The place Hajo took Hakyung was a coin karaoke room.
Hakyung had only heard about such places but had never been, so he kept looking around the hallway.
There were some people who sang well, but most were just excitedly shouting, lost in their own fun.
Still, Hakyung’s spirits lifted with the simultaneous sounds of various tunes, and his lips curved upwards.
“Hyung, this way!”
***
The room was narrow, barely enough for two people.
It was fortunate that they were both river dolphins and could squeeze in; if Muheon and his subordinates had come, it would have been impossible to even dream of multiple people fitting.
Despite its size, the booth was well-equipped with everything a karaoke room needed.
Hakyung spent time pressing various functions on the remote control.
Beside him, Hajo was still engrossed in choosing a song.
He was deep in thought about how to best showcase Hakyung’s singing talent.
Because his brother was so serious, Hakyung couldn’t even show that he was bored.
Then he found a song and, without realizing it, pressed the start button.
The song he chose was an old hit that perhaps today’s students might not know.
But it was also a song Hakyung particularly loved.
The lyrics, about making a pizza for someone you love, blended with the bouncing melody, making him feel good just by singing it.
With the familiar intro, Hakyung’s hips wiggled.
The excitement was too much to suppress while sitting, so he stood up and swayed his shoulders along.
“For you, who loves pizza, I’ll make it beautifully with love.”
As he sang, he remembered the first pizza he ate with the CEO, and the thought of wanting to make him a truly delicious pizza one day also came to mind.
The more he thought of the CEO, the louder his singing became, and his clear voice filled the booth.
Hajo, who had been diligently searching for songs, was mesmerized and turned on his phone camera.
He focused the camera to capture Hakyung’s plump lips and swaying movements, recording the video.
He wasn’t just saying it because he was his brother; Hakyung was genuinely cute and sang well.
After finishing the short video, just over 2 minutes long, Hajo quickly showed his brother the song list.
There were a whopping ten songs.
Hakyung could have complained about singing so many songs in a row that his voice might give out, but he just nodded, saying it was fine.
As a river dolphin, born with strong vocal cords, he wasn’t particularly worried.
When he used to send songs to Kim Taeyoung, he would sing dozens of times a day because of all his nitpicking.
Compared to then, how happy he was now to be able to confidently showcase his own voice.
Hakyung pressed the remote control buttons without a single complaint.
Hajo was diligently searching for the best angle beside him.
“Phew…! I feel so refreshed!”
Hakyung smiled brightly after singing ten songs in a row.
Hajo agreed with him.
What made them happiest was seeing the surprised faces of the customers in the hallway peeking around when his brother sang.
It seemed they had reconfirmed that even someone with a terrible ear couldn’t help but be impressed by Hakyung’s singing.
They spent quite a long time at the karaoke room, and by then, the sun was setting.
The day was over just from the consultation and karaoke.
The two brothers quickly made their way to the dormitory.
***
When they arrived in front of the building, Muheon was just getting out of his car.
As soon as Hakyung spotted the CEO, he scurried over to him like a dog meeting its owner.
“CEO! You’re back?”
“Yeah, are you just getting here?”
“Yes! Hajo registered for the academy, we ate, and we even went to karaoke!”
“Karaoke…?”
He had wondered where they’d been bustling about all day, and it turned out they’d even gone to karaoke.
Muheon imagined the river dolphin brothers excitedly shaking tambourines and chuckled to himself. It suited them too well.
Not knowing why he was laughing, Hakyung just laughed along with the CEO.
“CEO, how was your urgent matter?”
“It went well.”
“That’s a relief.”
Hakyung sighed in relief and quickly clung to Muheon’s arm.
Then he lifted the CEO’s thick arm and sniffed it.
Muheon wondered what scent he was sniffing, as Hakyung wasn’t a canine-human hybrid.
Muheon didn’t drink or smoke, so there shouldn’t be any particular lingering smells.
When Muheon twitched an eyebrow in confusion, Hakyung shook his head, saying it was nothing, but in reality, he was checking to see if the CEO had the scent or trace of any other “suin” (human-animal hybrid).
