AGENT 7

Strange misunderstandings.

Because Yongnae had been a boring “model student” who did nothing but study, one might think he had lived a very quiet life, but Yongnae occasionally had to taste the bitterness of an unsmooth existence.

That was precisely being misunderstood as gay. It wasn’t because Yongnae was fair-skinned, thin, neat, didn’t play games, didn’t drink, or didn’t belong to the groups of men who only talked about women.

Strangely enough, from elementary school through college, there was always at least one boy who took a liking to Yongnae. For no particular reason, they found him cute, and for no particular reason, they tried to drag Yongnae along with their group. They would stubbornly haul a reluctant Yongnae to PC rooms and coax a studying Yongnae into going to karaoke rooms.

But since they happened to be the center of their respective groups, the other boys couldn’t openly express their dissatisfaction or ask why they were bringing along the inflexible and boring Yongnae. Instead, those boys started spreading rumors behind his back, which were precisely about whether Kim Yongnae might be gay.

Of course, most people didn’t believe it, saying, “That Kim Yongnae, who’s like a traditional schoolmaster, is gay? Better to say I’m gay,” so the rumors didn’t spread far, but Yongnae, the party involved, was extremely horrified when he happened to encounter those stories.

He was a person with the grand goal of marrying a woman from a similar background at thirty-three, having two children, and teaching them excellently just as his mother had—and to be called gay.

“Detective—.”

“Yes…?”

“That sounds good to hear.”

“Ah…”

So after that, he never did anything that might cause a misunderstanding with another man. He distanced himself even further from friends he didn’t hang out with much anyway and immersed himself solely in the researcher examination.

“Can’t I just hold this?”

“…It’s heavy, though.”

“I’ll hold it for you—.”

Because of that, he shouldn’t engage in behavior that invites misunderstanding, yet at the sight of the man lifting the equipment effortlessly, Yongnae again found himself staring blankly up at him without realizing it.

A handsome face, a good voice, and even strong. Yongnae felt that if he had a sister, the man was such a perfect person that he would have suggested setting them up.

“It really is heavy—.”

Furthermore, while one might expect him to get annoyed and tell Yongnae to hurry because it was heavy, the man spoke softly without a single trace of such a temper. Honestly, if this were a drama or a movie, the man’s character might have been criticized for having an excessive amount of “perfect” settings.

“Ah, a… I am sorry.”

Yongnae hurriedly pulled the rubber tube and pushed it inside the vent. Then, he set the suction intensity to high and operated it so that as much of the air inside as possible could be drawn in.

Whirrr—

Soon, the sound of the equipment starting suction and inhaling air was heard. At the same time, to add his own strength, Yongnae supported the bottom part of the equipment the man was holding with his hand, and the man’s hand and Yongnae’s hand overlapped and touched exactly.

“Ah…! I am sorry.”

Startled by that, Yongnae quickly pulled his hand away.

The man seemed unbothered, but just as when the man’s hand had touched his shoulder earlier, Yongnae felt a tingling sensation in the fingertips that had touched. And from that spot, it felt as though his hand was rapidly becoming hot.

“…”

Was the man’s hand exceptionally warm? Was that why the touched hand was this hot? Even though he looked like he would be as cold as a sheet of ice.

Avoiding the man’s hand, Yongnae awkwardly supported the remaining space next to the equipment. However, seeing as he felt no weight at all, it seemed the man was holding it entirely with his own strength, perhaps because he didn’t trust Yongnae or because he didn’t relax his grip.

Even though he was thin, he still had a certain amount of muscle. He felt a bit of a blow to his pride in this regard. It felt as if he must look like a useless human being to the man.

Anyway, when starting the collection work, there is usually nothing else to do while the equipment is running, so he would normally talk with Dawon about what to eat for lunch. But since he couldn’t engage in such small talk now, Yongnae was just staring down at the aluminum collection bag inflating.

Silence flowed between the two. Only the man’s sweet smell noisily occupied Yongnae’s nose.

“Civil servant—?”

But at the man’s voice calling out again, Yongnae’s head was lifted once more. However, as if the man had been watching him for a while, the two’s gazes immediately collided.

Flinch—

Yongnae’s body gave a large jolt. This was because the man’s eyes, sparkling like amber, were as deep as if one could fall into them.

“Ah…”

Seeing Yongnae eventually staring blankly into those eyes again, the man urged him with a smile, as if telling him to answer his question, “Hm?”

Gulp. The sound of Yongnae swallowing his saliva echoed in the bathroom.

The man’s face was too… Should he say it was difficult to handle with a sober mind? Flustered, Yongnae blinked his eyes rapidly and eventually looked down again.

The air felt extremely muggy.

“Ah, yes… I am a civil servant.”

“National Police Agency—?”

“…No.”

He wasn’t looking at the man, but he could feel the man’s gaze watching him. He was already out of it due to the sudden schedule, but being stared at so intently made him feel even more lightheaded.

“…I am an indoor air quality odor analysis agent for the Jeollabuk-do Provincial Government.”

“O—?”

“Odor analysis…”

Even among fellow civil servants, such an occupation would likely be unfamiliar. In fact, there was a time when an argument broke out with an uncooperative person in charge at a place he went to collect samples after an odor civil complaint was filed; before he showed his civil servant ID, the police officers nearby had asked twice, “Where did you say you were from?”

So, feeling like he knew what the man was thinking right now, Yongnae just silently stared at the collection bag. His profession, which he had been proud of, somehow felt shabby today for some reason.

“What kind of work does that involve?”

“…When a civil complaint comes in saying the smell is severe, I go and collect the air like this and then test it.”

“Ah-ah, odor. Foul smell.”

“…Yes. Odor.”

“Then, you must smell a lot of unpleasant scents.”

That is indeed the case. While doing this job, he smells bad scents more often than good ones. There was only one time he encountered a good scent. It was the scent of sand he smelled last year when he went to a peanut cracker factory for an air quality test on behalf of the sick section chief. Once he reached the section chief level, would he also get to go to places like cracker factories more often?

“Your head must ache.”

“…My sense of smell is sensitive, so it was hard at first, but now I am used to it, so it is okay.”

“Your sense of smell is sensitive?”

“…Yes.”

“So that’s why you were sniffing at me.”

Crazy. Greatly flustered, Yongnae froze blankly as if he had been hit over the head. When had the man seen him sniffing? He felt as though his face was flushing with shame.

Ding—

Just as Yongnae was at a loss for what to do in his embarrassment, a notification rang out to signal that the collection was finished.