By Zephyria 
Do-hyun hаd а somewhаt displeаsеd ехрrеssion. His еуеs were hаrdened, and his brоw was dеeрly furrоwed. Gа-rаm, ignоring his exрressiоn, replied grumрily.
“Geez, уou’re asking thе pеrsоn who just finished promoting tо make cоttоn саndу too?”
Dеspitе hеr words, she didn’t sееm genuinely upsеt. Rathеr, hеr lips werе full оf misсhiеf, аs if she fоund thе wholе thing hilarious. Soon, Ga-ram stоod up, gаve Do-hуun a light pat оn the shоulder, and sаuntеred off tоward the сustomеrs.
“Whеw.”
Do-hуun lеt out а light sigh аnd sweрt his bаngs bаck. His dishеvеled hаir rеvеаled a neat forehead. Woo-yeon stared blankly at Do-hyun before asking in a voice full of anticipation.
“Are you taking a break now?”
Do-hyun’s gaze shifted toward Woo-yeon. Because he had been making cotton candy continuously, a strong scent of sugar wafted from him. Perhaps because of that, his pheromones felt especially sweet today.
Do-hyun’s expression softened quickly as he pointed to the cotton candy Ga-ram had been holding.
“This.”
The cotton candy he pointed to was pink, resembling cherry blossoms. Since they had received a lot of pink sugar as a service, all the cotton candy Woo-yeon had eaten so far was the same color.
“The sugar has coloring in it, so if you eat it, it stains your mouth this color.”
“……Really?”
Woo-yeon’s eyes widened as he pulled out his phone. He opened his mouth to check his tongue, but the pitch-black screen didn’t reflect the color. Do-hyun took Woo-yeon’s phone, set it on the table, and spoke softly.
“The inside of your mouth is pink right now.”
Why did his stomach suddenly feel hot at those words? Why did that sweet, enveloping voice sound like a warning signal?
Before Woo-yeon could tightly shut his mouth, Do-hyun subtly wrapped his hand around Woo-yeon’s.
“Let’s go look around the festival.”
* * *
Exploring the festival with Do-hyun was more enjoyable than he had imagined. Having only attended events with his mother, Woo-yeon couldn’t hide his amazement as he looked at the street food lining the promenade.
Do-hyun put every food item Woo-yeon looked at with interest into his hands and finished it off by buying him a slushie.
“Is it good?”
Woo-yeon nodded and bit the end of the straw. The slushie in the transparent plastic cup was red on top and blue on the bottom. When Woo-yeon had hesitated between the two flavors, the student selling them had packed both, telling him to try each kind.
“Everyone seems to have prepared a lot.”
There were many types of food, from light Tteok Skewers to fried rice. What surprised Woo-yeon the most was the stir-fried blood sausage, but since Do-hyun shook his head, saying he wouldn’t be able to eat it, he didn’t bother trying it. Besides that, there were places selling knick-knacks and booths for tarot readings.
“Did they used to sell alcohol in places like this before?”
The stickers plastered all over the ground looked like they would be quite difficult to clean up later. Similarly, the flyers scattered here and there made him worry about the aftermath.
“No, they’ve always sold things like this on the promenade; the pubs were further down. They need more space because they have to prepare food and set up tables.”
“Do they make the food themselves?”
“Yeah, they do.”
“Did you do it too, Seonbae?”
“I mostly just did the serving.”
Do-hyun took the empty cup from Woo-yeon and tossed it into a nearby trash can. As Woo-yeon opened and closed his hand, which had grown cold from the slushie, Do-hyun naturally reached for his right hand. Their fingers interlaced, and the touch was so warm it felt as if it might burn.
“Before… Teacher once said he couldn’t come for tutoring because of the festival.”
As Woo-yeon spoke, he fidgeted with his earlobe with his free hand. His ears felt hot; if his hand hadn’t been cold, it might have been awkward. Since they had been walking hand-in-hand the whole time, he had grown used to the surrounding gazes, but the touching of their body heat was still awkward.
“Were you running a pub that day too?”
Do-hyun narrowed his eyes as if searching through his memories. His lips curled up slightly, as if he were thinking of something.
“I was. But I couldn’t concentrate at all.”
“Why?”
Do-hyun’s gaze followed the crown of Woo-yeon’s head. He spoke calmly, stroking the back of Woo-yeon’s hand with his thumb.
“Because you said you were home alone, and I was worried.”
That day had been a rare occasion where the employee left work early. Usually, they stayed until late, but on that particular day, they had rushed home, claiming there was a family matter. It was an unusual occurrence, and Woo-yeon had only realized it after arriving home.
“You hate being alone.”
Woo-yeon glanced at Do-hyun and then quickly lowered his head. ‘Worried.’ No matter when he heard it, it was a word that made his heart tickle. With the already sugary pheromones wafting around, hearing words like this made his mood feel melted and soft.
“Fortunately, we hit the break-even point quickly, so one of the Seonbaes sent me home. That Noona, Min-jeong.”
“Ah, I know her. Min-jeong Noona.”
Woo-yeon acknowledged her, recalling Min-jeong, who had mixed Somaek skillfully. Do-hyun paused for a moment and let out a barely audible chuckle.
“Since when did that Noona become your Noona?”
