By Zephyria 
Min-gyu was not the kind of person who would fail to notice Yi-ho’s state. He didn’t know why he, who had even climbed the ranks to become a team leader, hadn’t learned the social grace to ramble a bit in moments like this. Yi-ho spoke in hesitant stammers.
“Hey, Cha Min-gyu… I saved it because my hands were fast. Did you see? The moment you said ‘Take the server down!’, I handled it in less than a second.”
“Yeah, I saw. It was cool.”
“My reflexes from when I hit Challenger as an undergrad haven’t died yet.”
“I see.”
“…….”
Usually, Min-gyu would have been preoccupied with teasing Yi-ho with snarky remarks, but since his response was so short, the voice Yi-ho had struggled to raise grew small. Fiddling with the plastic packaging with his fingertips, Yi-ho murmured.
“Among the people who made additional purchases, there might be famous YouTubers or bloggers… so there could be a better promotional effect….”
Min-gyu set down the pizza he had been eating in large bites and replied.
“Thanks for the well-wishes.”
“I canceled the orders for the six people who aren’t famous figures….”
“What? How?”
“Everyone on our team takes after me with fast hands, so they succeeded in the first-come, first-served rush….”
“So everyone was slacking off at 11 o’clock. As their team leader, I should have a word with them, Song-i Song-i.”
“…….”
Min-gyu quickly noticed the cause of the awkward silence Yi-ho was displaying.
“What about you, Song-i?”
“Huh?”
“Did the captain of the development team fail the first-come, first-served rush?”
“Ah… well, I didn’t particularly need it….”
“Hah, the fact that you felt you didn’t need to buy it is a bigger problem than the accident itself. That’s a complete failure of marketing strategy.”
“I did. And I canceled mine too.”
Yi-ho abruptly tossed his phone onto the table. The order cancellation details were clearly displayed on the screen. Min-gyu finally burst into a hearty laugh, as he usually did.
“I appreciate it, but don’t cancel in the future. I’ve already taken all the heat for pulling in additional stock, so just take it.”
“You’re right in front of me whether at home or at the office; would I even be able to use it if I bought it?”
“I guess I don’t have to worry about that. Want me to sneak one out as a gift?”
“Forget it.”
Only then did Yi-ho pick up a piece of kimbap and start chewing. Facing a table that looked like an inconsistent elementary school birthday party spread, Min-gyu also managed to continue his meal, returning to his usual self.
“But are you really okay?”
“Yeah. I’ve cleaned everything up. Team Leader Cha isn’t that incompetent.”
“That’s a relief…. What about Deputy Manager Kang?”
“What’s this, trying to make me jealous?”
“What on earth…?”
“Why are you worrying about Deputy Manager Kang instead of comforting me more?”
“…?”
Yi-ho wore a serious expression for a moment, contemplating, before speaking.
“Back then, you got revenge on the team leader who pushed me to be an in-house lecturer.”
“That’s true.”
“But I can’t exactly get revenge on Deputy Manager Kang for this, right…?”
It wasn’t that there was malice in making Min-gyu suffer, and Deputy Manager Kang was likely the one feeling the most bitter right now. On top of that.
“It’s largely my fault for assigning work to someone who isn’t yet capable.”
Min-gyu’s assessment would be the greatest punishment Deputy Manager Kang could receive.
“You don’t have to worry about Deputy Manager Kang. By tomorrow, he’ll pull himself together and come back to work. He’s a man with both ability and ambition. Don’t worry.”
“…Yeah.”
“This wasn’t a huge deal, so the cleanup was fast. Other than that, there was something else that kept me angry all day.”
“What is it?”
“Yelling at you.”
Yi-ho couldn’t recall the moment immediately. Cha Min-gyu yelled at him?
“When I collapsed while doing my graduation project?”
“No… hah.”
Faced with Yi-ho’s expression asking ‘then what?’, Min-gyu reenacted it in a deflated voice.
“Song Yi-ho, take the server down.”
“Ah….”
Only then did Yi-ho recall the scene, but he still thought, ‘Why is that a problem?’
“I just… it annoyed me. The fact that you called your team leader by his name and gave orders in front of your team.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I mind, Song-i. I can fix other things, but I can’t fix that.”
That one thing was the only part that popped out while I wasn’t in my right mind. Min-gyu let out a short sigh.
He knew that if he tried to formally lecture him on right and wrong, Yi-ho would only become more flustered. Even so, he didn’t just vaguely brush aside his regret. Even for something that was truly no big deal.
