“It’s okay. I’m here now.”
Evan’s lips curled up slightly as he soothed Siwoo, who was crying out loud like a child with his arms wrapped around Evan’s neck, his face buried in Evan’s shoulder and nape. The heavy emotions that had been weighing him down were disappearing.
“……I’m sorry.”
After crying his heart out in Evan’s arms, Siwoo once again apologized to the camera directors, overwhelmed by the embarrassment that came flooding in. He couldn’t think of anything. He had completely forgotten that they were filming.
“I really…… I’m not usually this scared of these things.”
Excuses tumbled out in mumbles from Siwoo’s mouth as he wiped his wet cheeks with his hands.
“Let’s go out through the middle door.”
Since there were doors here and there for people who gave up midway to exit, Evan spoke while gently stroking the back of Siwoo’s head.
“The name tag.”
“We can fail the mission. No one wants you to force yourself to do this.”
“But still, there’s a free-use ticket at stake.”
“So you’re going to find the name tag and go all the way to the end?”
Siwoo had been trembling terribly in fear just moments ago. Plus, he was still scared even now. They didn’t need to measure heart rates in the haunted house, so the heart rate monitor had been removed, but if he’d still been wearing it, it would have been a situation worthy of setting a record.
Evan remembered exactly how Siwoo’s heart had been pounding as if it would burst just moments ago.
When Siwoo’s hesitant head moved up and down, a small sigh escaped from Evan’s mouth as he waited behind him for his decision.
“Then we have to go all the way to the end, I guess. Anyway, I came in here too. Can we go together?”
It sounded like he was asking the camera directors for permission, but it was already more of a notification that they would go together rather than asking for consent.
“Should I go first?”
Seeing Siwoo looking up at him with a wet face while clutching the collar of his top, saying he must find the name tag, Evan spoke while suppressing the laughter that seemed ready to burst out. The emotional synchronization that had been raging for a while was now suddenly cut off.
But he could laugh like this because he knew Siwoo had overcome the heavy emotions. Although it would be hard to see clearly in the dark, surely his eyes, nose, and lips were all flushed red. His long, dense eyebrows must be completely wet.
Just as Evan’s thoughts were drifting to strange places, small hands pushed his body. As if unable to bring himself to tell Evan to go first, Siwoo pushed him firmly with his hands, and Evan reluctantly moved his feet as if walking. The corners of Evan’s mouth rose freely now as he started walking about a step ahead of Siwoo.
At first, Siwoo had been holding onto his collar, but before long, he was tightly hugging Evan’s right arm.
“Euhuk……”
“It’s just a bat doll.”
Siwoo let out another instinctive sound as a black object passed overhead making an irritating noise. At the same time, Evan had to turn around because Siwoo, while hugging his arm, was stepping backward.
“I…… I know that too.”
Embarrassed after being so startled, Siwoo grumbled while looking elsewhere. When Evan lightly pulled his right arm, Siwoo shuffled forward. Then they started walking side by side, but after just a few steps, Siwoo’s body fell behind.
If the virgin ghost who had popped out earlier didn’t have Siwoo’s name tag, there was a high probability that the zombie that would appear next had it. Thinking that a zombie should appear around here, Evan looked around and slowed his walking pace a bit.
“Now……”
The zombie popping out of the cabinet was faster than Evan getting out the words that a zombie would appear now.
The moment the staff member wearing horrific zombie makeup approached with a groaning sound while giving it their all in acting, Evan had definitely tried to put Siwoo behind him.
“No! Don’t come!!!!!! Don’t come!!!!!!!”
Siwoo, who had definitely been behind him, had somehow come forward and hugged Evan. And with strength that seemed impossible from that small body, he held himself tightly and pushed backward as he tried to go forward. A short sigh escaped from Evan’s mouth as he ended up receiving Siwoo’s protection.
Protecting him while showing his back to the zombie? Although it was a hypothetical situation, Evan’s expression, which had been frozen cold after suppressing his laughter at how cute Siwoo’s reactions had been until just now, hardened coldly.
“Uaaah…… Please don’t come!!!!!!!!”
Siwoo, who had pushed Evan all the way to one wall, looked back at the approaching sound and screamed again desperately. The zombie was coming closer to give him the name tag it was holding, but from Siwoo’s perspective, it was horrifying.
If he was that scared, he should just push himself toward the zombie and hide behind instead. Because Siwoo’s small body could easily be covered. But Siwoo was trying to protect him even while screaming and making a fuss.
Even though he didn’t have the courage to repel or attack the zombie because he was scared of it…….
Kim Siwoo, what am I supposed to do with you?
Evan, who had wrapped one arm around Siwoo who was in his embrace, snatched the name tag from the zombie’s hand. Then the staff member, having completed their job, turned their body to the other side while continuing to make unpleasant sounds.
“It’s gone.”
There are things that can be known without saying. A single action conveyed deeper sincerity than saying something a thousand times. Evan, looking at the two cameras filming everything right next to them, muttered quietly.
Honestly, spending the same time over and over, he had never really harbored any great dissatisfaction. He had tried everything he wanted to do. Later on, there was even the fun of watching everything flow according to his plan. He was just bored, idle, and lonely.
He had played around with his family’s overflowing power and dabbled in every field he was interested in. There was only one time he had been angry at this insane fate. The day Siwoo disappeared before his eyes.
But when he met Siwoo again, that anger also disappeared in an instant. Because they met again. They spent more time together than in the previous timeline, and countless memories accumulated. They were still accumulating even now. He had also unraveled hidden secrets.
