He had taken out the wine he’d carefully selected in advance — chosen to set the mood the moment they walked in. They’d be coming home together, after all. Once he’d finished setting the wine glasses and the flower box on the table, everything looked more or less put together. There was no separate gift. The situation itself, thirty minutes from now, was the gift for his husband.
Right. It’s his birthday. I’m just going along with it for a little while.
Even as he kept telling himself that, in truth Yigyeol had been tense and counting down the days for three days straight. Going about things as normal — tidying the house, working out, running errands outside — but every so often, imagining what was about to happen at the leather workshop made him anxious all over again. He’d gone back and forth regretting his agreement so many times that he was on the verge of a migraine.
It was strange that he should feel this uneasy. It was the kind of deviation they’d been playing out together from time to time, always with his husband leading the way. They’d had filthy, reckless conversations more than a few times by now — conversations so hazy he could barely remember the faces or situations anymore — and yet this time, for some reason, the weight of it felt entirely different.
To think that putting words into action would stir up something this big. If it was because he already knew the man he was about to meet, the place he had to go, and the situation he’d be walking into — then Yigyeol thought he’d rather know nothing at all next time.
He removed his wedding ring.
In the moment before he left, the anxiety he’d been suppressing reached its peak. He wandered around the apartment trying to look unbothered, but the face reflected in the entryway mirror just before he put on his shoes was visibly flushed — obviously so, to anyone.
“Huu……”
He smoothed out the outfit he’d taken care to pick. Just as he was about to head out, he suddenly startled.
He turned back toward the walk-in closet, face drained of color. He’d almost forgotten the pheromone neutralizer. That would have ruined the entire plan. Whatever the leather workshop owner’s designation was, he had to account for the possibility of him being an alpha.
Today, and today alone, he had to be a complete stranger to his husband. Yigyeol had to appear as a pure beta — unmarried, unimprinted. Nothing more than one unremarkable student among the countless who might pass through. Stepping outside that boundary would be a problem.
Fortunately, the neutralizer he used was highly effective. He sprayed it on as needed whenever the occasion arose, though for some reason his hands were trembling.
Nothing’s going to happen. Having finally finished getting ready, Yigyeol checked the time and hurried out.
Even though it was the shopping strip right in front of the apartment building he lived in, most of it was unfamiliar territory. He simply didn’t have much reason to go out on his own.
Groceries and daily necessities were almost always handled through delivery services, and on weekends he’d occasionally stop by the department store with his husband. On top of that, he was always passing through by car, so actually walking through the shops on his own was something he could count on one hand.
The shopping complex was quite large. Side dish shops, convenience stores, pharmacies, coin laundromats…… Searching for the exterior he’d studied beforehand amid all those ordinary sights, he wandered for a bit before finally spotting his destination.
I wonder if the business is doing well. That was his first concern.
Of all spots, it was tucked behind a corner. From the walkway where people passed by, you could only just barely make out the edge of the shop. Sitting in the shade like that, it looked like a place that would be nearly impossible to find without deliberately seeking it out.
If I hadn’t looked it up in advance, I’d have spent a long time wandering. At least, unlike the surrounding shops, it had floor-to-ceiling glass windows that let the interior show through clearly, fitted with neatly spaced blinds that gave it a sleek, sophisticated feel — that much set it apart.
Yigyeol approached slowly. Rounding the corner, he spotted a matte black standing sign.
[atelier G]
The lettering, cleanly engraved and gilded in gold leaf, glimmered faintly.
Through the gap beneath the half-lowered blinds, he could catch a glimpse of the interior. But the man he’d been imagining for the past several days was nowhere to be found right away. Without quite meaning to, Yigyeol held his breath and slowly pushed open the heavy door.
“Excuse me.”
The dark brown leather cover fitted over the door handle was, unlike its appearance, quite cold to the touch.
“……Is anyone here?”
