* * *

“What did you just say?”

“I said you’re making a big deal out of one knife cut.”

“Finished talking, you fake cop?”

Jibeom clenched his fist, his temper rising at the sudden provocation.

Ye Taekwon didn’t back down, glaring with eyes that seemed capable of obliterating someone with a look.

The atmosphere grew so intense that one by one, the other patrons in the udon shop began to leave.

“W-wait… why are you both acting like this…? Jibeom, I’ll go change the fork…”

“Stay seated.”

“But still…”

Saewoo stammered, unsure of what to do.

He couldn’t just walk out with Jibeom sitting beside him like a stone wall.

So he was stuck, trapped and panicking.

More than anything, he worried about Jinho, who was clearly terrified.

His gentle, soft-hearted Jinho was trembling with fear, his head lowered, unable to even continue eating.

‘J-Jinho…’

Saewoo couldn’t even bring himself to ask Jinho for help.

He was desperately trying to think of a way to defuse the situation.

“…Taekwon.”

Then, unexpectedly, Jinho’s calm voice cut through the tension.

The voice of someone who Saewoo thought would be quaking in fear.

Clack.

Jinho put down his chopsticks with a sharp sound and stood up.

“Taekwon, didn’t we agree not to do this while eating?”

Jinho’s eyes, which had gently closed and reopened, were now focused sharply on Ye Taekwon.

“Huh…”

Saewoo was stunned to see Jinho looking so strong, his gaze fierce enough to rival a predator.

The once-innocent, pure eyes now had a chilling intensity.

‘This… this can’t be happening…’

Saewoo couldn’t believe his eyes. It had to be a mistake.

He shook his head, trying to make sense of things, but Jinho stopped him.

“Stay quiet, Saewoo.”

“Uh…? O-okay…”

Saewoo shut his mouth at the deep, commanding tone that seemed to resonate from Jinho’s very core.

It wasn’t his imagination.

The delicate, angelic Jinho was now exuding an aura of dark power.

‘T-this angelic Jinho… why is he…’

It was shocking. Jinho had always been the one to say the right things but in front of Saewoo, he’d only ever been soft and kind.

Now he stood, unflinching, between the predator and prey.

“What’s your deal?”

Even Jibeom seemed uneasy, sensing that Jinho wasn’t someone to be underestimated.

“Taekwon.”

Ignoring Jibeom, Jinho called Ye Taekwon again.

“Sit down.”

“……”

“Sit.”

At Jinho’s firm command, Ye Taekwon, who had been glaring at Jibeom without moving an inch, slowly sat back down.

As soon as he did, Jinho reached over and smacked Ye Taekwon’s rear.

“Good boy! Taekwon, you’re behaving so well today!”

“……!”

“……!”

Jibeom and Saewoo froze simultaneously.

Jinho had just patted Ye Taekwon on the butt, the kind of thing you’d do to scold a naughty child.

‘T-the main uke… spanked the main seme…!’

It was an unprecedented sight.

In the original novel, Jinho had never dared to act like that toward Ye Taekwon.

He’d always been timid, crying easily, which only made Ye Taekwon more exasperated with him.

But this bold side of Jinho was completely new.

“Alright, Taekwon, go get Jibeom a proper fork. The udon’s getting soggy.”

“…Fine.”

At Jinho’s coaxing, Ye Taekwon obediently went back to the kitchen to fetch a decent fork, as if he hadn’t just been throwing a tantrum.

“……”

The once-high tension in the air dissipated, and Jibeom, now deflated, quietly stabbed a piece of udon with his fork.

“Hm? Saewoo, what’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re full already.”

“Huh? Oh, no… I-I’m still eating…”

The thought of not finishing his meal and getting scolded by Jinho made Saewoo slurp up his udon noodles quickly.

“Taekwon, make sure you finish everything, even the broth.”

“Okay.”

Taekwon nodded like an obedient child, and though his face remained expressionless, the corners of his lips twitched as if he was secretly pleased with Jinho’s attention.

Saewoo turned his head, feeling like he’d seen something he shouldn’t have, and met eyes with Jibeom, who seemed to share his sentiment.

‘…Can people really change this much?’

It was astonishing.

Knowing the original novel made it even more incredible to witness such a change in their relationship.

It was almost sickeningly sweet, but perhaps that’s the power of love.

‘Well, as long as they’re happy…’

It felt strange that the plot could change this drastically just from one intervention in the original story, but still, weren’t the two of them genuinely in love with each other?

