DP Side Story 2, Episode 10
by BrieDeep Pivot Side Story 2, Episode 10
Ohio, NASA-Korea IGTS Research Base.
A strong wind blew across the private jet landing strip in the early morning. With his eyes half-open, Eric stared at the plane that had just touched down.
Jun’s Guide, the kid, didn’t like being called that. Once, Eric jokingly called him “Baby,” and the reaction was immediate—disgusted, the kid kept repeating his real name over and over again.
But come on, how was he supposed to pronounce “Yeon-woo” properly?
In Eric’s head, Yeon-woo had always been this small, cute young man. Team Leader Jin had brainwashed him into thinking he was some sort of limited edition baby.
But that image shattered the moment Eric saw Cha Yeon-woo in person, stepping off the jet.
There’s no way he’s a ‘Baby’…
How is that a baby? Just from his build alone, he looked like someone who could sweep the high school hockey MVP title without blinking.
They’d gotten pretty close through frequent video conferences, but seeing him in person, it felt like meeting a stranger for the first time. This is why online relationships are meaningless. You never really know someone until you meet them face to face.
「Hey.」
Eric smiled and hugged Yeon-woo.
“Yeon-woo.”
He pronounced the name with surprising accuracy. The same name he’d never managed to say properly even once when Yeon-woo tried so hard to teach him. He figured it wasn’t worth provoking the guy—he probably wouldn’t win in a fight anyway…
“Hello.”
With a gentle smile, Yeon-woo greeted Eric and hugged Rachel too. The researchers who had come out to greet them all welcomed the pair warmly. Seo-joon, who had gotten off the jet last, shook hands with Eric as well.
「Been well? You look healthy.」
Eric clasped his hand tightly, shaking it in delight. Seo-joon smiled and gave a short reply.
「You too.」
「…」
A strange hollowness crept into Eric’s chest. Seo-joon looked exactly the same as he did the last time they met, but the sense of closeness or camaraderie Eric had felt before was gone.
He was human now. No longer a no-named like Eric. And Eric could feel that, just from the touch of their hands.
When Seo-joon and Hee-min had visited before, the Director of IGTS personally led them through the lab alongside key researchers.
He also mentioned that the former Deputy Director—who had orchestrated a foreign no-named Esper attack—had been handed over to the International Criminal Court. The Deputy position remained vacant. Words like “international crimes,” “assassination,” and “diplomatic provocation” filled the charges against him.
Contrary to Hee-min’s worries, the SAU team members took the tour of the facility seriously. What drew the strongest reactions was when the curtain over that thing inside the tank was lifted.
Even for Seo-joon and Hee-min, who already knew what it was, the visual impact remained jarring. A few people instinctively tried to pull out their phones to take pictures but were stopped by the security staff.
The same two researchers who had been giddy during Seo-joon’s last visit were equally excited now. They launched into the same sucker-themed spiel—how that monster supposedly contained countless universes inside it, told in the most convoluted way possible.
Yeon-woo, who couldn’t follow their rapid English spurred by excitement, looked slightly bored. Seo-joon quietly slipped away with him and stepped outside the lab.
“This isn’t a secure zone, so you can call Jeong-woo from here.”
“Oh, this place…”
Yeon-woo glanced around like someone who’d been here before.
“This is where you called me from last time, right, Lieutenant?”
“You’ve got a good memory.”
Seo-joon sat down on the bench with him. Jeong-woo, who needed respiratory rehab after a long flight, was scheduled to arrive in ten days with Dr. Yoon. The two of them made a video call to Jeong-woo, who was in his hospital room. It was around 8 p.m. in Korea. Song-hee, who hadn’t been able to join the trip, happened to be on duty and was with Jeong-woo at the time.
Cheong-oh and Young-gyo had filled Jeong-woo’s head with dreams of Disney World, so the boy was visibly excited. They asked about the usual things—if he was listening to his teachers, what he had for dinner—and then ended the call.
“Looks like Jeong-woo doesn’t even care that I’m far away. He didn’t even say he missed me.”
“He played just fine by himself at the safe house too, remember.”
