When they returned to the lodging after eating an early dinner, Hyuna and Minho were there to greet them. The lodging was a pool villa located in a place with a view of the ocean. The pool in the yard even had hot water, and normally Minho, who would have been splashing around like a seal, was somewhat dejected.
It seemed he’d chosen an item right after him and picked Hyuna’s instead of Soyoon’s. No wonder he hadn’t managed to pick Soyoon’s item consistently from the first day. Even he, who didn’t believe in things like fate, thought that timing wasn’t working in Minho’s favor.
“Everyone’s not here yet, right?”
“Yeah. I’ve been waiting alone with Hyuna noona for an hour now.”
A bitter voice tickled his ears. So even Haeyoung, who would normally find Minho clinging to him annoying and push him away, silently accepted him leaning on him.
The villa was in the form of two connected buildings joined together. Since the production team had already finished assigning the buildings, Haeyoung separated from Dain as he entered. Seeing there were two rooms in each building, it seemed they’d divided them by gender.
Wait a minute. No way…
At a thought that suddenly crossed his mind, Haeyoung frowned. Seeing that there was one room each on the first and second floors, it meant two people would share a room. Somehow he felt like he knew who his roommate was. Haeyoung turned from his steps of looking around the villa.
“Haeyoung… let’s drink beer.”
Minho followed behind him as he walked down the hallway, speaking.
“Alright, let me change clothes first.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. But is the room on the first floor the room I’ll be using?”
“Probably? I think I saw the carrier you brought in that room earlier.”
Minho, who was just following at his heels, was starting to get annoying. Haeyoung asked while glancing back. At the answer that returned, he entered the room without hesitation. The luggage bag that had been taken away as soon as they arrived at the airport was obediently placed in the dark room.
As expected, his guess wasn’t wrong. Having taken off his outerwear, he gave a glance to the travel trunk placed on the bed where the owner hadn’t returned yet. That too was only for a moment. Haeyoung turned around with his clothes hung on the hanger.
“Let’s go, Kim Minho.”
Click. Having closed the door, he tilted his head toward Minho waiting for him.
***
“Huh? Haeyoung, you’re going in already?”
Minho asked while looking up at Haeyoung getting up from his seat. Having a face flushed red after drinking just a few glasses of wine was both funny and quite cute.
He regained his energy after Soyoon returned to the lodging. Only after the sun had already set and it had gotten dark did she enter the lodging last together with Seonwoo.
Just because it was the last night before the final selection didn’t mean it was much different from usual. If there was a difference, it was that they’d gone out one by one at the production team’s call to do interviews. Since it was the first interview done while filming, he’d just laughed awkwardly at first, so he didn’t even remember what he’d said.
When he wrote down on paper who he would choose the next day, he wondered what the point of this was. Anyway, when Haeyoung, who was the very last, returned to the lodging, a drinking session was already in full swing.
“I’m going to bed soon.”
Haeyoung, who had been drinking slowly enough to just moisten his throat occasionally while holding a wine glass, got up from his seat as soon as he emptied one glass. The others waved their hands at him with regretful faces.
Their tension was definitely higher than usual—they were definitely drunk. A faint light smile hung on his lips. As he was turning around, Haeyoung’s eyes saw Seonwoo getting up following him.
Having left his seat, contrary to what he’d said about going to sleep, he headed not to the room but to the entrance. As soon as he returned after finishing the interview, he’d taken off the microphone long ago. Having roughly shoved his feet into his shoes, he opened the door and went out while pulling up the zipper of his black hoodie zip-up to the end of his neck.
As soon as he came outside, Haeyoung slightly frowned at the fierce wind that blew. The wind touching his face felt like his skin would freeze. It wasn’t that the wind itself was cold, but the sea breeze blowing from the ocean right in front of the lodging was quite harsh. Relying on the light of a small streetlamp, he left the spacious garden and headed toward the ocean.
However, there was already an earlier visitor at the night sea where the sound of crashing waves could be heard intensely. At the white smoke rising from a corner, he, who had thought “perhaps,” approached closely upon seeing a familiar back.
“Noona.”
“Ah, you scared me.”
“Weren’t you going in to sleep?”
At the voice that suddenly came, Sehee, who had been watching the ocean, jumped in surprise and turned her head. Even while opening her eyes wide, the fact that there was no trembling in the hand holding the white stick was funny, so Haeyoung giggled quietly.
Having confirmed who the other person was, she laughed carelessly and tapped the spot next to her. Haeyoung sat down on the embankment where she was sitting, facing the opposite direction.
“I was going to, but I’m troubled. There’s nothing like this for organizing thoughts…”
Smoke clearly much hazier than breath was exhaled into the air. The white cigarette in her hand was already half burned down. Whether she knew of the gaze watching it quite intently, Sehee narrowed her eyes and imitated a patronizing tone.
