DP Side Story 2, Episode 5
by BrieDeep Pivot Side Story 2, Episode 5
Cha Yeon-woo’s words, with the subject left out, narrowly avoided Seo-joon’s leading questions like a tightrope walker barely keeping balance. Unlike usual, the morning was strangely quiet. Without saying a word, the two got dressed, went out for a jog, returned home, showered, and had coffee.
Seo-joon came to realize something through this: lovers who live together can surprisingly have natural conversations even without specifying the subject. He also came to understand just how affectionate Cha Yeon-woo could become when he couldn’t bring himself to call him “Lieutenant” anymore.
Yeon-woo, who was always chatty, had become noticeably quiet. Instead of his usual “Lieutenant, are you up?” he would silently crawl into bed and give a morning kiss. If he needed something, he would quietly approach, grab Seo-joon’s fingers and shake them, or lean against him as a way of calling for his attention.
“Yes, Director Kang. Yes, yes. Right now? No, it’s fine. Sometime in the morning? Okay, I’ll come as soon as I can.”
Seo-joon stood at the sink washing coffee cups, listening to Yeon-woo talking on the phone from the living room. He sensed movement behind him. Soon, a body bumped lightly into his back. Yeon-woo tugged slightly at the hem of his T-shirt, clearly eager to say something, but Seo-joon feigned ignorance and busied his hands.
“……”
Then something suddenly tickled his back. Amid the loud sound of water rushing from the tap, Seo-joon felt the path Yeon-woo’s finger traced across his back.
ㅈ
TL/N: This is the consonant “j” in Hangul.
Just one small consonant was drawn, and then his hand froze. Seo-joon, who had been washing a cup, also stopped moving. Yeon-woo’s index finger pressed into his back again.
ㅏㄱㅣㅇㅑ
TL/N: These are Hangul letters forming a word:
ㅏ (a)
ㄱ (g/k)
ㅣ (i)
→ These three together make 아기 (agi) = “baby”
ㅇ (ng, placeholder)
ㅑ (ya)
아기야 (agiya)
= “Baby”, in an affectionate tone.
The shyly completed word made Seo-joon’s lips curl into a smile. After a slight pause, Yeon-woo’s finger moved again.
♡
Seo-joon couldn’t help but let out a laugh and covered his mouth with the back of his hand. He knew he shouldn’t be soft for such a silly trick…
A small kiss landed on his ear.
“Baby.”
A whisper, 98% air and 2% sound, bloomed inside his ear. It was so close and ticklish that his shoulders flinched. Like soft-serve ice cream melting under the blazing summer sun, Seo-joon’s heart also began to melt.
“Director Kang called. Something urgent came up this afternoon, so he wants to meet in the morning.”
Yeon-woo carefully took the cup from Seo-joon’s hands as he spoke.
“I’ll finish this. You get ready to go out.”
“You’re really putting in effort, Yeon-woo.”
Seo-joon smiled, turned, and pulled him into a hug. His lover’s face had turned bright red. Finding it adorable, he planted a few kisses on his flushed cheeks. Yeon-woo, flustered, pushed him away.
“Come on. Jeong-woo’s waiting.”
Seo-joon tilted his head, deliberately locking eyes with him.
“Alright, baby.”
Seeing Seo-joon smiling with his eyes crinkling, Yeon-woo finally burst into laughter too.
The sun was already quite hot in the morning. Looking out at the quiet road of District 1, where puddles remained from the rain the night before, Yeon-woo opened the window and spoke.
“Feels like summer for real now. It’s kinda hot today.”
“If it’s June, then yeah, it’s summer.”
Seo-joon, taking advantage of a red light, pulled down the sun visor and adjusted his hair in the mirror. He hadn’t dried it properly before leaving in a rush, and it bothered him.
“The heat reminds me of when we first met.”
“The interview?”
“No, the day of the test.”
“Oh, the day Cha Yeon-woo got a nosebleed.”
Yeon-woo turned his head and gave Seo-joon a side-eye. Seo-joon, keeping his eyes on the road, smiled and brushed Yeon-woo’s cheek. Please forget things like that… Yeon-woo pouted and intertwined their fingers.
“And that wasn’t even our first test, you know? You probably don’t remember, but I’m talking about the first time I came to the center after Director Kang offered me the job.”
“Ah.”
Whether to call him “Lieutenant” or “babe” started tripping Yeon-woo up again, but Seo-joon decided to pretend not to notice out of appreciation for the effort.
