The sun hadn’t fully risen yet, so the characteristic dim light of dawn cast over his face. Though he wasn’t particularly sensitive to light, a body scheduled for work would reflexively tense up around this time. It was when Haeyoung, who had opened his eyes, turned over feeling stuffy.
Long eyelashes extending over closed eyes, as if asleep, came into his sight. Haeyoung, who had been blankly staring at a face that was unchangingly pretty whether eyes were open or closed, was extending his arm while closing his eyes from the drowsiness he couldn’t shake off.
‘Ah. …Wait a moment.’
He’d almost habitually pulled him into an embrace. Haeyoung, who had stiffened rigidly with startled eyes, carefully lowered the arm that had been floating in the air. And after lifting the arm wrapped around his waist and lowering it onto the bed, he sat up as silently as possible.
Sitting at the bedside, he rubbed his stiff eyes and sorted out the situation. Why on earth was he sleeping in Seonwoo hyung’s bed? Haeyoung’s memory, which had been carefully retracing through the darkness, reached last night.
The moment when he’d thought for a long time in front of his bed and couldn’t easily take a step due to complicated emotions. He didn’t know what had continued after the blackout curtain that fell after that, but seeing that Seonwoo was here, it seemed highly likely that he’d moved him to the bed.
A shallow sigh gathered at Haeyoung’s lips. The fact that he would fall asleep as if fainting when stressed was something he’d learned recently. Still, he hadn’t thought seriously about it since it didn’t cause problems in daily life. It wasn’t like he couldn’t wake up or suddenly collapsed and fell asleep while walking…
‘But didn’t hyung say he was going on a business trip?’
As he gradually came to his senses, doubt raised its head. It was yesterday that he’d heard from Soyoon that he’d gone on a business trip. He’d naturally thought he wouldn’t return until today, but he couldn’t grasp at all why he was sleeping here. Moreover, why had they slept together on a cramped single bed when he could have just gone to sleep on his own bed if the bed was taken?
Since the more he thought deeply, the more his head only hurt, Haeyoung decided to pretend not to know and cover it up. Anyway, there was no way anyone would be interested in what had happened in a room used by two men at night. …That’s how it had to be.
Thinking as lightly as possible, Haeyoung got up from the bed to gradually start preparing for work. No, he was about to get up.
“…Where are you going?”
Thump, as soon as he was startled by the caught hand, from behind his back came a voice still locked with drowsiness that hadn’t faded. The soft voice was lower than usual. At the voice that was clearly his even without listening, Haeyoung turned his head without hiding his startled look.
“Ah, you scared me.”
At the voice that flowed out flatly, Seonwoo’s eyes, which hadn’t been able to open properly from drowsiness, slightly curved. Unable to take his eyes off the disheveled appearance he was seeing for the first time in a while, Haeyoung belatedly came to his senses and turned his gaze to the caught hand. Looking at the hand still holding him even after achieving its intended purpose of catching him, Haeyoung tried moving his arm.
Forward, sideways, upward, downward—Seonwoo’s arm also moved in the same direction, following his arm swishing through the air. It was natural since he wasn’t letting go of the arm he’d caught.
‘Let go.’
Haeyoung opened his eyes thinly and moved his mouth. Since he was looking up at his face, he must clearly know what he was saying, yet he didn’t easily let go of his hand. Instead, he released the strength from the grip he was holding and slid his fingers inside the sleeve of the knit Haeyoung was wearing as home wear.
At the touch burrowing into his clothes and fiddling with his wrist bone, Haeyoung momentarily flinched his shoulders. Looking up at him like that, Seonwoo asked again in a gentle voice.
“Where are you going, Haeyoung-ah?”
“I need to… prepare for work now.”
A voice caught at the end of his throat tickled inside his mouth and burst out. Haeyoung, who had given an accurate answer to Seonwoo’s question, looked down at him, who didn’t stop fidgeting with him, and put strength in his shoulders.
When he lifted his arm just like that, the hand that hadn’t been firmly gripping fell away lightly. Haeyoung’s Adam’s apple moved briefly as he watched the white, long hand falling slowly onto the bed as if regretful. Soon, the low voice that was uttered reached Seonwoo.
“But hyung, when did you come in?”
“Hmm… around 1 o’clock?”
At his question, Seonwoo answered obediently. Listening to that answer, Haeyoung’s head tilted to the side.
It was a time that wasn’t as late as he’d thought. If only he hadn’t fallen asleep as if fainting before 12 o’clock, he would have been able to see him coming in. He’d seemed like he wouldn’t come in because he was going on a business trip, so it became puzzling how he’d come in so early.
“Weren’t you going on a business trip, hyung?”
At the returned question, Seonwoo, who had briefly widened his eyes, soon smiled pleasantly with crinkled eyes and asked.
“Yeah, how did you know I went and came back?”
That question alone made it clear he was pleased. Looking at the affectionate face like sunlight illuminating winter, Haeyoung slightly lowered his gaze at an angle. Somehow his throat felt parched.
As expected, facing Cha Seonwoo from the morning in an unprepared state had too many risk factors. Hadn’t he almost thoughtlessly pulled him into an embrace just now?
‘Ah fuck, why is he pointlessly so pretty?’
Of course, his appearance was absolutely not pointless, but when it came to pulling his heart together, it was of absolutely no help whatsoever. It was just yesterday that he’d thought he didn’t know what face to make when looking at Seonwoo, but when it came down to it, Yoon Haeyoung couldn’t make such calculations with him in front of him.
