# Chapter 74
“Go do it.”
Sano, lying on the adjacent bed also wearing only his swimsuit, blurted out without even turning his head. These guys are using me like a human back scratcher… Iyeon looked at the sunscreen that had fallen to the floor with a face like he’d eaten something foul, then sighed as he picked it up and placed it on the side table.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect Sano-hyung to come too.”
Hyegang whispered, turning his head at an angle where Sano couldn’t see him. Did they plan this? Everyone’s saying similar things. Iyeon brushed it off nonchalantly and concentrated on applying sunscreen.
“Sano-hyung must really like Iyeon-hyung.”
“W-what nonsense are you talking?”
Iyeon jumped up, slapping Hyegang’s back with a smack. Someone might misunderstand if they heard that. Despite his exaggerated reaction, Hyegang merely grumbled lightly, saying it hurt.
“He’s always sticking to you at home, and now he’s followed you on vacation too. Isn’t that a sign of really liking someone? Surely Sano-hyung isn’t without other places to go. Seeing that he came all the way here when he could have just stayed home during the break…”
Hyegang solemnly recited this as if making some great deduction. Being so steeped in peace had made him talk nonsense. Iyeon shook his head.
“Who doesn’t like hotels? He probably just couldn’t stand the idea of us going somewhere nice without him.”
“Is his personality that petty?”
“I don’t know, you shouldn’t judge him by normal standards.”
Iyeon glanced at Sano as if looking at an alien, then gave Hyegang’s back a final pat. The sound of moist skin colliding made a wet slapping noise.
“There, done.”
“Thanks.”
Iyeon glared once at Sano’s sunscreen on the side table, then casually picked it up and stood. Walking sluggishly as if in rebellion, he sat on Sano’s sun bed. Sano, lying quietly with his arm as a pillow, was wearing sunglasses with large, darkly tinted lenses, making it difficult to see his expression.
Being such a large person, the space that had been ample when Hyegang was lying down was now so narrow that their bare skin touched when Iyeon sat next to Sano. Despite the contact with someone else’s skin, Sano didn’t move at all. His skin, warmed by the hot sunshine, felt pleasantly heated. The unfamiliar sensation, like sitting next to a heater in midsummer, made Iyeon grumble sullenly.
“What.”
Sano didn’t respond. Had he fallen asleep already? Iyeon tilted his head curiously. Just as he bent his waist to check on Sano’s status—
“Ah!”
Suddenly pulled by a force, Iyeon slid right down. As his nose pressed against Sano’s upper body, he felt the body heat across his entire cheek. Iyeon flinched at the contact with the smooth skin and tensed his body, but a large palm pressed firmly on his head. The more he tried to move, the more his face rubbed against Sano’s chest.
He could feel the hard muscles perfectly positioned across Sano’s upper body. He’d vaguely thought they would feel rigid, but they were surprisingly soft. His head was pressed so close that he could even feel the slow breathing of Sano’s ribcage and the pulsing of his heart. Too bewildered to process the situation, his mind just produced these idle observations.
What is happening right now? Iyeon’s eyes blinked rapidly. His fingers, awkwardly propped on the sun bed, twitched.
Bang! The sound of something light colliding came from above his head.
“Ah! I’m sorry!”
Along with the splashing of water came a hurried apology. It was a young woman’s voice.
“…Hey, you startled me.”
“Isn’t this better than having the ball burst?”
From his time as a temporary roommate, Iyeon had learned that Sano was surprisingly tolerant of physical contact. He had been pulled into embraces like this several times already.
In fact, it was hard to even call it skinship since the contact didn’t have any particular meaning. Rather than affection, it was more like being briefly pulled when in danger—more practical than romantic. If anything, it was strange to be concerned about such things.
I know, I know.
Just as Sano lowered his hand that had been pressing Iyeon’s head, the light patter of small footsteps approached.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes…”
Iyeon nodded as he raised himself up, and the woman kept bowing apologetically. The woman, whose long, beautifully styled hair was wet at the ends, wore an elegantly designed rash guard. Her wet swimsuit revealed healthy curves.
