It felt like he had returned to the past.
Falling asleep in Haesung’s arms, ending the day.
When he caressed his firm arms and lifted his eyelids, he could see Haesung’s face sleeping soundly.
“…Sleep more.”
His whining that wasn’t quite whining continued.
As if it wasn’t time yet so it was okay, he hugged Dohyeong tightly and let out a sigh. It was exactly the same as back then.
Dohyeong, who had been in a daze at first, also slowly embraced Haesung’s back.
The firm shoulders and straight back he felt with his palms. Even the familiar body scent he felt at the tip of his nose.
‘…Finally, at last.’
He swallowed the thoughts that came to his mind.
They were words he couldn’t speak out loud.
How much time had they spent embracing each other like that?
After lying down for a while, Dohyeong woke Haesung. He wanted to stay like this a little longer, but filming would start soon.
“Hyung. I have to go back to my room. People will be coming out soon.”
At Dohyeong’s low voice, Haesung tossed and turned, then opened one eye.
“…What time is it?”
“6 o’clock.”
“Assembly is…”
“9 o’clock.”
It seemed like he was about to answer that it was still far off. However, he soon agreed and rubbed his face on the pillow.
Because it would take quite some time to prepare.
They had to do fittings, and get makeup and hair done too.
“Okay. Let’s get up.”
In the end, he got up from his spot reluctantly. The moment Dohyeong raised his body, considerable pain rushed to his waist.
“Ah…”
When he grabbed his waist and paused in place, Haesung also raised his body and looked at him quietly.
It seemed like his thought circuits weren’t sharp yet since he had just woken up not long ago.
A moment later, he curled up the corners of his mouth to smile and stroked Dohyeong’s hair.
“You’ll get used to it.”
Even those words were annoying. Dohyeong glanced at Haesung.
“No one knows if I’ll be doing it enough to get used to it.”
And he spoke somewhat gruffly for no reason and carefully turned his body. The moment he was about to get off the bed, Haesung reached out his hand and pulled Dohyeong toward him.
He placed his face on one shoulder and pressed his body close.
“Really?”
Sly fox. Dohyeong didn’t meet his gaze and slightly lifted his chin.
“Well, I don’t know.”
“Will you be okay?”
“What do you mean oka…”
There was no need to even ask. Since he was subtly emitting pheromones, his sense of smell reacted first.
“Hyung!”
Flustered, Dohyeong covered his mouth and nose with both hands. His head was already getting dizzy.
Smelling his pheromones made his body react first. He tried to escape from Haesung’s embrace at the unusual sensation, but.
“Thanks to someone properly provoking me from the morning.”
Before he knew it, he was firmly caught by him and ended up lying down as if collapsing on the bed.
“It woke me right up.”
“Hyung, pheromones. Your pheromones.”
“Well. How was I supposed to do that again?”
Haesung shrugged his shoulders and answered playfully.
And he lowered his head and kissed Dohyeong’s face here and there. As if stamping that he was his, as if expressing his affectionate feelings.
They were ticklish kisses filled with affection.
“It tickles.”
Dohyeong also smiled and pushed Haesung away slightly. The low laughter turning into hot breath was instantaneous.
He reached out his hands to stop him, but it was absurd strength.
He slowly closed his eyes. He inhaled deeply into his lungs the cold air seeping in through the wall and carefully grasped Haesung’s hair.
Anxious happiness. A moment he wanted to remember forever nonetheless.
This fleeting morning was being clearly engraved in Dohyeong’s mind.
***
Being released from Haesung’s arms was 1 hour later.
At 7 o’clock, Dohyeong, who had entered the room just in time, was sitting on the bed getting thoroughly scolded by Wootae.
“Do you know how flustered I was yesterday?”
What Wootae showed him was a single message Haesung had sent.
Jung Haesung
I hope you have a meaningful time with Manager Do. Dohyeong said he’s scared to sleep alone, so I’m thinking of staying with him. I’ll send him back tomorrow morning.
This was content that made one suspect it was a message sent by a parent.
“Even you think it’s serious, right?”
“Yeah. This is… it’s just like a parent.”
At Dohyeong’s voice answering seriously, Wootae was dumbfounded.
He should know that’s not what he was talking about right now. He followed Dohyeong’s gaze staring intently at the phone, then looked at him again.