Since the sun hadn’t risen yet, there would be time for a brief conversation. Haeyoung, who had been pondering while unconsciously pouting his lips, bent down and sat right in front of the bed. And matching gazes with Seonwoo, who was lying down, he said as if muttering.
“Soyoon said you went on a business trip, hyung, and probably wouldn’t come back.”
Ah. A short exclamation leaked out between lips that had been drawing curves the whole time. Seonwoo, who had been looking into Haeyoung’s face for a while as if something was bothering him, answered with a small sigh.
They’d been together for no less than 5 years. During that time, Haeyoung could tell what he was thinking by looking at the expression Seonwoo made without having to particularly ponder. When he had worries, he would slightly furrow his brow and rather close his mouth. Just like now.
However, this time, even while looking at the face that seemed to have a lot to say, Haeyoung couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Before he could take a step back with the fresh realization that they’d become strangers, Seonwoo held onto Haeyoung with a firm voice.
“I did go on a business trip… I went early, finished early, and came back.”
Seonwoo’s gaze turned toward Haeyoung’s eyes again. At the persistent gaze that made him feel ticklish for no reason, Haeyoung slightly frowned and covered the corners of his mouth. At Haeyoung’s eyes staring at him while covering half his face with his hand, Seonwoo raised the arm that had fallen onto the bed.
The fingertips extended toward the face right in front of the bed brushed through Haeyoung’s bangs. Looking at the eyes clearly revealed between the disheveled hair, Seonwoo finally wore a satisfied smile.
“Did you sleep leaning against my bed thinking I wouldn’t come in?”
That wasn’t it, but there was no need to tell him he’d fallen asleep without realizing it. Moreover, if he’d known he would return, he wouldn’t have loitered in front of his bed for so long in the first place, so as a result, it wasn’t wrong either.
What became clear was only the fact that he was the one who’d moved him to the bed.
When he hesitated to answer, the hand that had been brushing as if stroking around his eyes fell. At that, Haeyoung, who had flinched slightly, looked at him with a somewhat resentful gaze. It seemed like him touching him as if it were nothing was getting increasingly worse… And every time he realized himself pausing at each such touch, an unavoidable sense of self-loathing surged.
“…You should have woken me up.”
“You seemed to be looking for me, so it was cute. Why would I?”
At the small grumbling, Seonwoo answered with a fresh smile. Even while doing so, soon chewing his lips, the eyes looking at Haeyoung were brimming with deep affection.
“But still, why sleep like that… It makes me feel bad.”
This time too, he couldn’t say he hadn’t intended to sleep like that on purpose. Somehow taking in his appearance of avoiding an answer, a sweet voice soon flowed from his mouth.
“I never don’t come in without telling you, Haeyoung-ah.”
At the words as if it were obvious, Haeyoung almost nodded for a moment. It was a moment to be grateful that he wasn’t wearing a microphone because he was sleeping.
Barely holding back his answer, he chewed his lips and abruptly got up. I really need to go wash up now—at the words brought out quietly, there was no time to see whether Seonwoo nodded or not. Haeyoung, who had turned around and strode to the bathroom, wet his face with cold water.
Perhaps the one with more lingering attachment to this relationship wasn’t him but himself. No, it probably was. Yoon Haeyoung knew he was clearly wavering even though he could give several reasons why he couldn’t readily reach out his hand to him.
“Ha…”
It was enough to make his words that he would absolutely not date even if he went on a romance program seem meaningless. Of course, Haeyoung also had an excuse. He’d never dreamed that Cha Seonwoo would appear on this program.
Haeyoung, who had been pouring cold water until his flushed face calmed down, quickly finished preparing and came out. Because he’d dawdled too much in the morning, his commute time was quite tight. As soon as he came down to the first-floor hallway, hurrying to go to work on an empty stomach after skipping breakfast, somehow knowing this too, he saw Seonwoo standing at the passage going down to the garage.
Haeyoung had no choice but to absently follow Seonwoo while accepting the toast he handed over as if he’d been waiting. He got in the car and sat next to Seonwoo, chewing on the bread. When he could barely manage only to nod at the words that he’d take him all the way to the law firm since he was late, unable to open his mouth, Seonwoo, who had confirmed Haeyoung had finished eating, asked again.
“Haeyoung-ah, will you be late today?”
“Today?”
At the familiar everyday question, Yoon Haeyoung nodded without thinking deeply.
“I think I’ll be late. Friday is the interns’ last day. There’s a team presentation that day, so I think I’ll probably stay and prepare together with people today.”
“That’ll be tough.”
“Yeah. So today for dinner, the team lawyer said he’d buy us something delicious…”
Not knowing when he’d been swept into his pace, Haeyoung, who realized he’d been chattering away while letting his guard down without knowing it, hurriedly closed his mouth. Seonwoo, who had been smiling pleasantly while watching even him closing his mouth, drove familiarly and dropped Haeyoung off in front of the company.
Getting out of the car, Haeyoung slightly raised his hand toward Seonwoo, who was giving him an eye greeting.
“…I’ll be going.”
The steps toward the company, leaving him behind, weren’t that heavy. Perhaps it was because the commute with Seonwoo had become more familiar than the first day. As if the winter cold wave that had been cold enough to make his teeth chatter had ended, it was a completely different feeling from yesterday.
