Chapter 30

The dessert Cafe on a weekday morning was quieter than on weekends. Gyu-yeon opened the shop door with a displeased look. All the way to the shop, Naru’s seemingly dismissive attitude toward him was enough to put Gyu-yeon in a sour mood.

Seo-yeon noticed Gyu-yeon’s expression and quietly looked away. If she happened to be on the receiving end of that mood today, she could get scolded — or have some trivial thing nitpicked at her.

“Hello, boss!”

Do-min, who hadn’t fully figured Gyu-yeon out yet, greeted brightly. With a deep brown apron tied at his waist and his hair neatly set, he looked better than when they first met.

Naru, who came in behind, hid behind Gyu-yeon and kept an eye on Do-min. Today, no matter what, he intended to stick close to Gyu-yeon.

“Naru, you’re here too? I set some matcha cookies aside just for today.”

“Wow, thank you. But what’s matcha?”

“You know green tea, right? It’s the tea leaves finely ground into powder. We made cookies with that!”

Seo-yeon, who had run out when she saw Naru, held out the matcha cookies she’d made since dawn. Naru, who accepts food first and asks questions later, looked at Seo-yeon as if she were a god and his eyes sparkled. Gyu-yeon clicked his tongue as if he still disapproved of that Naru.

Do-min stood still, trying to figure out their relationship. Seo-yeon was friendly toward Naru, and Gyu-yeon always went around with Naru but acted finicky. It was hard to deduce what exactly Naru and Gyu-yeon were to each other.

“Stop chatting. Song Naru, sit over there.”

“Can I eat the bread?”

“You may.”

“Yay!”

Sometimes, looking at him, it’s like his head is full of flowers.

Watching Naru run off happily, Gyu-yeon let out a small, hollow laugh and then stiffened his expression as if nothing had happened. The moment was brief, but Do-min keenly noticed that look.

Do-min wasn’t the only quick-witted one. Seo-yeon had been watching Naru and Do-min, who’d been sparring since their first meeting, closely. Sure enough, Do-min was trying hard to look good in Gyu-yeon’s eyes. With innocent-looking eyes scanning the situation and clearly conscious of Naru, Seo-yeon couldn’t simply regard Do-min favorably.

Go for it, Naru!

Seo-yeon cheered for Naru inwardly but drifted into another thought. Gyu-yeon was busy doing his job—telling people to change display order, bringing in new ingredients, talking with staff—Naru seemed to be the last thing on his mind.

Naru, who came back with arms full of the bread he wanted, was on his second round of eating. Sitting at the table tasting this and that, his gaze remained glued to Gyu-yeon. But Gyu-yeon, who was just as oblivious as Naru, didn’t notice that look at all.

“Ah, and since we have a new menu, we should promote it and upload it to SNS, but as for that…”

“I’ll do it!”

“You? No, Do-min?”

As Gyu-yeon was about to assign someone to handle SNS when he mentioned promotion, Do-min, who had been quietly listening, suddenly shot his hand up. A newcomer who’d just started working offering to manage the SNS account—he had both big enthusiasm and boldness.

Gyu-yeon habitually said, “You?” and corrected the address. But his skeptical expression didn’t fade. Most people would be cowed by Gyu-yeon’s bluntness and fall silent, but Do-min confidently continued speaking.

“Actually, I have quite a few followers. Not to brag, but I’m confident running accounts.”

“Oh my, Do-min, you must be popular. Can I watch?”

“I’ll show you for a second.”

Do-min, wielding his follower count as proof, pulled out his phone with an awkward smile. Seo-yeon, who was very interested in things like this, egged him on, saying she wanted to see.

Gyu-yeon, who didn’t really care about personal accounts, sighed and waited for the two of them. No matter the follower count, to celebrity Gyu-yeon it seemed trivial.

Naru, sitting at the table listening, couldn’t make sense of any of it. He didn’t have a phone and didn’t know what SNS was, so he couldn’t understand a word.

“Wow, the follower count is really high. Not many mutuals, though—so this is a celeb.”

