SWAP 85

One wouldn’t be this startled even if they encountered a woman with disheveled hair inside a crumbling, abandoned house. Ye Juyeol, whose hair stood on end to the point where he could practically check the location of his own hair follicles, could not control his racing heart at this sudden encounter with Saheon. Of course, it was a NEGATIVE racing, not positive. He was confused, unable to understand why on earth this man was here at this hour.

It was already the 6th day of living together.

No matter how uninterested one is in another person, there are things you inevitably realize.

One of those things was: ‘Seo Saheon does not show his face in the living room before 9:00 AM.’ Even then, he only opened his eyes as early as possible to match Seoul, who was a morning person; otherwise, he was the type of person who would stagger out of bed around late afternoon.

Since he had no basic routine, it felt like he just adjusted everything based on Lee Seoul. At any rate, seeing a man he thought wouldn’t appear for another two hours staring at him with a fierce gaze from Seoul’s lap was enough to make Ye Juyeol fall over backward. Hadn’t he even killed his footsteps? He was horrified, wondering how Saheon had noticed while lying inside, but Seoul was equally the victim of a sudden fright.

“Gasp, you scared me…!”

Because it was a scream thrust upon him suddenly, the terror was doubled. Seoul, who had been blankly spacing out in an unguarded state, reflexively curled his body forward. It was almost unconscious the way he wrapped his arms around Saheon’s head, which he had been stroking. Not knowing what the situation was, he squeezed his eyes shut and yelled along.

However, after a few seconds passed and the surroundings remained quiet, he slowly lifted his head and whipped it around to look behind his back. Ye Juyeol was looking down at them with a completely terrified face. Seoul, who was also unable to let down his guard, asked in a trembling voice.

“What is it, what’s going on…?”

“Uh…”

“Why are you suddenly screaming…”

As their gazes met along with a racing heart rate, Ye Juyeol’s pupils rolled past Seoul and landed below, unable to continue his sentence. Seoul, blankly following that direction, recoiled in surprise. It was because he realized belatedly that he had been hugging Saheon’s head.

At this point, overprotectiveness is a disease.

When he looked down at his lap while apologising hurriedly, he noticed the hair that had become messy in the meantime. He hastily reached out, ran his fingers through the fluffy hair, and gently tidied it, causing the closed eyelids to slowly flutter open. He felt sorry, thinking he had finally managed to wake a child who had just barely fallen back asleep.

Being horrified by the nonsensical mission details had only lasted for the first moment.

He had been tightly intimidated because Saheon had been giggling like a devil and scaring him, but unexpectedly, what Saheon requested was only something like a lap pillow. Of course, he had no choice but to hold his breath for a short moment when Saheon thrust his head onto his thighs as he sat on the sofa… but because Saheon had fallen asleep immediately like a child as if he were tired, Seoul’s guard had long since rapidly crumbled.

“Were you startled? Sorry, sleep more.”

The sight of Saheon looking up blankly with a face strangely filled with sleepiness was just plain cute. Seoul grumbled internally, wondering if the guy really thought he was a puppy, but he couldn’t stop his voice from softening.

It might be because of those pointy puppy ears sticking up on top of his head. Seeing that they were slightly crooked, Seoul straightened the headband with the same fingertips he had used to stroke the hair. Then, Saheon’s eyes, which were stained with sleepiness, curved thinly. It felt as if star fragments were being sprinkled around them.

Why does he smile like this?

Seoul, suddenly feeling a jolt, covered Saheon’s eyes with his hand.

It was an action done with the intention of rather not looking, but Saheon, who instead caught the back of Seoul’s hand with his own and pulled it down to the side, slowly rubbed his cheek against it. Seeing him act exactly like a puppy acting cute made Seoul’s whole heart melt. He feigned an expressionless face to act as nonchalant as possible, but he didn’t realize that his thumb had started moving and stroking of its own accord.

And the expression of Ye Juyeol, who ended up watching all the “lovey-dovey nonsense” of those two from behind, was truly no different from a blank sheet of paper. It was because once the primary terror subsided, a terror of a different dimension surged in. I mean, that…, it’s a lap pillow, right…?

“……”

He looked back on all his school days and human relationships.

However, no matter how much he searched his memory, the history of providing a lap pillow between those of the same gender—that is, between things with balls—did not exist anywhere.

Pillow, my foot; you’re lucky if you don’t get kicked in the knee. If there was a guy sleeping soundly, the national rule was to snatch the cushion away and the implicit agreement was to wake him up somehow to make him angry.

However, an atmosphere where agreements had been thrown to the dogs was flowing between Seo Saheon and Lee Seoul. He couldn’t understand why they were doing that from the crack of dawn, but the reason he couldn’t bring himself to speak was because he witnessed the puppy headband worn on top of Seo Saheon’s head.

Originally, things have to be moderately strange for you to be able to point them out.

An item that would have originally been a cute amusement park item achieved a 120% impure effect once it fell into Seo Saheon’s hands.

