SWAP 90

“……”

“……”

A short silence followed over the dining table. Ye Juyeol and Yun Hyeok, who had opened their eyes reflexively at the alien sound, as well as the party involved, Saheon, could not help but fall into various thoughts while looking at the outstretched palm. Among them, Ye Juyeol looked the most confused.

What kind of friend, on earth, catches something someone else was eating with their bare hand?

Even between family members or lovers, it was an action where preferences differed, making it all the more shocking.

In a situation where even babies who have just started weaning spitting things out can be stomach-turning, to unhesitatingly lend a hand toward a fully grown adult male—and a friend of the same gender at that. Is it because Seo Saheon is a dog right now? Is he that serious about role-playing…? Do you have to be able to immerse yourself to that extent to earn the title of the Nation’s Actor…? The hurdle was too high.

He had seen videos of people putting their hands into the mouths of puppies or cats trying to swallow food or objects they shouldn’t eat. But this…, isn’t this a bit different? Ye Juyeol, who had never raised a pet in his life, now felt like this entire situation was one giant Truman Show. The moment even his chopstick movements stopped from the mental shock, the crunching noise was heard once more.

The protagonist was, of course, Seo Saheon.

As if asking when he had ever hesitated, he stared blankly down at Seoul’s palm and soon moved his lower jaw nonchalantly. Crunch. The sound of something being crushed spread bloodcurdlingly over the dining table. Seeing him chew even the bone with an elegant face while looking like that, one couldn’t help but feel a momentary sense of terror. In the midst of that, he was flinching at the fact that it didn’t even feel out of place, when Seoul, who regained his senses a beat earlier, rushed in aghast.

“What, you—why are you chewing that…!”

He seemed to have become urgent at the sign that Saheon was trying to swallow it as is, rather than spitting it out. Just like that video Ye Juyeol had seen, Seoul hurriedly grabbed Saheon’s cheeks and made a fuss for him to open his mouth, but Saheon did not budge. After leisurely crunching and letting his Adam’s apple vibrate with a gulp, Seoul gripped Saheon’s collar, opening his already large eyes even wider.

“You swallowed—did you swallow it? Huh? Really?”

“……”

“I told you to spit it out! Do you know how sharp chicken bones are? What were you going to do if you got hurt in the throat while swallowing wrong, why on earth did you…”

His soft face was beyond worried; it was entirely tearful. He was at a loss as if a perforation had already occurred in Saheon’s esophagus or stomach just from swallowing a few bone fragments. If he pretended to choke as a joke, it looked like Seoul would take him to the hospital right away, so Saheon kept his lips in check without a word. It was because he knew that if he laughed here, Seoul would be sincerely sulky.

Instead, wearing a brazen expression as if asking what the problem was, he tapped his chopsticks and opened his mouth with an “Ah.” It was Seoul whose insides were bursting at the gesture to feed him again because he was done. Unable to hide his look of absurdity, he finally couldn’t hold back, raised his hand, and pounded Saheon’s back several times. It was a violence everyone could understand.

Every person watching that scene empathized, thinking that if it were them, they would have flipped the samgyetang bowl over his head, but even that didn’t last long. It was because Seoul, exhausted by his own outburst, couldn’t even land many hits before picking up the chopsticks again. Unlike his opponent who seemed to feel no impact, Seoul, whose hand only ended up hurting, muttered gloomily.

“I really feel like I’m aging because of you…. I can’t even raise a puppy. I was thinking of bringing one home later.”

Seoul, who had been vaguely considering adopting an abandoned dog, completely folded his mind at this point. Since he spent most of his time at home, he thought he might be able to care for at least one if he lived alone, but it didn’t seem so.

A worn-out Seoul rummaged through the chicken meat with his chopsticks.

When he handed over a piece of meat that was tattered and showing its inner flesh, Saheon, who snatched and ate it again, sneered inwardly. What a big dream. He already has one in the house, yet he’s thinking of cheating. Saheon opened his mouth sullenly as if telling him to pour whatever attention he has to spare for other places onto him instead.

“Ah.”

“Haaa….”

Looking down at Seoul, who was busily moving his chopsticks again along with a low sigh, Saheon’s expression became strangely satisfied. Yun Hyeok, who keenly read that look which was close to satiety, just fished a jujube out of his bowl with a look that said he understood. He was now vaguely certain. That between those two, the one with more problems was Lee Seoul, rather than Seo Saheon.

