After opening the window and turning around, he saw Miro and Hyungsik standing there blankly. When Eunchan sat on the sofa first, Miro and Hyungsik took seats on either side of him. With an empty sofa across from them, Eunchan, who ended up sandwiched between two men in the middle, let out a hollow laugh.
“There are plenty of seats over there. Or why don’t you two sit together?”
When Eunchan tried to stand up, Miro, sitting on the left, hurriedly linked arms with him.
“You, go.”
Then he shot at Hyungsik primly. Hyungsik looked at Eunchan with wronged eyes. ‘Hyung.’ It was exactly like tattling to his real older brother about someone bullying him. Eunchan patted Hyungsik’s shoulder with a rather troubled face.
“Want to sit over there?”
“……Yes, hyung.”
‘Hyungsik, I’m sorry, please understand.’
Eunchan apologized to Hyungsik in a small voice. After sending Hyungsik to the opposite side, Miro clung to Eunchan with a triumphant attitude as if to show off. Miro linked arms so tightly that only Eunchan was dying from lack of blood circulation.
“First, I have a favor to ask. I want to leave Miro-ssi’s stalker request to you.”
“What? What about you, hyung?”
“I’ll take on other work. You do it.”
He didn’t want to leave it to the boss. He handled work roughly, and he didn’t want to insert the boss into the peaceful daily life of Miro and himself. He needed someone to watch Miro’s back quietly and carefully.
“That……. Did Miro-ssi agree to this too?”
“Yeah.”
Hyungsik asked Miro doubtfully, but what came back was a one-syllable answer.
“It’s not that difficult. He hasn’t appeared at all recently. And if something happens again, I’ll help too.”
The reason for not taking on Miro’s request was simply because he didn’t want to create justification for his relationship with Miro. Eunchan wanted to stay by Miro’s side without reason. He hoped to be bound by intimacy and affection, not by a contract.
“If you say so, hyung, I got it.”
Hyungsik, who followed Eunchan well and listened well, accepted Eunchan’s request without a word of protest.
“Thanks. Ah, and was there any contact from Choi Hanul?”
“Choi Hanul?”
As he immediately brought up the second topic, Miro repeated the name Eunchan mentioned and was curious.
“The older man client I mentioned before. That man, you know, the one Hyungsik was in charge of.”
Eunchan tapped Hyungsik’s leg under the table, sending a signal to go along with it.
“Ah, yes, that man?”
“Yeah. Did he contact you?”
“No. I thought he contacted you, hyung.”
Contact with Choi Hanul had been completely cut off since that day. He’d been worried because it seemed like the kid was doing ridiculous things without fear. He thought they’d contact him since he gave them his number. Eunchan told Hyungsik to give him Choi Hanul’s number.
“Give me the number.”
“Eunchan, why, why?”
As soon as he showed interest in another person, Miro immediately reacted.
“I’m going to ask if he’s satisfied with the service.”
This kind of work is all about word of mouth. Emphasizing his work ethic to Miro, Eunchan said each review should be valued.
“Let h-him do it.”
Miro’s straight index finger pointed at Hyungsik’s face. Hyungsik, suddenly being pointed at, was flustered and didn’t know what to do.
“Yes. I’ll try it, hyung.”
“Okay…….”
I’ll have to ask later when Miro’s not around. Eunchan lifted his head and looked at the clock. Thanks to coming to work late, the time was approaching 1 PM.
“Hyungsik, did you eat lunch?”
“No, not yet.”
He’d been waiting to eat together when Eunchan came, but thanks to the tumor that came with him, that also became difficult. But he didn’t want to eat with Miro either, so Hyungsik said he’d go eat alone outside.
“I’ll eat and come back.”
“Okay, then.”
Eunchan answered that he had something to talk about briefly with Miro in the boss’s office, so go eat and come back, and Hyungsik stood up first, greeting Miro and Eunchan. After watching Hyungsik grab his wallet and leave the office, Eunchan looked at Miro, who was still tightly hugging one of his arms.
“Don’t be so harsh to Hyungsik.”
Eunchan, who had been watching Hyungsik since he was a high schooler, asked Miro not to act scary toward him.
“Does Eunchan l-like young ones?”
“What?”
At the absurd words, Eunchan answered fiercely as if picking a fight.
“Always Hyu-Hyungsik, Hyungsik……. I’m o-old.”
Like the rabbit doll’s long ears, Miro drooped and whined to Eunchan in a dispirited tone.
“No, it’s because he’s my younger brother. What, I like young ones? It’s not like that.”
“I want to be Eunchan’s y-younger brother too…….”
If only I could. Miro furrowed his brow while coveting the position of Eunchan’s younger brother that he couldn’t have.
“I like hyungs more than younger brothers.”
“Really?”
“And even better if knitting is a hobby.”
