“Oh, it suits you well.”
Yigyeom, who didn’t understand why suddenly Kwon Taejung asked him to wear this, finally understood his words after seeing the yellow sleeve visible above his hand held by Kwon Taejung.
“…Most of my clothes are at the boss’s house… Other than this outfit, they’re all originally mine….”
“I wasn’t teasing you. It’s because you look cute. It suits you. Beautiful.”
Kwon Taejung, gesturing to get in the passenger seat, continued smiling while looking at the yellow sweater.
Yigyeom had thought it suited and was cute even when Kwon Taejung gave it to him. But now, wearing it under the bright sunlight, he felt more satisfaction than before. He couldn’t help but think he looked like a chick out for a spring outing. Others might find it strange, but he didn’t care.
“Since you drank yesterday, I made a reservation at a Korean restaurant with some soup. Anything you can eat?”
“…Yes, I think I can eat.”
“Yeah, then let’s head there.”
Seeing Kwon Taejung smiling at him, Yigyeom quickly lowered his gaze down to his thighs and extended the yellow sweater sleeve to cover his hand. Every time Kwon Taejung smiled, it felt like his heart would melt completely.
Experiencing a heart that had completely melted once before disappearing, melting for the second time wouldn’t be a difficult task. Yigyeom knew he could melt faster and more perfectly from the start.
“…I remember drinking with my brothers yesterday… but I don’t remember you bringing me here. Did I make a mistake or something?”
“You didn’t make any mistake. You didn’t even take a shot. You were just quietly sleeping.”
“Really? It’s the first time I’ve been so drunk that I can’t remember.”
“You didn’t make any mistake. If anything, it’s a bit of a problem that you’re so clueless even when someone else tries to take you away.”
While Yigyeom was briefly thinking about what Kwon Taejung meant by his words, he looked toward the driver’s seat, still not remembering anything.
“I took you from the cat who was going to take you home to put to sleep.”
“Ah… I bet the guys were surprised. I suddenly got drunk… I didn’t even know where I lived. And those guys last night were both Betas, so it’s okay.”
“But I don’t like it.”
At Kwon Taejung’s quite firm voice, Yigyeom’s heart sank for a moment. The heart that had fallen to the ground began to beat rapidly in that place.
“I know I don’t have the right to say what I like or don’t like, but don’t drink to the point where you can’t remember in the future. If you want to drink a lot, call me. Drink in front of me. Ah, I’m the worst.”
Smiling as if breathing, Kwon Taejung habitually reached out to the front passenger seat and lightly tapped Yigyeom’s cheek. Startled by the sudden touch, Yigyeom hunched his shoulders. Only then did Kwon Taejung realize he had touched Yigyeom unintentionally and quickly withdrew his hand.
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.
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The place they arrived at was a hotel with a restaurant that Kwon Taejung had been to before. Yigyeom followed Kwon Taejung and got into the elevator, rising to a higher floor. When they reached the 60th floor and the elevator door opened, the staff member who was already outside the elevator bent courteously to greet them.
“Good afternoon, Chief. It’s an honor to serve you again.”
The staff member, who greeted Kwon Taejung first, also offered kind words to Yigyeom. Yigyeom also politely bowed to the staff member who bowed to him.
“Please come inside. I have prepared a room with excellent lighting today because the weather is so nice.”
The room they entered following the staff member was bright and sparkling. It wasn’t the kind of brightness that dazzled the eyes due to excessive sunlight; it filled the room with beautiful light, making it feel almost unreal.
“The lighting is really good. Thank you for your consideration.”
“Oh, no need to mention it. I’ll help with the seating.”
The staff member helped with the chairs and placed two perfectly smooth menus on the table, one in front of Kwon Taejung and one in front of Yigyeom.
“I think the Watercourse menu would be nice. Upgrade the main course, and please prepare all the additional dishes.”
“Yes, upgrade the main course for the Watercourse menu, and prepare all additional dishes. Would you like a wine recommendation from the sommelier?”
“Wine is not necessary.”
The staff member nodded with a friendly smile at Kwon Taejung’s words and left the room. Yigyeom quietly admired the beautiful light that had quieted the room, coloring the walls and the table, stealing a glance at Kwon Taejung touched by that light.
“…”
Secretly, really secretly, Yigyeom tried to glance a little, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t take his eyes off the brightened face touched by light and the deep pupils that seemed transparent. Unconsciously, Yigyeom continuously absorbed the face of Kwon Taejung, the face that he had been unintentionally recalling for the past few days.
