Woohyun took a look at the information on his phone again, making sure he memorized the face of his next target right—though, really, he didn’t need to since that kind of face was too memorable to be easily forgotten. He entered the hospital, looking through all the signs that could direct him to the children’s ward. He passed by a dozen nurses as he walked towards the direction the signs told him to go, hoping that those signs weren’t fooling him and that he didn’t have to ask those nurses to lead him. No, that would be kind of complicated.

He smiled as he saw the board that told him that he was finally in the children’s ward, putting his phone in his pocket and started to wander around, searching for the children’s playing area. Someone told him that the man would be there. That someone also threatened him to do his thing quickly or he would get shot by a never ending wrath, but that would be another story.

It was easy finding that area, he just needed to walk straight and he found it right away. An area with colorful cartoon characters plastered on the wall, little swings and sliding board on the corner and various toys splattered on the floor. Surprisingly, he found the man he was looking for easily. Too easily, maybe. He didn’t approach the man, but instead took a step back to watch him, not intending to go talk to him in the near time.

He watched as the man tried to tie a little girl’s hair, making braid even though it was painfully obvious that the man never did that before. Woohyun was so tempted to step in and help but no—this was not the right time. He kept observing as the man finally gave up and just simply tied the girl’s hair, before sending the girl off to play with the other kids with a bright smile on his face. A little boy ran into the man and seemed to ask for something, but the man shook his head and made the little boy pout. The man mimicked his face before laughing and patting the little boy’s head while saying something that Woohyun couldn’t make out.

Dang, that man was cute.

 

*****

 

The man’s name was Kim Myungsoo, which made Woohyun laughed when he found out because, of course, naturally, it reminded him of Park Myungsoo. This Myungsoo and that Myungsoo were so different, like fire and ice and it boggled Woohyun how such two different persons could have the same name.

From what Woohyun gathered, this Kim Myungsoo lived alone and barely had friends—at least the ones that were known. He worked as a comic maker for children’s comics, drawing and writing the story all by himself. He was struggling until a little more than two years ago before he, miraculously, became famous because of the books he has released. He was still famous, especially now since he made a venture in making cheap dolls for kids. The venture got famous because other than producing general dolls (that Myungsoo designed by himself), they also accept special requests to make customized dolls at a cheap price. And on top of that, they donate almost half of their profits to charity. That makes a lot of people interested in his new company and invested in it.

Needless to say, Kim Myungsoo dedicated his life for kids and got his wealth from that. And now, Woohyun’s job was to steal that fortune, just like how he had stolen some other people’s wealth even since he started working as a con man as part of a bigger organization. He was assigned to con Myungsoo a week ago. It was not the first time the agency sent someone to con him. Woohyun was the second person they sent. Their previous agent, Lee Mijoo, had failed to do so because she got turned down when she asked Myungsoo out—Mijoo had a fit over that before she dig more and found out she was turned down because Myungsoo simply didn’t like woman.

That was why Woohyun was the one they sent now, because he was one of the few male agents who had no problem seducing men. He was a biual, so his job was pretty easy, honestly. He could have many kinds of target. He just needed to seduce some men and women until they fell in love with him and wanted to give him their money. He squeezed their money until they became dry and then he left them and made them unable to find him.

It was easier to do when his target was a lonely older man or woman, though, they were easy to fall for other people who show them some interests. With younger people, though, he wasn’t really sure. He was pretty new in this industry—if this could be called as an industry—and most of the targets that were given to him were the old ones.

So he decided, before he made his move, he needed to observe his target first. Okay, maybe the observing had turned into stalking, but he couldn’t help it. From his several days of st—observing, he found out that Kim Myungsoo went to an office every day in the morning, spent several hours there before going out again, went to have lunch and dinners at the same places (Woohyun wondered if he didn’t get bored at all), and then went back to his apartment before the night even settles. He went volunteering at a children’s ward in a hospital once a week, apparently, every Sunday. His life was pretty monotone and Woohyun sometimes felt like he was going crazy following him.

Woohyun was not sure why that he didn’t approach Myungsoo yet even though he felt that he had done enough observing. Sometimes he just felt content watching Myungsoo played with kids. It was adorable, really. But he really couldn’t get accustomed to that because this was just temporary.

It was his seventh day of following Myungsoo and he decided that he should go approach Myungsoo today. Because if not, Sungjong (his supervisor, the best man in the agency that had managed to con more than twenty people in various countries) would lecture him for taking too long. It was a Saturday and he decided that he should approach him today. Just casually talk to Myungsoo once the man went out of his office building and went to his usual café to have some cappuccino and cheese cake.

(God, he even knew what Myungsoo was going to order.)

He stayed at another café during the time he was waiting for Myungsoo to come out of the building, growing bored and starting to wonder why he needed to observe this much when he already knew a lot of Myungsoo just from the information Sungjong was providing. He didn’t even worry about missing Myungsoo because the man always went out of the building at the same exact time. Myungsoo lived on the same schedule every day. Sometimes, he found Myungsoo to be pretty interesting. He seemed like a good guy, especially when he was with kids. Honestly, when he thought about it, scamming Myungsoo would mean taking away a lot of kids’ happiness, too.

But well, it was his job. He needed to live, too.

He took a look at his watch and saw that it was only thirty minutes before Myungsoo finished whatever he did in his office, so he decided to go out from the café to observe the building again. It was only a few steps out of the café when he felt something crashed into him, making him fall backwards. He felt his head hitting the concrete surface with a loud thud and hot liquid splashing his body. He couldn’t even scream as dizziness taking over him.

Well. What a day.

 

*****

 

The first thing Woohyun saw when he finally woke up was a white ceiling, which made him wonder if he was in a hospital. He blinked and looked around, noticing that yes, he was lying on a bed surrounded by white curtains and the smell was definitely the smell of hospital—a smell that he never liked because it was sickening. The back of his head was throbbing and it felt like his cloth was wet—for a moment, he felt really confused.

“Oh! You wake up!” A loud voice came as the curtain in front of him slide open, “Are you okay?”

He looked up to the concerned face of Kim Myungsoo and he suddenly remembered what happened. That must be the worst crash with humans he ever went through if he ended up in a hospital. Still in pain from the kissing with the concrete surface and the stings on his chest, he couldn’t say anything.

