Chaeyoung, who had finished getting ready to leave work, pulled out the strands of hair caught under her outerwear and spoke with a voice full of envy.
“Aah… Oppa, you’re so lucky. Paris in this weather.”
“I’m going for work, though.”
“That’s what makes it even better! The flight, the hotel, it’s all free.”
“It is included, I guess.”
Song Hyunsoo smiled and nodded, threading his arms through the sleeves of his jacket.
“I’m thinking about going backpacking in Europe before graduation with the money I’ve saved up from part-time jobs.”
“I thought you’ve been to Europe.”
“That was in middle school, dragged around by my parents on a package tour. I barely even remember it.”
“So you were in your rebellious phase.”
“I just clung to my phone the whole time, and now I wonder why I was like that.”
The two, ready to leave together, said goodbye to the Manager.
In the meantime, the Manager, pen cap in his mouth while taking inventory, looked the part as he saw them off.
He used to always shove closing duty onto the staff and head home early, but it seemed he’d started to enjoy running the shop.
Just as Chaeyoung predicted, maybe even after he quit, ‘Jessica’ would stay afloat.
Song Hyunsoo hoped so as he stepped out through the doors of ‘Jessica.’
The place where he first met Yoon Jooho.
From that day, both his and Yoon Jooho’s lives had started to change drastically.
He hoped this old place that became a turning point could hold out just a little longer.
“Chaeyoung, then, let’s meet up after I come back.”
“Huh? Wait, you’re not taking the bus today?”
They used to walk together to the bus stop, so Chaeyoung pointed that way with a puzzled look.
“Ah… It’s just, I need to stop by the convenience store.”
“There’s a convenience store on the way to the bus stop.”
“It’s something they don’t have at that one.”
“Something they don’t have?”
“Get home safe! I’ll call you!”
Chaeyoung waved her hand in confusion. Song Hyunsoo turned his back and hurried his steps.
Even though he’d finally gotten the Porsche he dreamed of, he couldn’t bring it to work at ‘Jessica.’
If Chaeyoung or the Manager saw it, he’d have no excuse.
Instead, Yoon Jooho would always come pick him up.
On his weekly shift at ‘Jessica,’ Yoon Jooho would find all sorts of excuses to be Song Hyunsoo’s chauffeur.
He’d say he was heading out to exercise, had a meeting, needed to visit a Gallery in Seongbuk-dong, or just wanted to get out of the house and would drive him under the guise of a drive…
Thinking back, ever since they started living together, he hadn’t taken the bus to work even once.
What the—Monroe’s Dad, that’s seriously overprotective, isn’t it? He always came up with excuses so naturally, I never even noticed.
As he rounded the darkened café that had already closed for the night, he saw Yoon Jooho’s Porsche.
Blink, blink. The headlights signaled at him.
Holding back a laugh that was about to escape and forcing his legs not to speed up in excitement, Song Hyunsoo climbed into the passenger seat.
“Did you wait long?”
“Not really.”
With that, Yoon Jooho naturally reached over and pulled Hyunsoo by the back of the neck.
He pressed a quick kiss to his lips, tousled Hyunsoo’s hair, and peered at his face for a moment, as if checking for any changes after a few hours apart.
A faint smile lingered at his lips.
“You don’t have to pick me up every time.”
“Did I come every time?”
Song Hyunsoo nodded, as if asking if he hadn’t noticed.
“Now that I think about it, you’ve never missed a single time since we started living together.”
“Since when?”
“Since we moved in together.”
Yoon Jooho shrugged and started the car.
The truth was, he enjoyed being Hyunsoo’s chauffeur, but he didn’t want his lover to catch on.
Yoon Jooho wanted to keep that as his own secret pleasure.
“It must have just worked out that way by chance.”
“Ah… Okay.”
“Are you answering me with attitude?”
“What do you mean?”
“You answered sarcastically, didn’t you?”
Staring at Yoon Jooho, who was checking to merge left onto the main road past ‘Jessica,’ Song Hyunsoo asked in an annoyed voice.
“Is it that hard to admit you pick me up and drop me off? Does it hurt your pride?”
