Chapter 26

A soft cheek stuck to the smooth shirt like a piece of gum. Gyu-yeon, who was taking out the car keys, froze stiff at the inexplicable behavior.

What on earth is this.

Since leaving the shop, Naru, who had been clinging persistently, wiggled his body as if determined to leave his scent on Gyu-yeon. At first he plunged into Gyu-yeon’s chest and rubbed his head, then he tightly hugged Gyu-yeon’s arm and wouldn’t let go.

“Let go for a moment, you have to get in the car.”

“…”

He’s doing this again.

Naru shook his head without a word. Seeing his clamped lips reminded him of the first time they met. Of course his gaze was clearly different then, but when he kept his mouth shut like that the mood became unnecessarily bleak and unsettled people.

No matter what emotion Gyu-yeon felt, Naru focused on rubbing his cheek. His feelings had become unstable.

It was the first time Naru had faced a rival. When he was locked in the basement it was hard, but the Previous owner had been obsessed with only Naru, so he had never competed with others.

I thought the owner looked only at me no matter what. It wasn’t like that.

In this world he could live in a much better environment than before. He didn’t have to obey, could walk around freely, could use warm water, and there were many good people. Naru had only been happy with such a world, but still……

The problem was that with freedom came meeting a variety of people. Geon-hyuk, whom he had met before, was like that, and the Do-min he saw earlier also coveted Gyu-yeon, who was like his owner.

Before, he had wanted to escape because the attention from one owner was too overwhelming, but now he had to try hard to get the owner’s attention. If he didn’t make an effort, it felt like people around him would snatch Gyu-yeon away.

So he decided to show affection first. As a bonus, he worked hard to leave his scent, meaning “Yu Gyu-yeon is mine!”

Sniff. Sniff.

“I told you to let go, why are you sniffing me?”

Naru, rubbing his cheek and sniffing, made a disappointed face. He expected his scent to come from Gyu-yeon, but only the cool scent of cologne was noticeable.

Gyu-yeon, who had Naru hanging on one arm, forcibly disentangled his small body. Shivering because his clothes were wet, Naru’s reluctance to get in the car was foolish. Earlier he said he wanted to change clothes, but now he seemed not to care about clothes at all.

“Get in for now.”

“…”

“What are you just staring at, get in already.”

Gyu-yeon opened the passenger door and forcibly crammed Naru’s body inside. He was so stubborn that he had some trouble because he wouldn’t let go of the arm he had grabbed.

Drained before they even started, Gyu-yeon leaned back comfortably as soon as he sat in the driver’s seat. Naru, watching Gyu-yeon in the quiet car, turned his body to sit and prepared to lunge.

“Hey, buckle your seatbelt properly.”

“I want to stay a little closer…”

“You’ve been clinging on all this time, what are you saying, hey!”

Seizing the chance, Naru charged at Gyu-yeon. It was a huge relief the engine wasn’t started yet. He grabbed his broad shoulders with both hands, shoved his face forward, and rubbed his face against Gyu-yeon’s body just like before.

Gyu-yeon felt like he could go crazy in a different way. He was already startled by the sudden cling, and he showed no sign of letting go—in fact he clung even in a space where there were only the two of them, which was maddening.

“Get off.”

“Who was that person earlier?”

“Who, are you talking about the new employee?”

“Employee? Are you close? Why? If they’re an employee, will they keep working at that shop? Until when?”

A barrage of questions fell. Naru, testing the waters, lit up and fired off questions. Gyu-yeon, answering in a dry tone, was dumbfounded and gave a nervous laugh.

Is he doing this on purpose? Gyu-yeon, who had looked at Naru incredulously, dropped his suspicion. On purpose? No, he was asking more earnestly than anyone. What on earth was he so curious about? If you looked closely, Naru was very curious.

“Since they’re a new employee, they’ll probably keep working together until they quit.”

“Why?”

“Because I hired them.”

“Why did you hire them?”

“…”

“Why did you hire them?”—it’s a simple question, so why is there emotion mixed in? What’s with that resentful look.

If he kept answering like this there would be no end. Gyu-yeon coldly pushed away Naru, who was looking at him with resentful eyes. He expected him to be stubborn again, but he obediently fell back and sat.

Back in his seat, Naru fastened his seatbelt with his own hands. It was unexpected—he usually sat and insisted Gyu-yeon do it.

Feeling uneasy, Gyu-yeon stepped on the accelerator. Naru, who had been firing questions, clamped his mouth shut again and said nothing. Glancing to the side, Gyu-yeon studied Naru’s suddenly serious face and furrowed his brows the same way.

“What’s wrong?”

“…”

“Why are you suddenly so down? Talk.”

“Just, the employee…”

Unable to bear the frustration, Gyu-yeon spoke first and urged him to answer. Naru only fiddled with his fingers and couldn’t give a clear answer.

I don’t like the new employee you hired!

The words wanted to burst out from him, so why wouldn’t they come out of his mouth? Naru was deliberately holding back, afraid of being disliked by Gyu-yeon. Objectively, Do-min had done nothing wrong.

If he forced his personal thoughts in this situation, Gyu-yeon would be embarrassed. Naru didn’t want to put Gyu-yeon in a difficult position.

What should I do.