“Where am I?”

“I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you, I should be more careful!” Myungsoo rambled, speaking so quickly Woohyun barely understand what he was saying, “I…also accidentally spilled my coffee on you, but the doctor it’s not really bad, the coffee was not really hot so it didn’t burn much!”

“…what?” was the only thing he could say as he was dumbfounded. He was not sure if he was lucky that he found a way to talk to Myungsoo without looking suspicious or if he was really unlucky having to meet him in this way. It was probably the combination of both.

“I’m so sorry! I promise I will pay for everything.” Myungsoo said again—it was the first time he saw Myungsoo talked this much. By the way he was acting, he was expecting Woohyun to yell at him or maybe, even sue him. Of course, Woohyun was not going to do that.

“It’s okay,” Woohyun said, finally, after the ache started to dull and he could process Myungsoo’s words far more easily. Myungsoo didn’t say anything anymore, just standing there guiltily, not looking at Woohyun.

“So,” Woohyun said again, “I guess you’re going to pay for the hospital bills,” he paused, looking down to look at his ruined shirt, “and my shirt.”

God that was such a cliché way to meet Myungsoo, but this would make his job easier.

“Um yeah, I have paid the hospital bills,” Myungsoo said, “For your shirt…how much is it? I didn’t have cash on me now, though, so I would pay you after I get them.”

“You can pay me anytime, I will give you my number so you can call me when you can pay it. I will need to think of a price, too.”

“Ah, okay,” Myungsoo nodded, “May I know your name?”

“Lee Sungyeol.”

Please forgive me, Sungyeol. Somehow, Sungyeol’s name was the first thing he could think of when he realized that he need to tell Myungsoo his name but he couldn’t exactly tell him his real name. He actually had thought of a name—Lee Hyunseung—but somehow it was Sungyeol’s name that slipped off his tongue. Sungyeol—an ex-worker at his agency who had moved on from this job and lived a more normal life. He hoped that Sungyeol would never find out about this.

“I am Kim Myungsoo.” Myungsoo told him. Woohyun just nodded, as if he was taking notes. He resisted an urge to say, I know.

 

*****

 

It was the next day that Woohyun purposely met Myungsoo again. He was planning to accidentally run into him after Myungsoo finished volunteering at the hospital, but he decided to watch Myungsoo played with the kids again because… well, there was no exact reason. He just wanted to watch. He had nothing to do anyway, until he could find a part-time job he could do while making a move on Myungsoo. He had just moved to the city because of this specific job, settling in a shabby apartment his agency provides for him.

He sat at the same place as he did last Sunday, not worrying about Myungsoo spotting him. He could just made up a reason if Myungsoo did spot him and asked him what he did there. He watched Myungsoo feeding a little boy, running around with the kids as if he was one of them. Myungsoo’s face was especially bright when he played around with the kids, it felt like watching the sun playing with the stars. Though he wondered how these kids could be so hyper when they were actually sick.

At one point Myungsoo got tired to play more—Woohyun couldn’t help but chuckling because it seemed that Myungsoo had a pretty bad stamina—and started to try to tie a little girl’s hair. He looked at the girl’s hair and fumble with it, as if he was not sure on what to do. Suddenly, Woohyun felt worried for the little girl’s hair.

Prince Woohyun should come to the rescue.

“You’re really bad at this, you know?” He said as he sat down beside Myungsoo. Myungsoo’s eyes widen upon seeing him, seeming surprised. Woohyun smiled at him as the little girl turned her head too, questioning his presence.

“Who is this ahjushi?” The little girl asked in a tiny voice.

“I am an oppa, not an ahjushi.” Woohyun said, frowning. Yes, he did take offense at being called an ahjushi. Yes, the girl might be more than two decades younger than him, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to be called an ahjushi. He wasn’t old, yet.

“But you’re old.” The little girl innocently said, offending Woohyun even more. Myungsoo almost laughed before he stopped himself, but Woohyun heard him and turned his head to look at Myungsoo, who was looking away at him.

“Myungsoo-oppa, who is this ahjushi?” The little girl asked Myungsoo again and Myungsoo seemed to take a little time to answer, hesitating, probably because he wasn’t sure how to explain who Woohyun is.

“I am Sungyeol oppa. I am Myungsoo oppa’s friend.” Woohyun answered instead of Myungsoo. It still felt weird that he called himself Sungyeol, especially since he knew who the real Sungyeol was. “And I am here to rescue you before Myungsoo oppa ruins your hair.”

“I am not ruining her hair!” Myungsoo said defensively and Woohyun chuckles.

“It hurts when you tugs at my hair.” The little girl said, looking up to Myungsoo. This little girl is really honest, Woohyun thought. Myungsoo pouted hearing that.

“What’s your name, Princess?”

“Myungeun.”

“Sit on this oppa’s lap,” “I’m going to tie your hair really nicely.”

“If you’re curious of why I am here, then ask.”

“Why are you here?”

“I was visiting someone and passed by here,” “I just accidentally spotted you trying to ruin Myungeunnie’s beautiful hair so I feel like I need to rescue her.”

“I am not ruining her hair!” Myungsoo denied, pouting even though he knew that he couldn’t do it.

“Yeah, sure,” said Woohyun with a laugh. He finished braiding the little girl’s hair in a minute before looking at the result satisfyingly, patting the girl’s head before saying, “Done! You can go play again!”

“Thank you, Ahjushi!” The little girl—okay, her name was Myungeun—grinned before running to a girl who was sitting on a wheelchair, talking to her. Woohyun watched them and wondered if they stayed here and unable to go home, being sick all the time. It was kind of sad, if he thought about it.

Woohyun turned his head to Myungsoo, who was watching the little children with a fond look. Even though he knew the answer, he still asked, “So, what are you doing here? Is she your daughter or something?”

“No, I am just volunteering taking care of the kids here.” Myungsoo explained, not looking away from the kids. Woohyun wondered if Myungsoo really liked those kids that much. It was kind of fascinating.

“I see,” Woohyun said, nodding, “I was waiting for your call, you know.”

This time, Myungsoo finally turned his head to look at him.

“I am sorry, I was busy last night with something so I forgot to call you.” Myungsoo apologized, seeming truly sorry. He seemed like an earnest man.

