By Zephyria 
“Don’t worry, I can’t do anything too excessive with the skinship. I’ll just hold you lightly. Or are you worried because you’ll feel sorry toward a lover?”
“I don’t have a lover, but…”
“Young people should date and have fun. You’re in the prime of your youth.”
“You’re sounding a bit like a boomer right now, Mister.”
Even after saying it, he flinched, wondering if calling him a boomer had crossed the line, but Jeil Heon only let out a small laugh. Ugh, so this mister and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover… The word ‘lover’ just kept bouncing around in his head.
“How about our concept be a couple who’s only been dating for ten days, so we only hold hands?”
“Kids these days move so fast. When I was your age, you had to date for at least two years before you could even hold hands. I grew up in a generation taught that men and women shouldn’t sit together from the age of seven.”
“My mom and dad, who aren’t that much older than you, got married after a year of dating because of a pregnancy scare.”
It was truly a talent to speak such obvious nonsense with a voice that sounded so trustworthy. Still, after engaging in this trivial conversation, much of the tension regarding his first mission had faded. Yoo Jiha firmly resolved to work hard so he could complete the mission successfully and earn Jeil Heon’s trust.
As he awkwardly perched his backside on a box seat lined with a mattress rather than a chair, a loud crashing sound erupted from the adjacent box seat. It seemed the other party had switched to power-tripping after other methods failed.
“Hey! I only eat steaks that are 6.7cm thick, seasoned with exactly 23g of salt and 118g of pepper! The doneness must be completed in exactly 1 minute and 27.8 seconds at 230 degrees! Even the bastard father who sired a piece of filth like you wouldn’t eat this garbage!”
「I-I-I am veeeery sorrry. Ah… we did not realize the preferences of the honored guest of the Royal Chef…」
“Even if you didn’t know, you should have figured it out! Do you know who I am? I’m a box seat guest! Are you even a real Royal Chef? Do you think this is the royal palace? Bring the chef out here right now!”
「P-Please forgivvvve meee.」
“How dare you keep your head held high! Is that the attitude of an Aberration apologizing? Kneel! Slam your head down until your bodily fluids burst!”
「Hieeeek!」
Listening to the Aberration’s pitiful scream, Yoo Jiha decided that he must absolutely remain a kind hubae to Song Hilda. Soon, the employee entity, who had been treated like a dog in the next box seat, trudged in dragging a tray.
「While you watch the Performance, here is the food we have prep…」
“Your footsteps are loud.”
「I have committed a mortal sinnn!」
Overpowered by a single sentence, the Aberration bowed its head deeply. Even so, it didn’t drag the tray back out. It was a bizarre dish where mysterious yellow chunks swam sluggishly in purple broth, but the smell was truly appetizing.
「It is a dish prepared veeeery deliciously. Please try some.」
As the Aberration persistently urged them to eat, Jeil Heon cleared his throat and raised an arm. Even though he couldn’t see behind him, Jiha could tell the arm was naturally moving toward his waist.
As his waist flinched at the approaching presence, Jeil Heon paused in mid-air and wrapped his arm around Jiha’s shoulder instead of his waist. That alone made the distance feel suddenly close, and the man’s presence felt heavy against him.
“Do you dislike it? Should we switch to power-tripping too?”
“Are you confident in power-tripping, Mister?”
“I’ve never done it, but I can just imitate my father. He had a real knack for it.”
“But…”
“It’s only natural to be reluctant to pretend to be lovers with an older man who isn’t even your peer. Don’t force yourself to endure it, Jiha.”
Jeil Heon’s judgments had generally been accurate so far, but this time, Jiha wanted to deny it. It wasn’t that he disliked it because it was him, nor was he forcing himself to endure it. And yet, as if something had been driven into the center of his heart, the trivial act of pretending to be lovers during the mission kept bothering him.
Yoo Jiha bit his lower lip firmly and relaxed his shoulders.
“I’m a member of society too…!”
At the determined whisper, Jeil Heon covered his mouth and laughed lowly before lowering his arm. The hand that had been wrapping around his shoulder slid down rhythmically, stroking the line of his shoulder and side. At the movement of the fingertips lightly pressing against his skin, Jiha swallowed hard, and his spine stiffened. The short time it took to move from the shoulder to the waist—barely a few breaths—felt dizzyingly intense.
