LM 117

Even as he ran up the hill, Kwon Siyul didn’t forget to apply deodorant. He sprayed it all over himself from head to toe, and Woo Hyunse’s scent disappeared like melting snow. It was a shame he had to lose the scent, but it was better than being caught and ridiculed by Kwon Yuwon. As for the sweat, he could make up an excuse saying he had been running.

He panted and grabbed onto the wall of the inn. He checked his phone and saw that it was exactly 11:57. He had made it by a safe margin. He craned his neck, standing on his toes, to see if Kwon Yuwon had arrived first. The lights were off.

“Huh?”

Could it be that he hadn’t arrived yet? He grinned, wondering if he had already won in less than a week, and opened the gate. Just as he was about to step through the gate, he heard rough breathing from down the alley. And the sound of footsteps running quickly.

It was Kwon Yuwon. His hair was disheveled, and his face was flushed red as he reached Kwon Siyul in an instant. He put his hands on his knees and panted, then checked the time as Kwon Siyul had done. It was just about to turn 12:00 from 11:59.

“Sa, huff, fe.”

It wasn’t past 12:00, so he hadn’t broken his promise. Kwon Siyul blinked and looked down at Kwon Yuwon, who was bent over and catching his breath. Aside from his unique orange scent, a strange body odor that he had never smelled before was emanating from him. The scent was nearly to the point of being overwhelming.

The culprit was known to both him and Kwon Yuwon. Kwon Siyul sniffed and rubbed below his nose.

“Go wash up first when you get inside.”

Seeing Kwon Siyul’s awkward expression, Kwon Yuwon finally realized what was bothering the other man and tugged at his collar, sniffing. After smelling the scent of another person that he had been covered in, he cursed roughly, “Ah, shit!” and hurriedly ran inside.

Kwon Siyul followed slowly behind him, grinning. It seemed that the day he would claim victory was not far off.

°❀•°❀°•❀°

Kwon Yuwon was surprisingly resilient. He was only barely on time on the first day, but after that, he came home much earlier than Kwon Siyul and would scold him for already slacking off. He would also threaten him, saying that he had already secured his victory, so he should be prepared for the fallout.

Kwon Siyul also did his best to keep the curfew. With the matter of living with Woo Hyunse at stake, there was no way he could lose this bet.

“Three iced Americanos are ready.”

Kwon Siyul smiled kindly and placed three cups on the tray. A student who had been staring blankly at Kwon Siyul for a while said something like “hot” and quickly took the tray. He ran back to his group and giggled, glancing at the counter every now and then.

Had he done something wrong? He looked at them with worried eyes, and a colleague who had been watching placed his hand on Kwon Siyul’s shoulder.

“Wow, people definitely react differently to handsome guys.”

“Handsome?”

“Yeah. They were laughing because of you. Because you’re handsome.”

He had heard that he was cute quite often, but he could count on one hand the number of times he had been called handsome. Surely, that couldn’t be the case, he thought as he waved his hand around modestly. It must be for some other reason.

A customer approached, and the conversation didn’t continue. Unlike the cafe he used to work at, this place had a lot of customers coming and going. There were many offices nearby, so the saying that it was hectic around lunchtime was not just a figure of speech but a reality.

Still, with his experience, Kwon Siyul was adapting well to work at the new cafe. He used to think he wasn’t good at his job, but it seemed that experience wasn’t for nothing, as he quickly got the hang of things.

And above all…

As the door opened, his colleague nudged Kwon Siyul’s side with his elbow. Following his chin, he turned his head and saw a face that was all too familiar to him. Because he was much taller than others, or perhaps because of his handsome looks, the people sitting in the cafe couldn’t help but glance at Woo Hyunse at least once when he walked through the door.

This place was close to Woo Hyunse’s office. The first reason he chose it was to learn about roasting coffee beans directly, but in reality, the expectation that he would be able to see Woo Hyunse often was also part of it.

Just like now.

Kwon Siyul tried hard to suppress the rising corners of his lips as he stood at the counter. He wanted to pretend not to know Woo Hyunse, but he couldn’t hide the giggling smile and the crinkling of his eyes.

“May I take your order?”

“Two iced Americanos, please.”

“For here?”

“No, take out, please.”

Kwon Siyul simply found this situation of talking like complete strangers amusing. Even though he tried to speak solemnly, he couldn’t help but have a smile in his voice. He was afraid that he would laugh out loud if their eyes met, so he deliberately kept his eyes fixed on the POS machine.

“Please add a shot to one of them.”

A voice suddenly cut in between them. It turned out to be Park Hae-jeong. Unlike the radiant Woo Hyunse, Park Hae-jeong’s complexion wasn’t very good. The dark circles under his eyes and his haggard look made it clear that he had been suffering from overtime for days.

“You said you weren’t feeling well?”