“So, when are you going to compensate my loss?”

“Oh! I could pay you today!” Myungsoo smiled at him, pulling out his wallet, “How much was it?”

The gears in Woohyun’s brain started to run. He couldn’t just stop this at this, he should use this chance to get another more intimate moment with Myungsoo. Woohyun would say that he was progressing well, but he needed to be faster.

“I don’t need money.” He finally said, making Myungsoo felt confused.

“Eh?”

“How about you treat me to dinner?” He asked again. He truly didn’t need money, anyway. He had enough money and the agency paid for a lot of things when he was working.

“Eh?” Myungsoo asked again and it made Woohyun wondered if he accidentally hit something again today.

“What? You can’t do that?”

“No! I can do that of course?” Myungsoo quickly denied, though he seemed hesitating. Woohyun flashed (what he thought was) his most charming smile, glad that Myungsoo didn’t reject him, though, Myungsoo continued, “I can’t do it tonight, though, how about Wednesday?”

“That would be fine. I am unavailable tonight, too.” That was a lie, Woohyun got nothing to do. But he could try searching for something to do. “Just message me when you’re available.”

“Alright.” Myungsoo agreed, smiling at him.

Woohyun felt lucky that he got a target this handsome.

 

*****

 

Woohyun ended up helping Myungsoo taking care of the kids that day, though they didn’t talk much and instead spent time interacting with the kids instead. They also ended up having a dinner on a Thursday night instead of Wednesday. Woohyun made sure that he looked as good as possible, though he couldn’t help but felt jealous at Myungsoo who only dressed in casual black attire but still managed to look really good. Woohyun had to remind himself that it was Myungsoo who had to feel attracted to him, not the opposite.

They ended up eating at a Dakgalbi restaurant instead of a fancy one, a restaurant that Myungsoo said he frequently visited. Myungsoo kept silent during the dinner, though. He didn’t seem to know what to talk about. Woohyun guessed that he wasn’t much of a talker, at least to strangers like him. This kind of targets were hard because Woohyun had to be the one who initiate everything.

“So…I read about you on the internet.” He started talking, trying to start a conversation.

“You did?”

“Yeah, I was curious,” Woohyun said. Sometimes, showing that you’re interested in someone would make them interested in you, too, “What you’re doing is…interesting.”

“Interesting?” Myungsoo asked in disbelief.

“Well, I am not that good with words,” Woohyun admitted. He could make up a lot of cheesy lines in a few minutes, but he rarely used heavy words, “But it’s really interesting.”

“What’s interesting about it?” Myungsoo asked, in wonder. He sounded like he was questioning himself, too, “It’s…nothing interesting.”

“I never met a writer who makes dolls.” Woohyun said while shrugging. He genuinely thought that what Myungsoo did was interesting. Writing and making comic books, making a doll factory…yeah he never found someone who was even a little interested in these areas.

Myungsoo let out a little laugh.

“I am not really a writer.”

Woohyun looked at Myungsoo intensely. Woohyun realized, Myungsoo wasn’t really like his other victims. Usually, Entrepreneurs were very proud of themselves for succeeding. They had an air of confidence around them and even though they were quite, they were still full of bravado. But with Myungsoo…he didn’t feel any of that from him. He just seemed like a really normal guy who was full of hesitations about everything.

“So…why?”

“Why…what?”

“A lot of people said you’re a talented writer and artist, but you only wrote children books, you even make a business just to make dolls for kids.”

“I just like children…and I like designing the dolls…” Myungsoo explained, which didn’t really explain anything for Woohyun. Instead of waiting for Woohyun to talk again, he quickly asked him, “What about you, Sungyeol-ssi, what do you do?”

“Me?” Woohyun was not satisfied, he wanted to make Myungsoo revealed a lot of things about himself. But maybe it was too soon, he should just appeal himself to Myungsoo, “I just moved into this town but I am jobless now, I am still searching for a job.”

“What major are you? Maybe I can help you find a job.”

What a nice person.

“I am a high school graduate,” Woohyun laughed, “I don’t think there are many jobs out there for me.”

That was true. Woohyun worked for the agency because he couldn’t find any other jobs that paid him decently. Woohyun had tried to find one, really. But in the end, nothing satisfied himself enough and this job paid him really well. He got more than fifty percent of the money he stole. Though this was a sinful job, but he could live because of this job.

He was a sinful man anyway, so his job just added a little more to that.

“Oh? I am a high school graduate too…” Myungsoo confessed, seeming embarrassed about it even though he shouldn’t.

“A successful one.” Woohyun said. He hoped he didn’t sound bitter because he didn’t mean to. “Anyway, are you busy in the near time?”

“Not really, why?”

“I don’t know much about Seoul and I don’t have any friend here.” Woohyun told him, “So maybe…if you could, maybe you could show me around.”

It would be a good opportunity for Woohyun to get closer to Myungsoo.

“Okay,” Myungsoo smiled, “I can do that, just call me if you want to do it.”

He actually sounded really happy now. Woohyun smiled. He couldn’t help it because Myungsoo’s smile looked precious. Most of the time, he looked nervous around everything.

“Cool, thank you very much.”

“But Sungyeol-ssi?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know much about Seoul either…”

Woohyun laughed. Okay, this guy was officially a cutie. Seemed like so far Woohyun’s analysis about him was right. He was the type of person who didn’t have a lot of experiences in anything. Maybe, it would be easy to charm him.

“It’s better then, we could go explore it together.” He said, “We should make a plan.”

“Sure.” Myungsoo grinned. It was—beautiful. Too bad, it was temporary and Woohyun would erase that smile soon.

 

*****

 

Woohyun spent the next several days chatting with Myungsoo, planning about going around Seoul. Most of the times, it was Woohyun who send a chat first. He had to think up for a lot conversations starters and he hoped that Myungsoo didn’t think of him as a weird person. Myungsoo replied his chats quickly, though, making Woohyun wondered if he was not busy or anything. Most of the times, their chats grew into a random chat about anything and everything and Woohyun didn’t even understand how. Myungsoo was more talkative on chats.

This was going well.

