DP Side Story 2, Episode 26 – Fin
by BrieDeep Pivot Side Story 2, Episode 26
“You should’ve become a news anchor, hyung.”
Yeon-woo said suddenly. Seo-joon, so used to hearing his own voice in public that he didn’t even notice his commercial playing on TV, finally glanced toward the screen.
—Disaster preparedness, practiced by the community, protects our everyday lives. Join the Disaster Management Center now.
As Seo-joon gave a painfully fake smile and raised his hand, the center’s number appeared above it. Unable to watch himself with a straight face, he looked away and gave a small laugh while deboning a piece of mackerel and placing it on Yeon-woo’s rice.
“First it was actor, now news anchor?”
“Whether anchor or actor, if you had really debuted, you’d be insanely popular, don’t you think?”
“That rose-colored filter still hasn’t worn off after all these years…”
Yeon-woo just beamed like a fool and brought the fish to his mouth. Watching him peck and eat so eagerly like a baby bird, Seo-joon thought the one who could really become anything was Cha Yeon-woo.
He was currently studying sports rehabilitation, but to be honest, Yeon-woo hadn’t really decided on a career path. One day, he’d suddenly gotten interested in the field, took the college entrance exam for real, and ended up here.
And somehow, it was Seo-joon and Jeong-woo who were benefiting most. Yeon-woo learned various relaxation massage techniques and applied them well to Seo-joon. After Jeong-woo’s surgery, it was Yeon-woo who assisted with his physical rehab, too.
Cha Yeon-woo could truly do anything. Seo-joon found himself wondering what else Yeon-woo might get interested in next, and how dazzling the journey would be as he learned it.
After leaving the restaurant, they strolled along the sunset beach. Seo-joon gently stroked Yeon-woo’s cheek. Seeing the look in his eyes, Yeon-woo tilted his head and pressed a kiss to his lips. That habit—kissing whenever their eyes met for more than three seconds—hadn’t changed since he was twenty-one.
“What will Cha Yeon-woo become when he grows up…”
Seo-joon mused vaguely, and Yeon-woo laughed.
“If I grow any more, wouldn’t that be a little much?”
“You could still grow. There’s time.”
“I’m going to be twenty-four soon, hyung.”
Then, Yeon-woo suddenly stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Seo-joon’s waist. They walked like that, slightly swaying, pressed close to each other.
Then, Yeon-woo leaned in, placing his lips right by Seo-joon’s ear.
“Lieutenant.”
At the whisper, Seo-joon gave a faint smile.
“Being here… it reminds me of before we got married.”
Turning, Seo-joon looked up at Yeon-woo again. That lovely face hadn’t changed a bit. The only difference was his dyed-black hair from going back to school.
Why was he still this beautiful, Seo-joon wondered. His Cha Yeon-woo would probably still shine just as brightly, even fifty years later.
“Hyung, do you feel it too? I’m really fluttery right now. Like we’ve gone back in time.”
Those crescent-shaped eyes sparkled. Seo-joon reached out and wrapped his arms around Yeon-woo’s neck. Their noses brushed, warm breaths mingled. As he gently sucked on his lips, Seo-joon slowly traced the contours of Yeon-woo’s face with the warmth of his breath.
“…I feel it too, Yeon-woo.”
Their eyes widened slightly. Their bodies tensed together. Yeon-woo’s long lashes quivered, and when his eyes dropped, his face instantly turned crimson. Seo-joon scowled.
“You’re seriously getting a b*ner from just that one line, Yeon-woo?”
“You were… you started it…”
Yeon-woo muttered, sounding genuinely wronged. He held him tighter around the waist.
“Just stay like this a bit. I’ll calm it down soon.”
“You’re only getting harder. What are you going to do to calm it down?”
“Lieutenaaant… please stop scolding me.”
Yeon-woo buried his forehead in Seo-joon’s shoulder and trembled. Afraid he’d get aroused too, Seo-joon quickly peeled his arms off.
One side tried to catch, the other tried to flee—a short game of tag ensued. Seo-joon didn’t get far before he was caught again in Yeon-woo’s embrace. Laughter echoed between them.
“Let’s take a break here for a while.”
Yeon-woo whispered with a kiss.
A giant Christmas tree stood in the year-end plaza, and the screen broadcasting the New Year’s bell countdown flickered brightly.
The plaza, packed with people awaiting the countdown, buzzed with excitement. The SAU members, gathered for the first time in a while, had gotten separated in the crowd.
“Lieutenant Bbak, where are you? Jeong-woo’s still with you, right?”
