Yoonjo parked the cultivator by the roadside and went down to the field. In his hand was a sharp sickle.
Today’s task was harvesting sesame. Just in case, he checked the sesame pods and found they were ready to harvest. He could tell just by looking at the split sesame pods.
Split pods. Seeing them made his heart strangely race. Was there something in common between sesame and Ki Seonwoo? No matter how much he thought about it, there wasn’t.
Yoonjo, who had unconsciously been touching his lips, lightly swung the sickle and took a deep breath. When the cool morning air seeped into his lungs, he felt a bit better.
“Good. I think I’m okay now.”
Yoonjo, who exhaled roughly, repeatedly stretched and rotated his waist as if doing stretches. He felt like if he didn’t move diligently like this, he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking.
He lightly swept through the sesame once with the sickle. Perhaps because it was early, dew still clung intact to the lush green sesame stalks. He needed to cut a certain amount before the sun rose in earnest, so he became a bit anxious.
Yoonjo, who had settled down in a corner, began to firmly cut through the sesame *chyap, chyap* with the hand gripping the sickle. As Yoonjo was working his hands hard cutting the sesame stalks, he paused for a moment at the refreshing yet green scent wafting with the morning dew. It was because Seonwoo came to mind without him realizing it.
His face turned red again. Yoonjo, who stuck the sickle firmly into the ground, lowered his head. The sun that had risen in the meantime was heating up the nape of his neck warmly.
When he rubbed the tip of his nose with his gloved hand, the smell of earth rose up. The wind was gradually becoming muggy too, so it seemed today’s work would end here. Yoonjo tightened the end of the neck where his straw hat was fixed a bit more and then moved his hands quickly. As the pile of sesame grew abundantly, Yoonjo’s body gradually became soaked. After a long while, when his white shirt was sticking damply all over his body, Yoonjo finally raised himself up.
Yoonjo, who had roughly wiped his face with a towel, began organizing the sesame efficiently. At this rate, he would be able to take a walk with Dongtae in the late afternoon. A hum naturally came out.
“A walk with Do Hongtae~ and~ hyuuung~ in my heart’s deeeep~ inside~”
Having lived with elderly people since childhood, Yoonjo had developed several survival tactics. One of them was how to subtly look after people without being bothersome.
Actually, the elderly and Seonwoo had a lot in common. They were physically weak, walked slowly, and above all, didn’t like bustle.
“Come to think of it, he collapsed once too….”
Judging from his behavior when he collapsed, it didn’t seem like something he’d experienced for just a day or two. How would he survive the harsh world being so frail?
*Tsk tsk*, making that sound, Yoonjo wondered how he had filmed movies and dramas with such stamina.
***
After returning from the sesame field, Yoonjo, who had washed up cleanly to get rid of the sweat smell, naturally went to Seonwoo’s house. Seonwoo, whose face was exceptionally tired, was making a displeased expression even while opening the gate. Regardless, Yoonjo was constantly coaxing and soothing Dongtae in his arms.
“Oh, Dongtae-ya. Didn’t hyung take you for a walk? Why are you crying like this. Should we eat? Food? Or a snack?”
*Heong, kking, huung!* As if he had so much to say, Dongtae was vigorously wagging his tail and rubbing against Yoonjo’s body. Even though he was a large dog and must be heavy, Yoonjo didn’t budge at all and received all of Dongtae’s whining.
At that sight, Seonwoo reached out and separated the two. His expression remained displeased. There was even a faint furrow between his eyebrows.
“I took him for a walk this morning, and he ate both food and snacks. He’s faking it.”
At Seonwoo’s calm words, Dongtae barked *wang!* shortly. Then he rushed at Yoonjo again. Yoonjo stroked Dongtae’s back widely a few times and then looked at Seonwoo as if reading the situation. With his face half-buried in the fur and only his eyes rolling, he looked just like a child who had committed a wrongdoing.
At those round eyes, Seonwoo sighed and asked.
“…If you have something to say, say it.”
“But Seonwoo hyung, why are you suddenly speaking casually? I think you told me to drop the formalities before… but I didn’t do it then, and now?”
“That’s….”
Seonwoo, who had been about to reply, shut his mouth. Originally, he was the type to speak politely to everyone regardless of whether they were older or younger. It was like learned kindness. It took quite a long time even for his manager Woojin and Yeongyeom to speak casually.
When did I start speaking casually to Yoonjo? Seonwoo, who had been staring blankly at Yoonjo to recall that memory, couldn’t easily open his mouth. Then Yoonjo released the hand embracing Dongtae and muttered.
“This is that thing, right? Doing things you didn’t do before to make me give up. Then hyung, do whatever you want. I won’t give up just because of that. It’s good and comfortable if you speak casually, so why not. Seonwoo hyung can be friends with his friend, and Dongtae and I can be friends too, right? Yeah, if we all become friends friends, that’ll work.”
At the word friends, Seonwoo hurriedly responded.
