By Zephyria 
…What kind of moment is this, exactly?
As if not needing an answer, Seo Baek-han looked only at him with a mysterious smile. It was such an insistent gaze that even the waiter who had hurriedly brought the food couldn’t dare to speak and quickly retreated.
“Let’s eat first. Tae-hyun, you often skip meals when you’re locked up in the lab.”
His hand movements as he picked up the utensils to eat were elegant, not befitting a cheap diner.
No, I mean… What do you want to say?
Seo Baek-han gently smoothed out the lightly furrowed brow of Joo Tae-hyun, who was puzzled. Seo Baek-han skillfully cut the meat chunks covered in sauce in front of him. It was quite a feat to cut it so neatly with a dull knife, and with only one hand at that.
“I’ll tell you later.”
So, don’t call an Uber and go back alone today, Seo Baek-han joked, not quite joking.
Joo Tae-hyun decided to focus on eating, as he felt that if he kept pressing, this conversation would go on endlessly. Taking a step back, he saw even more, which only made him more confused…
Not taking his behavior lightly, no matter the place. And bringing up somewhat uncomfortable topics so casually was no different from the usual Seo Baek-han, but why did he seem so strangely happy? Considering what happened last night, he should be more subdued than usual.
In any case, thanks to the sudden intrusion of Seo Baek-han, the corner of his heart, which tended to become heavy and solemn, had become lighter.
It wasn’t that he made his worries disappear. He had only given him room to breathe so that he wouldn’t be crushed by thoughts like, ‘I need to get better, I need to change, I’m okay…’
As much as the tension eased from his shoulders, his questions about Seo Baek-han grew.
“When I actually put it in my mouth, I wonder why I missed this so much.”
Seo Baek-han tapped the hardened cheese with his fork, saying that he strangely thought of it when he turned away.
“Well, anyway, the important thing is that I keep thinking about it.”
Seo Baek-han, who had let out a meaningful remark that seemed to hide some implication, nonchalantly put the rather burnt steak into his mouth.
“…Still, I think it would be better to eat steak somewhere else.”
“No, this diner really has its own unique flavor.”
Seo Baek-han slightly raised the corner of his mouth and nodded, as if he had made eye contact with the waiter.
“Then, from now on, should we only come here when we want to eat out?”
He had acted as if his poor behavior of locking himself in his study had never happened, so he wanted to lighten his heart a little as well.
“Ah, so that’s why they say you shouldn’t even drink water carelessly in front of children.”
Seo Baek-han, who understood Joo Tae-hyun’s intention, also returned the joke without showing any particular reaction. Even taking a somewhat exaggerated gesture, raising both hands in the air.
“Shall we take a walk if you’re done eating?”
Seo Baek-han pushed his chair back, placing a wad of bills on the table. He didn’t seem to have eaten much himself, but he seemed to have noticed that his plate was almost empty.
Could this also be considered a kind of change?
Seo Baek-han still seemed to care about him, feel sorry for him, and sometimes even be mindful of him, but he didn’t treat him as affectionately as before.
There were no words of apology, no words of love, and sometimes no hard-to-handle lewd jokes… He seemed to be trying not to create a gloomy and mournful atmosphere, even while acting comfortably as he pleased.
He didn’t feel that his feelings for him had subsided or that his guilt had diminished at all. Rather, he felt comfortable, as if Seo Baek-han was matching his pace.
Affection overflowed in Seo Baek-han’s eyes, which were filled with his image. It wasn’t just being soft, but something so full that there was no room for doubt…
Joo Tae-hyun was definitely learning something in this subtle and new relationship.
“I’ll say it in advance.”
…Of course, he couldn’t help but feel nervous when Seo Baek-han suddenly started like that.
“I hate it the most when Hyung says things like that.”
“Haha, did you?”
He was comforting him, but he wasn’t about to take back what he was going to say. Skillfully revealing his intentions, but not feeling desperate… It was a Seo Baek-han-like aspect in a good way.
“Today, Cheon Seung-pil was curious. How I proposed to you.”
However, contrary to what he had expected, Seo Baek-han brought up something rather incomprehensible. He pretended to be nonchalant, but he seemed to have had some expectations of his own. He thought that Seo Baek-han would address last night in a sophisticated way, like that.
“…He’s curious about everything.”
Was it because he was let down? Cheon Seung-pil felt even more absurd. Seriously, why is he asking such things, he should just graduate.
He clicked his tongue inwardly, feeling absurd at the content that was more trivial than he had thought, but it was funny to think that Cheon Seung-pil, who was so nervous in front of Seo Baek-han, must have been rambling about anything.
Hmm. Seeing that Seo Baek-han, who detests Cheon Seung-pil, was listening to such jokes… It seemed that the relationship between the two had definitely changed from the past.
Even if he couldn’t know what was inside, if the two people he had brought into his life got along well… It would be a good thing for him.
Feeling somehow embarrassed, Joo Tae-hyun pressed down on his bangs, which kept getting messed up by the wind, with his hand.
The weather in the East is still fickle. It’s warm enough to wear short sleeves inside the lab, but it’s quite chilly outside. Even so, spring will pass by in a flash, and a hot summer will soon arrive.
“Of course, I’m going to propose properly.”
He had left Seo Baek-han behind and driven off alone on that road, but today he was walking leisurely with the person in question. He was a little intoxicated by this feeling, so he realized his words only belatedly.
