“Sing together?”
Siwoo nodded and looked around. He couldn’t get up while holding the guitar. There were no extra chairs. In the meantime, Evan sat comfortably on the floor next to him.
As expected, someone who had done a lot of broadcasts was different. Rather than sitting side by side facing forward, he sat a little distance away and looked up at Siwoo from below.
Whether it was prepared or not, Evan gave a signal to start by slightly nodding his head.
Evan listened to Siwoo singing for a moment. Since Evan wasn’t singing, Siwoo glanced at him. He was worried if there might be some problem. Come to think of it, he had arbitrarily called him out and made him sing.
His opinion wasn’t included in this matter right now.
Thinking he’d made a big mistake with him, Siwoo missed a note. Evan’s voice naturally melted into the part Siwoo had missed.
While harmonizing with his song, Siwoo slightly lowered his head and looked down at Evan.
Ha, really. The 3-second man who enjoyed making people get the wrong idea was radiating that charm even now.
Rather than sitting facing forward, he had turned his body toward him completely and was looking up at him.
At his unavoidable tremendous charm radiation, Siwoo chuckled and moved his gaze forward again. Unlike when he sang the first two songs, people were all holding up their phones filming. When would he receive such a response again?
The stage he had reserved would soon end. Siwoo stopped singing for a moment and bit down hard on his lower lip. Even if he wasn’t singing now, there was no worry since Evan was carrying the song. Complex emotions rippled. Why did it all feel like it was ending?
It seemed like all of this was because it was a special situation. He wasn’t such an emotional person, though he might have been emotional, but as regressions repeated, he gradually became numb. A side effect from not being able to regress on the designated date.
Siwoo eventually lowered his head. The entire space was filled with Evan’s voice. If he opened his mouth and made a sound now, his voice would definitely tremble. It seemed like tears would be mixed in, so in the end, the last song became like Evan’s song.
At people’s applause, Siwoo took a deep breath and stood up. Until he greeted side by side with Evan and came back out, Siwoo couldn’t raise his head.
Now it was time to return to the lodging. Free time was until 9 o’clock. There was a schedule where everyone would gather at 9 to spend the remaining night together.
“Sorry.”
Walking along the quiet night street while sorting out his complex emotions, Siwoo brought out an apology first.
“What are you sorry about? I liked it though?”
Siwoo, who was about to apologize for suddenly calling him out and suggesting busking, was at a loss for words.
“Thank you.”
At Evan’s words, he conveyed thanks instead of an apology.
“What are you thankful for. It was an honor for me. Being able to sing together with my favorite.”
“Ah, really! Evan, stop it. If I keep listening to what you say, I’ll get the wrong idea that you like me.”
Siwoo rubbed his face with both hands.
“Right. I like you.”
At Evan’s words, answering immediately as soon as he finished speaking, Siwoo laughed out loud.
“Okay. I like you too.”
How could he say harsh words and get angry at someone who says they like him? He was realizing with his whole body the saying that you can’t spit on a smiling face.
“Coco. Why are you laughing? I’m saying I like you.”
“Okay. I like you too.”
Unlike Evan who was serious and saying he liked him, Siwoo kept laughing.
“Coco. I’m not joking, I sincerely like you.”
When Evan, who had been walking side by side, stopped walking and spoke, Siwoo’s steps, which had gone a few more steps forward, also stopped. And Siwoo turned around.
Seeing him standing in the middle of the road, laughter burst out again and he raised his hand to cover his mouth, trying to hold back the laughter.
Since it was an uphill road, Siwoo, standing a little higher, shook his head at Evan’s handsome face looking up at him from below. Of all places, the spot he was standing in happened to be under a streetlight.
“I really think meeting you in this program was lucky. I’m sincerely grateful that you helped me a lot because I might not be able to adapt. Evan, I love you.”
Speaking with sincerity, Siwoo raised both arms above his head and made a heart. Once they entered the lodging, there wouldn’t be time to say such honest words. And tomorrow morning, they had to prepare as soon as they woke up and go to the airport. After going through a long-distance flight, what remained was a familiar farewell.
“I’m going crazy.”
Evan covered his eyes with one hand. This was Coco, who was famous for having no aegyo.
But looking at him and smiling so beautifully while drawing a heart above his head and even adding the word ‘I love you’ was a foul.
Every day was a series of things exceeding his limits. He thought he could see the end now, but he knew that the meaning of the words ‘I love you’ that he said wasn’t the kind of meaning he wanted. But the moment he heard those words, everything crumbled.
He was at a distance where if he just stretched out his arm, he could grab him. That made it more dangerous.
“Ah, making someone feel embarrassed. So ‘I love you’ isn’t it. Okay. I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you.”
Slowly lowering his arms that had drawn a heart above his head, Siwoo chanted the words ‘I like you’ quickly like rapping. It seemed like Evan liked the word ‘I like you’ more than ‘I love you’ anyway.