Far from being cute, it was scary because it suited him too well, and since he was acting like that with that face, one couldn’t help but have indecent imaginations. This was a “Seo Saheon-style optical illusion” that even the production team had not anticipated.

What, is it like… play…? Or something?

Do you end up sharing those kinds of tastes if you live together for about 9 years…?

He knew it was a crazy thought even as he thought it himself, but he couldn’t help it. He was feeling relieved that at least a “general audience” senior was attached to that “R-rated” side, but as if his ears were itchy, Seoul suddenly turned his head toward him.

“Juyeol, did you sleep well?”

“Pardon? Ah, ye-es…”

“That’s a relief. But why did you suddenly scream…?”

“Ah! No, well. I intended to surprise you, but suddenly…!”

He had intended to tattle all at once that his eyes had suddenly met that person’s.

However, Ye Juyeol, who lowered his gaze, had to face Seo Saheon’s face—which was like an asura—once again. He felt a chill even from the gaze that watched him quietly with his head tilted crookedly. As he trembled, unable to continue his words, Seoul, who formed a question mark, tilted his head down.

However, all that could be seen was Saheon waiting quietly like a good puppy. The way he put on an act in just one second, as if asking when he had ever opened those “dog eyes” toward Ye Juyeol, was truly like a scene from a horror movie.

At that, Ye Juyeol, whose even pea-sized spirit of resistance had been broken, immediately waved a white flag.

“Just, ju-ust… my steps got tangled, so I almost fell? So? I think I screamed. No, I did scream…”

“Oh, is your ankle okay? You didn’t sprain it?”

His complexion looked like he had dropped a couple of years off his life instead of his ankle, but since it wasn’t that kind of world-view, he passed it over. Saheon, who would usually dislike even the two of them talking to each other, decided to grant tolerance for today only. Wasn’t it a perfect day? Having liked the exchange event—which had been nothing but pure shit—for the first time, he was already in a state of having completed preparations to enjoy every single second of today.

However, in the eyes of Ye Juyeol, who didn’t know the circumstances, he was just a crazy person today as well, and it was only after reading the mission guide with Yun Hyeok, who came down not long after, that the misunderstanding was cleared up.

Realizing the nonsensical trickery of the production team, they sincerely pitied Seoul. It was because even without watching, it was already “YouTube material” how much Saheon would harass Seoul today using the nonsensical excuse of being a puppy. In fact, Saheon didn’t even feel it was unfair since he had a similar plan.

However, exactly 1 hour later, they began to realize that something was wrong in a different sense.

“……”

“……”

“Here, eat.”

Saheon, looking once at Seoul, who was encouraging him with a proud voice, and once at the bowl placed in front of him, burst into a hollow laugh as if he found it absurd. Something had been strange since Seoul was hovering here and there for a while saying he was preparing a meal. He looked down at the Five-Grain Co-x-Balls filling the white bowl and ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek once.

I acted like a dog, and now he’s actually treating me like a dog.

The moment the cereal—which looked like pet food no matter how you looked at it—appeared on the dining table, Ye Juyeol and Yun Hyeok had already given up on their meal and fled to the living room. However, Seoul did not back down. It was because he didn’t even have a clue how much he would be tormented until midnight if he didn’t grab the initiative here first.

Let’s not lose.

Seoul, putting strength into his eyes and pretending to be nonchalant, asked.

“Why. Have your teeth not grown in yet? Shall I put milk in and soak it for you?”

“Ha.”

At that, Saheon, who twitched the corners of his mouth as if it were absurd, turned on the phone that was placed on the table. Then, after tapping the screen a few times, he suddenly showed the screen to Seoul.

Memo Completed

What, should I shove my face in it and eat? |

“There’s a spoon.”

“……”

“You’re a genius dog, so you can do it, Saheon.”

Saheon, who instantly shifted into a crooked posture, moved his fingers again.

Memo Completed

Seoul. Do you really like treating me like a dog? |

“Not a dog, but a puppy. Eat quickly.”

He felt that Saheon was full of dissatisfaction, but Seoul did not give in and stood his ground. It was a time when he was scraping together every single grain of his naturally gentle temper, telling himself that if he lost here, neither pet food nor cooked meals would be allowed. When a somewhat ominous silence lingered, he snapped his head up to find Saheon staring intently at him with one arm on the table and his chin resting on his hand.

Something felt chilling.

When Seoul, who had hesitated despite his resolve, wavered, Saheon quickly touched the screen with one hand and dangled the screen for him to see.

Memo Completed

Then Master, feed me.

I’m a baby whose teeth haven’t even grown in yet, so I can’t eat alone. |

“……”

I think you could even chew up and eat raw meat just fine.

It was a brazen claim, but Seoul, who had already sensed something, rolled his eyes. After contemplating for a moment, just as he decided to compromise at this point and reached for the spoon.

With a clink sound, the spoon that was right in front of him disappeared.

At the same time, Saheon, who smiled brightly, notified him as if it were already too late.

Memo Completed

With your hand, directly. |