Seongjo turned to look at Yujeong’s face and examined his expression. For him, sleeping in one bed was no problem at all and was actually welcome, but he didn’t know how Yujeong would feel about it.
Yujeong answered without looking back at Seongjo.
“Yes, it’s fine.”
Before Seongjo could step forward, Yujeong took out his card and finished the payment, then immediately received two card keys and walked toward the elevator. Seongjo stuck his hands in his pockets and followed alongside him. Inwardly, he found it amusing. Because this situation was new.
Including Jo Yeongbeom, whenever he’d met anyone until now, paying for accommodation had been Seongjo’s role. It wasn’t that his partners had pushed that role onto him, but rather that Seongjo himself had taken it for granted.
It was because having his partner pay when he was supposedly a third-generation chaebol felt like stealing pocket money from a child. Even if the other person was a working adult with the means, it was the same. Since the standards of comparison themselves were different, there wasn’t much of a difference.
So watching Yujeong present his card as if it were natural, he didn’t know what kind of feeling he should have. Saying it was admirable seemed too arrogant, should he say he was moved? Or maybe that it was cute?
The card key Yujeong received had the number ‘203’ written on it. They’d said the rooms with ocean views were all taken, and since it was a low floor, they couldn’t expect much of a view, but since they were only planning to stay for one night anyway, it didn’t really matter.
But once they actually entered the room, the sight felt truly unfamiliar. Seongjo, who had almost unconsciously blurted out something obnoxious like “Is it okay for accommodations to be this small?”, barely managed to close his mouth and swallow his words. Instead, he strode toward the bed in the center of the room.
When he roughly tossed aside his outerwear and flopped down spread-eagled, the double bed was filled with just Seongjo alone.
“Ah, now that I see the bed, I’m tired.”
Yujeong just quietly looked down at Seongjo like that. He’d expected nagging to come out, telling him not to lie on the bed in his outdoor clothes or to wash up first, but unexpectedly that didn’t happen. Rather, Yujeong spoke in a generous voice.
“You worked hard. Driving.”
“Mm…”
Seongjo made a sound that could have been a response or just a tired groan as he rolled on the bed.
“I’m sleepy, but I should still wash up.”
“Of course. Should I help you up?”
“No, Teacher Jeon, you wash up first.”
Seongjo pushed Yujeong toward the bathroom first without hiding his tired voice. He had a very dubious expression. Was he worried that Seongjo would fall asleep while he was washing? Still, befitting someone who had just said he’d worked hard driving, he didn’t show any complaints.
After Yujeong obediently entered the bathroom, Seongjo noticed a certain fact. Unlike Seongjo who was outside the bathroom, perhaps Yujeong hadn’t noticed, as the sound of falling water soon came.
“Yujeong-ssi?”
“Yes.”
He hadn’t even raised his voice that much when calling, but the sound seemed to have reached inside the bathroom well enough. Thanks to Yujeong reducing the water pressure from the showerhead to hear Seongjo’s words, the sound of water wasn’t very loud now. Seongjo glanced at the bathroom and spoke in a calm voice.
“I can see everything inside, you know?”
“…”
“I guess all places like this are like this.”
Suddenly the sound of water stopped.
It wasn’t a motel district but a beach hotel, so it was a part he hadn’t anticipated. Of course, contrary to his words, he couldn’t actually see everything clearly inside—he could only vaguely see shapes. If it was fortunate, it was fortunate, but it was also awkward to keep his mouth shut and pretend he couldn’t see anything at all.
“Don’t worry, I won’t look.”
Though Yujeong inside wouldn’t be able to see anyway, Seongjo made a show of covering both eyes on the bed. After a moment of silence, Yujeong soon laughed as if finding it absurd. The sound of turning on the shower came again.
Since he’d said it, he really didn’t turn to look at the bathroom. It was natural that he shouldn’t, since just seeing the shape moving would make him imagine roughly what was inside the bathroom.
However, there was something else about the stimulation that sound provided. Listening to the sound of water hitting the bathroom floor, his mouth went dry for no reason.
Thanks to that, at least he could avoid falling asleep, so perhaps it was fortunate.
After an immeasurable amount of time passed, Yujeong came out of the bathroom with his robe tightly fastened.
