PSY CH 116

When Dohyun arrived home, he paused at the sight of the brightly lit living room. He was sure he had turned the lights off before leaving. Then he remembered that Jooyoung had said he’d come home first. As he stepped into the living room, Jooyoung turned to him, sensing his presence.

“You’re back.”  

It made him feel strange. The fact that Jooyoung was at home waiting for him, the way he casually asked “You’re back.”—it was all too normal, and that made it even weirder. Feeling awkward for no reason, Dohyun rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. The cold sensation of the ring touched his skin, and that made things feel even stranger.

When Jooyoung said he’d grant any wish Dohyun had, he honestly didn’t completely believe him. He thought maybe it was just a fleeting mood, something he’d soon take back and pretend never happened. So Dohyun had forced himself not to expect too much. But Jooyoung started following through on his words, one by one.

It started with the rings.

There were plenty of jewelry shops in Maeyang, but since it was such a small town, they decided to go to Busan just in case. 

That’s when Dohyun first learned that you had to wait in line just to enter the store, and that you couldn’t even receive the rings immediately. In some cases, you had to wait months. Thankfully, they were able to pick theirs up just a few days later.

It was all a novel experience for Dohyun—and one that made him feel small. Jooyoung knew all of this stuff, while he knew nothing. His own clumsiness and inexperience made him feel inadequate. And yet, wearing matching rings with Jooyoung made him genuinely happy.

Jooyoung teasing him about going on little outings whenever they had time, or sitting together at a seaside café—things that wouldn’t have meant much before seemed so much interesting now, like someone had painted them in new colors.

“What are you doing?”

Jooyoung, sitting on the floor beneath the couch, glanced briefly at Dohyun before turning his gaze back to his phone. His thumb was moving busily, as if texting someone.

“You seem busy.” Dohyun tried to sound casual as he asked.

Jooyoung shook his head and replied, “No.”

“…Who is it?”

He couldn’t bring himself to ask directly who Jooyoung was texting so intently, so he only asked vaguely. Jooyoung’s thumb stopped, and he suddenly stretched out his phone toward Dohyun.

“Wanna see?”

“…”

“You can take a look.”

“Why would I look at that?”

Unlike the flustered Dohyun, Jooyoung was perfectly calm.

“Because you look like you want to take a look at it.”

“It’s not like that…”

Dohyun tried to scurry away, but then something about how naturally Jooyoung offered his phone made him pause.

“…Are you always this open to anyone else?”

Once he said it, it came out sounding accusatory. Like he was bringing up the past. And to be fair, there had been times he got angry about this before.

“I mean, it’s just…”

He hurried to take back his words, but Jooyoung suddenly gestured for him to come closer. Dohyun hesitated, then slowly approached.

“Are you jealous?”

“…”

“I told you, you don’t have to be.”

Dohyun’s face turned red in an instant. Muttering a quiet curse under his breath, he tried to flee, but Jooyoung caught him. Dohyun leaned back, trying to avoid him, but Jooyoung pursued him persistently.

“Ah, stop it. Don’t look at me.”

He didn’t even try to push Jooyoung’s hand away, and yet he couldn’t meet his eyes either. It was hilarious. Jooyoung laughed, showing his white teeth.

After calming down a bit, Jooyoung pulled Dohyun to sit beside him. When he leaned his head on Dohyun’s shoulder, the latter flinched. Jooyoung didn’t stop there—he took Dohyun’s hand and laced their fingers together. Dohyun’s hand was rough and firm, unlike his. Jooyoung found the texture interesting and traced the bony ridge on the back of his hand with his thumb.

“…”

Though he couldn’t see Dohyun’s expression with his head turned away, the bright red ears said enough—he was flustered. Even after everything they’d done, just holding hands still threw him off.

“Arin wants to have a farewell party,” Jooyoung said with a faint smile.

“…A farewell party?”

“Yeah. She said she’s moving.”

“…”

“So, can we have one?”

Dohyun looked confused as to why Jooyoung was asking for permission.

“Do what you want.”

“Really? You’re not jealous?”

Only then did he realize Jooyoung was teasing him, and he immediately scowled.

“Stop teasing me already.”

“Then stop reacting so cutely.”

“Oh, damn it. Seriously.”

