* * *
Laughter erupted from the television.
“And so, what I did was…”
Jiho had been worried about entering Yejun’s house so boldly.
But as they shared dinner and watched TV, his tension eased. Nothing seemed different from when he used to visit.
Leaning against the sofa, munching on potato chips, Jiho watched as Coco wandered in front of the TV. The light sound of Coco’s steps on the wooden floor was oddly pleasing.
Naturally, Jiho’s gaze followed Coco, who approached him as soon as their eyes met.
“Woof!”
Coco barked shortly and slipped between Jiho’s legs, settling into the space formed by his cross-legged position.
Feeling the warmth unique to a puppy, Jiho lowered his head. Coco stretched out her hind legs, stood on her back legs, and placed her front paws on Jiho’s chest.
Then she licked Jiho’s lips with her pink tongue, almost like giving him a kiss.
“Ugh, Coco. Stop it, mmm…”
Jiho wanted to tell her to stop, but he hesitated to open his mouth, fearing her tongue might slip in. No matter how much he liked Coco, kissing was a bit too much.
He tried to pull his head back and push Coco away, but she, using her cuteness as a weapon, did not retreat.
Was it inevitable to be disarmed by small and cute things? Jiho felt similar emotions not only toward dogs but also toward children and weak people. He seemed very vulnerable to cute things.
In the end, Jiho surrendered and, with a smile, patted the back of Coco’s head. Instead, he turned his face to offer his cheek instead of his lips and said to Yejun,
“Why does she come to me when her owner is right next to her? Don’t you think you need to try harder?”
“Coco does like you, but it’s because you have snacks,” Yejun replied, laughing at Jiho’s reproachful tone, and took the potato chips from Jiho’s hand.
As soon as he did, Coco, as if she had never shown any interest in Jiho, darted over to Yejun.
What? Why did she leave so abruptly? Was she not being affectionate but trying to eat the snack crumbs?
Thinking that way made Coco seem more like a calculative dog rather than an affectionate, doll-like one.
As Jiho narrowed his eyes and looked at Coco, Yejun chuckled and said,
“Want to feed her a snack?”
“You have some?”
“Wait here.”
Jiho thought he could regain Coco’s attention just by getting snacks from Yejun, but he couldn’t feed her human snacks. Giving her dog treats might bring her attention back to him.
Yejun got up and headed to the kitchen. As he opened the cupboard, Coco perked up her ears and wagged her tail so vigorously it seemed her hips might fall off.
“Here.”
Yejun returned and handed Jiho a dog treat.
The packaging had a brightly smiling Golden Retriever printed on it. Jiho, who knew little about dogs, thought it looked like jerky.
As soon as Jiho accepted the treat, Coco clung to him eagerly. Watching her pawing the air, asking for the treat, Jiho felt both exasperated and amused as he opened the packet.
“How much should I feed her?”
“Just one a day. If you feed her too often, she won’t eat her meals.”
“So she’s picky too.”
Jiho thought to himself, it’s similar to how people lose their appetite if they snack before a meal.
Jiho was about to give the treat to Coco when he suddenly remembered a dog training video he had seen before.
They usually don’t just give treats but use them for praise… Thinking that way, simply giving the treat felt lacking.
“Coco, sit!”
Speaking in a stern tone as if channeling a trainer, Jiho saw Coco open her eyes wide.
She seemed surprised, as Jiho usually just played with her, not giving commands.
Her big, round black eyes clearly showed her confusion.
Coco made a sniffing sound, then slowly stepped back and plopped her bottom on the floor, as if she had heard the command to ‘wait.’
She usually ignored commands and acted wild, so Jiho thought she didn’t understand them…
It was because there were no treats before.
Should I call her smart or sly?
Anyway, the fact that she was cute remained unchanged. Jiho, excited that Coco understood ‘sit,’ started asking Yejun various questions.
“Does she understand any other commands?”
“She can give her paw, lie down… and even do ‘bang’.”
“Huh? Isn’t ‘bang’ a difficult one? She can do that?”
“Our Coco is quite smart.”
Yejun spoke with a smug confidence.
Looking at Yejun, Jiho’s expression turned a bit sour. It felt like watching an overzealous parent who believes their child is a genius.
But he was curious. Jiho, not really expecting much, made a gun shape with his fingers.
“Hmm… Coco, bang!”
“Woof!”
As Jiho mimicked shooting, Coco barked brightly, then rolled over to show her white belly. Despite this, she kept her gaze fixed on Jiho.