Though she had already picked up the ball and apologized, completing her business, the woman didn’t leave immediately and kept stealing glances at Sano.
“Um… I feel so bad about this, but what kind of drink do you like?”
Her voice, which sounded both embarrassed and uncomfortable, was slightly heated like her peach-colored cheeks.
Ah, here we go again.
It was a scene he had already witnessed several times. With both Hyegang and Sano’s appearances far above average, plus the special circumstance of being at a vacation spot, people approached them more actively than back in their neighborhood. The approaches came from all sorts—women, men, children to middle-aged people, even foreigners.
Of course, Je Sano wasn’t about to respond kindly.
His face remained silent, and with his sunglasses covering his eyes, it was impossible to tell where he was looking. After waiting a bit, the woman, facing complete disregard, awkwardly bowed toward Iyeon and turned away.
Sano’s rudeness was always impressive, but this wasn’t anything unusual. Hyegang also showed little interest in making new friends and having fun with them, so Iyeon, returning from his part-time job, wouldn’t meet any new faces.
If pressed, Iyeon was the least reserved of the three. He often engaged cheerfully in conversations with strangers, and this hotel trip itself came about from his interactions with Jaekyung. Iyeon was confident he could blend in seamlessly even if their party grew through meeting new people. He didn’t particularly dislike or feel uncomfortable with the idea.
So why did this bother him so much?
Before, he never cared whether Je Sano was picked up or cast, which made this unusual. There was no particular reason, but he felt inexplicably annoyed. Je Sano didn’t do anything wrong. Even repeating this to himself, a strange feeling of disappointment kept creeping in.
‘Did I actually want to be popular?’
No, he’d never thought that in his life. Iyeon seriously contemplated to find the root cause but couldn’t come up with a definitive answer.
“If you’ve come to your senses, just apply the sunscreen.”
Sano, still lying face up, spoke. Strong shadows fell across his upper body muscles, which filled every available space. Iyeon’s gaze got lost, circling only around the hollow area near Sano’s navel. His response, after a beat, was too weak to be truly rebellious.
“You can apply the front yourself.”
Sano’s slightly raised eyebrow peeked out from above his sunglasses.
“Not for me.”
“…”
“Your skin is so weak.”
His tone was so disapproving that Iyeon unconsciously lifted his arm to examine it. His fair skin had reddened slightly from several days of direct strong sunlight, but it wasn’t peeling or anything.
The sunlight clung to his cheeks and the back of his neck. He could feel himself sweating in real time.
“Wow, Sano-hyung. What does that make me then?”
“How would I know?”
Hyegang’s chattering from behind wasn’t even audible. Thump, thump. His heartbeat thundered like lightning. Iyeon worried that Sano might hear this sound, but soon he didn’t need to worry about that anymore.
“Iyeon-ssi…”
Because Jaekyung, with a menacing aura, had spotted him.
There’s something about people that really startles you. Iyeon grumbled as he aligned the store items at precise angles.
Why was he suddenly fussing over people? If someone offered sunscreen like that, well, I’d be gr… grateful, but still.
‘Your skin is so weak.’
It wasn’t even that gentle a voice, so why was his heart fluttering like this? They say a person’s impression changes after one good deed despite nine bad ones… Living kindly has no meaning. Life should be lived like Je Sano. Having realized this truth, Iyeon nodded vigorously.
The violent movement caused several small product boxes to fall from the display shelf. Nothing’s going right. As Iyeon bent down to hastily gather them up, the bell on the door rang. A customer.
“Welcome.”
Iyeon poked out just his head to greet them. Jaekyung was nowhere to be seen. He had a habit of ghostly appearing to drag Iyeon back whenever he went off to play, but would mysteriously disappear when Iyeon was diligently working. Thanks to this, the store was operating on a strangely fair rotation system.
Being a souvenir shop attached to the hotel, there were far more customers who came just to browse rather than to actually buy something. This customer seemed to be of that type as well.