The large hand hugged his waist softly, yet with strong force. Yoo Jiha, who had been sitting slightly apart, was pulled flush against Jeil Heon by the strength of the arm. The presence that had already felt heavy now enveloped his entire body as if pressing down on him. He had always thought the man had a good build, but being hugged up close, his body was larger and firmer than imagined.
Unlike Yoo Jiha, who couldn’t even breathe properly, the man’s languid breath tickled his hair, and the sensation of soft skin was felt at the crown of his head. Only a tiny area of skin was in contact, yet every fine hair on his body stood on end. He barely managed to move his stiff body to lean against the man’s shoulder. His eyes were squeezed shut. It was a stroke of luck that he was sitting with his back to the Aberration.
「If it is difficuult to eat, I shall shove it into your mouth myself. Open.」
However, it seemed this level of skinship wasn’t enough to be considered a romantic relationship. Jeil Heon clicked his tongue lowly and looked up. He seemed about to switch to power-tripping. If so, would he see Jeil Heon throwing the tray and causing a scene like Song Hilda just now…? No matter if it was acting, it wasn’t a sight he wanted to see.
Furthermore, he couldn’t let a problem arise where a new employee ruins a company project on his first day, causing his boss to give up on him. He was a proper member of society now…!
This is work. This is work. This is work. Yoo Jiha squeezed his eyes shut and attempted a kiss.
Thwack!
“Ack!”
“Ugh, what was that all of a sudden…?”
Since it was an uncoordinated situation and he failed to adjust the angle, it turned into a headbutt rather than a kiss, but he didn’t give up and tried again.
This time, he felt a soft sensation on his lips. Since it was his first time kissing lips, he couldn’t be entirely sure, but he got the feeling it was the lips, not the cheek. A mister over thirty, and one who seemed to smoke, why—why were his lips so soft?! It had been a headbutt fueled by every ounce of his courage, but encountering unexpected softness caused him to panic slightly.
“W-Wait a second!”
But it seemed Jeil Heon was equally panicked. He pulled his face away with a startled expression. An urgent whisper reached his ears.
“Jiha. Even if we have to pretend to date, uh, you’re still young, and you shouldn’t do this to a mister like me. You’re young. Right?”
Hearing the word ‘young’ repeated over and over in his flustered rambling, a surge of stubbornness rose within him. What does he keep mean by ‘young’? I was planning to go to the military next year!
The new employee shouted with the passion of the MZ generation.
“How dare you… a-a-act spoiled in front of me…!”
“Eh, huh?”
“Just stay still!”
The MZ new hire grabbed the collar of his spoiled boss and kissed him again. He felt Jeil Heon take a sharp breath. Because he had gripped the collar so tightly, the man’s hands froze in mid-air, fearing he might hurt Jiha if he tried to pull away forcefully, but Yoo Jiha didn’t notice.
Rather, his mind went blank in a situation he couldn’t have imagined before blindly kissing him. This is work. This is work. This is work. Even as he repeated it incessantly, his heart thundered at the sensation of the lips and the man’s presence right in front of him.
‘Ah, has it still not left?’
He wanted to escape the massive thumping of his heart that felt like it was suffocating him, but the Aberration remained motionless. Is a kiss not enough to look like lovers these days? Those monsters wear Joseon-era clothes, so why are their standards for romance—or rather, male-on-male affection—so fundamentally promiscuous?
Having gone as far as a kiss, he couldn’t back down now. He had to show the spirit of the MZ generation. Fitting for the Joseon-era concept, Yoo Jiha hardened his resolve like a scholar of the wilderness carrying an axe to the capital to submit a petition.
Lick.
A tongue, protruding about 1mm between the lips, licked the lips of the man who was frozen stiff. In reality, it was more of a graze than a lick, but by Joseon-era standards, it would be utterly promiscuous. Thump, thump, thump. The growing sound of his heart proved it. He worried he might be kicked out for engaging in lewd acts…
“…Eh?”
A single, bewildered sound escaped into the mouth. Not his own, but the man’s. By the time he realized it, a large hand was already cupping both of his cheeks.