“……”
Once on the road, Yoon Jooho glanced over at Hyunsoo. He looked a bit surprised.
“Why are you taking it like that?”
“You’re working so hard to say you only did it by accident, not because you wanted to.”
As he waited for the signal to U-turn at Hyehwa-dong Rotary, Yoon Jooho leaned forward over the wheel with a sigh.
He figured it was time to confess to his lover. Turning his head, he reached out to Hyunsoo.
“Did it sound that way?”
“It did.”
His hand, which had stroked Hyunsoo’s cheek, now played with his earlobe.
“It’s not because of my pride.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s because I’m embarrassed.”
“You’re embarrassed?”
Hyunsoo replied like it was nonsense.
Is there anyone in this world more shameless than you, sunbae?
“I want to take you, pick you up when you finish. I never find it a bother, but I’ve never felt that way before, so I don’t know how to express it.”
“……”
“I’ve never done it before, so it’s embarrassing.”
“Wow…”
“Does that answer your question?”
Hyunsoo nodded. Yoon Jooho straightened up from the wheel and started the car again.
“I can’t always do this for you, you know. It’s only a special period right now. When I get busier, even if I want to, I won’t be able to.”
“So you’re doing it as much as you can now?”
“…Yeah.”
Hyunsoo beamed, showing his teeth. Yoon Jooho, sneaking a glance at his lover’s smile, couldn’t help but laugh as well.
“If you get busier, then I’ll come pick you up and drop you off.”
“You think you’ll have all that free time?”
“I’ll have more free time than you, sunbae.”
“When do rookies ever get free time? You’ll have to work even harder than me.”
Yoon Jooho tugged lightly on Hyunsoo’s earlobe and added cheerfully.
“I’m going to book you nonstop, so be ready.”
Bickering lightly, explaining, and grinning like idiots over nothing at all—whenever it was just the two of them like this, Hyunsoo always ended up feeling happy.
He hoped Yoon Jooho felt the same.
From the look on his face, it seemed he did.
“Ah! Sunbae, look at this.”
“What is it?”
While watching Yoon Jooho’s profile, Hyunsoo rummaged in his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. Taking advantage of the red light, he showed Jooho the screen.
“Let’s go on this too.”
It was a blog post about Bateaux Mouches that he’d found online.
“They say everyone rides this once when they go to Paris.”
“Just because everyone does it, we have to?”
“That’s not it.”
“If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?”
“Mouth, mouth, mouth. Your mouth is on fire again, huh?”
“……”
At Hyunsoo’s scolding, Yoon Jooho pursed his lips and mimed zipping them shut. A gesture of surrender.
Satisfied with his victory, Hyunsoo continued his briefing.
“If you ride this, you pass by nearly all the major Paris attractions. Eiffel Tower, Orsay Museum, Louvre Museum, Pont Neuf Bridge, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Cité Island… For people like us who don’t have much time, if we take one loop on this, we can see all of Paris, at least on the surface.”
Yoon Jooho didn’t react much. Hyunsoo searched for another blog about Bateaux Mouches and exclaimed.
“Wow! We should ride it at night! Sunbae, look!”
He tugged insistently at Yoon Jooho’s right arm, eyes glued to the phone.
“The night view is amazing!”
“If you get on that thing, I swear, a third of the people are Korean. Someone will definitely recognize us.”
“We’ll disguise ourselves. Hats, masks… Plus, it’s night, so they probably won’t notice.”
Yoon Jooho tried to persuade Hyunsoo, but his lover, excited for his first overseas trip, seemed completely mesmerized by the video of the sparkling Eiffel Tower.
“I’m going to book it, okay, sunbae?”
“Do we even need a reservation?”
“It’s cheaper if you reserve. Should I book it?”
“If you want.”
Yoon Jooho had no choice but to agree.
Even if it was a business trip, it was their first trip abroad together.
Yoon Jooho, who had his own special plans in mind, felt nervous that he couldn’t share the secret with his lover yet.
But it wasn’t as if the plan had been ruined.
Since Hyunsoo was looking forward to riding the Bateaux Mouches and seeing the night scenery, maybe this was for the best.
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