“Ha……”
Gwok Un felt wretched at the realization that he had even worked himself into a strange sense of anticipation waiting for Gi-hyeon. He no longer wanted to remain here a single moment longer. Gwok Un knitted his brow and dropped his gaze. He added quickly.
“You look well, so I assume you got a good rest. There’s actually a schedule you’ll need to accompany me for.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow. I’ll have the car ready by ten, so be out on time.”
Having said what he came to say, Gwok Un left the studio without looking back. Gi-hyeon clicked his tongue as he watched the figure rapidly retreating.
“And who’s always the one running late……”
“……”
“Do-gyeom-ssi?”
“……Yes?”
“Are you alright?”
The eyes that looked up at Gi-hyeon wavered like a heat haze. At the unsettling sight, Gi-hyeon gripped Do-gyeom’s shoulders.
“What’s wrong?”
Without a word, Do-gyeom, who had been staring at Gi-hyeon, pulled him into an embrace around the waist. Slender hands burrowed into his arms with a kind of desperation.
“I want to stay the night.”
“You don’t look well — will you be alright? If something hurts, don’t keep it to yourself. Tell me.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“……”
“Hold me. I think that’s all I need.”
No matter how much Gi-hyeon said he loved him and put in the effort to show it, Do-gyeom still looked anxious. He stared at Do-gyeom with a dazed expression. What is it that makes Do-gyeom so desperate. Where does his anxiety come from, and how does it shake him this deeply…… The questions he had been suppressing surged up to the very tip of his throat. But instead of pressing him, Gi-hyeon pulled Do-gyeom into his arms. He whispered quietly at Do-gyeom’s ear.
“Let’s go to the bedroom.”
In the dim darkness of morning, Gi-hyeon, having finished getting ready, sat on the edge of the bed. A quiet gaze settled over Do-gyeom’s face. Sunk in a deep, heavy sleep, his face was clear and shadowless. The eyes that had been watching Do-gyeom in silence twisted with a tender ache. He had been trying so hard to give him certainty — so why was he still…… Gi-hyeon pushed the recurring thoughts aside and smoothed Do-gyeom’s hair.
“Mmng……”
At the cool touch of a hand grazing his forehead, Do-gyeom murmured in his sleep. The large hand that had been stroking his hair stopped. Do-gyeom furrowed his brow slightly, stirred, and then stilled back into place. He smacked his lips and rubbed his cheek against the back of Gi-hyeon’s hand. Seeing the corners of his mouth curled upward as if he were having a good dream, Gi-hyeon smiled lazily. The anxiety that had been transmitted from Do-gyeom melted away like snow. He pressed his lips to Do-gyeom’s cheek and rose from the bed.
Opening the front door of the mansion, the fierce sound of rain beat against his ears. Gi-hyeon frowned at the sight of the garden where he couldn’t see a foot ahead. The forecast hadn’t said anything about rain. As he stared blankly at the torrential downpour, Gwok Un entered his field of vision. Gi-hyeon approached him and, noticing his empty hands, spoke up.
“You didn’t bring an umbrella?”
“Why would I bother with something like that?”
Gwok Un cut off the conversation and glanced at his watch. He checked the time and swallowed a sigh, glaring out at the garden. It seemed the Butler was running late. Gi-hyeon stared quietly at Gwok Un, who had become thoroughly irritable. Sensing the gaze, Gwok Un turned his head. The hand pushing back the hair falling over his forehead was trembling badly from the cold. Gi-hyeon tapped Gwok Un’s shoulder.
“Looks like he’ll be a while — let’s wait inside.”
“I’m fine.”
Gi-hyeon narrowed his brow at those stubbornly pressed-shut lips. He couldn’t understand why Gwok Un was suddenly being difficult.
“Stop being needlessly stubborn. I can see your lips trembling.”
“Don’t make me say the same thing twice — I’m already in a foul enough mood as it is.”
At the sharp words, Gi-hyeon’s brow twitched. He watched Gwok Un in silence for a moment, then took off his own coat and held it out.
“Then at least put this on.”
Gwok Un glanced at the coat being offered to him and turned his whole upper body away entirely. The outright rejection of his considerate gesture made irritation surge, but Gi-hyeon held it in. He jabbed the coat into Gwok Un’s side. Gwok Un, who had been ignoring him steadily, finally lost his composure under the relentless poking. He turned to glare at Gi-hyeon with a menacing expression. A suppressed voice leaked out through grinding teeth.
“……Stop grating on my nerves.”
“Put it on, if you’re not going inside.”
At the sight of someone who was not intimidated in the slightest, Gwok Un let out a short, disbelieving laugh. When glaring with hostility had no effect, he finally snatched the coat. He threw it over his shoulders carelessly and turned his back on Gi-hyeon entirely. The glimpse of his face was sharp, but the oversized fit was comically mismatched. A laugh escaped at the sight of him looking like a child who had stolen a parent’s clothes, and Gwok Un’s eyes snapped up.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’ve stopped working out lately, haven’t you?”
“Try answering what you’re asked?”
The body that had been solid when they first met had grown slender somewhere along the way. The wrist visible beneath the coat looked like it could be circled with one hand. Gi-hyeon gazed at the dark circles under Gwok Un’s eyes. Gwok Un had always been a workaholic, but lately he had been living like a man who knew nothing but work. Driving himself to exhaustion without a moment’s pause for stray thoughts — he looked like someone trying to escape something. As Gi-hyeon stared at Gwok Un’s neck, which looked as though it might snap at any moment, the flipped-up coat collar entered his line of sight. He reached out toward the collar. When cool fingertips made contact with the nape of his neck, Gwok Un flinched with a shudder of his shoulders. Gi-hyeon straightened the upturned collar and rambled on.
