DP Side Story 2, Episode 6
by BrieDeep Pivot Side Story 2, Episode 6
“Of course it was you, Lieutenant.”
Cheong-oh climbed into the back seat with a hop after opening the door. “Hey, Seo-joon!” he greeted boisterously, shaking Seo-joon’s shoulder. The car, which had been quiet, instantly turned as loud as a sports car engine with just one more person inside.
“One million won for the laundry.”
Seo-joon pushed away the outstretched hand from the driver’s seat and said they’d call it even with the cost of cleaning Cha Yeon-woo’s school uniform a year ago. Cheong-oh clicked his tongue, saying he still remembered that and that Seo-joon could’ve flown round trip to the U.S. three times with a grudge that long.
“Seo-joon, your hair’s cute today.”
Cheong-oh ruffled Seo-joon’s messy hair with his hand, joking around. Seo-joon jerked his head to dodge the touch and snapped at him not to mess with it.
“Baby, did you know? He really hates when people touch his hair.”
“Captain Jin, get out.”
Seo-joon, eyes fixed ahead, clicked his tongue and swatted Cheong-oh’s hand away like shooing a mosquito. It really sounded like he was ready to kick him out—the sound of the brake being pressed and released, and the door locks unlocking and locking echoed through the car.
Still, undeterred, Cheong-oh kept going for Seo-joon’s hair. The two of them went back and forth, one hand trying to touch, the other batting it away.
“Ack! Okay, okay! Lieutenant Ji, aaagh!”
In the end, Seo-joon twisted Cheong-oh’s fingers backwards, bringing the scuffle to a close. With his eyes still fixed on the road, Seo-joon spoke calmly.
“I apologize.”
“I apologize—aaagh! Seriously, stop, stop, it hurts, agh!”
“I will not act out of line again.”
“Ugh, shit… I will not act out of line again…”
Seo-joon finally let go of Cheong-oh’s hand while steering with one hand. This kind of bickering had become a familiar sight even for Yeon-woo by now. Every time he saw Seo-joon with Team Leader Jin, he couldn’t help but wonder what Seo-joon had been like as a high schooler… He was like this now, so what must he have been like back then?
“Baby, are you laughing?”
Turning the joke toward Yeon-woo, Cheong-oh leaned forward, bracing himself on the passenger seat’s headrest.
“Do you find it funny watching me get bullied like this?”
“Yes, I do, Team Leader.”
“But I wonder where you sold off your manners before calling me that again?”
“It just doesn’t roll off the tongue. If you start calling me by my name, I’ll gradually try to change.”
“Once a baby, always a baby…”
“Once a Team Leader, always a Team Leader.”
Cheong-oh chuckled and gently pinched Yeon-woo’s cheek. The cheeky reply pleased him. As expected, this baby wasn’t easy to handle.
“Baby!”
Min-geon opened his arms wide and greeted Yeon-woo warmly. Caught off guard, Yeon-woo returned the hug with a slightly surprised look.
“Lieutenant Park… What happened to your hair?”
Park Min-geon’s signature long hair had been shaved down to match his codename—bald, save for a strip down the center of his crown.
“Who did this to you? Did something happen?”
Yeon-woo asked with concern. Min-geon grinned as he rubbed the rooster-comb-like tuft left on top of his head.
“Yeah. Cool, right?”
Yeon-woo’s blue eyes fluttered, unsure where to land.
“…It suits you. I thought something good must’ve happened.”
“See? I knew baby had an eye for these things.”
Second Lieutenant Yoon Do-young leaned sideways in his seat, looking horrified. That hairstyle looked like it could bring misfortune on its own.
“Who even does their hair like that these days, hyung?”
“What did you just say?”
“Mohawks went out of style forever ago.”
“Rock spirit doesn’t follow trends.”
“Wow… Did you time-travel here from the 80s?”
Yoon Do-young shuddered at how outdated everything from the hair to the lines sounded. Amidst the noisy team banter, Seo-joon and Yeon-woo took their seats after greeting everyone.
On one side, Lieutenant Han Min-gyu, a metal controller, was dragging Yeong-gyo’s chair back and forth, teasing him. On the other, Lieutenant Kang Chae-won and Lieutenant Jang Su-ho were arm wrestling. The screeching sound of chairs and Su-ho’s hand slamming against the table echoed loudly.
Seo-joon glanced around the rowdy team, mentally checking the headcount. A few faces were missing. Some guides had retired to pursue a second path, while others had transferred to teams supporting the 119 Special Rescue Unit.
