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Join the ServerSeon Woo-min cleared his throat.
“…What do you mean?”
“You know I’m interested in you.”
Caught off guard by the sudden remark, Woo-min couldn’t even flick the ash from his cigarette until it had grown long.
Why was this man suddenly revealing his feelings to him?
Had his gloomy demeanor all day, acting as if something was wrong, been a buildup to this confession?
Had he looked after him at the club because he had feelings for him…?
Unable to resolve any of his questions, Woo-min bit the inside of his lip and fell deep into thought.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“I’m not in a situation to be dating anyone right now.”
This was Seon Woo-min’s workplace.
Accepting advances from someone he met at work, especially a customer rather than a coworker, went against Woo-min’s work ethic.
The owner definitely wouldn’t overlook it either.
“If the situation were right, then it would be okay?”
“Hmm.
No.
Even if the situation were right, I don’t think it would work.”
Even if circumstances were completely permissive, Seon Woo-min couldn’t accept him.
“Why not?”
Lee Do-kyung asked, staring intently at Woo-min’s face.
“……”
Truthfully, work was just a surface excuse.
It was because of the person who had been occupying his mind lately.
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake.
Currently, Woo-min’s only interests were him and the Invincible Power Kitty Corps.
“Because I have someone I like.”
He remembered that the pierced man, when a woman had once hit on him here, had given the same answer.
He’d thought it was just a line to reject her, but now that he’d said it himself, he realized it wasn’t.
If that was the case, could it be that the person the pierced man said he liked back then was him?
For a moment, Woo-min felt dizzy.
…Not that it would change anything.
He couldn’t accept a confession out of pity.
The pierced man simply wasn’t his type, and there was nothing they could bond over as common ground.
Carefully stubbing out his cigarette, Seon Woo-min looked into Lee Do-kyung’s blue-grey irises.
His expression was calm, as if he had anticipated the rejection.
“I’m truly sorry.”
Woo-min was used to apologizing even when he’d done nothing wrong, but this time, he was genuinely sorry.
Because he could sense the sincerity in the pierced man’s confession toward him.
With a slight bow, Woo-min quickly passed Do-kyung and went back into the café.
Lee Do-kyung smiled bitterly and took out a cigarette.
He had expected the rejection, anyway.
Spurred by the longing for Woo-min, which had exceeded its limit due to last night’s dream, he’d confessed on impulse.
He already knew Seon Woo-min didn’t have feelings for him yet.
But who the hell was he interested in?
Besides, the day they had started dating was March 20th.
Though the past was growing hazier as he adapted to the present, he remembered that date clearly because he’d written it down and it was the day before his birthday.
Today was December 1st, a full year before that.
So no anomaly there.
If so, his hypothesis that ‘things that happen on a certain day will happen on that day’ was highly likely to be correct.
Then that meant there was no way to prevent the accident at the Invincible Power Kitty Corps OST concert either.
“…What kind of bullshit is this.”
No.
Even if he couldn’t prevent the accident, he could stop Seon Woo-min from going to the concert venue.
Even if he had to lock him up, he just had to keep him from leaving the house.
Even if it meant going against the heavens and being punished, he wouldn’t let Seon Woo-min die.
This second stage was clearly given to him for that purpose.
At the same time, belatedly feeling the sting of being rejected by Woo-min, Do-kyung cursed.
“Thinking about it, it’s pissing me off.”
“I’m pissed off, seeing your f*cking face pisses me off!”
Startled by the sudden outburst, Do-kyung jumped, shoulders shaking.
“Ah, you scared me!”
“When the hell are you going to finish that AI optimization?!
You uploaded the build without even checking the collision detection, just wasting time.
If we miss the schedule because of this, we won’t make the demo date, you know that, don’t you?!”
Hwang Un-jae, who had practically burst through the door, grabbed Do-kyung by the collar and shook him.
So that was the sound of loud footsteps he’d heard earlier.
Cigarette smoke caught in his throat, and Do-kyung coughed before his face hardened.
“I did check the collision, you idiot!
