“Little aunt, are you heading in now?”
After the meal ended, in front of the elevator, Muyeon, who had been standing side by side with his mother, turned around. His mother opened her mouth as if surprised.
“Hyeondo, where’s your mother?”
“She has work, so the driver came. I brought her in my car, but I’ll send her off and then take a taxi.”
“Oh my, really? Don’t do that, Muyeon, you take him home.”
Muyeon tilted his head briefly. When Muyeon showed signs of finding it bothersome, his mother firmly grasped his arm. He eventually nodded.
“Okay, hyung, take my car.”
“No. You don’t have to. It’s troublesome for you.”
Because Muyeon was born shameless, he knew well that Yoon Hyeondo’s words weren’t just something said out of courtesy. Muyeon had always quite liked this innate nature of his maternal cousin. It’s like the attraction felt toward someone born with a completely different personality.
So Muyeon came down to the parking lot, leading Hyeondo who adamantly refused. Because one can also be generous to people who they think want nothing.
Also, today Muyeon felt another sense of déjà vu from Hyeondo’s answers. So, since the last time he met Hyeondo, he’d newly gotten to know someone else who answers in this way of speaking. Not just gotten to know, but became very close.
While backing out the parked car and leaving the hotel with Hyeondo on board, Hyeondo struck up a conversation with Muyeon.
“So, is company work fun?”
“Yeah.”
“Vision Factory isn’t a company that’s only bad, you know.”
“It’s been too long since you worked there, hyung.”
Those words were exactly right. Hyeondo, who chose Vision Factory as his first workplace saying he’d learn work briefly before taking over the family business, practically only dipped his feet in and left if you only look at his tenure.
“Still, there are still some people I know left, so I hear some stories. There are many good people.”
Muyeon nodded. That’s correct. After a brief silence, Hyeondo chuckled and said.
“Baek Muyeon, tell me honestly.”
“What.”
“You got a lover, didn’t you.”
“……”
Is this how you use the saying that when you’re too close, you can’t see well? The reason for ‘why is Baek Muyeon doing things he didn’t do before’ that his parents and older sisters couldn’t deduce, Hyeondo found well.
That wasn’t particularly because Hyeondo had the qualities of a great detective. The only one who knew almost all of Muyeon’s human relationships that he didn’t tell his parents or older sisters—no, couldn’t tell them—was Hyeondo.
That was because he was the only family member who wouldn’t slap his back or grab him by the collar even after hearing about the things Muyeon was doing. Even the parents who circle around their youngest son worrying he’ll go out if blown on or burst if squeezed couldn’t do that. In the end, Muyeon answered honestly this time too.
“How did you know?”
“Because you’re doing things you’ve never done in your life. Ah, something that’s never happened in your lifetime is happening to this guy, I thought.”
“You’re really perceptive.”
“Really?”
“My lover is perceptive too.”
Hyeondo burst into laughter. The laughter subsided and Hyeondo leaned his back against the seat.
“What do you like about them?”
“Hmm.”
If the question was that, the answer was simple. Muyeon remembered that day very well. The day he first ran into Heo Seungju in the elevator. Whether he’d been drinking or had his soul stripped, he liked the hollow and reddened eyes.
“Crying is pretty.”
“Muyeon….”
Hyeondo sighed. He exhaled. What change, people don’t change, something roughly like that feeling it seemed.
“How long have you been dating and you already made them cry?”
Even at Hyeondo’s words that could sound like condemnation, Muyeon didn’t flinch. Because in conclusion, it was true that he made him cry. The day Seungju choked on alcohol and coughed to the point of vomiting.
“It wasn’t crying emotionally but crying physically. From choking.”
Hyeondo quietly rolled the words ‘geez, you pervert bastard’ in his mouth. Muyeon pretended not to hear.
“Isn’t there anything else besides that?”
Muyeon thought for a moment. He recalled Heo Seungju’s face, way of speaking, and behavior in turn.
“Cute.”
“You liked cute things too. Really.”
“It’s because I take after Dad.”
You can’t leave out the fact that he doesn’t look like that but says funny things whenever he opens his mouth.
“And really funny.”
“Not laughing at him, right?”
Just as Muyeon knew Hyeondo’s character, Hyeondo also knew Muyeon well. Muyeon snorted and retorted.
“No, literally funny. Entertaining.”
“That’s a real advantage.”
“Yeah, and….”
Muyeon tapped the steering wheel with his finger. He’d thought about it many times, but he couldn’t easily find another word. So he brought up the word that came to mind most intuitively first.
“He’s normal. Extremely.”
As Muyeon expected, Hyeondo didn’t ridicule his words. Instead, he nodded. And Hyeondo slowly opened his mouth.
“You’ll have to treat him well.”
