PA 55

Without realizing it, Junhyuk blurted out whatever came to mind.

“I didn’t book a place to stay, and I don’t have any luggage or anything.”

“Wh-What?”

It was true that he had no lodging and no luggage. As soon as he heard Gyeongchan’s words, he had left Korea just as he was after work.

Junhyuk was dressed in a perfect suit, as if he had come here for work. Of course, his tie was long gone due to the emergency treatment, and his shirt was wrinkled and disheveled. Yejun slowly looked Junhyuk up and down. His pupils trembled violently, as if an earthquake had struck. He asked Junhyuk in a shaky voice.

“Did you, by any chance, get pickpocketed?”

A look of very serious concern clouded Yejun’s face. Junhyuk thought Yejun would scold him for talking nonsense and just leave. Junhyuk managed to suppress the smile that kept trying to escape and answered.

“Huh? Uh….”

Checking the time now, it was just past midnight. Yejun imagined Junhyuk wandering around looking for a new place to stay at this late hour.

The thought that he was a patient who had collapsed right in front of him made his heart soften even more.

“Then, just for tonight.”

“Th-Then.”

Nod.

☂︎

After finishing his IV drip in the emergency room, Junhyuk came home with Yejun. They had to stand for a moment in the middle of the small but clean living room, looking very awkward. Yejun thought for a long time with a rather serious face, then brought a large-sized sweatsuit from a corner of a room.

“Why did you collapse earlier? Shouldn’t you get a detailed examination?”

“I was just a little short on sleep…. I slept, so I’m better.”

“Do you have insomnia, by any chance?”

“I do, but I’m really fine now.”

Even to Yejun’s eyes, Junhyuk’s complexion looked good. He thought for a long time, then held out the sweatsuit in his hand to Junhyuk.

“It’s a friend’s training suit who lives nearby. This should fit you.”

“…Thank you.”

As they exchanged the sweatsuit, Yejun’s hand brushed lightly against Junhyuk’s fingertips, and another awkward silence fell between the two. In the house, which was quiet to the point of being silent, Yejun worried that Junhyuk would hear his pounding heart. He hurriedly spoke to Junhyuk.

“Come this way.”

“……”

Junhyuk followed behind Yejun without a word. Junhyuk, who entered the room at the end of the hallway next to the living room with Yejun, looked a little bewildered.

“This is the bedroom. You saw the bathroom right next to it, right? Wash up in there.”

“No, I’ll sleep on the living room sofa.”

“You’re the patient, so you sleep in the bed.”

“N-No.”

“Lie down. I’m going to sleep.”

Yejun, seeming to ignore Junhyuk’s words, spoke stiffly and left the bedroom before Junhyuk could stop him.

Yejun, who had returned late at night from the emergency room, fell into a deep sleep as soon as he washed up and lay down. His eyes fluttered open at the sound of a small voice coming from the living room. Usually, the house was as quiet as a temple deep in the mountains.

Ah… Cha Junhyuk.

Just the fact that he was in the same space as Junhyuk made his heart tremble gently.

But why am I in the room?

It was Yejun who had clearly fallen asleep on the living room sofa. Yejun looked around at the brightly lit surroundings, shot up from the bed, and went out to the living room.

— A week from now, we are scheduled to announce a new cell phone product in Paris.

“Is that so?”

— There are many opinions that it would be best for you to make the new product announcement yourself at that time.

“Me?”

Even though Junhyuk had stepped to the forefront of management, he was passive in external promotional activities. It was because he wasn’t particularly keen on his face becoming known.

— We believe it will be an opportunity to strongly implant the image of a young executive team.

Junhyuk was sitting at the yellow table on the terrace, talking on speakerphone. The white curtain on the window leading to the terrace fluttered in the wind, and through the gap, the even whiter figure of Yejun could be seen. Junhyuk, unable to completely erase the smile that had spread across his lips, hurriedly ended the call.

“Alright. Prepare it that way.”

— Thank y—.

The other person hadn’t even finished speaking, but Junhyuk’s impatient heart had already pressed the end call button.

“Why am I in the room?”

“When I came out after washing up, Yejun, you were asleep. It felt wrong to wake you….”

“I gave you the bed and everything….”

“I’m really fine. It was comfortable here too.”

