JD 78

The place Hajo took Hakyung to was a coin karaoke room. Hakyung had heard of such places but had never actually been to one before, so he kept glancing curiously around the hallway.

Some people sang really well, but most were just excitedly shouting out their favorite songs for fun. Still, the mix of sounds coming from every direction put Hakyung in a good mood, and a smile tugged at his lips.

“Hyung, this way!”

While Hakyung was still trying to hear what songs others were singing, Hajo waved him over from inside. He followed his brother into a booth at the end of the hallway. The booth was just big enough for two people—it would’ve been far too cramped if Muheon and his subordinates were there.

Luckily, since it was just the river dolphin brothers, they had a little breathing room. Still, the booth had everything it needed for a full karaoke experience. Hakyung spent some time poking at the remote, testing its features, while Hajo was completely focused on picking the perfect song.

He was seriously considering how to best show off Hakyung’s vocal skills. Because his brother looked so earnest, Hakyung didn’t dare complain about being bored. Then, without realizing it, he came across a song and pressed start.

It was a song that had once been popular but might not be familiar to today’s students. Still, it was one that Hakyung especially loved.

The lyrics were about making a pizza filled with love for someone you liked, and the bouncy rhythm never failed to lift his spirits. As the familiar intro played, Hakyung’s hips began to sway. Unable to stay seated, he stood up and started shaking his shoulders along with the beat.

“To the one who loves pizza, I’ll make it pretty, with all my love.”

As he sang, he remembered the first time he went out for pizza with the boss, and he even thought about making a truly delicious one for him someday.

The more he thought about Muheon, the louder his singing became, filling the booth with his clear, sweet voice. Hajo, who had been focused on picking songs, was so mesmerized he instinctively turned on his phone camera.

He focused the lens to capture Hakyung’s plump lips and gentle movements as clearly as possible. And it wasn’t just because he was his brother—Hakyung was genuinely cute and a great singer.

After about two minutes of filming, Hajo quickly showed his brother a list of songs—ten in total.

Hakyung could’ve complained that he might lose his voice from singing so much, but instead, he nodded without hesitation. As a river dolphin, he was born with strong vocal cords, so he wasn’t too worried.

Back when he had to sing for Kim Taeyoung, he often sang dozens of times a day to meet the guy’s endless demands. Compared to that, singing freely in his own voice now felt like pure joy.

Without a single word of protest, Hakyung firmly pressed the remote buttons one after another. Hajo, meanwhile, busied himself figuring out which angles made his brother look best on camera.

“Phew… I feel so refreshed!”

Hakyung beamed after finishing ten songs in a row. Hajo agreed. What felt especially great was how people passing by in the hallway had peeked in, surprised by his singing.

It confirmed again that no matter how tone-deaf someone might be, they couldn’t help but admire Hakyung’s voice.

By the time they left the karaoke booth, the sun was already setting. All they’d done was register at the academy and visit karaoke, yet the day had flown by. The brothers quickly headed back to the dorm.

When they reached the building, Muheon happened to be getting out of his car. The moment Hakyung spotted him, he ran up like a puppy seeing its owner.

“Boss! You’re back?”

“Yeah, just got here?”

“Yes! We registered Hajo at the academy, had lunch, and even went to karaoke!”

“Karaoke…?”

So that’s where they’d been, running all around town. Muheon imagined the dolphin brothers happily shaking tambourines and let out a chuckle—it suited them perfectly. Not knowing why the boss was laughing, Hakyung just smiled along.

“Your urgent work—how’d it go?”

“It’s done. Everything’s fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Hakyung quickly latched onto Muheon’s arm and gave it a big sniff. Muheon raised a brow in confusion—he wasn’t a dog-type beastman, so what was he sniffing for?

He didn’t smoke or drink, so it’s not like he carried any particular smell. As Muheon raised his eyebrow, Hakyung quickly shook his head and said it was nothing—but in truth, he was checking for traces of any other beastmen.

