ACJY C47

The two men went straight to the shower room as if they had promised. Taeheun kicked off his shoes and socks and washed his feet. The man undressed casually in front of Taeheun, exposed his genitals and buttocks, and meticulously lathered himself all over.

Taeheun openly stared at the man’s naked body while washing his feet right next to him. Again, there was no arousal or sexual tension. The man didn’t mind Taeheun either. If he had, he wouldn’t have undressed in the first place.

The man didn’t blush as he dried himself with the towel Taeheun handed him. The face that used to redden at even the slightest remark didn’t even flinch when his naked body was exposed.

It was strange. It wasn’t friendship. It was definitely affection. But could it not be sexual love? Affection and sexual love were inseparable. It was beyond Taeheun’s comprehension that his body wasn’t reacting even though he met someone he had desperately longed to see.

The love Taeheun knew couldn’t be discussed without sex. When they met, they were excited, they wanted to do it, and they did it. And when they didn’t want to do it anymore, they broke up. That was love. But was it not? He was confused.

“Why are you so late?”

The youth president snapped at the man as soon as he saw him. He wondered why the president was sitting on the sofa for once, but it seemed he was itching to go out for drinks.

“I’m sorry, hyungnim. Work finished later than I thought.”

“Don’t slack off. Tsk. Let’s go quickly. Yeonjun said he’s already prepared.”

“Yes.”

The youth president, who noticed Taeheun belatedly, quickly smoothed his furrowed brow.

“Manager Kim! When did you get back?”

“Just now.”

“That’s great. You’ve got surprisingly good luck with food.”

Saying this, he ushered Taeheun forward, pushing the man behind him. Taeheun turned his head to look at the man. The man followed nonchalantly. His body swayed in his slippers.

“Manager Kim, be prepared to pull an all-nighter tonight. It’s always like that when we drink at Yeonjun’s place. Gibeom has no work tomorrow, so he’ll be staying up all night with us for the first time in a while.”

“Mr. Gibeom has days off?”

“Sometimes. Once in a blue moon.”

The youth president smirked.

Because of the sound of the rain, the man wouldn’t hear his and the youth president’s conversation. It felt unpleasant, like they were talking behind his back.

The youth president, as if it were natural, shared an umbrella with Taeheun. Short in stature, he clung close to Taeheun’s arm to avoid the rain. Instead, he handed the two-tiered umbrella he was holding to the man.

“It’s a bit awkward to share an umbrella with Gibeom because he limps.”

The youth president lowered his voice.

Fuck. Then use it alone.

“It doesn’t work with me either.”

Taeheun said.

“Huh?”

“There’s a big height difference.”

At Taeheun’s words, the youth president simply said, “Is that so?”

“Next time, hyungnim should use it alone.”

He detached the youth president clinging to his arm.

Whether he was clueless or his body was too precious, the youth president clung to Taeheun again. He wanted to push him away, but one never knew what could happen. Even a slowpoke has its day.

Taeheun instinctively calculated and decided that getting angry at him wasn’t cost-effective. So, he left Choi Gicheol as he was.

“Where are we going?”

The youth president changed direction to a side road.

“Yeonjun’s place.”

“Not that house over there?”

Taeheun pointed his chin at the huge country house visible from afar.

“Ah, that’s where Yeonjun’s parents live. Yeonjun has been living elsewhere since he got married.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Right now, his wife’s at her parents’ house, so Yeonjun’s eating and sleeping at his parents’ place. She went to give birth. 8 months along, I think.”

Envy was evident in the youth president’s expression.

“Yeonjun got married.”

“Yeah, last year.”

The youth president smacked his lips.

Taeheun turned his head from time to time to check if the man was following properly. The man’s face wasn’t visible because of the umbrella. Whenever Taeheun tried to raise the umbrella even slightly to check on him, the youth president would grab his forearm and pull it down. Not only did he dislike how close they were walking, but the added weight of the president leaning on him annoyed him.

Fortunately, the walk wasn’t far. Unlike his parents’ country house, Kwon Yeonjun’s newlywed home was ordinary. The single-story brick house had entrances through both the main door and a sliding door. There was a platform covered with linoleum in the cement yard, but it was soaked and filled with rainwater.

Kwon Yeonjun had set up a table of drinks in the living room. Pancakes were cooking on the gas stove in the kitchen. As they slid open the door and stepped into the living room, Kwon Yeonjun turned around.

“Why are you so late? The pajeon must be cold.”

He scolded only the man among the three.

