Chapter 4 Part 3

Although they lived underground, the air conditioning system was working perfectly and the interior lighting was designed to be indistinguishable from natural light, so they could live without any discomfort from being underground. However, even so, the occasional sunlight, sky, and wind they encountered like this definitely offered comfort to their minds.

Jeong Tae-ui also often came out for a walk during his free time. Perhaps it was the same for other colleagues, as he would invariably run into one or two people when strolling outside.

The dense forest path took on a dangerous atmosphere as evening approached, so he rarely went out, but during the day, it was still passable. And if one followed the small, solitary path behind the building—though it was quite a distance—they could reach the beach. It was far from a dazzling sandy beach, with house-sized rocks piled up, but the color of the sea was absolutely magnificent.

Jeong Tae-ui forcibly extracted two more cigarettes from Tou, who found it troublesome to go far, and walked that solitary path alone. As he pushed through the knee-high grass, his calves were entirely bitten by insects and cut by blades of grass.

I shouldn’t have worn shorts, he thought, wondering if he should go back and change now, but as he continued to walk, the smell of the sea began to drift over.

Tsk, I should have come here for a walk with Shinru in the first place. Yes, then everything might have gone smoothly. There wouldn’t have been any reason to get needlessly excited and blush… …No, that’s not something one can know for sure, though.

Jeong Tae-ui grumbled and put a cigarette in his mouth. Claiming he’d just borrow it for a moment, he lit it with the lighter he’d “extracted” along with the cigarettes, and inhaled the smoke deep into his lungs.

“Sorry, trees. Please bear with the smoke.”

As Jeong Tae-ui mumbled to himself, feeling a bit sorry for exhaling cigarette smoke at the trees while walking through the natural forest, the forest eventually ended, and the sea appeared before him.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the sea that appeared.

As if he had fully enjoyed the smell of the sea and the sea breeze, there was someone returning this way. It was someone he absolutely did not want to run into right now. That person approaching alone was Shinru.

Startled, as soon as he saw Shinru, Jeong Tae-ui instinctively looked around for a place to hide, but before he could find a suitable spot, Shinru saw him.

Seeing Jeong Tae-ui, who couldn’t hide and stood awkwardly after their eyes met, Shinru seemed surprised and paused his steps for a moment, but soon slowly approached. There was, after all, only this one path to take.

“… …Are you coming back from a walk?” Jeong Tae-ui mumbled awkwardly from a distance of ten-odd steps, where it would have been stranger not to offer even a brief greeting. Gazing at Jeong Tae-ui, Shinru nodded, not showing any particular reluctance.

“Yes. You too, Tae-ui hyung?”

“Yeah, just for a bit. …, it’s been a while.”

Jeong Tae-ui spoke in short, clipped sentences, pretending to be unconcerned. But it was a blunder. His face was slowly heating up again. He should have just claimed it was erythrophobia.

When he came within three or four steps, Shinru stopped. A slight hesitation was visible.

Jeong Tae-ui pondered, his face appearing calm with the cigarette still in his mouth. Should I apologize? Yes, I should. But the words wouldn’t come out.

“Now that I think about it, hyung, you moved rooms, didn’t you? Which room did you move to?” Shinru brought up the topic as if he had finally found something to say. Jeong Tae-ui also opened his mouth with an “Uh, yeah.”

“I moved to Tou’s room. Right, I was supposed to go tell you. I completely forgot. Tou, he’s on the same team, and I ended up staying in his room.”

“Ah, Tou hyung’s room. Yes.” Shinru nodded. Then, an awkward silence returned.

At least it saved him the trouble of having to go find him later to tell him; that was the only fortunate thing. Fortunate as it was, this situation, like sitting on a bed of thorns, was incredibly difficult to bear.

Jeong Tae-ui quietly looked down at Shinru, who was bowing his head a few steps ahead. His long eyelashes blinked a few times. He could see a cowlick just below the crown of his small head.

