Without any preparation, Hyowoo was suddenly pulled into his embrace.
“Do you dislike it?”
Lee Seohee whispered quietly in Hyowoo’s ear as he froze in an awkward attention stance.
Like his body, his mouth seemed frozen too—no words came out. Worried he might misunderstand it as dislike, he hurriedly shook his head.
“That’s a relief.”
At his low laughter, the skin from his neck to his ears, which had been pale, flushed red.
‘I… how old am I, getting flustered over just this…’
He needlessly lowered his head to hide his increasingly reddening face.
Perhaps finding that embarrassed appearance cute, Lee Seohee wrapped his arm around his slender waist and pulled him even closer.
The two, who had a 16cm height difference, also had almost double the weight difference.
Being held like this made the gap feel even more apparent. He really was like a small rabbit being held by a bear.
His heart pounded wildly without permission. He didn’t want him to hear the thumping sound.
How could he escape from his embrace? If he pushed hard, maybe he’d let go.
After racking his brain like that for a moment, Hyowoo soon gave up.
‘Even if I push, would this person budge? How could I possibly win against an active athlete…’
He accepted the reality that escaping from his embrace was impossible. Giving up on the idea that it couldn’t be helped if his heartbeat was heard, he released the tension from his stiffened shoulders.
He carefully wrapped his hands around his broad back, and his head naturally leaned against his chest.
As he entrusted his body comfortably, his confused mind gradually calmed down.
‘They said he has a lot of body heat, and it’s really true…’
The warm body temperature was transmitted directly. Even though the nights were muggy now, he didn’t dislike that warmth.
Contrary to his expectation that a muscular body would feel hard or uncomfortable to be held against, his embrace was cozy. Rather, he worried whether he might be uncomfortable holding such a thin body with only protruding bones.
‘It must feel like holding an angular log… I wonder if he’s okay…’
When he exhaled softly, a refreshing scent like a midsummer valley brushed his nose. It was the smell of the cologne he always used.
‘There’s some other scent besides the cologne… Is it his body odor?’
It was a gentle fragrance that somehow harmonized with the refreshing cologne, a scent that put his mind at ease.
‘So a regular person’s body can smell this good…’
It was fascinating, since Alphas shouldn’t emit fragrant pheromones.
Drawn by that pleasant scent, Hyowoo unconsciously burrowed into his embrace. Then he gently stroked his head. Rustle, rustle—at the tender touch, his eyes slowly closed.
“Hyowoo-ssi.”
“…Yes.”
“I like you.”
At the affectionate whisper, Hyowoo slowly opened his eyes.
He could feel his heartbeat quicken ever so slightly.
‘Even though he looks calm on the outside, I guess this person also gets embarrassed when saying things like this…’
He still didn’t know why he liked him, but at least he no longer doubted the ‘feeling of liking’ itself.
The cozy and comfortable embrace.
The warm scent.
The rapidly beating heart.
The gentle hand stroking his head.
The sincere confession.
Thinking that all of this was solely for him, his eyes gently moistened.
‘This must definitely be a dream… A futile dream that can only be enjoyed for the time given…’
Sweet enough to melt while dreaming, but disappearing without a trace upon waking.
A beautiful, cruel dream.
That’s why this moment felt even more precious, happy, and achingly sad, making his heart sting.
“I like you.”
“……”
“I’m telling you I like you.”
He whispered once more in Hyowoo’s ear, who seemed about to burst into tears at any moment.
‘…Does he think I still don’t believe his sincerity? Or is he hoping I’ll say I like him too?’
It was a feeling that his noona, younger sibling, and even Taeseo had noticed. There was no way he, who was so perceptive, didn’t know.
But even if his feelings for him were exposed, he couldn’t voice them out loud.
Lee Seohee was someone a defective product like himself shouldn’t dare to covet. His resolve that he was someone who must be sent away soon remained unchanged.
‘Then… what should I answer…?’
After just moving his lips for a while, Hyowoo finally opened his mouth.
“Th… thank you.”
For a moment, his hand that was stroking Hyowoo’s head stopped. At the same time, the confession whispering ‘I like you’ also stopped.
‘…What kind of stupid thing did I just say…’
Only after finishing his words did Hyowoo realize what he had said, and he panicked greatly.
‘Saying thank you to someone who says they like you…’
After all that agonizing, that’s what came out. It was utterly embarrassing.
If he himself was dumbfounded by what he said, how absurd must it have been for him who heard it?
‘He… he must think I’m strange, right? No, wait, did I make him uncomfortable? What if I upset him…’
Hyowoo’s chronic condition, ‘endless worry that keeps snowballing,’ activated once again.
Just as he was gradually falling into panic while imagining the worst-case scenario that hadn’t even happened yet, he, who had been quiet, suddenly burst into laughter.
