In Eunho’s hand was an ion drink and the hot bar Doyun had been going back and forth about buying earlier. He peeled the wrapper open slightly and warmed it briefly in the microwave.
“It’s the same brand as the ramen you’re eating right now, Doyun.”
“I was debating whether to get that earlier — guess we’re on the same wavelength.”
While Eunho tore open the wrapper, Doyun’s gaze was fixed on the hot bar. When the plump, red hot bar finally revealed itself, Doyun’s mouth fell slightly open.
“Want a bite?”
“Yeah. I’d really appreciate that. Want a bite of my triangle kimbap too?”
“I’m not hungry. Ah — open up.”
Doyun held out the triangle kimbap toward Eunho, who was still standing beside him. Eunho shook his head with a small smile. Then he mouthed an “ah” toward Doyun.
“Ah.”
Doyun looked up at Eunho and opened his mouth to a reasonable size, just as instructed. He fully expected Eunho to feed him the hot bar once his mouth was open — but Eunho just stood there staring at him blankly.
“…….”
“Aah.”
“…….”
Doyun made the sound again and opened his mouth wider. He stared at the hot bar with great intensity and longing, but Eunho didn’t budge. As the hot bar started to give off its spicy aroma right in front of his nose, his appetite came rushing back in full force. Doyun grabbed Eunho’s hand and shook it.
“Hey, I said ‘ah.’ Are you messing with me? Hurry up and give me a bite.”
“Oh, sorry.”
Finally prompted by Doyun, Eunho pushed the hot bar into Doyun’s mouth. The end of the hot bar slipped into Doyun’s mouth — and then pulled back out again.
“Aah.”
When Doyun opened his mouth again and looked at Eunho, the hot bar came in a little deeper this time. Then Eunho, with a slightly dazed expression, tried to pull it back again. Is he seriously messing with me — fed up, Doyun grabbed the hand holding the hot bar and bit off the end decisively.
“You—!”
“What.”
“Don’t ever ask anyone else for a bite of something like this. Especially not like that.”
Eunho frowned slightly, then rubbed the corner of Doyun’s mouth with his thumb. Doyun looked at him strangely.
“The hot bar? Why. Is it gross? Then go grab a new one. Why give it and take it back.”
“It’s not gross.”
With that, Eunho started aggressively finishing off the rest of the hot bar. He opened the ion drink he’d brought, took a sip, then handed the rest to Doyun. Without a second thought, Doyun brought his lips to the mouth of the bottle where Eunho’s lips had just been. As Doyun began gulping it down, the crease between Eunho’s brows slowly smoothed out.
“When does the next part-timer come in?”
“Still 30 minutes.”
Eunho nodded and took the ion drink back when Doyun handed it to him. He didn’t drink it — just lightly brought his lips to the rim.
“You’ve been working a lot at the convenience store lately.”
Eunho looked at Doyun and spoke with a worried expression.
“Yeah. My parents keep putting me on shifts.”
“That’s really admirable.”
“I only do it because they pay me.”
“Still. Convenience store work is tough… you’re getting paid well, right?”
Saying that, Eunho named an outrageous figure and asked Doyun if that was about what he got. Doyun shook his head vigorously in strong denial.
“No. I get exactly 500 won above minimum wage. My parents are total exploiters. I’m pretty sure they put me here just to keep an eye on me. They watch the CCTV and butt in constantly — ‘don’t do it that way,’ ‘do it this way.'”
Doyun pointed to the CCTV cameras installed throughout the convenience store and whispered the answer to Eunho conspiratorially. The sight of Doyun muttering in a hushed voice made Eunho smile.
“They must be worried about you. I’d probably do the same.”
Eunho straightened the vest with the convenience store logo on it and let out a quiet laugh.
“I’ve been working at convenience stores for years — what is there to worry about? You remember I was working a convenience store shift on my birthday last year, right?”
“You still had seaweed soup and got presents though.”
Last year, on Doyun’s birthday, one of the part-timers had bailed, leaving him covering the convenience store all morning. In the evening, he’d shared a meal of seaweed soup and fresh cream cake with his family, and then stayed up all night drinking with his friends, sharing the convenience store whiskey he’d brought with his dad’s permission.
“You got way more presents on your birthday.”
“My parents probably didn’t even know it was my birthday.”
“That’s impossible.”
Doyun scoffed. Eunho wasn’t the type to make a big fuss about his own birthday, but Suhyeok and Minjun were the kind of people who used anyone’s birthday as an excuse to drink the night away. For Eunho’s last birthday, the friends had pooled their money to buy a cake and set up a birthday spread with instant rice and seaweed soup at Suhyeok’s place, all four of them gathered together. That day, Eunho had shown up saying his parents had sent it — several bottles of champagne in that golden bottle you’d only ever see in a rapper’s music video.
“If they didn’t know your birthday, how would they have given you allowance and presents?”
“The secretaries are thorough and capable.”
“Ah….”
“Having me was the only mistake of their lives, so my birthday isn’t exactly a welcome occasion for them. I’ll head out and wait — finish up and come out when you’re ready, okay?”
Eunho patted Doyun’s shoulder with one hand and tilted his head toward the window. The next shift’s part-timer was walking toward the convenience store.
After finishing the shift change, Doyun headed to the open lot parking area near the convenience store. Since it was the weekend, there were hardly any cars, and he spotted Eunho’s large SUV easily.
“What — why are you sitting there?”
He’d naturally gone to open the passenger door, but Eunho was already sitting there. Eunho, reclined slightly in the seat and sitting comfortably, handed Doyun the car key.
“Here.”
“Why are you giving this to me?”
Even as he accepted the key without protest, Doyun looked at Eunho with an expression that couldn’t hide his confusion.
“You said you’d buy this car from me someday. I got insurance too, so don’t worry and just drive.”
At Eunho’s words, a slow smile spread across Doyun’s face. He loved driving, but his family rarely handed over the keys without him having to beg for it, so chances to drive didn’t come often. With insurance already sorted, there was no reason to say no.
“No way. I’m actually driving? Don’t worry though! I’m the best driver, remember? I won’t scratch it.”
“Alright, best driver. So what were you so busy with today that you even forgot to reach out to me?”
Doyun started the engine and pronounced “best driver” in exaggerated English, to which Eunho immediately echoed “best driver” back in perfectly natural pronunciation. As Doyun pulled out onto the road, he burst out laughing. He tapped the steering wheel lightly and answered Eunho’s question.
“Just…. After the blind date I went straight home and called Minjun. Got an earful about how badly I bombed it.”
“Then why go on a blind date when you were already uncomfortable about it.”
“That’s something I regret too. I reached out right after the blind date ended and got left on read.”
“You texted the blind date person but didn’t reach out to me?”
Eunho’s low voice came from beside him. The calm tone didn’t make it sound like he was angry — but that slow, measured way of speaking was definitely something that only came out when Eunho was sulking.
“Ah, sorry. That day was a mess in every way and I just forgot. Okay?”
Doyun quickly apologized to Eunho. In moments like this, nothing worked better than being upfront about it and groveling a little.
“Going forward I’m not doing blind dates or anything like that — I’m just going to let things happen naturally. From what I’ve seen, a lot of people end up together just from being friends first, without needing any formal setup.”
“…Right. Nothing quite as close — and dangerous — as being friends.”
“Do you really have no intention of dating?”
