DP Side Story Episode 9

Deep Pivot Side Story, Episode 9

…If Jeong-woo is discharged and comes home, which room should I give him?

The second floor would be hard for him to go up and down, so it has to be a room on the first floor. A spacious one that gets plenty of sunlight, with the wallpaper changed to his favorite color. We’d go around together picking out furniture.

Seo-joon, who had idly looked around the guest room a bit away from the kitchen, was getting excited on his own, arranging things like Jeong-woo’s dream bunk bed and desk in his mind. Nothing had been confirmed yet, but in his heart, Jeong-woo was already living in this house—growing up healthy, running around, and full of life far into the future.

And when he grows a little older and starts to guard his privacy like it’s life or death, then they could move his room to the second floor. Friends would probably visit often too, so maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to set up a home theater in one of the spare rooms.

It’d be good to start checking out nearby schools now, to find the closest one… Crash! A loud thud echoed from the bedroom, as if something had fallen over.

“Lieutenant…!”

Reflexively, Seo-joon turned his head toward the shadow darting out from the bedroom. Yeon-woo, who had suddenly come up close in a few quick strides, grabbed his shoulders tightly. He’s awake again. Caught off guard, Seo-joon awkwardly opened his mouth.

“Yeon-woo, you’re awake—”

“Where were you going without saying anything?!”

Yeon-woo suddenly shouted. Huff… Maybe he startled himself with the volume of his voice—he sucked in a breath and quickly pressed his lips shut.

“……”

A sudden silence fell. Seo-joon gently took his hand and spoke as calmly as he could.

“…I just came out to get a drink of water. Where else would I go, in this house?”

Yeon-woo’s eyes flickered with confusion as they glanced at the cup in Seo-joon’s hand. The hand holding him was trembling. He lowered his head and let out a long sigh, then after a few seconds, looked up again.

“You scared me. Suddenly, without saying anything… D-Don’t do that. I was so scared. Please wake me up, whenever you’re going somewhere… always…”

The words tumbled out without any order. Even in the darkness, his glossy, tear-filled eyes clearly shook with distress. Seo-joon reached out and wiped the corner of his eye. Yeon-woo’s lips, clenched as if holding back tears, trembled faintly.

“…Yeon-woo.”

Just as Seo-joon, having realized the source of the recent sense of wrongness, was about to say something and set the cup down—

“Ah.”

With a short groan, that large shadow suddenly collapsed downward. Alarmed, Seo-joon quickly rushed over to him.

“Ugh…”

Yeon-woo, now sitting on the floor clutching his left ankle, let out a painful moan as his face twisted in agony.

---

“It’s just a slight sprain, I’m fine.”

Seo-joon heard those infuriating words from above. Kneeling in front of Yeon-woo, he pressed an ice pack to the swollen ankle. Yeon-woo kept flinching and pulling his foot away, making him even more irritated.

With a quiet sigh, Seo-joon firmly held onto the escaping foot.

“Ah, ah… It hurts, it hurts, Lieutenant…”

“And you’re saying you’re fine like this?”

Tsk. Seo-joon clicked his tongue irritably as he examined Yeon-woo’s ankle. Yeon-woo, now sitting on the bed and looking down at him, pressed his lips together, at a loss for what to say.

For the first time since returning home, a cold silence fell between the two of them.

“…You know there’s a problem, right, Yeon-woo?”

“I’ll feel better after I get some sleep.”

“I wasn’t talking about your ankle.”

Seo-joon, who had been wrapping the bandage, lifted his head to look at him.

“Would it be easier on you if I just tied myself to the bed?”

“……”

“If that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”

Yeon-woo’s lips stayed tightly shut, showing no sign of opening no matter what Seo-joon said. After a long pause, he finally murmured sullenly.

“…You don’t have to do that. I’ll just endure it.”

“Endure what?”

“……”

“Yeon-woo, have you been putting up with all this discomfort without saying anything to me?”

No matter how hard he tried, Seo-joon couldn’t keep his voice soft. Finishing the bandage with a knot, he took a moment to calm down, then sat next to Yeon-woo.

“Come here.”

He opened his arms. Yeon-woo glanced at him, then abruptly turned his head away.

“Come on, hurry and let me hold you. You’ve turned me into a nervous wreck. My heart’s so tiny now I probably won’t be able to drink alcohol ever again.”

“……”

“If you don’t come to me, I’ll go to you. And if I do, it’s not going to end with just a hug. Are you okay with that?”

One second, two, three… Yeon-woo’s body, which had remained still, slowly leaned toward him. Still holding his arms open, Seo-joon patiently waited, then wrapped his arms tightly around the large body that finally slumped into his embrace.

For a while, he gently stroked Yeon-woo’s back and ran his fingers through his hair again and again. As he combed through the soft, curly strands with his fingers, Seo-joon spoke in a much gentler tone.

“You weren’t this sensitive back in the hospital.”

