# Side Story 8
‘I managed to make it home somehow, but…’
Yeomin’s mind grew complicated during the entire car ride. The joy of finding his ring was short-lived. Another headache-inducing problem had surfaced.
‘If you take Seol Jiho with you, that would be fine with me.’
‘……’
‘But well. If Yeomin-gun doesn’t want to, I won’t force it. What’s important to us is you, Yeomin-gun.’
Since Jiho wouldn’t let him go abroad alone anyway, that option wasn’t even on the table.
‘Living abroad with Seol Jiho? Just the two of us? In a place where we don’t know anyone, have no connections? And even getting legally married?’
For some people, this might be an exciting new beginning, but…
“Aren’t you coming up?”
“……”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Yeomin gazed at Jiho with complicated eyes. His mind felt like it would burst with so many thoughts.
‘With Seol Jiho… spending a lifetime like that?’
“What is it? Do you want to do it here?”
Jiho winked. Normally Yeomin would have been appalled at such nonsense, but now was different.
“Yes.”
Because he thought, why not just go with it? Comfortably, carefree, acting a little crazy. Why not choose what his heart wants without worry?
Despite such an uncertain future, maybe it was okay to have expectations.
“Want to?”
“…Hyung.”
Jiho stared at Yeomin. Meanwhile, Yeomin had unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned toward Jiho.
Cupping his smooth cheek and pulling his face closer, Jiho’s lips drew near as if they had been waiting. Yeomin closed his eyes and captured Jiho’s lips. At the same time, strong hands embraced Yeomin’s shoulders.
The two kissed for quite a while in the car. Perhaps because it was an enclosed space, even though they had kissed countless times before, this one felt more dangerous than usual.
“Why are you seducing me?”
“Because you’re handsome.”
Yeomin answered brazenly and loosened Jiho’s tie. Then he undid the top button of his shirt.
While Jiho pulled Yeomin’s nape closer into his embrace, he said the opposite:
“…What if someone comes by?”
Acting coy, Seol Jiho. While actually enjoying it.
“Then you don’t want to do it?”
“Haa… Of course I do.”
“……”
“You’re strange today, Hyung. Are you doing this because you feel guilty about cheating on me?”
“Hey, when did I ever cheat on you!”
Yeomin forgot what he was doing and flared up. How dare he accuse him of being unfaithful just for meeting someone to get his ring back?
Jiho’s habit of exaggerating was something to be reckoned with.
“But you did. Meeting another man behind my back… telling me to go home while you secretly-“
“I told you to go, so why didn’t you leave and wait instead?”
“I waited because I thought you might be lonely going home alone, Hyung.”
“Oh, please.”
“And waiting made me want to do this too.”
With that, he planted kisses all over Yeomin’s face: smooch, smooch, smooch.
Though Yeomin frowned, he tugged at Jiho’s shirt collar and satisfyingly checked the hickey he had left on his neck last night.
It’s not that Yeomin lacked possessiveness. He just didn’t express it. In truth, he too was tormented by countless temptations, just like Jiho.
The impulse to grab Jiho’s hand and run away. The crazy impulse to tell the whole neighborhood that Jiho loved him, to broadcast it over the company’s PA system…
Of course, being just an ordinary citizen, a mere employee, and a socialized adult, he merely controlled such impulses.
Jiho asked as if to confirm:
“Can we really do it here?”
While saying this, his hand was already inside Yeomin’s pants belt.
Yeomin said mischievously:
“No.”
“You provoke me first and then…”
No means no. Jiho, seemingly disappointed, traced Yeomin’s lips with his fingertips.
As if even looking at him wasn’t enough. Receiving such an affectionate gaze, Yeomin felt a strange sensation.
“Seol Jiho, do you still like me?”
How can this guy maintain such an unwavering, bulldozer-like love?
Everyone dates. Everyone loves. But not everyone dates like Seol Jiho, and not everyone pours out love like Seol Jiho does.
To Yeomin, Jiho’s love was beyond a downpour—it was a flood. Just when he thought it couldn’t rise any higher… his growing affection would leave Yeomin disoriented.
“Of course I like you.”
