Chapter 32

Naru was excited without knowing how Gyu-yeon felt. Before, whenever he was even a little bored he would cling to Gyu-yeon’s side and beg him to play, but now he seemed busy fiddling with his phone.

After installing everything from the messengers everyone used to the trending SNS, he then added a camera app. The world seen through the camera felt different.

When he applied a glittering filter the whole world turned pink, and with a cat filter everyone passing by suddenly had cat ears and tails. Naru fell into the fun of taking pictures and made Gyu-yeon his model.

“What have you been doing, to not even use a phone until now?”

“They said I didn’t need that sort of thing…”

“Shouldn’t have asked.”

Gyu-yeon once again lost faith in humanity. Naru’s parents were beyond unreasonable. To think they wouldn’t buy him a phone, saying it wasn’t necessary even though everyone carries one. As expected, it was clear Naru had been mistreated by his parents.

Naru thrust the camera toward Gyu-yeon. Gyu-yeon looked at the screen with an annoyed expression and gave a hollow laugh. Somehow, as if he’d learned it somewhere, the screen showed a rabbit-ear filter.

“You take this kind of thing.”

Gyu-yeon grabbed Naru’s hand to turn him and pressed the shutter button for him. The rabbit filter suited gentle-looking Naru more than Gyu-yeon’s sharp features. No, it didn’t just suit him — it made him downright adorable.

Staring blankly at the camera, Naru went straight to the gallery to check his photo. Unfamiliar with his own face, he thought the picture looked awkward. As he reached for the delete button, Gyu-yeon, who had been watching, hurriedly grabbed his hand.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“I was going to delete this because it’s weird…”

“What’s weird about it? Give me the phone.”

Gyu-yeon snatched the phone from Naru’s hand and sent the photo they had just taken to his messenger. He couldn’t even understand why he acted that way himself. His hand had simply moved on its own.

Naru let Gyu-yeon handle the phone as he pleased. Things that wouldn’t behave when he touched them somehow got neatly sorted when they fell into Gyu-yeon’s hands.

Before handing the phone back, Gyu-yeon first saved his own number. Seeing his name boldly sitting in an otherwise empty contacts list gave him a strange good feeling.

“It’s my number, so call me if anything happens.”

“Call?”

“Press this button.”

Following Gyu-yeon’s instructions, Naru pressed the green call button and held the phone to his ear. Gyu-yeon decided he’d play along just this once. When he answered, he heard Naru’s voice right in front of him.

“Hello? Gyu-yeon, do you hear me?”

“…Yeah, I hear you. Do it like this from now on.”

Gyu-yeon, momentarily distracted by his bright face, looked away. Naru carefully put the phone in his pocket and grabbed Gyu-yeon’s hand — another unannounced bit of physical contact.

Gyu-yeon, still unsettled after that forced kiss, startled and pulled his hand away. As a result, Naru’s expression turned sulky.

“I just grabbed it so I wouldn’t lose it…”

“Do you grab any old hand like that?”

“It’s not just any hand. It’s Gyu-yeon’s hand.”

“Good talking.”

Giving in to his bold reply, Gyu-yeon held his hand again. The lukewarm warmth tickled his heart for no reason. Naru, who had grabbed his hand out of selfishness, inwardly rejoiced that his act of playing the pitiable role had worked.

The two left the cafe and headed back to Gyu-yeon’s Cafe. They had left something behind, and Naru also wanted to show off his phone to Seo-yeon before going home.

Seoyeon, who had been working nonstop, saw them enter side by side and waved cheerfully. Gyu-yeon gave a cold reaction, but Naru smiled brightly and waved back the same way.

“What’s this, you who never come out once you leave?”

“I’m in a mood. I came to fetch my diary.”

“Naru, let me look at your phone. I want to see it too.”

Ignoring Gyu-yeon’s reply, Seo-yeon reached out to Naru. Naru took the phone from his pocket and handed it straight over. Usually one would not be quick to give their phone to others, but knowing nothing, Naru happily let him look — he didn’t mind at all.

Seo-yeon first saved her own number and then opened the SNS app. The newly created account was empty and neat. No profile picture, no posts, no friends.

Huh?

But the friends list, which should have been empty, showed the number 1. One follower, one following. Had someone mutually followed them? Seo-yeon, heart racing, checked the follower list and covered her mouth.

“Huh!”

“Why, why?”

“No way, the boss mutually followed Naru? Wow, awesome.”

In the follower list, only Gyu-yeon’s account appeared. Seo-yeon, convinced she was right, gushed. Earlier he said he didn’t mutually follow just anyone to Do-min, so was Naru not just anyone? With a sly smile, she pressed the profile edit button.

Naru let Seo-yeon do whatever she wanted. He thought Seo-yeon, being handy with phones, would install whatever helpful things were needed.

While Gyu-yeon grabbed his diary, Seo-yeon, keeping watch, quickly changed the profile bio.

<Gyu-yeon’s lover>

The bio was the sort that would fluster Gyu-yeon if he noticed. Seo-yeon giggled, closed the SNS window, and went into the gallery. The phone hadn’t been bought long, but already had forty photos saved. As she looked through them, Seo-yeon again covered her mouth.

“So, so cute…!”

“What is it?”

“Naru, what’s this selfie? It’s so cute.”

Compliments from a stranger were always embarrassing. While Naru felt awkward, Seo-yeon set the rabbit-filtered photo as the messenger profile picture. In the otherwise empty messenger friends list, only Gyu-yeon’s and Seo-yeon’s names glowed yellow.

