JD 37

“Got it, just wait a bit.”

Not sure how he interpreted the poke to his side, Muheon gently patted Hakyung’s head to soothe him.

What the hell is he waiting for? Until everyone else finishes touching his body?

Consumed with possessiveness over his boyfriend, Hakyung stubbornly squeezed his way into the crowd, trying his best to shield Muheon’s large frame. The problem was—no one appreciated the effort.

The staff members were mostly big guys themselves, and even with Hakyung in the way, they could still get their hands on Muheon without a problem.

While Hakyung puffed out his cheeks in frustration and huffed with resentment toward the “competition,” Muheon quietly retrieved a chocolate he’d set aside in advance.

“Here. You like this that much?”

“Huh…?”

Hakyung stared, mouth slightly open, at the chocolate box dangling in front of him in a shopping bag. When did he even have time to grab this while dealing with the staff? Blinking, Hakyung took the bag Muheon offered.

It was heavy, packed with assorted flavors, and for some reason, it made him feel emotionally full too. His puffed cheeks deflated right away. He beamed and hugged the shopping bag tightly to his chest.

“Thank you! Boss, I’ll enjoy this so much, seriously!”

“Yeah.”

“So no stealing any from me, okay?”

He looked ready to lick each piece just to mark his territory. Now that the river dolphin had gotten his fill, he looked about ready to start singing. Muheon naturally wrapped his arm around Hakyung’s shoulders and guided him away.

The staff looked disappointed to see the man go, but Muheon—who felt he’d played along enough—was firm.

The first to follow was the staff member who had greeted them earlier. She handed over a report on daily sales from the register.

“Sales are going way better than expected. We’ve been selling out earlier than planned every day.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, though there’s a limit to how much we can increase stock…”

“That’s fine. Just do what you can.”

Relieved by the boss’s cool attitude, Minhye—who was both the manager of the chocolate event and Minho’s younger sister—smiled brightly.

She was beyond thrilled just that Muheon had come in person. She’d always seen him from afar, so having him right in front of her didn’t feel real.

Thanks to his visit, the morale of every employee shot through the roof. As she stood there basking in the afterglow of Muheon’s presence, she felt a sharp gaze from the side and turned her head.

There stood a small guy with a pouty face, poking Muheon’s side repeatedly with his finger. In his arms, he clutched the chocolate they made.

As she looked at the adorable guy—who seemed clearly sulking—something clicked in Minhye’s mind.

“River dolphin!”

At those words, Hakyung practically jumped. The effect of the chocolate had worn off in under three minutes, and Muheon was once again charming everyone in sight. Just as Hakyung was about to throw a fit, his identity was blown.

That’s when he remembered: they weren’t here for a date, but for work. His face turned scarlet. He’d completely blurred the line between work and personal life.

Watching Hakyung flush bright red, Minhye’s smile deepened.

“My oppa told me all about you. Ah, my oppa is Minho!”

“Y-Yes! Minho-hyung also told me a lot about you. A-And, the chocolate’s really good too.”

Hakyung bowed repeatedly as he thanked her.

“I’m the one who should thank you for saying it’s delicious! According to my oppa, you work hard and you’re reliable—but how are you also this cute and lovable?!”

“Th-Thank you…”

As the barrage of compliments hit him like a bomb, Hakyung’s hips began to wiggle with excitement. He was about to prove again that praise really does make a dolphin dance—

“Kang Hakyung.”

Muheon pulled Hakyung behind his back. It was obvious he was blocking Minhye’s view on purpose.

Oh my god, Mr. Muheon…! Internally, Minhye was screaming. Her oppa’s cryptic comment about Muheon’s love life had turned out to be true. She barely kept a calm expression as she looked at Hakyung and added gently,

“Please take good care of Lord Muheon—I mean, boss—from now on, okay? Don’t go looking anywhere else.”

“Uh… y-yeah. I will.”

His face peeking out from behind Muheon nodded rapidly. Once again, Muheon shifted slightly and completely hid the smaller face.