“I am.”
“Don’t treat him well by your standards, you have to treat him well by that person’s standards.”
“Well, that’s difficult. We even fight because the focus goes off in strange places.”
“You said that person is normal. Then that person’s words are right.”
There was nothing wrong with Hyeondo’s words. Muyeon pouted. Hyeondo said in a voice mixed with laughter.
“As much as possible, listen to everything that person says and treat him extremely well with utmost devotion.”
“I’m doing that, I said.”
“Don’t just let my words pass by. When will you ever meet a normal person again?”
“Really now….”
“And.”
Muyeon started complaining, but Hyeondo didn’t listen carefully. Instead, he brought up what he wanted to say.
“Don’t let him find out about how you’ve been going around until now.”
Muyeon was slightly impressed at Hyeondo for digging into and stabbing at a part that had been bothering him inwardly too.
“…I am.”
“Well… you’re smart, so you’ll do well on your own.”
Hyeondo shrugged. He felt a bit hurt at the end, but anyway, there was no reason not to listen to Hyeondo’s advice. Muyeon had been thinking the same thing. So the point is, he mustn’t get caught by him.
***
There was a fact Seungju couldn’t deny. That Baek Muyeon was quite a cute boyfriend.
Despite the unpleasant clues that allowed him to indirectly infer his past, the quite frequently popping out absurd remarks, and the moments of awkwardness felt at various differences in perspective stemming from the life he’d lived, less than a month into dating, Seungju acknowledged the clarity of that fact.
So Seungju had been enjoying himself during that time. He was deeply immersed in the feeling of being in love for the first time in a really long time. No, perhaps this feeling was a first.
If you were to find evidence for the fact that Baek Muyeon was an overflowing lover, you’d have to start with Muyeon’s small acts of devotion. First of all, Muyeon called Seungju first morning and evening. When a video call came while he was sprawled out watching TV right before falling asleep at home, his heart nearly dropped, but after a week passed, Seungju more or less adapted to video calls coming at any time. Especially the calls that came on the way to work lightened his troubled mind being dragged to the company even a little.
Not just calls, Muyeon also sent messages well. He contacted him right away even when nothing was happening, and didn’t mind whenever Seungju checked them. There was never a time he didn’t answer when Seungju contacted him first. Seungju often smiled seeing him shamelessly tapping his phone filling the message window even at the company, even sitting in a seat where if you just raised your head, you could clearly see what he was doing.
Also, Muyeon always waited for him and took him home whenever Seungju got off work even a little late. When Seungju refused using the worry of what if other people saw as an excuse, Muyeon would pretend to leave work and wait at the cafe in the next building before brazenly coming out to pick him up.
He should also mention the fact that since Seungju bought him that doll, there was no occasion to take out his wallet. Rice, coffee, alcohol, small snacks—Muyeon bore all of it himself. Even knowing that he has a lot of money and knowing that how and where he spends that money is Muyeon’s freedom, Seungju was always grateful for it.
Of course, as always, what’s mentioned last is the biggest evidence. So, Muyeon was good at skinship. Unlike when he had surprised eyes when Seungju once stroked his hair, Muyeon had no hesitation in advancing things with Seungju.
As if not knowing what to do, cupping his cheek with large hands, meeting sparkling eyes, the moments when their lips touched.
Each time, Seungju thought of the words Muyeon had said.
‘You know the eyes of someone who’s fallen for you?’
Yeah, I think I know.
So in the end, you could say that attitude that made it unnecessary to doubt whether he liked him or not made it unnecessary to think about many things. Among the few handsome bastards Seungju had experienced, there wasn’t a single one who was this sweet and considerate. If they hadn’t been like that, there would have been no reason to call those bastards bastards. So probably this kind of romance is a first.
The news of the Director’s transfer that started to stealthily spread through the Planning Division was, so to speak, the last drop of water that filled Seungju’s heart to the brim.
The moment he saw the breaking news posted in the group chat room, Seungju almost forgot the fact that he was sitting in the office and raised both hands high. My god, oh Lord. Seungju slightly lifted both hands that had been placed on the keyboard and clenched them tightly to express his emotion instead.
There were enough signs. For nearly a week, the Director frequently left his seat. The reason was always a long interview with the president. According to rumors, the official reason is because of evaluation content. However, everyone knew that in the evaluations, even including Seungju, there was no one who openly cursed at the Director.
Even if a new system and opportunity are given, it’s already a small office dominated by the Director’s old-fashioned power, so it’s difficult to speak harshly unless there’s considerable malice. In reality, no one knew specifically what evaluation content became a problem. Everyone just said ‘there wasn’t much good content.’
So the evaluation is just a pretext and an excuse. The real reason, of course, flowed out from the Sales Team.