Pre-made pajeon and kimchi jeon were already on the table. There were two mixing bowls on the dining table, and flour was splattered everywhere, making a mess.

Kwon Yeonjun brought the frying pan over, dumped the pajeon onto a plate, and went into the kitchen. The sound of batter being poured could be heard, and soon Kwon Yeonjun returned and sat across from them. The small living room felt cramped with four grown men sitting there.

Taeheun checked Kwon Yeonjun’s finger. Sure enough, there was no wedding ring. A faint mark remained where the ring would have been, but Taeheun had never seen him wear one since they met. Yet, he was married, newlywed, and his wife was pregnant.

What a funny guy.

Chuckling to himself, he accepted the glass of makgeolli the youth president offered.

“Cheers. Let’s drink till we drop!”

At the youth president’s lead, Taeheun, Kwon Yeonjun, and the man cheered. The four emptied their glasses in one gulp. Taeheun, the youngest of the four, filled everyone’s empty glasses with makgeolli.

“It’s been a while. It’s nice because it’s raining.”

The youth president said.

“This isn’t enough. It needs to pour more. It just makes it hotter. Don’t you think so, Gibeom hyung?”

“Yeah. This is nothing.”

The rain, which seemed to be coming down quite hard earlier, was now drizzling. The man looked at the falling rain with a disappointed expression. As if it was his own rice paddy.

“How’s Jihye?”

Taeheun asked the man.

“Sojin’s doing well.”

“Are those two always that lovey-dovey?”

Kwon Yeonjun chimed in.

“They never leave each other’s side. Even more so lately, right?”

At Kwon Yeonjun’s question, the man replied, “Yeah.”

“Oh, Jihye was really upset that Mr. Taeheun went to Seoul without telling her. Did you hear?”

Kwon Yeonjun turned to Taeheun and spoke. The man next to him raised his eyebrows as if he had never heard of it.

“Really? That Jihye, she pretended not to be interested in front of me, but she likes me after all.”

At Taeheun’s words, the youth president and Kwon Yeonjun laughed. The man was embarrassed as if it were his own business.

“Not just Jihye. Sojin also kept talking about Mr. Taeheun whenever I saw her.”

Kwon Yeonjun added, deliberately looking at the man. While pretending to praise Taeheun, he subtly waited for the man to react to his words. It was obvious, but it worked immediately on the man. The man looked at Kwon Yeonjun and asked softly, “Really?” and Kwon Yeonjun whispered to the man while covering his mouth with his hand. It was an unsightly scene.

“Speaking of which, Manager Kim is quite the looker. I was surprised when I first saw him.”

The youth president nudged Taeheun with his elbow. He gave a secretive smile and scanned Taeheun with gleaming eyes.

Fuck. How disgusting.

Barely swallowing the curse, he dragged the man into the conversation.

“Come on, hyungnim. When it comes to looks, Mr. Gibeom is better than me.”

At Taeheun’s words, Kwon Yeonjun quietly agreed, “That’s true.”

“No, you can’t compare them. I’m not saying Gibeom is ugly, but honestly, compared to Manager Kim, he’s ordinary. Manager Kim is… how do I say it… flamboyant. If Gibeom is a sparrow, Manager Kim is a peacock.”

“A peacock? Now that you mention it, he does seem like one.”

Kwon Yeonjun chimed in.

“This might be a bit much, but if Manager Kim had set his mind on it, he would have dominated the entertainment industry or even the red-light district. Don’t you think so, Yeonjun?”

“Hey, everything was going fine, then why bring up the red-light district? Mr. Taeheun, please understand. Our hyungnim likes those places a little too much.”

Kwon Yeonjun scolded the youth president and apologized on his behalf. He was unusually friendly, even though he wasn’t even drunk yet.

“It’s okay. I hear that often.”

He wasn’t offended at all by the comment about the red-light district. Rather, he was annoyed by the comment about the man being ordinary. How could he be considered ordinary? He grumbled inwardly and stared at the man.

Perhaps because he was called a sparrow, the man really did resemble one. His soft brown skin, and his jet-black eyes were somehow similar. The man was handsome, but his delicate features gave him a boyish charm.

He really is a sparrow. A big sparrow.

He smiled faintly.

The conversation about Taeheun’s appearance continued. The man, indifferent, continued to eat slowly without joining the conversation. He already knew that the man didn’t like talking about himself, but he didn’t even offer a perfunctory remark even when Taeheun was the topic of conversation. Wouldn’t it hurt to at least chime in? He felt unreasonably resentful.