Woo Hyunse asked indifferently. Park Hae-jeong stared at Woo Hyunse with an insolent look. The desire to hit him was blatant in his eyes. Woo Hyunse calmly brushed off the animosity that even a three-year-old could sense.

“Whose fault is that?”

“Is that my fault?”

Kwon Siyul couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation because of the sound of the coffee beans grinding. He made the coffee with all his heart. He put more effort into making the coffee than usual and placed it on the pick-up counter.

“Two iced Americanos, one with an extra shot, are ready.”

Woo Hyunse’s fingertips touched the tips of Kwon Siyul’s fingers as he handed over the coffee. It was fleeting, but the warmth remained. Kwon Siyul clenched his hand and secretly grinned.

Unfortunately, Woo Hyunse was busy with work and couldn’t meet him even after work. He was used to seeing him every day for at least five minutes after work, so he was more than a little disappointed. Perhaps because Woo Hyunse had been taking him home every day, the scenery he saw from the bus felt unfamiliar.

[I’m on the bus now.]

The reply arrived about two stops later. It was a text saying that he would be free late tonight and would stop by where he lived even if it was just for a moment. Kwon Siyul’s face lit up when he saw the text, but then he remembered Kwon Yuwon, who was strictly enforcing the curfew as if he had been poisoned recently, and his shoulders drooped. Kwon Yuwon was sitting in front of the inn’s gate as if he would declare victory if Kwon Siyul was even one second late.

[It’s difficult today. Yuwon is being crazy these days.]

[Then it can’t be helped.]

Even so, seeing Woo Hyunse’s nonchalant text, Kwon Siyul felt inexplicably sad. He could only send an emoticon and finally, looked up from his phone.

As the bus stopped at a red light, the phone in his hand vibrated. Kwon Siyul read the text message that had arrived.

[I’m not the only one working overtime.]

[Park Hae-jeong has been doing so for 2 weeks.]

Wow, Kwon Siyul clicked his tongue. He knew how hard it was to work overtime even though he had never worked in a company. To make him do it for two weeks straight was really something. Last weekend, Kwon Yuwon didn’t go anywhere and stayed cooped up in the inn. He was constantly holding his phone, sighing, cursing Woo Hyunse, and then getting up and grinding his teeth.

The devil was nothing compared to him. Even so, he couldn’t hate Woo Hyunse. Wasn’t he volunteering to be the villain for his sake?

[Kwon Yuwon needs to decide quickly. Before Park Park Hae-jeong dies.]

[Wouldn’t it be before he ‘kills’ him? Judging from his haggard appearance at the cafe, he might really die from overwork soon.] 

Kwon Siyul hesitated before carefully typing.

[Don’t torment him too much. He looked like he was having a hard time.]

[Don’t worry about other people. Just worry about me.]

Right then, the phone rang. Seeing Woo Hyunse’s name on the screen, Kwon Siyul quickly answered. Unable to talk loudly on the bus, he put in his earphones and lowered his voice.

“You always worry about me?”

His way of asking abruptly hadn’t changed from the first time or until now. “Yes,” he replied timidly, looking out the window. 

A long sigh, “Haaa,” came over the receiver.

“I can’t come see you right away. If I escape today, Park Hae-jeong will probably shoot me in the head.”

“Then that wouldn’t do.”

Kwon Siyul chuckled quietly. Reluctantly, he promised to meet up later and hung up.

As expected, Kwon Yuwon was sitting in front of the inn’s gate like a gatekeeper again today. His posture, legs spread wide and arms resting on his mountainous-like folded knees, looked to be quite delinquent. If he had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he could easily be mistaken for a local thug. He was tilting his head crookedly until he saw Kwon Siyul, then he stood up, dusting off the dirt on his buttocks, and led the way into the room.

He was munching on jellies he’d bought at the convenience store, watching TV with a displeased expression. He glared at the screen as if a mortal enemy had appeared on the screen. Kwon Siyul glanced at him, wondering if he’d met a particularly difficult customer at work today.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look like you’re about to kill someone? It’s scary.”

Kwon Yuwon looked at Kwon Siyul and let out a heavy sigh that seemed to drain the earth. Not enough to relieve his frustration, he took a can of beer from the bag and chugged it down. Kwon Siyul also sat next to him and picked up a can of beer. Just as he was about to take a sip, the scent that brushed his nose was not the usual pungent alcohol smell, but a stronger orange scent than usual.

“Huh?” Kwon Siyul looked at Kwon Yuwon. He was stuffing jellies into his mouth instead of his usual snacks. It was the jelly with added suppressants that he had once given to Kwon Siyul.

“There is someone I want to kill.”

“Who?”

“Woo Hyunse.”

There was not a moment’s hesitation in his answer. “What’s that?” Kwon Siyul laughed it off, but on the other hand, he understood why he was having such terrible thoughts. Park Hae-jeong, whom he’d seen today, looking to be exhausted and worn out, was the reason why.