Yoon Taehee pressed the elevator button. It was his first time at a department store, so Jaegyeom gawked looked around while waiting for the elevator. The walls, floor, and everything had a crisp sheen.
“Hey. What did we you come to buy?”
“Mhm, suit. For you.”
What is a suit?
As soon as they stepped into the elevator, Yoon Taehee pressed the button very naturally. He must have been in and out of department stores a lot for he seemed familiar with his destination. As the elevator departed, Jaegyeom’s eyes widened and he clutched his ears. Ugh, he felt a strange sensation as if his body was floating, and his ears started ringing.
“What…”
Jaegyeom panicked and grabbed the pole attached to the wall. Although he often saw it on TV, this was his first time riding an elevator in person. Yoon Taehee, who was leaning forward with his hands in his pockets, lowered his head and laughed softly.
“Swallow your saliva.”
He pointed to the corner of his mouth. As Jaegyeom swallowed his saliva as Yoon Taehee said, he suddenly felt like his ears were being pierced. Wah… how fascinating… At the moment Jaegyeom blinked with a puzzled look on his face, the elevator came up above the ground. The transparent windows at the back gave a clear view of the outside of the building.
“Ah fu… that surprised me!”
Jaegyeom, who had been standing near the back thinking it was just a wall, was startled. He was completely shocked when the open view suddenly unfolded. Jumping up as if he had seen a bug, he quickly approached Yoon Taehee’s side. He was so surprised that he did it without realizing it. Yoon Taehee smiled and lightly pulled Jaegyeom’s arm.
“Surprised?”
Jaegyeom, whose eyes were widened opened his eyes wide, glared at Yoon Taehee.
“Hey. I saw it all on TV, too.”
“Hm?”
“Don’t look down on me like I’m a country bumpkin.”
“I didn’t say anything…”
At that time, the elevator dinged to a halt at a floor above ground level. It stopped at a certain floor with a sound. The elevator doors opened and people came flooding in. As strangers suddenly rushed in and came closer, Jaegyeom flinched and clung to the wall. Then Yoon Taehee stretched out his hand and pulled him.
“Come here…”
Almost swept away by the rushing crowd, Jaegyeom was inadvertently dragged into the arms of Yoon Taehee. The inside of the elevator was like a jar that was growing bean sprouts. Before they knew it, their bodies were pressed close to each other. The distance was too close. He could almost feel Yoon Taehee’s breathing.
As the the breath mixed with the lingering scent of perfume touched his forehead and then dispersed, Jaegyeom’s face stiffened slightly. Just when he tried to free his grabbed wrist and move his upper body back, an arm stuck out from behind him. “Wait a minute.” Someone leaned over, apparently unable to press the desired floor button. A jostling mass of people followed.
It was barely possible to increase the distance between him and Yoon Taehee. When a shove came from behind, it became so cramped that there was no room to move back. Yoon Taehee, who was leaning against the elevator wall, lifted his hand and wrapped it around the back of Jaegyeom’s head and pulled him towards him. In the end, Jaegyeom had no choice but to lean on Yoon Taehee’s shoulder.
“Don’t touch my head.”
Yoon Taehee, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly asked.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“What shampoo do you use?”
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Yoon Taehee, who had found the store he wanted, gave Jaegyeom a look as if gesturing at him to follow him.
“Hello, are you looking for some clothes…”
As an employee approached, Yoon Taehee politely bowed. While they exchanged a few words, Jaegyeom was tapping the mannequin standing at the entrance. Not long after, Yoon Taehee gestured to him.
“Nari-ya.”
Jaegyeom shot a look back with narrowed eyes.
“Don’t call me that in front of people.”
A male employee who was approaching Jaegyeom to check his size smiled brightly.
“You must be his brother, the nickname is cute.”
Jaegyeom responded to the employee’s words with a straight face.
“I’m not his younger brother.”
“Ye- yes… ?”
The employee seemed momentarily flustered by the blunt and unexpected reply.
Although they didn’t look alike, Jaegyeom looked younger and there were two men, so it was a reasonable guess from the employee’s point of view. It was also because the nicknames that Yoon Taehee used sounded affectionate, as if he was addressing his younger sibling, like “maknae-ya” or ‘baby-ya”. However, Jaegyeom rebutted it sharply and was disgusted.
“Ah, I thought you were brothers…”
Yoon Taehee, who was standing next to him, let out a small laugh. He should have just said, “I guess it’s something like that,” and moved on, but the boy didn’t have a clue. Yoon Taehee playfully interjected.
“Just a younger brother I know.”
The employee embarrassedly smiled and murmured, “I see…”
“On my side.”
Yoon Taehee then smiled and quickly added. The employee, who did not understand his words, made a puzzled face, “Yes?”
Yoon Taehee continued, “I’m the younger one.”
