By Zephyria Seeing the two humans seemingly engrossed in something else while barely acknowledging him, the creature relaxed his guard and walked a bit further out into the hallway. He looked up at the high ceiling, sniffed the floor, suddenly crouched down, then jumped back, gradually approaching the kitchen.
“Crazy… He’s coming this way, sunbae.”
“Show me.”
“This is the first time he’s come this far, right?”
“This is the first time he’s even come out of the room.”
Though not as outwardly apparent as Song Hyun-soo, Yoon Joo-ho was clearly excited as well.
“Record a video.”
“Me?”
“Your position is directly in front.”
“I left my phone in the room. Give me yours.”
Yoon Joo-ho took out his phone from his robe pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to Song Hyun-soo. Eager not to miss any cute moments, Song Hyun-soo quickly launched the camera app and began zooming in to capture Monroe in the video.
“Ah, crazy, so cute. Not just any cat’s cuteness in this world. He’s coming, he’s coming. Sunbae, he’s almost at the table now. Coming all this way alone, isn’t our Monroe a genius cat?”
Yoon Joo-ho clicked his tongue, looking down at Song Hyun-soo’s profile, who was overwhelmed with emotion.
“The person who told me not to make a fuss is making a fuss.”
Despite his words, he placed his hand on the crown of Song Hyun-soo’s head and ruffled his hair. Song Hyun-soo leaned his upper body forward, looking up at him from his video-recording posture.
It was a face that seemed to express joy because I came, because I am here, because we can share this moment together. A gaze and expression that clearly looked at someone they liked.
Come to think of it, Yoon Joo-ho had seemed to look at him with such a gaze and expression for quite some time now.
“Since when did you like me?”
“What’s with the sudden question?”
“When you start dating, people get curious about that, right?”
“You go first.”
“…”Tell me why I’m being treated like this.””
“Huh? What?”
“I asked what giyeok-ieung-ji-eut-hi-eut-si-ot-bi-eup means.”
Yoon Joo-ho asked calmly, but Song Hyun-soo almost dropped his phone in surprise.
“H-how did you know?”
“I happened to see it when you were checking your messages.”
Meow, meow. Meanwhile, a faint cry was heard from under the dining table. Both of them looked down simultaneously. Monroe was attacking Song Hyun-soo’s slipper, gnawing on the ear as usual.
“Are you ‘Crazy Yoon Joo-ho-shibal’?”
“No, I’m not?!”
“You didn’t call me that because you thought I was annoying when we first met?”
“Don’t accuse me!”
“Whatever it is, ‘Crazy Yoon Joo-ho-shibal’… that’s not something you say to your boyfriend, is it?”
“Ah, I didn’t mean it like that!”
“Then explain it to me.”
“So, it’s…”
“It is ‘Crazy Yoon Joo-ho-shibal’.”
Leaving Song Hyun-soo unable to answer, Yoon Joo-ho concluded it on his own. Out of sheer indignation, Song Hyun-soo had no choice but to confess.
“The one at the very top!”
“…”
“I put ‘giyeok’ there so you’d appear at the top of my contacts.”
Yoon Joo-ho, still looking like he didn’t understand, took a sip of water and glanced at Song Hyun-soo.
“I was surprised and couldn’t believe I got your contact info. I wanted you to show up at the very top every time I opened my contacts.”
Yoon Joo-ho’s hand, which was placing the water cup on the table, paused for a moment. To avoid Yoon Joo-ho’s gaze, Song Hyun-soo slid down under the chair and offered one of his slippers to Monroe. His face felt like it was burning. It would have been better to say I like you, I love you. I really didn’t want to talk about this.
Yoon Joo-ho’s hand reached out and swept Song Hyun-soo’s bangs back from his forehead. With enough force to tilt his head back slightly, he did it playfully. It was a type of skinship Song Hyun-soo liked.
While pulling the heel of the slipper against Monroe’s tugging on his ear, Song Hyun-soo asked Yoon Joo-ho above him with a pout,
“Then what am I saved as?”
“…”
“It’s either ‘BB Gun’ or just ‘Ttik Song Hyun-soo,’ right? It’s obvious.”
“Are you sure he came out to see me? It looks like he came out looking for that darn slipper.”
Instead of answering, Yoon Joo-ho diverted his attention to Monroe. It was his usual tactic when he was at a disadvantage.
Yes, yes. I didn’t expect you to answer anyway.
Yoon Joo-ho stood up from the dining table and took out Monroe’s favorite treat. Monroe, who had been playing with the slipper and Song Hyun-soo, stopped his actions as soon as he spotted the treat in Yoon Joo-ho’s hand. Then, perking up his triangular ears, he twitched his nose. Dragging the slipper on the floor with the ear still in his mouth, he trotted towards Yoon Joo-ho. Yoon Joo-ho, leaning against the counter and sitting on the floor, beckoned Song Hyun-soo with his eyebrows, a triumphant look on his face.
