By Zephyria 
“Huh?”
Haon tilted his head and asked back.
Suddenly talking about furniture.
It felt like something was about to come to mind… Ah, this itchy feeling in my brain. It feels like it’s just out of reach. What was it again?
At that moment of pondering, my eyes met Cha Jeong-won’s. Simultaneously, the words Jeong-won said last night came to mind.
— ‘There’s a way that doesn’t require enduring discomfort or spending money.’
“No way…”
“Looks like you’ve remembered now. Tell me, I can make any kind of furniture.”
Despite Jeong-won’s casual tone, Haon couldn’t bring himself to speak. Judging by this person’s reaction, if he suggested remaking the bed frame from scratch, Jeong-won would probably readily agree.
And it wasn’t just that. From taking the class, he knew making even one piece of furniture required quite a lot of work. To do it properly would take weeks.
So he couldn’t just be excited about it.
Frankly, what if making one piece of furniture took up the whole week!
‘Something small and simple would be good.’
Haon forced his thoughts toward practicality.
“How about something like a bedside table?”
After reaching a conclusion, he cautiously opened his mouth.
“My room has nothing but a bed, you see. A small table to put next to the bed, something like that.”
Jeong-won turned his head. The hand movement of putting on his gloves paused briefly.
“Bedside table?”
He repeated it once, then soon lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Sounds good. If it’s next to the bed, you’ll use it often.”
Haon unnecessarily added,
“Small and simple. Just something to put a phone and a glass of water on, maybe hold a book or two?”
“That much will be quick.”
Jeong-won said as if it were nothing.
“We need to measure the room dimensions accurately first. Check the outlet locations too.”
Seeing Jeong-won pull out a tape measure, Haon grew uneasy.
Somehow, this seems like it’s going to become a big deal?
＊ ＊ ＊
Small and simple?
“I forgot that guy is Cha Jeong-won.”
No wonder he’s an artist. He was the type to pour enough effort into everything to make it perfect.
Even though accidents kept happening and things got tangled, in the original work, he still ended up holding a splendid solo exhibition. I shouldn’t have let my guard down that much.
By the time I realized, it was already too late.
Sketching, structuring, cutting, sanding, staining, finishing.
Hearing the plan listed out like that, it felt less like a bedside table and more like a small-scale project.
It felt like receiving a one-on-one assignment from a professor…
“I’d be fine with just a simple rectangle, you know.”
Haon subtly tried to salvage the situation.
“Just something that won’t tip over if placed next to the bed. As long as the balance is good…”
Jeong-won’s eyebrows rose. It was an expression that made one shut their mouth automatically.
“Make furniture carelessly?”
For a moment, the atmosphere in the workshop seemed to change slightly. Even the pheromones seemed to grow colder…
It was a tone hard to tell if it was a joke or serious, but he was someone whose eyes changed whenever design was discussed.
“No, that’s not it…”
Haon waved his hands and hurriedly added,
“I just said that because I don’t want to take up your precious time. I have to date you, after all. Not date a bedside table.”
The moment he heard that, the corner of Jeong-won’s mouth rose very slowly.
“That’s true.”
He tapped the tape measure against his finger a few times and tilted his head slightly.
“I’d decline that too.”
Even as he said that, his face already looked like he was calculating dimensions in his head.
Seeing that expression, Haon couldn’t help but laugh.
It seemed to have worked to some extent, and he was thinking of gradually steering the conversation toward going out somewhere.
But Cha Jeong-won was a little faster.
“But since you’ll use it every day, it should be made properly. If I make it all crooked and you end up jabbing your elbow on it while sleeping, who would you blame?”
Isn’t the probability of not hitting your elbow higher than hitting it?
“I think a different kind of blame would come before that.”
Haon muttered to himself.
If all the dating time passed while making this bedside table, he would definitely resent Cha Jeong-won immensely.
“A week is incredibly short…”
Not hearing Haon’s words, Jeong-won was lost in thought. Then, hanging the tape measure on his waist, he said, “Indeed, it should be made properly.”
Haon decided to give up. Once he had said it out loud, there was no going back.
Jeong-won spread a sketchbook on the workbench. With a resigned face, Haon went and sat next to Jeong-won.
At least this way, otherwise, I’d die of frustration.
“What do you do while lying in bed?”
