TPG 42
by Cherry‘Was I too late?’
He had liked Han Soo-hyeok for a long time, but he felt that he hadn’t been able to express it because of his timidity. It seemed that someone else had already taken his place. The thought of giving up on confessing made him feel as if he was sinking into a swamp, his whole body becoming listless.
How long had he been in the car? Eun Hee-yoon turned his head at the sound of someone knocking on the window, and Han Jeong-hyeon was smiling with his eyes crinkled.
He signaled for him to lower the window, so Eun Hee-yoon lifted his heavy hand. As the window slid down, as if a wall was disappearing, Han Jeong-hyeon’s smile deepened.
“Anyone would think you got dumped.”
“Ah…”
To be exact, he was dumped before he even confessed.
He couldn’t answer easily, and Han Jeong-hyeon leaned closer, as if sticking his head into the car.
“You still have a chance, honey.”
Eun Hee-yoon tried not to waver at the too-sweet whisper.
“I saw them going together.”
Eun Hee-yoon revealed his upset feelings. Would he have come here if Han Jeong-hyeon hadn’t told him? If so, he wouldn’t have had to see Han Soo-hyeok’s warm face towards his secretary.
In fact, it was a mean thought. Han Jeong-hyeon knew how he felt about Han Soo-hyeok and gave him the information, but he was unfairly blaming him.
“Is that so?”
Han Jeong-hyeon brushed it off nonchalantly.
“Did they get closer after getting engaged?”
Eun Hee-yoon, who was about to say how could he be so lighthearted at this moment, belatedly understood what Han Jeong-hyeon meant.
“Engaged?”
“They announced their engagement at the gathering they held to announce their marriage.”
Eun Hee-yoon didn’t understand right away. At first glance, he thought it was the same thing, but Han Jeong-hyeon shook his head.
“No. It’s different.”
Eun Hee-yoon looked up at Han Jeong-hyeon with expectant eyes.
“They acted like they were going to get married right away, but it’s just an engagement. It can be shaken up as much as you want.”
Now he knew why Han Jeong-hyeon said he had a chance as soon as he saw him.
Han Jeong-hyeon leaned even closer to Eun Hee-yoon.
“Shall I shake it up for you?”
Eun Hee-yoon bit his lip, trying not to be swayed by his subtle voice, but that in itself was the same as being agitated.
Engagement was as important as marriage. It publicly revealed that they were going to get married, showing the strong relationship between the two families. But… there were cases where engagements were broken off, so he was wavering.
“Help you get Soo-hyeok?”
“How?”
“Well.”
Han Jeong-hyeon pretended to think about it belatedly, but it seemed like he already had something in mind.
“Maybe we should change the marriage partner.”
His playful tone was tinged with an unmistakable sinister scent.
“Si-woo, don’t you trust your Hyung?”
Han Soo-hyeok, with cream sujebi in front of him, asked with a serious look.
“Is this something I can only eat if I trust my Hyung?”
Lee Si-woo asked with a serious face as well.
“You haven’t tried anything I’ve made before.”
“That’s true, but I’m not eager to try it.”
If Lee Si-woo thought of it as nothing more than cream pasta made with sujebi instead of noodles, it couldn’t be bad. But when it was clumped together in such a strange shape, everything changed.
“You have to eat it while it’s warm.”
“…That sounds like a strange explanation?”
Han Soo-hyeok tapped the table.
That was the reaction he showed when he was worried, but was this really the time for that?
The reason itself wasn’t anything special.
Si-woo had driven, so Soo-hyeok said he would cook. Si-woo thought he would just heat something from the fridge, but instead, he made something new. He had said the breakfast Si-woo made was delicious.
“Since it’s come to this, I’ll try it.”
“Since it’s come to this? I worked hard to make it.”
Si-woo couldn’t help but laugh at Han Soo-hyeok’s wronged expression. Belatedly, he put on a solemn face and picked up a piece of sujebi. It was so large it covered the spoon completely. He put it into his mouth. First came the savory flavor spreading across his tongue, then the chewiness of the sujebi.
Han Soo-hyeok’s gaze stayed fixed on him until he swallowed. Si-woo wiped the cream from his lips with his thumb and spoke.
“It’s chewy. And… it’s delicious.”
It would probably be even better with noodles. Contrary to his worries that the cream wouldn’t soak in properly, the sujebi Han Soo-hyeok had made himself was surprisingly decent. The uneven thickness of the sujebi paired well with the rich cream.
“I think I’m going to get addicted to this.”
The initial sense of bewilderment faded, replaced by a rising sense of joy.
“That’s a relief.”
Han Soo-hyeok finally relaxed his tense expression and picked up his spoon.
