Chapter 86: A Temporary Understanding

“Ah, geez, so noisy.

Turn down your volumes.”

At the manager’s words, they hurriedly lowered their phone volumes and opened the messenger app.

The fact that notifications went off on four phones at once meant it was probably the NUAVE group chat.

And the sender was likely…

[Jun-sung hyung and Jae-seo hyung are going grocery shopping!!]

Sure enough, it was Lee Woo-rim.

KakaoTalk-

This time, the notification sound was noticeably quieter.

A new message had arrived in the messenger window.

[Hyungs!!]

[I want Choco Mushrooms!!]

Starting with Woo-rim’s request, messages listing desired foods or items began to stream in.

***

“Hyungs, be careful!”

With Woo-rim’s farewell, the car door slid shut.

Soon, the car pulled away, leaving Kwak Jun-sung behind without hesitation.

“Let’s go.”

He watched Jun-sung heading toward the entrance for a moment, then followed.

The manager had dropped them off in front of a small mart near the dorm.

Jun-sung, who had entered first, stood waiting with a cart, holding it out as if to offer it to him.

Jae-seo quickened his pace and walked up beside him.

“Sim Jae-seo, what’s going on with you?”

Kwak Jun-sung asked in a voice low enough for only him to hear as he pushed the cart.

He wanted to ask “About what?”, but unfortunately, he understood the meaning all too easily.

…It must be about Seo Jun-jae.

“And what about Yeo Hyun-tae?”

But a different name came out of Jun-sung’s mouth.

Of course, he had noticed Jun-sung’s glances in the car on the way to the dorm earlier, but…

Back then, Jun-sung had been so focused on Park Seo-hu’s issue that he didn’t seem to pay any attention to them at all.

He was flustered, his eyes moving slowly.

Jun-sung shook his head and spoke.

“Earlier, when you went in to record, Jun-jae pretended to come in but then went back out.”

“Huh?”

“Then after a while, he came back in with Hyun-tae, and the atmosphere was really strange.

Did something happen between you?”

So, while he was recording ‘Me and Me’ and ‘DAYDREAM’, Seo Jun-jae and Yeo Hyun-tae had been talking alone.

He could easily guess what they talked about, and his head started to ache.

…Probably something like “Do you like Sim Jae-seo?

I like Sim Jae-seo.”

“Why?

Do both of them like you?”

Kwak Jun-sung suddenly hit the nail on the head.

He was flustered and missed the timing to answer, and Jun-sung seemed to read his response from that, clicking his tongue softly.

“Ah, I knew it.

I knew it.”

A deep sigh escaped him at Jun-sung’s reaction.

“To be honest, I told you back then that it would be better to stop getting entangled with them, but I didn’t think they’d give up.”

Meaning that since back when they were revising the ‘Beautiful Hate’ blocking, or maybe even before that, he was already entangled with them beyond escape.

As he kept sighing, Jun-sung laughed heartily and continued.

“Don’t take it so seriously.

You’ve never been with a man, but it’s not so bad.”

…I know.

The problem is I know that all too well.

“Hey, but you’re sharing a room with those two, aren’t you?”

Come to think of it, he had forgotten during the recording, but the dorm issue remained.

No, it was actually worse than it was in the morning.

At this point, he seriously started to wonder what enormous sin his past self had committed to deserve this karma.

“Ugh, hang in there.”

Even Kwak Jun-sung, who originally liked men, looked at him with a face of pity, which made him feel rather strange.

…Maybe in a past life, I sold a couple of countries or something?

***

“Hyungs, you worked hard!”

When they returned to the dorm with their hands full of groceries, Lee Woo-rim, Lee Chan-seo, and Chae Han-ul ran out to the entrance, took the bags from them, and carried them inside.

The three quickly began putting things away.

“But are you the only ones here?”

The house felt strangely quiet.

“Manager Jeong-chan went to the company with Ji-heon hyung and Hyun-tae hyung, and Manager Bo-seong went out because he had some business.”

