“There’s something I want to show you.”
“……What is it?”
“If I told you, there’d be no reason to cover your eyes. It’s a surprise of sorts.”
Every time Yoo Joohwan said something like this, I felt like my lifespan was shortening by a year.
He always had a knack for startling people with the most unexpected things.
I wondered what kind of absurdity he had prepared this time; my palms grew damp with tension.
“Is it something I’ll actually like this time?”
“Yeah. You might even be so moved that you cry.”
“……I highly doubt it’ll be that deep.”
Hearing Yoo Joohwan’s overly excited voice made me suddenly fearful.
I couldn’t help but remember the last ‘gift’ he brought me.
I instinctively stiffened my back, and Yoo Joohwan led me from behind, guiding me into the house.
I heard the sound of Moon Dowon opening the door beside us.
After being told to take off my shoes, I did so carefully, and Yoo Joohwan walked toward the area where the ‘surprise’ was waiting.
Even without seeing, I knew that direction led to the bedroom.
“Since this is my house, I know where everything is. Is there really a need to cover my eyes?”
“Yes. Because it’s important.”
What on earth had he placed in the bedroom to make his voice sound as giddy as a child’s?
Hearing Yoo Joohwan’s voice, which was beyond energetic and practically overflowing with power, made my lips feel dry.
After walking a bit, my toes brushed the corner of the bed.
Yoo Joohwan climbed onto the bed without letting go of my eyes.
“We’re here. Sit down carefully.”
“……It’s nothing weird, right?”
“When have I ever given you something weird?”
I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘every time,’ so I remained silent.
Seeing me stubbornly keeping my mouth shut, Yoo Joohwan let out a small laugh from behind me.
With an amused chuckle, Yoo Joohwan slowly removed his hands and hopped down from the bed.
“I wanted to show you the finished product. You must have been curious. About how perfectly it turned out.”
“…….”
“How is it? How does it feel to see the model of your own dick in person?”
Yoo Joohwan looked at me expectantly with a faint glint of madness in his eyes, as if begging for a compliment.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt like I could see a large wolf tail wagging behind him.
“Isn’t it grand? Just looking at it makes me feel turned on.”
“……Do you really have to keep this here?”
“Yeah. I have an identical one at my house, too.”
How could anyone even come up with such a thought?
Looking at Yoo Joohwan, who had placed that grotesque object in a case right next to one of his own, I felt a very strange sensation.
“Doesn’t it look cool placed together like that?”
“…….”
“Your reaction seems a bit lukewarm? If you don’t like it, should we redo it?”
“No! I love it. It’s so realistic that just looking at it…….”
I was beyond embarrassed; I wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
Unable to finish that sentence, the corners of my frozen mouth twitched.
“Do you know how heart-fluttering it was for me to look at this? It’s so perfect I even considered donating it to a gallery.”
“……That’s definitely not it.”
“I’m joking. Some other bastard would just see it and get excited. How could I bear to let that happen?”
Yoo Joohwan laughed brightly, showing his dimples, and pulled out his phone to start taking photos of the two cases together.
I thought he just wanted to cherish it, but Yoo Joohwan went a step further, setting the photo as his phone wallpaper and thrusting it in front of my face.
“Now anyone who sees this will know you belong to someone. Don’t you think?”
“Can’t you use a different photo? Why does it have to be…… a photo of a private part?”
“We don’t have any photos taken together. I can’t exactly carry you around with me outside. I have to satisfy myself somehow.”
As expected, the more I talked to Yoo Joohwan, the further we strayed from normal logic.
Knowing he would do it no matter how much I tried to stop him, I simply gave up.
“Why isn’t Moon Dowon coming in? Is he angry about something?”
Moon Dowon was always the quiet type, but he felt especially reticent today.
Seeing him standing against the wall outside without coming in, I wondered if he was just observing as usual, but it didn’t feel like that.
‘Is he mad because I was with Kang Taeyun……?’
Unlike Yoo Joohwan, Moon Dowon might actually have his feelings hurt.
However, Moon Dowon, standing in a crooked posture, gave a slight tilt of his head with a faint smile.
“Come out once you’re done looking. I have something to show you, too.”
“……Something to show me?”
I thought this was for the best.
Rather than continuing this embarrassing conversation with Yoo Joohwan, switching the topic seemed like a good idea.
As I stood up abruptly as if I’d been waiting for this, Yoo Joohwan furrowed his brows slightly.
