TSG 64

Despite nothing seeming different from before, Shin Tae-oh thoroughly inspected the house. Seeing Taenyang’s mischievous behavior of following him because he lost a bet, he blurted out,

“I have to go back to work.”

At Se-hyun’s words, Taenyang turned his head to meet his gaze.

“You just got discharged today. Why don’t you rest for the day?”

That might be feasible for Shin Tae-oh, the company CEO, but not for Se-hyun. It would be better for him to go and prepare for the schedule set for tomorrow.

“I have work to do.”

“Okay? Then go ahead.”

Shin Tae-oh waved his hand with a bright smile, showing no intention of stopping him. Upon receiving Shin Tae-oh’s goodbye, Se-hyun, who was about to head to the office, couldn’t even budge a step.

“What about you, sir?”

“I’ll stay here.”

As expected.

Se-hyun had felt it from the moment Shin Tae-oh waved goodbye but had no intention of following him.

The thought of leaving Taenyang-i alone in his house was deeply unsettling. What if he chewed up his blankets? Or rummaged through his closet?

“I won’t touch anything when the owner is not home.”

As if sensing Se-hyun’s unease, Shin Tae-oh said with an innocent look, matching Se-hyun’s imagination of Taenyang.

Se-hyun, who had planned to just change clothes and go to the office, loosened his necktie as he looked at Shin Tae-oh.

“It’s nothing special, but my heart’s racing.”

“Yes, it’s really nothing, so don’t get too excited.”

Shin Tae-oh smiled mysteriously even as Se-hyun said this while completely pulling out his tie. Se-hyun briefly wondered if he should ignore Shin Tae-oh’s dark intentions before taking clothes out of the closet.

“I’ll take a shower first.”

Shin Tae-oh nodded as if to say okay and looked around. Se-hyun thought he was looking for a place to sit, but he ignored him and entered the bathroom.

In a one-room apartment with no chairs, the bed would be the best place to sit. Since he was not cooking ramyun like last time, Se-hyun thought he’d figure it out himself and entered the bathroom, even locking the door.

Se-hyun came into the bathroom to change clothes. Se-hyun was suddenly tempted to send Shin Tae-oh out, feeling uncomfortable having to change clothes, but…

‘He’s the type to turn his back and claim he won’t look.’

Se-hyun was quick to give up because this cat was never going to leave.

Se-hyun, now dressed in a new suit, stopped as he came out of the bathroom, meeting eyes with Shin Tae-oh who was looking up at him.

“You even put on a tie?”

“Why are you sitting on the floor?”

Their curious questions came out simultaneously. So after asking, they each looked at their own state, appearing rather silly if others saw.

“I tied my tie in the bathroom.”

Se-hyun grabbed his tie and slightly pushed it up his neck. Even if Se-hyun changed his clothes in his room, he always wore his tie in the bathroom.

“Why?”

“To look in the mirror.”

“Don’t you have a mirror?”

“No.”

Shin Tae-oh looked around at Se-hyun’s calm reply.

“I thought the house was small, but…”

Se-hyun ignored his muttering. Since the bathroom has a mirror anyway, he thought there was no need to buy a separate one.

Now it was Shin Tae-oh’s turn. Leaning against the bed, he explained why he was sitting on the bare floor without even a cushion.

“Because I couldn’t change my clothes.”

Shin Tae-oh also gave a simple answer. Therefore…

“Are you sitting on the floor because your clothes are dirty?”

He had just come from spending a day at the hospital, still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. Looking at Shin Tae-oh’s rumpled clothes from the scuffle with Ha Jin-woong, Se-hyun suddenly felt they looked quite messy.

But still, was that any reason not to sit on the bed?

After watching this scene, Se-hyun eventually shook his head in resignation and opened the closet to take out clothes.

“Is this for me to change into?”

“Sorry, these are mine.”

Se-hyun took the clothes into the bathroom, ignoring Shin Tae-oh’s outstretched hand.

“I’m getting confused.”

Se-hyun couldn’t tell if Shin Tae-oh was trying to manipulate his feelings by not sitting on the bed or if it was just a coincidence.

Well, this time Se-hyun admitted it. The thought of not going to the office crossed his mind as he fell for Shin Tae-oh’s kind consideration of not sitting on the bed, so this was Taenyang’s victory.

Se-hyun came out after changing into casual clothes and gave clothes to Shin Tae-oh, who had been waiting patiently.

“Finally getting them.”

“These are the largest I have.”

Since oversized fits are trendy now and their height difference isn’t too big, Tae-oh should be able to wear them, but the problem was undergarments.

They’re new and unopened, but…

“I can go out and buy you some if you’d like.”

It was clear they would be too small for Shin Tae-oh.

“It’s okay. They’re not going to burst open.”

Se-hyun knew it was an answer considering the giver, but he couldn’t help feeling unhappy about it.

Anyway, Se-hyun handed Shin Tae-oh the clothes and was about to sit on the floor when,

“I put the coffee down there, so drink it.”

Shin Tae-oh pointed to somewhere as he half-turned in front of the bathroom. Only then did Se-hyun notice the mug on the desk by his computer. While Shin Tae-oh went into the bathroom, Se-hyun muttered belatedly.

“Coffee scent…”

Se-hyun couldn’t actually smell the coffee because he naturally absorbed Shin Tae-oh’s pheromones that were spread throughout the room.

