Chapter 54

“Why did you suddenly kiss me?”

“Thank you.”

After suddenly kissing him, he then said thank you. Gyu-yeon was dumbfounded by Naru’s unexpected behavior.

Although things were better now, at first he must have been very shocked from being kidnapped, so it was strange he didn’t resent him even belatedly. What Gyu-yeon had done was no different from Naru’s Previous owner.

But Naru smiled and said he was grateful. Gyu-yeon couldn’t easily answer that. He just stared blankly at Naru’s clear face.

“Gyu-yeon, you gave a place to stay, gave your heart, gave me food, and now you even introduced me to a job when I knew nothing.”

“That was because I took you in on my own, so of course I did those things….”

A place to stay, warm meals, a job—none of those were things Naru could take for granted. So they had to feel special. The beginning might have been rocky, but the journey since then certainly wasn’t. Without Gyu-yeon, Naru wouldn’t have survived properly in this world.

Shaking her head to deny Gyu-yeon’s words, Naru gripped his hand tightly. The expression that had been stiff a moment ago had already brightened. Gyu-yeon, struck by his innocent smile, slightly opened his mouth as if lost.

“To me, you’re an angel. Like the angel who saved me.”

“Huh?”

“When I first came here, you treated me so well I thought I had come to heaven.”

He actually thought that when he was kidnapped and brought here…?

Gyu-yeon swallowed the words that nearly burst out and replayed the past in his mind: himself stomping around, angry about catching the rich kid, and Naru behaving unusually obediently.

“Haha….”

A laugh escaped his disbelief. He had thought his patience would burst because he acted so nonchalant no matter what he said, but Song Naru had felt like that back then.

Yes, thinking back now, it was rather a relief. It’s much better than trembling in fear.

Naru kept his characteristic bright face and grinned shyly. His smile was so pure it made whoever saw it feel at ease.

“I’m glad I came to you.”

For a moment, Gyu-yeon felt his heart drop. He even got the illusion of a spring breeze though it wasn’t spring. He never thought he’d experience a scene straight out of a romance comic or drama.

Today Naru looked especially radiant. They say when you fall for someone you only see them, and it seemed true. As Gyu-yeon stood there with his mouth open like an idiot, a bored Naru gave up waiting for a reaction and got up.

“I’m sleepy.”

Using sleepiness as an excuse, Naru left and went into the empty room, closing the door. But Gyu-yeon, dazed, remained frozen in place.

Tomorrow he’ll probably go back to being his usual self.

Naru slid down and buried his face in her knees. He was worried because Gyu-yeon’s reaction was stiffer than he expected, but he was giddy with the fact he finally had a job.

Thud.

Holding his breath and hoping Gyu-yeon would return to his old self by morning, the door suddenly opened. Naturally, it was Gyu-yeon who came in.

Naru looked up with puzzled eyes, as if wondering why he had followed his in when he had been stiff a moment ago.

“Uh…”

With a face full of mixed emotions, Gyu-yeon immediately knelt and pulled Naru into his arms. Startled by the sudden hug, Naru flinched, and Gyu-yeon moved his torso closer and began patting his back.

“Gyu-yeon, why are you hugging me all of a sudden?”

“…You worked hard all this time.”

Gyu-yeon whispered in a low voice and gently released his arms. Comforted by the words, Naru couldn’t hide his swelling emotions he’d threw himself into Gyu-yeon’s embrace.

Pushed back by his strength, Gyu-yeon fell and gave a hollow laugh. Naru seemed endlessly adorable as he came closer with each step.

Seizing the moment, Naru hugged Gyu-yeon’s neck tightly and rubbed his cheek against his as if satisfied. The way Gyu-yeon warmly embraced him despite his dark past made his smile more and more.

“When do you want to start work?”

“I’d love to start even tomorrow!”

“Then let’s sign the contract tomorrow.”

“Okay!”

Who else would welcome going to work like Naru? Hearing the word contract excited him, and he bounced over and cuddled up. Every action was filled with charm.

“Ugh!”

“…Ugh.”

His lips met his again without warning. It wasn’t a kiss so much as a rough bump of lips. Whenever Naru was excited he couldn’t control himself and acted aggressively. He nipped Gyu-yeon’s lip with his small front teeth, then hummed a tune with a nonchalant face as if he knew nothing.

Singing “contract, contract,” Naru left Gyu-yeon where he stood and lay down on the bed. He even said not to disturb his sleep because the sooner he slept, the sooner tomorrow would come.

