LM 120

Kwon Siyul quickly stuffed the photos into his pocket and turned around. “Hyung—!” he called out happily and buried himself in Woo Hyunse’s arms as the other man opened the door and walked inside the house. Woo Hyunse habitually lifted Kwon Siyul high into his arms. He stamped kisses all over his face, including his lips.

“Did you have dinner yet?”

“No. I was waiting to eat with hyung.”

It was a little late for dinner, but he couldn’t miss the opportunity to eat with Woo Hyunse. Woo Hyunse patted Kwon Siyul’s butt as if he was impressed and changed his clothes.

In the past, a helper would come regularly to make side dishes and soup, but recently, Woo Hyunse had taken an interest in cooking and made Kwon Siyul’s meals himself whenever he had the time.

“What’s on the menu today?”

He clung to Woo Hyunse’s back like a cicada and poked his head between his armpits. Even though there was something about him that made others think he could only make pasta or Western food, as it turned out, Woo Hyunse was also good at making Korean food.

“Guess.”

“Doenjang-guk and tteokgalbi?”

“Correct.”

It wasn’t just any ordinary store-bought tteokgalbi, but high-quality tteokgalbi skewered on a stick. The sight of the juicy meat made his mouth water. How could the other man make such things so easily? Woo Hyunse was born with everything, including a knack for cooking and craftsmanship.

A delicious meal was quickly prepared with the menu that Woo Hyunse had prepared. Kwon Siyul sat across from him with a beaming smile. He was too shy to say it, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was like a honeymoon every time. Just thinking of the word made the tip of his ears turn red.

After finishing the meal, they left the dishes in the dishwasher. Woo Hyunse had a cup of coffee, and Kwon Siyul had a sweet iced tea, and they returned to the living room.

“I heard you took your passport photo today. Where’s the photo?”

He was leaning his head on the other man’s shoulder and drinking iced tea when he flinched. He should have taken care of it quickly, but he had missed his chance to get rid of the the photo because he was following Woo Hyunse around.

“Ah, that’s….”

“You have to show me.”

“Can’t I not show you? It turned out so bad.”

He wanted to hide it now, but since he already got his passport, he wouldn’t be able to keep it from the other man. When Kwon Siyul hesitated, Woo Hyunse stared at him. He suddenly reached out and pushed his hand into his pocket. How did he know he had put it there? Was he psychic? Luckily, he had put the iced tea on the table, or else he would have spilled it.

He easily grabbed the transparent plastic bag containing the photo and took it out. It was wrinkled because it had been shoved in carelessly. Woo Hyunse looked at it in the bag. At the plain photo with a white background.

“Ah, don’t look!”

Not only Kwon Siyul’s face but also his earlobes were red. He jumped up and tried to snatch his photo from Woo Hyunse’s hand. But there was no way Woo Hyunse would let him. He held his arm high and out of reach, keeping his eyes fixed on the ID photo the entire time.

“It’s cute. Why don’t you want to show me?”

“It’s not cute at all. Give it to me. Ah, hyung!”

Where was the cuteness in his disheveled hair, expressionless face, and sleepy eyes? Kwon Siyul clung to Woo Hyunse and struggled to grab the photo. But it was no use.

Woo Hyunse wrapped his arm around Kwon Siyul’s waist with one hand to keep him from moving and looked at the photo. No matter how he looked at it, it was crumpled and ugly, but Woo Hyunse scanned the photo with even a faint smile, as if it were the cutest baby animal in the world.

“I’ll take one.”

“No.”

“Thank you.”

Even though he clearly refused, Woo Hyunse smiled brightly and took out the photo. Even when Kwon Siyul whined and said he would take a new ID photo tomorrow, the other man said this photo was good enough. The photo eventually went into Woo Hyunse’s wallet.

“Give me hyung’s too. It’s unfair if only I give you mine.”

“I don’t have one.”

“…Then show me your passport photo.”

Kwon Siyul’s cheeks puffed up. Woo Hyunse grabbed his cheeks without hurting him and shook them before bringing his passport over. He heard that passport photos originally came out worse than usual, not just his. He opened his passport with his eyes wide open, trying to find even a small flaw to tease him.

“Hyung is also not…”

It should have come out ugly. The photo that was stuck there had no flaws even when he looked at it with his eyes wide open. Kwon Siyul opened his mouth and stared at the photo as if he were possessed. There was Woo Hyunse, who looked younger than he did now.

It looked like a photo taken without any care, but there was nothing ugly about it. His sharp nose and shadowed eyelids, and the absence of his usual smile, made his eyes look even deeper. As if he could see through Kwon Siyul’s heart from beyond the photo.

He must take pictures for his passport photos.

