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They say there are dogs that drool when a bell rings. Even I, who was busy sleeping during class, remembered that experiment.

Based on this historical experiment, Woo Hyunse must have sat at the table at a specific time and shaken the yogurt drink instead of ringing a bell. It was difficult to distinguish between conditioning, reflex, or whatever else, but once this time arrived, even if it were an empty container, seeing a yogurt drink naturally made Woo Hyunse dominate my thoughts.

Siyul fidgeted with his phone until it felt worn thin, then pursed his lips tightly and pulled up the number. Compared to the time he had spent hesitating, he pressed the call button quickly. The signal went through.

On one hand, he was anxious, wondering if he would hear the moans of someone else like last time. Woo Hyunse was a promiscuous person. He could play around with anyone, on any night. Just as Siyul had fished someone out of a club, so could Woo Hyunse.

Yeah.

He didn’t even respond with a “Hello.” That, too, was like Woo Hyunse. Siyul’s lips, which had been clamped shut like a clam, loosened instantly.

“…Are you not asleep yet?”

I didn’t know when you would contact me, Kwon Siyul. Are you done?

“Yes. I’m done now.”

Siyul sat with his legs stretched out. The anxiety melted away at the voice flowing over to his side. At least it seemed he wasn’t with someone else.

“Are you going to come pick me up?”

At this late hour.

I should.

Heh heh, a nasal chuckle escaped before he could suppress it. Siyul rubbed his nose with the back of his hand as if sniffing.

“Then I’ll be waiting.”

He hung up and sent the address. He had thought about staying on the line, but he remembered a news report saying that talking on the phone while driving was as dangerous as drunk driving, so he forced himself to hang up.

The time spent waiting for Woo Hyunse was long and boring. Even when he played games, he couldn’t focus, and he kept checking the time repeatedly. Five minutes felt like ten, and ten minutes felt like thirty. Thinking a lot of time must have passed, he would check, only to find that a mere minute had gone by.

Why was it so cold? The temperature was still above freezing, but the biting cold was like a winter blade. Even when he hunched his shoulders and hopped up and down, the chill didn’t easily fade. He only thought about going into a nearby convenience store after shivering for a long time in the cold.

Siyul trotted into a nearby convenience store. He melted his frozen body in the warmth and, out of habit, picked up a yogurt drink and one warm glass-bottled drink for Woo Hyunse that was less sweet. Just as he was about to pay, small square boxes on the counter caught his eye.

“….”

Come to think of it, he had fished for someone to spend the night with and even gone to a motel, but he hadn’t prepared a single thing. Siyul glanced at the boxes while pretending to look at other items.

They were colorful and came in a variety of types. Next to them was a box containing several disposable gels. Even though he had seen plenty of condoms, the gel was something he hadn’t even seen when he worked part-time at a convenience store, so he lingered in front of it for a long time.

The world has truly gotten better. Seeing adult products at a convenience store.

Maybe it was because this was near the entertainment district. Amidst the fun of browsing, Siyul quickly snatched up the condoms and gel that were closest, hid them under other items, and pushed them to the counter. He had tried to hide them, but the clerk scanned the items laid out on the counter with a look of utter indifference.

As soon as he finished paying, Siyul shoved the items into his pocket, trying to conceal them. He felt a fluttering in his chest, as if he were doing something worse than delivering drugs. One pocket held the warm drink for Woo Hyunse, and the other held the two items he had bought impulsively. Siyul fidgeted with the opposite pocket more than the drink that was supposed to warm his hands.

I won’t have any use for them right away, but….

There’s no point in returning them. It’s not like I’m never going to use them in my life; I’ll use them when the opportunity comes someday. He took his hands out of his pockets and walked outside. He had thought about staying inside the convenience store to avoid the cold, but since the items he bought were what they were, he didn’t feel comfortable being in the same space as the employee.

Woo Hyunse arrived after a few minutes. Before he could get out of the car, Siyul trotted over, hunched his waist, and tapped on the window. Woo Hyunse was visible beyond the lowered window. Maybe because he had just come out after washing, his hair tips were damp. Siyul fidgeted with his own hair for no reason. Only the dry, brittle texture tangled in his hands.

As soon as Siyul got into the car, he rummaged through his pocket, took out the glass-bottled drink, and put it in the cup holder. It was still warm.

“I bought this for you, CEO. Drink it while it’s warm.”