Fortunately, there was no other scent on the CEO’s body.
Only the CEO’s unique refreshing fragrance lingered.
Hakyung’s lips curled up at the fact that no one else had been flirting with him.
For Hakyung, who still had thick “love goggles” for Muheon, everyone the CEO met felt like an enemy trying to target him.
Since he couldn’t stick to him and monitor him like a guard dog, it was natural to feel anxious.
Hakyung rationalized his behavior, which was no different from a stalker’s.
He was quite unapologetic about it.
Hajo, watching his brother’s actions from the side, made an exasperated face.
The usually docile and easygoing brother, who was a pushover, was gone, replaced by a very shrewd husband.
As Hajo just kept his brother company, unable to understand how much Hakyung must like the CEO to act that way, Muheon’s gaze shifted from Hakyung to Hajo.
At his question, Hajo was startled and blurted out a dumbfounded, “Uh, um, yes!”
Without exaggeration, Muheon’s physique was as large as an orca suin in the sea.
Though his brother hadn’t said it directly, Hajo was convinced that Muheon was definitely one of the largest species in the ocean.
He hadn’t realized it when they were just the two of them in the countryside, but seeing him here, Muheon looked much, much bigger and fiercer.
Because of this, Hajo was terrified and didn’t leave his brother’s side, when Muheon suddenly spoke to him.
Hajo bit his lip at his clumsy answer.
He felt hot steam rising from his fontanel in embarrassment.
However, Muheon merely curved his lips as if pleased with Hajo’s answer and showed no other reaction.
Instead, Hakyung next to him was busy chattering about how well Hajo had done on the test and how many compliments he had received.
Muheon stroked Hakyung’s shoulder, responding with phrases like, “Really?” and “That’s amazing.”
Only Hajo blushed bright red at Hakyung’s oversharing.
Dinner was prepared with the side dishes Grandma had sent up through Hajo.
Hakyung was touched by his grandmother’s cooking, which he hadn’t had in a long time, and Muheon felt the same.
Hajo, on the other hand, was unenthusiastic, as he had eaten these same dishes last night and the night before.
For him, steamed abalone or beef bulgogi tasted better.
The river dolphin brothers continued their meal, bickering good-naturedly about what tasted better.
As they continued their lively meal, Hajo, holding an abalone in his hand, turned his head towards Hakyung.
“Hyung, isn’t that your phone? I keep hearing a vibration.”
“Oh? Um, no, it’s not a call…”
At Hajo’s question, Hakyung pulled out his phone from his pocket.
Alarms had been coming from the video app for a while.
Comments had started appearing on the short edited video that Hajo had uploaded earlier, saying they should just put it up first.
With a look that said he didn’t know what to do, Hakyung handed his phone to his brother.
Even when they were huddled together on the subway on the way back, choosing and uploading the video, they hadn’t really expected any reactions.
They had only uploaded it to check how the video looked and if the sound quality was okay.
Following Hakyung, Hajo also looked down at the phone with a bewildered expression.
The river dolphin brothers were like hot potatoes, unable to do anything.
“What’s wrong?”
Muheon, who had been quietly watching them, asked.
Hakyung showed him the video they had recorded today.
Muheon watched all ten-plus videos without taking his eyes off the screen for a moment.
From calm ballads to exciting dance songs, various melodies poured out of Hakyung’s mouth without a break.
Muheon was once again captivated by Hakyung’s singing.
Even the spontaneous songs he only sang for Muheon were pleasant and beautiful enough, but with the accompaniment, it was truly a heavenly sound.
Even in the dimly lit coin karaoke booth where objects were indistinguishable, Hakyung’s voice and lips shone brightly.
Muheon instinctively held Hakyung’s hand tightly and had him sit next to him.
He knew such thoughts were absurd and peculiar… but it felt as if Kang Hakyung might grow wings and fly into the sky at any moment.
Whether or not he was aware of Muheon’s anxiety, Hakyung, with one hand given to the CEO, read the incoming comments with his brother, a beaming smile on his face.
He was just curious how people had managed to find his song.