Even though it was short, Junhyuk was able to fall into a very deep sleep in the early morning. Only then did he fully realize it. The reason for his terrible insomnia was Yejun.

“Go to the hospital as soon as you get back to Korea. You shouldn’t just ignore your body’s condition, trusting in your youth.”

It was because of you.

“So you must go to the hospital….”

“……”

Yejun deliberately avoided Junhyuk’s gaze and walked toward the kitchen. He was planning to prepare a simple meal. Just then, Junhyuk came up behind Yejun and suddenly hugged him tightly.

“Cha, Cha Junhyuk.”

“……”

“L-Let go of me.”

“……”

Junhyuk didn’t say anything and buried his face in the nape of Yejun’s neck, holding him tight. Yejun’s faint scent slowly seeped into his lungs. Junhyuk felt like he could finally breathe a little.

“I missed you.”

“……”

Junhyuk whispered quietly into Yejun’s ear. But Yejun couldn’t answer. It was because he couldn’t breathe for a moment, feeling his heart tighten. Yejun’s struggles to escape Junhyuk’s embrace also gradually subsided.

☂︎

The two of them came outside after a very awkward breakfast. Yejun spoke to Junhyuk in a small voice.

“Goodbye.”

Junhyuk ran up to Yejun, who was hurrying down the hill, and tried to talk to him somehow.

“Where should I go after I finish my business?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

“I have to return the clothes I’m wearing now.”

“Ah….”

They’re not even my clothes….

After thinking for a moment, Yejun took a small business card out of his pocket and handed it to Junhyuk.

“What’s this?”

“What do you mean, what is it? It’s a business card with the cafe’s address on it.”

“Why this?”

“Didn’t you say you’d return the clothes?”

“Ah, alright. I’ll go here after I finish my business.”

“……”

Yejun, who had spoken brusquely, walked away from the house as quickly as possible.

“Hoo….”

Once Junhyuk was out of sight, Yejun let out a big sigh and stopped in his tracks. It felt as if Junhyuk’s warmth still lingered on his back. He couldn’t calm his pounding heart at all until he arrived at the cafe.

As soon as Yejun entered the empty cafe, he gulped down cold water. Then, as if trying not to think about anything, he moved his body busily.

[What can I get for you?]

[A cappuccino and an espresso, please.]

Yejun took the order from the counter connected to the bar and quickly made the drinks. After serving all the ordered drinks, Yejun, with a bit more leisure, took out the laptop he had hidden behind the counter.

Yejun’s brow furrowed slightly as he focused on something. At the jingle of the door opening, Yejun’s gaze turned toward the entrance. There, three men who looked like neighborhood thugs were standing around, swaggering.

[Hi, pretty boy.]

“Haah….”

It was an inconvenience he hadn’t felt before because Gyeongchan, who was tall and big, was usually around. With Gyeongchan gone for an extended period, such an unfortunate incident had occurred. Yejun let out a long sigh and put on a stiff expression.

[What can I get you?]

[What’s good here?]

They asked back at Yejun with greasy smiles. At that, Yejun slapped the menu down in front of them and said curtly.

[Please choose and let me know.]

Yejun pointed to the coffee section on the menu. Because of them loitering in front of the counter, customers who were about to come in all took a look, then turned around and left. It was then. Men in black suits, who had appeared from somewhere, swarmed in and surrounded the three men.

[W-Who are you guys?]

The men, who looked like bodyguards, surrounded the men who had been hitting on Yejun and gradually narrowed the circle. The three men, perhaps feeling the pressure, scrambled out of the cafe. But Yejun, far from feeling grateful to the bodyguards, felt his irritation surge.

“Junhyuk sent you, right?”

“We are only acting as ordered from above.”

They replied briefly with a polite attitude and then left the cafe as they were. Yejun put his hands on his hips and said nothing for a moment. But soon, Yejun’s gaze turned to the customers inside and outside the cafe. Without being able to fully soothe his boiling anger, he had to reassure the tense customers.

Jingle.

[Welco—.]

The door opened, and Junhyuk, with an awkward smile, cautiously entered the cafe.

“Nothing happened, right?”

“…You probably know everything.”

Junhyuk looked at Yejun, who was speaking sulkily while deliberately avoiding his gaze, and then strode behind the counter.

“Why are you coming in here?”

“To help out.”

“Why are you working at our cafe?”