Chapter 23

Why on earth is Geon-hyuk at this hour, in a place like this, with Song Naru?

Gyu-yeon, scanning the two of them to grasp the situation, let a curse slip through his teeth. Naru’s clothes, which had been neat back at the photo exhibition, were a mess now.

There were black footprints on the cream-colored knit, and his eyes were reddened as if he’d been crying, which bothered him greatly. It was a sight that made it understandable why Naru had been strangling Geon-hyuk’s neck.

“Not answering?”

“W-well, it’s just that….”

Startled by the pressing tone, Naru stammered. He seemed to think that Gyu-yeon was furious because he had strangled Geon-hyuk.

Geon-hyuk kept his mouth tightly shut, offering no answer. He intended to make Naru more embarrassed.

Naru felt like running away. He thought it was all his fault: letting go of Gyu-yeon’s hand first and deliberately causing that scene so he’d meet Geon-hyuk.

His head knew he should sober up and tell the truth about what had happened, but faced with the situation, his mouth froze like stone and wouldn’t open.

Gyu-yeon, who had been standing at a distance, strode up to stand in front of Naru. With each step he took forward, Geon-hyuk’s mouth curled up, while Naru’s head inevitably drooped.

“Who told you to answer?”

“Uh….”

“Geon-hyuk, what were you doing with this guy?”

Something unexpected happened. Gyu-yeon was angry at Geon-hyuk, not Naru. Startled by the unforeseen reaction, Naru widened his eyes and looked up at Gyu-yeon. Geon-hyuk, perhaps surprised as well, stared at Gyu-yeon with an expression Naru had never seen before.

“What do you mean what— I didn’t do anything.”

“Say something believable.”

“Kind of hurtful—you saw me get strangled too, Gyu-yeon.”

It wasn’t a lie, but Geon-hyuk twisting things to his advantage made him seem like a jerk. Naru, who had hidden behind Gyu-yeon, glared at Geon-hyuk from the corner of her eye.

Gyu-yeon’s back looked particularly solid today. He thought seeing someone’s back was a very sad thing, but perhaps seeing it like this wasn’t so bad. Naru was genuinely moved that Gyu-yeon had come looking for him and was holding him.

As the situation took a strange turn, Geon-hyuk, protesting his injustice, let out an exasperated sigh. Gyu-yeon turned and examined Naru’s appearance carefully, checking slowly to see if he was hurt anywhere.

Naru, who had been standing dazed and then grabbed, watched Gyu-yeon’s actions silently. He blinked as if unaware of what had happened to her neck, looking innocent.

Holding his fragile shoulders and turning his body this way and that, Gyu-yeon discovered marks on Naru’s neck. There were red impressions as if someone had strangled him hard.

A strangulation mark. And Naru had been strangling Geon-hyuk’s neck.

Even without thinking hard, he felt he knew what had happened. Naru often mimicked Gyu-yeon’s actions or words. He had done it earlier too—before eating, when Gyu-yeon grabbed his hand, he awkwardly copied a swear he used to tell him to let go.

Naru was the simple type who returned whatever he received in kind. He was timid and wouldn’t initiate, so the fact he had even strangled Geon-hyuk suggested he must have suffered something similar, perhaps worse.

The moment Gyu-yeon found the mark on Naru’s neck, his jaw clenched. He couldn’t understand why he was so angry, but his temper flared suddenly and he felt like his eyes might roll from it.

“You didn’t strangle him first, did you?”

“Guhk!”

“Do you take me for an idiot? Then why did you open your mouth on your own?”

Gyu-yeon reached out and strangled Geon-hyuk’s neck. It was a different force than when Naru had grabbed him. Startled by the suddenness, Naru came out from behind Gyu-yeon and cautiously grabbed his arm.

Should he stop him or not?

After a moment of hesitation, Naru let go of the arm he’d been holding. He realized there was no need to stop him.

That bastard, he strangled my neck like that. Let Gyu-yeon beat him to a pulp.

Naru stepped back a pace and hid behind Gyu-yeon again. Watching Geon-hyuk get what’s coming felt satisfying, but seeing the whole scene made him uneasy, so he’d rather not watch.

Gyu-yeon finally let go after gripping Geon-hyuk’s neck with veins bulging blue, pushing him to his limit. He released him when his face had gone red and even purplish.

As soon as he was freed, Geon-hyuk gasped and clutched his chest. Gyu-yeon, not giving him a moment to catch his breath, grabbed him by the collar.

“You’re seriously mistaken—I’m not your friend.”

“Hey, Yu Gyu-yeon.”

“There’s no way I’m on the same level as a lowlife like you. Right?”

Gyu-yeon let out a nasty laugh, cutting Geon-hyuk down to bruise his pride. Geon-hyuk, about to retort, swallowed his temper and shut his mouth. If he earned more of Gyu-yeon’s hatred, their relationship might become irreparable.

“Gyu-yeon, first calm down.”

“I wish you’d stop paying attention to him from now on.”

“…”

“You know better than anyone this isn’t a favor I’m asking.”