“Really?”
“Have I been neglectful lately? I don’t think so. I’ve been liking you harder every day. …When you suddenly ask, it makes me worry.”
“I just… find it amazing.”
It was a question he had held for a very long time.
Yeomin didn’t like himself as much as Jiho liked him.
So he wondered, ‘Why does he blindly adore me so much?’ And he couldn’t be certain Jiho would always be that way.
Yeomin mustered the courage to speak the words he had always held back:
“Why… do you like me this much?”
In response to Yeomin’s uncertain voice, Jiho embraced his thin body tightly.
“And why did you make me like this, Hyung?”
“……”
No matter how he thought about it, he had never deliberately seduced Jiho or desperately clung to him asking for love.
For the past few years, Yeomin hadn’t fully enjoyed Jiho’s love. Should he start thinking more comfortably now? Should he just enjoy this excessive affection, considering it like ‘winning the lottery’? Would that make his heart at ease…
“Give me three reasons why you like me.”
Today, Yeomin was behaving unlike his usual self.
Though it was startling, Jiho rattled off as if he had prepared for this:
“Reasons I love Joo Yeomin. First, you’re cute.”
Not a very convincing reason, but.
“…What else?”
“Second, you’re sexy.”
“…Rejected.”
“Third, you love me.”
There was an extreme temperature difference between the first two reasons and the third.
Of course, he did love Jiho, but… Yeomin hadn’t expected Jiho to say such a thing. After all, Jiho had always been thirsty for expressions of affection. Joo Yeomin was a miser even when it came to love.
“…Really?”
“You love me too much, Hyung. That’s why you’re like this now. You love me so, so much, so passionately.”
“……”
“That’s why you’re cautious. Because you love me too much, you don’t want to ruin it.”
Now that he heard it, it seemed true. How did Jiho know his heart so thoroughly when he didn’t even know it himself? Indeed, Jiho was the one who knew Yeomin best in the world.
Yeomin acknowledged that the years he and Jiho had spent fighting and bickering weren’t a waste of time after all. We’ve gotten to know each other so well during this time.
Yeomin tickled Jiho’s chin.
“When did you become such an adult, Seol Jiho…?”
“I’ve been an adult since I met you, Hyung.”
“Still, be a little more childish for me. If you become any more mature, I might feel a bit sad.”
Your charm lies in being immature, willful, and bright.
To Yeomin’s request, Jiho nodded, saying it was no problem.
“I always do whatever you tell me to, Hyung.”
Then he suddenly rummaged through the back seat.
“I was going to tell you after we went upstairs, but I can’t wait.”
A shopping bag was in Jiho’s hand.
“What’s that?”
Yeomin was puzzled.
Jiho often gave him gifts on a whim. The presents he offered, saying he bought them because he thought of Yeomin, varied widely in both type and price.
He seemed to have shown some restraint since Yeomin told him to stop buying things because there was nowhere left to put them…
“What did you buy now?”
As Yeomin was about to start scolding him, Jiho quickly grabbed his hand. Then he removed the ring from Yeomin’s finger.
“Don’t wear this anymore.”
“Are you crazy? Why-“
Yeomin tried to protect his ring, but Jiho was merciless. He put the ring in his pocket. Yeomin looked at him with vacant eyes.
You give it and then take it back…? How petty…
“Another man touched it. It’s contaminated.”
“I’ll disinfect it.”
…Please. But despite Yeomin’s pleas, Jiho’s expression was unyielding.
Leaving the sulking Yeomin aside, Jiho opened the shopping bag. An elegant leather case popped out from inside.
“I originally planned to give it to you in a much cooler way. But Yeojin noona said you wouldn’t be moved anyway, so I should just give it to you quickly. She even suggested I leave the price tag on.”
“What…?”
Why is Joo Yeojin’s name suddenly coming up? Yeomin was bewildered.
Jiho grinned as he opened the case. A pair of rings with the same design gleamed brilliantly.
They had a much more extravagant design than the couple rings Yeomin had been wearing until now.
‘You could see these from a kilometer away…’
“Let’s get married.”
“……”
‘These are wedding rings, right? So this is a proposal?’