That meant Seo Jun-jae was home.

Since he had agreed to talk anyway, now that Hyun-tae wasn’t there, it seemed like the best time to do so.

“Leave the organizing to the kids.

Let’s go change clothes and come out.”

At Jun-sung’s words, he nodded and moved toward the bedroom door.

Jun-jae was probably inside.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself, and pulled the handle down.

“You’re back?”

As he opened the door and entered, Seo Jun-jae, who had been sitting on the single bed, turned his head at the sound.

The moment their eyes met, he suddenly remembered what Jun-sung had said about changing clothes.

Come to think of it, how was he supposed to change comfortably in this room?

Not only changing himself, but seeing the other two change would also be quite awkward.

He shook his head to clear the thought.

This wasn’t the time to think about changing clothes.

First, he needed to talk to Jun-jae.

He closed the door fully, and Jun-jae, seemingly having the same thought, patted the empty mattress next to him.

Taking it as an invitation to sit, he walked over and sat down.

Both he and Jun-jae sat quietly for a long time.

Jun-jae was probably waiting for him to speak, since he had said he would talk at the dorm.

He was trying to organize his thoughts, but it wasn’t easy.

“I heard from Hyun-tae earlier.”

When he continued to hesitate, Jun-jae spoke first.

He was probably referring to the conversation when he had gone in to record, the one Kwak Jun-sung had mentioned.

“Actually, I already knew about Hyun-tae’s feelings for you.”

…So “Do you like Sim Jae-seo?

I like Sim Jae-seo” was real.

“What matters to me is how you feel.”

Jun-jae gently took his wrist again and lifted it.

His lips touched the wrist held up by Jun-jae’s hand.

The lips landed right on the mark Jun-jae had left exactly five days ago.

Soon, his neat teeth, revealed between his full lips, gently bit and sucked the same spot again.

“Ugh…!”

Jun-jae’s lips, having darkened his previous mark slightly, softly pulled away from the inside of his wrist.

“As long as it’s not you letting me go to choose Hyun-tae, I’ll understand and accept anything.”

Jun-jae whispered in a voice that sounded quite earnest.

Hearing it made him feel strangely suffocated.

…What am I to them that they act this way?

“I told Hyun-tae that I like both of you as friends.”

Along with a long sigh of frustration, the words unintentionally spilled out.

“I don’t intend to choose either of you.”

As the words started flowing, all the cowardly, selfish thoughts he had been trying to hide poured out in a mess.

“I just want to keep on with you guys like we are now.”

Like now, like friends, having s*x with both of them?

After saying it, he found himself so ridiculous that he let out a hollow laugh.

Expecting understanding while saying such garbage—he really had no conscience.

“That’s enough, Jae-seo.”

Even more absurdly, Jun-jae accepted his nonsensical words and even smiled.

If it had been Hyun-tae sitting across from him instead of Jun-jae, he would probably have reacted the same way.

…He wondered who was the ridiculous one—him, the two of them, or all three.

“But I can’t handle more than this.”

At the words, now edged with a sharpness, he abruptly looked up.

Jun-jae’s gaze, too, felt somewhat harsh.

They stared into each other’s eyes for a long time, then Jun-jae’s arm suddenly reached out and wrapped around his nape, pulling him close.

At the same time, his other hand pressed firmly on his waist, and soon his whole body was pulled into a tight embrace.

“I can understand because it’s Hyun-tae, but…”

The words whispered low by his ear paused, then continued even more quietly.

“Earlier, I thought I’d go crazy.”

So please, just let it be Hyun-tae.

He slowly nodded at the added words.

He felt the same way anyway.

No, he was the one who fervently hoped it would stop with Jun-jae and Hyun-tae.

He desperately wished that no one else’s favorability event would be released.

Feeling his nod against his shoulder, a small laugh finally escaped Jun-jae’s lips by his ear.

Listening to that sound, he quietly closed his eyelids.

…Finally, he felt like he had another worry off his mind.