Feeling annoyed for no reason, he raised his hand and flicked Dohyeong’s forehead.
“Ow! Hyung, that hurts!”
“I hit you so it would hurt. Aren’t you coming to your senses?”
At Wootae’s voice scolding him, Dohyeong smiled and rubbed his forehead.
“Sorry. Hyung. It just… ended up like that.”
“There’s a difference in how things ‘just end up,’ hey. Of all people, Jung Haesung. No, of all places, here.”
Wootae couldn’t properly continue his words in his bewilderment. He kept looking at Dohyeong with eyes that still couldn’t understand, then let out a big sigh.
“Well, yeah… it’s something that already happened. It’s not like anything will change just because I say something.”
Still, aigoo! Wootae, who let out a big lament, roughly ran his hand through his hair. Tsk, he clicked his tongue and glanced at Dohyeong.
“So. Was it good?”
“Huh?”
Dohyeong’s face turned bright red.
In the end, unable to hold back any longer, Wootae grabbed a pillow and pressed it firmly against Dohyeong’s face.
“Your face, your face! Manage your expression!”
Laughter burst out in embarrassment. He hugged the pillow that Wootae was holding and pressing tightly and buried his face in it.
It was because he realized it wasn’t that kind of question. Haha, behind the awkward laughter, Wootae’s sigh could be heard.
“Were you happy?”
At Wootae’s question, Dohyeong recalled last night and this morning.
Haesung’s appearance and expression, his touch and breath.
And perhaps, Jung Haesung’s tenderness and warmth that he thought he would never feel in his lifetime.
After thinking for a while, Dohyeong peeked his face out from the pillow. When he carefully nodded his head, soon Wootae’s voice was heard.
“…Were you happy?”
“Yeah. I was happy.”
It seemed like he was relieved only after hearing the answer, as Wootae let out an empty laugh.
“Okay.”
Wootae, who had been nodding his head, this time reached out his hand and stroked Dohyeong’s hair.
“Then that’s enough.”
At the words that followed, Dohyeong also smiled with his eyes folded long.
Wootae’s touch was affectionate. They only didn’t share blood; it wouldn’t be strange to say he was his real older brother anywhere.
The words “then that’s enough” felt just like a solid shield. It seemed like he wouldn’t feel intimidated about his relationship with Haesung anywhere anymore.
At that moment, Wootae, who had been stroking his hair, playfully grabbed Dohyeong’s hair tightly.
“It’s true that you just need to be happy, but.”
At the somehow fierce expression narrowing his brow, he instinctively lowered his tail like a guilty dog.
He was getting scolded.
“One more time, if you act so recklessly like this… then. You.”
He chose his words for a moment.
Pondering what to say to effectively scare Dohyeong, his eyebrows twitched.
“I’ll tell the CEO.”
As he bluntly spat out and released the strength from the hand gripping his hair, Dohyeong jumped up from his spot.
“N-no!”
If the story reached CEO Yoon? He’d probably be called in and scolded for 5,000 more hours.
He’d hear nagging starting from “what happened” to “what were you thinking?”
Dohyeong, who had been shaking his head quickly, grabbed Wootae’s both arms.
“I’ll tell her later myself. Okay? Hyung, no. Not the CEO.”
“That’s why I’m saying don’t act recklessly. Aigoo, really. Ah, forget it!”
“Ah, hyung. Please. Hm? I won’t do it. I won’t do it again.”
As if Dohyeong’s pleading appearance was funny, Wootae burst out in giggles.
Please, hyung. Dohyeong’s pleading voice filled the room.
It was the start of a morning that was more enjoyable, happy, and pleasant than usual.
Today’s filming was a scene where Yujin chased after and persuaded Yehyun to hold him back.
The staff kept worrying and worrying. It was because they had seen Dohyeong troubled last time for not being able to properly immerse himself against Haesung.
But the two people, as if mocking such worries, immersed themselves in their respective roles.
“Cut! So, so good! You two. Did you secretly do special training behind our backs yesterday?”
Enough to receive Director Na’s okay sign in one take.
They had to repeat the same acting a couple of times to separately capture the full shot and bust shot, but even that had no wavering.
Thanks to that, the filming that was scheduled to end at 8 PM could be wrapped up around 6 PM.
While smiling brightly and greeting the staff, Kyungdae approached Dohyeong.
“Kim Dohyeong. Did you really do special training?”