It was a foreseeable shift, with the gates starting to disappear. Even SAU, a unit that had once believed they couldn’t function without one another, was preparing to go their separate ways.
In any case, SAU had been summoned today for an official announcement regarding the NASA mission. It was merely procedural; to the team, it was essentially an overseas vacation.
Yeong-gyo and Cheong-oh, soon to be married, seemed to be treating this trip as their honeymoon. Naturally, talk of their wedding came up.
“A group performance for the congratulatory song? That’s so tacky.”
“Why? I saw the EDT team do it at their wedding. It looked cool. All in uniform.”
“Just make baby and Lieutenant Ji do it. Two or three people is plenty for that.”
“Seo-joon’s the MC. We’ve got something else for baby to do.”
“…Me?”
Yeon-woo blinked, surprised to hear himself mentioned after only half-listening. Yeong-gyo, smiling with his chin propped up, looked at Yeon-woo with sparkly, burdensome eyes.
“Baby will be the flower child.”
Seo-joon pressed his lips together, trying to maintain a straight face. As he stayed quietly muted, the rest of the team burst into laughter. Yeon-woo blinked, confused by their reaction.
“What’s a flower child? …Is it something cool?”
“You don’t know? You know, the little kids that carry baskets and toss flower petals.”
“…Little kids?”
Do-young, sitting nearby, was already on MeTube, pulling up a video to show him. Yeon-woo leaned in to look at the phone screen. It was a cute video of toddlers toddling down the wedding aisle, scattering petals.
“Isn’t it cute? Don’t you want to try it?”
“I don’t.”
At Yeon-woo’s rare, firm refusal, another wave of laughter spread through the room. Seo-joon, unable to freely laugh as Yeon-woo’s boyfriend, kept his lips clamped shut like they were sealed with glue.
“Why not? We’ll get you a cute little suit, baby.”
“Still no.”
Seo-joon quietly thought Yeong-gyo really didn’t know how to handle baby.
“Just once? We don’t have a niece or nephew to do it.”
“Make Jeong-woo do it.”
“Then how about singing the congratulatory song while dancing?”
“…”
Yeon-woo eventually turned his whole body toward Seo-joon, his lips pouting out. His eyes wordlessly accused him: why aren’t you standing up for me?
“A flower child? For a grown man? Seriously.”
Pressed by the look, Seo-joon finally spoke up with a straight face.
“If anything, a flower man.”
Yeon-woo quickly looked at Yeong-gyo. He didn’t know what a flower man was, but his expression said he wanted to do that instead. The team members eagerly nodded in agreement, saying it was perfect for baby.
“Yeah, you do the cool one, baby. We’ll sing the congratulatory song.”
The conversation quickly moved back to the song. What’s a flower man? Yeon-woo whispered to Seo-joon while leaning in. Seo-joon pulled out his phone to search a video. Skipping the sillier ones, he carefully chose a simple clip to show him.
It featured a man in a pastel-colored suit walking solemnly down the aisle, tossing red roses. Yeon-woo frowned slightly as he watched.
“…How is this any different from the flower child?”
Seo-joon silently shook with laughter. When he asked what Yeon-woo thought it was, Yeon-woo said he thought it was the person who caught the bouquet.
He may have been in his early twenties, but his lack of wedding knowledge was glaring. Most people would’ve attended a family wedding at least once, but for Cha Yeon-woo, who had no such family, it wasn’t unusual.
“Why would you catch the bouquet, Yeon-woo? Don’t you know if you do, you’re supposed to get married within six months?”
“…”
Yeon-woo looked at Seo-joon with meaningful eyes.
“In that case, I definitely think I should catch it.”
That did it. Laughter erupted again. The sound of Seo-joon laughing drew the team’s attention.
“Hey, keep it down already.”
“Just book a room, will you?”
Seo-joon cleared his throat with a fist over his mouth, trying to look serious. The team soon returned to their original debate, each throwing out songs they knew.
Captain Yoo Si-hwan suggested “Can I Love You” like he had in the group chat, only to get flamed by Do-young for being stuck in the 80s. Chae-won belted out “Torch of Anti-Communism,” saying a military song would be perfect for a group number, only to get kicked in the shin by Yeong-gyo.
Just then, Min-geon, who had been quiet until now, made a fresh proposal. Why not form a band and go with something upbeat and fun?