Dohae’s way of expressing affection was peculiar. It was impossible to tell whether he liked or disliked something, so at first, Pyeonghwa thought Dohae was tormenting Nuryeongi. But at some point, didn’t Nuryeongi start following Dohae more than his owner Haedo? What Dohae was doing to Pyeonghwa now was similar.
Dohae took care of Nuryeongi with utmost devotion until right before the dog died. Even though his face was all swollen from severe allergies, he never left Nuryeongi’s side.
When he substituted Pyeonghwa for Nuryeongi, he could understand Dohae’s recent eccentric behavior. It seemed Dohae was uncomfortable that Pyeonghwa, who resembled Nuryeongi, was going to die soon.
‘Even if he’s like a dog, Pyeonghwa is a person, honey. His heart is racing! Huhu!’
Byun Taehui suddenly became curious about how far their relationship could develop. This was the first time Dohae had become this obsessed with a person, so if not now, there would never be another opportunity.
‘I need to confirm whether Pyeonghwa really has a terminal illness too, so why don’t I meet him and play around a bit while I’m at it.’
He had long forgotten Dohae’s warning not to approach Pyeonghwa. He never intended to follow it in the first place. Byun Taehui hummed a tune while checking Dohae’s schedule. In a few days, there was a mission to close an A-rank Gate in Yangpyeong.
When entering a Gate, you can’t bring electronic devices. Sneaking Dohae’s phone then would be a piece of cake. An A-rank normally takes ten hours, but with an S-rank Hunter going in, the time would be cut in half.
Five hours is more than enough time to fuck. Having set that day as D-day, Byun Taehui typed a chat message on Pyeonghwa’s game stream.
[Pax♡ If you see each other often, your feelings deepen♡ So you won’t waver to other people♡ Look at noona’s face and make your love grow deeper and deeper♡ Ahhh~~~♡]
Byun Taehui copy-pasted several times until Pyeonghwa read the chat he wrote. A spam prevention warning appeared and his chat was eventually restricted.
When he heard Pyeonghwa quietly murmur “meet…?” through his earphones, Byun Taehui’s sinister smile deepened.
*
[DdoHaeNuna♡: Pax~ Let’s meet face to face~ Come to the cafe at this address (address) I’ll give you 1 hour~hehe]
“Uwaaak!”
Pyeonghwa, who had been doing cut editing in front of his computer, checked ‘DdoHaeNuna’s’ message and jumped up from his seat. Looking at the clock, 30 minutes had already passed. Fortunately, the cafe where they were meeting was near his house. Pyeonghwa rushed to the bathroom and started showering.
‘Finally… I can finally meet noona!’
Pyeonghwa desperately needed her. To turn his fluttering feelings for Do Dohae into nothing, the only way was to meet her and make his love grow deeper, just as the viewers advised.
Do Dohae kept coming every day without knowing how Pyeonghwa felt. When the doorbell rang, his heart sank. Pyeonghwa made every effort not to look at his face while receiving the gifts.
Do Dohae disappeared again wordlessly in 5 seconds, as if he had never come in to eat together. He thought they’d become close, but disappointment washed over him.
Every night, Pyeonghwa lay in bed searching for Do Dohae on the internet. He saved his photos as if possessed, then fell asleep soaking his pillowcase with tears, feeling guilty toward ‘DdoHaeNuna’.
He couldn’t live like this forever. Pyeonghwa begged her to please meet him just once. She flatly refused with reasons like being busy, it being bothersome, or just not wanting to.
Until now, she had always been the one asking to meet while he played the role of rejecting her, but now he felt like he was belatedly receiving punishment.
“Clothes that look mature!”
Pyeonghwa turned his closet inside out. White hoodie, sky-blue sweatshirt, ripped jeans, baggy pants… There wasn’t a single thing he liked, so he ran to his father’s room.
He found a shirt and slacks in his father’s closet. Fortunately, they fit perfectly since they were similar in height. Pyeonghwa clumsily touched up his hair with hair wax and picked up the shopping bag filled with gifts he’d bought one by one from the general store every day.
“Ah, right. The egg!”
Pyeonghwa slung the egg pouch over his shoulder and looked around for the egg. He’d left it by the computer, but he couldn’t see where it had rolled to.
If he waited, it would eventually come back to him, but right now he didn’t have time to wait. If he was late, she might get angry and leave.
‘I rolled it gently, so it won’t be able to open the front door.’
Pyeonghwa put on his father’s tight dress shoes and rushed out in a hurry. He wanted to buy flowers too! He should have sprayed perfume! Regretting that he couldn’t prepare more perfectly.
“Huff, huff, is it here…?”
The cafe was located deep in an alley, not on the main street. Even though it was broad daylight, he could feel the gloomy atmosphere characteristic of old buildings. Actually, it felt more like an old-fashioned tea room than a cafe.