The fingertips rubbing the wooden chopsticks grew rough. Yi-ho needlessly moved a piece of sashimi, which he didn’t even intend to eat, to his side plate.
He couldn’t remember the exact point when he started liking Min-gyu. If it were because of his handsome face, he would remember it as the early spring of his eighteenth year; if it were because they were always together, he would remember it as his early twenties when they wandered everywhere.
When asked when he started liking Cha Min-gyu, the fact that all the time they spent together came to mind, rather than a specific moment, was because tenderness had naturally seeped in. Forget fifteen years; the world is full of people who become rude after being comfortable just once or twice. Especially for someone like Yi-ho, who didn’t have a fiery personality.
But the more Min-gyu grew fond of Yi-ho, the more devotedly and preciously he treated him.
That was why he couldn’t neglect Cha Min-gyu’s friendship for something like love, which he had created on his own whim. Because he felt he knew how heavily Min-gyu valued this friendship.
He wondered if a person who had personally cooked for him dozens of times would make that kind of face looking at a table filled with various delivery foods….
Yi-ho bit the inside of his lip inconspicuously.
Cha Min-gyu, I really like you.
That’s why I gave up on confessing.
Not because I don’t like you enough, but because I like you too much.
Once again, the words were trapped inside his lips, where he felt a slight throb. He stuffed the lonely piece of sashimi on his side plate into his mouth, swallowing the words entirely, and looked up again.
At that moment, Min-gyu, sitting across from him, was also staring intently at Yi-ho.
“…Song-i, you.”
Min-gyu’s eyebrows twitched. His well-shaped lips opened and closed slightly, and then one corner of his mouth curled up.
“Your eyes are really….”
“Huh?”
“Why do a man’s eyes look like that?”
Eh?
“Anyway, Song-i Song-i, why did you order so much? Even for me, this is a bit excessive.”
What? It felt like he just said something criticizing his appearance. Yi-ho wanted to look at him resentfully, but he went along with the change of subject, figuring the guy must have been tired today.
“Then just leave some. I ordered a bit of everything we’ve enjoyed eating, so it added up.”
“Our Yi-ho bought this to comfort me, so I have to eat it diligently.”
“Ahem.”
A sound of a swallowed cough came from Yi-ho’s throat. Song-i, Song-i Song-i, or Song Yi-ho. He had always called him those things, but adding ‘our’ suddenly made his heart ache.
“Are you… not drinking?”
“I think I’ll have to leave early tomorrow, so next time. You drink if you’re craving it.”
“Then I’m fine too….”
“Song-i Song-i.”
“Yes, I am Song-i Song-i.”
Yeah, this is better. For the health of Yi-ho’s heart.
“I feel like if I do just one more thing, all the knots in my heart from today will completely vanish. Will you do it with me?”
“What, what?!”
A short while later, a tub of delivered gelato was placed on the table, which had been cleared to one side after the meal.
Following the tteokbokki, Yi-ho stared at the second strange entity to invade the house today as if he were facing malicious code.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You take whatever’s left.”
“Don’t be like that, just try one bite.”
Reluctantly, Yi-ho scooped some of the plain-looking white flavor from the ice cream divided into six sections. He tasted a rich milky flavor and a hint of salt. And it was sweet.
“Sweets really don’t suit me.”
Giggling mischievously, Min-gyu used a dessert spoon the size of his finger to scoop some ice cream and move it toward Yi-ho’s mouth. Right in front of his lips, he flipped the spoon so the ice cream faced downward, put it in his mouth, and then pulled it out. The clean spoon emerged, and the upper lip covered the small amount of ice cream left on the lower lip, sweeping it up.
It was like some refreshing ice cream commercial.
Min-gyu, who had surrendered saying he was too full, proved that there really is a separate stomach for ice cream as he steadily emptied the large tub. Curious at the sight, Yi-ho picked up the spoon again and this time scooped the chocolate flavor. He had braced himself from the moment the spoon sank in, but as expected, it was achingly sweet. While Yi-ho squeezed his eyes shut and frowned so hard that wrinkles formed on the bridge of his nose, Min-gyu paused his spoon and once again stared intently at the face of the person across from him.
And when Yi-ho blinked his eyes open, Min-gyu spoke.
“Song-i, I’m honestly so anxious I can’t live. Let’s always be careful of people.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Yi-ho once again wore a face that showed he didn’t understand, but this time, no kind explanation followed.