Dusk (BL Light Novel)

While Gang Jaegyung was away, I pulled out my phone to kill some time and check the messages I’d received.
Just a few minutes ago, a message from Moon Seonhwa had come in, so I immediately tapped the notification and opened the chat room.
[Seonhwa]
Fighting IRL? 1:01 PM

[Me]
Yeah lol
Went all out 1:06 PM
[Seonhwa]
LOL
What did Retaking a Class say? 1:06 PM
[Me]
About what? 1:06 PM

[Seonhwa]
Did he apologize? 1:06 PM
[Me]
Yeah, sort of.
But it didn’t feel sincere.
— — 1:06 PM
[Seonhwa]
LOL
To be fair, he wasn’t entirely in the wrong, right? ^^ 1:06 PM

[Me]
He embarrassed me, so that counts as being wrong; 1:06 PM
[Seonhwa]
Oh yes, Lord Go Yeong; 1:06 PM
[Me]
;; 1:06 PM

Whether it’s this one or that one, everyone just wants to mess with me. I clicked my tongue in annoyance.
[Seonhwa]
So, when are you planning to break it off?
Since you’re already out, come hang out with me. 1:06 PM
[Me]
Not sure yet.
I’m on a cafe date right now. 1:07 PM

[Seonhwa]
What the hell, lol.
Hang out with me too. 😭 1:07 PM
[Me]
If it ends and I have time, sure. 1:07 PM
[Seonhwa]
😭 Okay. 1:07 PM

As I kept chatting with Moon Seonhwa, I sensed someone approaching nearby after a few minutes.
“Mind moving your arm for a sec?”
I turned my head to see Gang Jaegyung standing there, holding a massive tray. I hurriedly pulled my phone and hands closer to me. Gang Jaegyung placed the tray on the now-cleared table, and it was piled high with slices of cake and various pastries.
What the hell? Did he really buy all that?

“Hey, are you seriously planning to eat all—”
“Wait, there’s one more.”
Before I could even finish, he cut me off and rushed back to the counter. I stared after him in disbelief, watching as he returned with a round plate holding a piece of honey bread.

Once he set the honey bread down, it looked like a full-course dessert feast.
“Are you really going to eat all this?”
“Of course.”

Saying it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Gang Jaegyung handed me a silver fork.
“You eat too, Go Yeong.”
I took the fork he shoved into my hand, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the dessert spread. Just looking at it made my mouth water. As much as Gang Jaegyung loved sweet things and could eat a lot, could he really handle this much? Well, if he couldn’t finish it, we could always take it to go.

“If you want more, just let me know. I can order more,” he said nonchalantly.
Here I was, worried about leftovers, and he was acting as if we could keep ordering more without a care. This guy doesn’t even like sweets that much, so where’s all this confidence coming from?
Since it was already bought, I decided to start with the fruit cake in front of me. I cut off a small piece and took a bite. The fresh cream wasn’t as sweet as I expected, with a rich, nutty flavor. The sponge was soft and airy — not bad. Guess the place was famous for its desserts for a reason.

“That one you just had is the fresh fruit cake. How is it?”
“It’s good, I guess.”
My response seemed to excite him, as if he’d personally baked the cake. He started rattling off in rapid-fire about how this one was a caramel chocolate cake, that one was a strawberry chiffon cake, and that one over there was made with whatever ingredient. He went on and on as if he were a cafe owner pitching his best sellers.

The cafe owner would probably beam with pride if they saw him now.
“Alright, alright. Just eat already. You bought all this to eat, didn’t you?”
“Hmm… Not exactly.”

His words made me lift my head and stare at him. But despite my stare, Gang Jaegyung just kept smiling like a clueless idiot.
Who here likes sweets? Gang Jaegyung.
Who suggested dessert first? Gang Jaegyung.

Who handpicked all these cakes? Gang Jaegyung.
Anyone would think he bought it all for himself, but here he was acting like he didn’t. If you’re not ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) going to eat, who will?
“We’re just eating together. Together.”

He said that, cutting a piece of chocolate cake in half and popping it into his mouth. Then he offered the other half to me, saying it was good. I shook my head, not wanting to risk the sugar overload.
Gang Jaegyung shrugged, then stuffed the entire piece he was holding into his mouth in one bite.
I watched as his chubby cheeks puffed out, his skin faintly translucent as he chewed. It was oddly… endearing. Then I sliced off another piece of cake and ate it, deciding he could handle himself just fine.

