Side Story 5. A Midsummer Night's Letter (1) Prologue: A Lover's Story (1)

First, Jin Soram's story.

<Jin Soram does not regret.>

This proposition was also the life motto of his new life. To avoid moments of regret, he does not hold back in any moment.

However, even he, who had been running full speed without brakes, couldn't help but pause with an "Oh?" when he unexpectedly bumped into something wrong. Despite trying to act brazen, his eyeballs rolled around and cold sweat trickled down his back.

'Was that too much?'

No, but this, if you think about it, it's not like I did anything wrong...

"Hey, Han Tae-un..."

"..."

Looking at the large figure with slumped shoulders turned away from him, Soram didn't quite regret, but he did reflect on the past in his own way.

It had started about a month ago.

After work, the two were sitting side by side on the living room floor, leaning their backs against the sofa. Right in front of them, Tae-un's laptop was open.

With one arm around Soram's waist, Tae-un showed him photos of three detached houses in the outskirts of Seoul. These were places he had researched and selected whenever he had time.

All of them had spacious yards, high walls for security, and were in good locations for commuting to headquarters. The differences were that one had an extra courtyard, another had a good mountain view, and another had a particularly large kitchen.

Soram focused more on the thick fingertips pointing at the screen than on the photos displayed on the laptop. Explanations about each house flowed softly from lips close enough to feel the breath. His languid post-work body leaned more and more against him. In this atmosphere, he felt like he could buy a hundred sheets even if Tae-un was selling fake jade flooring.

"Which one do you like best?"

"I like all three!"

"That's why I came to discuss it, but if you answer like that too, what should I do."

But all three were flawless enough for the meticulous Han Tae-un to have shortlisted them. Above all, Soram was happy with anything just for the fact that he could live alone with Tae-un in a detached house.

Even though they were already living together in all but name, the prospect of officially living in the same house was exciting in a new way. Every place would become a shared space with traces of both of them, they could call each other from anywhere, and sometimes they could lock the door of their private place and touch each other freely. Without any restraint.

The last thought came as he turned his head slightly and saw Tae-un's well-shaped lips moving. As Soram's Adam's apple moved while staring obviously, Tae-un tightened his fingers around his waist.

"Why did your thoughts suddenly wander? You weren't focusing on my house explanation."

"They didn't wander."

"I think they did."

"Isn't this the main purpose of moving?"

Tae-un tilted his head and answered, "Is that so." Soram brought his head closer to him.

"Think about why we first talked about moving out of the dormitory."

Tae-un's narrowed eyes soon closed gently. The hand that had been tapping the laptop cradled the back of Soram's head. Changing position, Tae-un, now on his knees, trapped Soram between the sofa and his body.

Soram welcomed the hot invader that entered his mouth. Following his panting breath, saliva he couldn't swallow trickled down his chin. Tae-un's knee dug between his legs, pressing firmly against his center that was starting to get excited.

"Ho!"

What followed was about three hours of naughty and pleasant time.

The neglected laptop was opened again on their laps when they lay in bed with fresh bodies after showering. Soram, his energy thoroughly drained, leaned against Tae-un's chest and flipped through the photos before finally deciding on the place with the largest garden. He imagined a future where they would grow lettuce and cherry tomatoes in that garden (Tae-un would do it), set up a grill to cook pork belly and clams (Tae-un would do it), and occasionally light a bonfire (Tae-un would do it) to sit blankly by (Soram would do it).

Since it seemed to be a satisfactory conclusion for Tae-un as well, Soram sent a proxy to buy the house the very next day. And at dinner time, he gently presented the contract tied with a ribbon.

Tae-un was dumbfounded that the house price had already been paid in full, then put his hand to his forehead and sighed.

"Why? I even took care of the taxes cleanly. Don't worry."

"...That's not it."

"If we go and don't like it, we can just buy another house."

"You, what money... ...Never mind."