“Stop.”
Siwoo, who had been drawing a finger heart in front of his chest and earnestly saying ‘I like you,’ closed his mouth at Evan’s low voice.
Evan, who had approached to his side before he knew it, stroked Siwoo’s head with his large hand. Soft, fine hair slipped smoothly through his fingers.
“It’s late. Let’s go.”
Evan passed by Siwoo’s side and walked ahead. Walking ahead like that, Evan couldn’t see Siwoo’s lips pouting as he followed behind. He had to not look at Siwoo even for a moment. That way he could stop his heart that moved as it pleased, stop his hands.
Since Evan walking ahead didn’t speak to him anymore, Siwoo followed him with quick steps. What was fortunate was that his steps gradually slowed down, and before he knew it, the two were walking shoulder to shoulder.
* * *
As soon as he returned to the lodging, without even time to catch his breath, Siwoo, who changed into clothes given by the production crew and entered filming preparation, took care of the doll first.
Standing in front of the mirror, touching his hair, before going down, Siwoo stood in front of the cam in his room.
“Today is the last night. There is tomorrow, but since the flight time is tight, rather than doing anything, we’ll probably have to prepare as we wake up and go to the airport, so it seems like this is the official last filming. And actually, when the program started, we had manitto. If you’ve been watching all along, you might know, but you probably don’t know who my manitto is. Because I didn’t take good care of them.”
Finishing his words while moving the giraffe doll in his arms this way and that, Siwoo raised the giraffe’s front legs and waved as if greeting, then left the room.
“Hyung! Why are you coming out with a giraffe doll?”
As soon as Yechan, who was preparing for filming in the living room, saw Siwoo’s giraffe, he reacted exaggeratedly and everyone burst into laughter.
“My heart for my manitto.”
“Don’t tell me that manitto is me?”
Playfully hitting the arm of Yechan who was backing away with a serious face, Siwoo sat at the end of the sofa. As everyone gathered in one place, sounds meshed chaotically.
“Oh! Who will receive Siwoo hyung’s giraffe doll? If it’s really Yechan, that would be incredibly funny.”
Everyone looked at the doll Siwoo was holding in his arms and threw in a comment.
“Now! Time passed too quickly, right? Today is our last night together. What did everyone do during free time?”
“I went shopping with Ian. This is really pretty, right?”
Louis showed off the necklace around his neck first.
“We went to the village festival and got face painting on our faces.”
“Everyone don’t talk at the same time, if you’re curious, you’ll know if you watch the broadcast. The reason we all gathered like this is. When we first started, everyone received missions. Well, it might be a bit tacky and childish, but everyone decided on manitto, right?”
“Yeah! Shout it out!”
“Now now!! I’ll go first, I’ll go first. Everyone knows who my manitto is, don’t you?”
At Hyunsu’s words, everyone looked at Louis. Since it was Hyunsu who found it whenever Louis lost something, and later on, it was him who took care of all of Louis’s luggage every time they moved.
“Hyung. Is it me?”
Louis stood up from his seat, spread both arms, and smiled brightly.
“So. For Louis! I bought this.”
Siwoo looked at Hyunsu while holding the giraffe tightly in his arms, then looked at the sky-blue children’s handbag in his hand and covered his mouth with one hand, trying to hold back the laughter bursting out.
“Isn’t it so cute and doesn’t it suit our Louis well? I deliberately got it in sky blue to match his hair color. Please take good care of your wallet and phone.”
“Kekekekek.”
In front of Luca, who was sitting on the sofa and came down to the floor laughing, Louis directly wore the bag crossbody and leisurely walked in front of them as if walking a runway.
Everyone busily revealed their manitto, and when it was Siwoo’s turn, Siwoo smiled shyly and covered his face with the giraffe doll.
“No words are needed. The giraffe doll is Yechan’s. Even if you say no, it’s just Yechan’s anyway.”
Hyunsu stood up from his seat abruptly, snatched the giraffe doll Siwoo was holding, and tossed it to Yechan.
“Ah! Hyung, tell me it’s not. It’s not a giraffe. It’s not.”
Yechan, who received the giraffe doll, tossed the giraffe up and caught it as if he’d received a hot potato.
“Yechan-ah. It’s my heart.”
“Hup.”
Siwoo sent a finger heart with his thumb and index finger.
“Is it really me? Wow, I really didn’t know. Did anyone know?”
“What do you mean you didn’t know? Just the fact that he let that prank you pulled slide was already huge.”
When Yechan, who really didn’t know that Siwoo’s manitto was him, was bewildered, Luca simply sorted out the situation. Everyone thought it was strange that Siwoo let it slide so easily, but it was between the two of them, so they didn’t get involved.
“Ah, right.”
Yechan, who had been flustered, agreed far too easily. As the price for that, he couldn’t bring himself to mention that he got hit by Evan that evening, using beer as an excuse.