When Pyeonghwa opened the door, a jingling bell rang. His eyes met with a middle-aged woman who appeared to be the owner. Pyeonghwa awkwardly nodded his head and looked around.
‘Why are there partitions everywhere?’
Each table was blocked off with temporary walls, and thick floral curtains hung at the entrances so you couldn’t see inside. Pyeonghwa looked around to find her, then took a deep breath and spoke.
“Noona…?”
At Pyeonghwa’s small call, the curtain at a corner seat opened slightly. Between the curtains, he could see women’s shoes. His heart pounded as if it would jump out of his mouth. Pyeonghwa trembled as he took one step, then two steps forward.
“Noona!”
He swept the curtain aside with a swoosh, but inside sat someone completely unexpected.
“Hello?”
“…Bongsuk noona?”
“Come sit here. I’ll explain everything.”
Byun Taehui patted the seat next to him. Since the sofa was only on one side, it was structured so they had to sit right next to each other. Pyeonghwa hesitated before sitting beside her.
“Noona… you said you were Dohae hyung’s cousin… but noona, you’re, I mean…”
“Oh my, why are you trembling so much. So cute. Are you that nervous?”
“Hiiik!”
Byun Taehui placed his hand on Pyeonghwa’s trembling thigh. Startled, Pyeonghwa’s body stiffened rigidly. Byun Taehui giggled and caressed his thigh.
“At first, I contacted you to catch the person leaving malicious comments about Dohae. Since I couldn’t trace them, I decided to approach directly.”
“Ugh, I see…”
“Are you disappointed?”
“Not really…”
It didn’t matter what the initial reason was. What’s important is the present… No, more than that, her hand kept moving further inside his thigh, which was distracting.
“Actually, I thought Pyeonghwa was cute from when we met last time. But then when I heard from Dohae that Pyeonghwa is Pax! I think we really are destined. Huhu!”
“N-noona, drinks! What do you want to drink? Aren’t you thirsty? I’ll buy…”
“Mmm, I already ordered everything before Pyeonghwa came. The owner will bring it.”
“O-oh…? Ah, this is a gift! Look at the gifts!”
Pyeonghwa handed over the shopping bag. Byun Taehui examined the rather heavy contents. It was full of sunglasses, a watch, hand cream, perfume, a brooch and tie pin, a tea bag set, pearl hairpins, and more. They didn’t seem to be luxury brands, but each one was glamorous and elegant.
“Thank you. Pyeonghwa prepared a lot, didn’t you?”
Byun Taehui took out a pearl hairpin. Since Pyeonghwa was looking at him with expectant eyes, he put the hairpin in his hair to meet those expectations.
“How is it? Does it suit… What the, this.”
Byun Taehui’s voice suddenly deepened. Pyeonghwa scratched his ear, thinking he’d misheard. Byun Taehui hastily removed the hairpin and used his item appraisal skill.
The item’s name was ‘For Protection! Luxury Pearl Hairpin’. It had an option that made hair softer and a one-time critical defense option.
“…It’s an item?”
“Yeah. I bought one each day to give to noona. Hehe.”
Byun Taehui looked back and forth between the hairpin and the shopping bag. No matter how much money he made from game streaming, could it really be enough to buy this many items one per day? When he watched the streams, his game weapons changed all the time too. When he investigated his family background, they didn’t have that much wealth. Byun Taehui had a gut feeling that Pyeonghwa was hiding something, but he smiled sweetly and put the hairpin back in.
“Is it pretty?”
“Yeah! It suits you well.”
Pyeonghwa nodded his head vigorously. Just then, someone knocked on the partition from outside. When Byun Taehui answered “Yes~”, the cafe owner came in and set down two bottles of soju and basic snacks on the table. Pyeonghwa turned to Byun Taehui with a flustered face.
“W-was this a drinking place?”
“I thought we’d need a frank conversation~ Why, don’t you like it? Well, Pyeonghwa is still a baby. It’s fine if only I drink~”
A baby, even though he dressed up like an adult! Where is there such a big baby? Not wanting to look childish to her, Pyeonghwa pouted and opened the soju cap.
“I drink well, noona.”
This was his second time, but he put on a show. Even then, it wasn’t that he couldn’t drink, so it should be fine. He did babble a bit too much in front of Dohae though…
Byun Taehui made Pyeonghwa’s shoulders lift with words like “Oh my, you’re an adult. Cool~”. As they tilted their glasses once, twice, Byun Taehui widened his eyes and turned to Pyeonghwa.
“Right. Dohae said Pyeonghwa has a terminal illness. Is it okay to drink?”
“Ah, that…”
“Where does it hurt and how? I know a lot of doctors, should I introduce you? How much longer can you live?”
“No, no! Actually… this is a secret, but I’m not sick. Hyung misunderstood.”
