TSG 135

The journey for the honeymoon was rocky from the start.

“I’ve already planned everything out.”

Se-hyun, who had meticulously arranged the schedule, including when to arrive at the airport considering the flight time, looked disapprovingly at Shin Tae-oh shaking his head.

Why is he being like this?

“You’ve always planned the schedule for me. This time, I want to do it for you.”

“Why are you saying this now?”

If he had said it even a day earlier, Se-hyun would have said, “Alright, give it a try.” But why was he saying this now, when they were about to leave for the airport?

Although they had changed from formal wear into knitwear and pants, they hadn’t even removed their makeup yet. Remembering that it hadn’t been long since the wedding ended, Se-hyun acted as if he couldn’t understand Shin Tae-oh’s intentions even more.

“You’re not my secretary anymore.”

Shin Tae-oh made a pointed remark. Even during the wedding, Se-hyun had unconsciously kept taking care of Shin Tae-oh too.

“Now I want to do it for you. You can even think of me as your secretary if you like.”

As Shin Tae-oh openly expressed his desire to do everything, Se-hyun found himself unable to protest further.

“You really want to do everything?”

“Yes. I’ll do it all. You can just watch from the side.”

“I’ve already checked in. We just need to check the luggage…”

Se-hyun couldn’t hide his skepticism. After all, he had been Shin Tae-oh’s secretary all this time. He didn’t understand why Shin Tae-oh was insisting on taking charge now, when Se-hyun had always prepared everything for overseas trips.

“Se-hyun. I’m older than you. It might be awkward, but that’s just a difference in proficiency, not inability.”

As Shin Tae-oh acknowledged that he might not be as good as Se-hyun, Se-hyun could no longer dissuade him. Shin Tae-oh was right. Entrusting things to him wouldn’t make everything fall apart completely. It might just take a bit more time.

“Alright.”

“Then, the car keys first.”

Riding this momentum, Shin Tae-oh immediately held out his hand to Se-hyun. He intended to take charge of everything from this moment, not just from when they arrived at the airport.

Even as Se-hyun handed over the car keys, he still felt uneasy about whether this was okay. He knew rationally that Shin Tae-oh wasn’t a child, but his heart wasn’t readily convinced.

“Let’s go.”

However, the keys had already been passed to Shin Tae-oh, and Se-hyun had no choice but to follow his lead.

‘What’s the big deal?’

Se-hyun got into the passenger seat, half resigned.

***

From arriving at the airport, going through immigration, to boarding before the gate closed, Se-hyun couldn’t hide his surprise.

The start was smooth.

Shin Tae-oh knew exactly where to park in the large airport. And that wasn’t all. He proceeded through check-in using the most efficient route. Se-hyun knew this well because he had always done it himself. It’s not something one would know without careful research – which gate is best for checking luggage, which areas are less crowded.

In this regard, Shin Tae-oh moved like flowing water, never once looking perplexed. Se-hyun had thought, ‘What’s the big deal?’ and half let go of his concerns, but now he felt he could fully relax.

He became convinced that he could trust Shin Tae-oh.

Se-hyun leaned back comfortably in his seat, relaxing his body.

‘This is nice.’

It felt incredibly good to just leave everything to someone else. There was no need to constantly review the schedule thinking about what’s next, or prepare for unexpected situations. This made Se-hyun feel immensely comfortable.

This had always been Se-hyun’s job. Now, experiencing the reverse didn’t feel bad at all.

As Se-hyun closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he felt a blanket being placed over him.

“Sleep well.”

Se-hyun smiled with his eyes still closed as he felt soft lips touch his forehead. With Shin Tae-oh’s tickling farewell, Se-hyun soon drifted off to sleep.

“Se-hyun.”

Se-hyun smiled in his sleep at Shin Tae-oh’s soft voice. Even while sleeping, he seemed to recognize ShinTae-oh’s voice perfectly.

“From now on, I’ll take care of everything for you.”

Seeing Se-hyun move diligently as if he wasn’t tired at all, despite carrying their child, Shin Tae-oh had anticipated this. He knew that even during the wedding, Se-hyun would instinctively take care of him.

