If it were before, or even right after arriving in Seoul, if he had heard this story, Hakyung might have quietly gone down following Kim Taeyoung’s words.
But now, Hakyung had his own reason to stay in Seoul.
And no matter how he thought about it, in this situation, it was right that he — not Kim Taeyoung — should be angry.
Tensing his stomach, Hakyung shook his head strongly.
“No.”
The distance between them shortened.
The stronger the scent of cologne got, the more Hakyung frowned, but Taeyoung didn’t seem to care.
Now just inches away, Taeyoung raised his hand and lightly tapped Hakyung’s hat.
“Kang Hakyung, are you crazy?”
“That’s what I should be asking you. You promised me. You said you’d just upload one video of my song…”
Hakyung’s voice was filled with injustice.
It was Kim Taeyoung who forcibly took away his voice, who broke their promise first.
So why did he have to listen to these mean words like he had done something terribly wrong?
Hakyung really didn’t understand.
Seeing Hakyung confused like that, a crooked smirk appeared on Taeyoung’s lips.
Even Hakyung’s trembling voice was pretty and pure.
Jealousy rose in Taeyoung’s heart, sharpening his gaze even more.
“So, what now? You want to say it’s your song? Ha, don’t be ridiculous. It’s because of my face that people like that voice. Someone ordinary like you could sing for a hundred or a thousand days and no one would care.”
“I’m not hoping for someone to like it, I just want to take back what’s mine… Ah!”
With a short scream, Hakyung turned his head to the side.
His precious yellow hat fell to the floor.
Taeyoung had put so much force into tapping his hat that he lost control of himself.
Since they were kids, Taeyoung’s rough hands had hurt him more than once or twice, but today, Hakyung was really upset.
Even after hitting Hakyung, Taeyoung’s anger didn’t subside.
He stomped his feet while breathing heavily.
“Take back?! What the hell, who do you think you’re calling a thief? Hey, Kang Hakyung. Ever since you came to Seoul, you think you can do whatever you want? Huh? Did you forget who’s keeping you alive right now?”
Hakyung silently brushed the dust off his hat without saying a word.
He had heard that bragging over 300 times, with some exaggeration, and now he had no words left to reply.
A big sigh escaped from between Hakyung’s lips. It was so tiresome.
If this was how it was going to be, he might as well have died back then…
No, don’t think like that.
He sighed again and pressed the hat firmly onto his head.
“Alright. Yeah, if it weren’t for you, how could I still be breathing? But I have to live my own life too. I can’t keep doing whatever you tell me forever. I’m not going back to the countryside.”
“Huh…?”
“And from now on, I won’t sing instead of you anymore. I don’t want to deceive other people.”
Whenever he raised his voice, Taeyoung would cower and tuck his tail, but today, he held his head high.
Taeyoung let out a bitter laugh several times and raised his hand again.
Knock knock.
Two sharp knocks echoed precisely.
The door opened. Hakyung was sure he locked it as soon as he came in…?
As Taeyoung felt something strange, a man with a cool and sharp impression entered.
He looked at the stiff Taeyoung and Hakyung’s back alternately, then raised one corner of his mouth. His expression was a mix of amusement and annoyance.
The man had an overwhelming presence even just by standing silently.
Taeyoung instinctively shrugged and lowered his raised hand, composing his expression and asked,
“Who are you?”
The fierce Kim Taeyoung instantly softened and became meek.
Despite seeing this sudden change with his own eyes, Hakyung couldn’t get used to it.
Or maybe it was just that Taeyoung was the only one who acted mean, so maybe he was the one at fault.
His thoughts swirling, Hakyung wondered who had come.
It must be someone lost and accidentally came here, but thanks to that, he might escape another beating.
Thinking that he should at least see the face of his savior, Hakyung turned his head and his eyes widened at the person he faced.
“Boss!”
“Yeah.”
Hakyung’s butt wiggled like a puppy greeting its owner who had returned.
If he had a tail, it would be spinning like a propeller with joy.