Thankfully, Muheon’s scent was clean—just that refreshing fragrance unique to him. Relieved that no one had dared flirt with the boss, Hakyung’s smile deepened.

Still thickly under the spell of his Muheon crush, Hakyung viewed everyone the boss interacted with as a potential threat. He couldn’t very well glue himself to Muheon like a guard dog, so the anxiety was unavoidable. He even justified his stalker-ish behavior to himself—quite proudly, in fact.

Watching his brother from the side, Hajo looked dumbfounded. Where had his usually mild-mannered, slightly naïve hyung gone? Now he was a competent and possessive husband. Hajo couldn’t understand how the boss could make someone act like that—but stayed quietly at his brother’s side nonetheless.

“So… did you like the academy?”

Muheon’s gaze shifted from Hakyung to Hajo. Startled by the sudden question, Hajo blurted out a dazed, “Uh, y-yes!”

Without exaggeration, Muheon’s build was like that of an orca beastman from the sea—massive. Hajo hadn’t thought much of it when Muheon visited the countryside with his brother, but seeing him here, he looked far bigger and more intimidating. Hajo had no doubt now: Muheon had to be from one of the largest species in the ocean.

He’d been clinging to his brother’s side all day out of nerves, and now that Muheon was talking to him directly, his heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

Embarrassed by his own foolish answer, Hajo bit his lip. It felt like steam was pouring out of the top of his head.

But Muheon didn’t react much—he simply lifted the corner of his mouth in what seemed like approval. Beside him, Hakyung eagerly chimed in, chattering about how well Hajo did on his test and how many compliments he’d received.

Muheon responded by gently patting Hakyung’s shoulder, saying things like, “Really?” and “That’s impressive.” As Hakyung gushed proudly, Hajo turned redder and redder.

Dinner that evening was made up of side dishes their grandma had sent with Hajo. For Hakyung, it had been a while since he’d tasted her cooking, and he was touched. Muheon felt the same.

Hajo, on the other hand, had just eaten the same food the past couple of nights, so he wasn’t particularly moved. Personally, he preferred things like braised abalone and bulgogi. The river dolphin brothers spent dinner bickering good-naturedly over which dish tasted better.

Amidst all that noise, Hajo, holding a piece of abalone in his hand, turned toward Hakyung.

“Isn’t your phone vibrating? I keep hearing something.”

“Huh? Oh—it’s not a call…”

At Hajo’s comment, Hakyung pulled his phone out of his pocket. Notifications from a video app had been coming in for a while. Earlier, Hajo had edited and uploaded a short clip just to test it out, and now comments were beginning to appear.

Looking unsure of what to do, Hakyung handed the phone to his younger brother.

Even when they’d huddled together on the subway ride home picking which video to post, they hadn’t expected much. It was only meant to check the video quality and audio.

Now, both brothers stared down at the phone, stunned, like they were holding a hot potato.

“What’s going on?”

Muheon, quietly watching the two, finally asked. Hakyung showed him the videos they had filmed today.

Muheon watched all of them—more than ten clips—without looking away once. From mellow ballads to upbeat dance songs, Hakyung’s voice rang out, each note effortless and bright.

Muheon fell for him all over again. Even the impromptu songs Hakyung sang just for him, with no background music, were already lovely to hear. But with actual accompaniment, the result was nothing short of heavenly.

Even in the dark, cramped booth of a coin karaoke room, where you could barely see your surroundings, Hakyung’s voice—and his lips—shone brightly. Without a word, Muheon took Hakyung’s hand and pulled him to sit beside him.

He knew it sounded silly and over-the-top… but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Kang Hakyung might sprout wings and fly away at any moment.

Whether he knew how Muheon felt or not, Hakyung sat beside him with one hand held out, happily reading the incoming comments with his brother. More than anything, he was just curious—how had people even found his singing?