Yoon Haeyoung wasn’t someone who got very cold. If anything, he could be said to be rather insensitive to the cold. However, his skin tended to turn red and blotchy quickly when it was cold, so Seonwoo would always feel terribly sorry for him as if seeing something pitiful whenever his face was even slightly frozen by the cold wind.
The reason for needlessly digging up the past again was because winter had come around once more. It had already been close to a week since he’d entered this house. Haeyoung, who had wrapped the blanket rolled around his body more tightly, leaned against the terrace railing and looked up at the sky where only a few stars could be seen.
The reason he came outside to wander at night instead of going straight to sleep had been since the day he was helplessly shaken by Cha Seonwoo’s tears. The night he couldn’t easily fall asleep lying all night in the same room, being conscious of Seonwoo and ruminating on things like his words and expressions.
The next day, Haeyoung, who had prepared for work with a deathly pale face, thought he couldn’t spend a month like this. So the method he’d found was as he was doing now. He’d come to kill time on the terrace until Seonwoo fell asleep.
“Oh.”
Haeyoung, who had been dozing off while leaning against the railing, suddenly raised his head at the cigarette smoke rising from below. Though it quickly scattered into the air, the smell didn’t disperse easily. At the scent stinging his nose, what entered Haeyoung’s vision as he bent his body below the railing was a figure who had become quite familiar.
“Oh…”
“Sehee noona?”
“Shh…”
Right below the room Seonwoo and Haeyoung used was the women’s room, and Sehee was standing on the terrace attached to that room. And between her fingers, a short white stick. That was definitely a cigarette.
She awkwardly lowered the hand holding the cigarette and brought her index finger of her other hand to her lips. At the gesture asking him to be quiet, Haeyoung nodded and closed his mouth. Looking up at Haeyoung who was watching her quietly, Sehee smiled while holding her breath and gestured toward the garden.
‘Want to meet for a bit?’
From her lip movements and body tilted toward the garden, Haeyoung immediately grasped her message. Though he didn’t know why she was calling him, Haeyoung made his fingers into a circle as a signal of understanding and turned his body.
Entering the room and firmly closing the glass door leading to the terrace, he crossed the room with dim lighting. It was then that Haeyoung’s steps, about to quietly leave, stopped.
“Where are you going?”
A soft voice without a trace of sleepiness settled in the room where silence had been hovering. At the voice he hadn’t expected to hear, Haeyoung stopped in shock and turned his head with a startled face.
He could feel Seonwoo’s gaze sitting obliquely on the bed even without seeing it. Though only his silhouette was visible in the darkness, like his voice, he could tell there wasn’t a trace of sleepiness on his face. Haeyoung, who had calmed his startled heart at the sudden question, hesitated then answered in a calm voice.
“To get some air for a moment. Go back to sleep, hyung.”
“…I wasn’t asleep. I originally sleep later than you anyway.”
He answered calmly. As expected, it seemed he still hadn’t fallen asleep. Haeyoung lowered the hand that had been gripping the edge of the blanket and grasped the door handle. Then he opened his mouth as if whispering without looking at where Seonwoo was.
“Then go to sleep now. You have to go to work tomorrow, hyung.”
Then he watched him without answering. The reason he could feel it without seeing might be because the gaze held temperature. A gaze with a lower temperature than before. At that coolness, his heart pounded roughly, but Haeyoung opened the door as if nothing was wrong.
Click—Haeyoung, who had come out to the hallway and stood with the door closed, suddenly stopped. Leaning briefly against the solid door touching his back, he swallowed a sigh and began moving his steps again.
Coming down the stairs, he pushed the glass door leading from the first-floor dining room to the garden. Sehee was standing in front of a tree where round lights were hung like beads.
“You don’t have a mic?”
“No. But still… we shouldn’t get caught being out here.”
“It’s okay, this is a blind spot. Even if they zoom in from that camera, they won’t be able to see our features.”
She said while gesturing at the camera attached to the building wall. Then, watching her smile mischievously, Haeyoung also relaxed and let out a silly laugh.
There weren’t any female cast members he could say he’d talked with much yet, but if he had to choose, it would be Soyoon and Sehee. Even today, as soon as he got off work, he’d prepared dinner with Sehee. Thanks to her smiling brightly while telling him to feel comfortable with her throughout the cooking, Haeyoung could smile along several times as well. Though there hadn’t been an opportunity to talk this casually until now.
Sehee’s plain face without makeup was in pajamas with just a cardigan thrown over. To her rubbing her arms with them crossed, Haeyoung naturally offered the blanket he’d been wearing.
“I’m really grateful, but Haeyoung, aren’t you cold too?”
“But noona, you’re already wearing it.”
“I don’t decline things like this. Hahaha.”
Sehee laughed cheerfully while wrapping the blanket she’d received around her body. Thank you, but if you’re too cold, be sure to tell me. To Sehee looking up at him with both worry and gratitude, Haeyoung nodded as if it were nothing.
“But why did you call me?”
When he’d checked his phone before coming out, the clock was already pointing to well past midnight. Since meeting secretly without wearing mics was also prohibited, it was obvious there would be problems if they were caught. Yet she’d called Haeyoung as if it didn’t matter.
“I thought it would be good to have a chance to talk at least once.”
Sehee rolled her eyes briefly, then bluntly spat out her words.
“I don’t know how this will sound, but… I’m bi too.”