Woo-yeon looked beside him, but Do-hyun just shrugged, saying it was nothing. However, he tightened his grip on their joined hands, their fingers intertwining more deeply.
“Do you feel a bit better now?”
“My mood?”
Woo-yeon blinked and asked back. Do-hyun continued nonchalantly.
“Your expression was bad the whole time at the booth earlier.”
At Do-hyun’s words, Woo-yeon looked startled. He thought Do-hyun had been too busy selling cotton candy to notice, but it seemed he had seen it after all.
“Ah, that…”
“What didn’t you like?”
“It was nothing.”
Woo-yeon replied calmly, pretending he was truly fine. In reality, he did feel better, and he couldn’t even put a proper name to the reason for his displeasure. Who was he to explain this emotion to Do-hyun?
“……Really?”
Do-hyun asked back in a subtle voice and remained silent for a long while. His dark eyes were filled with an unreadable emotion. Woo-yeon avoided eye contact and pretended to look at the various booths.
“I was jealous.”
The soft voice spoke. Woo-yeon instinctively looked up at Do-hyun. Do-hyun gripped Woo-yeon’s hand tightly and spoke quietly.
“It bothered me that you took and ate what Mungaram gave you. I did.”
“…….”
His voice wouldn’t come out, as if his throat were blocked. Jealousy. Those two syllables pricked the area around his chest. The emotion Woo-yeon felt, and the emotion Do-hyun was talking about. Two things with the same name swirled in his head.
“I’ll ask again, Yeon-ah.”
“…….”
“What didn’t you like?”
Only after a long time did Woo-yeon begin to speak in a small, hesitant voice. It was the same thing he had said while complaining about Do-hyun to Seon-kyu once.
“I don’t like it when… you force yourself to smile.”
He thought it was fine for others to show interest. Do-hyun was a wonderful and handsome person by anyone’s standards. But Do-hyun showing a smile to the other person was a separate matter.
“I know you can’t help it, but you don’t need to smile out of pretense.”
“…….”
Despite being the one to ask him to speak, Do-hyun showed no reaction. After looking blankly for a moment, he slowly opened his mouth.
“That’s interesting.”
‘What is?’ There was no need to ask. Stopping his steps and meeting Woo-yeon’s eyes, he asked in a low voice.
“Can you tell the difference?”
Woo-yeon shut his mouth, unable to find an answer. As if he hadn’t expected an answer anyway, Do-hyun soon started walking again. With his other hand in his pocket, he spoke calmly.
“Anyway… if there’s something you want to say, don’t hide it. Even small things, if you keep them inside, will eventually fester.”
“…….”
“I don’t know about others, but you, Woo-yeon, can do that with me.”
The words were so tender they made his eyes sting. Woo-yeon instinctively gripped Do-hyun’s hand tightly. Instead of pulling away, Do-hyun smiled beautifully.
“That’s what dating is.”
It felt strange. Until a moment ago, his heart had ached, but now it felt languidly relaxed. The fragrant pheromones also played a part in soothing Woo-yeon’s heart.
Feeling his own pheromones waver, Woo-yeon asked cautiously.
“Will you do that too, Seonbae?”
The answer was strangely delayed. His expression seemed to change, but it was a change too small to point out. Do-hyun nodded with his usual kind smile.
“I will.”
After that, they wandered through every corner of the campus. They looked at caricatures and calligraphy done by art students and browsed through tattoo stickers. Woo-yeon thought of the tattoo on Do-hyun’s back, then shook his head as a series of memories followed.
“I heard some idol came; do you want to go see the performance?”
“No, I’m not interested in celebrities.”
Since he didn’t watch TV, he didn’t even know who the celebrities were. There would be a lot of people where the performance was held, and he absolutely hated being squeezed into a crowd. Do-hyun had only asked out of courtesy and seemed to have expected Woo-yeon to refuse.
“Then let’s head back now. We should see how the booth is doing.”
Without further word, Woo-yeon turned back with Do-hyun. He had seen enough of the sights and tried all the food. He was sad that their time alone was ending, but he couldn’t just slack off forever.
“Are we drinking after the festival ends?”
“Yeah, I’m having an after-party with the club members. Other Seonbaes will come too.”
Do-hyun mentioned Min-jeong and Seong-jae, and also brought up a new person named ‘Choi Tae-gyeom.’ He mentioned that Yun-woo Hyung was coming, so that Hyung might be the one to pick him up, showing a slightly reluctant expression.
“We always have an after-party when the festival ends. Normally we’d drink at the club pub, but today we’re going to a bar.”
“Then Seonbae, before, did you skip the after-party to come to my house?”
“Well… there are always drinking parties.”
Nodding slowly, Woo-yeon suddenly felt something strange and blinked. The fact that he had given up the after-party to come to him was touching, but he felt a sense of dissonance, as if he had missed something.
‘What is it?’
It had already been four years. While the image of Teacher crossing the garden was vivid, everything else was blurry. He only remembered that many bad things had happened and that he had become completely fine thanks to Do-hyun.
“Don’t eat anything strange if Mungaram gives it to you again,”
“She didn’t give me anything strange earlier.”
Well, it must be his imagination. Woo-yeon thought so, shaking off the lingering uneasiness. Now that he was holding hands with Do-hyun, the present was as sweet as cotton candy. It felt as if nothing else mattered.