 

*****

 

Myungsoo let his mouth hang open as he took photos of the animals around them and Woohyun watched him, feeling fascinated that Myungsoo seemed so fascinated about the zoo. Somehow, they ended up going to the zoo in Seoul’s Children Grand Park and Myungsoo was even more excited that Woohyun was. He brought a DSLR camera to take photos around and he kept taking photos of the animals there. Most of the people who came to the zoo are families, so it was weird for them, two adult males, to go there together. Woohyun was pretty sure that some people were eyeing them suspiciously, but Myungsoo didn’t seem to care and Woohyun tried to not care, too.

Honestly, Woohyun was not that excited being in a zoo. He was happier watching Myungsoo bounces around pointing rarely seen animals than watching the animals. Myungsoo had turned into a child and Woohyun now understood why he got along so well with children. Myungsoo was not that awkward anymore around him, even though they had just met each other several times. It was as if Myungsoo forgot to be awkward.

“Have you never gone to a zoo before?” He asked Myungsoo, once they finally stopped running around and sat on a bench around here.

“Well, I did, a long time ago.” Myungsoo answered, his eyes were looking around, searching for more fascinating animals. He smiled as he pointed excitedly to Woohyun, “Look, there are meerkats!”

Woohyun laughed and looked at the direction Myungsoo was pointing at. Woohyun didn’t know how Myungsoo managed to see the signs and the animals, but Woohyun had a hard time doing so. Or maybe his eyesight was getting worse.

“Can we go there?” Myungsoo asked. He looked at Woohyun like a puppy asking to be fed and Woohyun had to look away.

“Of course.” He said and Myungsoo grinned at him. He stood up and Woohyun followed him, walking behind him as if he was watching out Myungsoo. Somehow, he was feeling a feeling of genuine enjoyment, feeling genuinely happy instead of forcing himself to look happy just like how he was with most of his targets. It was actually really weird, because he had only known Myungsoo for like…two weeks, if the time when he stalked Myungsoo was counted.

Myungsoo took photos of the Meerkats excitedly, taking several pictures of them in various positions. It seemed like he was pretty good at taking photos too. Maybe, it was also one of his hobbies. After a while it felt like Myungsoo was ignoring his presence as he keeps looking at the meerkats and—yeah, Woohyun should talk to him instead of just watching him.

“You keep taking pictures of animals,” He said while tapping Myungsoo’s shoulder, “Won’t you take a picture of me?”

“You want to take a picture?” Myungsoo said, as if that never occurred to him. Well, maybe it really never occurred to him.

“With you.” Woohyun said, grinning, and he was pretty sure that Myungsoo looked embarrassed right now, so he just took Myungsoo’s hand and lead him away from the Meerkat Zone, “Maybe later, there are still a lot of animals we need to see. Come on.”

It was not necessary for him to hold Myungsoo’s hand, really, and they weren’t close enough (yet) for Woohyun to just hold his hand like that. But as long as Myungsoo didn’t show a sign of resistance or rejection, then he would keep doing that.

Woohyun stopped pulling Myungsoo when he spotted a photo area where there were fox ears statues and people could pretend that they had fox ears to take a photo. It was pretty crowded, with a lot of people excited to take a photo there. But of course, it was not a detriment for Woohyun.

“Give me your camera.” Woohyun asked Myungsoo and then he pointed to the statues to, “Go there, I’m going to take a picture.

“Me? There?”

“Yes.” Woohyun nodded, “It would a pity if you didn’t take any photos of yourself here.”

Myungsoo hesitated before finally handing Woohyun his camera. He walked towards the empty statue, eyeing for a while before placing his head under the ears.

“Like this?” He said, seeking for confirmation from Woohyun.

“Yes, perfect!” Woohyun grinned, as he fumbled with the camera to find out how to use the camera. Myungsoo was watching with worry for his camera, but Woohyun did manage to understand at least how to take a photo,

He said to Myungsoo, “Smile and say cheese.”

Myungsoo flashed a smile and Woohyun took a photo right away. The photo looked a little awkward and Woohyun wanted to take another photo, but Myungsoo already walked away from the statue and stood beside him really quickly, taking a look at the photo for a second before taking the camera from Woohyun’s hand.

“Your turn.” Myungsoo said. Woohyun just shrugged and without hesitation walked towards the ears statue. Myungsoo pointed the camera towards him and Woohyun smiled and made a V sign before Myungsoo took a photo of him. Myungsoo smiled as he looked at the result too, making Woohyun wondered if he managed to take a good photo.

“Do I look okay?” He asked as he walked back to Myungsoo.

“Yes,” Myungsoo nodded, “You look cute.”

Woohyun almost choked on nothing. Myungsoo belatedly realized what he said and froze, embarrassed and scared. Woohyun smirked.

“Thank you, you’re cute, too.” Myungsoo said, putting his arms around Myungsoo’s shoulder. It was a little hard as Myungsoo was taller than him—he should wear insoles next time. “Let’s go see the real foxes, I want to look at them.”

They spent an hour more in seeing the animals before they finally felt tired and sat down on the bench again, watching people walked around them. There were so many families and they looked so happy. It reminded him of old times when life was good. He hoped those families would always be happy and the kids would grow up happily. He hoped those parents would always accept their kids no matter what they would become.

It was getting depressing looking at those happy families, so he turned to look at Myungsoo instead, who was also watching those families. He looked content watching them but he also looked sad. It made him wonder about Myungsoo’s life—the life that was not known to the world.

“Today was fun,” he said, taking away Myungsoo’s attention, “Thank you for taking me here.”

“No, I should be the one who thank you, Sungyeol-ssi,” Myungsoo said, smiling at him and then looked sorry, “I was the one who asked you to go here and you didn’t complain about it.”

“Well, honestly I have only gone to the zoo several times, too,” Woohyun laughed, “So it was not a problem.”

When was the last time he did something this simple? For his jobs, he barely did anything as simple as this as most of his victims were already dirty rich and they didn’t do these kind of things anymore. It was either a trip to a faraway places or a party. So it was nice, to have a simple date once in a while.

“We should go out together more often,” he said, he couldn’t stop here and had to find another reasons to keep seeing Myungsoo, “I don’t have any friends here, so maybe you could be my first friend.”

“Friend?” Myungsoo repeated, “That would be nice. I want to be your friend.”

The way Myungsoo said friend, it was as if it was something that was really special, something that he had never been. It sounded pure and innocent, somehow.

