JD 14

As the long fingers tilted his chin upward, his parted lips closed shut. Click—the sound of teeth snapping together brought Hakyung’s runaway consciousness back. His wide eyes rolled to glance at Muheon’s arm, wanting to confirm once more whether the pitch-black skin he’d seen was real.

Though he still had the blowhole on his crown—a trait of the dolphin people—even into adulthood, his skin had never transformed like that. So then, why had the president’s skin changed?

But Muheon’s arm was now completely hidden by his sleeve, showing no sign of the skin beneath. Hakyung swallowed dryly, disappointed.

“Kang Hakyung.”

“…Yes?”

“I asked why you were just standing there like that.”

Muheon repeated his question, his voice now slightly lower. That finally brought Hakyung back to his senses, and he quickly raised a hand to cover the top of his head. But his hat was already soaked through. If it had gotten any wetter, he might’ve had trouble breathing. He frowned.

“Ah…! It’s soaked!”

“That’s what happens when you stand out here without an umbrella. Come inside first.”

The already small guy looked even more pitiful, standing there drenched. Muheon clicked his tongue inwardly and pulled Hakyung close by the shoulders. Caught off guard, Hakyung’s small frame was swept right into the man’s arms, and before he knew it, they were back inside the dorm.

“Hold on, I’ll get a towel.”

Muheon brought a towel from the bathroom and started drying Hakyung’s wet hat and shoulders. His large hands brushed lightly over various parts of Hakyung’s body.

Muheon had now fully grasped the “handle with care” instructions for dealing with Kang Hakyung—as if handling cotton candy. Thanks to that, Hakyung didn’t end up swaying or stumbling from the man’s touch this time.

After drying most of the moisture with his gentle touch, Muheon reached for Hakyung’s hat.

“Take it off. If your hair’s wet too, we need to dry that.”

“My hat—my hat’s a no! You can’t see the top of my head!”

Just as he’d been absentmindedly giving himself over to the man’s care, Hakyung crossed his arms into an X to block his face. He trembled like a startled pigeon, and Muheon raised an eyebrow.

“You can’t?”

“Yes, yes! Just give me the towel and I’ll do it…!”

“Nope… What, is there some big secret on your crown? Don’t tell me… bald spot?”

Muheon narrowed his eyes, staring hard at Hakyung’s crown. It was an intense, probing gaze, as if he could see right through it.

Hakyung stamped his foot in frustration at the blatant suspicion. That soft blowhole on his crown was just a vulnerable spot typical of the gang dolphin clan—he kept it hidden and didn’t show others easily. It definitely wasn’t because of hair loss!

“I have a lot of hair! My grandpa and dad never went bald! And you saw it the other day too—when I switched hats!”

“It was so quick, I didn’t get a good look. Anyway, maybe it’s not genetic—could be stress-related.”

“What?!”

Fuming now, Hakyung yanked off his hat in protest to prove his point. His damp pink hair, still full and wavy, was thick enough that you’d never guess it was wet.

He proudly bent his head toward Muheon, practically daring him to find a bald spot. Honestly, his crown was probably so dense you couldn’t even tell where the hair whorls were!

Muheon’s eyes widened at the sudden headbutt-like motion, then let out a short laugh. The fluffy pink hair still looked cute, even now.

This is ridiculous, he muttered to himself, then gently patted Hakyung’s pink hair. Droplets clinging to the ends scattered with each tap.

“Lucky you, Kang Hakyung. So much hair.”

The empty-sounding praise finally snapped Hakyung out of his haze, and he quickly stepped back. Come to think of it, wasn’t the reason he got soaked in the first place because he froze in fear at the sight of Muheon’s blackened skin?

And now he was just… bragging about his thick hair to that same man? Get a grip, seriously. If Grandma found out about this, she’d probably slap his back so hard it’d catch fire.

“A-Anyway, I’m not wearing this hat because I’m losing hair! I’ll get back to work now!”

He blurted it out all at once, snatched his hat off the floor, and beat a hasty retreat. He ran so fast, it was like he had an invisible tail tucked between his legs—just in case the boss called him back.

Before he knew it, the raindrops that had been falling from the sky had silently come to a stop.

***

The entire afternoon was a blur, spent helping Bu Geunrim. Maybe because of that—or thanks to that—Hakyung had completely forgotten about the president’s strange identity. But now, sitting alone in the quiet dorm, that image of pitch-black skin from earlier kept coming back to him.