“You shouldn’t learn this kind of thing.”
Even the exaggerated acting suited her well without being ridiculous. Pleasant laughter eventually burst from Haeyoung’s mouth.
“I won’t have a chance to learn. There’s someone who would faint if they found out.”
No, is it two? Haeyoung muttered while chewing over the words he’d spat out. Not only Cha Seonwoo but Hajin also wouldn’t accept it favorably. He could clearly imagine her glaring while asking since when he’d been smoking.
Soon, Haeyoung, who had dismissed the unnecessary thought, looked at Sehee and grinned.
“I feel like I keep running into noona.”
“Right? But thinking about it, I do have a constitution where handsome men tend to gather around me.”
“That’s the first time in my life I’ve heard of such a constitution.”
“That’s because you haven’t lived enough yet.”
At Sehee’s shameless words, Haeyoung shook his head with a laughing face as if he’d lost. When she, only two years older, acted like she was much more of an adult like this, Hajin naturally came to mind, so he couldn’t do anything about it.
Since he had his back to the ocean, his hair wasn’t disheveled like when he’d just left the lodging, but he raised his hand and put on the hood of the zip-up hoodie. Perhaps because the back of his neck was covered, it felt warmer. It was also then that Sehee, who had been staring at Haeyoung straightening his hunched shoulders, bluntly brought up a topic.
“You don’t have to say if you don’t want to, but you know that day when you didn’t look like you were in a good mood?”
At the topic suddenly thrown, Haeyoung made a “ugh” sound and bent his upper body. He looked up at Sehee with his head tilted obliquely as if he’d let his guard down. Having made eye contact with Haeyoung, who smiled awkwardly, she carefully continued her question.
“Did something happen with Seonwoo-ssi that day?”
It was a sharp guess. Haeyoung, who had been chewing his lips for a moment, put his hand inside the hood and grabbed the back of his neck.
“That’s the second time I’m getting that question.”
To be precise, the first question was whether he’d made him cry, though. Haeyoung replied with a laugh like a sigh. Whether she was surprised by the words that this wasn’t the first time asking, Sehee opened her eyes wide.
“Huh? Who else asked?”
“Yes.”
“Perhaps, um. The person himself?”
“…Yes.”
“Sorry, but you guys are really interesting, Haeyoung-ah. If it airs without editing, it’ll hit 20 percent viewership ratings.”
It was a perspective befitting a current content creator. Watching Sehee, who was purely interested as if it wasn’t her business, Haeyoung let out a hollow laugh.
“Noona, even the news doesn’t get that much these days.”
“Of course, that’s because it’s not interesting.”
Then does that mean his circumstances are interesting? Unlike himself, who had been tearing his hair out over problems with Seonwoo, Sehee answered super coolly.
“As I said before, you know I’m on your side, right?”
It was something he’d heard before. At her straightforward words, the corners of Haeyoung’s mouth rose softly.
“Thank you.”
“For what.”
Then and now, without knowing the detailed circumstances, Sehee made the absurd declaration that she was on his side. Even at that light encouragement, Haeyoung was easily comforted.
Suddenly recalling the face he’d seen before leaving the lodging, Haeyoung bit his lower lip. Who would be on his side? Even in this situation, he had such thoughts. Perhaps what he’d taken away by giving him up wasn’t simply a lover.
He was a lover and at the same time a friend he could lean on, and though nothing was promised, he was also family. There was a time when he too, like Sehee, unconditionally took Seonwoo’s side and encouraged him. Just as Cha Seonwoo had done for him.
“Are you staying outside longer? It’s cold.”
At the face that wouldn’t leave his mind, Haeyoung eventually got up from where he’d been leaning. Even though her hair was fluttering in the wind, Sehee nodded with a flushed face.
Haeyoung took out the hot pack that was in his pocket and handed it to her.
“Oh, thanks.”
“I’ll go in first. Come in soon too, noona.”
“Alright. But you… don’t smile like that while saying such trivial things.”
What did I even do? Haeyoung narrowed his eyes with a smiling face. However, he soon obediently nodded and turned around to move his steps.
It was when he stood at the path leading into the lodging. A familiar silhouette pierced his eyes.
“…”
Seonwoo, who had been standing under the streetlamp, took a step as soon as he discovered him. Watching the anxious footsteps approaching him, Haeyoung stood frozen.
As soon as he approached closely, Seonwoo, who had taken off his clothes without time to stop him and wrapped them around Haeyoung’s shoulders, suddenly hesitated. A subtle look appeared on his face. At a glance it seemed displeased, and also looked somewhat flustered.
After silently looking down at Haeyoung for a moment, he again silently focused on helping him put on the clothes. Only after that did Cha Seonwoo remove his hands and ask with a sigh.
“Since when have you been smoking?”
