By Zephyria 
“How do I look?”
“Handsome.”
“Check me out with some effort.”
Song Hyun-soo, sitting next to him, was focused on typing something into his phone, seemingly in contact with someone.
“I’ve already asked you several times on the way here. No matter how many times I ask, you just say I’m handsome. What am I supposed to do? Maybe I shouldn’t be handsome then.”
Yoon Joo-ho snatched the phone away from him. Like Monroe being deprived of its toy, his gaze followed the phone.
“You’re taking a guy with you right now.”
“He’s not just any guy.”
“That might make them dislike it even more. Aren’t you worried?”
Not really worried, Song Hyun-soo nodded.
“Yeah, I’m not.”
At the immediate response, Yoon Joo-ho let out a hollow laugh.
“And honestly, it’s not like our worrying changes anything. We have to face it head-on.”
Squeak. Yoon Joo-ho turned his body even more towards Song Hyun-soo. And he turned off the music that was playing at a low volume. He rested his arm on the steering wheel, his brow furrowed like a detective about to start an interrogation.
“You.”
“Why me?”
“If, even just hypothetically, they oppose it, what will you do?”
“What can I do?”
“If they say they absolutely won’t allow me to see you, to see a man, what will you do?”
Only then did Song Hyun-soo look into Yoon Joo-ho’s eyes.
“Are you asking me seriously?”
“Does it seem like a joke?”
“…No.”
Sipping on the straw in his coffee cup, Song Hyun-soo seemed to be thinking for a moment. He put the coffee down in the cup holder, turned his body, and faced Yoon Joo-ho directly.
“What about you, sunbae?”
“……”
“If your grandparents oppose it, and I tell you to break up with me, would you do that?”
Yoon Joo-ho’s eyebrows twitched, and his lips twisted.
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Exactly. You’re not going to let me go no matter what they say, so why are you worrying so much?”
“……”
Song Hyun-soo’s cold hands came and cupped Yoon Joo-ho’s cheeks. And his right thumb gently touched Yoon Joo-ho’s lower lip. The place where Song Hyun-soo’s name was engraved.
“It’s okay, just consistently be a crazy bastard.”
A dry laugh escaped Yoon Joo-ho’s lips, and Song Hyun-soo chuckled along with him. Like a pair linked together so that when one laughs, the other also laughs in a chain reaction.
Song Hyun-soo leaned in, stretching his upper body, and kissed his lover’s lower lip. Then he grinned right in front of his face.
“Let’s make your grandparents our prisoners first, and then go to Hong-seo.”
■
“Ah, my grandma is already out downstairs again.”
Song Hyun-soo’s voice was filled with affectionate laughter.
As he said, an old woman was standing and pacing in the alley of their destination. That person is… The hands of Yoon Joo-ho, who was holding the steering wheel, unconsciously tightened.
The car stopped in the piloti parking, and Song Hyun-soo jumped out of the passenger seat first.
“Grandma.”
“Why are you so late?”
“I told you not to come out.”
The grandmother held Song Hyun-soo’s hands tightly in her own and tilted her head back to look up at him endlessly. The grandfather, who had come down to the parking lot, chuckled a few steps behind.
“You didn’t come even though it was past the arrival time, so your grandmother was already stuck to the window 30 minutes ago, so I came down with her.”
“Oh, grandma.”
Song Hyun-soo hugged her small shoulders and stroked them.
Yoon Joo-ho, who got out of the driver’s seat following after, wore a gentle smile and politely bowed.
“Hello. Nice to meet you for the first time. I’m Yoon Joo-ho, Hyun-soo sunbae’s…”
“Welcome. Thank you for driving such a long way.”
The grandmother held Yoon Joo-ho’s hand and patted it, just as she had done with Song Hyun-soo.
The grandmother’s eyes, looking up at him, were like those of a child. Like the eyes of a child who had actually met the hero in a superhero movie that they diligently watch, full of emotion and admiration.
“I get to meet the Crown Prince, Hyun-soo. Huh?”
“He’s really cool in person, right, Grandma?”
“He’s tall and has a dazzling glow, like a young king.”
Yoon Joo-ho bent down to meet her eyes a little closer.