He was a lovely young man. Beside him, a cute girl, small like a doll and smiling as sweetly as cotton candy, would undoubtedly suit him best. The person he dreamed of was certainly such a girl.

But suddenly, how surprised he must have been when a man, with whom he’d been on good terms and called ‘hyung’, got an erection in front of him. It might have gone beyond surprise, to discomfort, or even betrayal.

‘So you’ve been looking at me like that all along, hyung?’ If he said that, should I lie and say, ‘No, I just lost my mind for a moment then’? Or would it be better to just honestly affirm, ‘Yes’? Either way, it would be awkward.

“Oh, come to think of it, hyung, you sometimes go to Chief Instructor Jeong’s room, don’t you? You shouldn’t go for a while. There’s a rule that members and instructors shouldn’t have unnecessary contact during the joint training period.”

“Ah… yeah, thanks.” Jeong Tae-ui already knew, having been told by his uncle not to come for a while, but he trailed off for a moment and then just said thank you. He was actually grateful. It meant Shinru was trying to look out for him in his own way.

Yes, Shinru was still trying his best to treat Jeong Tae-ui well. Whatever discomfort or embarrassment he had felt then, he wasn’t showing an angry face.

Each time a brief conversation exchanged, several times its length in silence returned.

As he hesitated again, having nothing to say, Jeong Tae-ui realized Shinru’s troubled glance at him, sighed, and stepped aside a little. He now saw that he had been blocking his path.

“Well then, I’ll go on ahead.” Shinru bowed his head and quickly walked past him. Jeong Tae-ui, watching his retreating back with a bitter expression, mumbled, “Sorry.” Although he had spoken aloud, his voice was so small that he didn’t know if Shinru had heard him.

“Hmph,” Jeong Tae-ui sighed, exhaling cigarette smoke as he slowly started walking, when he suddenly felt as if the footsteps fading behind him had paused for a moment.

“Um… Tae-ui hyung.”

End of chapterAlthough they lived underground, the air conditioning system was working perfectly and the interior lighting was designed to be indistinguishable from natural light, so they could live without any discomfort from being underground. However, even so, the occasional sunlight, sky, and wind they encountered like this definitely offered comfort to their minds.

Jeong Tae-ui also often came out for a walk during his free time. Perhaps it was the same for other colleagues, as he would invariably run into one or two people when strolling outside.

The dense forest path took on a dangerous atmosphere as evening approached, so he rarely went out, but during the day, it was still passable. And if one followed the small, solitary path behind the building—though it was quite a distance—they could reach the beach. It was far from a dazzling sandy beach, with house-sized rocks piled up, but the color of the sea was absolutely magnificent.

Jeong Tae-ui forcibly extracted two more cigarettes from Tou, who found it troublesome to go far, and walked that solitary path alone. As he pushed through the knee-high grass, his calves were entirely bitten by insects and cut by blades of grass.

I shouldn’t have worn shorts, he thought, wondering if he should go back and change now, but as he continued to walk, the smell of the sea began to drift over.

Tsk, I should have come here for a walk with Shinru in the first place. Yes, then everything might have gone smoothly. There wouldn’t have been any reason to get needlessly excited and blush… …No, that’s not something one can know for sure, though.

Jeong Tae-ui grumbled and put a cigarette in his mouth. Claiming he’d just borrow it for a moment, he lit it with the lighter he’d “extracted” along with the cigarettes, and inhaled the smoke deep into his lungs.

“Sorry, trees. Please bear with the smoke.” As Jeong Tae-ui mumbled to himself, feeling a bit sorry for exhaling cigarette smoke at the trees while walking through the natural forest, the forest eventually ended, and the sea appeared before him.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the sea that appeared.

As if he had fully enjoyed the smell of the sea and the sea breeze, there was someone returning this way. It was someone he absolutely did not want to run into right now. That person approaching alone was Shinru.