“……?”
At the words that fell like lightning without warning, Haeyoung froze without moving for a moment.
Suddenly? While wondering, Haeyoung slightly frowned. There was an aspect to her words that couldn’t just be passed over like a protruding stone. Sehee had said “too.” The fact she’d casually brought out was based on the premise that it didn’t only apply to herself.
Oh no… Haeyoung’s face stiffened palely.
“The first day I came in, I overheard you and Seonwoo-ssi talking. That time on the terrace.”
Sehee brought her index and middle fingers to her lips while spreading them. It seemed she’d heard while coming out to smoke. At the dismay washing over him, Haeyoung watched her with shaking eyes, unable to easily open his mouth.
It was a moment when Hajin’s words saying she’d do the editing so just don’t get caught by others revived in his ears. He belatedly realized he hadn’t been careful enough. Even when they attended university together, he’d never been caught, but it seemed he’d missed looking around his surroundings because he was tense in front of Seonwoo. Watching Haeyoung with a face pale as if troubled, Sehee spoke soothingly.
“I don’t know what circumstances you two have, but whatever, I don’t care. I thought I should tell you that I ended up overhearing. Don’t worry because I absolutely won’t tell anyone anywhere.”
“…Thank you. I’m only now coming to my senses thinking I need to be more careful.”
Watching her quickly soothing him with a mature attitude, Haeyoung let out a laugh mixed with a sigh. His heart was still flapping roughly like a fish pulled onto land.
“But noona…”
He fiddled with his lips and opened his mouth. As they conversed, something puzzling had come up. For instance, like the message he’d received today.
“You sent me a text knowing?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t come here to date, and neither did you. But if I have to choose anyway, sending it to you is the least burdensome, right? And I also prefer your type over Seonwoo-ssi’s.”
“……”
“Hey, do you have any thoughts about things like fitting modeling?”
Unlike her innocent face and usual calm atmosphere, the words she bluntly spat out were unrestrained. Haeyoung thought this must be her true self. Because her appearance refreshingly saying what she had to say was more attractive.
“Do you earn a lot doing that?”
At Haeyoung’s ready counter-question, Sehee erased her playful atmosphere and straightened her posture.
“Are you interested? I also have an eye for these things, you know… This could be a jackpot. Ah, I didn’t bring my business card out.”
Watching her attitude suddenly change in an instant, Haeyoung couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Though he could only manage to suppress it, giggling while conscious of having secretly come out in the middle of the night, even that alone seemed to have lightened the atmosphere considerably.
Toward Sehee who was eventually even trying to return the blanket she’d been wearing while watching him, Haeyoung shook his head with a broadly smiling face.
“It’s fine. Noona, keep wearing it.”
“Even equipped with good character. What a fine person you’ve become. Haeyoung, we’re also doing YouTube and…”
“I’m not interested in that kind of thing.”
“Hey, you don’t know because you don’t understand. This is also a goldmine, I tell you?”
Sehee raised her voice trying to actively coax Haeyoung. Then, looking around the dark surroundings, she cleared her throat. Though her usual perfect and calm appearance was also good, it was true that the current conversation had definitely made things more comfortable.
Perhaps noticing such Haeyoung, Sehee spoke subtly.
“Anyway. I don’t know the circumstances, but I’m on your side.”
On my side… Even without pointing to a subject, he could tell it was with Seonwoo and his relationship in mind. The smile on Haeyoung’s face noticeably faded.
“You can be more cautious. What if I was in the wrong, noona?”
“It’s okay. I’ll forgive you.”
What is this about? Haeyoung, who had suddenly received forgiveness, looked at Sehee and tilted his head.
“Ah, right. It’s not my problem to forgive. But… look. Originally, you’re supposed to try to win against younger people.”
“What on earth is this about…?”
“You’ll understand when you get older too.”
As she, who wasn’t much different from him in age, went on about age, an empty laugh gathered at the corners of Haeyoung’s mouth. He could refute if he wanted to, but instead of refuting her words, he readily nodded.
“Anyway, let’s get along well while we’re here. I like you.”
At Sehee’s refreshingly spat-out words, Haeyoung’s eyes widened briefly. Then soon his lengthening eyes held a pleasant light. The smile on his clear face receiving the moonlight was white.
“I like you too, noona.”
“Well now…”
His voice, brought out gently and plainly, was tinged with playfulness. Sehee, who had lightly hit such Haeyoung’s arm, raised her chin toward the direction where the house was, saying let’s go inside.
Haeyoung, who had entered the house again with Sehee, parted with her in front of the stairs. Coming up to the second floor and standing in front of the room, he hesitated briefly then grabbed the doorknob. When he carefully opened it as is, the room already had all the lights turned off.
Only the moonlight seeping in through the window was faintly illuminating Seonwoo’s bed. Hyung… is probably asleep. For a moment, his chest tightened stuffily. Especially when he ruminated on the fact that Sehee had overheard their conversation. Haeyoung, who had been looking at where Seonwoo would be, quietly closed the door and entered the room.
The glass door leading to the terrace was open, so the cold wind was seeping directly into the room. Did I not close it properly earlier? Haeyoung, who had approached that way, properly closed the door again then collapsed onto the bed.
Was it thanks to the conversation with Sehee? Even though he had more thoughts, tonight he somehow felt like he’d be able to fall asleep comfortably.