From giving a hundred roses when asking him out, why hasn’t Seol Jiho changed even a little?
Yeomin just blinked.
“There were many prettier ones, but I chose the simplest ones hoping you’d wear yours every day.”
“This is considered simple…?”
Yeomin didn’t dare try on the dazzlingly blingy rings. He doubted he could even type on a keyboard while wearing them.
But Jiho looked deeply moved.
‘Right. I just received a proposal.’
Momentarily dazed by the shock of the rings, Yeomin remembered that he had just heard a bombshell confession of “let’s get married.”
Marriage, marriage…
‘I knew this day would come eventually, but…’
Sooner than expected. No, delayed considering Seol Jiho’s temperament?
“Let me be more precise. Let’s have a wedding ceremony, Hyung.”
“…Here?”
“The parking lot doesn’t seem appropriate, does it?”
Jiho said crazily that of course, if it was with Hyung, he’d be happy to get married even in a recycling center.
“I’d like an outdoor wedding. This country is fine, but I’d prefer abroad. What do you think, Hyung?”
‘I have no thoughts. I’ve never even considered it…’
Yeomin’s lips moved. He felt another headache coming on.
“Let’s live together. We already live together, but let’s find a new home for newlyweds, and call each other ‘honey,’ ‘darling,’ ‘sweetie~’. Introduce ourselves to people as spouses. Let’s live like that for the rest of our lives. Never leave, never break up, never get sick until death…”
“Wait…!”
Yeomin cut off the increasingly rap-like confession. President Ahn wanting to send him abroad, and now Jiho’s marriage proposal. The timing was too perfect.
“Did you talk to President Ahn about this beforehand?”
Was it all prearranged? Is that why the president suddenly brought up going abroad?
But Jiho looked completely clueless.
“Why would I discuss this with President Ahn?”
Jiho quickly returned to the main point.
“I’d like to have three children, but since modern science makes that impossible, how about three dogs? Adoption is also good.”
“Just be quiet for a moment. My head is complicated.”
“Of course, I’m happy living just with you too. Actually, I prefer it just the two of us.”
What kind of marriage proposal is this… so uncouth?
Though I’m not sure what a proposal should be like. But it shouldn’t make the recipient have a headache, right?
“Since you’re busy and have a lot you want to do, I’ll support you at home. I’ll cook, do laundry.”
You already do that, don’t you? Sigh. Yeomin’s sigh deepened.
The most absurd thing was… despite Jiho’s sudden confession, he couldn’t help but smile.
Yeomin couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. It’s a headache, but it’s funny. I just can’t help laughing.
“Continue.”
Seol Jiho, let’s see how far you’ll go.
“I’ll learn to iron too. When you study, I’ll make you snacks.”
“That’s a very admirable thought.”
“Here.”
As Yeomin praised him, Jiho put the ring on his finger. Then he put a ring on his own finger as well.
The pair of rings on their hands sparkled brilliantly. As if they would never lose their shine.
“Now you need to answer, Hyung.”
“You should give me time to think.”
“I’ve given you years to think already.”
“Not even one more day?”
“No. I can’t. My heart feels like it’s about to explode.”
Liar. By that measure, my heart would have exploded dozens of times by now.
“Answer me right now.”
“What if I refuse? What will you do then?”
“I told you already.”
It seems threats no longer work, as Jiho smiles. Very brightly. Full of confidence.
“I said you love me too much, Hyung. There’s no way you’d refuse.”
As if he couldn’t even imagine Yeomin’s refusal. That confidence is a bit annoying and irritating… but honestly, it’s true.
“You love me. You’ll love me forever. You might lose the ring, but don’t forget that fact.”
“…I won’t.”
“Now, your answer.”
“Fine. I’ll live with you.”
“Can’t you answer a bit more romantically?”
I’d have to have said romantic things before for them to come to mind. Yeomin scratched the back of his neck and then mumbled in a small, shy voice:
“Let’s get married, Seol Jiho.”
For things that should never be carelessly forgotten in Joo Yeomin’s life, he decided to write the sentence “I like Seol Jiho” at the very top of the list.
