Free Web Novel“Want to go on a date with me?”
Late that morning, the two of them set out on what Yoon Taehee insisted on calling a “date,” though it was really just a walk.
Jaegyeom trailed behind him with a sullen face.
The only reason he had agreed to go to the beach was because staying trapped together inside the cramped house felt even worse. Outside, there would at least be other people around, broad daylight, open air. No chance of things turning weird again.
So, despite his reluctance, Jaegyeom dragged his slippers along the road and followed after him.
A few steps ahead, Yoon Taehee suddenly stopped and looked back.
“What?”
Jaegyeom asked roughly.
Yoon Taehee said nothing.
He had simply paused because he wanted to walk beside him.
Once Jaegyeom caught up, Yoon Taehee started moving again.
As they walked shoulder to shoulder through the narrow alleyways, the backs of their hands brushed lightly at some point.
Jaegyeom immediately flinched and subtly shifted away.
Ah, shit. That was too obvious.
Feeling self-conscious, he glanced sideways at Yoon Taehee.
“...”
Still looking straight ahead, Yoon Taehee finally spoke.
“I’m not going to eat you.”
Fuck, he notices everything.
The fact that his thoughts had been exposed irritated Jaegyeom even more.
And honestly, thinking about it calmly, something about this situation felt backwards.
Yoon Taehee was the one who liked him.
Yoon Taehee was the one who had done all that last night.
So why the hell was he the one blushing and freaking out?
The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became.
“Hey.”
Heat abruptly surged up inside him.
“Who the hell are you to talk about eating me?”
Yoon Taehee turned his head.
“What?”
Jaegyeom suddenly raised his voice.
“Who are you to decide whether you can eat me or not?”
Yoon Taehee looked genuinely bewildered.
“This bastard’s getting cocky because I’ve been letting him off easy....”
“...”
Jaegyeom spoke pointedly, as though reminding him of something important.
“You couldn’t eat me even if you wanted to.”
“...”
Yoon Taehee pressed his lips together silently.
“I’m the one going easy on you.”
Jaegyeom glared at him fiercely.
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“Aren’t you gonna answer?”
Yoon Taehee quietly held back laughter before bowing his head politely.
“Yes, understood. Of course. Absolutely.”
His tone was light and accommodating, indulging Jaegyeom’s temper like he found the entire thing amusing.
The harbor that morning was quiet and peaceful.
As they approached the docks, the fresh scent of seawater drifted stronger on the wind. Seagulls wandered lazily atop the breakwater in tiny steps.
“Should we go this way today?”
Instead of heading toward the cliffs where they had gone with Shin Jihye the previous day, they wandered in the opposite direction.
Since they were already out walking, they might as well explore somewhere new.
Dressed comfortably and moving without any destination in mind, they followed the coastline until—
A wide stretch of white sand suddenly unfolded before them.
Jaegyeom stopped dead.
His eyes widened.
Open sea.
Clear blue sky.
A pristine beach.
The scenery looked almost unreal, like some unexpected gift waiting at the end of the road.
“There’s a beach here?”
Even Yoon Taehee looked mildly surprised.
“Want to go down?”
“Yeah.”
The two carefully descended the slope.
The moment they stepped onto the beach, their slippered feet sank softly into the sand.
Warm grains brushed across the tops of their feet.
The strange ticklish sensation made Jaegyeom smile before he realized it.
When he looked back, two sets of footprints stretched side by side across the sand behind them.
“Do you like it?”
Hearing the warmth in Yoon Taehee’s voice, Jaegyeom immediately erased the smile from his face and put on a deliberately gruff expression.
“Hey. You walk over there.”
He pointed off in another direction.
“I’m going this way, so stay out of it.”
“Are we wild animals?”
Yoon Taehee asked politely.
“Do we need to split up territories?”
“...”
Jaegyeom narrowed his eyes at him.
See? This was exactly the problem.
His mouth was way too slick.
Ruining perfectly good walks with that arrogant way of talking.
“Anyway, go over there.”
While Jaegyeom stood there irritably pointing toward the far side of the beach—
“Why?”
Yoon Taehee asked casually.
“Are you uncomfortable around me because of yesterday?”
“...”
The direct hit stunned Jaegyeom silent for a moment.
“Pe-people need time to think by themselves sometimes.”
Eventually he forced out the flimsiest excuse imaginable, stubbornness packed into every word.
Yoon Taehee tilted his head back and burst into laughter behind the back of his hand.
Deliberately turning away, Jaegyeom started walking in another direction.
But Yoon Taehee followed him immediately, like a persistent seagull.
“Hey. Stop following me. I told you to go over there.”
“Don’t want to.”
Yoon Taehee answered lazily.
“I’ll decide where I walk.”
This bastard’s really picking a fight now.
Jaegyeom swallowed down rising irritation.
“...Fine.”
After taking a moment to calm himself, he approached Yoon Taehee like he had finally given up.
Just as surprise flashed across Yoon Taehee’s face—
THUD.
Jaegyeom suddenly body-checked him hard.
“Oof—”
Caught off guard, Yoon Taehee staggered and fell straight onto the sand.
“You need to learn a lesson.”