While Yoon Taehee was introducing himself as his younger brother, Jaegyeom, who was slightly startled, pursed his lips and stared at him. The man just put his hands in his pockets and looked back at Jaegyeom.
“Right, hyung?”
The employee looked at the two alternately with a puzzled look still on his face.
“…”
“…”
Jaegyeom’s face hardened belatedly. Here we go again… What? Hyung? He furrowed tightened his brows and glared at Yoon Taehee. While he was cursing with his eyes, Yoon Taehee’s face was serious, but the playfulness dripped from his eyes like honey.
At that time, the employee who had come to his senses hastily put on a smile.
“Ayee, y- you’re kidding, right?”
Yoon Taehee shrugged his shoulders in a noncommittal manner.
“Nope. Hyung is a little older. No, not a little, but severely…”
Unable to bear it anymore, Jaegyeom walked over to Yoon Taehee and surreptitiously jabbed his side with his elbow. Yoon Taehee, who had been brutally beaten by him wrapped his arms around his side, but he was laughing silently. He had a natural talent for provoking people. It was to the point where Jaegyeom suspected whether he just liked being beaten. Why on earth did he keep picking fights?
“Are you crazy? Who is your hyung? Stop messing around again.”
Jaegyeom gritted his teeth and whispered in a low voice.
“Did I say something wrong? I am younger.”
Yoon Taehee responded slyly, but he could not disagree. Jaegyeom never had a younger sibling that was this big, tall, and infuriating, and he did not want to have one. Unless it was the small and precious Mesani. When Yoon Taehee called him hyung, he got goosebumps. Sometimes it was ‘friend’, sometimes it was ‘my lord’, but this time it was ‘hyung’. Yoon Taehee changed names at will. Thinking about it, that guy has always acted his way from the beginning.
“I told you to stop. This time you’re going to get hit for real.”
“I just got hit for real here…”
“If you don’t want your ribs to broken, be quiet.”
“…”
Yoon Taehee suddenly pretended to look at his wristwatch. Meanwhile, a light dimple still remained on one side of his cheek.
***
“How is it? Is there anything you like?”
Yoon Taehee chose clothes for him with skillful hands.
“Not really. They all look the same to me.”
Jaegyeom just looked annoyed. He didn’t have much interest in shopping, and Jeongju always bought clothes and shoes for him, so even when he saw them in person, he didn’t really know what he was looking at, especially if it were suits. It was a type of clothing he had never worn before in his life.
Yoon Taehee sometimes took out a coat hanger and held it up on Jaegyeom’s body. “No matter what I hold up, it suits you well.” That was something Jeongju also said sometimes. Jaegyeom had a neat and straight physique, his shoulders were straight, and his clothes looked good even if he was haphazardly thrown together.
Either way, he maintained a bored expression.
“Why do I have to wear clothes like this?”
At that time, Jaegyeom suddenly asked. He suddenly became curious.
“Government jobs are usually inflexible and conservative.”
It’s an unnecessary formality. Yoon Taehee spoke in a carefree tone, with his eyes fixed on the clothes. Becoming an exorcist was no different from any other office worker, except that the work was different. As it was a state organization that purported to carry out public affairs, it had a vertical atmosphere and placed importance on formalities and procedures, and of course, attention had to be paid to attire.
“If that’s the case, shouldn’t you wear a gat and hanbok?”
Jaegyeom crossed his arms crookedly and made a disapproving face as if he couldn’t understand. Yoon Taehee laughed slightly at that. It was a silly thing to say, but it made some sense. As he continued picking out clothes for him, he looked at Jaegyeom.
“Then I guess we should wear straw sandals instead of shoes.”
Straw sandals… The corner of Jaegyeom’s mouth quirked up.
“Mhm. And clogs when it rains.”
“Ride a palanquin instead of a car.”
“Or ride a horse.”
Yoon Taehee playfully took over.
“Carry a jige instead of a bag.”
Jaegyeom chuckled at the back-and-forth conversation.
“Jige? “Why would we need a jige, you idiot?”
It would be very funny to imagine people carrying jige these days. “It’s something you carry when farming or cutting wood, usually you carry a botjim.”
“Ah. Right.” Yoon Taehee let out a laugh in realization. The two looked at each other and smirked. After laughing like that for a while, it naturally dissipated. Suddenly, there was silence fell. It felt very strange to be looking at each other like this after having just laughed together just a moment ago.
“Would you like to try it on?”
At that moment, an employee walked up.
Yoon Taehee nodded his head towards Jaegyeom and said, “Yes. This one,” pointing to the clothes he had just picked out. The well-timed intervention broke the awkward ice. Following the staff’s lead, Jaegyeom went into the dressing room.
So cute
Thank you for the update 💜
The elevator scene??? Calling him hyung??? Laughing and talking normally??? Giggling and kicking my feet rn