“If you want to be friends, it’s not too late even now. Even that much is enough. You don’t have to go deeper….”
“Ah! Seonwoo hyung is of course my boyfriend. Dongtae is an animal friend.”
At the answer that came back without a moment’s hesitation, Seonwoo felt his head throb with a headache. Unconsciously rubbing his forehead lightly, he answered like a sigh.
“You said you weren’t gay.”
“Let’s say that’s only the case for Ki Seonwoo.”
“You said you’d never dated a guy.”
“I can start from now. With Seonwoo hyung.”
“Are you in your right mind?”
“I haven’t been drinking, have you?”
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
“Exactly.”
Yoonjo, who stood up while holding Dongtae’s leash, roughly brushed off the fur stuck to his clothes. Then he looked up at Seonwoo and smiled brightly, showing his teeth. The blazing afternoon sunlight fell obliquely on Yoonjo’s cheek.
“I like you, hyung.”
At Yoonjo’s sincerity that struck at any time and in unexpected situations, Seonwoo couldn’t collect himself. When Seonwoo couldn’t say anything and stiffened his face, Yoonjo laughed shortly.
“I’m saying I’m sober enough to say things like this.”
“Yoonjo-ya.”
“Even if you speak casually and do that, it’s fine. I don’t care. What’s important about how you call me?”
“……”
“I told you. I’m good at being persistent about one thing. You even gave me permission to do as I please, so I’m really going to like you however I want, hyung.”
When Yoonjo took a step, Dongtae also moved slowly. As if unaware of the atmosphere between the two, Dongtae’s tail kept swaying gently.
“Let’s go, Dongtae-ya.”
Seonwoo stood blankly in place until Yoonjo left through the gate and the *jabak jabak* footsteps disappeared. Only after a long while did he sigh.
He couldn’t stand himself for being so pathetic and inadequate. He was also irritated by the reality that even though that child poured out his heart toward him so generously, he couldn’t give anything back. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t be able to say anything to Yoonjo.
It was no different from a predetermined sequence. The learned fear made Seonwoo unable to advance even a single step and made him choose only the easy option of backing away.
Bumbling along like this was for the same reason. If he was really going to draw a line with Yoonjo and live that way, he should have prevented him from coming to the house and stopped Dongtae’s walks too. There would be a way to pack up and go up to Seoul right away, saying let’s not see each other’s faces at all, but just saying no with words was truly contradictory.
Seonwoo, who had been standing still for a while, sighed again and turned his steps. When he looked at the sky, it was darkly colored starting from that corner. The occasional rumbling sound he heard was quite ominous.
“They didn’t say it would rain….”
Muttering, Seonwoo looked at the sky anxiously before soon entering the house.
***
“Dongtae-ya! Stop right there!”
To chase after the barking *wang wang* Dongtae, Yoonjo ran frantically. Dongtae was so fast it was hard to believe such speed could come from that bulk.
“Ki Dongtae!”
Since Seonwoo’s surname was Ki, naturally Dongtae’s surname should be Ki too, so he tried calling him with his surname, but Dongtae didn’t even pretend to look back. It was maddening. Yoonjo ran frantically through the mountain path. His cheek got scratched by a tree branch, but that wasn’t what was important.
“Dongtae-yaaa!!”
Yoonjo, who shouted loud enough to make the mountain echo, put strength in his legs to chase the Samoyed heading somewhere.
The incident’s origin was very trivial. They had been walking well, and on the way back, Dongtae just happened to spot a squirrel. A breathtaking standoff between the two continued, followed by Dongtae suddenly dashing off.
Yoonjo, who had been watching thinking it was cute, ended up losing hold of the leash he was gripping at the sudden event. Then he instinctively ran after Dongtae.
It just happened to be toward the mountain side, not the walking path where the field and sea were. Though it was considered low, a mountain was still a mountain. Especially since people didn’t frequent it much, it was a place where you could easily get lost if you weren’t careful.
“Ha, shit…!”
Thinking momentarily that he had to catch Dongtae, Yoonjo threw his body and hugged Dongtae. His body, which had lost its center, rolled on the ground and stopped before long. Rough breathing sounds rang particularly loud in his ears. Yoonjo confirmed that Dongtae was in his arms and released the tension in his body with a *tak*. Even in the midst of that, he didn’t forget to wrap the leash around his hand several times.
“Heu, ugh…. Dongtae-ya…. Heu… hyung almost died….”
At the whining sound from the side, Yoonjo, who had been lying on the ground for a while, squirmed and sat up. Except for his fur being a bit dirtier, Dongtae looked fine.
“Dongtae, paw! Good, well done. Other paw! Good!”
Both front and back paws were fine, and just in case, he pressed on his chest too. Dongtae only panted *hek hek* but showed no sign of pain. That was fortunate.
There would be nothing worse than going out to walk someone else’s dog and getting it hurt.
Yoonjo breathed a sigh of relief and tried to stand up.