A proposal? Suddenly?
“To the point where it’s impossible for the words to leak out. To the point where everyone thinks that Seo Baek-han worked like a dog to earn money just for this day… I want to do everything that comes to mind when you think of ‘proposal’.”
A fluffy atmosphere was created to the point where even Joo Tae-hyun, who was quite clueless in matters of romance, could notice it.
…Wait a minute. Is he saying he’s going to propose to me? Right now? A proposal from the story of Cheon Seung-pil. Joo Tae-hyun was dumbfounded by the sudden change of topic, which had no connection whatsoever.
“After all, we… No, you. You’ve never received a proposal from me even while getting married.”
“That’s because…….”
Joo Tae-hyun could only move his lips without saying anything, dumbfounded. No… You said you were going to ask me for proper forgiveness? I haven’t even heard the answer to that yet, and now a proposal?
Thinking of Seo Baek-han, who was going far ahead on his own and diligently drawing a rough sketch by himself, both laughter and sighs burst out at the same time, as that was also Seo Baek-han-like.
“What kind of proposal is it when the other person doesn’t even think of accepting it? Even on an empty street.”
“I’m going to do all the pretty and romantic things that everyone else does later, but I thought I should start over from here first.”
This area was always crowded with people. Tourists trying to see all the attractions in one day, reporters from all over the world, and police officers directing traffic were mixed together, making it always noisy.
As Joo Tae-hyun had pointed out, it was a landscape that didn’t feel romantic at all.
“Tae-hyun.”
When they reached a crosswalk where a group of tourists was just leaving, Seo Baek-han slowly slowed down his pace.
He had never been aware of it before. It was a small and ordinary sight, but this city surrounded by a variety of people seemed to suit Seo Baek-han well.
He made eye contact with him, standing at the gateway where the pulse of the capital began. That short moment when their eyes met.
Joo Tae-hyun’s Adam’s apple only bobbed at a certain premonition that struck like lightning. He seemed to know what kind of action he would take and what kind of words he would recite, he who had never moved according to his will until now. No, he was sure of it.
“I want to marry you.”
Before he could stop him, Seo Baek-han knelt on one knee. In the middle of the road, where dirt was thickly stuck, as if he didn’t care about such things.
Somehow, it didn’t feel real. Even though he had guessed that such a moment would unfold soon, he had never even dreamed that Seo Baek-han would propose on the street.
“I know very well that these aren’t words to say after several years.”
Ah…….
‘I want to marry Hyung.’
‘So, Tae-hyun, are you proposing to me right now?’
‘Pro, pro…… Ah, that’s right. In conclusion, that’s what it is…….’
Joo Tae-hyun, who had been slightly dazed, realized that he was reciting the words he had said verbatim.
As soon as he turned twenty, he returned to his country and called him out without hesitation, insisting on getting married, that uncool confession that he had let slip as if he didn’t care.
The memory that had been pushed aside was vividly revived as if it had happened just yesterday.
“I also know very well that our relationship isn’t at that level.”
As if to confirm the déjà vu he was feeling now, Seo Baek-han recited what he had said at the time.
‘I know you also know that these aren’t words to say to someone you’ve met after several years. I also know very well that our relationship isn’t at that level.’
The subject and object were reversed from that time, no, it was a word in which everything had changed.
“As I said earlier, I want to do all the ordinary and pretty things that everyone else does, of course. I will definitely do it. But before that-.”
Seo Baek-han took out his cell phone from his coat pocket. It was the same device he was using, but it looked a little newer.
“I think the order is to show you how sincere I am first.”
Then he handed over a cell phone, not flowers or a ring. If it had been a luxury item like a ring or a watch, he would have refused without a second thought, but the item he was given was so unexpected that he inadvertently accepted it.
“Why Hyung’s cell phone-.”
“It’s a cloned phone.”
“…Pardon?”
“Now you can check all the messages, calls, and app usage records I receive in real time… Everything.”
Seo Baek-han said nonchalantly, adding that he had tested it several times in advance.
“Of course, all the previous records have been preserved, so you can feel free to look through them.”
“No, why would you do such a thing… No, no…….”
He didn’t know how many times he had repeated the word ‘no’. Joo Tae-hyun was that embarrassed. It was absurd that the Director of the Royal Hospital had created a cloned phone and handed it over while proposing.
“Of course, there are many things in it that shouldn’t be released to the world. Small things like Assemblyman Seo Hong-gyu’s corruption, and big things like the policies set up by Lotus Flower Palace to completely cut off the Deposed Crown Prince’s breath.”
“Hyung.”
“At that time, Tae-hyun, you… You were gambling with DH, which you loved the most, right?”
Because he didn’t want to lose the person he loved. And believing that his family would understand him like this.
Joo Tae-hyun, at the age of twenty, thought that if he wanted to ask the person he liked to marry him, he had to put up his most precious thing.
And Seo Baek-han was confessing that he was begging with the same heart as him at that time.
“But no matter how much I think about it, I don’t think there’s anything in the world that I love as much as you. So.”
Seo Baek-han looked up at him, gently kissing his hand.
With those eyes that were full of confidence and conviction in every step he took, that made Joo Tae-hyun want to live as ‘Joo Tae-hyun’ rather than ‘Young Master of DH Group’, that he couldn’t help but love…
“I’ll bet everything I’ve achieved so far, and everything I’ll achieve in the future, on you.”