Dohyun seemed genuinely to have zero resistance to the word cute. Every time Jooyoung said it, he’d freak out. Now that he thought about it, everyone in Maeyang—guys and girls alike—reacted the same way to being called cute. Like they’d just heard the most bizarre, outrageous thing.

As Jooyoung laughed to himself over Dohyun’s reaction, he suddenly realized something: lately, he’d been thinking that Dohyun was cute.

Quite often, actually. Maybe even… every single day.

Once he realized it, Jooyoung felt strange.

He stared at Dohyun blankly, then flinched slightly, trying to brush away the unfamiliar feeling by changing the subject.

“Do you think we could go to Seoul this week?”

“Seoul?”

“Yeah.”

Dohyun asked what he meant all of a sudden. Jooyoung briefly summarized the conversation he had with Hangyeol, and Dohyun stared at the floor with a stiff expression. After a moment of silence, his low voice broke the quiet.

“Is there any reason we have to do what he asks?” 

There was, but Jooyoung couldn’t say it out loud. While he hesitated, Dohyun spoke first. 

“If he’s just trying to force something, I’ll go talk to him myself.”

“Huh? Oh…”

“Don’t let him manipulate you. There’s no reason for that.”

Jooyoung remembered when Hangyeol had once come to the arcade and asked Dohyun if he was interested in being set up with a girl. It was clearly a jab meant to get at Jooyoung, and everyone there, including Jooyoung himself, understood that. Dohyun must have thought Hangyeol was up to something similar now, making a shady request just to interfere. 

“It’s not like that.”

Still, Dohyun didn’t seem convinced. Jooyoung started to worry that this might just make things worse. After a bit of thought, he carefully added, “Hangyeol’s mom also asked me to.”

Since he couldn’t reveal the whole truth, he had coordinated the story with Hangyeol in advance. He didn’t want to lie to Dohyun, but there was no other choice.

Dohyun went silent, deep in thought.

“…Fine.”

“Thanks.”

Jooyoung leaned over and planted a kiss on Dohyun’s cheek. Caught off guard, Dohyun pulled his head back in surprise.

“At least give me a heads-up…”

Feeling awkward, he rubbed at his jawline for no reason. Jooyoung laughed at the sight of it. Seeing Jooyoung smile so brightly, Dohyun forced himself to press down the mix of emotions swirling inside him.

Going to Seoul, out of nowhere…

He’d known for a long time that Hangyeol wanted to visit Seoul. But he never expected him to ask Jooyoung for it. Above all else, it was the idea of Seoul that got under his skin.

The city where Jooyoung had once lived, before everything fell apart—a place untouched by the salty, humid scent of their seaside town. Dohyun had no desire to go there.

It felt like that vast city might steal Jooyoung away from him.

***

The drive from Maeyang to Seoul took approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes. If they stopped at rest areas or got caught in rush hour traffic, it could easily stretch beyond 5 hours.

The car was filled with an awkward silence.

In the past, Hangyeol would’ve filled the air with nonstop chatter, never giving silence a chance. But ever since they left, he’d kept his mouth firmly shut. He occasionally chatted with Dohyun, but barely exchanged a word with Jooyoung.

Jooyoung suddenly found it funny that they ended up going to Seoul like this. It was a place he used to obsessively want to return to, but now he felt light, even carefree. It felt more like a casual outing to a theme park. Or maybe like being a kindergarten teacher escorting kids on a field trip.

Hangyeol pretended otherwise, but his excitement about going to Seoul was obvious. Though his mouth was shut, his eyes sparkled as he searched things nonstop on his phone.

“Are you not tired?”

“Nope.”

Dohyun took a sip of coffee, then placed the cup in the holder. Jooyoung glanced back at Hangyeol in the rear seat, then carefully reached out to hold Dohyun’s right hand.

Startled, Dohyun looked at him. Jooyoung gently kneaded his palm, loosening the stiff muscles. Though they hadn’t gone to the hospital, the injury was thankfully healing quickly. Jooyoung hadn’t planned on letting Dohyun drive, but the guy had been stubborn about it, leaving him with no choice.

“Ahem!”

A fake cough rang out from the backseat. When Jooyoung turned around, Hangyeol had his face buried in his phone, clearly faking a cough on purpose.

Dohyun quickly pulled his hand away. His earlobes had turned a bright, glowing red.