Before I knew it, I was devouring slice after slice of cake. Gang Jaegyung, on the other hand, seemed to have lost interest after the chocolate cake and was now just watching me eat, barely touching anything.
After a while, a thought struck me. I put my fork down and opened my mouth to ask.
“Hey, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Gang Jaegyung tilted his head, listening.
“How did you get the money to upgrade to the Precision Set?”
I didn’t want to bring up game talk outside, but I couldn’t hold it in. The engraving scrolls were ridiculously expensive. Even someone as loaded as me wouldn’t waste money on temporary stat boosts.

But how did a regular bodyguard like Gang Jaegyung scrape up the cash for something like that? It was a dangerous move, too — if he messed up even slightly, he’d be busted.
“You gave it to me, Go Yeong.”
“…Me?”

I pointed at myself, completely baffled. Gang Jaegyung nodded.
What the hell did I give him? Everything I tried to give as a gift, he turned down. The only thing he ever took was that stack of eco bags and some merch…
“Oh, entering all seventy of those coupon codes was a pain. I thought I was going to die.”

Despite his complaint, his smile was bright. As I murmured the word “coupons” to myself, a memory suddenly clicked, and I couldn’t help but gasp.
The seventy coupon codes I secretly stuffed into his bag.
“I sold all the items from the coupons on the marketplace and made quite a bit of money. I added a little more and bought the engraving scrolls.”

“Jesus…”
I never imagined those coupon codes would come back to bite me like this.
“The biggest contributor to that Genocide event? You, Go Yeong.”

He said it with that annoyingly sweet smile, and I could only sigh, pressing a hand to my forehead.
“You want to go to a shooting cafe after we finish this? I found one nearby. It’s great for relieving stress and killing time.”
“You really went all out to hang out today, huh?”

“Well, yeah. Who knows when we’ll get to hang out again?”
His voice was full of excitement as he rambled on about the shooting cafe, claiming it was only a three-minute walk away. Honestly, I was a little tempted. It’s been three years since I last hung out outside.
“By the way, isn’t your uncle here today?”

Gang Jaegyung suddenly asked as he tore a piece of bread. Oh, right. He doesn’t know where Uncle is.
“He’s outside.”
“In this weather?”

I nodded. It was a bit hot, but bearable. Uncle always stayed close unless it was somewhere spacious and open like this.
“Well. You feel some camaraderie as a fellow bodyguard?”
“Not really. Just… he must have it tough.”

His tone was oddly flat as he continued eating, and I found myself thinking he was more cold-hearted than I thought.
“Anyway, he’s getting paid for it.”
“Yeah? How much?”

“Around eighty thousand a year.”
Gang Jaegyung’s fork slipped, the piece of bread he was holding falling onto the plate.
“…Eighty thousand?”

“Last time I checked, yeah.”
Gang Jaegyung picked up the fallen bread and popped it into his mouth, his expression tense. Same job, such a huge pay gap.
“How much do you make?”

“After taxes… about twenty-eight thousand.”
Damn… that’s rough.
“Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I was the one who asked.”
He muttered that it wasn’t about the pay difference, but with that expression, it was pretty obvious that was exactly the problem. Trying to downplay it just made him look even more pitiful.
I keep telling him, quit your job and just play games. I’ll feed you.

“…Go Yeong, I’m not trying to get close to you because you seem rich, okay?”
He sat there for a long while, frowning and looking down, before finally saying that. It was so out of nowhere that I just stared at him, sucking the cream off my fork and trying to figure out what the hell he was getting at. But then I figured he was just that shaken up.
Gang Jaegyung wasn’t the type to care about money anyway.

“I know.”
As soon as I said that, his expression relaxed, and he started tearing the bread he was holding into bite-sized pieces again. Maybe it was because of the pay talk earlier, but now he was chattering on about work, rambling about things that had happened on the job, then suddenly switching the topic to Dusk without any warning.
I just sat there, listening, occasionally responding while shoving more desserts into my mouth.

The stuff was seriously good.
And now, Gang Jaegyung was so busy rambling about cake that he didn’t even realize I was stealing his share right under his nose. I kept eating, thinking I kind of wanted to see him all pouty and sulky once he finally noticed he’d been robbed of his own desserts.