“Then don’t call me Sungyeol-ssi anymore,” Woohyun said. It was not fun if Myungsoo kept talking to him formally. It created a distance between them. “Call me Hyung. I am one year older than you.”

“Yes, Hyung.” Myungsoo complied right away, grinning, “Sungyeol Hyung.”

No, it should be Woohyun Hyung.

 

*****

 

They really ended up going out together often, so often that Woohyun met Myungsoo almost every day. He got a job at a café as a waiter and when he was free, he would call Myungsoo to see if he was also free. If they were free, they would end up eating together or watching a movie together. They even went to each other’s places when they were bored. Woohyun never thought it would progressed pretty quickly and he never thought he would get comfortable with Myungsoo so soon, but it was a good progress.

Myungsoo, surprisingly, was free often. It was because he was not writing a new book and even though he owned the doll company, he was mostly designing the dolls and let other people that he hired to do the business part because he didn’t understand any of it. Myungsoo was volunteering at an orphanage other than the children’s ward at the hospital and Woohyun ended up helping him volunteering.

He never thought he would spend so much time with kids.

Today, though, he helped Myungsoo bringing a bunch of dolls to the hospital. There were so many that it filled Myungsoo’s sedan car. Apparently Myungsoo was giving them to the kids in the hospital for free and he had spent time designing the dolls differently for each kids based on what they looked like and what they liked. Woohyun already thought that Myungsoo was so nice and dedicated to the kids, but now this made him think that Myungsoo was an angel sent from heaven for the kids.

They gave the dolls to the kids who had to stay at the hospital for a long time because of a terminal sicknesses. Some of them were strong enough to play—the ones that Woohyun often saw playing with Myungsoo. But there were so many other kids who had to use the wheelchair or stayed in their beds. It was depressing, seeing children unable to be normal children.

“Here is your doll, you like it right?” Myungsoo said, as, he gave a doll to a girl. The girl grinned and hugged Myungsoo from her bed. Myungsoo pat her back with affections. Woohyun smiled because it was a beautiful sight.

They had given most of their dolls and there were only some of them left. They left the room and then went to another room and then gave the dolls to the kid who stayed there. At one point, turned out the room they entered was Myungeun’s room and he got told that Myungeun’s condition had worsened. Myungsoo looked especially sad when he entered Myungeun’s room. They were pretty close, it seemed. Myungsoo talked to her parents and gave the doll to them because Myungeun’s was sleeping and Myungsoo didn’t have the heart to wake her up.

Before they left, Myungsoo whispered to Myungeun’s ear, “Get well soon.”

He looked especially down after that even though he still smiled a lot. It made Woohyun wanted to cheer him up. They sat on the waiting room after they finished sharing the dolls and Woohyun couldn’t help but to pat Myungsoo’s back in sympathy.

“You’re sad seeing Myungeun, aren’t you?” Woohyun asked.

“I am sad seeing those kids having to battle death,” Myungsoo said, sighing and leaning to the wall, “They should be able to go out like other kids.”

“Well, life is not fair, we could only pray.” Woohyun saw a doll still on Myungsoo’s hand, making him wonder if there was a kid they missed, “Whose doll is that?”

“Ah!” Myungsoo yelped, suddenly remembering something, “It’s yours!”

Myungsoo handed him the doll, smiling. Woohyun blinked, feeling confused.

“Mine?”

“Well, I just wanted to give you a gift,” Myungsoo said, rubbing the back of his head, “So I made a Sungyeol doll. I am sorry!”

Myungsoo bowed his head and Woohyun looked at tdoll. Well…it did have his features but with puppy ears and tail. It looked cute and he never thought he would ever had  a doll as a gift. And it was interesting that Myungsoo gave him a doll. Maybe Myungsoo was interested in him.

Nice.

“No, it’s okay, I like it.” Woohyun said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Myungsoo said, finally not bowing his head anymore. He smiled happily and Woohyun smiled back at him. If only this was not a job, he would definitely fall for Myungsoo.

 

 

*****

 

8.24PM

Are you working?

8.26PM

I am drawing

8.26PM

Making a new book?

8. 27PM

No, just want to draw…

8.28PM

What are you drawing?

8.29PM

It’s a secret!

8.29PM

:(

 

Woohyun grinned as he typed another things into his phones, planning to bother Myungsoo. Sometimes Myungsoo would end up sending him pictures of his drawing when Woohyun messaged him while he was working and honestly, Woohyun liked that. Myungsoo’s drawings were good and Woohyun liked looking at them. When Woohyun asked him to share his writings, though, Myungsoo refused and Woohyun wondered if he had managed to make Myungsoo shared his writings, it would mean that he had managed to enter Myungsoo’s heart.

He was going to press send when suddenly a call coming in and made him pout. He was going to reject the call if only it was not Sungjong who was calling him. He was going to have a fit if Woohyun rejected his calls even though Woohyun didn’t want to talk to him. Talking to Sungjong at this hour meant talking about business and…well…

“Sungjong-ie.” Woohyun said as he accepted the call. Sungjong immediately snorted at hearing that.

“Don’t call me like that.”

“Aw, why are you like that?” Woohyun asked, teasing. He lied on his bed and stared at the doll Myungsoo gave him, “What’s up?”

“I’m just checking on you.” Sungjong said, “How is it going?”

“It’s going on just fine.” Woohyun answered, a little too fast, “Nothing to worry about.”

“Really?” Sungjong said, “Because you know, if anything happens it’s not only you that is going to get chewed, I’m going to be chewed out, too.”

He always said that when Woohyun was working. Sungjong probably didn’t care if Woohyun fell in love with Myungsoo or died as long as he managed to finish his job.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Woohyun said, he took the doll and played with it. He wondered if the doll really looked like him, “Why is the agency targeting him, anyway? He is not that rich and his business has just started.”

“I don’t know, maybe they got a request or something.”

Sometimes, their targets were not decided by the agency themselves. There were time where some people were willing to pay a lot to have them take down their rivals so they could step up their games without having to worry about other people beating them. Woohyun wondered if this was one of those time. But, did Myungsoo have any rivals? Or maybe it was people who wanted to have the same business that hired the agency.

