ETP Ch 14

Bokseung held out both hands, asking for the 50,000 won, the corners of his mouth lifted in a grin he no longer bothered to hide. Hwang Yoohyun, watching his expression, suddenly folded the bill and put it back in his pocket.

No, why give and take back?!

Sungyeon inwardly raged. Hwang Yoohyun was a barbarian who didn’t hesitate to do the world’s cheapest deeds.

“Ah, no!”

At Bokseung’s urgent cry for the 50,000 won, Hwang Yoohyun simply pressed the elevator button.

Yoohyun scoffed, watching Bokseung beside him, eyes filled with the injustice of having his money snatched away.

“Looking at you, I bet you were planning to hop on the bus the moment you got that 50,000 won. I’ll make sure you get in a taxi safely, so follow me.”

Yoohyun’s pointed words shut Bokseung’s mouth. Yoo Sunjung, who had been watching the whole scene unfold beside them, was busy doubling over with laughter.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

Bokseung’s disgruntled expression remained until the moment he got into the taxi. Yoohyun practically shoved him into the back seat and even asked the driver to take good care of him.

After the taxi drove off, a sigh escaped Yoohyun’s lips, who had spoken significantly more than usual. His jaw felt sore.

Back at the apartment, Sunjung was giggling while feeding Yuja.

“You go too.”

Annoyed by the sight, Yoohyun kicked Yoo Sunjung’s door-sized back as he squatted.

“Ouch!”

The man, feigning pain despite the lack of impact, abruptly turned around and grinned. His half-lidded eyes seemed to have a lot to say.

Not in the mood to indulge him, Yoohyun simply picked up the cat, ignoring the lingering gaze.

Sunjung quickly followed his friend, who was pointedly ignoring him.

“So, did you get him home safe and sound?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you get the taxi number? You should always get the taxi number when you do that.”

Yoohyun’s brows furrowed at the incessant nagging coming from behind him.

“Worry about yourself.”

“Me? I’m always, constantly, invariably doing well.”

At Sunjung’s retort, one corner of Yoohyun’s mouth lifted in a clear sneer.

“And that’s why you caused trouble at the club and ran off to Japan?”

Sunjung’s playful expression vanished at Yoohyun’s words.

“Ran off?! Me? Damn it, I didn’t run off! I gave my lawyer time to sort things out!”

“So why should someone else clean up your mess?”

“Why? Because that’s their job. That’s what I pay them for.”

It was a shameless reply. Yoohyun’s expression grew colder at his words, and Sunjung shrugged.

“What do I expect from a homebody, hikikomori, and self-righteous prick. Hwang Yoohyun, let’s drop it, okay?”

“If you don’t want to hear me go on, then get out.”

“No way, I’m sleeping here and going to Kim Bokseung’s PC bang tomorrow.”

Seeing Sunjung’s sly expression, Yoohyun carefully placed Yuja on the floor before kicking his shin mercilessly.

Sunjung jumped in place from the pain, which was incomparable to getting hit on the back. As usual, all sorts of curses poured out of his mouth.

Yoohyun’s face became calmer as he listened to the barrage of insults.

This was the real Yoo Sunjung. The guy who was with Kim Bokseung earlier was like a ghost wearing Yoo Sunjung’s skin. In other words, it didn’t resemble his usual behavior at all.

“Don’t even think about causing a scene there.”

“What scene! Didn’t you hear Bokseung earlier? He invited us!”

“Do you really think he meant it?”

The two, bickering as they reached the kitchen, naturally opened the refrigerator and grabbed some soju.

“And don’t go picking on some innocent person again.”

“Hey, at the club, it wasn’t me picking on some innocent person, it was some half-witted alpha being a dick, so I had to step in.”

Yoohyun’s eyebrows twitched at Sunjung’s words. Seeing his expression, Sunjung recounted the incident in detail.

To summarize, a lowly alpha, flaunting his pathetic superiority, had picked a fight with Sunjung’s group, and a physical altercation ensued while trying to stop him.

“You did well then.”

Whether he was a homebody or a self-righteous prick, Hwang Yoohyun was still an alpha. He wouldn’t look kindly on alphas who acted like dicks either.

“Right. And I definitely didn’t start it. That bastard hit my shoulder first.”

Yoo Sunjung showed his left shoulder. All that was visible, however, were his sturdy deltoids and biceps.

“But, that’s that, and you have four gaming monitors at your place. Didn’t you tell me you bought them because you didn’t want to go to PC bangs?”

Yoohyun’s sharp words made Yoo Sunjung flinch, but he quickly regained his composure.

