***
After the night of holding hands endlessly passed, the same day as always began.
When Young woke up late, Kyung-heon had already left for work. Young lazed about on the bed as usual before getting up, going outside to eat, and spent time thoroughly consuming games, dramas, and movies.
Now, as evening approached, he’d become one with the sofa. Lost in short-form videos, he scrolled down with swift, light movements. Then he habitually scrolled back up to content he’d passed by.
In the middle of the long screen was a video titled 〈The Fall of a National Apartment Construction Company Everyone Knows〉. As soon as he scrolled up, the video immediately started playing.
[Did you hear? That construction company that left behind a hugely popular advertising slogan is in crisis! According to rumors, suspicions of safety management document falsification were revealed and even their loan agreement was terminated?]
A familiar but mechanical voice flowed along with photos symbolically depicting the situation.
It was tabloid-style content that didn’t clearly mention which company. But Young, who’d already heard about it, immediately realized. It was about the family of Kwak Du-jin, who had tormented him throughout his school days.
Comments
Safety management document falsification? Fuck, this is why everything’s so shoddy these days
Anyway the higher-ups are all in on it together so what’s the problem? Give them some money and it’ll be like nothing happened
So which one is it
All the construction companies that come to mind right now aren’t free from that lol
Judging by the comment reactions, it didn’t seem to be widely spread news yet. Well, it was a considerable company, so they must be doing their best to block it somehow. It would take quite some time for them to actually collapse.
Still, he felt secretly pleased. They’d been so arrogant, ranking people by their families. The sight of the family they were so proud of staggering was quite satisfying to watch. Just satisfying? Honestly, most people couldn’t even guess which construction company it was about, so he was tempted to slip in a consonant hint while pretending to be unrelated. But he decided to hold back.
‘No need to step into muddy water.’
Wasn’t that kid who’d been so obsessed with dividing people by class since childhood crawling into the depths? There was nothing good about getting involved in any way. It would just mean becoming the same level of human.
Rather, watching this situation loftily and silently would be much more aggravating. If it were Kwak Du-jin, seeing himself—once so high and mighty—down there at the bottom, while Young, whom he’d looked down on so much, breathed the comfortable air above looking down, would probably be the most painful.
Young snorted imagining Kwak Du-jin’s trembling face. Then he scrolled down as he’d been doing, appreciating other brief content.
How long had it been? The sound of rapidly passing content quieted, then a short notification sound rang out. A message window also appeared at the top of the screen.
“Huh?”
Young didn’t even properly check the content visible in the preview. Just seeing the three characters “Joo Kyung-heon,” he opened the messenger window gladly.
“A bit early today?”
Kyung-heon’s messages had predictable content. He’d just send extremely concise messages about where he was departing from.
Only when the current location wasn’t the main house or company would he add how long the travel time would take. But….
“Huh?”
This time the content was a bit different.
***
Joo Kyung-heon
If it’s okay, shall we meet outside today?
At the unexpected proposal, his eyes widened and his pupils rolled around. It wasn’t a negative meaning. Young quickly typed a reply.
Joo Kyung-heon
Where?
***
It was on the way back from dining out with Kyung-heon after a long time. The process of leisurely eating dinner and returning could easily fill an hour.
But they decided to make today an exception. At Young’s suggestion that he was too full from eating, they ended up walking together through the park near their house.
Why was he buying ice cream again when he’d suggested a walk to deflate his full stomach? Kyung-heon seemed puzzled but Young didn’t bother to make him understand. Young took a big bite of the soft-serve ice cream and raised the corners of his mouth satisfactorily.
“But why did you suddenly suggest meeting outside today?”
It was a bit late for a question when they’d already eaten everything and were even taking a walk past their time. But it was what he’d been most curious about from the start, so he couldn’t just let it pass, and Kyung-heon replied calmly.
“Because the weather was nice today.”
It was a very simple reason, and therefore all the more unexpected. How should he put it? Unlike before when he seemed to show “inputting” or “processing” messages, there was still something mechanical and stiff about Kyung-heon.