The day Siwoo, who had only pushed him away and avoided him, opened his heart to him. He thought he had gained the world. There had been no happier moment than that until now, and his confidence pierced the sky.
He was confident that if he went back again, he could just find him, meet him again, and do everything again.
Because he had that ability.
For the first time, Evan cursed his fate. If there was a devil, he wanted to sell even his soul. For the sake of this precious person, because he wanted to continue being with this person. He wanted to be together not for a few short years, but for decades.
“Is it gone?”
He could clearly feel Siwoo’s body, which had been clutching his collar tightly and burying his face near his shoulder, lose a bit of strength and let out a small sigh. Recalling the conversation that had continued without awkwardness even when bringing up the previous timeline, a sense of heaviness washed over him.
“……Yeah. Here’s the name tag.”
This too will accumulate, in my memories.
“Awesome! Awesome. The name tag. Was it that zombie?”
Siwoo, who had been frozen until just now, checked the name tag in Evan’s hand and quickly escaped from Evan’s embrace as if he hadn’t been clinging to him just moments ago.
“Let’s go.”
Siwoo, who had carefully put the name tag Evan handed him into the front pocket of the hoodie he was wearing, walked ahead holding Evan’s hand with courage from who knows where, while Evan was still leaning against the wall.
“Euaak!! Euaaak!!!”
After walking just a few steps, he again sought Evan and started walking while hanging on his arm, but his expression didn’t change as he watched Siwoo moving busily in the darkness. When Siwoo was startled and burrowed into his embrace seeking him, he hugged him, and when he fell behind, he walked in step with him.
In a space where darkness hid many things, Evan focused only on Siwoo. There wasn’t even enough time to fight, to hate, or to struggle.
“We’re here.”
Siwoo, who had been stuck right behind his back pulling on his clothes and burying his face, hopped forward. Looking back while pushing the tightly closed door open with both hands, Siwoo turned around.
Light came to the end of the dark tunnel. A bright smile was on Siwoo’s face, which was a mess from crying. Watching Siwoo, who had gone ahead, put his hand into his hoodie pocket to take out the name tag and wave it around, Evan swallowed the saliva that had pooled in his mouth.
Evan raised his hand and rubbed his lips as if crushing them. His expression, which had been rigidly hardened with darkness deeply settled, changed completely as if putting on a mask.
Evan, who had created a leisurely and confident expression, opened the closing door and went outside.
“Siwoo-ssi, how was today’s ‘haunted house’?”
After explaining the mission score conversion and lottery to determine how many free-use tickets would go to the fans, Chan’s following question made Siwoo stroke his cheeks awkwardly with an embarrassed expression.
“Well. That…… it was scarier than I thought. I went in alone, you know. Evan came in halfway through, but still, I made it to the end.”
Although he had gotten makeup touch-ups after coming out of the haunted house, he still couldn’t completely cover things like his flushed cheeks or reddened eyes. Since he knew that his crying and wailing would all be shown on the broadcast anyway, it was better to be honest rather than make excuses.
“With this, we’ve learned that there are things even Siwoo-ssi can’t do. Isn’t that right?”
“Our Siwoo, who can do anything, doesn’t like ghosts and zombies either.”
Sangjun chimed in with Chan’s words.
“Siwoo-ssi. But how do you think you’ll feel when you find out the members deceived you?”
Sometimes the PD’s voice would be included in the broadcast. Most of the time they communicated through hand gestures or writing content on a sketchbook, but everyone’s attention turned to the PD at the suddenly interjected words. Most of all, Siwoo’s eyes widened.
“Pardon?”
“When deciding which team would enter the haunted house, what if there was a backdoor deal?”
As the PD continued the story with a grin, Siwoo, who had been blinking his big eyes, suddenly turned his head to the side. Chan was staring intently at the cue sheet as if some important words were written there, and Sangjun suddenly sat down clutching his chest saying it hurt. Yechan, looking up at the sky saying the moon was pretty, came into view.
And his gaze reached Evan, who was standing crookedly with his arms crossed.
“Wait a minute. You plotted this without me knowing? There wasn’t time for that? Chan-hyung proceeded right away.”
Words poured rapidly from Siwoo’s mouth, who hadn’t properly grasped the situation yet. It was Siwoo’s habit that came out when he was flustered or surprised or in such situations.
“Ask the members.”
“But…… there really wasn’t time for that. Evan too?”
Siwoo, who had been tilting his head, blinking his eyes, and touching his lower lip, let out a “huh-” sigh at Evan’s action of hesitantly stepping back.
“No. I didn’t plot anything. That… Yechan was…… Since Yechan was next to you too, of course.”
“Wow…… Really? You all plotted? To send me alone? Wow…… Evan, Evan Lewis. You……”
Until then, Siwoo, who had been thinking “no way, no way,” saw Evan, who absolutely never stammered, become flustered and speak incoherently, and swept his hair back with one hand. With that rough action, the dinosaur headband he had been wearing nicely fell to the floor with a thud.
“Wow……! They say there’s no one to trust in this world. Even Evanie…… Wow…… We’re really breaking up. I’m not playing with you. Don’t even talk to me. Don’t come to my room either. I’m not friends with you.”
Siwoo’s gaze as he looked at Evan with a crooked pose and tone not easily seen on broadcasts, as if dumbfounded, was not ordinary.
“Hey! That’s not it.”
“What do you mean that’s not it!”
Whether the two fought or whatever, the PD called “cut” with a satisfied smile. Whether to include this scene in the main broadcast or bundle it as behind-the-scenes footage was entirely his to decide.
