By Zephyria 
“Let’s see what happens after the baby’s asleep”… That sounds so much like a married couple…
Normally, he might have retorted like that, but this time, for some reason, the words wouldn’t come out.
“If you’re not tired, let’s go to your place, Sunbae. I want that too.”
Because of the implicit promise made when leaving Myung Hae-ri, Yoon Joo-ho’s remark naturally sounded significant.
With the sudden acquisition of a cat, Song Hyun-soo had also forgotten that promise at some point. It was already too late, or rather, was it too early now? In any case, he felt today wasn’t the right day…
Yoon Joo-ho, having neatly arranged the blanket, stood up, placing a hand on Song Hyun-soo’s shoulder.
“I’ll go shower first, so keep a close watch on the baby.”
He means to watch the baby carefully because he’s worried about it, right? Yes, I understand.
Even if it wasn’t Yoon Joo-ho’s command, Song Hyun-soo had no intention of leaving the cage. It was impossibly cute just lying there, rolling its big round eyes, and he felt he could watch it all day without getting bored.
When the creature walked out briefly to drink a little water, Song Hyun-soo let out a muffled exclamation. It was as if it had accomplished something grand and great.
After drinking a little water, it returned to its spot and curled up, using the hot water bottle as a pillow. He had heard that some cats, on their first day of adoption, might not even drink a drop of water due to stress. He felt a little relieved that it didn’t seem to be that stressed.
“Do you know where you are, and who that person is?”
Song Hyun-soo, kneeling in front of the cage, spoke to the creature.
“Do you know how many people in the country, no, in the world, would want to be in here, you punk?”
A cat that had entered Yoon Joo-ho’s home, specifically the deepest bedroom of the Master Zone, complete with a door lock. How many ‘Yoon Gyeol-hos’ in the world would envy this tiny cat?
Well, I guess I’m no different, kneeling here now.
In my case, if people found out, I’d probably be stabbed to death before I received any envy. Because even if it’s a man climbing onto Yoon Joo-ho’s bed, the ‘Yoon Gyeol-hos’ wouldn’t show any mercy.
After all, I’m just ‘the one who does these things’ with him.
Song Hyun-soo let out a wry smile and looked back into the cage at the creature.
“Ttakji, you punk. Your life is about to begin. You’re our golden spoon cat.”
“Why do you keep calling the baby Ttakji?”
Yoon Joo-ho entered the bedroom, wearing one towel on his head and another precariously around his hips.
Song Hyun-soo, momentarily distracted by the 29-rated sexiness of his physique, pointed at the cat and then poked his own left cheek.
“Didn’t you see the smudge? It has black fur only here, just like a booger.”
Yoon Joo-ho, who had plopped down on the carpet, pulled down the towel covering his head and scowled.
“Even so, what kind of name is ‘Booger’ for a baby? What a sense of naming.”
“Then you name it, Sunbae.”
Leaning back on his upper body, supporting himself with his hands, Yoon Joo-ho tilted his head towards his shoulder and peered at the creature in the cage. Then, he smiled a smile that was almost a smile, a ticklish grin. It was a slightly happy smile.
“A spot on the left cheek? That’s Marilyn Monroe.”
From Booger to Marilyn Monroe.
From ‘Honey’s place’ common ground to a penthouse with a Han River view in Cheongdam-dong.
It was an incredible reversal of fortune.
And the guardian is Yoon Joo-ho.
“Hmm, if I have children later, their mother should name them,” he suddenly remembered what the aunt from ‘Honey’s place’ had said, shaking her head at Song Hyun-soo’s naming sense. Then, Sunbae, my wi…
“Why are you grinning to yourself so suspiciously?”
Yoon Joo-ho sat down nearby, and Song Hyun-soo felt a cool dampness from him. Water droplets clinging to the ends of his wet hair dripped onto Yoon Joo-ho’s broad shoulders and thick chest.
The moment he thought about kissing the edge of his shoulder, their eyes met.
Feeling as if his thoughts had been read, Song Hyun-soo averted his gaze and slowly stood up.
“It’s nothing. I… I’ll go wash up.”
“Wash in my bathroom.”
“What?”
Song Hyun-soo, who was hurrying out of the bedroom, stopped and looked back. He thought he had misheard.
Yoon Joo-ho, without even looking at him as if it were no big deal, replied while keeping his gaze fixed on the creature in the cage.
“I said wash in the master room bathroom. I’ve also laid out clothes to change into there.”
“…Yes.”
It was the first time he was showering in Yoon Joo-ho’s personal bathroom, not the guest bathroom. Was this offer a sign of them growing closer? Was it a hint of a possibility of promotion from ‘the one who does these things’ to something more? Ah, but he said he wasn’t dating men…
Even as he pressed his head against the incredibly luxurious bathroom wall, Song Hyun-soo meticulously and thoroughly finished his shower and preparation.
When he returned to the bedroom, Yoon Joo-ho was still on the carpet.
He was lying down, wearing only pajama bottoms instead of the towel around his lower body, and his body looked remarkably long. He had brought a cushion from the sofa to use as a pillow and had fallen asleep in front of Ttakji’s, no, Monroe’s cage.
“You said we’d see each other after the baby was asleep.”
Trying not to sound too excited, Song Hyun-soo smiled at the sight of him asleep while watching the cat.
“You’re going to like it this much, yet you insisted you wouldn’t get one…”
Song Hyun-soo chuckled and crouched down in front of him.
Well, he must have been tired.