“Let’s eat and then rest.”
Perhaps because they had worked hard today, they emptied their bowls in no time. Afterward, they took a short break.
“What should we eat now?”
Han Soo-hyeok looked taken aback at Si-woo’s question.
“We just ate.”
“Flour empties quickly.”
As Si-woo rubbed his stomach, Han Soo-hyeok scanned the table.
“What do you want to eat?”
Si-woo said whatever came to mind.
“Alcohol?”
Han Soo-hyeok looked at him as if he were a drunkard, and his eyes changed.
He wasn’t that bad.
He hadn’t meant to drink until he was drunk. He just wanted something light, to calm himself after everything that had happened today…
“You looked at me like I was a drunkard.”
In the end, Han Soo-hyeok was the one who drank everything.
Si-woo muttered to himself as he looked at Han Soo-hyeok, who had fallen asleep while Si-woo was in the bathroom. Water dripped from his hair onto Soo-hyeok’s body, and Si-woo quickly pulled his head back. He gently wiped the droplets away with a towel so they wouldn’t splash, then looked down at Han Soo-hyeok.
“What’s with this face?”
It was perfect, without a single flaw. So handsome it almost felt unreal. What would it be like to live with a face like this?
“If it were me, I’d look in the mirror every day.”
Imagining Han Soo-hyeok pulling out a mirror from time to time made Si-woo shudder.
“It doesn’t suit him.”
It would be better if he just checked his face while getting dressed. Thinking that, the hand drying his hair gradually slowed.
“I’m not a pervert.”
Han Soo-hyeok wouldn’t be able to hear him since he was asleep, but Si-woo said it anyway, as if out of conscience, and touched his face. Han Soo-hyeok remained asleep, unmoving. Si-woo felt he had to justify it to himself, but his fingertips were already carefully tracing Soo-hyeok’s forehead.
The smooth curve of his forehead, the clean line without a single wrinkle, and the straight, high bridge of his nose extending downward, it all felt unreal.
Is this what a real person looks like?
An excessively perfect face.
At first, Si-woo had been nervous just touching him with his fingertips, but once he confirmed that Han Soo-hyeok’s eyelids didn’t flutter, that caution turned into a subtle curiosity.
He slowly slid his fingers down the bridge of Soo-hyeok’s nose, touched the tip, then moved to the corner of his lips. His lips, which looked sharp when he was expressionless, seemed strangely innocent while he slept.
His lips are soft.
He already knew the sensation, having felt them against his own before, but he recalled it anew. He should have pulled his hand away now.
Just this far. Really, just this far.
Even as he told himself that, his fingers didn’t stop. He traced Soo-hyeok’s jawline and followed it up to his ear, warmth seeping subtly into his fingertips. Then Han Soo-hyeok moved slightly, as if taking a shallow breath, and Si-woo swallowed without realizing it.
Even if their types were different, they were both men. He had thought he wouldn’t be nervous because he saw this face every day, but that wasn’t true.
Once again, he swallowed unconsciously and muttered words he hadn’t meant to say.
“He’s handsome, really.”
His heart was pounding.
He shouldn’t have let his guard down just because Soo-hyeok was a man. What gender did a work of art have, anyway?
If he kept looking like this, he felt he might become completely mesmerized. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, but his hand still wouldn’t move away.
I shouldn’t keep touching him…
As he worried, the hand resting on Soo-hyeok didn’t budge. Then Soo-hyeok’s eyelids fluttered, and he opened his eyes. The sight of his clear pupils, not clouded by sleep, made Si-woo’s heart jump.
“Weren’t you asleep?”
Si-woo’s voice trembled, betraying his agitation.
“Did I have to be asleep?”
“That…”
He had no excuse—he’d been caught red-handed.
“Keep going.”
Han Soo-hyeok didn’t move, acting as if he was willing to let Si-woo look at him as much as he wanted. That only made it harder to face him.
“I don’t think I need to touch you anymore.”
Si-woo finally pulled his hand away.
“When I think about it, it seemed like there was something on your face, so I was going to wipe it off…”
He tried to escape the situation with an excuse, but it was useless. Han Soo-hyeok grabbed his wrist, and Si-woo couldn’t move, as if his whole body had been caught.
“It’s okay. You can touch me more.”
“No. I’m okay.”
“I’m okay too. It’s ticklish, but it’s not bad.”
“I was wrong.”
Somehow, he had ended up in a position where he had to stop Han Soo-hyeok, and he didn’t even know how it had come to this.
“Or should I bring some lotion? Think of it as me applying it for you.”
Han Soo-hyeok said it seriously, and Si-woo laughed in disbelief.