JD 11

After finishing his shopping spree, Hakyung burst into song again.

“Shirts one, two, three—shirts four, five, six—closet’s too small, what to do, mm-mm-mm! My closet’s full, chubby-chub!”

What in the world am I listening to right now…

There was no beginning or end to the lyrics. And yet, somehow, it wasn’t completely nonsensical either. Muheon frowned slightly, not letting Hakyung see. It felt like he was involuntarily making excuses for the kid—that his singing wasn’t that bad—and that made him feel a bit disgusted with himself.

Maybe the whole “singing all the time” thing wasn’t a joke after all. Muheon let out a dry laugh and followed behind, making sure to stay a step back.

They had passed a few more shops when Muheon spotted a familiar silhouette. Without warning, he grabbed the back of Hakyung’s collar.

“Wah!”

Yanked backward, Hakyung’s eyes went wide as he spun around. The look of protest in his gaze was met with a half-hearted wave from Muheon that vaguely conveyed an apology. It couldn’t have been more insincere.

Not particularly concerned about whether Hakyung accepted the apology or not, Muheon simply pointed off to the side.

Hakyung, begrudgingly forgiving him, followed the gesture—and when he saw the poster, his mouth dropped open.

“Uh…?”

“What do you think?”

“Wait—can I go in and take a closer look?”

“Go ahead.”

The moment Muheon gave the okay, Hakyung shot off toward the event corner like a bullet. Muheon followed at a casual pace, trailing behind the excited river dolphin.

“Welcome!”

“Hi, um… is this event still going on?”

“Yes, it’s on through today!”

As the staff explained, the corners of Hakyung’s mouth twitched. He wanted to take part, but having just bought a bunch of clothes, he felt too awkward to say he wanted to buy more.

This was clearly an event made for him, yet he couldn’t bring himself to declare boldly that he wanted in. It was frustrating.

Noticing his hesitation, the staff member gently prompted again.

“A portion of the proceeds also go toward protecting endangered animals in the Amazon. If you buy one of the items on display here, three percent goes to the Wildlife Conservation Society.”

“All the animals shown here?”

“Yes, absolutely! Jaguars, sloths, and the Amazon river dolphins, all included.”

At the mention of the dolphin, Hakyung’s toes wiggled unconsciously. Maybe it was because she was a direct seller, but she knew about river dolphins’ existence well.

Though he considered himself closer to human now, surely somewhere far back in the past, he carried the blood of those same river dolphins. Every time he heard the word endangered, it tugged at his heart.

He wanted, more than anything, to contribute. Sensing his inner conflict, the staff member held out a hat.

“I think this would look really good on you! It’s spring now, so a pop of color would be great—and look, the logo’s a little dolphin! It’s unique and super popular. This is the last one in stock.”

The hat was one he’d already fallen for at first sight. A washed-out lemon yellow, embroidered with a pink dolphin logo—there was no way it wouldn’t catch the eye.

Hakyung glanced back and forth between the hat and his shopping bags, lost in thought. If he returned just a few things from the other store, he could probably afford the hat.

He did love the clothes enough to sing about them, but none had stolen his heart like this. With a firm nod to himself, he turned around—

“Where are you going?”

He had momentarily forgotten Muheon even existed. Startled by the man’s sudden appearance blocking his path, Hakyung stumbled back a step.

“I said, where are you going?”

“I, uh… I’m going to return some things.”

“Return them? Why the sudden change of heart?”

“I want that hat.”

Hakyung stared longingly at the yellow hat and gulped. He was starting to panic, worried someone else might grab it while he was gone. There was no time to explain.

He stepped right to go around Muheon, but Muheon stepped right, too. Then left, and again, Muheon mirrored him.

Déjà vu from the day they met hit him square in the chest. Hakyung looked up at him with the most rebellious scowl he could muster.

“Move! I need to return the clothes now so I can buy the hat!”

“Why bother with a return? Just buy the hat.”

“But… my paycheck…”

True to his instincts and Excel proficiency, Hakyung had carefully calculated everything to match exactly one week’s wages. Even though the man hadn’t let him near the register, he knew exactly how much he’d spent.

