By Zephyria 
More than three hours had passed since Haon arrived at the shop. Because it was the weekend, time flew by as he dealt with the flood of customers.
“That’s enough, let’s eat. We’ll be eating past ten at this rate.”
When the tables became a bit quieter, Hyung-cheol came out carrying a large frying pan and gathered the part-time employees. Tonight’s dinner menu was kimchi fried rice with plenty of Spam.
“Ah, I’m not eating. I’m on a diet.”
Despite saying that, Tae-hwi grabbed a spoon and licked his lips. He waved the spoon at Haon, who was wringing out a dishcloth, telling him to hurry over.
“Jeong Haon, come quickly. You’ve got to eat before the customers come back.”
“I’m okay. I already ate.”
Haon squeezed the water out of the cloth and neatly stacked the dishes he had taken out of the dishwasher. Even seeing the appetizingly fried eggs didn’t stir any appetite in him.
“Hyung, you should still have some dinner.”
Ho-yeong, who had just finished clearing the tables of the customers who had left, spoke up. He took the dishes Haon had stacked and placed them on the shelf. Even though he hadn’t been told, he intuitively figured out where the dishes belonged and organized them. Despite his young age, he seemed very proficient at restaurant work.
“I had a lot for lunch, so I’m still full. Ho-yeong, you go ahead and eat.”
Haon told him to go eat, saying he would handle the rest. Even though they hadn’t been talking for long, he felt quite comfortable around Ho-yeong. It was thanks to Ho-yeong’s easygoing nature.
“You have to work until dawn, so please have at least one bite.”
“I’m fine. Just eat a lot on my behalf.”
When Haon waved him off, a disappointed Ho-yeong nodded.
“Alright. Hyung, tell me later if you get hungry. I have plenty of snacks in my bag.”
Haon had wondered why his bag was so large; it seemed he carried snacks.
Haon smiled, finding it cute that Ho-yeong kept calling him “Hyung.” Despite his large frame, his behavior and way of speaking felt like that of a much younger brother.
He wondered if Seong-gu hyung felt the same way when looking at him. He finally began to understand a bit why Seong-gu hyung, who was three years older, treated him like a child.
Tap, tap. After finishing the dishes, Haon stood for a moment and patted his aching lower back. He hadn’t noticed it while he was busy, but now that he was still, the pain spreading through his body became more distinct.
“Haon, don’t just stand there, sit down.”
“Yeah, come over here.”
Hyung-cheol and Tae-hwi called to him. Since it didn’t seem like any more orders were coming in, there was no need for Haon to keep standing.
“I’ll be back in a second, I’m going to the storage room.”
Instead of going to them, Haon asked for their understanding and headed toward the narrow storage room. Usually, he would sit in a chair and catch his breath whenever he had a free moment, but he couldn’t do that now.
“Aigoo…”
He groaned softly, rubbing his lower back like an old man.
In his heart, Haon wanted to sit down immediately, but his body wasn’t in a state to handle a hard chair. It was actually better to stand with his upper body bent over.
I hope it didn’t tear.
He started to get anxious because the pain down below wasn’t subsiding as quickly as usual. Normally, the day after a deep sleep, there wasn’t much discomfort when sitting or walking. Moreover, he had been perfectly fine while drinking yesterday, so why…
“What are you doing?”
Haon, who had been chewing over the memories of last night, flinched and staggered when Tae-hwi suddenly walked in. Tae-hwi narrowed his sharp eyes and scanned the complexion of Haon, who was leaning against the wall.
“Does your back hurt?”
“No, I was just leaning over. Stretching.”
He awkwardly swayed his waist from side to side, pretending to loosen his muscles.
With a deep sigh, Tae-hwi closed the storage room door and crossed his arms. Throughout the shift, he had told Haon to just go home if it was too hard, but Haon stubbornly insisted on staying until closing. For someone so gentle, he was surprisingly stubborn.
“Are you really okay?”
Tae-hwi slightly lowered the mask Haon was wearing and carefully checked the bruising again.
“Did you report it to the police?”
He blocked the way, looking as if he wouldn’t let Haon leave until he got an answer. Since Haon seemed uncomfortable, he didn’t ask for detailed circumstances, but he wanted to know if the bastard who hit him had been properly punished.
“That person handled it well…”
“The Lamborghini?”
When Haon nodded, Tae-hwi rubbed his chin with a “Hmm,” and his expression softened slightly.
“I guess you two are on good terms.”
“He’s very kind to me.”
The moment he thought of In-ho, Haon’s expression brightened. The corners of his mouth, which rose unconsciously, practically danced.
“Jeong Haon, you…”
Seeing this, Tae-hwi grinned and made a motion to pinch Haon’s cheek.
“You said it wasn’t that kind of relationship. You’re completely head over heels.”
Until last week, Haon had denied it whenever Tae-hwi tried to link them together. But now, he didn’t even argue against Tae-hwi’s words and simply blushed.
“I… I like him.”
It was the first time he had uttered the confession out loud. As soon as the words left his mouth, he was overcome with shyness and pulled the mask up to his eyes. Because of that, his half-exposed mouth clearly showed that he was smiling.
He had never told anyone he liked them in his entire life. Just by saying the words, he felt a ticklish sensation in his chest, as if a feather had landed there.
“Well, of course you would. How could you not? He picks you up in an expensive car and gives you a place to live.”
Tae-hwi chuckled at Haon’s fresh reaction. While speaking nonchalantly, he himself couldn’t keep his feet still. Hearing someone else’s love story for the first time in a while seemed to bring back a long-lost sense of excitement.
“Hey, but what about his face? Is it bad? Is he the type where you only look at the money?”