Like how he kept exactly one hour since promising to spend an hour together every day. He seemed like someone who processed everything according to a framework, but the fact that such a person made an exceptional move just because of the weather was refreshing. As Young just blinked widely and stared at him because of that, Kyung-heon spoke again.
“People at the company were talking. Saying the weather was so nice they wanted to go out and play, or that they wanted to drink beer outside.”
“So you thought you should spend time differently than usual?”
“Yes. I thought you might like it.”
Young, who’d taken another bite of ice cream in the meantime, smiled broadly while feeling the cool sensation going down his throat.
It was because he seemed to see all of Kyung-heon’s deliberation contained in the added phrase “I thought you might like it.”
Kyung-heon had lived his whole life with headaches, unable to enjoy ordinary emotions or leisure that others took for granted. To his eyes, the sentiments ordinary people had about nice weather must have been unfamiliar. And in the midst of that, he wondered if Young, who’d manifested normally, might think the same way if they felt that way.
How admirable. He hadn’t felt this way since Kyung-heon manifested as an alpha and showed firm, decisive qualities. It had been a while since he felt like a younger brother, felt he was cute.
Besides, the weather really was nice as he’d said. When Young first met Kyung-heon, it had been humid, but the pleasant sensation of dry, clear air and cool breeze tickling and brushing past his cheeks wasn’t bad.
Young half-closed his eyes and smiled brightly.
“I like it.”
“What?”
“I like spending time outside in weather like this, I mean.”
Kyung-heon, who’d been blinking faster than usual for some reason, gave a somewhat slow answer saying “That’s a relief.”
Even so, his steps didn’t stop. The two walked mostly looking ahead while occasionally making eye contact.
Stories promising the future naturally flowed from Young’s mouth—about eating at a famous restaurant in the suburbs later, or how it would be nice to take a walk along the riverside. Each time, Kyung-heon gave positive answers saying he’d do so if time permitted.
Thanks to him listening to everything, Young, who’d been chattering away for a while, suddenly looked to his side.
“But I feel like I’ve only suggested things I like. That’s not fair. What do you like, Kyung-heon-nim?”
Kyung-heon, who’d turned his head to meet his gaze, had a concise response.
“What do you mean?”
“Just… anything. Food, activities, places, whatever.”
Kyung-heon seemed to ponder for a moment but that was all. The answer that came back had no substance.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t really considered preferences in those areas.”
Young was about to tell him not to be like that and think about it carefully at the bland response. Before Young could start speaking, Kyung-heon added quickly.
“Anything is fine.”
Could there be a less sincere answer to a question about preferences? But he couldn’t argue. It was because an illusion occurred where he seemed to hear ‘If you like it’ before the words ‘anything is fine.’
Young’s words decreased at the unexpectedly gentle gaze. He just kept chewing the soggy wafer at the bottom of the finished ice cream.
Once the ceaseless conversation stopped, even the occasional brushing of their hands began to bother him greatly.
***
I thought being holed up at home spending all day was my calling. Kyung-heon’s proposal to go out must have awakened a hidden instinct.
Must-Visit Fall Destinations TOP 5
Haven’t Been Yet? Seoul Hot Places TOP 10
Drive Courses Recommended by a 5-Year Couple
Young’s algorithm, which had been randomly filled with miscellaneous content until now, became completely filled with hot places and destinations.
There weren’t any places that sparked his curiosity or tempted him. Plus, there was a lot of overlapping content, so it wasn’t particularly useful. Yet when similar content appeared, it was hard to look away.
Now he could recite where restaurants in the screen were located just by looking at the scenery. He was about to move to the next video after 5 seconds when suddenly a notification popped up at the top with a short vibration.
It was a message. Joo Kyung-heon. Confirming the concisely written sender, Young quickly checked the content. ‘Is he coming now?’ ‘Or suggesting we meet outside again today?’ His face was full of delight at the thought.
However, unfortunately, the message he checked quickly contained the opposite content.