Seo Saheon was someone who was clearly out of his mind even if you looked at him while passing by on a KTX, but originally, even a crazy person checks where to lie down before stretching their legs. Looking at it from that assumption, Lee Seoul was no different from the best place to lie down. Since Seoul was sitting there not even thinking of clearing away the feet stretched out in front of him, but instead taking off his shoes and even his socks, what else could happen? A crazy person would only run wilder.

It might be a naturally born personality, or it might be a form of relationship built by being together for a long time, but if it’s like that, he probably wouldn’t be able to become independent even if he died and came back to life. New house, my foot; even if he went out saying he would live separately, it was obvious he would end up being caught like that.

Look at him even now.

He didn’t particularly intend to eat it, yet didn’t he chew and swallow even the bone at Seoul’s reaction?

Yun Hyeok predicted that Saheon would use that as a pretext to sway Seoul a couple of times, and that prediction turned into reality not long after. It was because Saheon, who had finished his meal and even brushed his teeth, suddenly stroked near his neck and frowned.

“…Why? Does your throat hurt?”

Naturally, Seoul came running over and asked while carefully stroking the area of the Adam’s apple with his fingertips. Even at Saheon’s reaction of shaking his head saying he was fine, Seoul seemed unable to put his mind at ease and hurried uncharacteristically, telling him to say “Ah.” It’s not a self-endoscopy, and it’s not like he could know anything by looking in there.

Of course, Saheon opened his mouth as if he had been waiting, and around that time, Ye Juyeol’s and Yun Hyeok’s phones began to ring noisily. The two, who would normally have been busy exchanging with each other at the familiar push message, hesitated at their fingertips for the first time. It was because they witnessed right before their eyes the result that the person who decided on the exchange, rather than the best friend who was exchanged, could suffer a great injury.

“……”

“……”

Is that why?

The two, who decided not to exchange each other for the first time, quietly chose a way to earn coins safely. They picked a hobby list that could be achieved immediately among the weekly events that lasted until tomorrow. Climbing and movie watching were already completed, and since the only ones left were Lego assembly and pottery, there was only one choice. Since there was a Lego set that Seoul had received by exchanging Saheon the day before, after a while, the four gathered harmoniously around the living room table.

“Whimper.”

No, correction. It was three people and one dog.

Due to Saheon exercising the “dog logic”—which was dog-like in itself—that a puppy cannot assemble Legos, Seoul eventually decided to assemble Saheon’s share of the Lego on his behalf. Yun Hyeok, whose face was half-filled with disgust thinking that he was really squeezing every last drop out of this, had just started assembling his share of a miniature whale. Similarly, Ye Juyeol, who was looking at the manual, asked in passing.

“Then do you two have the same hobby? Do you assemble together like this on your days off?”

“Huh? No, I do it by myself. Saheon isn’t really interested in this kind of thing.”

At that, Ye Juyeol paused, his expression turning puzzled.

“……? There were so many photos on Onstar?”

Even the profile picture was a Lego assembly, so hadn’t he vaguely guessed that they shared the same hobby? Unlike Seoul, who had no SNS or any communication channel, Seo Saheon’s official account existed, so Ye Juyeol had skimmed through the feed a few days ago. He thought a certain amount of communication was natural once they ended up appearing on a variety show together, regardless of personal likes or dislikes.

At Seoul’s reaction of not knowing what he meant, he quickly pulled out his phone and clicked the app familiarly. As seeing is believing, as soon as he searched Saheon’s name, the account that popped up at the very top boasted an enormous number of followers.

It was natural. Even at the time of that famous ‘composite’ incident, Seo Saheon was already a man of ten million followers. It was because he had once hit it big by appearing as a supporting actor in a zombie drama produced by a famous OTT site.

It wasn’t difficult for followers, who already rivaled most idols, to double in an instant. Fans flowing in from overseas poured out all kinds of foreign languages, making the comment section like a tourist attraction and the numbers grew day by day, but the person himself had no interest. Thinking that if he had an interest, he wouldn’t have posted only these kinds of feeds, it was the moment he clicked Saheon’s ID.

“……?”

Unlike a few days ago, Ye Juyeol’s pupils shook greatly at one newly uploaded feed.

The thing uploaded at the very top in a somewhat familiar composition was none other than… a mosaic photo presumed to be Seoul.