“Ah, no. It just turned out this way somehow. Haha.”

“Oh my, isn’t this the boss’s account? You’re not mutuals with the boss? The boss has so many handsome photos on his SNS, I sneak a look too.”

While browsing the follow list, Seo-yeon tapped a familiar account with her finger. The photos and the username looked vaguely familiar; on closer inspection, it was Gyu-yeon’s account. Judging by its position lower down, she must have followed Gyu-yeon as soon as she started on SNS.

Of course the two weren’t mutuals. Gyu-yeon didn’t go mutual with just anyone. Considering his pride and temperament, it made sense.

Do-min stumbled upon Gyu-yeon’s SNS account and, seeing photos of the Cafe, built up some kind of fantasy. A neat interior, staff happily working without tension—like a dream workplace. Looking at the third Cafe photo precisely, Do-min made up his mind: he’d work at Gyu-yeon’s Cafe no matter what.

“Ah, I followed by chance because the Cafe’s vibe was so nice!”

“…”

In truth, Gyu-yeon wasn’t interested in Do-min. It was an expected outcome. Do-min knew well that typical bosses didn’t pay much attention to their staff.

Unfazed by Gyu-yeon’s indifferent attitude, Do-min hurriedly continued the conversation. His shameless approach was a skill he’d picked up dealing with coworkers at his previous jobs.

“Um, boss. Since we’re on the topic, be mutual with me!”

“I don’t go mutual with just anyone.”

“Ah, that’s a shame.”

Do-min’s cheeky request for a mutual follow was flatly refused. Seo-yeon, watching, put on a sympathetic face, saying she knew that would happen. He could at least pretend to think about it—how could Gyu-yeon be so sharp in refusal?

Gyu-yeon’s raised lip looked particularly unpleasant today. Do-min, having been brusquely rejected, acted as if it didn’t matter. Gyu-yeon was no pushover, but Do-min’s spirit was stronger than expected.

“You manage the SNS account.”

“Me? I’m not confident about this kind of thing.”

“I’ll pay you more.”

“Oh my, I misspoke. I mean, I’m totally confident.”

Seo-yeon’s attitude changed instantly at the mention of money, which made Gyu-yeon laugh ruefully. Though abrupt, Gyu-yeon treated employees he’d been with a long time with a certain familiarity.

With the SNS talk over, Gyu-yeon dismissed the staff and approached Naru. He already had a wet wipe in one hand.

“You managed to get it all over yourself in no time, didn’t you?”

“…”

Gyu-yeon wiped his mouth out of habit and sat down cross-legged beside Naru. But today, Naru seemed off. He wasn’t smiling; his expression was sulky, as if sulking. Gyu-yeon didn’t notice why he was like that.

Watching Gyu-yeon and the staff from afar, Naru felt left out. Especially when they talked about SNS and everyone looked at their phones, he couldn’t guess what was being said and felt sullen.

He hadn’t realized it while being close to Gyu-yeon, but feeling excluded by such small things made him feel disconnected from the world.

Naru, fiddling carefully with the phone on the table, hung his head. It was faint, but Seo-yeon had definitely said the boss’s SNS had lots of handsome photos. Everyone else had phones to peek at Gyu-yeon’s photos, and he seemed upset and indignant about being the only one who couldn’t.

“I want to see the photos too…”

“Huh? Didn’t hear you.”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

Naru stood to return his finished tray and headed to the counter. Gyu-yeon missed the chance to grab his hand and stop him. In the end, he just sat there staring at Naru’s back.

“Um, this…”

“You’re finished? I’ll give you another matcha cookie—take it secretly without the boss noticing.”

“Thank you. Um, but…”

When Naru approached the counter, Seo-yeon ran up happily and handed him another matcha cookie. Weak for cute things, she held Naru’s round face and kept blurting out embarrassing compliments about his good skin and squishy cheeks.

Naru, quietly letting Seo-yeon touch his face and smiling, seized the moment to ask a question. He thought the kind Seo-yeon would readily grant his request.