“Hey, look at Bokseung. Isn’t it admirable and cute how hard he’s working at that age, all alone? I’m just going to play games quietly and boost the store’s sales a little.”

“If you boost the sales, Kim Bokseung will be super busy, and only the owner will benefit.”

It was true, but Sunjung was incredibly annoyed by Hwang Yoohyun’s condescending look. Showing his displeasure, Sunjung downed his soju shot with an irritated gesture.

Unfazed, Yoohyun, who had been quietly emptying his own glass, clicked his tongue.

“Please, evolve into a human being, Yoo Sunjung. Isn’t the world too smart for you to live solely on instincts? How are you going to survive in engineering school after you return?”

“Wow, this annoying bastard.”

The guy who barely spoke in front of others was relentlessly hitting him with facts, making him feel embarrassed. Sunjung was about to explode with frustration.

But the fact that he couldn’t win against him in either a verbal or physical fight, regardless of the situation, made him even more furious.

Sunjung prayed to the god of soju for someone to appear who could make this bastard grovel.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

Sungyeon looked at the t-shirt he was about to change into. This time, it was a light pink hoodie.

Although the boy’s wardrobe contained plain, neutral-colored clothes, Sungyeon always reached for the brightly colored ones first.

Objectively, it was a huge blessing to be able to pull off clothes of this color.

The satisfaction he felt wearing styles he wouldn’t have even dared to try as Lee Sungyeon was immense!

“Pretty!”

It was the phrase he uttered every time he looked in the mirror after getting dressed, never tiring of it.

Sungyeon, giggling as he complimented himself, twirled in place. His brown hair fluttered lightly and then settled with his movements. Raising his right hand to stroke his hair, Sungyeon took half a suppressant before he forgot.

He had only taken half a pill in the morning, so he had to remember to take the other half in the afternoon.

Bokseung’s pheromones were sweet and pleasant, so Sungyeon tried not to take suppressants when he was at home. However, since he worked part-time even on weekends, he had to take them every day without fail.

It was a little disappointing that he couldn’t even smell Bokseung’s sweet pheromones at home.

But he couldn’t stop taking the suppressants. If he did, those wolf-like, dark alphas might catch the boy’s scent and come running, and that was absolutely unacceptable.

He had to protect Bokseung until he got a good job and settled down, and then meet a lovely woman.

Having reaffirmed his resolve, Sungyeon left his room. It was nearing 6 p.m., his part-time shift at the PC bang.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

Arriving at the PC bang on time, Sungyeon received the handover and quickly got to work.

Working part-time from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m., five days a week, was harder than he thought.

It was especially draining after 10 p.m., when he had to wrestle with the young kids to get them to go home.

It was also common for them to order food late and then cause a fuss, claiming they hadn’t finished eating. Because of this, he had to announce the time while serving food after 9 p.m.

“Goodbye!”

A long sigh escaped Bokseung’s lips after seeing off the last students at 9:59 p.m.

Fortunately, everyone had left more politely than usual today. A few days ago, a huge kid had stubbornly refused to leave and even cursed, forcing him to call Hyungseop a bit early.

In the meantime, several food orders had piled up on the monitor. He wondered if he was working at a PC bang or a snack bar.

Anyway, since there were orders, he had to move quickly. He cooked ramen, prepared caffeine potions, and fried nuggets.

He was in the middle of cleaning up after dealing with the rush of orders.

“Bokseung!”

A loud voice called out from behind him.

Sungyeon, wearing rubber gloves, turned around at the now-familiar name.

Standing there were unexpected figures.

“Huh?”

Sungyeon stared blankly.

One of them waved his hand, cackling, while the other twitched his eyebrow as if he had expected this.

The cackling one was Yoo Sunjung, looking like a black bear in his all-black tracksuit. The one twitching his eyebrow was Hwang Yoohyun, looking like a model in his ivory knit and black jeans.

“Hyung’s here!”

Sunjung waved both hands.

Looking at the unlikely duo, Sungyeon thought, both Hwang Yoohyun and Yoo Sunjung were alike in their incredible ability to take action.

It hadn’t even been 24 hours since he casually invited them to the PC bang, and here they were. Honestly, it was completely unexpected.

He thought that these young men were, in a way, quite pure, for taking a passing comment seriously and coming all the way to the PC bang to keep their promise.

But perhaps his thoughts were too visible on his face, as Yoohyun’s expression grew increasingly menacing.

“You look like you hate that we actually came after you waited so long?”

It was a perfect answer.