“He paid for a lot of children’s lives…” He said, though he didn’t mean to say that out loud.

“Hyung, don’t get swayed.” Sungjong recommended, he sounded a little worried.

“Well, it’s just that he seemed different than our usual target.” Woohyun just shrugged. Woohyun couldn’t deny that he was a little swayed because it just felt so wrong to scam Myungsoo, after knowing the man. It was like hurting a puppy and a thousand other puppies.

“I know he’s young and handsome, but don’t fall for him.”

“It’s not that…ah, just forget it.” Woohyun gave up trying to talk about this. Sungjong was very serious about this job and he didn’t thing he could get any advice from Sungjong, “Anyway you don’t need to worry, everything is going well. I just need to make sure he falls for me.”

“Alright, alright.”

“Where are you, now?” Woohyun suddenly wondered. He didn’t know what Sungjong was doing at that time.

“America.”

“What?”

“I got a target here.” Sungjong said and Woohyun gasped, “Okay, this phone call is getting too expensive. I am hanging up.”

 

*****

 

Woohyun fell sick with a cold on a summer day. Sungjong said to him that it was because he was dumb when he told him, while Myungsoo sounded concerned the second Woohyun called him to tell him that he had to cancel one of their meetings because he was sick. It was so different and made him wish that Sungjong was as nice as Myungsoo.

Myungsoo even came to his apartment, bringing a lot of foods and gave him some medicines that Woohyun actually didn’t need. Woohyun felt touched that Myungsoo cared about him—though he quickly reminded himself that he did actually try to make Myungsoo cared about him.

“You don’t need to come, you know.” He said to Myungsoo, who was sitting across from him at the dinner table, eating his own food.

Myungsoo swallowed his food before answering, “I live alone, too, so I know how it is to take care of yourself when you’re sick.”

“How long has it been since you live alone?” Woohyun wondered. When he went to Myungsoo’s apartment, he never seen Myungsoo’s family photos. It was almost as if they were non-existent. There were only photos of the kids he knew and scenery photos.

“Since I graduated high school? It has been around 7 years then.” Myungsoo told him. It was a pretty long time ago, then. It was the same with Woohyun who had to fend for himself ever since he graduated from high school.

“Where do your parents live?” Woohyun asked again. His voice sounded funny and he hated that.

“I don’t know them…” Myungsoo said in a quiet voice, “I lived in an orphanage and move out when I graduated.”

Oh. Woohyun didn’t know that because his data didn’t say anything about that. It kind of made sense now why Myungsoo volunteered at orphanages and why he care so much about kids. It kind of made Woohyun saw Myungsoo in a new light.

“Ah, I am sorry.”

“It’s okay, I am fine.” Myungsoo said, forcing himself to smile, “How about you?”

“Me?” Woohyun asked, not expecting Myungsoo to ask.

“Yes! How long have you lived by yourself?”

“Me?” Woohyun wondered if he should be honest. He forgot to think of a complete background of himself, because most of the times when he was with Myungsoo, he felt like he was just being himself, and not other people he was pretending to be. He felt an urge to be honest, though, even though he didn’t understand why, “I have been living all by myself for a really long time. My parents…well, I like to think that they’re maybe dead.”

“…Why?” Myungsoo asked instantly, before catching himself, “Oh! You don’t have to answer that, you should just…rest.”

Woohyun laughed a little. He didn’t feel so bad anymore now, sure he felt dizzy and his nose was runny. But he felt that he could talk with Myungsoo for a long time. He didn’t even want to rest because it was so boring just laying down in bed. But he didn’t have enough energy to go out too, so it was good that Myungsoo came.

“They kicked me out of the house when I insisted that I wanted to be a musician.”

And because I’m not completely straight.

The images of his parent showing up again on his mind and it made him angry again. It had been a long time since they talked to each other and they didn’t even have an effort to find him. It was the first time Woohyun was being completely honest to his target and it was a surprise for him to feel at ease telling personal things about himself.

“You wanted to be a musician?”

“Yeah, a singer, I have failed, though.” Woohyun said, bitterly. Life was not good because he kept failing and he didn’t understand why.

“You should keep trying.” Myungsoo frowned. Normally, Woohyun would feel angry when someone said that. But this time, he didn’t feel angry. Mostly because he understood Myungsoo. He said that because he was simply naïve.

“You have never even heard me singing.” Woohyun laughed.

“I’m sure you are wonderful, your voice is wonderful, even when you’re not singing,” Myungsoo said, full of conviction, “Have you ever written a song?”

“Yeah, I have written some songs, I always recorded them.” Woohyun said. He realized that it had been a long time since he talked about his passion in music. Time fled so fast.

“May I listen to them?” Myungsoo asked. He was using that look again, the puppy look that made Woohyun unable to refuse his request. He didn’t feel confident enough though to let other people listen to his songs, especially after those songs got rejected at a lot of places.

“I don’t think you should, my songs .”

“Don’t talk like that. I am sure they’re okay.”

Woohyun wondered how Myungsoo was able to feel so sure about Woohyun’s ability even though he knew nothing about it. Was he pretending? But he didn’t look like he was pretending and he honestly looked like he really wanted to take a listen.

“Fine, I’ll let you listen, but don’t mock me if they’re really bad.” Woohyun said, as he got up to take an mp3 player that he filled with only his songs. Sometimes he listened to it just to find out which part was wrong with the songs he wrote. He tossed it to Myungsoo who was waiting patiently and Myungsoo excitedly put the earphone into his ears and started to listen. Woohyun felt nervous because he was afraid that Myungsoo would hate the songs.

Myungsoo was so focused on listening that he ignored Woohyun, who was waiting for him to say something. Finally, after five minutes, he finally talked again.

“That was really good, Hyung. I don’t understand music, but that was really good. Your voice is so wonderful.”

Woohyun felt embarrassed by those compliments. No one ever complimented him in so much amazement. It felt nice, to be complimented.

“Thank you.” He said.

“The song is kind of sad, though…”

“Almost my songs are sad.”

Woohyun wrote those songs when he felt frustrated and depressed. He couldn’t write happy songs because it didn’t feel like it came from his heart.

“You should rest, I will listen to the other songs.”

Woohyun laughed and shook his head. He would just watch Myungsoo listening to his songs, then. It was better than feeling bored.

