DP Episode 73

Deep Pivot Episode 73

“There’s another mark on your pretty face. I couldn’t bear to touch it.” 

Seo-joon clicked his tongue and examined Yeon-woo’s face carefully, pulling him into another embrace as his body continued to tremble.

“How did you manage to get here?” 

Yeon-woo asked.

“You sent me a message, remember?”

The message, which abruptly ended with “Lieutenant,” had weighed on Seo-joon’s mind. They both knew each other’s addresses from their profiles, and with the recent troubling incident, Seo-joon couldn’t ignore the need to check on Yeon-woo.

Gently holding Yeon-woo’s cheek, Seo-joon carefully brushed around the wound at the corner of his mouth, studying his delicate, rain-soaked flower of a face. Yeon-woo’s moist gaze met Seo-joon’s, their eyes locking in silence.

Seo-joon traced the still-trembling lips and the faintly red, tear-streaked eyes. If he had been Yeon-woo’s guide, he would have kissed him right now, half out of a desire to heal his wounds and half because he simply wanted to kiss him.

“Let’s clean up the house and then go out for dinner, okay?”

Seo-joon smoothly hid his urge to kiss Yeon-woo on the spot.

“Or should we eat first? You must be hungry, Yeon-woo.”

He said nothing about the incident while driving Yeon-woo to dinner. With his hood pulled down to hide the injury, Yeon-woo’s face in the passenger seat wasn’t clearly visible.

“Are we picking dinner by drawing straws again? What did you say you liked?”

“…Turn left at the intersection up ahead, and there’s a porridge place.”

Yeon-woo’s sullen voice came from beside him.

“Just porridge? Don’t pick something odd just for my sake; tell me what you really want.”

“It’s a well-known spot around here. They have more than porridge.”

After a pause, he added quietly.

“And there are dividers, so it’s okay to hold hands.”

Turning toward the intersection, Seo-joon glanced at Yeon-woo’s hand resting calmly on his thigh.

“So you already had that place in mind from the start, huh?”

“…Yes.”

The hand shrank back slightly.

“I thought about it carefully during the test. You’re coming all the way to my neighborhood, so we shouldn’t go too far. The place is quiet, and I thought you’d like the food.”

A sudden silence fell between them. Seo-joon didn’t rush Yeon-woo to speak and waited as he chose his words. A few minutes later, Yeon-woo, still hooded, bowed his head slightly toward the driver’s seat.

“I’m sorry. If I’d known my father was home, I would have told you.”

“What difference would that have made? If you had canceled our plans, I really wouldn’t have come.”

“…”

“I’d rather not imagine that. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The car stopped at a red light.

“…I wouldn’t have gotten hurt. It would have ended quickly. After three bottles of soju, he just falls asleep.”

Yeon-woo’s quiet voice pierced the stillness. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Seo-joon stayed silent, unsure of how to respond. If it had been a random thug who’d attacked Yeon-woo, there would have been many ways to intervene.

But since the perpetrator was his father, even speaking lightly on the matter seemed too delicate.

“Yeon-woo.”

“…”

“…Can I hold your hand?”

Seo-joon asked softly. Yeon-woo turned his head, revealing his face at last. His eyes, widened with a hint of surprise, looked at Seo-joon. He didn’t answer, but he also didn’t refuse the hand reaching out to him.

Clasping his fingers together with Yeon-woo’s, Seo-joon looked straight ahead. The light turned green, and he gently pulled Yeon-woo’s hand closer as he slowly pressed the gas pedal.

✽✽✽

“Thank you so much for today.”

Returning home after dinner, Yeon-woo bowed to Seo-joon in gratitude.

“Next time, please let me buy. I feel bad for always relying on you and really want to treat you.”

“As a student, your job is just to accept meals from adults. Don’t even think about taking out your wallet in front of me.”

Seo-joon chuckled. Yeon-woo had insisted on paying today as well. Last time, Seo-joon had let it slide, but this time, he had refused, telling Yeon-woo that if he really wanted to pay, he should first change out of his school uniform. In the end, Yeon-woo had to relent.

“You said you had something for me today…”

“Oh.”

Seo-joon remembered the document on the back seat—the test results for Cha Jeong-woo.

“…But today’s probably not the best time to bring that up.”

“Let’s head in for now, Yeon-woo.”

After deciding, Seo-joon stepped into the villa.

“We should clean up.”

“Huh?”

Yeon-woo hurried to follow him.

“You don’t need to do this. I can handle it by myself…”

“When will you finish all this on your own?”

Descending the stairs, the broken glass door came into view, a reminder that locking the door hadn’t made a difference. Looking at the loose tape hanging half off, Seo-joon easily understood how Yeon-woo’s father had repeatedly broken in.

