JD 98

The honeymoon in the sea had been nothing short of wonderful. Whenever he wasn’t with Muheon, Hakyung spent his time helping the West Sea folk with their daily work.

Unlike his desk job back home, life by the sea required physical labor. But that suited him just fine—it reminded him of catching shrimp back in the countryside.

“Like this?”

“Yes, that’s perfect! I only showed you once—how are you picking it up so fast?”

A beastman working beside him marveled as they made seaweed chips together. Hakyung’s task was to lay the fish out neatly on woven baskets.

It was way easier than scooping up freshwater shrimp and tossing them into a basket…

“I’ve been catching shrimp since I was little. I’m used to working with tools like these—it’s not hard at all!”

“Really? You used to catch shrimp?”

“Yep! There are shrimp that live in rivers. And if you ferment them right, the salted shrimp you get is delicious. I’ll bring some next time!”

Thinking of the rich flavor of fermented shrimp paste made Hakyung smack his lips.

With his pretty face and sweet demeanor, no one expected him to have wrestled shrimp in the mud—so they all stared, wide-eyed, at this unexpected side of him.

“You… don’t like shrimp paste?”

Misreading their reaction, Hakyung asked nervously. The sea beastmen hurriedly waved their hands, excitedly asking him to please bring some next time—lifting his spirits right away.

Between laying out fish, making seaweed snacks, and collecting sea salt, the day flew by.

Hakyung returned to the inner quarters with a spring in his step. Muheon had said he’d be late today with other duties, so Hakyung figured he’d rest while waiting for him.

He flopped belly-first onto the bed embroidered with an imugi design and started tapping at his phone. Things had been hectic lately, and he’d finally found a moment to watch the video Hajo had edited and sent him.

On the screen, Hakyung looked like a little groom—especially next to the door-sized Muheon. Still, his face was glowing with happiness, and seeing that brought back the rush of emotion from their wedding day.

As he consistently uploaded new videos, Hajo’s editing skills had noticeably improved. He could now even add sparkle effects around Hakyung.

Hakyung had wondered if letting his younger brother do this was okay, especially with college entrance exams coming up. But Hajo had insisted it helped him relieve stress, and eventually convinced him.

Thanks to that, Hakyung’s channel was growing steadily. He now had a regular audience that loved his voice, and just a few days ago, he’d even received a sponsorship email.

Everything around him was changing little by little—but clearly. And although it still felt surreal, his once-bottomed-out self-esteem was slowly beginning to climb.

Lately, scrolling through his own channel had become one of his small joys. Of course, his biggest joy was admiring his husband’s face.

As he endured the slow Wi-Fi and browsed through the channel, he heard the door creak open. And with it came Muheon’s familiar scent.

Hakyung immediately sprang up and ran into his arms. Muheon, catching his small body, wore a soft smile.

“You were working all day today, huh?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. Everyone said you were helping out a lot.”

“I’m not sure I was all that helpful… but it was fun! I got to talk a lot with the West Sea folks, too!”

Muheon felt both pleased and pouty that Hakyung had spent the day so well without him.

Meanwhile, he’d spent the whole return trip nitpicking everything out of petty jealousy just because Hakyung wasn’t at his side. Still, he couldn’t let Hakyung see that childish side of him.

With a calm smile, he nodded along to everything Hakyung said—while silently vowing not to leave him alone for even a moment from tomorrow until the day they returned.

Parting with the sea folk he had grown so close to over the past week wasn’t easy. Both Hakyung and the West Sea beastmen dragged out their farewells with tearful sincerity—it was such a touching scene that even Muheon’s brow twitched. Instead of tears, he leaked irritation.

The beastmen, well-accustomed to Muheon’s moods, quickly steered Hakyung back to his side.

Though Hakyung still had more he wanted to say, he gave them a wistful look, and the sea folk hurriedly waved him off. Only after confirming that Muheon’s face had relaxed did they breathe a sigh of relief.

Just like their journey into the sea, the return to land was swift. Hakyung took a deep breath of the oddly different air and stretched his arms high. Next to him, Muheon rolled his neck and shoulders to loosen up.

“Over here.”

Gisang-oh, who had arrived ahead of time, bowed politely to Muheon. Hakyung, standing beside him, gave two deep nods in his place.

“Did you enjoy your time away?”

“It was amazing! Right, honey?”

“Yeah, it was great.”

Hakyung answered Gisang-oh’s question, and Muheon answered Hakyung’s. The perfect three-person conversation.

On the drive back to Seoul, Hakyung gave a full report of everything that had happened by the sea. If you just listened to him, you’d think he’d been gone for a month, not a week. Gisang-oh had his hands full driving safely while adding the occasional comment to the conversation—though it did help keep him awake.

Back at the company after a week, things were as hectic as ever. People kept calling for Hakyung from all directions, and he diligently responded to all his seniors’ requests.

After a busy morning, the much-awaited lunch break arrived. Hakyung headed to his favorite café with Bugunrim and ordered an iced vanilla latte, chatting away as usual.

“Hakyung, Hakyung! Look at this!”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Your video popped up in my algorithm!”

Algorithm? Wasn’t that a really good thing?

He’d heard Hajo sighing often lately, wishing his videos would get caught in the algorithm, so the term was fresh in his mind.

But now, one of his videos actually had?

Still half-doubting, Hakyung looked at Bugunrim’s phone screen. There it was: a video titled “The Sweetest Wedding Song Ever—And the Groom Sings It Himself!” featuring Hakyung singing at his own wedding.

“Oh, that really is me.”

“Right? Look! The comments are full of people saying they came from the algorithm!”

Just like he said:

@Ghytggjjk: Finally got a good recommendation from the algorithm. If someone sang that to me, I’d probably pass out.

@fgvvu3231: A groom singing his own wedding song?? Insane.

@i_i_0212_ds: I’m a fan of the original artist, but this is hands-down the best cover I’ve heard. No cap.

@arianaaa: Blessed by the algorithm!

Comment after comment mentioned the algorithm had brought them here. What kind of jackpot had he hit in the middle of the night?

The vanilla latte he’d already swallowed felt like it might come back up—he was that shocked. As he sat there dazed, staring at the video, a vibration came from his pocket.

He fumbled for his phone and answered. Instantly, a deafening scream rang through his eardrum.

— Hyung! You did it! You really did it!

“Hajo? Aren’t you at school right now?”

— It’s lunch break. Not the point! Have you seen your YouTube?!

“Mmhm. I’m watching it now.”

His calm tone made Hajo explode.

Did he not get how big this was? This could literally change his life! Hajo’s rapid-fire scolding poured through the phone.

Is Hajo putting this much effort into studying too? Hakyung briefly worried—but this wasn’t the time. His voice trembled as he asked,

“So… does this mean I’m going to get more popular?”

— Of course! And your face is in this one, too! What if people start recognizing you?

That was the difference with this video—it showed Hakyung’s full face. Usually, he wore hats or only showed heavily filtered shots, but he’d made an exception for the wedding video. He’d wanted to show off a little.

He never expected this video to blow up.

“That’s… wild. But I wear a hat every day, so it should be fine… I hope?”

— Y-Yeah! You’re mostly at the office anyway, so maybe it’ll be okay?

The soft-spoken river dolphin brothers, having been “chosen” by YouTube, now trembled in fear. Hakyung even asked if he should delete the video—but got scolded by Hajo for that.

They agreed to talk again in the evening after school. As Hakyung lowered the phone from his ear, he blinked.

“Hakyung… your view count is skyrocketing.”

Each time Bu Geunrim refreshed the page, the views and comments climbed higher—and both of their eyes widened in disbelief.