“Just… look at my phone, look at the ceiling, look at the wall.”
Haon’s expression soured.
Before leaving home, after putting the younger siblings to sleep, he was busy studying until he fell asleep, and after leaving?
Part-time jobs, assignments, studying for certifications—he was still busy, of course.
These past few days since becoming a senior were the most leisurely time for Haon.
“I heard if you use your phone before sleep, you can’t get proper rest? I saw something like that, but for me, that’s the best part, you know?”
There must be a reason not to do it, but doesn’t that also mean I want to do it that much?
Speaking as he thought, Haon belatedly realized and added, “I read books too. I like philosophy. Exploring deep anguish gives inspiration…”
Trying to tell such an obvious lie, well, the words wouldn’t follow. Whether he knew of Haon’s difficulty or not, Jeong-won scribbled something and said, “It would be good to have a phone stand too.”
“Of course it would. You know it really hurts when you drop it and it hits your face, right? It’s better if it hits the bridge of your nose. If it falls on your brow bone, it hurts like crazy.”
When talking from experience, the words flowed very smoothly.
“Then we need to consider the tabletop height along with eye level and reach distance.”
He muttered while drawing a rectangle on the paper. Then, he suddenly muttered to himself, “The lazier the person, the more important the bedside table’s location and height are.”
“Are you calling me lazy right now?”
Haon narrowed his eyes.
This is really unfair?
If you saw my entire past, the one word you could never say is ‘lazy’.
“You were leaning on me at every opportunity. Weren’t you?”
At Jeong-won’s nonchalant retort, Haon’s mouth fell open.
“No, that’s not being lazy, that’s trying to stick close…”
“Seemed like a sloth.”
This guy?
“Yesterday, I saw you really liked the sofa too.”
At Jeong-won’s words, Haon’s face flushed ever so slightly.
He did wiggle his butt a bit on the sofa while drinking beer.
“That was…”
Haon unnecessarily cleared his throat once.
“That was to be with you, sunbae. So you wouldn’t kick me out if I got up.”
Jeong-won’s pencil movement stopped for a very brief moment.
Without even lifting his head, he said quietly, “You did that because you thought I might kick you out?”
“Of course I know you’re not that kind of person, but still, it was just in case of the very unlikely scenario. That’s why I wasn’t surprised at all when you offered me the room.”
Jeong-won didn’t take those words at face value.
He put down the pencil entirely and turned to face Haon. Even though Haon was the one who moved to the side, when Jeong-won openly sat facing him, Haon straightened his posture.
As his own reflection appeared clearly in Jeong-won’s eyes, his heart raced.
“Tell me honestly.”
Jeong-won asked in a low voice.
“You really weren’t surprised?”
Haon let out a sigh-like breath.
“Setting the mood like this is cheating.”
He threw it out like a joke, but the moment the words left his mouth, his face grew hot first.
Jeong-won wouldn’t miss that. He leaned his upper body forward slightly and lightly tapped the back of Haon’s gloved hand. The warmth transmitted directly.
“That means you were very surprised.”
“Right. I was surprised. And I liked it. My heart is racing like crazy right now too.”
Because the answer jumped out too quickly, the air between them swayed once more.
Jeong-won narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled very slowly. That gaze felt as if he was designing not just the bedside table, but Haon’s reaction too.
The workshop grew quiet.
Since Jeong-won didn’t withdraw his gaze, Haon felt like he had nowhere to escape. Even though he didn’t want to run away, he felt that way for no reason.
“Is that all?”
“…My heart raced too. What about you, sunbae?”
Jeong-won wiggled his finger.
His answer was slowing down that much, making Haon impatient.
“Very… well.”
Haon, who had expected him to say he couldn’t sleep, was openly disappointed.
“So that’s why you didn’t come to my room.”
If he fell sound asleep, of course he wouldn’t come over!
As Haon turned his head, he didn’t see the slight distortion on Jeong-won’s face.
If he had seen it, he would have known that saying he slept well wasn’t a lie, but it also wasn’t the whole truth.
The truth that he thought of Yoon Haon until dawn and fell asleep just before daybreak.
“What about you?”
At Jeong-won’s question, Haon straightened his head.
“You could have come too.”
He said it as if he would have accepted it if Haon had come.
The question was peculiar. While pondering the meaning of those words, Haon belatedly realized the distance between them had narrowed.