Well, you know this much doesn't even scratch my assets.

Two weeks later, on a Friday, when the house documents that had gone into the drawer had slightly faded in Tae-un's mind.

In Team 7's office, taking advantage of Ayoung's absence at school, some small skinship secretly occurred. Soram, who had suddenly covered Tae-un's back, played with his hands until their hands overlapped, and the rings on their left ring fingers also lined up.

When seen separately, it wasn't obvious, but when seen together like this, it was revealed that they were a matching pair of the same design.

"...When should we have our wedding?"

Tae-un broached the subject, spreading his fingers to trap Soram's between them. Even Soram, for this moment, answered with slightly flushed cheeks.

"As soon as possible."

"You're consistent."

"Of course. I'm ready whenever you are."

The topic of the haphazardly started conversation fixed on marriage. Although it would be difficult to have a public wedding ceremony in Korea where same-sex marriage was not legalized, to call that much of a trial was nothing compared to the much more arduous process they had walked together.

"Still, I have to go around loudly announcing that I've become a married man."

"You too."

The two set their goal to practice their romantic ideals of marriage as much as possible.

One of these was the wedding suit. While discussing what would suit each other, Ayoung arrived at work. Ayoung happily joined in on the topic the two were discussing.

"Look at this. Not all brown hair is warm-toned. Hot pink suits Soram oppa better than orange, right?"

"Th-this, do Han Tae-un too, Han Tae-un too!"

Then they spent a boisterous time until the end of work, downloading what Ayoung called a personal color app or something. When Tae-un fled in horror from the tint Ayoung tried to apply, Soram captured Tae-un's rare expression on camera. Finally, they put their heads together and looked at wedding suit designs.

Because that time was so enjoyable, Soram ordered all the suits in colors and designs that had suited Tae-un well that day. He happily paid the additional fee for tailoring to Tae-un's large size.

Tae-un was completely unaware of this too. This was because Soram had taken and passed on the measurements that headquarters had meticulously recorded for making combat uniforms.

Thus, the leaked body measurements and Soram's capital combined to create over a dozen wedding suits not long after.

In front of the mountain of clothes, Tae-un's expression became one of having been duped again. But Soram, still unable to read the atmosphere, was excitedly laughing. When actually tried on, some suits were just okay, but some fit amazingly well. He kicked aside the ones he didn't like, saying they could just throw those away.

"Let's return them. It's too much."

"These are all custom-made, so they can't be returned."

"...Really, stop ordering now. From now on, I'll,"

"Mmm. Actually, I've also placed an order for rings. Our current couple rings are nice, but I wanted to have completely identical rings too."

"..."

"The order's already been placed, so just until that?"

Whether Tae-un made a serious expression or not, Soram was just proud that Tae-un looked just like a model with the wedding suit jacket over his T-shirt.

"Jin Soram, you really..."

Since Tae-un would always sigh deeply whenever Soram caused trouble but then let it go, Soram thought it would be the same this time too.

But, it seemed this time was different.

After the wedding suit incident, Tae-un shut himself in his study when it wasn't work hours. He was doing something very seriously with his laptop open, but his large back blocked the monitor so Soram couldn't spy on what he was doing. When he tried to get close, Tae-un would light up his eyes and prevent him from seeing the content.

'Is he sulking?'

However, since he wasn't skipping meals or letting Soram sleep alone, Soram just left him be for a few days, and as expected, about five days later, he came out of his den and returned to his usual self. Just as Soram was carefully observing and wondering what else he could buy next, a strange alarm came.

"Han Tae-un, you took two days off next week, Monday and Tuesday. Are you studying for an exam?"

"No. Overseas trip."

"Huh?"

"I'm going on an overseas trip including the weekend."

"Uh...?"

"I'll prepare side dishes before I go, so eat well."

"...? Really?"

"Yes."

Tae-un boldly took out the battered carrier he had used when moving from Guncheon to headquarters three years ago.