“Haha, thank you. You’re very beautiful too, Grandmother.”
“Oh, an old woman who has only suffered, how could I be beautiful.”
The grandfather, who was watching from the side, urged the three with a smiling face.
“It’s chilly. Let’s go upstairs and talk.”
“Ah, yes. The kids must be cold. Let’s do that.”
Yoon Joo-ho spoke to the two who were about to start walking.
“Please go up first. We have luggage.”
“Yes, Grandma. We have some things to take out of the car.”
“What’s so much?”
“Don’t worry and go up. Anyway, the elevator is small, so we can’t all ride together with the luggage.”
After sending the two of them up first, Song Hyun-soo and Yoon Joo-ho opened the trunk. The amount of gifts they had prepared was not small.
“We’ve met them now. How is it?”
“I’m just overwhelmed right now, I guess.”
Hoo, Yoon Joo-ho took a deep breath and shook his head several times to collect himself.
They took the gifts, filling both hands, and moved inside the building. The figures of the two people standing side by side were reflected in the unusually shiny elevator door. To Song Hyun-soo’s eyes, it was a rather bizarre sight. Song Hyun-soo was certain that anyone who found Yoon Joo-ho in this small villa in the provincial outskirts would think the same thing.
Yoon Joo-ho was still a star to Song Hyun-soo. Most of the time, he seemed like his own lover, but sometimes he would return to the perspective of the public and see him as the actor Yoon Joo-ho, and this was one of those times.
“Why are you smiling?”
“It’s been a while.”
“What has?”
It feels like seeing Seo Tae-woong invading the world of Crayon Shin-chan.
But instead of telling him honestly, Song Hyun-soo changed the subject.
“I really didn’t care until just now, you know?”
“……”
“But now I’m suddenly nervous.”
Song Hyun-soo’s eyes stared intently at the figures of himself and Yoon Joo-ho reflected in the elevator. As if he had suddenly smelled a strange and new scent in a landscape that had become so familiar that he could not feel any emotion.
“Really… somehow, it feels like I’ve come to get permission for marriage, so…”
The door opened, and Song Hyun-soo hurriedly got on the elevator as if running away. He was pretending to be nonchalant, but he couldn’t hide his bright red earlobes. As he followed him onto the elevator, Yoon Joo-ho’s lips twitched as he tried to hold back a smile. But instead of teasing Song Hyun-soo, he chose to kiss his cheek in the empty, narrow elevator. With both hands full of luggage.
As soon as they got off on the second floor and entered the front door, they could see that the living room already had the table half set.
Yoon Joo-ho said with a smile before he could even take off his shoes.
“It smells delicious.”
“I did my best, but I don’t know if the seasoning will suit your taste.”
The grandmother’s face, finishing the table setting busily, was full of worry.
“The braised short ribs you sent last time were so delicious.”
“You must have been eating only better things.”
“No. I live a busy life, so I eat kimbap the most.”
The grandfather, who was putting japchae on a plate with vinyl gloves on, turned to look at Yoon Joo-ho over his shoulder.
“Since the Crown Prince is coming, the two of us have been shopping, preparing, and putting in effort for days, so please eat a lot and enjoy it.”
The two people who had put down their luggage on one side of the living room washed their hands and helped with the table setting. Almost everything was prepared, so there was nothing much to help with, but they couldn’t just sit still, so they put down spoons and moved water glasses. The large folding table was filled with food without any gaps. Seaweed soup also took a place to commemorate Song Hyun-soo’s birthday. It was a great welcome.
In fact, he didn’t even feel hungry due to the tension, but Yoon Joo-ho diligently moved his spoon.
“He eats well without being picky.”
“Everything is delicious.”
“How can he be so pretty?”
“Thank you.”
“Not just his face, but his words and actions are all pretty.”
Heup. A strange sound leaked from Song Hyun-soo’s lips as he tried to hold back a laugh.
There was someone who praised Yoon Joo-ho, saying that his words and actions were pretty, not just his face. He couldn’t help but laugh. But Yoon Joo-ho asked with a face that showed he had no idea why.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, I… I choked.”
“Here, drink some water.”
He pretended not to know until the end and handed Song Hyun-soo a glass of water.