekyoung’s kiss.
“I-I said physical contact isn’t allowed!”
“Is a peck excessive physical contact?”
Honestly, it felt ambiguous to call it excessive, so Onyul’s answer was delayed. Gu Baekyoung didn’t miss that gap.
“Holding hands and hugging is okay?”
“……I won’t tell you not to do that much.”
“Lips are farther away than hands though.”
“What?”
“Hands stay attached continuously. A peck is just for a moment.”
“What kind of logic is that?”
“Think about it. If you measure by duration, holding hands is more excessive.”
“…….”
“And a peck is like a greeting, right? Kids do it, parents do it too.”
That’s true, but.
“Are we not even at that level of a relationship?”
Did Gu Baekyoung always speak this well? It felt like he’d been properly drawn in.
But the problem was that he didn’t dislike him spouting shameless words. He’d even made a subtle logical argument that left him with nothing more to say.
Well, it wasn’t like he disliked the peck he gave…… should he allow up to just pecks?
Onyul shook his head as if giving up.
“Absolutely nothing beyond that.”
“Yes.”
Gu Baekyoung answered meekly as if he’d never pressed him.
“Give me your phone.”
Already half-resigned, Onyul obediently followed Gu Baekyoung’s words without objection.
“I’ve saved my number, so you have to answer when I call.”
“……Alright.”
At that moment, a vibrating sound interrupted the two of them. It was a sound from the watch Gu Baekyoung was wearing.
Looking at the alarm displayed on the watch screen, he cruelly scrunched up his face. It seemed to be a dispatch order.
“Something came up.”
“…….”
“Then, honey, think about me.”
Gu Baekyoung pulled up the mask he’d lowered for a moment to talk, then left the convenience store.
The term “honey” that Gu Baekyoung had casually uttered lingered in Onyul’s ears for a long time.
Isn’t he actually a dating expert when you look into it?
The way he suddenly asked to date, the way he casually engaged in physical contact…… there wasn’t even a hint of awkwardness in the voice that called him “honey.”
‘What happened during the 6 months I was gone?’
Onyul felt he needed to rethink what he knew about Gu Baekyoung.
