ETP Ch 95

“I lost consciousness right away. And when I woke up a week later, everything around me had changed. For some reason, I was in Bokseung’s body, and my own body had disappeared from this world. So, I thought that since I had taken over Bokseung’s body, his soul, which had disappeared, must be somewhere. Then, just in case Bokseung came back, I didn’t want him to be blamed by others, even a little, so I didn’t want the cause of this accident to be placed entirely on the child’s shoulders…”

Once his mouth was open, it didn’t stop. He might have been wishing for anyone to listen to his story. He might have wanted to whine a little, that he had been having a hard time too.

“The only people who misunderstand what happened that day are Hyungseop, ah. The PC bang owner. He’s my childhood friend.”

“The owner?”

“Yes, he’s been my friend for over 20 years… ah! Anyway, I thought that the only ones who knew the truth were Hyungseop and Ms. Juhyun. So I was worried that if I revealed the truth, when Bokseung came back, he’d get fired from his part-time job and wouldn’t be able to rely on Hyungseop or Ms. Juhyun. Because I was dead. There would be no one to take care of Bokseung anymore, and I didn’t want him to lose those people too. So, letting it slide back then made it grow into this.”

“Ha…”

“At that time, I thought a little naively that it would be fine as long as I didn’t reveal the truth to those two people. My thinking was short-sighted.”

At the end of his long speech, Sungyeon quietly added, “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry to me.”

“Because, I like you too, Sunbae-nim. But the one you like isn’t me, it’s Bokseung. You couldn’t have imagined that inside the cute Bokseung, there’s a soul of this age, originally in a large body.”

Aside from the long story, it was the part where Bokseung referred to himself as ‘cute Bokseung’ that convinced Yoohyun he was really a different person.

Actually, he had been feeling it vaguely since Bokseung started talking about the day of the accident. That the person he had known until now was not Kim Bokseung.

If what he said was true, it also explained to some extent why the person had changed so drastically between the first and second semesters.

So his personality didn’t change as an aftereffect of the accident, but a completely different person came in.

If so, Yoohyun was more than willing to play along.

Even if everything Bokseung said now was a lie, if he was saying it by his side, he could believe it all. Yoohyun was that desperate.

Just a little while ago, he had been about to beg him to just let him stay by his side, even if he couldn’t forget his ex-boyfriend.

But instead, Kim Bokseung was saying he liked him and was very sorry about it. What else could he possibly need?

Despite acting so pathetic in the early morning, instead of telling him to get lost, Bokseung had told him he liked him. That in itself was a miracle to Yoohyun.

“Then, the real Kim Bokseung?”

“I can’t be 100% sure, but probably… he won’t be coming back.”

Sungyeon thought of Bokseung, who had not appeared in his dreams even once after bidding him his final farewell.

When he left, entrusting his body to Sungyeon, Bokseung had a face full of relief, although it also contained a hint of apology.

“Then, you are Kim Bokseung.”

“Uh, um…?”

“I don’t like the cute Kim Bokseung. I like the stingy Kim Bokseung, the Kim Bokseung who speaks in a way that doesn’t quite match his age, the Kim Bokseung who cheers for RJTriples, the dumb Kim Bokseung, the brave Kim Bokseung.”

Yoohyun reeled off a list of things with a nonchalant expression, the content of which was anything but.

Sungyeon thought it was strange that although Hwang Yoohyun was the one saying the cheesy things, it was his own face that was burning up as if on fire.

Sungyeon tried to cool his cheeks by placing his palms on them. But instead of cooling down, they just got hotter. Because Hwang Yoohyun’s mouth continued to spew cheesy words.

“The Kim Bokseung who is ignorant about trait-holders, the Kim Bokseung who dislikes jelly, the Kim Bokseung who is good at shooting, the Kim Bokseung who eats well, the Kim Bokseung who likes free things.”

“Pl-please stop!”

“I like Kim Bokseung, who is my mate.”

After finishing his last sentence, Hwang Yoohyun grinned.

He thought he was spouting cheesy words quite well, but sure enough, his face was also on the verge of exploding. Since these were probably words he had never said in his entire life, he must be dying of awkwardness himself.

Could he really be this happy after hearing the bombshell that the person he likes is actually a 33-year-old man who is 10 years older than him?

Sungyeon thought that while he couldn’t understand Hwang Yoohyun, he was glad that Hwang Yoohyun was someone he couldn’t understand.

But.

“Mate?”