In the middle of the noisy plaza, Yeon-woo covered one ear as he spoke with Min-geon on the phone. After going to buy cotton candy with Chae-won, Jeong-woo hadn’t been seen since.
—Yeah, Jeong-woo’s with me.
Yeon-woo sighed in relief.
—We’re under that clock tower. We can see you—you’re hard to miss, you’re so tall.
Holding Seo-joon’s hand, Yeon-woo looked around. Do-young and Si-hwan emerged from the crowd—they too had been searching for the rest.
—It’s not working right now. Let’s meet up after the countdown.
“Please keep an eye on Jeong-woo.”
—Lieutenant Kang’s got him on his shoulders. Can you see?
“Oh, I see him.”
Sure enough, not far off, Jeong-woo was waving. So close, yet the crowd was too dense to reach him. Yeon-woo waved back and ended the call. Do-young complained.
“I told you—meeting up on a day like this is a bad idea.”
“But it’s New Year’s, man. Lighten up.”
Do-young quickly smoothed his furrowed brow. Yeah—it’s the end of the year. The start of a new one. They had all come together for once, and he didn’t want to sour the mood.
Meanwhile, Seo-joon was on edge, his stress peaking. He hated crowds, and a year-end plaza was about the worst possible place. Trembling in Yeon-woo’s arms, he shrank. Yeon-woo bundled his scarf tighter around him and cupped his cheek.
“Cold, isn’t it?”
Unlike Seo-joon, whose extremities went icy in winter, Yeon-woo was always warm like a heater. Seo-joon instinctively burrowed into his warmth and checked the time—about 20 minutes left.
Yeon-woo opened his long padded coat and wrapped it around Seo-joon. Do-young and Si-hwan, standing nearby, groaned.
“If you’re jealous, get a boyfriend.”
Yeon-woo grinned, and Si-hwan shot back, “Gotta have someone first, idiot.”
Trapped inside Yeon-woo’s coat with only his head sticking out, Seo-joon stood still like a meditating monk, eyes closed and lips sealed.
“Hyung.”
Yeon-woo’s voice slipped softly into his ear.
“You look like a cat practicing Zen right now.”
“…”
If only it weren’t so cold. Seo-joon didn’t even have the strength to retort to such nonsense. His silence prompted another whisper.
“So cute.”
“You always say those things when I’m weak from the cold.”
Their pressed bodies shifted. Yeon-woo laughed and added another jab.
“Mildly incapacitated kitty.”
Despite years of enduring this “cat gaslighting,” Seo-joon couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You’re really asking to get wrecked in bed later.”
Just then, Yeon-woo pulled him even closer and whispered firmly into his ear.
“I’m turning twenty-four now, hyung. I’m not gonna just take it lying down anymore.”
Seo-joon laughed silently, his shoulders shaking. For a moment, he forgot the cold. The stress melted away. When he turned to face him, Yeon-woo tilted his head. Glancing briefly at Do-young and Si-hwan, he pulled his coat wider to hide Seo-joon completely inside it.
In that warm cocoon, Seo-joon received a gentle kiss.
I love you… I love you, Seo-joon hyung.
His breath and sweet words mingled between their entwined lips. Smooch, smooch—kisses touched, shifted angles, and deepened until finally they clung to one another completely.
A male MC’s voice echoed from the plaza loudspeakers.
—Alright, let’s start the countdown! 10, 9, 8, 7…
“Cha Yeon-woo.”
Seo-joon reached out to touch the glittering miracle before his eyes. The one who had come to him in the cruelest, coldest season, bringing a blindingly bright light. The one who taught him happiness he never dared wish for—and gave him the courage to want more.
Cha Yeon-woo was Ji Seo-joon’s tree that would never go dark. His only universe. To protect that universe, Seo-joon would gladly consume him whole.
“…”
The slow, deliberate syllables left his lips and sank softly between Yeon-woo’s. A confession that warmed his heart no matter how many thousands of times he heard it.
—6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
Yeon-woo knew the weight of that confession. Ji Seo-joon was someone who could stir his soul with a single breath. Someone who gave him the strength to endure anything. The only one who could make him abandon logic, erase rules, and commit the most reckless acts.
For him, Yeon-woo was ready—even now—to smash the trolley as many times as it took.
—To the citizens of Korea, Happy New Year!
“Let’s be happy this year too.”
With that simple New Year’s wish, a smile bloomed on Seo-joon’s face. That smile, contagious through their joined lips, spilled onto Yeon-woo’s face as well.
Under the rainbow lights of the tree twinkling against the sky, with winter winds tousling their hair, Cha Yeon-woo and Ji Seo-joon warmed each other endlessly.
—
—Fin.