 

*****

 

They were just sitting on the sofa in Myungsoo’s apartment, watching an anime that Myungsoo seemed really invested in while Woohyun was just confused about the storyline because he didn’t watch the drama from the first episode. Even though Myungsoo had excitedly explained the storyline and the characters to him, Woohyun still really didn’t get it.

He was just thinking, about what he was going to do after everything was over, about how long he would be able to spend time with Myungsoo, when he suddenly thought that this was the right time to ask Myungsoo to be his boyfriend. He should try, at least. He was suddenly given a deadline just a few days ago and he somehow had to be able to steal Myungsoo’s wealth in a month the latest. He had screamed to Sungjong for the sudden deadline and Sungjong screamed back at him that he was not the one who decided on that. He had to admit that he had spent too much time on this mission—now it has almost been two months and Myungsoo and his relationship hadn’t progressed much other than being new best friends (kind of). Usually, it only took a month before he and his targets officially dated each other.

“This episode was disappointing.” Myungsoo whined, taking Woohyun out of his reverie. Woohyun looked at him and laughed because—yeah, he was going to confess to Myungsoo while Myungsoo was in a messy condition. Messy hair and unwashed face, simple t-shirt and a short, looking very comfortable. Woohyun came just because he really didn’t have anything to do anyway, and Myungsoo didn’t have anything to do, too. So it was better to spend time with each other—even though Woohyun really didn’t understand Myungsoo’s animes. Myungsoo’s presence was enough.

“Myungsoo.”

“Yes?”

“Umm…I need to tell you something.” Woohyun said and he started to wonder if this was not the right time. Myungsoo was a romantic, as he found out after knowing him for weeks, and he probably should set up a big moment to confess but—he also thought that it would be too much because the Myungsoo in his mind fit simplicity more than grand-scale events.

“Hm? Just tell me then.” Myungsoo said, smiling at him and fix his posture as if he was telling Woohyun that he was totally listening.

It was so weird that suddenly, Woohyun felt nervous. It had been a long time since Woohyun felt so nervous before telling someone that he liked them. It was almost as if—as if it was real. As if he really liked Myungsoo. Well—he did like Myungsoo. He was…special.

“It’s serious.” Woohyun said, trying to shake off the thought that maybe, he really loved Myungsoo for real. He shouldn’t—this was only a job.

“What? You aren’t dying or something, right?” Myungsoo asked, wide-eyed. People would think that he asked that playfully, but he was totally serious and Woohyun couldn’t help but laugh. But he also felt more nervous and—

God damn it.

“No, just…err…I know that we have only known each other for a while, now.” He said and he cursed himself because he didn’t sound smooth as all. Myungsoo didn’t really respond and still listening, Woohyun realized that he left the sentence sound hanging at that. He sighed and then took a deep breath again

“I think I like you.” He said, “No—I think I love you.”

Of course, what followed was the feeling of wanting to hide somewhere. Probably in the depth of hell.

Myungsoo didn’t respond and instead looked flustered. He seemed like he was not in this world anymore, as if his soul had fled to somewhere else.

“You…love me?” Myungsoo asked in disbelief. Woohyun rubbed the back of his head, starting to feel awkward. He never asked someone to go out with him in this way, before.

“Yes. I hope you’re not disgusted or something.”

“No! I’m not.” Myungsoo shouted and got surprised at his own loudness, he lowered the volume of his voice again when he continued, and “…I like you, too.”

“You do?”

Was it weird, that Woohyun felt relieved? He had suspected that Myungsoo liked him too, since there were no other guys around him and well—maybe he thought it was just his confidence talking. But now—he should feel happy that Myungsoo liking him meant that his job would be finished soon, but instead he felt happy simply because Myungsoo really liked him.

 “Yes?”

“Would you like to be my boyfriend, then?” Woohyun asked, feeling even more daring.

“Y—yes, sure.” Myungsoo bowed himself, probably feeling embarrassed. Woohyun felt embarrassed, too. He was supposed to be an expert at this but somehow—he felt like a young man in love again.

“Gosh, I feel like kissing you, now.” He said. If he had no boundaries, he would probably have kissed Myungsoo a long time ago even though he had no feelings for the man. It was mostly because he looked so kissable.

“Then kiss me.” Myungsoo said, as if daring Woohyun. Woohyun actually felt surprised that Myungsoo said that—it was unexpected to hear Myungsoo being frank. Maybe, Woohyun misjudged him on some things.

“Don’t regret this.” He said, as he sat closer to Myungsoo and took his face in his hands, leaning in as Myungsoo closed his eyes.

Woohyun started to kiss Myungsoo and closed his eyes too, letting his other senses guiding him. It was supposed to be just a simple kiss, but it grew into a more passionate kiss. It was because when Myungsoo finally held onto his neck as opened his mouth ever so slightly, Woohyun couldn’t help himself and let himself kissing Myungsoo deeper as Myungsoo let him do whatever he wanted.

It was a little messy…but it felt good.

 

*****

 

Dating Myungsoo meant a lot of cuddling, apparently. A lot of times, Woohyun slept at Myungsoo’s place and found himself cuddling Myungsoo in the morning, when they were both still sleepy. Woohyun didn’t mind it, though. It was the kind of intimacy that he liked. It felt nice, having someone to wake up to. There were a lot of times where Woohyun dreaded his targets because they were kind of annoying, but this was not one of those times.

Woohyun hugged Myungsoo from behind and they were cuddled under a layer of blanket. His arms wrapped around Myungsoo’s and their fingers were interlaced with each others’. It was not a morning, the night have just started and they were going to sleep after spending the day having a date and playing at a lot of places. They wanted to sleep but somehow, they couldn’t.

“Do you know why I only write children books?” Myungsoo randomly asked in a sleepy voice. It was so random that he brought that up.

“Why? Tell me.”

“I want kids to have a happy childhood,” Myungsoo explained, even though he knew that Woohyun understood that, “I want to make them happy.”

“I know that.” Woohyun told him.

“I wasn’t happy.” Myungsoo confessed and even though Woohyun had a hunch about that, this was the first time Myungsoo confirmed that, “I didn’t feel happy for a long time.”