The prediction wasn’t wrong. Though it wasn’t necessary, Se-hyun had continued to act like his secretary.

If he had dated someone else, it probably wouldn’t have been to this extent. But having always served Tae-oh as his boss, it had become an unconscious habit.

That needed to be changed.

Because Se-hyun was no longer his executive secretary.

As of today, they had become spouses, lifelong companions walking side by side, and parenting partners who would raise Honey Rice Cake and their future siblings together.

They had taken that first step quite well. Seeing Se-hyun’s peaceful expression, Tae-oh patted his chest.

“From now on, I’ll take care of you more.”

So that you can trust me and lean on me.

***

They chose one of the resort areas for their honeymoon destination.

After a four-hour flight, they arrived in Guam. Se-hyun looked around as he took off his outer layer in the hot Guam breeze. Shin Tae-oh also removed his outer layer and took Se-hyun’s, draping both over his arm.

“This is nice.”

They hadn’t done anything yet. But just the exotic scenery after the long flight was enough to soothe Se-hyun’s heart.

Shin Tae-oh waited patiently for Se-hyun to take in the surroundings. There was no rush anyway. They had no specific schedule to follow, just time to focus on each other.

“Shall we go to the hotel?”

“Yes.”

Shin Tae-oh took Se-hyun’s hand.

“Oh, but first we need to find the car.”

Shin Tae-oh mentioned they needed to pick up the pre-booked rental car and immediately pulled out his phone. As he checked various things, his brow furrowed slightly.

“What’s wrong?”

Concerned that there might be a problem, Se-hyun leaned in to look at Shin Tae-oh’s phone. Realizing that the rental car that was supposed to come to the airport hadn’t arrived, Se-hyun gently bit his lip.

It wasn’t a big issue. They had the contact information, so they could call and sort out the situation.

“This isn’t right… Our flight wasn’t even delayed, so why?”

It was amusing to see Shin Tae-oh’s face harden at this unexpected turn of events. His expression was more interesting than the Guam scenery.

For someone so adept at handling billion-dollar business deals with composure, here he was struggling with a comparatively tiny problem.

‘I slept well, should I help a bit?’

Se-hyun, who had realized on the plane why Shin Tae-oh was insisting on doing everything himself, considered stepping in.

“Sir.”

Se-hyun took the phone from Shin Tae-oh.

“Let’s do this together.”

Shin Tae-oh’s eyes moved from the phone to Se-hyun.

“There’s no need to divide tasks unnecessarily.”

Just because Se-hyun had taken care of Shin Tae-oh before didn’t mean Shin Tae-oh had to do everything in return. They could simply take care of each other.

“Think about when we have Honey Rice Cake later.”

Se-hyun called to check the situation and immediately gave their location. After quickly resolving the issue with one short call, he handed the phone back to Shin Tae-oh.

“Are you going to handle everything when Honey Rice Cake cries in the middle of the night?”

“Well, of course…”

“They say newborns wake up every three hours?”

“…”

“Why are you trying to handle everything alone? We can take turns, you do it once, then I do it once.”

It was too early to discuss this. The situation might change by the time it actually happens.

But Se-hyun mentioned it because…

“If we’re parenting partners, we should share the difficulties too.”

An hour ago on the plane, Se-hyun had noticed Shin Tae-oh clutching his phone even while sleeping. Curious about why he was holding it so tightly, Se-hyun gently took it from his hand.

The screen lit up just then. The notepad app was open without needing to search for it.

No wonder he was doing so well for someone inexperienced. But that was the extent of it.

“Hmm.”

As Se-hyun read through the contents Shin Tae-oh had meticulously organized, drawing on his experience as a secretary, his gaze lingered on certain words that stood out.

“Tae-oh…”

Se-hyun called out to his lovable yet frustrating Shin Tae-oh, who had filled the notepad with his determined intentions.

“It’s great that you want to do everything for me, but that’s not what I want.”

Spouse, companion, parenting partner… He had written down all sorts of terms and prepared so thoroughly as if Se-hyun wouldn’t need to do anything.

“We’re supposed to do this together.”

Se-hyun decided to tell him when the opportunity arose that it was time for them to move forward in step with each other.