His gaze shifted to the iron door of the neighboring apartment.

“Only your place has a glass door.”

“Oh, the neighbor is a woman, so safety is important. The landlady said she’d replace our door soon, but since I’m a guy, it’s not that urgent.”

Yeon-woo unlocked the door as he explained. But from the looks of it, today wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Seo-joon took in the sight of Yeon-woo’s surprisingly flimsy apartment.

Even the windows facing the ground had no security bars. Anyone could easily break in if they wanted to.

What if a robber shows up? And with such a pretty face, he could attract all sorts of trouble.

Seo-joon felt uneasy, wondering how he had ever managed to sleep soundly knowing Yeon-woo was living here. He felt he couldn’t rest easy even if Yeon-woo was locked safely in a fortress.

The world is too dangerous, and his guide is too fragile. Objectively, it didn’t matter that Yeon-woo’s size could put most Western fitness trainers to shame.

“Lieutenant, why don’t you sit here for a moment? I’ll clean up.”

Yeon-woo had cleared just one corner of the room littered with soju bottles and other clutter.

“What are you talking about? We should clean up together.”

“…”

“Do you think I’m here just to watch you clean?”

Seo-joon took off his jacket and folded it over the desk. He would have hired a cleaning service if he thought Yeon-woo would accept it.

Ignoring Yeon-woo’s anxious glances, Seo-joon opened a cabinet and found some trash bags.

“I’m good at cleaning, you know.”

“…”

“Let’s work efficiently, Cha Yeon-woo.”

He tapped Yeon-woo’s arm.

“If it would take you two hours alone, we can finish in less than an hour together.”

“How could I let you clean my house, though…”

Putting soju bottles into the trash bag, Seo-joon responded to Yeon-woo, who stood frozen.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, so don’t think that way.”

✽✽✽

As Seo-joon had predicted, the cleaning was finished in less than an hour. With not much furniture and a relatively small space, Yeon-woo’s home quickly returned to its original state.

“There’s ice cream.”

Seo-joon, pulling out a bottle of water from the fridge, glanced into the freezer.

“Oh, the landlady gave me some a few days ago. Would you like one?”

“What flavor do you like?”

Seo-joon held up a melon-flavored ice bar and a strawberry-flavored ice bar. Yeon-woo’s eyes darted between the two, contemplating for a few seconds.

“I’ll take this one…”

Picking the strawberry-flavored ice bar, Yeon-woo asked, “Lieutenant, can you finish a whole ice cream?”

“No. I’d like to eat it, but a whole one is a bit too much.”

Seo-joon put the melon ice bar back in the freezer and turned to Yeon-woo. With a small smile, Yeon-woo unwrapped his ice bar.

“Then let’s share this.”

Seo-joon took the ice bar from Yeon-woo’s hand. A simple phrase, but it made his heart flutter. After taking a bite of the bright red ice bar, Seo-joon offered it to Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo opened his mouth and nibbled on the edge. A bit of melted coloring stuck to his lips.

“…”

Seo-joon couldn’t tear his eyes away from those lips. He had to admit it in that moment.

He liked Cha Yeon-woo a lot.

The problem was that this affection wasn’t purely innocent—there was also plenty of impure desire mixed in.

✽✽✽

“The moon is so pretty.”

Seo-joon pointed to the moon between the buildings. The quiet alley was now bathed in night. Looking up at the sky, Yeon-woo took a bite from the ice bar Seo-joon offered.

“The moon must be brighter and bigger when seen from your house.”

“Most likely. The area around my house is higher up than here.”

Seo-joon said as he descended the steps.

“But the moon is prettier from this distance. The one I see at home doesn’t have as much charm.”

Their hands occasionally brushed against each other as they walked side by side. It would take a little longer to reach Seo-joon’s parked car. The sweetness of the ice bar lingered in his mouth.

He wished this road would continue forever. Seo-joon chuckled to himself, realizing he sounded like a lovestruck protagonist from a romance drama.

But, unfortunately, his car already came into view.

“We’re here.”

“Please get home safely, Lieutenant.”

“You be careful too, Yeon-woo.”

Standing in front of the car, Seo-joon looked at Yeon-woo reluctantly.

“Make sure to lock up, and if anything happens, contact me immediately…”

But what good would locking up do for that house?

Should I take him to my place to sleep tonight? There’s no guarantee his father won’t come back, and I’m worried about leaving him alone. Would he come with me if I just said I wanted to spend time together?

“Oh.”

Something caught Seo-joon’s eye as he gripped the driver’s side door.

…Lucky.

He almost smiled but managed to keep his expression neutral, instead looking at Yeon-woo with a feigned puzzled expression.