“You…do you feel lonely?” Woohyun asked, hesitantly. He didn’t know much about Myungsoo’s past other than the things that Myungsoo had told him about. He just assumed that even though Myungsoo lived in an orphanage, he would still have a lot of friends.

“I did feel lonely,” Myungsoo confessed, “I had no family, no friends, and every time I tried to write a romance story it ended up as depressing and fake.”

Myungsoo laughed.

“I didn’t have any family too,” Woohyun said, “Maybe that’s why we fit each other so well.”

“Yeah,” Myungsoo agreed, “I felt happy, now, I managed to achieve my dreams and I had you now.”

Woohyun couldn’t reply to that. His heart felt an ache when he realized that Myungsoo really treasured him that much while he…he was just doing his job. It pained him when he realized that he would turn Myungsoo’s memory about him into a bad one. That he had a capability of breaking Myungsoo.

“Hyung, I love you.” Myungsoo said, before drifting off to sleep.

Woohyun ended up unable to sleep at all.

 

*****

 

There was a time that Woohyun tried testing how much Myungsoo would do for him, how much he was willing to spend money on him.

“Myungsoo-ya.”

“Yes?”

“Can I borrow some money?  I need to pay my rent but I don’t have enough money, now.”

“Sure, Hyung, how much?”

Woohyun bit his lips and he realized—no, he really couldn’t this. He really couldn’t use Myungsoo.

 

*****

 

“I can’t do this, anymore.”

Woohyun was silent as Sungjong screamed at him about how irresponsible he was and how careless he was. He called Sungjong to tell him that he wanted to stop doing this job and he already expected to get yelled at, but it was still annoying how Sungjong screamed at him. Sungjong accused him of letting himself swayed and letting his feelings get in the way, accused him of being careless and falling for Myungsoo for real.

Well, those were all true, but still…

“I just couldn’t do it,” Woohyun sighed, interrupting Sungjong because he was tired of listening to him, “Maybe I have fallen for him, but even if I didn’t fall for him, I doubt I would be able to do it.”

Myungsoo was too nice and what he was doing was too beneficial for a lot of people. He still had morals and no matter how hard Woohyun tried to ignore that, he couldn’t.

“Hyung, you know if you didn’t finish this job you could get fired.” Sungjong told him, as if Woohyun didn’t know that. He knew that well and he was not an important enough agent to keep.

“I know. I’m willing to take the consequences.” Woohyun sighed. Maybe it was time for him to go back to struggling and living the normal life.

“It’s up to you, then.” Sungjong said, sighing and giving up, “What are you going to do, then? Telling the truth to him?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out now.”

Honestly, he was not sure how to end this other than actually finishing his job.

“How if he reports you to the police?” Sungjong asked, “The agency would be found out and we will all lose our jobs.”

“I don’t know, Jong, I don’t know.”

“Okay, Hyung, I don’t care about what will you do but think about it carefully.” Sungjong advised him, “If you tell him the truth, will he stay with you?”

Probably not. That’s what Woohyun was scared of.

“Just don’t harm other people.”

 

*****

 

Woohyun watched Myungsoo drew, this time he was just drawing birds flying because he just wanted to draw but had no inspirations. He had been thinking about confessing about who he actually was to Myungsoo for days now, but he felt scared and wasn’t brave enough to actually confess.

“Myungsoo-ya.” He called out. Myungsoo turned his head to him.

“Yes, Hyung?”

“I need to tell you some things.” Woohyun said, feeling like he wanted to explode because he wanted to tell everything to Myungsoo but he didn’t want Myungsoo to leave him. He wanted to keep being with Myungsoo but that seemed impossible. He didn’t deserve Myungsoo, anyway.

“I am listening.”

“I…” He started to talk, but suddenly he didn’t want to anymore. He still wanted to spend a lot of times with Myungsoo, he was not ready to end everything.

 “…really love you.” He finally continued. This time, it was a real confession, coming from his heart.

Myungsoo smiled and it melted Woohyun.

“You have told me that a dozen times.”

“I…” he said again, prompting the words about the truth to come out, but they didn’t, “…I wrote a song, but I couldn’t think of any lyrics. Do you want to help me?”

He was a coward.

“Of course!”

 

*****

Myungsoo,

I am really sorry.

I never thought that I would really fall in love with you. I don’t want to do this to you, but I can’t stay with you anymore.

My name is not Lee Sungyeol. You don’t need to know my real name but you just need to know that I am not a person you thought I am. I was going to scam you—I was going to make you fall in love with me and rob you of your everything. But…I couldn’t do that anymore. I am sorry that I am being a coward and not tell you everything in person. You should forget me. Please live happily without me, I know I didn’t deserve you.

I am sorry. I love you.

Woohyun sighed as he put the letter in Myungsoo’s mailbox, along with an mp3 player that was filled with his songs. He had tried to tell him in person, really, but he couldn’t. He had decided to be a real coward and left first instead having Myungsoo leaving him. He really needed to end everything instead of making everything more complicated, so he did this instead.

It was a nice memory, but it needed to be stopped. He had to walk away and let Myungsoo had a better live without him.

It was funny. No matter what he did, he ended up breaking Myungsoo’s heart anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*****

 

Woohyun kicked the trash can as he felt anger bubbling from deep within himself. Working as a waiter and even though he had worked as a waiter a lot of times, it still .

It had been months since Woohyun left Myungsoo and he felt miserable ever since. He missed him but he could meet him. He was not fired from the agency because he simply told them that he couldn’t make Myungsoo fall for him. Sungjong backed him up on that. He resigned from the job, anyway, because he didn’t want to go through something like that again and he needed to live a straight life.

And now he was stuck with a frustrating job and a broken heart. He couldn’t believe that after months, he still couldn’t forget Myungsoo.

He screamed out loud in the alley, feeling frustrated that he had to go back to his job in a few minutes.

“You shouldn’t scream in public like that.” A voice suddenly said, making Wohyun turned his body and almost fell when he saw the person who said that.

Myungsoo. It was Myungsoo.

Woohyun slapped himself to see if this was a dream or not and he accidentally slapped himself too hard. Myungsoo laughed and it still sounded the same.

“Hello, I am Kim Myungsoo.” Myungsoo said, smiling and then holding out his hand, “What’s your name?”

Woohyun could only stare and wondered again if this was a dream.

 

End