“What in the world was that…?”

Smooth, black skin. Among sea-dwelling species, who had traits like that? It didn’t seem to be one of the more flamboyant types like Bu Geunrim, a red grouper species, or Do mihyun, from the striped beakfish clan.

Maybe a whale? No, definitely not. Even though Kang Hakyung himself was a dolphin, a whale was a whale. And his dolphin intuition told him loud and clear—there was absolutely no familial connection between the president and himself. Even an orca, who might seem completely unrelated, could recognize another whale. And Muheon wasn’t one of them.

“No way it’s a whale. Rejected.”

Hakyung shook his head firmly. Nor was he a shark, which might have been a guess based on Muheon’s intimidating face at first glance. But after seeing Gi Sang-oh, who was an actual shark, it was clear the two gave off totally different vibes.

Gi Sang-oh looked like a literal stone—cold and unyielding, like he wouldn’t bleed even if you stabbed him. Muheon, on the other hand, was nothing like that. A little intimidating, maybe, but among all the people Hakyung had ever seen, he was the most sculpted, the most chiseled.

And that included celebrities and famous YouTubers. His looks were so striking it made Hakyung wonder why a guy like that wasn’t in showbiz but instead living the life of a thug.

Sure, there were times when Muheon stared at him with eyes like a snake’s, but on the whole… Wait a minute—snake? Snake…?!

“Ah?!”

In the midst of his spiraling imagination, a spark suddenly flickered in Hakyung’s brain. He quickly looked up “eel” online. And when a picture popped up—clap!—he smacked his hands together in triumph.

The more he read the description below the image, the louder his claps became. “Scales embedded under the skin make it smooth; darker color the closer it lives to the sea.” It was the perfect explanation, solid evidence to support his theory. He had finally figured out the president’s true identity.

Hakyung leapt to his feet and gave his shoulders a triumphant shake. So that was it—an eel! A sea eel, darker and smoother than a freshwater one! The president’s shiny skin was because he didn’t have many visible scales!

And the reason everyone kept quiet about it must’ve been because, while having a shark species employee sounded cool, saying the president was actually an eel… well, that wasn’t quite as impressive.

It all made so much sense. The president’s strange eyes, the sleek black skin he’d seen that afternoon, his tall and slender build—it was almost a 100% match.

Brimming with pride over his near-detective-level deduction skills, Hakyung rubbed his forehead with his index finger.

“Ugh… no matter how much I try to hide it, this brilliance just shines through.”

He let out a low chuckle and flashed a smug smile at the air. Anyone who saw him would’ve called it full-blown self-obsession—drumming, gongs, and cymbals all played solo.

He was itching to test the waters with Bu Geunrim. All he could think was how badly he wanted tomorrow to come. Yet even in that excitement, it never once occurred to him to confirm anything directly with the president. That would’ve been far too bold.

The next morning, when Muheon came for breakfast, he tilted his head. Unlike the usual vibrant meals, today’s side dishes were all dark and muted in color.

Stir-fried eggplant, stir-fried bulgogi, braised lotus root—those were fine, but even the rice was black rice, and the soup was a chicken broth with black mushrooms.

“Did you not feel like cooking this morning?”

“…Sorry?”

“Is this your way of telling me to eat and get lost?”

“Ah, no! Not at all…!”

Hakyung frantically waved his hands. It really wasn’t on purpose. He’d just had the president on his mind, and before he knew it, every ingredient he reached for was practically monochrome.

It all started last night, after uncovering Muheon’s identity. Since then, the man’s face had been floating in his mind nonstop. Now that he knew Muheon wasn’t just a gang boss but a specific sea creature species, he felt oddly closer to him. It was strange, and even he couldn’t quite explain it himself.

Anyway, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to cook, nor was he trying to drive Muheon away with a depressing menu. This was, in his own way, a tribute meal dedicated Muheon the sea eel.

“Really? Just… the dishes all look so dreary.”

“Dr-dreary?! Just because they’re dark doesn’t mean they’re bad! These ingredients are all super healthy and have a nice sheen—don’t they look pretty?”

Hakyung jumped up, scandalized by the harsh critique. These dishes were modeled after the president! He couldn’t exactly say that out loud, so all he could do was pat his chest in frustrated silence.