"Track team apprentice Kim, please come over for a moment."
As always, Yoon Taehee summoned Jaegyeom to the chief's office today.
It had been a few days since the accidental email was sent. Starting that day, Chief Yoon had been giving Jaegyeom one-on-one lessons on email writing and spelling every day. What was supposed to be a one-off personal lesson had turned into an ongoing series.
And today, Yoon Taehee proposed a spelling test for the first time.
"Let's see how much your spelling has improved with a dictation test."
"Don't want to. Not doing it."
Jaegyeom flatly refused, wearing an expression of annoyance. Yoon Taehee had expected the rejection.
Being an expert at persuasion, he knew how to balance the carrot and stick approach. The first step might be difficult, but once the momentum was set, the rest would follow smoothly.
He opened a drawer with a rattling sound and took out the carrot.
"They say starting is half the battle."
The "carrot" Yoon took out was a sticker. Peeling off one sticker, Yoon placed it on the back of Jaegyeom's hand.
"This... back when I wrote the book report..."
"That's right. If you pass the dictation test, I'll give you a sticker."
Yoon Taehee's proposal was simple: there would be 10 questions, and if Jaegyeom got at least 5 correct, he would earn a praise sticker.
"If you collect five stickers, 'll give you a gift."
Jaegyeom's ears perked up.
Although it had fizzled out last time, he had received a gift back then—an ornate music box. Scoring five out of ten questions was just hitting half, so the bar was low. Plus, he already had one sticker, meaning he only needed four more to get the gift. Jaegyeom was tempted.
"What's the gift?"
"Secret."
Yoon Taehee's prediction was spot on. Faced with a clear goal, Jaegyeom grumbled outwardly, but his eyes lit up with a faint spark. This was none other than his competitive spirit. Despite seeming indifferent to anything and listless, Jaegyeom was innately someone who enjoyed competition and accomplishment.
Thus, he attempted dictation for the first time in his life. He sat down in the executive chair, grabbed a document, and began cramming on spelling as if he were preparing for a quiz.
"Tell me when you're ready."
"I'm ready. Let's start."
With a determined expression, Jaegyeom gripped his pencil. Yoon Taehee said he would pick the questions from a book he had. Putting on his glasses, he crossed his legs and held the book's flap in one hand. Reading aloud from the book, he began.
"He owned as many as three stylish pairs of shoes."
Jaegyeom diligently wrote down the sentence.
"He... owned... as many as... three stylish... pairs of shoes..."
He spoke each syllable under his breath while writing down the letters one by one. Watching Jaegyeom write, Yoon Taehee casually prompted.
"Next?"
Jaegyeom nodded.
"He looked utterly pitiful, soaked to the skin by the sudden downpour."
Jaegyeom hesitated as he wrote. The difference
between "되" and "돼" as well as 않" and "안" confused
him. It was something that Yoon Taehee had explained before. He thought he understood it then, but now that he had to use it, he began to second-guess himself.
"Next?"
"No, give me a moment..."
What Jaegyeom wrote was '않되 보였다, the incorrect
answer. He raised his head and looked at Yoon Taehee's face.
"..."
When their eyes met, Yoon Taehee raised an eyebrow as if asking, Why are you looking at me?' Jaegyeom scrutinized his face closely. It became an unexpected psychological battle. Like a boxer sizing up his opponent, Jaegyeom examined Yoon Taehee carefully, erased his initial answer furiously, and rewrote it.
[않돼
보였다.]
Jaegyeom, after revising his answer, looked up at Yoon Taehee again.
"..."
Watching Yoon Taehee's expression closely, Jaegyeom furiously erased his writing once more.
[안돼 보였다.]
This time, his eyes resembled those of a burglar peering over a wall.
"..."
Finally, Yoon Taehee's carefully maintained composure crumbled. Unable to hold back laughter, he bent forward, chuckling with a deep laugh. So the answer is right. Jaegyeom smiled with satisfaction. Having finally discovered the correct answer, he said confidently,
"Next!"
Yoon Taehee, still laughing, was unable to pose the next question for a while.
"Wait a minute. Isn't this kind of cheating?"
"How is this cheating? This is insight."
Who would've thought a spelling test could turn into a psychological battle? Yoon Taehee decided to add a new rule.
"From now on, keep your eyes on the notebook."
Jaegyeom grumbled softly.
So petty and dirty... It's not like I've got the answers written on my forehead.'
Still muttering, Jaegyeom flicked bits of eraser debris in Yoon Taehee's direction, his displeasure evident.
But he kept his eyes fixed on the paper and demanded the next question.
"Fine, next."
Despite his grumbling, Jaegyeom was surprisingly compliant once rules were set.
"He was such a handsome man that he made many women's hearts flutter."
"He... was... such... a... hand... some... man…. that..."