For Miro, who was older, Eunchan whispered his preferences in a sweet voice. Like Eunchan’s curved lips, Miro’s corners of his mouth also drew a soft arc. After confirming that his flirting worked well, Eunchan drew closer to Miro.
“What about you, Miro-ssi? Do you like older or younger?”
“I like Eunchan.”
It was a perfect answer. Miro gazed at Eunchan with gentle eyes. Suddenly, Eunchan thought those eyes were just like space. They sparkled with light in the black night as if studded with stars and moon.
“Can I kiss you?”
Unable to hold back the impulse, Eunchan asked. However, there was no answer in return. As soon as Eunchan’s words ended, Miro began hurriedly kissing him.
Eunchan grabbed Miro’s cheeks to separate their lips and controlled his rapid breathing tempo. And soon, after gently licking Miro’s lower lip, he tilted his head and slowly inserted his tongue. Miro’s tongue that immediately coiled around was so warm it was hot.
He liked Miro. He liked that he was anxious about not being able to take care of him more, and it was cute how he secretly acted according to his own stubbornness. It seemed like just yesterday he was afraid of getting close, but human hearts are so fickle.
Eunchan separated their lips and stroked Miro’s cheek. He couldn’t stop the feelings that had started flowing. I want to put you in my box. He wanted to place Miro in the center of the place where only beautiful and precious things were gathered.
“I li…….”
Eunchan hastily cut off the confession that was about to pop out. It was too precious a feeling to reveal in a shabby office. Next time, when I’ve dressed carefully, let’s take him to a nice place, feed him, and confess. I don’t know if Miro will accept though…….
“I li?”
When Eunchan tried to speak and stopped, Miro followed with the first characters. Because it sounded just like a vulgar curse, Eunchan blushed and hurriedly stood up from his seat.
“I’ll tell you later. Ah, it’s hot. Let’s go outside.”
Eunchan stretched and held out his hand to Miro. Miro smacked his lips as if the briefly cut-off kiss was regrettable, but that didn’t mean he refused the hand Eunchan held out.
“Let’s kill time roughly and go eat dinner.”
“Okay.”
Coming out of the boss’s office, Eunchan yielded his seat to Miro. Sitting in Hyungsik’s chair, the seat next to him, Eunchan watched Miro rummage through his knitting bag to pull out yarn and needles. Unlike when he’d seen it before, it was much more completed.
“You’ve knitted a lot?”
“To p-put on Eunchan.”
“Why do you dress me up so much?”
What Miro was making this time was a light gray knit vest. As if patterns were added, cable patterns were inserted here and there. Could he do everything well that’s done by hand? When he first made the scarf, he repeated unraveling the yarn several times saying he wasn’t satisfied.
Miro held up the knit vest he was knitting and held it against Eunchan’s chest to measure the size. Come to think of it, even without being told, Miro seemed to know Eunchan’s body size well. He’d also bought shoes that fit perfectly.
“Don’t your hands hurt?”
“Yeah, it’s okay.”
As long as he’s happy. Eunchan’s eyes met with the doll lying down wearing a scarf inside the knitting bag. The scarf the doll had was also exactly the same as what Miro gave Eunchan.
“Making even one for the doll must keep you busy.”
When Eunchan muttered to himself with a sigh, Miro smiled broadly. Probably the moment Eunchan’s vest was completed, he’d start knitting one to put on the doll too.
The autumn sunlight coming through the window was warm. Under the sunshine, Miro knitted and smiled, and Eunchan sat next to him watching him. In the peaceful atmosphere, body and mind relaxed as if intoxicated by sleep. Eunchan wished that from now on, there would only be days like this.
However, making his small prayer meaningless, Eunchan’s cell phone began buzzing and roughly breaking the peaceful air. At the vibration sound, Miro’s gaze turned to Eunchan’s pocket. Eunchan took out his cell phone from his pocket and checked the caller.
“……I’ll just take a call real quick. Keep knitting.”
“Wh-who is it?”
“The boss.”
Miro fumbled with the yarn, wanting to go with Eunchan.
“I’ll take the call inside the boss’s office and come back.”
“……Okay.”
At the same time Miro nodded his head, Eunchan stood up from his seat and hurriedly headed to the boss’s office. After firmly closing the boss’s office door, Eunchan answered the phone in a small voice.
“Hello, Jang Heewoo-ssi?”
He was someone who seemed like there’d never be a reason to contact him for life. It couldn’t be that Kim Wooseok and Choi Hanul caused trouble, could it? Since he’d dropped Jang Heewoo’s name at the bar, he felt uneasy for no reason.
– ……I’m hospitalized. Come visit me.
“What? Me?”
– Then who else but you? Come right now. I have something to say.
“What? Hello?”
Click-
The suddenly incoming call also ended abruptly. Eunchan made an obscene gesture at the disconnected cell phone. Ordering him to come and go, he was just like a master. Eunchan opened the boss’s office door irritably.