“At least eat your meals properly. What’s the point of earning all that money?”
Every one of Gwok Un’s nerves converged on the nape of his neck. When the knuckle-defined fingers pressed gently into the nape of his neck, heat rose to his earlobes, which had gone pale with cold. Gwok Un had frozen in place, forgetting even to breathe, and when the touch lifted, he muttered irritably.
“……Why isn’t it here yet — insufferable, honestly.”
Before he even finished speaking, a car could be seen pulling into the garden through the downpour. Because of the way the grounds were laid out, the car couldn’t pull right up to the front of the mansion, so it stopped a little way from the main gate. A flicker of puzzlement crossed Gwok Un’s face as the driver’s side door didn’t open. Just then, Gwok Un’s phone rang. He confirmed the caller and answered immediately. Gwok Un snapped.
“Get here right now.”
From beyond the phone came the faint sound of a flustered voice. Gwok Un listened in silence to what the other person was saying and pressed down on his own temple again and again.
“So? You expect me to just stand here and get soaked?”
As the excuses grew longer, Gwok Un hung up without another word. He jammed the phone irritably into his pocket and glared at the driving rain. Sensing something bad about to happen, Gi-hyeon reached out a hand.
“Wait——!”
Before he could stop him, Gwok Un tossed the coat at Gi-hyeon and headed for the car. Gi-hyeon stared blankly as Gwok Un disappeared into the downpour. Snapping back to his senses, Gi-hyeon swallowed a curse and threw himself into the rain. The moment he stepped out from under cover, thick curtains of rain beat fiercely against his shoulders and head. Water greedily soaked through into his shirt. Against the bone-cutting cold, Gi-hyeon gritted his teeth and wiped his rain-stung eyes. He spotted Gwok Un not far ahead and narrowed his brow.
“That guy, seriously……”
Gwok Un, for whatever reason, was walking through the rain getting completely drenched — composedly, like a crane, head held high. A helpless laugh rose unbidden at the sight of him. Gi-hyeon closed the distance in an instant and draped the coat over Gwok Un’s shoulders. The pale eyes visible beneath the coat went wide as a rabbit’s. The innocent expression of someone who seemed to have no idea what was going on only fanned the flames of irritation. A thundering shout shook the garden.
“What do you think you’re doing, you’re completely soaked!!!!”
“……”
“Run, if you don’t want to end up bedridden.”
Gi-hyeon swallowed his anger and wrapped an arm around Gwok Un’s shoulders. He had expected Gwok Un to shove the hand away viciously as he had before, but contrary to expectation, Gwok Un ran alongside him without resistance, following where he led. At the unpredictable behavior, Gi-hyeon stopped thinking altogether. He swallowed a sigh and tightened the hand gripping Gwok Un’s shoulder.
As they neared the stopped car, Gi-hyeon ran ahead and pulled the car door open. The Butler, who had been sitting in the driver’s seat, went pale with shock at the sight of Gwok Un soaked to the bone. He frantically searched the dashboard for a towel and held it out.
“Young Master, the servants said they were coming with umbrellas. If you had only waited a little……!”
“……Quiet.”
Gwok Un took off the coat that had been draped over him and snapped. Taking the towel, Gwok Un looked at Gi-hyeon climbing into the seat beside him. His rain-wet eyes had gone sharp, as though he was suppressing his irritation. Gwok Un silently handed the towel to Gi-hyeon. Gi-hyeon, who had been about to give him a piece of his mind, looked at the towel and let out a defeated laugh.
“Give with one hand, take with the other.”
As Gi-hyeon laughed lazily, a droplet of rain clinging to the corner of his lips fell. Gwok Un stared at it as if bewitched. Before he knew it, the sound of the rain had gone silent. Everything was as still as if the world had been submerged in water. Nothing came to mind anymore. Not his wet clothes, not Eun-hyeong. Not Do-gyeom. Only the trivial, consuming desire to touch Gi-hyeon’s wet cheek paralyzed every thought. Gwok Un’s gaze slid from Gi-hyeon’s cheek to his lips. The desire, now fully realized, spread like a lit fuse — beyond all control. The knuckles gripping the seat swelled as he fought to suppress it. After staring at Gi-hyeon for a long moment, he opened his mouth.
“If it were you.”
“……?”
“You wouldn’t mind.”
Gi-hyeon wouldn’t mind anything if it meant being able to kiss Do-gyeom. Not the ambivalent feelings Gwok Un was experiencing right now. Not the guilt directed toward Eun-hyeong.
“You’re really acting strange today. Did you get too much rain?”
Even at the voice tinged with laughter, Gwok Un didn’t smile. A flame began kindling in his pitch-black pupils. He looked at Gi-hyeon directly and said.
“Can I do the same?”
The quiet voice was solemn, as if it carried authority over everything. Gi-hyeon, who had been shaking out his wet hair, looked up. At the unusually serious manner, Gi-hyeon scratched his cheek.
“I’m not sure what you mean, but.”
“……”
“Just do whatever your heart tells you. Isn’t that how you’ve always lived?”
