ETP Ch 62

As if roasting beans on a lightning fire, Sungyeon ended up living at Yoohyun’s place and found himself spending more fulfilling days than he had expected, mostly thanks to the landlord, Hwang Yoohyun.

“Sunbae-nim! It’s 7 AM!”

Sungyeon pounded on the door of the bedroom where Yoohyun was sleeping. 

Bang, bang.

Next to him, Yuja also lifted her front paws and tapped on the door just like Bokseung. 

Tap, tap.

Bang, tap, bang, tap.

Thanks to the two of them, no, one person and one cat, knocking alternately in perfect rhythm, Yoohyun was forced to wake up early again today.

“I’m not eating.”

Yoohyun, having opened the bedroom door about 3 cm, lowered his voice in displeasure. However, his words were completely ineffective on either of them.

Bokseung, lifting Yuja from the floor, used the cat’s front paws to push on the slightly ajar door.

Mrow, with a short cry, Yuja’s chubby paws appeared, and Yoohyun could only sigh and step back.

“Sunbae-nim? Today’s breakfast is steamed eggs!”

“Don’t want it.”

“Here, I also grilled some salmon, which you like, Sunbae-nim!”

As soon as he heard the word salmon, Yoohyun came out of the room and quietly sat down. And in the blink of an eye, he polished off a bowl of rice.

This was precisely what brought Sungyeon a sense of fulfillment.

Should he call it a ‘Hwang Yoohyun Maker’? It felt like playing one of those princess-raising simulation games that were popular a long time ago.

Considering that he, too, was probably raised quite delicately, it wouldn’t be wrong to see it as a ‘Princess, no, Prince Maker’.

One might ask what kind of nonsense it is for a junior to be raising his Sunbae, but their relationship was really like that.

It was only in name that Yoohyun had taken Bokseung in; in reality, Sungyeon, in the guise of Bokseung, was taking care of Hwang Yoohyun from one to ten.

Waking him up in the morning to feed him, sending him to school on time, and cleaning up after him when he made a mistake at their part-time job.

Sometimes it was irritating, but for the most part, it was fun.

By profession, Sungyeon was a counselor who felt a sense of reward from taking care of others. And Yoohyun was a troublemaker who perfectly met those needs of Sungyeon.

At first, he couldn’t stand seeing him cause trouble at the PC bang while getting paid, but after some time, even that became cute. Of course, when he caused trouble too big to handle, curses would fly out automatically.

Just like right now.

“Fuck! Is this how you train your employees?! Huh? Do I have to pay my own money to get attitude while trying to play a game?!”

“I’m sorry!”

“Sorry my ass! Forget it, get the owner! I said, get the owner!”

The agitated customer slammed his hand on the counter. The sound was so loud that other customers playing games started to glance over.

Sungyeon rubbed the back of his stiff neck once before forcing a smile.

“Sir, I’m truly sorry, but the owner has an appointment outside today. Instead, I’ll add some extra time to your account. Please calm down and enjoy your game. I am truly sorry.”

After bowing his upper body several times and repeatedly offering service time, the customer finally returned to his seat. And at the counter, only a heavy silence and the two part-time workers remained.

“Sunbae-nim. Could you please tell me why you gave that customer attitude?”

“He was being dirty.”

“Pardon?”

Yoohyun said only that one word before turning his back. He clammed up without explaining what he meant by ‘dirty.’ It was always like this, making Sungyeon’s insides burn with frustration.

“……”

Yoohyun avoided the kid’s gaze and started washing the dishes. Thinking about the way that bastard had looked at Bokseung, just giving him attitude wasn’t enough. If this weren’t their workplace, he would have landed a punch, but he couldn’t, which was frustrating.

The customer, a recessive alpha, had persistently sent messages calling for a staff member. And he only did it when Yoohyun wasn’t at the counter.

It wasn’t enough that he called Bokseung over several times for useless errands; he then claimed there was something wrong with his computer and didn’t hesitate to try and stick close to Bokseung while leering at him.

If he just stood by and watched that, he’d be the idiot.

Yoohyun believed he had done nothing wrong. However, it was obvious that if he said “I did nothing wrong” out loud, Bokseung would get angry, and that would only make things more frustrating for himself.

So Yoohyun chose to keep his mouth shut. It absolutely wasn’t because he didn’t want to get an earful from Bokseung.

Lately, Yoohyun admitted that the way he saw Bokseung had changed.

The line of emotion, which had been ambiguous, began to grow clearer from a certain point on.

There wasn’t any particular trigger. Nor had there been any incident between the two that could be called an ‘event.’

But when he was with Kim Bokseung, his frayed nerves calmed down considerably.