For Coco, it probably meant ‘stop teasing and give me the treat,’ but to Jiho, it was simply adorable.
“Wow, she knows how to do this. Here, eat.”
Jiho, amazed, tore off a piece of the treat as a reward and handed it to Coco. She jumped at it eagerly.
The jerky was tough, so Coco gnawed at it with her sharp teeth. Though it could have seemed fierce, to Jiho, Coco was nothing but endearing.
“So cute.”
“Yes, she is beautiful.”
Muttering to himself about Coco, Jiho heard Yejun agreeing.
I said cute… It’s not that Coco isn’t beautiful, but…
Feeling that Yejun’s words were off-topic, Jiho glanced at him and saw that Yejun’s gaze was on him.
“…”
It might have been just his imagination, but…
Since Yejun’s eyes were on him, it felt like Yejun was calling him beautiful.
Of course, Jiho knew it wasn’t directed at him. If someone were to call him handsome, maybe, but beautiful?
He had never been called that.
It might be a prejudice, but ‘beautiful’ seemed more fitting for girls or Omegas.
It didn’t suit someone rugged like Jiho, who was set to become an Alpha.
It must be for Coco. Even knowing it was a misunderstanding, Jiho felt embarrassed and awkward.
He avoided Yejun’s gaze and awkwardly gave the rest of the treat to Coco.
Trying to act as if he didn’t notice, he hoped to move on subtly, but Yejun continued speaking.
“I’m glad you take good care of Coco, Jiho.”
Though it was his usual tone, Yejun’s warm gaze made Jiho’s ears feel ticklish as if they were being caressed by cotton.
Even though Yejun treated him familiarly and ordinarily, whenever he felt this way, Jiho felt foolish, as if blood rushed to his head and made him scatterbrained.
It wasn’t a strange conversation, but I wanted to leave. Jiho quickly gave Coco a snack, then stood up abruptly.
“I think I’ll go to bed now. Do you want to shower first?”
“No, I have some things to organize. You go ahead.”
Yejun smiled gently and started tidying up the table. Since they had just given Coco a snack and eaten some cookies, it made sense to clean up a bit before bed.
“Alright then, I’ll go in first.”
Jiho tried to act nonchalant as he turned away.
As he gathered a towel and his underwear and walked into the bathroom, he felt a peculiar sting on the back of his head.
He couldn’t look back, but it felt like Yejun’s gaze was following him.
Jiho entered the bathroom and shut the door quickly.
“Phew.”
Leaning against the door, Jiho exhaled deeply.
I’m glad nothing happened. No, it’s not just that; this is how things should be.
Even though they had touched bodies at some point, they were never that kind of relationship.
Plus, he had made it clear to Yejun not to mess around when he moved into this house, so it was right to act like nothing had happened.
That’s what friends do.
Jiho told himself he needed to calm his excited mind and quickly took off his shirt.
When feeling uneasy, vigorous exercise or a shower and sleep were the most effective remedies.
Since he couldn’t exercise at someone else’s house at night, he decided to take a shower and go to bed.
Just as he was about to remove his pants and underwear, he heard a knock on the bathroom door.
“Jiho, are you showering?”
“Uh, uh? Not yet.”
“Can you open the door for a moment?”
If he had something to say, he could have said it through the door. Was it something urgent?
Jiho felt awkward since he had already taken off his shirt but decided it would be more awkward to put it back on.
He hesitated for a moment before opening the bathroom door.
“What is it?”
“Jiho, you…”
Yejun seemed to want to say something but stopped like someone who had suddenly hit the brakes when he saw Jiho.
His lips tightened, and his eyes slowly lowered. His gaze, which started from Jiho’s face, stopped at his chest.
In Yejun’s brown irises, his dark pupils stared intently.
It was hard to tell if the look was overt or simply unreadable.
Jiho wanted to cover himself out of embarrassment, but doing so would imply he was conscious of Yejun’s gaze.
He pretended not to care and looked away.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Oh, right.”
When Jiho asked, Yejun seemed to come to his senses and met Jiho’s eyes.
Jiho wanted to hear what he had to say and quickly send him out, but Yejun lowered his gaze again and responded awkwardly.
“I was wondering if you needed me to do the laundry.”
“…What?”
What the hell did he mean by ‘do the laundry’?
For some reason, Jiho’s mind could only think of one thing, something so obscene he couldn’t even say it out loud.
Yejun’s gaze was oddly directed downward, which made it feel even more that way.
Where is this guy looking?
* * *
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