Side Story 2: Déjà Vu : Chapter 23

I wonder if you slept well last night.

Those two old folks were flustered and couldn’t even ease your uncomfortable heart, just sending you up.

‘Alright, the two of you stay together and care for one another,’ they probably came all this way to hear those words.

I am so worried about having sent you off like that…

Hyunsoo was a child who couldn’t be cared for like others and grew up on his own, rolling here and there.

Even so, he never once complained in front of us.

He was a child who always boasted he would make a lot of money and let us live in luxury, and he always told us not to worry about anything because he could solve any problem on his own.

Since he grew up on his own like that, with what face could we oppose someone he says he likes?

You probably don’t know how grand a person like a Prince looks to an old Countryside Village person like me.

He is scary and frightening, like a person who could either save or kill our Hyunsoo.

However, while tossing and turning all night, the face of the Prince who said he would protect Hyunsoo kept lingering before my eyes.

How could that gaze be a lie?

If the two of you care for each other that firmly, what can we say?

The two of you are young and have a lot of work to do, so don’t worry about us.

But come down together whenever you feel like it.

Come and eat some ribs or noodles and then go.

I also packed a little bit of the seasoning I made.

It’s delicious if you put in a few Mandu, add the seasoning, and boil a stew.

There’s no need to add any other salt; just put that in.

Hyunsoo was so persistent about not packing much that I only put in a little.

Eat well, sleep well, and don’t ruin your health.

Yoon Jooho stood in that spot for a while with the letter in his Hand.

He was quietly feeling a strange emotion that enveloped and swallowed him.

It could even be called savoring it.

Within a harmony he had never belonged to, he felt a sense of Déjà vu as if he had returned to a nostalgic moment of the past.

And now, a nostalgia for an affection he had never received arose.

Like a returned prodigal son who, after long wandering, dragged a battered body and soul and stood before a warm Living Room.

He read the letter again, word by word.

Twice, three times, four times…

Phew.

He exhaled a long breath, folded the letter nicely and put it in the envelope, then organized the airtight containers in the cooler bag into the Refrigerator.

Heading to the Bedroom, he took a Book out of the nightstand drawer next to the Bed.

It was a kind of collection of quotes by the philosopher Niche that Song Hyunsoo had given as a Gift, telling him to try transcribing them.

“……”

However, the page Yoon Jooho opened the most was probably the first page.

Song Hyunsoo’s letter.

Whenever he saw this writing, Yoon Jooho was raised up anew and fell in love anew.

It was an emotion that would never weather away.

Song Hyunsoo’s letter-writing skills seemed to have been inherited from his Grandmother.

He carefully tucked the envelope between the pages of the Book.

“Monroe became such a crybaby in just one day?”

Hearing a voice from the direction of the door, he closed the Book and looked back.

Song Hyunsoo, with a towel on his head and a Beer in his Hand, was entering the Bedroom wearing a gown.

Monroe followed closely by his side.

“He’s following me everywhere. He isn’t normally like this.”

“I told you. Monroe missed you.”

“So you’re saying it wasn’t you until the very end, Sunbae?”

“Well.”

He won’t even say he missed me.

Song Hyunsoo pouted his lips.

It was funny how he grumbled over nothing, even though he had carved his name into his own lips and held his heart in his own Hand.

Song Hyunsoo, who flopped down onto the Sofa in front of the TV, opened the Beer can and took a refreshing sip.

“Ah… House really is the best.”

Then he stroked the Cat that hopped up onto his lap.

“It was like that when I lived in the Ok-tapbang, too.

I’d go to Grandmother’s House and eat delicious food to my heart’s content, sleep to my heart’s content, and play around, but as soon as I entered that shabby Ok-tapbang, it was so comfortable.

Isn’t it really strange?

Right, Monroe?

You think it’s strange too, don’t you?

Huh?

Yun Marilyn Monroe.”

Chatter, chatter.

This House, which had felt so desolate last night, was now full of life.

Tapping, a rhythm was being created.

This must be the feeling people often refer to as ‘it feels like a house where people live.’

Yoon Jooho approached the Sofa and sat by his side, then held out a B4-sized envelope.

“What is this?”

“You don’t even recognize it, even though you threatened me to hand it over immediately?”

With a dazed face, Song Hyunsoo blinked slowly as he took it.

What came out of the envelope was a drama Script about five episodes long.

Yoon Jooho, who snatched Song Hyunsoo’s Beer and took a sip, spoke calmly.

“Birthday Gift.”

“…Will you be okay?”

“With what.”

“If I read it and like it, I’m really going to do it.”

“I know.”

“And I’ll probably like it one hundred percent, whether I read it or not.”

Fiddling with the can, Yoon Jooho looked at Song Hyunsoo in the seat next to him.

“I know.

That’s why I said it was a Birthday Gift.”

“……”

Song Hyunsoo’s gaze turned toward the cover of the Script in his Hand.

Executive Producer Choi Kang-young

Written by Yang Ha-jeong

<Deja Vu>

After staying still for a moment, he suddenly lunged forward and threw his arms around Yoon Jooho’s neck.

Startled by the sudden movement, the Cat jumped down from the Sofa and fled to its cushion.

“The Beer will spill, you punk.”

“Thank you, Sunbae.

I’ll really work hard.

I’ll work hard, and I’ll definitely do well!

Yoon Jooho is the best!

Universe’s Greatest Star.

Best Boyfriend.

I love you, Hyung.”

“You only love me at times like this, don’t you?”

Despite saying that, Yoon Jooho’s gaze was warm.

Both cheeks, various spots on the lips, the bridge of the nose, between the eyebrows, the forehead…

a shower of kisses was poured all over Yoon Jooho’s face.

Yoon Jooho’s lips twitched as he tried to hold back a laugh.

Why couldn’t he be like this when he gave him other Gifts?

Fiddling with Song Hyunsoo’s wet hair, he asked.

“Is it that good?”

“Of course it’s good!

I have to tell Hongseo about this too.

A drama by Writer Yang Hajeong…

that guy will probably faint once he finds out!”

He was cute for not being able to connect it to a sexual meaning even while showering his Lover with kisses.

Thinking that the younger one was the younger one, whether it was a five-year difference or a four-year difference, Yoon Jooho smiled slightly and pressed his lips deep into the nape of his neck.

The scent of the same cleanser as his own wafted out.

No matter how freely or how far Song Hyunsoo flew into the outside world, it would be fine as long as he returned to his side and shared the same fragrance.

Wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him close, he rubbed his nose against the soft, cool earlobe.

“Send Monroe out.”

“…Now?”

“I don’t mind doing it even if he is watching.”

As if he would embrace Song Hyunsoo and roll around on the Sofa right this moment, Yoon Jooho pushed against his body.

Song Hyunsoo, who grabbed Yoon Jooho’s wrist as he tried to pull the gown string, cried out urgently.

“A-Alright!

I’ll send him out.

So… wait.”

Flushed cheeks and eyes that quickly became moist.

Yoon Jooho loved this moment when the mischievous younger one became conscious of him as a man and underwent a sudden change.