Seeing Muheon jealous for the first time made Minhye feel strangely embarrassed for some reason.

Having no real use at the chocolate event site, the two quickly wrapped things up and strolled down a nearby alley.

Hakyung had to suppress his urge to grab Muheon’s big hand right then and there—this was still a public space.

Instead, he kept close enough that their skin almost brushed.

“Boss, where do you wanna go?”

“Where?”

“Well, it’s a date, right? Shouldn’t we pick a destination instead of just wandering?”

They had already circled the same alley three times. Hakyung was starting to panic, worried that Muheon might be finding their date boring.

At Hakyung’s question, Muheon looked around. He didn’t know where would be good to go either, so he had nothing to say.

They walked in silence for a while. Then Hakyung pointed a finger toward one of the nearby buildings.

“What about… going over there?”

Even from 500 meters away, the sign was clearly visible: ‘Motel’.

Muheon’s brow twitched hard.

Feeling a stab of guilt at the reaction, Hakyung hurriedly launched into an excuse. His small lips moved nonstop, rattling off reason after reason why they had to go there.

“I-It’s not like I’m saying we have to do something like that… I just… I wanna hold your hand, but it’s embarrassing in public, so I thought, you know, if we go there, we can relax comfortably…”

“Hmmm?”

He did want to do something like that, but he still insisted that wasn’t the reason.

After hearing the river dolphin’s long string of excuses, Muheon raised an eyebrow again.

“W-What! What?! Is it that wrong for me to want to touch my own boyfriend? Huh? I’m a perfectly healthy South Korean river dolphin, okay?!”

Muheon hadn’t even said yes or no, but Hakyung turned red and got mad all on his own.

Amused by his boyfriend’s cute outburst, Muheon chuckled.

Even without adding a word, just watching him fuss was adorable.

Muheon watched Hakyung for a bit longer before finally speaking.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“If you don’t want to, we can just—wait, really?! For real?!”

“You don’t want to anymore?”

“Of course I do!”

Clinging tightly to Muheon’s solid arm, Hakyung started walking with determined steps.

But soon, he looked up at Muheon with a teary face.

It was his first time going to a motel, and even the simplest decision felt hard.

He didn’t want to look clueless in front of the boss, but there was no helping it.

If he’d been through this kind of situation even once, he could fake his way through, but when it came to this stuff, Hakyung was basically a blank slate.

After staring at Muheon for a while, Hakyung swallowed dryly and reached out toward the kiosk. His pale fingertips trembled.

“S-So… w-what kind of room should we…”

“I’ll do it.”

Before Hakyung could fumble further, Muheon moved in and tapped the screen without hesitation.

But the way he did it—so quick, so confident—made Hakyung’s eyes narrow into little triangles.

From behind him, Hakyung let out a little huff of air through his nose.

Muheon, clueless about the suspicion growing behind him, finished everything in no time and handed over the key card.

Hakyung took the card and couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Boss, why are you so good at this?”

“Good? Me?”

“You didn’t even hesitate when picking! You’ve had lots of lovers, haven’t you?”

“Me?”

Muheon, whose face rarely showed much expression, actually looked taken aback this time.

Lovers, what lovers…

“If you can read the words, it’s not hard.”

“Well, I can read just fine too! But it’s hard because it’s my first time!”

Hakyung stomped his foot in frustration.

His brain told him it made sense—the boss had lived a completely different life than him—but he still couldn’t help how he felt.

His jealousy blazed like a wildfire over ex-lovers whose names and faces and even species he didn’t know.

“I’ve never done this either. Seriously.”

Muheon raised both hands like he was testifying.

He wasn’t sure why he suddenly had to prove his innocence, but if he didn’t, it felt like Hakyung would sulk forever.

Not that he would’ve minded seeing that either…

But more than anything, Muheon just wanted to get upstairs to a place where they could be alone—just the two of them.

Even wasting a few minutes on this back-and-forth felt like a loss.