“But that was different. Now we’re on the other side of the planet, and he’s just hanging out with Song-hee noona like it’s nothing… When you were in the U.S., I could barely handle three days without you.”
As Yeon-woo grumbled softly, Seo-joon kissed him briefly on the lips and let out a regretful sigh.
“I should’ve tried phone sex with you back then. Doesn’t seem like I’ll get another chance.”
Yeon-woo’s face went blank for a second. He looked at Seo-joon in disbelief, as if he’d misheard. Phone…? The word barely formed in his mouth, trailing off. He looked around nervously to see if anyone had heard.
“Is that… really something you want to do?”
Yeon-woo asked, eyes wide with disbelief. Seo-joon, long used to being the only pervert in the room, nodded shamelessly.
“Why not? You said you missed me a lot back then. If I’d told you I wanted to see your dick, you would’ve shown me.”
Yeon-woo hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth and whispered urgently. Someone might hear you, Lieutenant…!
Seo-joon laughed, gently pulling Yeon-woo’s hand down.
“Who’s going to hear? There’s no one around. And 80% of the people here are foreigners anyway. They won’t even know what we’re saying—whether it’s dicks or phone sex.”
Yeon-woo clenched his jaw, his temple twitching. He hunched forward, burying his face in his hands, pressing hard against his forehead like he had a headache. The rims of his ears turned bright red.
After a few moments of silence, Yeon-woo suddenly lifted his head.
“I really don’t get your preferences, Lieutenant. You like that kind of thing?”
“If we can’t be together in person.”
He looked genuinely baffled.
“But why? You can’t actually touch or hug each other.”
“That’s what makes it exciting. It makes you want it more. Just so you don’t misunderstand—I’ve never actually done it either.”
Even as Yeon-woo warned him, Seo-joon casually threw around words like “dick” and “phone sex” without batting an eye. Then suddenly, he leaned closer. With one hand over his mouth, he whispered into Yeon-woo’s ear in a ticklish tone.
“But I kinda want to try it with you.”
“Ah.”
Startled, Yeon-woo slapped a hand over his ear, having just had his earlobe lightly bitten. His face flushed a blotchy red. Seo-joon watched, shoulders shaking with laughter. He felt like he could live a long and happy life just teasing his lover.
“Don’t worry, Yeon-woo.”
Now slipping back into a more composed tone, Seo-joon patted him gently.
“There’s no need for that. I’m not going to leave your side, not even for a day. I’ll be stuck to you like a slime, so don’t make that face.”
He smoothed out the frown between Yeon-woo’s brows with his fingers and planted a string of kisses on his slightly pouting lips. Yeon-woo, lips pressed tight as if deep in thought, slowly reached out and took Seo-joon’s fingers.
“…We could still do it, even if we’re not apart.”
He said quietly.
“If you want to.”
Seo-joon bit the inside of his cheek and looked at Yeon-woo like he didn’t quite understand what he was saying. Yeon-woo leaned in and whispered in an even softer voice.
“You can video call from the same house too.”
“….”
Seriously… Cha Yeon-woo… Cha Yeon-woo is really something.
Seo-joon covered his mouth with a hand, pretending to scratch his chin. He’d been holding back his laughter so hard his eyes had teared up. Yeon-woo looked concerned.
“Lieutenant, don’t tell me you’re crying.”
Seo-joon furrowed his brow and answered solemnly.
“I don’t know… the tears just came.”
“…Do you really like phone sex that much?”
Unable to contain his rising emotions, Seo-joon pulled him into his arms. Trapped in the crushing embrace, Yeon-woo had no idea what was going on as he was smothered with kisses.
“You’re seriously so weird, Lieutenant… If you have any more kinks, just tell me now so I won’t be shocked later.”
As Seo-joon covered his entire face with kisses, Yeon-woo muttered a stream of complaints. After planting a final kiss, Seo-joon pulled back and suddenly looked serious.
“If I tell you everything at once, it won’t be fun.”
He stood and helped Yeon-woo to his feet like nothing had happened.
“Let’s head back. People will start looking for us.”
A mutter followed behind him.
“You’re so weird. Seriously…”
Seo-joon laughed silently.