Since Haon hadn’t explained anything, Tae-hwi had no choice but to pry. Having only seen In-ho’s car, his curiosity about the man was at its peak.
“And what does he do for a living? What kind of person is he? Is he definitely single?”
Bombarded with questions, a dazed Haon tried to answer step by step. However, because he still knew so little, his answers sounded insincere to Tae-hwi’s ears.
“He’s very handsome, and his job is… well… He’s probably single. Probably.”
Tae-hwi blinked his eyes wide and frowned at the personal information that sounded like nothing at all.
“You’re living with that man, right?”
“Yes.”
“Do you not see him often? Does he not come home much?”
“No, we eat dinner together every day.”
When Haon spoke with another shy smile, Tae-hwi’s eyes blinked again. It was absurd that the amount of information he had was the same as when they first started living together.
“Do you two not talk?”
“We do, every day.”
Haon scratched his chest and answered shyly. He was happy to be able to tell someone about his daily routine of eating and talking with In-ho. Haon tried his best to suppress the urge to brag about In-ho.
When you like someone, it’s natural to want to talk about them and brag. But having never experienced this before, Haon felt it was presumptuous of him to chatter carelessly about In-ho.
“You’ve still got a damn long way to go.”
Tae-hwi patted Haon’s shoulder and let out a long sigh.
“Jeong Haon. You should at least know what he does for a living. What if that guy is a gangster?”
“He’s absolutely not the kind of person to do that.”
“Then what does he do?”
Haon was momentarily speechless and mumbled, “He does good work.” He must be really deep in love.
“Ask him the moment you see him today. If he doesn’t answer or tries to avoid it, look for a natural timing and break up. Or maybe date for another month or two.”
Tae-hwi rolled his eyes and added that he should try dating for about three months. He couldn’t bring himself to tell him to give up a Lamborghini so abruptly. At Tae-hwi’s reaction, Haon’s eyes went wide like a rabbit’s, and he hurriedly waved his hands.
“Hyung, we’re not dating. I’m just the only one who likes him. He doesn’t like me.”
“…This kid is saying crazy things again.”
Tae-hwi’s mouth hung open as he let out a loud, incredulous laugh. He wondered what kind of frustrating nonsense this was.
“Then why would he ask you to live with him if he hated you? He let you settle in under the excuse of move-in cleaning because he likes you.”
“That’s… it’s just that he happened to need someone to work…”
“If he really needed someone, he would have hired a professional cleaner. Why else would he specifically hire you?”
Tae-hwi beat his own chest as he watched Haon ponder the answer to such a simple question for a long time. He couldn’t understand how someone born with a face like that could not know the reason.
“Because he felt sorry for me…?”
Tae-hwi clenched his fist, unable to scream, and only sighed. Of course, such a reason might exist, but there was no way that was the primary one.
“Hey, if he felt sorry for you, he would have just handed you some money and been done with it. Why would he bring a stranger into his house?”
“Well… he donates a lot and is very kind.”
At the suggestion that In-ho couldn’t bring himself to kick him out for that reason, Tae-hwi’s head shook violently from side to side.
“No, it’s because he likes you. I’m sure of it.”
“There’s no reason for him to like me…”
Watching Tae-hwi’s frustrated expression, Haon looked down, gauging the mood. The feeling of floating in the sky while thinking of In-ho suddenly sank.
“And he said he doesn’t date Omegas.”
As he spoke the fact he had already acknowledged, it felt even more bitter. Of course, even if he did date an Omega, there was no way Haon would be the object of that affection. Still, he couldn’t help feeling gloomy.
“…He told you that so bluntly?”
Tae-hwi, who had been thumping his chest, looked a bit bewildered.
“And after saying that, he wants to have sex?”
“No, he’s never asked to do it first. My heat cycle is unstable… so he’s helping me.”
“So you do do it. Letting a kid with an unstable heat into his house.”
Soon, as if he had realized something, Tae-hwi let out a sigh mixed with a curse and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Do you like that man a lot?”
Haon’s lips parted, and he answered that he thought so. Since he had only recently become aware of his feelings, his voice lacked certainty.
However, his expression, which laid his emotions bare, showed that he was thoroughly smitten.
“Don’t show that you like him in front of that man.”
Looking at him with a complicated heart, Tae-hwi offered a piece of painful advice.
“I’m saying this for your own sake. Don’t give him too much of your heart; just like him moderately.”
“Why…?”
As Tae-hwi’s sigh deepened, the heat faded from Haon’s reddened cheeks. Haon anxiously fidgeted with his fingertips, waiting for the answer.
“Are you asking because you really don’t know?”
Tae-hwi asked back briefly and looked him straight in the eye. Haon avoided his gaze and shut his mouth tight. Even if Tae-hwi didn’t tell him, he felt he knew the answer to the question.
“Let’s get out of here.”
It was just as Tae-hwi wrapped an arm around Haon’s shoulder and tried to open the door.
“Huh, what the?”
Someone slammed the door shut from the outside. Tae-hwi, whose hand was pushed back, stared at the firmly closed door with a stunned face. Haon also looked surprised.
— I don’t know. I’m not sure.
Just then, Ho-yeong’s loud voice drifted in from outside the door. It seemed Ho-yeong had closed the door on purpose.
Frowning, Tae-hwi pressed his ear close to the door, concentrating on the sounds outside. He couldn’t hear the voice of the person Ho-yeong was talking to.
— Haon hyung didn’t come to work today.
Haon, who had leaned his face against the door following Tae-hwi, let his mouth drop open silently along with his wide eyes. Huh, but I did come to work…