By Zephyria 
Today’s task for the development team was a code review session to collectively check the projects they had built so far. One by one, the faces of the development team appeared in the video conference room Yi-ho had opened. Everyone was dressed far more comfortably than they had been at the start of working from home. Yi-ho, wearing a baseball cap, was certainly in no position to judge.
-Huh? Yi-ho, is your house… not your place? Or did you change the interior?
Kwon Tae-kyung tilted his head in front of the screen. Once the question was raised, others added their observations that the house looked a bit different from what they had seen before.
“…There’s a leak at home, so I’m staying here for a bit.”
-Whoa, it must be serious. When will it be fixed?
“The rainy season is continuing, so they say they can’t start the repairs until the rain stops…”
When Yi-ho heard that news from the management office, he felt devastated, and Min-gyu didn’t even bother to hide the smug curl of his lips.
-The leak is because of the rainy season too, right?
“Partly because of the rainy season, and partly because the building is quite old.”
He hadn’t regretted choosing a 30-year-old, 73-square-meter apartment just to be slightly closer to the company until now. The interior had been completely renovated, after all… To be precise, back then, he had been blinded by the fact that he could live right across from Min-gyu. But now, in many ways, it had all come back as regret.
-Oh, since you said ‘here,’ it looks like you didn’t go too far.
For a moment, Yi-ho’s heart skipped a beat.
“Yes, I… know someone.”
To be exact, it wasn’t just that he hadn’t gone far; he had taken over the study of the house right across the hall to work from home.
-You’re lucky you found a place. I hope the rain stops soon so it gets resolved. My house is a mess with mold because of the humidity right now.
Following that, everyone began sharing their summer grievances one by one. Yi-ho calmed his racing heart, exchanged a few more words about the weather, and then pulled up the development code in the center of the video conference room.
“Let’s get to work.”
Around 3 PM, Yi-ho put down his work and stretched his neck from side to side.
The rain, which seemed to hesitate for a moment, soon began to pour down again. No matter how many times he refreshed the page, the gloomy weather forecast for the week remained unchanged. With a sigh, he stood up from his desk. The chair, slightly larger than Yi-ho’s frame, slid back. Stepping out of the study into the living room, a folding mattress was laid out on one side. That was where Yi-ho had slept the previous night.
Song Yi-ho, who had never once won an argument against Min-gyu, had eventually ended up sleeping at his house and borrowing the study for work.
Yi-ho thought Min-gyu would say something to him. However, on the day he dragged Yi-ho inside, Min-gyu simply ordered dinner for them, laid out the mattress in the living room, and tidied up the study, telling him to work from home there. When he left for work in the morning, he didn’t specifically wake Yi-ho, but left a message saying he was heading out.
It felt as if he were treating a normal ‘friend’ who happened to be staying at his house for a few days.
Was Cha Min-gyu ultimately deciding to act as if everything that had happened was nothing and trying to return to being just friends?
Was he trying to grant Yi-ho’s wish?
…If so, he was grateful. Even if he harbored feelings that had turned into something else, his friendship with Min-gyu was separately precious. That was the very thing Yi-ho wanted to protect while folding his feelings away.
Yi-ho crossed over to his own home. The interior was still a disaster. He felt he would never be able to adapt to the refrigerator standing like a totem pole in the darkened living room.
The problematic leak locations were two: next to the kitchen refrigerator cabinet and the master bedroom he used as a study. Both were located near the bathroom, so the cause was likely the passing pipes. Water was still dripping from the blackened ceiling wallpaper, and the basin he had placed underneath was half full. He emptied the accumulated water from the bathroom and replaced the wet towels with fresh, dry ones. He did the same in the study. Coming from Min-gyu’s house, which felt like a model home, his own place felt even more like an abandoned building…
After tossing the wet towels into the dryer, Yi-ho stepped out the front door again. He couldn’t help but hesitate for a moment in front of the door lock of the house across the hall, even though he knew he would eventually have to go inside.
As soon as Yi-ho sat down and looked back at his laptop screen, his phone rang. He wondered why someone was contacting him at this hour, but the caller was an even more unexpected person.
Why is he calling me?
“…Hello?”
-Uncle Song-i Song-i…
“Yes, Min-jung.”
Sniff. Min-jung made a nasal sound. Yi-ho’s eyes widened.
“Min-jung, why are you crying? Did something happen?”
-Uncle Song-i, why can’t I go visit you and Oppa’s house with Oppa?