Muheon, the strong dolphin, raised his hand and gently stroked the top of Hakyung’s head.
His eyes, which had been full of irritation when looking at Kim Taeyoung moments ago, now softened.
“But… is this the bathroom?”
“Yeah…?”
“You said you were going to the bathroom and left me behind, so why are you here?”
Come to think of it, he had told the boss to go up first while saying he’d go to the bathroom…
So how did the boss end up here?
Curiosity about the boss’s sudden appearance made Hakyung’s eyes roll around.
“Why are you lying?”
“I-I’m not lying… I mean, sorry.”
Hakyung didn’t come up with any clever excuse, and since it was true that he had lied to the boss several times, he apologized right away.
Muheon nodded and gently patted the top of Hakyung’s head again.
The man didn’t seem angry about the lie; his expression wasn’t bad at all.
Relieved inside, Hakyung smiled faintly.
It felt good that it was the boss who saved him again from Kim Taeyoung.
While the two of them were sharing this strangely soft atmosphere, Kim Taeyoung, who was watching everything from the front, bit his lip with a bad feeling.
The guy who usually ignored him completely was now speaking gently to Hakyung…
The inferiority complex Kim Taeyoung had barely suppressed while throwing curses at Hakyung suddenly welled up in his chest.
Since he called him “boss,” it seemed he had found a job elsewhere after coming to Seoul…
And it annoyed him that only Hakyung kept having this kind of luck.
Kim Taeyoung wanted to shout at both the boss and Hakyung to get lost, as usual, but thought about his own reputation now that his face would become well known, and held back.
He put on his most innocent smile and greeted:
“Hello. I’m Kim Taeyoung, Hakyung’s friend. Are you Hakyung’s company’s boss?”
The man nodded slightly.
Since Hakyung was beside him, maybe he found it annoying to ignore him like before but still responded to the greeting.
Kim Taeyoung’s pride was hurt again, but he replaced it with a slight smile.
“I just happened to meet Hakyung here. I didn’t know he was working in Seoul… This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”
Kim Taeyoung’s eyes gleamed sharply again as he watched Hakyung standing next to the man.
Every time he saw that innocent, clueless face, a desire to twist it grew inside him.
Kim Taeyoung clicked his tongue, licked the inside of his mouth once, and raised the corner of his lips more.
“Hakyung and I grew up like brothers… Please take care of him.”
“Yeah, I really liked your singing. Your voice is pretty.”
Muheon, who had seemed indifferent just moments ago, suddenly praised him.
Hakyung, the real owner of the voice, and Taeyoung, who had stolen it and sung as if it were his own, both tensed up.
They both reacted exactly the same, as if on cue.
“Thank you. I saw you at the concert earlier.”
Kim Taeyoung was the first to speak.
He naturally rubbed his shoulder and expressed gratitude.
Hakyung was still stiff as a stone.
Seeing Hakyung acting clueless, Taeyoung muttered a quick curse inside.
He raised his hand as if to rub Hakyung’s shoulder, pressing down firmly.
The pinch made Hakyung’s eyebrows crumple tightly.
“We saw the concert together, but you didn’t say a word about me to the boss? Why pretend you didn’t know? I’m hurt… Don’t do that again.”
Taeyoung bent his knees to lower his gaze and then looked up to meet Hakyung’s eyes.
As soon as they slipped from the boss’s sight, Hakyung squeezed his eyelids tightly to avoid the fierce gaze.
The words about being hurt because he was ignored and the sharp look in his eyes actually meant the opposite.
It was a warning not to say foolish things about him to the boss.
Just by looking into his eyes, Hakyung could understand everything he wanted to say.
Twenty years of knowing Kim Taeyoung made it possible.
So, Kim Taeyoung must know even if Hakyung didn’t say a word, just from the slightest reaction he gave at that moment…
“Hakyung really likes the boss, huh.”
Yeah, that’s how he would immediately realize his feelings.
As soon as Kim Taeyoung said that, Hakyung felt his heart drop to the floor.