Shaking his head at his childlike idea, Gyu-yeon carefully turned off the room light and left. Normally he’d scold him for trying to sleep so early, but today he needed time to sort his thoughts alone.

Back in his room, Gyu-yeon lay down and closed his eyes. Earlier he had been overwhelmed by unbelievable revelations, and he needed to think them through slowly.

“If everything Song Naru said is true….”

What a tragic life he had lived.

Though it had been a brief conversation, there was not a single unsurprising part in what Naru had said. It was heartbreaking that he lost his family young and was sold and kept locked in a basement.

“But what the hell is that crazy bastard who locked a child in a basement?”

For a moment he felt pity for Naru, then an uncontrollable rage rose in Gyu-yeon. The more he thought about this guy who was the Previous owner, the angrier he got. Taking a weak, powerless kid and locking them in a basement—and on top of that abusing them—made him want to find and kill the man right away.

Was he so withdrawn because he had been abused by the Previous owner?

Recalling when he first met Naru, Gyu-yeon frowned. The current Naru could talk back and express herself, but when he first saw her he was overly intimidated. He even used polite language diligently without being told.

Thinking that Naru’s timidity was all because of the Previous owner made his fists tremble.

“Wait, if all this is true, that bastard might be looking for Song Naru by now.”

Come to think of it, Naru said he met Gyu-yeon while fleeing, not that he had successfully escaped. So the man known as the Previous owner might by now be furious and searching for Naru.

This added one more thing to worry about. First priority was his brother Gyu-seong, and next was Naru’s Previous owner.

Vibration.

Sighing with a troubled heart, his phone buzzed briefly. Checking the message, Gyu-yeon couldn’t help but laugh.

[Good night, Gyu-ya-na]

One message from Naru made all his worries seem to fly away. He replied with the same good night, and this time an emoji arrived: a squishy-looking puppy character slipping into a blanket and closing its eyes.

Who taught him stuff like this?

Murmuring with a laugh, Gyu-yeon instinctively took a screenshot. Someone else might tease him for screenshotting something so trivial, but to him that squishy puppy looked irresistibly cute.

After staring at the screen for a long time, Gyu-yeon put his phone down and closed his eyes tightly. It seemed better to sleep before his thoughts multiplied again.

Thus, a day that felt like a storm passed for both of them.

Early in the morning, Naru woke up early and washed without even noticing hunger. After cleaning up, he put on the clothes Gyu-yeon had bought him before and neatly brushed his hair.

Today marked the start of a new life for Naru. His heart pounding, he finished preparing and hurried to Gyu-yeon’s door, slightly opening it.

“Wake up, Gyu-yeon.”

Naru stuck his face through the crack and woke Gyu-yeon, telling him to get up. Roused by his small voice, Gyu-yeon smoothed his messy hair with one hand and got out of bed.

“What on earth time did you wake up…?”

“Four a.m.!”

Rubbing at his sleepy eyes, Gyu-yeon checked Naru and muttered in disbelief. It was astonishing that he was bright-eyed even at six in the morning. On top of that, he looked absurdly tidy after washing and dressing.

The dessert Cafe opened exactly at nine a.m. But today it seemed they’d have to open earlier. Though Seo-yeon usually handled opening, today Gyu-yeon decided to take care of it.

Having sent Seo-yeon a schedule-change message at the crack of dawn, Gyu-yeon went into the bathroom. As expected, the bathroom Naru had used first was a chaotic mess.

She thought he was tidying up, but to Gyu-yeon it didn’t look like tidying at all. It was more like a well-organized junkyard.

Cleaning up Naru’s traces one by one and coming out of the bathroom, Gyu-yeon headed to the kitchen before changing clothes. He could hear clattering inside, so Naru seemed to be tinkering with something again.

“Get out, I’ll do it.”

A bag of morning rolls sat on the sink. Was he trying to prepare a simple breakfast? Gyu-yeon patted Naru’s hair perfunctorily and, saying he’d do it, nudged her slight body away.

Yesterday’s heavy conversation had made the air between them awkward, but today a comfortable atmosphere lingered as usual.

After leaving breakfast to Gyu-yeon, Naru’s mouth twitched in the relaxed mood. Then he clung to his back like a koala.

Sniff. Sniff.

Gyu-yeon smells nice.

Naru felt comforted by his cool yet cozy scent and smiled, closing his eyes. Gyu-yeon pretended to be annoyed as he shifted but allowed him to stay.

“When you go to work you won’t be able to cling to me—what will you do?”

“……”

Naru’s happy expression instantly fell into despair.