Come to think of it, he had said something like that yesterday when he was drunk and shouting. At that time, he had thought he was just blurting things out because his emotions were running high, but just now he had used the word ‘mate’ again.

Sungyeon tilted his head at Yoohyun’s unfamiliar choice of words.

“Um, they say you and I are mates.”

“That… like a partner?”

“Yeah. They say our pheromone compatibility is so good that we have to be together for life.”

Of course, the clinic hadn’t put it quite like that. However, Yoohyun said it exactly as he had interpreted it.

To him, it wasn’t just the outwardly visible Kim Bokseung that was important. What was important was the Kim Bokseung who was ‘his mate,’ who could share the same time with him and influence each other.

And he had no intention of letting that Bokseung go. Even if there was another person’s soul inside, he liked the ‘Kim Bokseung’ in front of him.

After all, the Kim Bokseung he had fallen for and liked, liked him back. Other than that, he didn’t need anything else.

He did seem a little crazy, but he’d heard that’s what love was like. It was something Yoohyun had picked up somewhere.

“Ah, ahh. So Alphas and Omegas have that kind of thing!”

Seeing Bokseung’s eyes sparkle as if he had heard a fascinating fact, Yoohyun nodded his head.

Perhaps because he had lived as a Beta for 33 years, he seemed to believe things about trait-holders right away without any particular suspicion.

“So, Sunbae-nim and I are… mates.”

Unlike his cutely blushing cheeks, a thick laugh, ‘Heu,’ flowed from Bokseung’s mouth.

The face of the real Lee Sungyeon, which he had only seen in a picture yesterday, overlapped with Bokseung’s face. Even though he already knew the man’s face, strangely, it wasn’t awkward or creepy at all. Because this was the Bokseung he knew.

“Then are you forgiving me?”

“What?”

“For deceiving you until now, Sunbae-nim. You promised last time that you’d forgive me even if I did something wrong. I think I need that promise now.”

Sungyeon said, watching Yoohyun’s reaction.

At those words, Yoohyun frowned as if he had heard something strange.

“What did you do wrong?”

“What did I do wrong? I’m full of wrongdoings.”

“Hmm? First, come here.”

When Yoohyun beckoned with a flick of his wrist, Sungyeon stood up as if mesmerized and approached him. It was a gesture one would use to call the mutt living next door, but to Sungyeon, he looked like a god of temptation with a seductive expression.

“Kim Bokseung.”

“Yes?”

“Bokseung-ah.”

Not the usual ‘Kim Bokseung,’ but ‘Bokseung-ah.’ It was a sweet and cute way of calling him.

Feeling his ears grow hot, it was the moment Sungyeon took another step toward Yoohyun. A long, sturdy arm instantly wrapped around his side.

Aack!

Sungyeon screamed internally. But his frantic heart pounded as if it was happy, and a warm heat blossomed from both sides of his waist where Yoohyun’s arm was wrapped.

Uh, what do I do. Sungyeon, too surprised, barely managed to compose his arms, which had frozen in the air in an awkward position.

Moving his creaky joints, he stroked Yoohyun’s fine hair. At that, Yoohyun rubbed his head against Bokseung’s stomach as if satisfied.

At the action that was felt so vividly through a single layer of a t-shirt, Sungyeon froze for the second time.

“Kim Bokseung.”

“Yes, yeees.”

A reply that sounded like a goat’s bleat came out. But without giving him a chance to recover from that reply, Yoohyun delivered the final blow.

“Don’t go.”

“…”

“I’ll forgive you for whatever you did wrong, so just don’t leave.”

“Sunbae-nim…”

“To be honest, I don’t really know what you did wrong. But still, if you want me to, I can forgive everything. So… just don’t go.”

The meaning Yoohyun wanted to convey was clear.

That he didn’t want to lose this ‘Kim Bokseung.’

That he should never leave him alone. That even if the real Kim Bokseung came, he should never go.

He couldn’t give a definite answer. But Sungyeon also didn’t want to easily let go of the life as Kim Bokseung that had been given to him. If possible, he wanted to be with Yoohyun for a very, very long time.

“Huh? You’re not answering?”

Unable to resist Yoohyun’s urging, Sungyeon gave a vague nod.

If he could, he wanted to say, “Let’s be together forever.” But Sungyeon knew very well that things in the world don’t always go the way you want.

Nevertheless, instead of being honest, Sungyeon gave the answer Yoohyun wanted.

Because he, too, wanted to lean on that answer and be with Yoohyun without any worries.

“So, Sunbae-nim.”

“Hmm?”

“May I kiss you?”