Woo Hyunse smiled faintly, as if he noticed Kwon Siyul’s admiration. Kwon Siyul looked back and forth between him and the photo. It still didn’t capture his real charm, but the expression without a smile was refreshing and hard to look away from.

“Hyung, you really don’t have any other photos?”

It was such a waste to only use such a great photo for a passport. Kwon Siyul asked, running his hand over it for no reason.

“I threw them all away.”

“You shouldn’t have thrown them away. I want one.”

“I’ll give you the first one when I take more next time.”

“You promised. You’ll give it to me first.”

Not trusting his words alone, Kwon Siyul held out his pinky finger. It might have been childish for someone his age, but he did it so often with Kwon Yuwon that Kwon Siyul didn’t think too much of it.

Woo Hyunse chuckled and intertwined his finger with Kwon Siyul’s. Not satisfied with just that, Kwon Siyul pressed their palms together and rubbed them. Only after making a copy did he feel confident enough to let go of the other’s hand.

Even if they were going overseas, he thought it would be somewhere nearby like Hong Kong or Southeast Asia, but he didn’t expect it to be so much farther away. It was a South Pacific island famous for its resorts, and the flight alone was over 10 hours. Kwon Siyul, who had been nervous since the day before, fell fast asleep without even enjoying the fact that his seat was in first class.

Arriving at the airport wasn’t the end of it. They had to take a helicopter to get to the resort. Kwon Siyul suffered from motion sickness the entire time, so he didn’t even get to see the emerald waters.

His motion sickness subsided only after arriving at the resort. Kwon Siyul kept his eyes wide open and looked around. Everything he saw was something he had only seen on TV. The lush green lawn, the giant palm trees that seemed to touch the sky, and the endless deep blue sea were all sights he hadn’t seen in Jeju Island.

He couldn’t believe he was actually in a place like this. He took a deep breath. The scent of grass was fresh, the sea breeze on his cheeks was salty yet refreshing, and the sunlight shining down on him was warm, not too hot or too cold, just the right temperature.

He was taken to a private villa in a buggy. The first thing he noticed was the king-size bed that could fit three grown men and the furniture that was handmade from coconut shells.

Thump—At the sound of the waves crashing, Kwon Siyul headed to the balcony as if he were obsessed by the whole scenery. The private pool was small but deep, and he could see the sea beyond the palm trees that were taller than the roof.

“Hyung, you can see the sea from here!”

Kwon Siyul shouted, his nostrils flaring. A gust of wind messed up his black hair. Woo Hyunse, who had come to his side, brushed back the tangled hair and lightly kissed his exposed forehead.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it. How did you find a place like this?”

“I did a lot of research. So that I can spend time with Kwon Siyul here.”

The long flight was tiring, but seeing the rolling waves and the endless horizon made everything worth it. He wanted to run to the sea right away, but there was a reason why the old saying “Even Mount Geumgang is best seen after a meal” existed. He had missed his in-flight meal because he was asleep, and his stomach was rumbling, urging him to refuel quickly.

“Should we eat first? I’m hungry.”

They decided to fill their stomachs first and headed to a nearby restaurant. It was the island’s only restaurant and pub. The menus were all in English. He tried to read them, but he had long given up on English. He only knew that black was the alphabet and white was the paper, so there was no way he could read it. He had no other choice but to let Woo Hyunse choose.

Looking around, everyone seemed to have a cocktail or two on their table. Kwon Siyul wanted one too, so he cautiously opened his mouth.

“Can I order a cocktail?”

“A non-alcoholic one. It’s still daytime. It’d be a waste to get drunk.”

“Hey, Hyung, I’m way over twenty. It’s okay if it’s a weak one, right? You know I can drink three bottles of soju. I won’t get drunk from just one cocktail.”

He didn’t like being treated like a kid, so he brought up his alcohol tolerance, which Woo Hyunse knew well. No matter how strong a cocktail was, it couldn’t be as strong as soju. He leaned in close, tilting his head this way and that, like he often did with Kwon Yuwon, and Woo Hyunse reluctantly ordered the cocktail Kwon Siyul had chosen.

But the employee looked back and forth between Kwon Siyul and Woo Hyunse and shook his head. Not knowing what he was saying, they just stared blankly at each other as they exchanged words, and Woo Hyunse bit his lip as if trying to hold back a laugh, then cleared his throat.

“They say they can’t sell alcohol to minors.”

“Huh? Is it because I’m Asian and they can’t tell my age? I don’t actually look that young, right?”

He had heard that he looked young quite a bit, but he was old enough to buy alcohol at a convenience store without being asked for ID. Kwon Siyul tried to show his age by eagerly spreading and bending his fingers, but the employee was firm. He wouldn’t be allowed until he showed his passport.

It was quite far from the resort, so he couldn’t walk back and forth. There was nothing he could do about it, so he just let Woo Hyunse order his beer for himself only.