Haeyoung’s brow, which had been smooth as ice, crumpled slightly. His long, straight fingers grabbed Seonwoo’s shoulder without hesitation and lightly blocked his approach.
Seonwoo, who had been persistently watching him wavering as if about to give in but still pushing him away, soon slowly lowered his gaze. Then he straightened his upper body, which had been leaning toward Haeyoung, and pulled back. He could see the anxiety gradually fading from the face that had been flustered as if cornered against a wall just from being close.
It seemed only one person in this place felt anxiety from the increasing distance instead. And Cha Seonwoo knew that person was himself.
The hand that had barely reached but had to be forcibly withdrawn fell downward and curled inward with force. However, he only looked down at Haeyoung with the same affectionate gaze as before, hiding the impatient air he had unknowingly revealed. Haeyoung grumbled with a face from which the alcohol had completely fled.
“Th-there’s no place here without cameras, so how can we have a secret relationship?”
At the rebuttal that came from an unexpected angle, Seonwoo’s eyebrows momentarily lifted upward. But Haeyoung, unable to see Seonwoo like that, was mulling over the words he had just spoken.
There’s no place without cameras. Only after saying it out loud did Yoon Haeyoung reflexively clutch his head at the reality that had suddenly arrived.
The reason they had been able to avoid being caught by others during their long relationship was because those people were just passersby. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been careful every moment, but what Haeyoung mainly guarded against was the gaze of others. When he was already overwhelmed with being conscious of those living together, if he had to be conscious of cameras too, he wouldn’t be able to let his guard down for even a moment.
“Ah……”
At the low sigh that flowed out from between his tightly closed lips, Seonwoo, who had been quietly watching, slowly opened his mouth.
“Don’t worry, Haeyoung-ah.”
It was a voice so gentle it felt calm. Haeyoung, who had lowered the hand that had been clutching his head, looked up at Seonwoo with a hint of injustice.
“…How do you know what I’m worried about.”
“Whatever it is.”
Meeting eyes with Haeyoung looking up at him, Seonwoo gently soothed him.
“Nothing you’re worried about will happen.”
“……”
Haeyoung felt a pressure as if the inside of his ribcage had briefly constricted. It was enough pressure that he didn’t even notice he had stopped breathing for a moment. And he already knew what caused that brief pain without trying to figure it out. Cha Seonwoo, embedded there like a fragment.
Even in moments like this, he always prioritized Haeyoung’s feelings over his own. As he always had. And Haeyoung, feeling that absolute consideration in its entirety, bit his lip while soothing his churning insides. Sometimes, very occasionally, he made Haeyoung newly realize the fact that he was younger than him.
‘I don’t care what happens to this program, Yoon Haeyoung. Honestly speaking… I just want to overturn it.’
Suddenly the words he had said on the first day of entering this place came back to life and crossed his mind. Though he didn’t know why those words suddenly came to mind, Haeyoung thought they wouldn’t remain completely his unfounded worry.
Appearing on this program could only be harmful to him, never beneficial. He never did things that could be problematic. For Cha Seonwoo, the only flaw was…….
Only himself. Toward Haeyoung, who was swallowing a sigh, Seonwoo reached out his hand.
“I told you I’d let you do everything you want to do. It’s the same now as it was then.”
A voice that made him feel like he was standing in spring sunshine despite living in winter, an affectionate gaze, and a touch as if handling something very precious. He carefully covered the outer garment that had slipped down a bit while stepping back. At the affection reaching his shoulders, Haeyoung looked up at him without being able to say anything.
He, who had been fiddling with the collar with his gaze lowered, soon put strength into his fingertips and let out a voice tinged with laughter.
“I could really be good at supporting you from behind…”
As he said this and glanced up to look at him, his long eyelashes swayed like waves. Even in the darkness, his distinctively colored eyes were looking at him intently.
Haeyoung, who had been watching that sight as if entranced without realizing it, soon came to his senses and twisted his mouth. Words that would just be laughed off if someone else said them definitely approached differently when Seonwoo said them—it must be largely due to his face.
I almost fell for it again. Toward Seonwoo, who was smiling while looking at him, Yoon Haeyoung sent a crooked gaze.
“Hyung still thinks of me like the twenty-year-old Yoon Haeyoung when you first saw me, right? But, hyung. I’m twenty-six now too. Do you think I’ll just fall for it every time you flirt?”
A voice mixed with an empty laugh flew toward Seonwoo. Cha Seonwoo, who had been watching the corner of his mouth rise crookedly, folded his eyes in laughter and let out a clumsy voice.
“Please fall for me, Haeyoung-ah….”
Cha Seonwoo had liked the twenty-year-old Yoon Haeyoung and liked the twenty-six-year-old Yoon Haeyoung even more. The time when he could contain all his emotions within words like “like” and “love” had long since passed.