“Pfft… Hyo… Hyowoo-ssi, just now… that answer… Keke…”
He tried desperately to hold back the escaping laughter, but ultimately failing, he began to laugh out loud. At that sight, Hyowoo’s bewildered eyes widened round like a startled rabbit.
“Why, why are you laughing…?”
“Because it’s so refreshing and amusing. Saying thank you to someone who says they like you, keke…”
“If, if you’re going to keep laughing like that… please let me go.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, I’ll stop laughing… Puhaha!”
Even while saying with his mouth that he’d stop laughing, he still couldn’t contain his laughter.
Not knowing how he felt and laughing like that made him subtly angry.
Hyowoo pushed him with all his might, asking to be let go, but as expected, it wasn’t enough to escape from his embrace.
“Stop laughing and hurry up and leave. My parents will be arriving soon…”
It was when he was struggling desperately to release the arm around his waist. He lightly swept aside Hyowoo’s bangs.
Soon he felt something warm touch his forehead.
‘Huh…?’
A moist sensation that touched briefly and pulled away, lasting barely a second.
It didn’t take long to realize that it was a ‘kiss.’
“Thank you. For being grateful.”
Unlike before, it was a warm voice with not a hint of teasing.
When he slowly raised his head, he saw an endlessly affectionate smile.
Was it because he was startled by the sudden kiss? Hyowoo, who would normally have already averted his gaze, stared blankly at his face.
The sight of him blinking silently with his lips slightly parted was unbearably lovely.
Lee Seohee brought his hand to his cheek, colored in a pretty shade.
He carefully traced with his fingertips down the soft cheek that still had fine fuzz.
“It’s gotten quite late. I’ll be going now.”
He looked like he wanted to stay even one more minute or second, but he knew that Hyowoo hadn’t said anything to his parents yet. Leaving his reluctance behind, Lee Seohee carefully let go of Hyowoo.
“Go inside now. If I keep you here any longer, Gyeonwoo-ssi will come out looking for you.”
“Ah… I… Still, I’ll walk you to your car…”
“I parked the car quite far away. Don’t come out far when it’s dark.”
“But…”
“If Hyowoo-ssi walks me out, I’ll just take you back to the front of your house, you know? It’s really fine, so go inside now.”
Hyowoo was someone who, once stubborn, would go all the way, but just this once, unable to resist his persuasion, he obediently nodded.
On another note, he was also a bit relieved.
‘That’s good. I was at a loss about what to say while walking to the car… and I don’t think I could look at his face properly…’
When he unconsciously touched his forehead, he smiled brightly.
“You didn’t forget we agreed to meet tomorrow afternoon, right?”
“Yes? Ah, yes…”
“Then see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.”
“Seohee-ssi, get home safely too.”
Though they had exchanged final goodbyes, Hyowoo couldn’t quite take a step. The thought that it wasn’t polite not to see a guest off to the end wouldn’t leave his mind.
‘Should I go to the car with him after all? But after we’ve already said our final goodbyes, would it be too awkward to do this now?’
Watching him hesitate, unable to do this or that, he burst into laughter again.
“What’s bothering you so much?”
“Yes? No… nothing like that…”
“What do you mean nothing. It’s written all over your face. Or maybe, are you worried I might get kidnapped or something?”
“…Why would I worry about that? If someone tried to kidnap Seohee-ssi, the kidnapper would probably get kidnapped instead…”
“Haha, that’s right. So stop worrying and go inside. Then I can go home too.”
He had already perfectly grasped Hyowoo’s thoughtful and worry-prone personality and patterns.
A smart person who was quick-witted and read the atmosphere well. He felt once again that he was an opponent he absolutely couldn’t beat.
At his words that he wouldn’t move a single step until he confirmed he got inside safely, he finally turned around. Feeling sorry, he stopped climbing the stairs and looked back, and Lee Seohee urged him on.
“I’ll be here until I can’t see Hyowoo-ssi, so if you want to send me off quickly, hurry inside.”
He just gave a slight nod to him who was waving with a smile and climbed the stairs.
‘Phew, I’m glad I didn’t trigger a heat…’
But his heart was still pounding, and his face was burning. If he went home in this state, it was obvious as day that Gyeonwoo would tease him. He walked as slowly as possible so he could go in as late as possible.
Though it would take 10 seconds to reach the first-floor entrance of the apartment, he dragged it out for 3 minutes before arriving, but Hyowoo just stood there blankly, staring at the door handle.
‘I should hurry inside. At this rate, Gyeonwoo really will come running out…’
The moment he barely pulled himself together and tried to grab the handle, his hand dropped down with a thud, powerlessly. The strength left his knees too, and his body gradually sank down.
‘I shouldn’t be like this…’
In the end, Hyowoo, crouched in front of the door, buried his face between his knees and murmured, ‘This is the worst.’
‘…I know I shouldn’t, but I keep wanting more of that person…’