I uploaded it earlier.
Hey, hey, can’t you see the lit cigarette?
Are you out of your mind?”
At that moment, Lee Do-kyung didn’t know what variables today’s confession, which deviated from the original timeline, would bring in the future.
***
“Good work.
Get some good rest, Manager.”
“Yeah, Manager Woo-min, go on in.”
Leaving the mart, Seon Woo-min immediately took out his phone and opened the chat window with Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake.
Reading and rereading their conversations on his way home had become a recent habit.
He scrolled through everything like a review, from their first conversation when MungBeanPancake had asked if he’d gotten the special edition Mung Bean figure, to the most recent one where he’d mentioned his ex-girlfriend.
Woo-min could see his own emotions fluctuating.
When he’d felt excited, when he’d been thrilled, and when he’d plummeted.
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake (find_B12345): [They were kind.]
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake (find_B12345): [Considerate]
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake (find_B12345): [Had great taste]
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake (find_B12345): [Was sexy]
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake (find_B12345): [We communicated well, had great banter]
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake (find_B12345): [Our sense of humor matched perfectly]
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake (find_B12345): [Everything else important just clicked too]
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake (find_B12345): [And…]
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake (find_B12345): [They were f*cking beautiful.]
Nokddoongie Bokddoongie (nokkdoo1107): [You must have really liked them.]
Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake (find_B12345): [Yes.]
“……”
He really shouldn’t have read the recent conversation.
He’d thought his mood was just bad at the time, but reading it again felt the same.
Seon Woo-min immediately turned his steps away from home.
He wasn’t the type to make impulsive decisions, but today he didn’t feel like going home.
Not with this mood that showed no sign of clearing.
Whenever he felt down, he’d always found comfort in the Invincible Power Kitty Corps, but now that the Kitty Corps was tied to Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake, it seemed hard to find pure enjoyment.
Woo-min got on a bus heading toward Hongdae.
On the bus, always crowded regardless of the time, he was lucky enough to get a seat.
Sitting down and placing his crossbody bag on his lap, he tapped the window with his knuckles and stared at the scenery outside.
‘You must have really liked them.’
‘Yes.’
Chewing over the chat with MungBeanPancake, he recalled being confessed to by the pierced man.
Strictly speaking, it was more like ‘the moment before the pierced man even properly confessed, he’d already been rejected.’
Had the pierced man also felt, because of him, the same sinking feeling he’d experienced because of MungBeanPancake, who had been steeped in sorrow while talking about his ex-girlfriend?
Thinking that made his heart feel unsettled, as if it were being poked.
Woo-min rubbed his dry lips with his fingertips.
The pierced man was a customer unanimously liked by the café staff, something rare.
He felt a twinge of guilt, wondering if the incident might make the man stop coming to the café.
Entering November, due to the season, they had stopped selling mango juice.
He’d also been worried that the pierced man might stop coming because of that.
So it wasn’t that he had no positive feelings for him at all.
But it was only the kind of positive feelings you’d have for a nice, fun customer, a unique yet courteous one—nothing that could develop into romantic feelings.
That’s probably why he still called him ‘customer’ and hadn’t asked for his name.
“Hmm?”
Just then, his phone in his pocket vibrated briefly.
Seon Woo-min quickly pulled it out, but it wasn’t Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake.
[Are you eating properly?] – Seon Hye-ri
A typical older sister’s check-in text.
He smiled.
Even after sending a reply, he held onto his phone, hesitating.
What should he say to Crispy!!!MungBeanPancake?
Was he doing okay?
He’d seemed in really bad shape when talking about his ex-girlfriend.
Seon Woo-min traced the edge of his phone with his finger, lost in thought.
***
Getting off the bus, Woo-min walked up a sloping alley for a while.
He looked around, wondering if someone was following him, but there was no one.
Passing through the entrance of a pub marked by a small signboard, he descended underground.
“Vodka Authentic, please.”
Seated at the bar, Woo-min ordered the cheapest cocktail on the menu without even looking at it.
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