Regardless of how others perceived their relationship, if they were happy together, then wasn’t that enough?

❀❀❀

“Wow… I’m so full. Saewoo, you really cleaned up that udon. Was it that good?”

“Oh? Uh, yeah… I didn’t even realize I finished it.”

Jinho, looking quite satisfied, asked Saewoo the moment they stepped out of the udon place, and Saewoo had no choice but to agree.

Truthfully, it was partially because it felt like he’d get scolded by Ye Taekwon if he didn’t finish, but the udon really had been so delicious it practically slipped down effortlessly.

“Right? It was seriously good. I think I might become a regular here. Oh, I should go get a business card from the owner!”

In his excitement at finding a great spot, Jinho practically hopped like a rabbit and darted back inside to grab the card.

Through the glass door, Jinho could be seen chatting amiably with the owner.

With his vibrant and lively personality, he naturally drew the attention of everyone around.

Ye Taekwon was no exception, watching Jinho through the door and muttering quietly.

“I still don’t get it. You were the one who told me to give up on that area in the first place, weren’t you, Baek Saewoo? Don’t tell me you didn’t know about Yoon Jibeom. You knew exactly what was going on there, didn’t you?”

“H-Hiiik…!”

Saewoo hadn’t expected Taekwon to bring up such a sensitive topic so suddenly and bluntly, catching him completely off guard.

The brutal, fact-driven comment left Saewoo gasping for breath, like the air had been knocked out of his lungs.

He desperately looked around, hoping the person who shouldn’t hear this conversation might not have overheard, but the moment he spotted Jibeom right beside him, he let out another startled squeak.

It was obvious Jibeom had heard everything.

No, he must have heard more than enough.

“T-that is… um, what I mean to say is….”

Saewoo could feel sweat pouring down his body in rivulets, even more than before.

“What? Did that bastard say something again? Oh, hold on.”

“Huh?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected comment, Saewoo looked puzzled, then realized Jibeom was holding a phone in his hand and had a wireless earbud in one ear.

Jibeom was in the middle of a call, and instead of pressing further, he stepped aside to finish the conversation, signaling to Saewoo to talk later.

“Whew…”

Thank goodness.

It seemed he hadn’t overheard the conversation between Saewoo and Taekwon.

“Uh… Taekwon, could we maybe discuss that later? Right now isn’t really…”

“No.”

“……”

‘What a jerk….’

Saewoo had tried to plead with Taekwon, but there was no budging him.

Taekwon’s icy glare showed he wasn’t interested in anyone else’s request unless it came from Jinho.

It had always been this way, and convincing Taekwon to give up on that area had been excruciatingly difficult.

‘This is exactly why I hate dealing with Taekwon….’

If the possession had occurred before Taekwon and Jinho had met, Saewoo might have tried to set Jinho up with a different partner.

“Taekwon! Look at this. The owner said they’d give us lots of freebies next time, and I even got some coupons!”

Just in time, Jinho reappeared.

With a triumphant grin, he stuffed the coupons he’d received from the owner into Taekwon’s coat pocket.

Jinho’s smile, simply from the joy of coupons, made Taekwon smile in return.

Ah, the power of love…

“Saewoo, you’re riding in the car with us, right?”

“Huh?”

At some point, Jinho had sidled up beside Saewoo, asking him with an unspoken pressure that Saewoo couldn’t refuse.

“Jibeom! We’ll give Saewoo a ride home, okay?”

Vroom.

In the meantime, Taekwon had pulled the car around.

Jinho raced over to the passenger door, yanking it open and urging Saewoo to hurry and get in.

“Ah…”

For a moment, Saewoo hesitated.

Was it really okay to part ways with Jibeom like this?

“Go ahead. You know there are plenty of people willing to give me a ride.”

Jibeom, who had approached quietly, gently placed a hand on Saewoo’s shoulder.

His tone was as casual as ever, but there was a surprising warmth, reminiscent of the comforting embrace of a black panther he had felt earlier that day.

“But still…”

“Saewoo! Hurry up, it’s freezing!”

Already seated in the car, Jinho kept shouting for him to get in.

Saewoo gave a small, apologetic nod to Jibeom and turned toward the car.

As he moved, his fingertips brushed against Jibeom’s hand.

“I’ll call you.”

“…….”

Click.

Unsure of how to respond, Saewoo opened and closed his mouth before clambering into the car.

The moment he was in, the vehicle took off.

Saewoo kept staring at Jibeom, who stood motionless, growing smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror until he became a distant dot.

* * *