He meticulously observed the long fingers and wrist on the table, the shining watch, the perfectly buttoned collar reaching up to the neck, and the face that seemed unforgettable to anyone who saw it. Startled by meeting eyes, Yigyeom quickly averted his gaze.
“Have you seen enough?”
“…No.”
“You can look more if you want.”
Resting his chin on his hand, Kwon Taejung openly looked at Yigyeom and smirked. Caught red-handed admiring his face so blatantly, Yigyeom felt his ears, neck, and cheeks burn with embarrassment.
“Do you like my face that much?”
There had been a similar situation before. When Kwon Taejung was setting up a new phone, instead of the phone screen, Yigyeom looked at Kwon Taejung’s face. At that time too, Kwon Taejung had laughed, saying it was okay to look more, asking if Yigyeom had seen enough.
“…No.”
Not just once but twice, no, in fact, it had been more than once or twice. If someone asked how many times Yigyeom had been mesmerized looking at Kwon Taejung’s face, two hands wouldn’t be enough to count. Despite Kwon Taejung’s continuous words, Yigyeom couldn’t easily lift his head.
“Yigyeom, won’t you look at me? I miss you. Please look at me.”
“…No.”
“I missed you, really.”
“…Chief, you’ve already seen me.”
“I saw you from a distance. You didn’t even talk, or pretend to know me. I just watched as other people smiled at you, and even when you smiled.”
Yigyeom pondered when he had smiled at someone else. He couldn’t recall anything significant, just the casual smiles when taking orders or serving drinks at the café, trying to be kind.
“…I smiled because I had to be polite to the customers.”
“Not that. Some guy gave you a business card. Remember that?”
At the mention of the business card, Yigyeom, who had been thinking for a while, suddenly remembered and went, “Ah…” It was an Alpha client who had given him a card, asking if he was seeing someone and indicating an interest in meeting up. It was on the first day of his new part-time job.
Feeling flustered and overwhelmed by thoughts of Kwon Taejung and his grandpa, he had simply smiled and declined. He didn’t have the mental space to meet anyone new right now.
“…I threw away the card.”
“You didn’t contact him?”
“I didn’t.”
“Didn’t give him your number?”
“…No. Since I have no intention of meeting anyone or having a conversation, there was no need to give it.”
Observing Yigyeom who spoke calmly while resting his chin, Kwon Taejung lowered his arm and sat upright. Then, he spoke with a serious tone.
“You don’t want to meet anyone, don’t want to talk to anyone, all because of me.”
“…No.”
“How I wish it were because of me.”
The heat that had been felt from the neck and ear ends now spread through the body. Yigyeom lightly pressed his heated fingertips onto his thighs and whispered softly.
“…It’s because of you… right….”
How could it not be? Just meeting face to face with him again, he couldn’t remember why he felt upset and hurt. And…
Because he couldn’t recall the last night, he was so desperate to know what had happened, so eager to ask how it went, wishing he could go back in time to see how they spent their time together… So how could it not be because of Kwon Taejung? How could it not be?
Yigyeom clenched his lips, wanting to say something more but swallowed his words. Uttering those words quietly already required tremendous courage for him.
Courage to voice his feelings, courage to meet Kwon Taejung’s eyes, courage to wear the clothes he gave when they met. It might seem trivial to someone else, but not to Yigyeom.
“I know I’ve made you upset because I was selfish. At that time, I pretended not to know, but now I really know. I understand.”
“…No.”
“I’ll turn it back. So that you can trust me again.”
“…No.”
“I won’t force you, but I’ll make you look at me again. It has to be me.”
Whenever he looked at Kwon Taejung, Yigyeom’s heart always fluttered. It felt as if the sea had entered his heart. Whenever he watched the waves stirring his heart, it felt like looking at a sky painted with a sunset; everything would be okay.
To Yigyeom, Kwon Taejung seemed like calm waves undulating inside him, yet sometimes, like crashing waves. Everything causing ripples within him seemed to be solely because of Kwon Taejung.
“I never really thought deeply about what I wanted to do with you before. You were always right in front of me, and just spending time together seemed fun and enjoyable, so I didn’t think there was a need to be serious.”
“…No.”
“But that’s where it went wrong. When I unexpectedly realized that the remaining time and the time we spent together were all crumbling away… Damn, this isn’t right. There was nothing I could do.”
Recalling Yigyeom, who had been crying for days while looking at his face, Kwon Taejung raised his head. He felt like he could do anything if only Yigyeom didn’t cry.
“We’re not in any kind of relationship.”