“What special training?”
Kyungdae glanced around at the surroundings, then got close to Dohyeong and whispered softly.
“Last time, you acted like you were completely being devoured by Jung Haesung-ssi.”
“…D-devoured?”
He was flustered.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know the meaning of those words. It was because it approached him with another meaning like when he talked with Wootae.
At the sight of Dohyeong jumping and stepping back, Kyungdae looked at him as if it was strange.
“Ah, ahahaha. Haha. Our Dohyeong must have had his pride really hurt. Right?”
If Wootae, who was beside them, hadn’t interjected between the two people while kneading Dohyeong’s shoulder, Kyungdae’s strange gaze would have obviously continued even more.
“You felt that way too, right, Manager?”
“Of course. Naturally. I did wonder why he was like that when he’s not someone who’d be pushed back in acting skills.”
“Hey, no. It wasn’t a problem of acting skills…”
Kyungdae, who was about to say something, shook his head and clicked his tongue. It seemed like as he was talking, he thought this wasn’t right.
“No. That doesn’t make sense. Against his ex-husband.”
One corner of his heart stung.
Ahahaha, Dohyeong, who had been laughing awkwardly, nodded his head.
“Uh… uh yeah, right.”
“Anyway. You were really good today. It felt like the two of you were playing tug-of-war with your acting, so even I was excited watching it, you know?”
The awkwardness was brief, and at Kyungdae’s praise that followed, Dohyeong’s face brightened once again.
“Really? Was it okay?”
“Of course! What do you take a scripter’s eye for? Anyway, good work today, Actor Kim Dohyeong. I’ll see you at the next filming.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at his appearance instantly turning from friend to the scripter’s original stance.
To him bowing his waist playfully, Dohyeong also bowed his head.
“Yes. You worked hard too, Kyungdae-ssi. See you at the next filming.”
And the two people smiled and bumped fists. After light greetings, he was moving with Wootae when he felt a gaze from beside them.
“Hyung, you’re going to bore a hole through my face.”
“Did I tell you to be careful or not?”
“They won’t find out. They won’t find out. Only you who watched everything knows.”
“Everything shows on you. Even though it’s all drawn on your face or expression?”
“…It doesn’t show, okay?”
“It shows, okay.”
They bickered childishly and left the filming site. Wootae turned on the pad tucked under one arm and looked at various things.
“Tomorrow you have a commercial for the first time in a while. You remember, right?”
“Yeah. The milk commercial.”
“I’m worried, really worried. A kid who can’t even drink milk.”
“It’s okay. They said they’d prepare the milk as lactose-free.”
“No, but all your fans would know. Really…”
“That’s why it might be even more effective. Milk that even Kim Dohyeong with lactose intolerance can drink.”
At Wootae’s appearance laughing as if it was absurd, Dohyeong also smiled.
What had changed was only that he had untangled the thread of emotions that hadn’t been resolved and grasped someone’s sincerity that he thought he couldn’t hold. But everything had changed.
The mindset and mood of spending the day. Even this unidentifiable sense of relief that dispelled his anxiety.
Since even the refreshing air pushed deep into his lungs, it felt like his head became a bit clearer.
When he approached the car, he saw a familiar van ahead.
“Oh? Seonghyeok hyung-nim!”
Hyung-nim? Dohyeong turned his head to look at Wootae.
“Seonghyeok hyung-nim?”
“Yeah, you’re on brotherly terms, aren’t you?”
“Since when?”
At Dohyeong’s puzzled question, Wootae smiled brightly and nodded his head.
“Mm-hmm, since last night when you and Jung Haesung recklessly locked the door.”
He was doing this on purpose.
Dohyeong glanced at Wootae, but he waved his hand toward Seonghyeok without caring.
“Really, hyung’s one talent for making friends… I acknowledge it.”
The moment he clicked his tongue and shook his head, a familiar figure was seen beside Seonghyeok.
He almost shouted his name loudly too.
Haesung hyung! Like that.
As if noticing Dohyeong’s feelings, Seonghyeok tapped Haesung. Then he gestured to indicate the direction the two people were walking.
He thought their usual indifferent gazes would meet.
Of course it would be so, since he and Haesung were people who always had to maintain distance.
As he was putting aside his inevitable regretful feelings.
“…Wow, Jung Haesung. What’s with you?”