Grinning triumphantly, Jaegyeom strode over and snatched the slippers off Yoon Taehee’s feet before he could react.
Yoon Taehee stared at the beach thief in disbelief.
Using one slipper, Jaegyeom drew a long line through the sand.
“Don’t cross this line.”
Then he dropped into a dramatic fighting stance, gripping a slipper in each hand like weapons.
“...”
Propping himself up with both hands behind him, Yoon Taehee slowly sat upright.
A smile had already spread across his face.
Jaegyeom was struggling not to laugh himself.
“What happens if I cross it?”
Yoon Taehee asked playfully.
Jaegyeom narrowed his eyes.
“Cross it and die.”
Without hesitation, Yoon Taehee stepped across the line.
“You’re dead now.”
Jaegyeom had secretly been waiting for exactly that.
The moment Yoon Taehee crossed, Jaegyeom grinned victoriously—
—and hurled both slippers straight into the incoming waves.
Yoon Taehee blinked blankly.
“Huh?”
His eyes widened in disbelief at the sudden betrayal.
Jaegyeom burst into loud laughter and immediately tried to run—
Only to trip over his own feet and plunge face-first into the sand.
“Jaegyeom!”
Yoon Taehee instinctively called out in alarm and turned toward him—
At which point the waves swept both slippers farther out to sea.
And just like that, Yoon Taehee watched both of his slippers disappear forever.
“You idiot.”
Still sprawled on the beach laughing, Jaegyeom scrunched up his face mischievously.
“You should’ve jumped in right away instead of just standing there staring.”
“I can’t swim....”
Jaegyeom collapsed fully onto the sand and laughed so hard he shook.
Yoon Taehee let out an incredulous laugh of his own.
He had expected to get smacked with the slippers at worst.
He absolutely had not expected them to get thrown into the ocean.
While Jaegyeom sat brushing sand from his hair—
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Yoon Taehee walked over and asked as though he genuinely did not care about the lost slippers at all.
“No. I’m fine.”
Jaegyeom flopped backward onto the sand, arms spread wide. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Then, without permission, Yoon Taehee lowered himself and used Jaegyeom’s arm as a pillow.
The laughter slowly disappeared from Jaegyeom’s face.
“...”
Tilting his head slightly, he asked flatly,
“What are you doing?”
Resting against his arm, Yoon Taehee looked up at him calmly.
“Nothing.”
Then he added,
“Just look at my face.”
“Why would I do that?”
Closing his eyes comfortably, Yoon Taehee answered,
“Because I’m ridiculously handsome.”
Jaegyeom lost the ability to respond for a second.
Unfortunately, it was true.
With his eyes closed like that, Yoon Taehee genuinely looked unfairly beautiful, delicate enough to seem sculpted by hand.
Jaegyeom stared blankly at him before abruptly snapping back to himself and sitting up.
“Ahem.”
Pretending nothing had happened, he began piling sand together.
The tips of his ears were slightly red.
Watching Jaegyeom flee the moment things turned remotely intimate, Yoon Taehee quietly covered the lower half of his face with one hand, suppressing another laugh.
“Let’s play this before we go back.”
Jaegyeom gathered more sand into a mound.
“How?”
Yoon Taehee asked.
After shaping the sand into a cone, Jaegyeom picked up a nearby twig and stuck it into the center.
It was a game he sometimes played with Mesan.
They would build a dirt mound, stick a twig in the middle, then take turns removing bits of sand.
The person who made the twig collapse lost.
“We set conditions beforehand.”
Jaegyeom explained seriously.
“The loser grants the winner one wish.”
Usually he made Mesan press on his back afterward.
“Really?”
Yoon Taehee nodded.
“And what would you ask ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) for?”
“Hmm....”
After thinking for a moment, Jaegyeom lifted his chin.
“Half your fortune.”
His expression was completely serious.
“Really?”
Yoon Taehee raised one eyebrow in disbelief.
“Are you robbing me?”
Jaegyeom remained dead serious.
Yoon Taehee burst out laughing.
He never expected a harmless sand game to escalate instantly into gambling away half his assets.
“You’ve got money rotting away already. Learn to share a little.”
Jaegyeom answered indifferently.
“Are your family circumstances that desperate?”
Yoon Taehee tilted his head teasingly.
“Even if they’re not, more money’s always better.”
“Aiming for half of someone’s entire fortune is pretty ambitious.”
Touching his forehead lightly, Yoon Taehee muttered to himself.
He had felt it before, but Jaegyeom really did have the instincts of a gambler.
The problem was that he tended to charge ahead recklessly without thinking through consequences.
Just then, Jaegyeom declared with absolute seriousness,
“Life’s all about hitting it big once.”
Yoon Taehee nodded immediately.
“That’s exactly how people ruin themselves.”
He agreed so naturally that it took a second to realize he was criticizing him.
“Seriously, don’t ever get involved in stocks or investments.”
“What?”
“If somebody comes at you promising easy money and asking for your seal, punch them in the face immediately.”
“Why the face?”
“Because paying hospital bills afterward would probably cost less.”
What the hell was he even talking about?
Jaegyeom scratched his ear lazily.
“Anyway. What’s your condition?”