While Se-hyun looked at the coffee in shock, Shin Tae-oh looked around the bathroom. It was so narrow that he could reach out and touch both walls with his arms outstretched.

He pictured Se-hyun showering and tying his tie in this tiny bathroom every day.

“How strange.”

Compared to his own home, it was too small and abnormally bare. Thinking there were naturally no dishes, he assumed there wouldn’t be a mirror either. If he looked further, there would probably be many more missing items.

Yet for such a place…

“It’s cozy.”

Shin Tae-oh chuckled and placed his hand on the faucet. He was glad he followed his desire to stay with Se-hyun. It would be nice if he could figure out how Se-hyun views his heart while spending today together. If not now, he would surely return to being just a secretary, keeping his distance again…

“Ahh!”

The stream of cold water raining down cut off his thoughts.

⍣⍣⍣

“The cold water startled me.”

“You have to wait for the hot water.”

Se-hyun had forgotten that detail but calmly responded regardless of feeling sorry. Shin Tae-oh had already been drenched in cold water, so what could he do? It was better to focus on other things rather than dwell on what happened.

“Does the size fit you?”

The clothes seemed to fit well enough. He was wearing a long-sleeved round-neck shirt and comfortable shorts, which didn’t look too tight.

“It’s a bit tight, but it’s fine. No, actually it’s not fine?”

As Shin Tae-oh changed his words and looked down at himself, Se-hyun tightly clenched his fist with the urge to lift Shin Tae-oh’s face up.

‘You pervert cat, raise your head.’

“It hurts.”

“Then I’ll go out and buy you new ones right now.”

“The waistbands are hurting.”

“…”

Whether the waistband was crushing his hip bone or not.

Se-hyun ignored Shin Tae-oh and sat down on the floor again. As he took out his phone to message Lee Jin-ho, Shin Tae-oh sat down beside him.

“The floor is hard, so sit on the bed.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m contacting the Chie Secretary. Letting him know I can’t return to the office today and that I’ll be in early tomorrow.”

“Hmm.”

Shin Tae-oh turned his head from the phone and looked at Se-hyun.

Seeing his gaze, Se-hyun took his eyes off her phone and looked at Shin Tae-oh. Droplets falling from his wet hair plopped onto the towel draped around his neck that read ‘Sports Day.’

“What time are you going tomorrow?”

The minty toothpaste smell wafted from Tae-oh. With a towel labeled “Sports Day” wrapped around his neck, the man was smiling innocently. Se-hyun didn’t know how to handle him.

“I will leave early. Early.”

Se-hyun turned away from Shin Tae-oh and almost buried his face in his phone.

“Alright. Then let’s have some fun tonight.”

Shin Tae-oh quickly gave up and lifted his head from Se-hyun, though their bodies still touched.

“Want to watch a movie?”

Shin Tae-oh, who said the simplest thing he could say, looked around the room and realized it was too late.

“Sorry, there’s no TV.”

“We can watch on the computer. These days, who says you have to watch on a TV?”

Unable to take it back, Shin Tae-oh hurriedly went to turn on the computer himself, unaware of the way Se-hyun was looking at him.

‘What should I do with this Taenyang?’

A sigh escaped as Se-hyun watched Shin Tae-oh crawl over to move the mouse. It was clear he didn’t want to leave after confessing to Se-hyun, but Se-hyun didn’t know how to handle it.

“Have you seen this movie?”

At Shin Tae-oh’s question, Se-hyun quickly composed himself and picked up his phone.

“I’ll look it up.”

“I asked if you’ve seen it…”

Shin Tae-oh asked curiously and soon found out the reason.

⍣⍣⍣

Shin Tae-oh was taken aback once more upon seeing the high-spec computer that Se-hyun only used for work. Finally, they started the movie. In the meantime, Se-hyun spread a blanket on the floor and neatly placed the freshly brewed coffee and two ramyun cups he had brought, just in case.

This was already Shin Tae-oh’s second cup of coffee since coming to Se-hyun’s place, which he sipped while focusing on the movie. The movie Shin Tae-oh had chosen was an action film they could watch casually.

It was showing the story during the peaceful moment before the protagonist goes to confront the villain.

When the scene displayed the protagonist and his lover gazing at each other lovingly and sharing a sweet kiss, Shin Tae-oh cleared his throat awkwardly.

“That’s, uh, pretty intense.”

“She dies.”

“Dies?”

“That lover… Sorry, do you dislike spoilers by any chance?”

“No, not really…”

Upon hearing Shin Tae-oh’s response, Se-hyun continued what he was saying.

“That person dies.”

Shin Tae-oh tilted his head and looked at the movie and Se-hyun alternately. Se-hyun thought he was asking for more information from that gaze, so he summarized the story he had read without taking his eyes off his phone.

“The lover’s death becomes the catalyst that drives the protagonist.”

“Did you look it up beforehand?”

Wasn’t he asking about the plot?

Though Se-hyun wondered if he shouldn’t have mentioned the lover’s death, since Tae-oh didn’t seem bothered, he soon explained further.

“Yes. I prefer to know the outcome before watching.”

Shin Tae-oh closed his mouth for a moment as if he couldn’t understand, and then asked belatedly.

“Really? Don’t people usually prefer not knowing the plot beforehand? I’m not saying that’s me, just generally speaking.”

Se-hyun looked up from his phone and made eye contact with Shin Tae-oh.

“It’s more fun knowing to watch what’s going to happen.”

It’s not like I’m just watching over you for no reason.