His feelings of affection didn’t diminish at all but rather only added more weight, but if the other person couldn’t handle it, there was nothing he could do. Except to reduce it to a size they could accept and show it.
“Don’t smile with your eyes, really.”
Seeing Seonwoo smiling gently, Haeyoung raised his hand to cover his own mouth. Though the eye shape revealed above his straight hand was sharply glaring at Seonwoo, Seonwoo only stretched his lips long without erasing his smile.
“I told you not to.”
However, even though he made stern threats, Haeyoung turned around as if he wouldn’t say anymore at the smile that became increasingly sorrowful. He could hear footsteps following him as he strode into the house first.
But soon at the muttering heard from behind him, Yoon Haeyoung had to straighten his back as if electricity had shot through his spine.
“…I’ll have to work harder.”
Work harder at what. Don’t.
Swallowing down the words he couldn’t manage to say, Haeyoung walked even faster. The problem was that even if he ran away from that spot right now, ultimately their destination was the same.
All the way to the bedroom, Haeyoung thought there must definitely still be alcohol in his system. Because if not, he couldn’t explain the burning inside as if he had swallowed embers.
***
As always, the first thing Haeyoung did when greeting the morning was check his phone. He rummaged through the head of his bed, grabbed his phone, and checked the time with a disheveled face.
The hangover definitely played a role in being able to wake up before his alarm. Though it wasn’t to the point of being painful, Haeyoung, sitting at the edge of the bed and pressing down on his head that was faintly throbbing, swallowed a curse inwardly.
He was crazy for drinking when he knew he had to go to work the next day. It seemed he had enjoyed chatting with his same-age friend after a long time more than expected. He should have restrained himself, but his mistake was clinking glasses with Minho every single time he offered.
What approached Haeyoung, who was reproaching himself, was a mug with warm steam rising from it.
“Haeyoung-ah, this.”
At Seonwoo’s voice—he didn’t know when he had come in and stood beside him—Haeyoung raised his head. Seonwoo, who seemed to have already finished all his preparations for work as he was dressed in a form-fitting suit with only his outer coat not yet on, was holding a mug.
Haeyoung, who had habitually been clutching his head, reached out his hand and received the cup, then belatedly hesitated. When he checked the contents, a sweet honey scent was rising as if it were natural. After looking at it for a moment, he carefully brought the mug to his lips.
Unlike his appearance that suggested he would readily drink strong liquor or expensive wine, Cha Seonwoo couldn’t drink well. He knew this about himself so he tended not to drink much, but despite that, the day after Haeyoung came home drunk, he would make honey water—something he had probably never done in his life—and find things for him to eat for his hangover. Haeyoung, who was reflexively mulling over the past, licked down the sweetness he felt on his lips with his tongue.
“Haeyoung-ah.”
“Hm?”
Haeyoung, who had been silently sipping the honey water, startled and raised his gaze at the voice calling him. His mind, which had become drowsy from the warmth heating his insides, quickly returned. Cha Seonwoo, looking at the face of Haeyoung blankly looking up at him as if asking why he called, soon shook his head without saying anything.
“Come down when you’re ready. Let’s eat breakfast before we go.”
“…Okay.”
Haeyoung, who had been watching him smile as usual and turn around, raised the mug again. His hand holding the mug, which hadn’t cooled yet as if it had just been boiled, became warm. When he brought it to his mouth and sipped, the inside of his mouth, where sweetness spread, also quickly became warm.
Haeyoung only got up after drinking everything in the cup without leaving a drop. It was time to cool his face that had flushed from the heat of the mug.
Yoon Haeyoung, who had quickly washed up and finished preparing for work, discovered Minho coming out of his room just as he was about to go down the stairs. His face was quite clean as if he too had just washed up. But seeing his expression that didn’t look very good, perhaps because he had drunk even more than Haeyoung yesterday, Haeyoung let out a brief chuckle.
“Haeyoung, are you okay?”
“You… don’t seem to be in a position to worry about me.”
Looking at Minho approaching his side, he wore a playful smile on his face. And only after Minho had completely come to stand beside him did he slowly step down the stairs. He kept Minho positioned toward the railing side of the stairs in case he staggered.
In the dining room they entered upon arriving on the first floor, Jaehwi was already there first, no different from yesterday. Seeing the soup bowl in front of him, Minho, who was standing beside Haeyoung, made a tearful face.
“Soup from the morning? Jaehwi hyung, are you British?”
“It’s not mine, it’s yours. For your hangover.”
Jaehwi, who was bringing a spoonful of soup to his mouth, answered slowly. At those words, Minho’s whining could be heard from the side.
“Who cures a hangover with soup….”
Right? Haeyoung, who turned his gaze obliquely away from Minho seeking agreement while looking at him, silently approached the table. Here was one. …Someone who cures hangovers with soup.