“Huh?”
-I heard you and Oppa are staying together. So I said I wanted to go see Uncle Song-i, but Oppa said, like, I can’t come, waaaaah, and he scolded me for throwing a tantrum…
“Ah…”
Min-jung is left with Min-gyu about two or three times a month. Most of the time, Yi-ho, who adores Min-jung, is brought along. But given the current awkward atmosphere, he couldn’t bring the child over, and Min-gyu must have known that, which is why he refused Min-jung’s visit.
“I think it’s because both Uncle and Oppa are very busy.”
-Heeeeng… Tell him Uncle Song-i wants to see Min-jung.
“Of course I want to see you…”
Having no siblings of his own, Yi-ho truly thought of Min-jung as his own niece. Suddenly, the contradiction between his heart, which viewed Cha Min-gyu’s sister as family, and his position of harboring desire for Min-gyu hit him.
“I’m sorry. Let’s play together next time.”
Min-jung’s voice sounded very sullen, as if she had expected a different answer.
After soothing Min-jung for a few more minutes, he hung up. During that brief distraction, the dark, rain-shrouded sky had lost the sun and turned black, and the time to leave work had approached rapidly. Checking the clock, Yi-ho turned back to his remaining work with a slightly stiff expression.
The team members working from home signed off with greetings, and Yi-ho finished his day’s work as well. However, the light next to Min-gyu’s name in the company messenger was still on. Since he worked overtime so often, perhaps today was no different.
Yi-ho crossed over to his own house once more. The dryer had finished, and the basin wasn’t very full yet. Since he was already there, Yi-ho put the dining table and chairs, which had been bothering him, back in their proper places. He cleaned up the kitchen, which had become a mess during the massive operation of moving the refrigerator, and tidied up the study as much as possible, which he had pushed into chaos in his haste.
After moving diligently for about an hour, the house finally looked somewhat habitable. In exchange, Yi-ho, who had performed manual labor in the middle of summer without air conditioning, had become quite grimy. Finding a change of clothes from the drawer that had been forcibly relocated to the veranda, Yi-ho passed the refrigerator and entered the bathroom. Cool water poured over his body as he shed his sweat-soaked clothes.
They say humans are animals of adaptation. After spending about an hour in this house… it felt like it wasn’t uninhabitable, just that it leaked a bit. Fortunately, as long as he avoided the leaking spots, the appliances seemed usable…
The water dripping down his body was sucked into the drain. After finishing with shampoo and soap, Yi-ho stood blankly under the water and let out a small “Ah.” Once he finished showering and went out, he should call his mother. If she were to visit a house like this unexpectedly, she would faint from shock.
‘Especially water. They say you have bad compatibility with water this summer!’
‘Thirty-three-year-old Year of the Rooster is in a full Samjae. Be careful of water!’
“…!”
Thinking of his mother brought back the advice he had brushed off at the time. Does Samjae really exist? Just looking at what happened this year—falling ill from overwork, …long-held emotions for Cha Min-gyu exploding, and now this water disaster…
The cold water that had been refreshing his body suddenly felt a bit chilly. After turning off the water, Yi-ho roughly wiped himself with a towel, pulled clothes over his limbs, and stepped out.
“Gasp.”
He was startled immediately. Min-gyu, who had been sitting in a table chair since some unknown time, stood up.
“Hi, Yi-ho.”
“What do you mean, ‘hi’?”
“Why are you here?”
“…I did some cleaning, and I showered.”
Only after answering did he realize that he was the one who should have been asking. Cha Min-gyu, why are you here? But Min-gyu’s expression was terrifyingly stiff, so he didn’t feel like asking. Water dripped from his half-dry hair onto his shoulders.
The corners of Min-gyu’s mouth slowly curled upward.
“I thought you’d turned into a Song-i mushroom and run away to hide again.”
“…What do you mean, run away?”
The answerless smile felt like it was poking Yi-ho. Just a moment ago, he had thought the kitchen without the refrigerator felt desolate, but with the large frame of Min-gyu standing there, it felt full. He even strode closer, increasing his volume in Yi-ho’s field of vision due to perspective.
Min-gyu placed an arm around Yi-ho’s shoulder.
“Right, Song Yi-ho who doesn’t run away. Let’s go back to my house.”
“…”
Min-gyu didn’t seem to care that the moisture from the ends of the hair was rubbing off on his arm. It was just like when he had led Yi-ho to his house on the first day of the leak. An arm around the shoulder—something friends could do without hesitation. Stopping exactly at that line, he led Yi-ho to the house across the hall.