“I’m proud. Naru, be sure to message me. Press this and then chat to send it.”

Having learned how to send messages from Seo-yeon, Naru nodded. She tried sending “Hi” to Gyu-yeon as a test and stared intently at the lonely speech bubble. Gyu-yeon, walking around the shop jotting something in his diary, checked his phone and spun around at the counter.

Seo-yeon quickly pretended not to notice and acted aloof, while Naru kept staring at the phone. Gyu-yeon sent a reply and quickly wrapped up his work.

Vrrr.

[Get ready to go home]

“Get, ready, to, go, home…”

“Is that how he replied? Looks like the boss is about to leave. I’ll give you some cream cheese cookies, so take them.”

Seo-yeon, rustling near the counter, handed Naru a ribbon-wrapped box. Naru hugged the cookie box to him chest, bowed, and thanked her.

Having finished work, Gyu-yeon urged they leave and led Naru away. Whenever he was around Seo-yeon, they’d huddle together and whisper, and he felt a strange twinge of jealousy. Seo-yeon, unfazed, waved and called them to come again.

Naru fiddled with his phone even in the car on the way home. Gyu-yeon regretted giving him the phone. He usually chattered away at his side, but now, enjoying the phone so much, he kept his mouth shut, which he didn’t like.

Even if he cleared his throat to signal, Naru showed no sign of looking up. Gyu-yeon went straight to his room upon returning home. He thought it was childish, but couldn’t help his body moving.

Watching Gyu-yeon’s back, Naru flopped onto the sofa and opened the messenger app. Having practiced sending messages to himself in the car, it was now time to send one to Gyu-yeon.

[Gyu-yeon what are you doing] sent.

Gyu-yeon, lying on the bed, didn’t check his ringing phone. He couldn’t believe it was a message from Naru. His phone buzzed with notifications all the time — acquaintances’ greetings he wasn’t close to, SNS likes, bank alerts — an annoying mix.

Vrrr. Vrrr. Vrrr. Vrrr.

Still, he’d never seen anyone send messages this obsessively. The vibration that had gone off once kept repeating. Irritated, Gyu-yeon checked the phone and found himself smiling without meaning to.

[Gyu-yeon what are you doing]

[Gyu-yeon you’re not sulking right]

[I’m going to take a lot of pictures]

[Can you see my messages??]

[Hello?]

From the clumsy spelling to the tone, everything was absurdly funny. Instead of replying, Gyu-yeon opened his door and came out. If he replied, it might become fun and they’d end up talking face-to-face; he needed to nip it in the bud.

“Hey, Song Naru. When you’re at home, speak aloud.”

“This is convenient.”

“Oh, really? If it’s that convenient, why live together then? You can do everything via messenger, so why bother living together?”

Thud.

Gyu-yeon’s shocking remark froze Naru in place. After a three-second freeze, he quickly shook his head. Seeing Gyu-yeon in person was preferable to communicating by phone.

Gyu-yeon smiled with satisfaction at Naru’s desperate reaction. His behavior seemed to get more childish by the day. Luckily he was innocent; if it had been someone else, he would have teased and picked on him.

“I’m making dinner, so come help.”

“Okay!”

Seamlessly moving on, Gyu-yeon called Naru to help make dinner together. He tossed the phone on the sofa and trailed behind him, peeking over his shoulder. He usually wouldn’t let her help because he always caused trouble, so he seemed excited that he allowed it this time.

The two finished cooking in a sort of rosy mood. Tonight’s menu was beef steak and shrimp salad. After placing the plates on the table, Naru had a bright idea and went back to the sofa to get his phone.

He planned to keep memories of Gyu-yeon on this phone from now on. Turning on the camera, Naru took pictures with clumsy hands. The plating looked pretty, so even rough shots came out nice, which made him proud.

Watching him, Gyu-yeon snatched the phone and offered to take the photos himself. Perhaps because he used SNS often, his photography skills were far better than Naru’s.

After taking a couple of shots, Gyu-yeon handed the phone back to Naru with a confident expression. Then it happened.

Ding.

[seo-yeon22_22_ss has started following you]

An SNS notification popped up at the top. At the same time, Gyu-yeon’s expression soured. He snatched the phone back mid-hand and tapped the notification to check the account that followed.

The one who followed Naru’s account was none other than Seo-yeon. Gyu-yeon, unconsciously relieved, pressed the back button. Naru’s SNS account information appeared on the screen. Gyu-yeon checked something and widened his eyes in surprise.

<Gyu-yeon’s lover>

“…”

An absurd line was written in the bio. Naru, unaware of anything, blinked innocently and looked at Gyu-yeon.

“Did you write this…?”

“What?”

“You put on SNS that you are my lover.”

Naru, looking puzzled, checked the screen and gasped, covering his mouth. He hadn’t written such a thing, but it was a great opportunity!

Slap!

Naru snatched the phone from Gyu-yeon’s hand and nodded. Gyu-yeon, dumbfounded by that sly action, let out a hollow laugh.

“Who’s my lover?”

“Me.”

Unfazed by Gyu-yeon’s curt remark, Naru held his head high as if to say, ‘What are you going to do if I say it’s you?’

Contrary to Naru’s expectations, Gyu-yeon said nothing more. He only gave a bemused chuckle, neither stealing the phone back nor scolding him to change the bio.

See, Gyu-yeon admits it too!

Thinking that in his head, Naru smiled innocently as if he knew nothing.