Woo Hyunse smiled broadly at the glass bottle, like looking at a small gift a cat had brought home. Siyul stole a side glance at that smile, buried his body into the seatback, and turned his gaze out the window. Perhaps it was because he had come into the warm interior after being in the cold, but his body felt feverish. His fingertips tingled, and his neck stiffened.

“You didn’t get carried away by someone.”

“I didn’t drink that much.”

He did drink, so it wasn’t a lie. Two bottles of beer; it was nowhere near a lethal dose. Woo Hyunse tilted his head toward him and sniffed. He wasn’t even touching his skin, but his breath tickled like a feather. Siyul giggled and hunched his shoulders. The tip of his nose came as if it would bump into his neck, but it stopped there without coming any closer.

“…Where did you drink?”

“Just a bar? I don’t remember the name.”

“Just a bar,” Woo Hyunse repeated, as if trying to convince himself. However, unlike when he saw the bottled drink Siyul had handed him, his lips were a straight line. As he always felt, he was a person with an excessively large gap between his smile and his expressionless face. Feeling as if the internal temperature had dropped by about five degrees in an instant, Siyul became terrified, wondering what he had done wrong, and began to rack his brain.

“You smell like shampoo.”

“Yes?”

“Did you wash?”

No, how could he be like a ghost…. Woo Hyunse should have been a shaman. Even if he hadn’t received spirit possession, he would have been able to guess people’s inner thoughts through and through with his innate senses alone. Siyul’s complexion turned white in an instant. Trying not to show it, he bent his neck sideways as much as possible and glared out the window.

While drinking, one of my friends vomited, so I went to a motel briefly to wash up while cleaning it up. You smell better than a dog. You noticed it right away. It was an appropriate excuse and line. He had organized it in his head, and now all he had to do was spit it out.

“…Actually, I didn’t meet my friends.”

But his head and mouth were acting separately. The lines he had prepared flew away, and he spat out an absurd confession. He should have covered his mouth, but Siyul squeezed his eyes shut and let his trap yap away on its own. Revealing the truth felt refreshing, if nothing else.

“Who was the other person?”

“I don’t know. Just someone to sleep with.”

Siyul lowered his eyes, then unable to look Woo Hyunse in the face, he examined the reflection in the window. The other was looking at him. It was a rarely seen, shocked face. Obvious displeasure was etched into his furrowed brows and eyes.

“You were going to meet some other guy and roll around with him.”

Siyul only nodded. Woo Hyunse leaned his elbow against the window and covered his mouth with his hand as if to hide his inner thoughts. Even so, the masseter muscle, which had become clearly prominent from clenching his teeth, was revealed between his fingers. Since he couldn’t smell the pheromones, he couldn’t know exactly what Woo Hyunse’s state was, but Siyul could feel the air inside the once-cozy car rapidly cooling.

“Didn’t you tell me to wait?”

His voice was cold, too. Siyul put his hands in his pockets and wiggled his fingers. There was plenty to say. Woo Hyunse himself had a history of sleeping with others while in rut, so what was stopping him from doing the same? He didn’t even understand why the other was being so sharp.

“I was going to sleep with someone else, but it was really not good.”

Now that his trap had even occupied his brain, his actions followed his words. Siyul took the relatively smaller condom out of the items he had been fidgeting with and flicked it lightly onto the cup holder. When Woo Hyunse realized what the box was, he laughed as if it were absurd. It was definitively not a joyful or pleasant meaning.

“Shall we sleep together?”

He returned the words Woo Hyunse had thrown at him exactly. Ha, Woo Hyunse let out a bitter laugh. He rubbed his mouth roughly and tapped the steering wheel with his fingers. Afraid he might ask for time to think as he had done, or that he might refuse, Siyul felt his throat stinging.

“The thought of you thinking of me as a substitute makes me feel like shit, but I can’t refuse.”

He gripped the condom box with his large hand. He crushed the box held in his palm in one go and threw it into the backseat. Siyul’s eyes widened as he followed the trajectory of the crumpled box, then he snapped his head to look at Woo Hyunse. Before he could ask why, the other answered.

“That doesn’t fit.”

And it’s shit that you bought it to use with someone else. Adding that as if chewing on the words, Woo Hyunse started the car. While Siyul was hurriedly fastening his seatbelt, the other set the car in motion roughly. It seemed he had already decided on a destination; the path he took was unhesitating.