“Earlier, you said I could see Gyu-yeon’s photos…”

“Oh, SNS? Huh, now that you mention it, Naru, you don’t have a phone?”

“Yesss, I don’t.”

“Did you lose it? If you’re curious about the boss’s photos, I’ll secretly show you. There are tons of handsome ones.”

People usually enjoy talking about others more than themselves. Seo-yeon immediately took out her phone and went to Gyu-yeon’s SNS. From the profile alone—like it was saying ‘I am a celeb’—Gyu-yeon’s account had a whopping 67.4K followers.

Despite the huge follower count, the number of accounts he followed was drought-level low. Proud Gyu-yeon didn’t mutual with just anyone.

Seo-yeon scrolled down and showed Gyu-yeon’s photos: shots at an art museum, pictures with unfamiliar foreigners, sometimes just photos of his hand.

Naru memorized each of Gyu-yeon’s photos as if to take them all into his eyes. Seo-yeon looked fondly at the back of Naru’s head as he focused.

Gyu-yeon, waiting for Naru to return, openly grimaced and muttered curses. He was annoyed that instead of simply returning the tray, he suddenly leaned in with Seo-yeon and stared intently at a phone.

Gyu-yeon stood up and strode over to the two, snatching the phone away. Caught in the middle of peeking at photos, Naru reached out desperately for the phone to be returned.

“Give it back!”

“I told you to put the tray back—what are you doing standing here? Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“Those are Gyu-yeon’s photos!”

“My photos?”

Confusion spread across Gyu-yeon’s face. Seo-yeon pointed at the phone screen, telling him not to misunderstand and to look. Gyu-yeon lowered his arm, checked the screen, and let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity.

He’d wondered what they were staring at so intently; it turned out to be his own SNS. He felt a little embarrassed that Naru had been staring at these photos, but not in a bad way—maybe even pleased.

Naru, cautiously watching Gyu-yeon’s expression, tugged at the hem of his shirt. He did that whenever he had something to say.

What does he want to ask for this time?

Feeling conflicted but pretending not to care, Gyu-yeon looked down and bit his lip hard. Naru gazed at him with big, sparkling eyes. Who had put stars in those eyes? Though his pupils were no different from anyone else’s, when Naru looked at him like that, it felt oddly enchanting.

“I want that too.”

“…What?”

“That, the phone.”

Naru timidly pointed at the phone and gently grabbed Gyu-yeon’s arm. It seemed like he was pleading with him in his own way, but there was no way Gyu-yeon would fall for such a tactic…

He did.

“Come out with me right now.”

“Uh…?”

Gyu-yeon grabbed Naru’s arm and led him out of the shop. How could he not buy it for him when he wanted it that badly? But as he followed, Naru assumed he was about to be scolded and wore a pouty, tearful face.

I just want a phone! I wanted to look at Gyu-yeon’s photos! I didn’t want to be left out!

Unaware of Naru’s feelings, Gyu-yeon called his older brother. If it was a phone, he could get one anytime. As the youngest son of YK Electronics, Gyu-yeon could have a phone without buying one, just by asking.

Seo-yeon, leaning her chin on the counter and looking out the window, laughed aloud. When Gyu-yeon first brought him, he had such an unwilling expression, but now Gyu-yeon wrapping himself around Naru seemed funny to her. Even if she thought that, the two of them looked quite good together and she couldn’t help but smile.

The boss is a bit much, but I hope it works out for them.

Having watched them get into the car at last, Seo-yeon turned back feeling refreshed.

Thud!

“Goodness, Do-min, are you hurt anywhere?”

“Ah, sorry. My hand slipped.”

“That’s how it usually is when doing dishes. The detergent is so slippery.”

A loud noise came from the kitchen. Do-min, doing the dishes, seemed to have dropped a cup. Whether intentional or accidental, Seo-yeon feigned ignorance on purpose.

Do-min’s expression stiffened. His face showed not jealousy but a hint of unease.