The moment Tae entered the house, his voice echoed through the living room.

“What the fuck are you two doing leaving the doors open?”

The second he stepped inside—

He stopped.

Yun, who had been following behind him, immediately lowered his gaze in embarrassment.

On the sofa—

Chairman Han and his wife were casually kissing without caring that someone had walked in.

Tae looked completely exhausted.

“Dad…”

“Can you two fucking stop?”

Neither of them looked embarrassed at all.

Instead, Chairman Han lazily glanced toward Tae.

“Oh?”

“Baby, when did you get home?”

The moment Yun heard the word “baby”—

A quiet smile tugged at Yun’s lips.

Tae noticed immediately.

“Don’t laugh.”

Then he glared at his father again.

“And stop calling me baby.”

“I know you left the doors open on purpose.”

Chairman Han placed a hand over his chest dramatically.

“Why would I ever do that?”

Before Tae could continue arguing—

His mother suddenly interrupted.

“Can both of you stop already?”

Then her eyes landed on Yun standing behind Tae.

“Oh?”

“And who’s this cute little guy?”

Yun straightened awkwardly after suddenly receiving all the attention.

Tae glanced toward him.

“He’s my friend. Yun.”

“Ohhh… Yun.”

A warm smile appeared on her face as she walked closer.

“Hi, Yun. I’m Tae’s mother.”

Yun quickly bowed politely.

“H-Hello, ma’am.”

The moment she heard that—

She immediately frowned.

“Ma’am sounds too distant.”

“You can just speak comfortably with us.”

From the sofa, Chairman Han suddenly raised his hand.

“Exactly.”

“We’re not scary people.”

Tae instantly looked at him.

“…That’s a lie.”

Chairman Han ignored him completely before grinning at Yun.

“If you stay around Tae long enough, you’ll probably end up calling us Mother and Father anyway.”

“Dad.”

“What?”

“You’re scaring him.”

“I’m being friendly.”

Tae’s mother sighed softly before smiling at Yun again.

“Don’t mind him.”

“He gets excited too easily.”

Yun looked between them in slight confusion.

They had only met him today—

Yet the atmosphere felt strangely warm.

Without realizing it, the tension in his shoulders slowly disappeared.

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

“…Okay.”

Chairman Han suddenly looked emotional.

“Did you hear that?”

“He said okay.”

Tae immediately grabbed Yun’s wrist.

“Enough.”

“That’s enough chatting.”

“We’re going to my room.”

Then he pulled Yun upstairs while his parents laughed behind them.

As soon as Yun stepped inside Tae’s room—

His eyes widened slightly.

The room was huge.

But unlike the rest of the house, everything inside felt dark.

Black walls.

Black furniture.

Even the curtains were dark-colored.

Yun slowly looked around the room.

“Tae…”

“Your house is really big.”

“I’ve never seen a house this big before.”

Tae placed his bag down casually.

“Really?”

Yun nodded.

“I went to another big house once…”

“But not as big as yours.”

Tae suddenly turned toward him.

“Wait.”

“You told me you’ve never been to a friend’s house before.”

Yun blinked.

“I haven’t.”

“Then where did you go?”

Yun looked down quietly for a moment.

“When I was younger, my grandmother used to clean rich people’s houses.”

“One day she collapsed while working.”

“The doctor told her to rest…”

“So I went instead of her.”

For a second—

Tae stayed silent.

“You cleaned houses?”

Yun nodded lightly.

“But I don’t do it anymore.”

Something about those words made Tae’s chest feel strangely heavy.

Soon, both of them sat down beside each other to study.

After a while, Yun glanced around the dark room again.

“Tae…”

“Why is everything black?”

“And why do you always wear black clothes too?”

Tae leaned back lazily against the chair.

“I just like black.”

Then after a short pause—

“Do you want to hear a secret?”

Yun nodded curiously.

Tae lowered his voice slightly.

“It represents another side of me.”

Yun blinked in confusion.

“…What?”

But Tae suddenly grabbed the notebook instead.

“Forget it.”

“Let’s study.”

Yun still looked confused, but he nodded anyway.

Soon—

The room became quiet except for the sound of pages turning.

After a few minutes, Tae slowly moved a little closer without realizing it.

Yun shifted slightly away while continuing to focus on the notebook.

Again—

Tae moved closer.

This time, Yun finally looked up.

“What is it, Tae?”

“…Yun.”

“Hm?”

“Can you explain this problem?”

Yun immediately pulled the notebook closer.

“This is easy though.”

“It looks difficult to me.”

Yun sighed softly before starting to explain anyway.

“Look carefully.”

He wrote down the equation slowly.

“Move the four first.”

While Yun explained the problem—

Tae stopped paying attention to the notebook completely.

Instead—

His eyes remained fixed on Yun.

The way his lashes lowered when he focused.

The softness of his lips while speaking.

The warmth in his eyes.

Without realizing it, Tae’s gaze slowly drifted lower.

Yun suddenly looked up.

“Tae?”

“Hm?”

“Are you even listening?”

“Yeah.”

But even while answering—

His eyes stayed on Yun’s lips.

For a moment—

Neither of them spoke.

The atmosphere inside the room slowly became heavier.

Closer.

Yun’s breathing unconsciously slowed.

And Tae slowly leaned forward without taking his eyes off him.

The distance between them became smaller and smaller—

Until suddenly—

The door opened.

“Tae—”

His mother stopped mid-sentence.

Then blinked slowly at the two of them. is this all okay