When he was with the kid, the world, which had been full of things to hate, slowly started to fill with good things.

Even the pheromones of others, which usually just irritated him, became something he wanted to keep by his side all day if they were Bokseung’s.

His body, which used to react intensely to the kid’s pheromones, was now somewhat under control. The moment he thought he wouldn’t be able to live with the kid otherwise, he found he could naturally endure it. He had no idea where he had found such patience within himself.

Strangely, Yoohyun didn’t mind this change. In fact, he wanted to willingly embrace that unfamiliar transformation.

However, he had no intention of forcing that change upon the kid.

“Sunbae-nim! Here! Please take this to customer number 63!”

“Okay.”

Seemingly over his anger, Bokseung was calling him with a clear face. Yoohyun, too, approached the kid with a nonchalant expression again.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

If spending fulfilling days while taking care of Yoohyun was a positive change, an opposite, negative change also appeared.

It manifested in a way Sungyeon wasn’t consciously aware of. For instance, something like this:

“Bokseung! Can I see your notes from today’s lecture? I was dozing off while writing, so I don’t understand anything.”

“Ah, sure. Here.”

Jihoon approached Sungyeon’s seat, asking to see his notes.

Sungyeon nodded and handed his tablet to Jihoon. In the process, their fingertips brushed, and at that moment, Sungyeon hastily pulled his hand back. Because of that, he dropped the tablet that was still in his hand.

Fortunately, Jihoon caught it, so the tablet didn’t fall to the ground, but they both looked at each other with startled expressions, their hearts pounding.

“Hey, Bokseung, are you okay? Why’d you pull your hand back so suddenly? That was dangerous. Did you get a static shock or something?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, it suddenly stung.”

“Really? Maybe because it’s getting colder? Phew, I was scared the tablet was going to break.”

Jihoon let out an exaggerated sigh. Sungyeon looked at Jihoon and smiled awkwardly.

The small episode, which seemed like nothing on the surface, ended like that.

However, contrary to his smiling face, Sungyeon’s mind was filled with a jumble of complicated thoughts.

Lately, whenever Sungyeon touched another person, his body would flinch and stiffen, and he’d get goosebumps without even realizing it. Even when he told himself not to, it was a truly unconscious reaction that he couldn’t control.

His reaction was a little less severe with people of a similar build or with women, but that was only on the outside; the sensation Sungyeon actually felt was the same. It seemed his body was automatically showing a protective response due to the various recent events.

He never thought he’d have to use the knowledge he’d learned on himself, but it had become a daily routine for Sungyeon to diligently massage the areas where he felt these strange sensations recently.

But even amidst this routine, there was one thing he couldn’t understand at all. It was that this reaction did not occur with Yoohyun.

With him, whether their bodies bumped, their hands touched, or even when he got angry and smacked his arm, it was completely fine.

Because of this, Sungyeon grew more and more comfortable with Yoohyun. He was the only person with whom his body was fine regardless of any physical contact.

Just why is this happening?

Sungyeon came up with various hypotheses on his own. The conclusion he reached after thinking it over several times was that perhaps he was unconsciously placing Yoohyun not as a person, but in the same category as an animal, like Yuja.

Seeing Yoohyun waiting for him at the front door of the lecture hall, Sungyeon let out a small chuckle.

Hmm, I think that’s probably right.

“Jihoon, are you done with the notes?”

“Yeah. Ah, that Sunbae is here again today, huh?”

“Yeah. It’s a work day today.”

Sungyeon said as he took back his tablet. Hearing this, Jihoon and the rest of the beagles pouted.

“Even when it’s not a work day, you only hang out with that Sunbae lately!”

“That’s right, it’s been a long time since we’ve eaten together!”

“I want to hang out with you too, Bokseung!”

A three-part chorus from the three of them followed. Once those three started being stubborn like that, it wasn’t easy to escape.

With a troubled expression, Sungyeon cautiously made a suggestion.

“Uh, then should we have dinner together tomorrow? I don’t have work tomorrow, so it should be fine.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, I’ll treat you to something delicious.”

“No, you don’t have to treat us, just eating together is enough!”

As Hyunah spoke, Minjun and Jihoon both nodded in agreement.

Sungyeon looked at the three of them and nodded along.

He really had been neglecting the beagles. Still, they were his only classmates he hung out with, and they had plenty of time left together, so he felt he shouldn’t make them feel too disappointed.

“Alright, promise! You’re having dinner with us tomorrow!”

Sungyeon managed to hook his pinky finger with the one Hyunah held out, a smile playing on his lips. He felt goosebumps starting to rise from where her finger touched his.