If he bought the hat on top of it all, the whole week—temporary job or not—would go down the drain.

“Don’t worry. Just buy it.”

“Really? I can really buy it…?”

“Would you prefer to not buy it?”

Ignoring the doubt radiating from Hakyung’s eyes, Muheon gave him a light push on the back with one finger. It was honestly just a tap—but Hakyung stumbled forward like he’d been shoved by a bulldozer, flailing with a panicked “Ahh!”

What use is he if he’s this weak… Muheon clicked his tongue, thinking once again what he’d already thought before.

The scene between the two, who didn’t exactly exude “friendly energy,” made even the staff’s smile fade away. But Hakyung, who had now survived several of Muheon’s surprise moves, kept his expression cool as he addressed the staff.

“Um, I’d like to buy this one…”

“Yes! Just a moment, I’ll go grab the stock!”

The staff’s faded smile returned immediately as she turned to head for the back room.

While Hakyung waited, giddy with anticipation for his new hat—

“Gotta try it on, make sure it looks good,” Muheon murmured, having snuck up behind him.

Hakyung snorted.

It felt a little embarrassing to say this in front of the staff, but Muheon probably didn’t know, so Hakyung figured it counted as just sharing information.

“I don’t think you realize, but I’ve been wearing hats for over twenty years now.”

“Hm?”

Muheon tilted his head, as if to say So what? Unbothered, Hakyung lifted his chin.

“I can tell just by looking at a hat whether it’s perfect for me or a total miss. Instant read. And honestly, most hats look great on me anyway.”

He gave a proud little shoulder roll like he’d just said something seriously impressive. To Muheon, it all sounded pretty trivial, even childish—but Hakyung clearly had a lot of pride in his ability to rock any hat.

Not wanting to trample the little guy’s pride, Muheon held a hand over his twitching mouth and nodded solemnly.

“Good for you.”

And even added a little agreement for good measure.

He’d scored the perfect hat. After that whirlwind of shopping, it was only when he checked his phone that Hakyung realized it was already past 4 p.m. That’s when it hit him—he’d been in the mall way longer than expected.

And just then—

Grrrrrrgle. His poor, shrunken stomach—deprived of a proper meal for days—let out an angry roar, demanding to be fed now, before it was too late. Come to think of it, all he’d had since breakfast was a few snacks.

The sound was loud enough to cut through the store’s background music. Muheon couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. Hakyung clutched his belly, face burning red.

Muheon stared at him for a long moment, clearly amused by his embarrassment. Hakyung finally snapped, “Can you not stare at me like you’re trying to drill holes in my face?”

“What do you want to eat?”

“I-it’s fine. Really. We should just head ba—”

“Fine? Your stomach’s literally protesting after I made you work all day.”

Muheon’s eyes, laced with that strange intensity unique to him, drifted down to Hakyung’s stomach. His gaze was nothing like how he’d looked at Hakyung’s face a moment ago—and no matter how many times he saw it, it made Hakyung’s knees feel weak.

He was tempted to say again that he was fine, but was suddenly struck by the fear that he’d get smacked with a palm the size of a manhole cover if he kept pushing. Instead—

“Then… pizza.”

“Pizza?”

“Yeah. Hot chicken pizza. With cheese crust.”

Muheon nodded. Oddly detailed for someone who’d looked terrified a second ago. But the blunt honesty was so typical of kids these days—a little cheeky, kind of cute. Without saying anything, Muheon turned to walk.

Was there a pizza place nearby…? He naturally reached out to Gi Sang-oh. The clothing store might’ve flopped, but when it came to finding reliable places, Gi Sang-oh was still the go-to.

Where Hakyung lived, it took over 20 minutes by car just to get into town. So while he got plenty of home-cooked meals, things like pizza, jajangmyeon, and fried chicken—staples of delivery cuisine—were rare luxuries. Delivery fees were so high out there that he barely got to eat them once every few months.

Because of that, whenever someone asked him what he wanted to eat, it was always one of those three, rotated based on mood.

Today, he’d felt like something spicy, so pizza it was.

Except… the place Muheon brought him to didn’t have hot chicken or cheese crust. What landed on their table instead was a wood-fired pizza, topped with a mountain of spinach.