It was already past 7 AM. Even in winter, the world behind the blackout curtains would be turning blue with daylight.
He gazed at the face of Yoon Joo-ho, sleeping peacefully without a single movement, his long eyelashes cast down like a sleeping beauty from a fairy tale. He felt he could watch him all day, just like he could watch the cat.
Then it happened.
Monroe cautiously walked out of the cage.
Song Hyun-soo covered his mouth, stifling a scream to avoid waking Yoon Joo-ho.
Video, video… Phone, phone…
He wanted to record it on video to show Yoon Joo-ho later. He took out his phone from the pocket of the jumper hanging in Yoon Joo-ho’s dressing room and returned, only to find Monroe hovering around Yoon Joo-ho’s face, near the cushion.
He approached cautiously, then repeatedly jumped back in surprise, even though no one told him to. Just like he had done at ‘Honey’s place’.
Crazy… So damn cute…
The combination of Yoon Joo-ho’s face and a baby cat…
Song Hyun-soo, contorting his facial muscles strangely to avoid screaming, captured the creature’s movements around Yoon Joo-ho’s face from various angles on video.
“Right? No matter who the guardian is, you can see he’s incredibly handsome, can’t you? This little guy is already taking after me, being so picky about looks.”
As he whispered in a low voice, Song Hyun-soo froze as he spotted something on the screen.
Tears were flowing from the corner of Yoon Joo-ho’s eye, beneath the cushion he was using as a pillow. His heart felt like it stopped.
“I’m sorry…”
His dry lips mumbled as if in a groan, apologizing for something.
“I…”
His forehead and brow furrowed, and he looked pained. He looked like someone being burned alive in a dream.
“Don’t… go… Ah, no…”
In his dream, Yoon Joo-ho was desperately holding onto someone. If he was like this in reality, he must have been sobbing uncontrollably in his dream.
Song Hyun-soo put down his phone and gently stroked his hair. Then, wishing his voice could flow into his dream, he whispered in his ear.
“It’s okay. It’s a dream. It’s all a dream, Sunbae.”
Perhaps thanks to Song Hyun-soo’s comforting words, or perhaps because he had escaped that dream, his mumbling gradually subsided. The spasms on his face also calmed down.
Perhaps he, too, like Song Hyun-soo, had nightmares that visited him repeatedly.
Just as Song Hyun-soo regretted rejecting Choi Hong-seo’s invitation for a drink countless times and returned to that moment in his dreams, no matter how many times.
Perhaps Yoon Joo-ho was also being dragged back to that moment, that place, where he couldn’t hold onto someone.
He thought he knew who the object of Yoon Joo-ho’s desperate pleas was.
The person Yoon Joo-ho, who couldn’t maintain any relationship for more than a few months, had wanted the most. But ultimately, the person who rejected Yoon Joo-ho.
The tears that had flowed to the corner of his eyes were now wetting the bridge of his high nose.
“Who is it? The person who won’t let you sleep.”
Song Hyun-soo gently wiped away the tears with his fingertips.
“Can I… make you forget everything?”
And he tasted it. Yoon Joo-ho’s tears were bittersweet.
Monroe, who had been playing on the carpet, sniffing the ground, looked up at Song Hyun-soo. He suppressed the urge to pet and hug him, offering a bitter smile. The creature tilted its head and returned to the cage.
In truth, Song Hyun-soo was just as tired as Yoon Joo-ho.
But his mind was clear, and he didn’t think he could fall asleep easily.
He adjusted the dial to dim the room’s lighting as much as possible. He took the duvet from the bed and covered Yoon Joo-ho, who was taking off his top, and then lay down beside him.
He opened the search bar and typed in a word.
How to Seduce an INTJ Man
He had scolded Jung-ho for believing in MBTI, saying it was outdated. But cornered, he felt like he had to grasp at straws. Jung-ho, I’m sorry.
As soon as he clicked on the top result, Song Hyun-soo cursed and felt frustrated.
“You must be beautiful. They don’t even pay attention if you’re not their ideal type.”
Damn it… That’s the first condition for seducing them? No wonder… Yoon Joo-ho also mentioned something about ‘preferring beautiful things’. No wonder, he’s an INTJ.
No, even if I’m not beautiful, I’m still decent-looking, right? They called me handsome at the vet today too. I was famous for my looks back in my hometown.
“Show them your intellectual side. INTJs prioritize logical understanding over emotional expression and are attracted to partners with whom they can debate interesting topics as equals.”
Intellectual side? I’d show it if I had it.
Wait, I gave him a book by a famous philosopher as a gift, didn’t I? Isn’t that part of showing an intellectual side?
Ah… I gave it along with a notebook with cat illustrations and an 11-color pen set with cat illustrations…
“Never confess to an INTJ man first. Make them confess.”
This is getting worse… Will Yoon Joo-ho confess to me first? I’m looking for this stuff because I can’t make him confess, am I? Who wrote this crap??
Feeling only defeat, Song Hyun-soo turned his head to look at Yoon Joo-ho’s sleeping face. So close, right next to me, Yoon Joo-ho was sleeping soundly under the same duvet.
If there was any way to make him mine right now, he would do anything.
But how?
He’s clearly not over that past person.
Even worse, someone beautiful, sophisticated, and who speaks multiple languages, someone I can’t even compare to.
Song Hyun-soo adjusted the duvet over Yoon Joo-ho’s bare shoulder. It seemed impossible. No matter what the internet experts said, he could just ignore it.
Song Hyun-soo typed a new phrase into the search bar.
How to succeed in confessing to your crush
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