Of course there were no childish, clumsy questions like whether he’d really not looked. Rather, Yujeong had a very calm expression. The one feeling these subtle emotions was probably only Seongjo himself.
“Go in and wash up.”
Hearing those words, Seongjo used momentum to spring up from the bed where he’d been lying. He immediately brushed past Yujeong and headed for the bathroom, leaving only one remark.
“It’s fine if you fall asleep first.”
Entering inside without hearing Yujeong’s answer, he could fully feel the humidity and heat that still remained. Even though one person had just washed and left, the towels’ corners weren’t disheveled at all, and it was a neat appearance showing he’d wiped away some degree of moisture. Yujeong’s personality showed even in these trivial details.
The tension he’d felt while waiting for him outside actually calmed down once he entered the space where he’d been. Seongjo entered the shower booth with a much more comfortable feeling. He’d already learned through Yujeong that one’s washing figure could be roughly seen from outside, but…
Well, so what. Seongjo just confidently washed up. It wasn’t in his nature to be embarrassed about such things, and besides, Yujeong didn’t seem like he would be looking anyway.
After washing up refreshingly, he came out of the bathroom while shaking his hair. Yujeong was sitting neatly on the bed. On his face as he examined his phone intently, not only was there no sign of sleepiness, there wasn’t even a hint of fatigue.
Seongjo fell into thought for a moment. He had no sense of what action he should take next. Should he naturally approach Yujeong’s side and ask what he was looking at? Or should he just act nonchalant as if not even conscious of Yujeong’s existence?
After deliberating, Seongjo ultimately concluded that the answer was to dry his hair first, and at that moment Yujeong belatedly raised his head.
Yujeong simply stared directly at Seongjo wearing the robe. Though it wasn’t like he was exposed, for some reason he suddenly felt embarrassed.
“You’re going to bore a hole through me.”
He murmured like a joke while smiling. Then instead of answering with words, Yujeong lightly gestured as if telling him to come closer. When he approached with a puzzled expression, Yujeong pulled Seongjo to sit on the bed. Then he himself got up from his spot and returned with a hair dryer.
“I’ll dry it for you, your hair.”
It was as if he’d read exactly what Seongjo had been thinking. Or perhaps their hearts had simply connected.
Since there was no reason to refuse, Seongjo entrusted his hair to Yujeong’s touch.
Moderately warm air brushed his head. Yujeong dried his hair while shaking out Seongjo’s hair with his hands. It wasn’t a particularly careful touch, nor was it an entirely gentle touch, yet strangely the hair passed through the gaps in his hands smoothly without any tangles. It was comfortable enough to make his body grow languid naturally, but at the same time, a question arose.
“Why are you so skilled at this?”
Seongjo didn’t bother hiding that question. To be precise, that question was about the other people who had passed through Yujeong’s life until now. It meant, whose hair had he dried to become this skilled?
However, Yujeong seemed not to have heard Seongjo’s words over the sound of the hair dryer. He turned off the power and asked back.
“What did you say?”
Since the noisy sound had already disappeared, if he just said it as is, it would be sufficient to understand what he was saying. But Seongjo deliberately pulled Yujeong sharply toward himself. Yujeong’s ear, holding the hair dryer as he was caught off guard and lowered his posture, aligned near Seongjo’s mouth.
“I asked how many people’s hair you’ve dried until now to be this skilled.”
He had no intention of hiding it. After all, Yujeong had also openly brought up the topic of ex-lovers.
Even after the question ended, Seongjo didn’t let him go. Yujeong again didn’t answer with words, but simply looked at Seongjo’s face wordlessly. His eyes were still clear without a trace of fatigue. The distance was closer than necessary, and the two people’s eyes were looking straight at each other without an inch of error.
The conclusion of such eye contact was one of two things. Either one person would avert their eyes first,
Or they would kiss.
“…”
Seongjo’s instinct was saying the latter was the correct answer. No, to be precise, Seongjo himself wanted the latter.
Should he close his eyes? If he closed his eyes, Yujeong would surely notice that signal. If he pretended not to notice the signal he’d caught, Seongjo would be embarrassed, so he probably wouldn’t refuse either.
But uncharacteristically, he hesitated. It felt like he shouldn’t surrender to the impulse. The strength smoothly drained from Seongjo’s hand that had been gripping Yujeong’s collar.
It was right after that when Yujeong moved.