“Not yet. Moon Dowon, I’m not done talking to Seo Siho.”
“Then keep waiting.”
Moon Dowon signaled that he didn’t care and would wait for us to finish.
Seeing how he wouldn’t even step inside the apartment, it seemed he was very intent on taking me down to the first floor.
“It’s fine. Go with him first. I’ll wait here.”
“……Are you mad?”
“No. I can’t keep him pinned down when he says he’s waiting. I’m a broad-minded person, you know.”
Yoo Joohwan insisted he wasn’t a petty man and told me to go ahead.
Seeing him gripping his phone tightly, I suspected he was planning to retake the photos more “pretty.”
Is he really that fond of that model?
I nodded at the smile that wouldn’t leave Yoo Joohwan’s lips.
“Okay. I’ll be back then.”
It was only the first floor, but Yoo Joohwan gave a light wave and headed back toward the bed.
Seeing him act so naturally in my house, it didn’t even feel strange anymore; it felt familiar.
I pursed my lips slightly and headed toward Moon Dowon.
As if he had been waiting, he pulled something out of his pocket and held out his hand.
It was a grape-flavored candy.
“I brought this for you.”
As if this were his first time doing something like this, Moon Dowon’s ears turned red despite his expressionless face.
He looked quite shy in his own way.
The corners of my mouth kept rising at the small change in Moon Dowon.
He looked cute yet also made me want to tease him, but I let out a small cough and picked up the candy from his palm.
“Thanks.”
“Should I unwrap it?”
“No. It’s okay.”
At my refusal, Moon Dowon’s face fell slightly.
It was a subtle change you wouldn’t notice unless you were looking closely.
“My hands are a bit slippery. Can you unwrap it for me?”
“Yeah.”
As if he had never been discouraged, Moon Dowon grabbed the candy and tore it open.
A hard candy that looked like lavender was revealed.
It seemed he wanted to feed it to me, as he held it out toward my mouth using the half-opened wrapper.
“Here.”
Taking the hint, I opened my mouth, and the small candy popped in.
As I rolled it around one side of my cheek, Moon Dowon’s mouth curved up just a tiny bit.
But he quickly wiped it away and led the way down the stairs.
He seemed awkward about the constant changes in his own behavior.
‘He’s cute. Moon Dowon.’
Just like Kang Taeyun, I didn’t hate how they were all changing from how they were at the start.
As I ran down the stairs after him, I saw Moon Dowon waiting for me halfway down.
Seeing him only continue walking once he confirmed I had arrived made me want to laugh.
A tough image but a soft personality.
Thinking that this was the real Moon Dowon made me want to know more about him.
“No. Why am I thinking like that?”
I was planning to run away for a “safe breakup” soon; what was I doing getting attached to them?
I gave a small shake of my head so Moon Dowon wouldn’t notice.
“Did you really buy the building?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what about my deposit?”
“I was planning to return it anyway. Text me your account number.”
Moon Dowon turned back as he flipped on the lights in the first-floor hallway.
The dim light flickered as if it were about to go out.
“If I get the deposit back, when do I have to move out?”
“Why would you move out? I bought this building because of you.”
Moon Dowon twitched an eyebrow, speaking in a stiff tone.
Standing in the low light, he looked a bit eerie.
“But you’re the landlord now.”
No matter if we were in a relationship, business was business.
I said it to be clear, but Moon Dowon showed his displeasure the more I pushed.
“I told you. I bought it because of you. So why would you leave? Just live here. Take the money.”
“……It’s uncomfortable.”
“Seo Siho.”
“Okay. If that’s what you want, I’ll do that. But instead, can’t you give me the deposit in cash?”
“Cash?”
“Yeah. I like cash better than bank accounts.”
Actually, that was a lie.
To leave this place, I would have to go to a bank and withdraw cash, but with eyes on me, even that wouldn’t be easy.
In this situation, since Moon Dowon was offering to return the deposit, I had no reason to refuse.
Since I was planning to leave the house too, if I received it in cash, I wouldn’t have to worry about living expenses for a while.
When I laughed brightly with a pure look on my face, Moon Dowon asked in a dissatisfied tone.
“Why carry such a large amount of money in cash? In this day and age?”
Moon Dowon stared at me again with a face full of suspicion.
For a second, I remembered the day I tried to run away, and how Moon Dowon had been standing there.
He was a man with a hundred-level intuition who loved to watch people; I had to be careful with him at all costs.
I realized I had made a slip-up.