“At the center, there were… a lot of people who’d go find you and bring you back to me if you tried to run.”

He said run, not disappear.

“But here at home… if you leave without a word, I have no way of finding you on my own.”

Unbelievable. Seo-joon tilted Yeon-woo’s chin up to make him meet his gaze and asked, half-dumbfounded:

“You really think I’d leave? Leave you behind?”

Yeon-woo looked up at him with those round, gentle eyes.

“…You already did once, didn’t you?”

Seo-joon was left speechless. Yeon-woo lowered his eyes and leaned his head once again against Seo-joon’s chest.

You really hold a grudge,Yeon-woo.

Seo-joon let out a short, breathy laugh. But there wasn’t the slightest trace of amusement on his face. Brow furrowed, he opened his mouth with a feeling of dismay.

“Yeon-woo… do you not trust me?”

Distrust between lovers is a serious issue. Even Seo-joon, with no experience in romance, knew that much. The thought that Cha Yeon-woo might not trust him made him feel a deep sense of crisis.

“I do trust you, Lieutenant. If I didn’t, who else could I trust…? But.”

And then, Yeon-woo gave an answer he hadn’t expected.

“Other than you, I don’t trust anything else.”

Yeon-woo lifted his head and met Seo-joon’s gaze. Seo-joon slowly brushed back the hair covering his forehead, waiting for what he would say next.

“There are just… too many things in the world we can’t control. If something like that happens again someday… I don’t have the power to protect you.”

“……”

“I’ve been so happy lately… And maybe that’s why I’m so scared and anxious. I’m afraid that it’ll all disappear while I sleep.”

You’re not just some no-named guy anymore, Lieutenant. If you disappear, who’s going to help me? Or maybe… this is all just a dream. What if I wake up and you’re not there anymore? What would I do then?

“So… if a moment ever comes where you have to make that kind of choice again, I want you to take me with you.”

Seo-joon pressed a kiss to his tear-filled eyes and let out a long sigh. Right—no matter how strong Cha Yeon-woo may be, there are bound to be moments like this.

They’d been through a huge event, and what happened in the past couldn’t simply be erased. At twenty years old—an age where even a normal relationship could feel overwhelming—Cha Yeon-woo had endured incredibly heavy burdens.

Seo-joon chose his words carefully.

“I told you… no matter what happens, I’ll never let go and I’ll stay by your side forever.”

That promise—one he’d make a hundred times without growing tired—settled gently beside Yeon-woo’s eyes with a soft kiss.

“I didn’t say that just to sound good, you know.”

Cha Yeon-woo. To Ji Seo-joon, that name was another word for love.

“At the time, I didn’t abandon you. I know it probably sounds like bullshit to you, but…”

He was someone who overturned every definition of love Seo-joon had ever known.

Like Christmas appearing out of nowhere in the middle of summer. A person who sparkled like a December tree—bittersweet and bright. Someone who gave him excitement he’d never dared expect, someone who shone so dazzlingly that he couldn’t help but want to hold him in his arms.

If you could gather all the love in the world and shape it into one form, it would probably look like Cha Yeon-woo. That’s how much Cha Yeon-woo meant to Ji Seo-joon—he was an entire universe unto himself.

“The biggest reason I made that choice was because I wanted to create a safe world for you. …Because more than anything, I wanted you to be happy.”

“……”

“But now I understand. That was a mistake.”

Yes, the end of the disaster, the lives saved because of it, national peace—those were the reasons he gave himself, and perhaps they were true.

But in the end, the one Seo-joon had really wished for, all the way to the last second… was only Cha Yeon-woo.

“I’d rather die with you than ever leave you again.”

Now Seo-joon understood. Cha Yeon-woo’s happiness didn’t come from a safe life without him, but from a life with him—even if that life was hell.

“You think you could be happy without me?”

“……”

“When I get old, don’t toss me aside. I swear I’ll tie you up and keep you in bed for real if you do.”

Yeon-woo, who had been quietly listening, blushed at those words. And with the way the corners of his mouth kept twitching upward, it was clear he wasn’t even trying to hide it. Seo-joon looked at him in disbelief.

“Yeon-woo, come on. Blushing at this timing? You’re the one coming off like a pervert now.”

“You’re the one who said something weird first…”

Seo-joon let out a baffled laugh. Pressed back by Yeon-woo’s weight, he ended up lying down, and their lips met naturally as Yeon-woo leaned over him.

I’d never throw you away, Lieutenant. I love you so much… I feel like I might die from loving you—from head to toe, every part of you.
Lieutenant, Lieutenant… His soft, mumbled whispers echoed into Seo-joon’s lips.

Then, Seo-joon suddenly pulled away, his expression serious.

“I swear I just heard you call me ‘Master’ again.”

At that, Yeon-woo burst out laughing. Seo-joon’s lips relaxed too as he looked at that radiant face and teasingly urged him again.

“Come on, babe. Just say it.”

“Nope.”