Geon-hyuk nodded meekly at the warning. They should consider themselves lucky to get away with this. Only after hearing the confirmation did Gyu-yeon fully release his grip. His breathing was still rough from anger, but he pretended to be fine to keep a composed air.

Geon-hyuk straightened his rumpled clothes and glanced at Naru. The dull look in his eyes reminded Gyu-yeon of a rotten pollock’s stare. Gyu-yeon took Naru’s hand and left first, making sure to tell him as he passed not to catch his eye.

Naru, who’d been grabbed and led away in a daze, followed Gyu-yeon silently to his car. The suffocating silence was frightening, but it was his own doing, so he had to deal with it.

Gyu-yeon opened the passenger door and crumpled Naru into the seat. Despite the rough handling, Naru complied without complaint, only nervously fiddling with his nails and unable to speak first.

Once in the driver’s seat, Gyu-yeon started the engine, then stopped and raked his fingers through his hair. Startled by his sudden irritability, Naru averted his gaze, and Gyu-yeon spoke.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Where did you go? Why were you there? No matter how much I looked I couldn’t….!”

“…”

Gyu-yeon, trailing off, let out a big sigh. He forced himself to swallow his anger, fearing another solo grilling would frighten Naru. Naru thought he was lucky that Gyu-yeon had gotten angry.

You found me. You came and found me.

It had been brief, but he truly felt abandoned for a moment. Hearing that Gyu-yeon had been desperately looking for him flooded his with relief and reddened his eyes.

Naru fumbled the bouquet he’d stuck in his back pocket out. He’d put it there to avoid losing it, and was glad he’d kept it that way. Though the weak paper wrapping was ugly and crumpled, the small blossoms were intact.

“I wanted to give you this….”

“What?”

“I really wanted to give you this.”

I wanted to give this to you because you came to find me.

Gyu-yeon’s face flooded with disbelief. He couldn’t be angry—he’d left his hand to go buy a bouquet.

It was the most pathetic bouquet he’d ever seen in his life. No—this wasn’t even worthy of being called a bouquet. The palm-sized wrapping was all crumpled, the flowers hung meekly, each one disappointing.

Yes, it’s clearly awful. It has to be awful.

But Naru’s face as he handed over the flowers was so beautiful that there was no time to care about the crumpled wrapping.

His moist eyes, shyly upturned mouth, and peach-red cheeks looked annoyingly adorable. The wistful mood emanating from him made his heart twitch.

When Gyu-yeon didn’t say anything, Naru took his hand first. He forced the bouquet into his large hand and smiled as brightly as he could.

“Thanks for finding me.”

“…”

Though his conscience pricked at him, Gyu-yeon felt something swell inside. He wasn’t an idiot—why was he thanking him for finding her? Remembering that he’d almost just gone home left him feeling guilty.

Gyu-yeon spun his head away instead of answering. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Naru’s face—his pure eyes were dangerously captivating.

Naru gripped Gyu-yeon’s shoulder and leaned his face closer. He felt that now he might get the answer he wanted.

“Gyu-yeon, can I like you? Can I love you?”

“…”

“I hope someday you’ll like me too, but can I like you first?”

It was a rather direct question. Gyu-yeon was unusually flustered—he wasn’t used to being approached like this.

He looked utterly innocent, but why were his actions like a bulldozer?

When Gyu-yeon covered his eyes with one hand, Naru squirmed and withdrew his arm, urging him to look and answer.

In the end, Gyu-yeon raised the white flag first today too.

“Do as you wish.”

“Huh?”

“I said do as you want.”

At the affirmative reply, Naru’s cheeks flushed like ripe apples. “Do as you wish” must mean it’s okay to like him. He finally got an answer. It wasn’t an admission of love, but not being pushed away was enough.

Naru, who had been clinging to him as if to hug Gyu-yeon, returned to his seat. He had a talent for stealing a person’s breath away. He didn’t realize what effect his actions had on Gyu-yeon.

“Buckle your seatbelt.”

“…”

“Sigh, why are you looking at me like that? You want me to buckle it for you myself?”

Naru sat motionless when told to buckle up. Unable to bear it, Gyu-yeon asked in disbelief, and he nodded as if waiting to be told—an absurd, annoying action he oddly found hard to distrust.

After a few seconds of silence, Gyu-yeon couldn’t help himself and went to fasten his seatbelt. It was funny how he did everything despite showing reluctance. Naru stared intently at his nearness.

He had a handsome face, a good body, and an attractive scent—always a perfect man.

As Gyu-yeon fastened the seatbelt and returned to his seat, he noticed Naru’s expression: desperately holding back a smile.

“Stop coming on so strong. It’s all over your face.”

“Ah, no, it’s not like that.”

He lightly flicked Naru’s forehead and grabbed the wheel. Unlike the rush to the department store, he didn’t speed on the way home.

Naru’s wistful yet radiant smile lodged in his mind and wouldn’t fade, making it hard to concentrate on driving.

Whoa, could it be—am I starting to have feelings for him?

No, no. Not true. No. Focus on driving, Yu Gyu-yeon.

Was the way home always this long? Gyu-yeon turned on music to empty his thoughts and gently pressed the accelerator.