“Don’t act so smug. It’s not because he likes you more, it’s because of the treat.”
“But you said he was crying like that, looking for me earlier.”
“That’s true. Monroe is a genius cat.”
“What’s so genius about him?”
Sitting in front of Yoon Joo-ho, who was opening the stick-shaped treat along the seam, Monroe sat very still, gazing up at Yoon Joo-ho’s hand. Song Hyun-soo crawled towards Monroe.
“I told him that you were sick, and that if Monroe comforted you, Dad would feel better. He definitely understood that and came out. Right, Monroe?”
When the creature was eating the treat, it was the perfect opportunity to pet him to his heart’s content. Indeed, as he was busy licking with his small tongue, Monroe paid no mind to Song Hyun-soo touching his ears and belly.
“Am I Dad?”
“You’re not Mom, are you?”
“If you’re Dad, then what am I?”
“Hmm… If you’re Dad’s boyfriend, and I’m younger than sunbae… Little Uncle?”
Yoon Joo-ho let out a stifled laugh, trying to suppress it, at the idea Song Hyun-soo offered after some thought. Monroe, who had been eating the treat, looked up at Yoon Joo-ho, and Yoon Joo-ho gently scratched the spot on his face with his thumb. The creature narrowed his eyes, rubbing his face against Yoon Joo-ho’s hand as if pleased. Ah, I should have taken a picture.
“Why, I want to be Monroe’s Dad too.”
“Little Uncle is too funny.”
“Then do you have a better idea, sunbae?”
“You don’t like Mom?”
“I don’t. I’m a man, so I want to be Dad.”
“Are you a kindergartener stubbornly insisting on roles during pretend play?”
Monroe, for once, stopped eating his treat and looked back and forth between the two people arguing over something trivial above his head.
“He looks anxious, thinking we’re fighting.”
“Little Uncle, you said we should only use gentle tones in front of the child.”
Song Hyun-soo glared at the chuckling Yoon Joo-ho, snatched the treat from him, and took his place.
“Just give me my phone. I want to take more pictures of Monroe.”
“Is this how you treat a patient?”
“The patient should go lie down in his room. We’re going to have some intimate time.”
Yoon Joo-ho unlocked his phone on the table, opened the camera app, handed it to Song Hyun-soo, and walked over to the coffee machine.
“Are you going to drink coffee? Go brush your teeth and lie down. I’ll make it for you.”
“It’s fine. I can do this much.”
“Don’t drink iced, drink something warm.”
Song Hyun-soo, who was enthusiastically filming the historic moment of Monroe eating a snack in the kitchen for the first time outside his room, suddenly had an idea.
Glancing at Yoon Joo-ho’s back as he operated the coffee machine, Song Hyun-soo opened the phone app and clicked on contacts. He was determined to find out how he had saved him, since Yoon Joo-ho wouldn’t tell him. What did he save me as that he won’t tell me? Could it be an unexpectedly cheesy pet name?
However, there were many contacts, and since he didn’t know the exact name, it seemed impossible to find it within seconds. Quickly switching to the recent calls category, Song Hyun-soo doubted his eyes.
Country code 33 followed by a string of numbers.
It was definitely Jung Ji-in’s French phone number. Suddenly, his heart began to pound erratically, as if announcing its position and existence.
“That thing called canned peaches, can you order it for delivery?”
Yoon Joo-ho, who had finished brewing coffee, turned around with the mug in his hand. Song Hyun-soo, with practiced movements, reopened the camera app.
“P-peaches? I think it’s on an app. Do you want to try it?”
Yoon Joo-ho, cupping the mug, nodded and approached. After taking a sip of coffee, he slightly raised the mug and said,
“I need to wash up after drinking this. Want to join me?”
“Uh… I’ll order the peaches and then join you.”
Seeing Song Hyun-soo, who was shy but didn’t refuse, Yoon Joo-ho chuckled. Bending down for a moment, he petted Monroe, who was engrossed in his treat, a few times before standing up and stroking Song Hyun-soo’s hair.
The sound of Yoon Joo-ho’s slippers faded into the distance. Leaning against the island counter, Song Hyun-soo’s face broke into a wide smile. It was the expression of someone who wanted to cheer out loud.
“Monroe, maybe sunbae and hyung are trying to make up.”
Yoon Joo-ho calling Jung Ji-in could only mean one thing, no matter how he thought about it. Had the ‘growling and snapping’ one, who grudgingly followed one out of ten lessons, extended a hand for reconciliation first?
The two might make up. Thinking that, he couldn’t stop smiling. Like a child who had secretly caught wind of a huge birthday present his parents had prepared, Song Hyun-soo had to hide under the counter, hug Monroe, and suppress his excitement for a long time.