Yoon Taehee propped his chin in his hand. Watching Jaegyeom obediently write down the dictation, a mischievous thought arose. After waiting for Jaegyeom to finish writing, Yoon Taehee casually flipped to the next page of the book and spoke as if it were nothing.
"What do you eat to be so pretty?"
This was completely made up-nowhere to be found in the book.
"You... eat... what... to... be... so..."
Jaegyeom, deeply focused, carefully wrote each word.
He was hunched over the desk as if trying to bore through the notebook, his brow furrowed in concentration. The sound of the pencil lead scratching against the paper filled the room.
"From the moment I first met you, I liked you."
"From... the... moment... I... first... met..."
"When our eyes met, I felt greedy."
At first, it was mere curiosity. His gaze often wandered to him. The boy seemed, at times, like an old man who had worn down everything in life, and at other times, like an innocent child. That strange coexistence of innocence and detachment in the weary boy always sent a peculiar thrill through Yoon Taehee.
There had been moments when just seeing him without a touch of a single fingertip, as if he were a statue, felt like enough. And yet, there were also moments when he wanted to ruin him entirely, from head to toe, in the dirtiest, most broken way. From the very first meeting, Jaegyeom had always pushed Yoon Taehee to the extremes of emotion.
What will you do if you don't find a way?' Suddenly, Paehyeon's voice echoed in Yoon Taehee's mind.
"..."
The smile that had lingered on Yoon Taehee's face began to fade.
It had taken him immense effort to resolve not to let Jaegyeom die. He had denied his emotions, denied his past. In doing so, he had dismantled the last ten years of his life. Day by day, Yoon Taehee grew increasingly anxious.
If he failed to find a solution…
Yoon Taehee had a habit of assuming the worst and devising solutions accordingly. But at some point, even the mere idea of Jaegyeom disappearing started to wound him. Each time that thought occurred, his meticulous mind would stall, sinking into despair. He felt an agonizing impact, a bone-deep helplessness.
For the first time, he wished for time to slow down. For someone who had spent every moment sprinting toward the day of vengeance, this was an unfamiliar longing.
Every moment with you is so delightful, too delightful, that it makes me endlessly unhappy. This brilliant, everyday life you bring me, completely unrelated to vengeance, is suffocating.
Since opening the tightly locked gates of his heart, the emotions that now flowed freely gave Yoon Taehee a sense of "being alive" that he had never experienced before. From the moment he acknowledged his feelings, he felt a fullness and peace that had eluded him his entire life.
Simply being together was enough. When Yoon Taehee told Jaegyeom that he didn't need to do anything, he had truly meant it.
Yoon Taehee's life up until now had not been one of
'Expectation ' but one of 'preparation'. Always living in anticipation of the worst, Yoon Taehee had never learned how to hope. And so, being incapable of hope, he asked for little. Ironically, this meant that Jaegyeom's feelings didn't have to matter much to Yoon Taehee. What mattered more than Jaegyeom's heart was his own—the one he now held.
Nothing could interfere with this heart.
Not even you. Not even you...
Wouldn't it be enough to win his heart?' Paehyeon had asked.
But what if you liked me? If, like me, you wanted us to stay together for a long time? If that could really happen...
Without realizing it, Yoon Taehee spoke aloud.
"Every time I see you, I think I'm glad I survived."
"Every... time... I... see.. you..."
Yoon Taehee quietly watched Jaegyeom as he focused on writing.
"Maybe I was born to meet you."
"Maybe... I... was... born... to..."
The sight of jaegyeom carefully writing down every word Yoon Taehee said...
"Every day with you feels like a birthday."
"Every... day... with... you... feels... like."
Jaegyeom, immersed in writing, suddenly paused.
What is this?
He had been writing mindlessly, paying no attention to the meaning, but suddenly, something felt off. Yoon Taehee had been using sentences from the book for the test, but now the content seemed... different. Or was it just his imagination?
After blinking a few times, Jaegyeom decided to finish writing anyway. In any case, this was the tenth question. Once he wrote down this last sentence, today's dictation test would be over.
Gripping his pencil, he continued writing until the sentence was complete.
"So, could you maybe like me a little?"
Snap.
The pencil lead broke with an abrupt sound.
"..."
His hand had slipped, and he looked up hesitantly.
Yoon Taehee, now with the book closed, was quietly watching him.
"..."
"..."
The silence lingered as their gazes locked.
"T-The test... ten questions are done...."
Jaegyeom mumbled, his gaze instinctively lowering as his lips trembled slightly.
"...Yeah."
Yoon Taehee closed the book with a soft thud and reached out to take the notebook.
That's right. Forget the last question. An outlier. A deviation. A confession that should never have been uttered. A desire beyond the rules. An unnecessary hope.
Without a hint of emotion, Yoon Taehee began grading the test, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.