“Of course I remember. I’ve still got the video from that day on my tablet.”
“Really? There’s a video of that?”
“Yeah. Dr. Kang sent it to me after our interview.”
With summer approaching, things from a year ago felt fresh and vivid, as if they had happened yesterday. Yeon-woo must’ve felt the same, taking in the streets with renewed attention.
“I used to walk around here back then. It was so hot.”
Seo-joon tried to recall what he was even doing with his life back then. Strangely, nothing stood out except things related to Cha Yeon-woo. Days before meeting him felt like a dull, gray landscape—proof of how meaningless that time had been.
“Oh, right.”
Yeon-woo suddenly smiled.
“This is also where I first met Team Leader Jin. He was driving this ridiculously loud car, and it had rained that day too, so there were puddles. But…”
Seo-joon already knew most of what had happened during Yeon-woo’s onboarding. But since he’d heard it from Jin Chung-oh, he hadn’t caught the part where the man had drenched Yeon-woo.
“Seriously? He just drove off without apologizing?”
Seo-joon asked with a disbelieving chuckle.
“No, he did apologize, but the car was so loud I couldn’t hear him well.”
“That’s not a real apology. You should’ve chased him down and given him a piece of your mind.”
He soaked the kid, didn’t apologize properly, made him look bad at his initiation, and even dragged him to a Level 3 danger zone on his first day. A clueless, green rookie, no less.
“What a jerk.”
Yeon-woo laughed out loud at Seo-joon’s words.
“But still, I got to go on a date with my master thanks to him.”
“Date?”
“We were together the whole time on site. You even took me home and let me sleep over. I was seriously thrilled back then.”
Apparently, he’d forgotten the part where he nearly died while tending to an injured person. Smiling vaguely, Seo-joon pulled Yeon-woo’s hand closer and kissed the back of it, speaking softly.
“Truth is, I was trying to seduce you.”
“Come on, don’t lie.”
“I’m not. Do I seem like the kind of guy who’d just bring some random new guide home?”
There are things you only realize in hindsight. Like Yeon-woo, who remembers a life-threatening day as a sweet date, Seo-joon had also come to understand things differently over time.
Back then, he had brushed it off as laziness, not wanting to take a detour, but the truth was, if it hadn’t been Cha Yeon-woo, he wouldn’t have done it.
…Why did I act like that back then?
Maybe it was because it was Cha Yeon-woo. Someone who shone so brightly from the start that it made opening his heart feel easy.
From the moment he saw him looking so downcast, like an abandoned puppy, Yeon-woo had already been lovable. So lovable, in fact, it would’ve been impossible not to let him in.
“Oh? That’s Team Leader Jin, right?”
Yeon-woo pointed somewhere ahead. Jin Chung-oh was walking alone, having left his car behind for once. Seo-joon let go of Yeon-woo’s hand and gripped the wheel with both hands, stepping on the gas.
“Want me to get revenge for you, Yeon-woo?”
“Huh?”
Unlike Chung-oh, Seo-joon liked quiet cars. Today, he was driving a nearly silent hybrid sedan. He gently pressed the accelerator.
The sleek black car slid soundlessly toward Chung-oh. Like a game, Seo-joon adjusted the speed carefully, calculating the timing. The moment Jin Chung-oh came within splash range, Seo-joon sped up and zoomed right past him.
SPLASH! A wall of water drenched the man’s lower half. It had all happened so fast and quietly, he didn’t even have time to dodge.
“Agh!” A yelp rang out, and Seo-joon glanced in the rearview mirror to see Chung-oh frozen in place, soaked and stunned. Seo-joon burst into a mischievous teenage laugh. Yeon-woo, who had watched the whole thing unfold beside him, let out a stunned chuckle.
“Lieutenant Ji Seo-joon, is that really you? Did someone swap out my master or something?”
Yeon-woo looked at him in disbelief. The more he got to know his master, the more he realized just how playful he could be.
“At times like this, you’re really like a ten-year-old, master.”
“If I’m ten, then you must be one, baby.”
Yeon-woo liked discovering these new sides of him. A version of his lieutenant with no secrets or fears—livelier, occasionally childish, often laughing… truly adorable.
As Seo-joon gradually slowed down, he rolled down the window, waiting for Chung-oh to catch up. The man walked up to the driver’s side and leaned down.
“Baby, was that your idea of a summer water bomb service?”
“Hello, Team Leader.”
Yeon-woo smiled and greeted him as he peeked into the car.
“It wasn’t me. The lieutenant did it.”