Startled, as soon as he saw Shinru, Jeong Tae-ui instinctively looked around for a place to hide, but before he could find a suitable spot, Shinru saw him.

Seeing Jeong Tae-ui, who couldn’t hide and stood awkwardly after their eyes met, Shinru seemed surprised and paused his steps for a moment, but soon slowly approached. There was, after all, only this one path to take.

“… …Are you coming back from a walk?” Jeong Tae-ui mumbled awkwardly from a distance of ten-odd steps, where it would have been stranger not to offer even a brief greeting. Gazing at Jeong Tae-ui, Shinru nodded, not showing any particular reluctance.

“Yes. You too, Tae-ui hyung?”

“Yeah, just for a bit. …, it’s been a while.”

Jeong Tae-ui spoke in short, clipped sentences, pretending to be unconcerned. But it was a blunder. His face was slowly heating up again. He should have just claimed it was erythrophobia.

When he came within three or four steps, Shinru stopped. A slight hesitation was visible.

Jeong Tae-ui pondered, his face appearing calm with the cigarette still in his mouth. Should I apologize? Yes, I should. But the words wouldn’t come out.

“Now that I think about it, hyung, you moved rooms, didn’t you? Which room did you move to?” Shinru brought up the topic as if he had finally found something to say. Jeong Tae-ui also opened his mouth with an “Uh, yeah.”

“I moved to Tou’s room. Right, I was supposed to go tell you. I completely forgot. Tou, he’s on the same team, and I ended up staying in his room.”

“Ah, Tou hyung’s room. Yes.” Shinru nodded. Then, an awkward silence returned.

At least it saved him the trouble of having to go find him later to tell him; that was the only fortunate thing. Fortunate as it was, this situation, like sitting on a bed of thorns, was incredibly difficult to bear.

Jeong Tae-ui quietly looked down at Shinru, who was bowing his head a few steps ahead. His long eyelashes blinked a few times. He could see a cowlick just below the crown of his small head.

He was a lovely young man. Beside him, a cute girl, small like a doll and smiling as sweetly as cotton candy, would undoubtedly suit him best. The person he dreamed of was certainly such a girl.

But suddenly, how surprised he must have been when a man, with whom he’d been on good terms and called ‘hyung’, got an erection in front of him. It might have gone beyond surprise, to discomfort, or even betrayal.

‘So you’ve been looking at me like that all along, hyung?’ If he said that, should I lie and say, ‘No, I just lost my mind for a moment then’? Or would it be better to just honestly affirm, ‘Yes’? Either way, it would be awkward.

“Oh, come to think of it, hyung, you sometimes go to Chief Instructor Jeong’s room, don’t you? You shouldn’t go for a while. There’s a rule that members and instructors shouldn’t have unnecessary contact during the joint training period.”

“Ah… yeah, thanks.” Jeong Tae-ui already knew, having been told by his uncle not to come for a while, but he trailed off for a moment and then just said thank you. He was actually grateful. It meant Shinru was trying to look out for him in his own way.

Yes, Shinru was still trying his best to treat Jeong Tae-ui well. Whatever discomfort or embarrassment he had felt then, he wasn’t showing an angry face.

Each time a brief conversation exchanged, several times its length in silence returned.

As he hesitated again, having nothing to say, Jeong Tae-ui realized Shinru’s troubled glance at him, sighed, and stepped aside a little. He now saw that he had been blocking his path.

“Well then, I’ll go on ahead.” Shinru bowed his head and quickly walked past him. Jeong Tae-ui, watching his retreating back with a bitter expression, mumbled, “Sorry.” Although he had spoken aloud, his voice was so small that he didn’t know if Shinru had heard him.

“Hmph,” Jeong Tae-ui sighed, exhaling cigarette smoke as he slowly started walking, when he suddenly felt as if the footsteps fading behind him had paused for a moment.

“Um… Tae-ui hyung.”