On the table sat food packaging bags he hadn’t seen before. It seemed Min-gyu had bought them on his way home. Only after seating Yi-ho did he release the shoulder hold, go to the bathroom to get a fresh towel, and drape it over Yi-ho’s head.
“…Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
After the plain exchange, Min-gyu unpacked the bags. A tall plastic container held stir-fried baby octopus, and a flat styrofoam container held seafood pancake.
“I thought of them because it’s raining.”
While Min-gyu transferred the food to plates, Yi-ho placed the disposable utensils from the bags in front of each of them. However, in the brief moment he stepped away to return the towel, Min-gyu had replaced them with the tableware from his own house. Also, the plastic container lid that Yi-ho had intended to use as a makeshift side plate had been removed and replaced with a ceramic bowl.
The meal began amidst a quiet dissonance. While Yi-ho felt an awkwardness as if thorny plants were tickling his feet, Min-gyu ate his rice as if nothing were wrong.
Rather, having seen only a stiff expression for a while, he seemed to be in a somewhat better mood…
If Cha Min-gyu was truly giving him a chance to return to how things were before, …then he should adapt to that.
“How’s the company lately?”
The surprised expression at Yi-ho speaking first quickly vanished, and Min-gyu answered nonchalantly.
“Same as always. Not much has come to our team. I think we’ll start doing something once autumn comes.”
“Is the office sorted out?”
“Why, are the other people in the development team starting to get lazy?”
…He couldn’t say that the frustration only a middle manager feels wasn’t a reason.
“I’m just worried they’ll suddenly tell us to come back.”
“It looks like the system air conditioner construction on the floor below is mostly finished. But since they ripped up the whole ceiling, it’ll probably take another week.”
“Ah.”
Yi-ho nodded and ate a piece of baby octopus. A pungent spiciness spread across his tongue. Yi-ho did his best to fill the gaps in conversation during the meal.
“Ahem, you chose the menu well. It’s really delicious.”
“It’s a place we went to for a lunch team dinner before; it was good, so I remembered it. I thought it would be perfect for Song-i Song-i’s taste.”
It was a nickname he hadn’t heard in a long time.
The exchange of words was more ordinary than he had been nervous for, to the point where he felt the illusion that they had truly returned to the past. As if it were telling him that burying it might be the right answer.
Although a contradictory emotion—that he didn’t want to do that—simmered quietly on its own, he could sufficiently suppress it when he thought of how skewed the relationship between the two had become over the past few days.
“Ah, Song-i. I’ll be coming home late tomorrow. Don’t wait for me; eat dinner first.”
“Where are you going?”
“Meeting a broadcasting company.”
It meant a setting that was part entertainment, part meeting. Seeing as he had explicitly stated he’d be home late, it didn’t seem like the kind of meeting that would end easily.
“…Don’t overdo the alcohol. Don’t drink as much as you did last time.”
He recalled the day when a guy who could usually navigate such things skillfully had drunk indiscriminately. Looking at Yi-ho, Min-gyu lightly rested his chin on his hand.
“You’re very interested in me today, our Song-i. It’s not like you’re going to date me.”
“…!”
Yi-ho’s eyes widened at the sudden, sharp remark. He had heard something similar once before.
“Hey, you, you…”
“Ah, are you going to be my lover?”
Min-gyu looked at Yi-ho, who had frozen with wide eyes, and nonchalantly moved his chopsticks again.
“Interfering in the life of Cha Min-gyu, who is not a lover, is forbidden.”
“…?”
“Instead, if a lover nags me, I’ll quit drinking for the rest of my life starting that day.”
The tension that had been about to pull tight turned into an unrecognizable shape along with an absurd level of brazenness. Why is this bastard suddenly acting like this?
“You… what are you doing?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? I’m asking you to date me.”
“Don’t joke around.”
“Guessing the sincerity of others while refusing to be a lover is forbidden.”
“Hey.”
“Lowering your voice and saying ‘Hey’ when you’re not even a match for a verbal argument is forbidden. I have no intention of losing to someone who isn’t my lover.”
“…”
Now his mouth was truly shut. It was a way of conversing that was beyond absurd; he couldn’t even follow the context.
“…Wasn’t this conversation over?”
“Ending a conversation by running away alone is forbidden.”
“Ah, seriously.”