Naru’s troubled heart didn’t ease easily. He couldn’t tell Gyu-yeon straight that he disliked that employee, and he had neither the strength nor the power to act on his own. If he did nothing, he was afraid Do-min would snatch Gyu-yeon away.

Unusually focused, Naru slapped his hands as if a good idea had occurred to him. Gyu-yeon, shaking his head at his distracted behavior, glanced over. Naru opened his mouth with a resolute expression.

“I want to be an employee too!”

“Ah, shit, you scared me.”

“Employee! I want to be an employee too.”

It was an out-of-the-blue remark. Gyu-yeon had to think twice about whether he had understood Naru correctly.

Naru bit his lip firmly as if he wouldn’t change his mind. But this was a request Gyu-yeon would never grant. How could he put inexperienced Naru in an employee position? Whatever else, Gyu-yeon was strict about work.

“No.”

“I want to be an employee too,”

“Make sense when you are trying to say something.”

Naru’s tail went down at Gyu-yeon’s decisive answer. As Gyu-yeon said, it was really nonsense. Working wasn’t a joke.

Silence fell over the car again. Naru just stared out the window and didn’t add anything. Since it wasn’t a matter of stubbornness, he could only hug his frustration.

The two arrived home and got out of the car awkwardly. Gyu-yeon sighed deeply—he had been worried about Naru the whole drive. Naru acted so simply that he was easy to read, but at times like this his true feelings were inscrutable, which frustrated him.

“Go and change your clothes first.”

Without a word, Naru went up to the dressing room and rummaged through the densely hung clothes. His heart had been fluttering, but in the space filled with Gyu-yeon’s scent he felt a little better.

Naru, not thinking about changing clothes and meaninglessly fiddling with hangers, hid his body between the racks. As soon as he crouched among the softly laundered clothes, his little world was covered in Gyu-yeon’s scent. The front was dark, hidden by clothes, and the small space full of his scent let him feel secure.

Gyu-yeon smells good.

He even brought more clothes, surrounded himself, and lay down. Buried among the clothes, Naru smiled happily. Gyu-yeon’s smell always made him feel good.

“Why does it take so long to change clothes?”

“…”

“Ha, haha, shit. Yeah, it’s been quiet for some reason. Fuck…”

Gyu-yeon, waiting for Naru in the living room, felt something odd about the house’s sudden quiet nature and went straight up to the dressing room. He had been worried because Naru’s face hadn’t looked good earlier, but what he found was a mess—the dressing room was a wreck.

Clothes that had been neatly hung on hangers were strewn on the floor, and the culprit was buried among them, sniffing. He made a mess at the slightest opportunity, and Gyu-yeon could only laugh bitterly, too exhausted to scold.

Naru seemed to like the pile of clothes she’d made. It was ridiculous how he curled up like a baby bird in a nest, taking a secure posture.

“I told you to change your clothes, when did I tell you to make a mess?”

“If I’m here, Gyu-yeon’s scent is strong.”

“Ha, really…”

Picking up a piece of clothing at his feet, Gyu-yeon nagged in a tone of complete resignation. Naru answered with a brazen face. It was an honest answer. Because of that Gyu-yeon was left speechless.

Not “I want to mess with you,” but “because you smell nice.” It upends a person’s feelings so they can’t even get angry.

Gyu-yeon exhaled and slowly walked over, kneeling down in front of Naru. He was about to start clearing the nearby clothes, but seeing Naru’s expression had improved from earlier, he withdrew his hand.

“Fine, stay as you like.”

“Are you going to come?”

“Well then, shall I at least lie down here with you?”

“I’d like that…”

Oh my. What? “I’d like that”?

He was just teasing, but Naru bit the bait and wouldn’t let go. Before he knew it, Gyu-yeon’s arm was grabbed and he was stuck in an awkward position.

“Let go of this.”

Unfazed by the sharp voice, Naru grabbed Gyu-yeon’s arm and pulled hard. Gyu-yeon, who had been kneeling, lost his balance and tumbled into the pile of clothes.

Naru wrapped his arms around Gyu-yeon to keep him from escaping, even interlacing his fingers tightly so he couldn’t get free. Gyu-yeon alone was flustered by the unexpected intimacy.

Naru thought about what he should say so Gyu-yeon wouldn’t waver and would stay by his side forever. No matter how he agonized, no fitting words came to mind, and then he remembered what the Previous owner used to say to him.

“Don’t flirt around recklessly.”

That admonition about not flirting around—at first he didn’t understand what it meant, but now he roughly knew how it was used.

So when you say something like that, you bind the body so they can’t move, and make the scariest face possible…

“Hey, why are you like this all of a sudden?”

In an instant Naru climbed onto Gyu-yeon’s body and used his knees to pin his arms so he couldn’t move. It was an act to subdue the opponent, but to Gyu-yeon it just felt strange.

First he hugged him tightly, and now he was even straddling him. It was only natural he would misunderstand.

Ignoring all of Gyu-yeon’s words, Naru put on the scariest face he could and uttered an absurd line. The words, pronounced clearly in his soft voice, carried an odd hint of madness.

“Don’t flirt with other people.”

“…”

“Don’t go around flirting recklessly.”

What is this, it’s definitely a crazy act, so why do I feel sucked in?

Gyu-yeon, staring at Naru with a vacant face, squeezed his eyes shut. His head was getting dizzy. He drained the other’s spirit, and it was ridiculous and funny that he himself was so serious.