Scanning the interior for any sign of life, he searched carefully for the man. The inside was far more spacious than it had looked from outside. A structure narrow at the front and extending deep inward. Perhaps because of that, his voice echoed slightly off the walls and ceiling.
The overall atmosphere was reminiscent of a curated boutique or a bar. The dim lighting played a large part in that. On the large, low shelf hanging closest to the entrance, various sample crafts were arranged neatly, and beside it stood a potted plant as tall as Yigyeol himself. For all that the interior was tidy, the plant looked like it wasn’t being particularly well cared for — its leaves were limp and drooping, and the soil looked parched.
Good furniture and pieces had been thoughtfully selected and well-placed, and yet here and there a certain rough-around-the-edges quality showed through. The more he looked around, the stronger that impression grew.
He waited a little while longer but no one came out. Yigyeol walked further inside. Whether someone had been there until just a moment ago, the monitor on what appeared to serve as a counter was glowing brightly. A slim silver keyboard and nylon gloves. A few perfume bottles. A phone on charge was visible, too.
“……”
It looked exactly like someone had simply vanished. Was there somewhere to hide? Yigyeol carefully scanned the area around him before approaching the monitor. Drawn in naturally, he noticed the booking details on the screen.
―――――――――――――――
[Leather Keyring Making — One-Day Class] Reservations
19:00
Seok Wonho
Kim Yigyeol
―――――――――――――――
The only two reservations were his husband and himself. It was a small workshop that couldn’t accommodate large groups, so he’d half-expected as much — and yet actually seeing it confirmed that it was just the two of them made his tension thicken.
The time was nearly up now. How much longer was his husband going to be? He found himself wanting something to lean on. Even knowing that the moment Wonho arrived, this covert little game would truly begin. Standing alone in the quiet workshop, Yigyeol opened the messaging app on his phone.
[How much longer? I just got here. But there’s no one he——]
“Can I help you?”
Right in the middle of typing, a voice came out of nowhere. From directly behind him. Yigyeol barely managed to hold back a yelp. His shoulders shot up like someone caught in the act. He turned around, and someone was standing there.
It was that man.
“Ah. I, I’m——”
“Did you have a reservation?”
The cause of today’s entire affair.
He was taller than Yigyeol had imagined. In the photos he’d been bent at the waist, so it hadn’t been obvious, but he looked like he’d be taller than even Wonho. And it wasn’t just his height — the sheer breadth of his shoulders and upper body was something altogether removed from ordinary. Maybe that was why, even simply standing there facing him, Yigyeol naturally felt a kind of pressure bearing down on him.
You don’t see someone like this every day.
Yigyeol had been about to say something more, when he suddenly registered the phone still in his hand. The unfinished message was at a distance where the other person might just be able to read it. The screen had already gone dark, but the page that had been open just seconds ago still seemed to hover there.
Did he see it? How far had I gotten? Had I already typed— honey?
“Ah.”
When their eyes met for a moment, the man’s expression was strange. The silence had gone on too long, it seemed. Yigyeol shoved his phone hurriedly into his pocket.
“I’m sorry. I’m the one with the reservation today——”
“Kim Yigyeol.”
He said Yigyeol’s name. While holding his gaze directly. Pupils so dark you couldn’t see anything in them. Under that gaze — unwavering, as if seeing straight through him — Yigyeol froze completely. Then the man added,
“No need to look that startled.”
His tone was light, like a breeze passing through. The eyes that met his in his flustered state were, unexpectedly, smiling. The instant Yigyeol spotted that playful expression, he felt heat bloom across his body all at once.
“I, well — I was wondering how you knew. I hadn’t even properly introduced myself yet.”
He may have said that a little breathlessly. That probably looked ridiculous. Yigyeol regretted it a little. But the man didn’t seem bothered in the least.
“I had a feeling you’d be Kim Yigyeol.”
“……Pardon?”
The man walked past Yigyeol, who was asking him to elaborate, at a leisurely pace and headed toward the wall. Then he unhooked an apron from the peg hanging there and began putting it on.
