7.
“Why…”
“What looks good to my eyes will probably look good to others too. When you’re next to someone with a strong character like me, it neutralizes the character.”
After finishing his answer, Choi Taeri’s gaze slowly climbed up from Juha’s feet. His face was leisurely, as if enjoying a good painting hung up for continuous viewing.
Just from his gaze alone, Juha felt a sensation of his entire body being kneaded. Would it be crazy to feel desire from just a look?
Juha was afraid that when that long gaze stopped, the things he’d only imagined would turn into action.
Taeri’s gaze, which had been climbing leisurely, lingered around Juha’s eyes for a while. When he thought Taeri was looking at his lips, Juha hurriedly turned his head. His lips burned as if they had actually been touched.
“…I’m going to sleep.”
Juha cut off his gaze and lay down. He covered himself completely with the blanket up to the top of his head. He didn’t want to show even a strand of hair to Taeri.
If he received his gaze, he felt like he’d make strange misunderstandings on his own.
“Alright. Sleep well.”
Contrary to Juha’s concerns, Taeri’s voice was simple. Choi Taeri turned off the lamp on the nightstand and came under the blanket.
Tonight, the inside of the blanket was unusually hot. It couldn’t be Choi Taeri’s warmth from being under the same blanket. He was lying far enough away that even stretching his arm wouldn’t reach him.
This burning heat was spreading from Lee Juha’s own body.
‘Fuck…’
Why did that bastard have to say something like that?
Juha had never clearly thought of himself as gay, but he knew he could have romantic feelings for men. However, emotions boiling up like flames covering him regardless of gender was something he’d never experienced in his life.
Most of all, Juha couldn’t understand what he’d done to make his body and mind shake just from looking at Taeri. At this place he’d come to despite his family’s opposition, calling it the most important opportunity of his life, what Lee Juha focused on was merely stealing glances at Choi Taeri. Being absent-minded about such useless things was absolutely something the usual Juha would never do.
‘Stop thinking crazy thoughts.’
Juha thought of the pictorial mission to calm down his body’s changes.
Instead of debauched behavior, he pulled out as many cruel records of Yeonsangun as possible.
‘If it’s Yeonsangun, was it the Gapsajahwa?’
Juha deliberately tried to remember what he’d studied in Korean history class.
“Lee Juha.”
Choi Taeri’s unexpected low voice cut through the silent darkness. Juha’s heart, which he’d barely managed to calm, dropped desperately.
“…Why?”
Juha’s body stiffened with tension, feeling like his current state might be discovered.
The blanket moved with a rustling sound. As he felt Choi Taeri approaching, Juha curled up his body with all his might.
Crossing the wide bed, Choi Taeri came close behind Juha.
“Why, why are you doing this?”
“Should we practice how Yeonsangun played?”
Under the blanket, Taeri’s arm slowly wrapped around Juha’s waist like a snake. When the hot hand covered and embraced his stomach, Juha felt like a moan would burst from his mouth.
Every time Taeri’s fingers moved like playing piano, Juha curled up his body even more desperately.
“No, no. I’m not curious.”
Juha hurriedly pushed away Taeri’s hand.
“If you’re not curious, that’s fine.”
Choi Taeri let out a laugh and returned to the opposite end of the bed. It was a short temptation lasting less than 5 seconds. Only then did Juha realize he’d been teased.
Contrary to his anger, his lower half still hadn’t calmed down. It was fortunate it was dark. Otherwise, this reddened face and flustered expression would have been exposed nakedly.
Juha did his best to pull down his t-shirt to cover the stomach that Taeri’s hand had touched. That area felt burning hot as if something significant had touched it.
The reaction from that brief prank was excessively intense.
His heart was pounding and he kept panting as if he’d done something. He was scared that Choi Taeri behind him might pounce again at any moment. He wanted to build a glass wall to divide the space between them.
The emotion that had formed in just 3 days was unbelievably hot and anxious.
It was just a trivial prank, but Juha tried to pull himself together, telling himself he was being too sensitive due to audition stress.
That was the only way to escape this long survival swamp.
‘Let me think about the Gapsajahwa (甲子士禍: the purge during Yeonsangun’s reign).’
There was no better medicine than the Gapsajahwa to calm his heated lower body.
Juha’s head was filled entirely with the bloody feast spilled by the court officials that Yeonsangun had chased away with his sword.
* * *
The third day was all practice. Trainees who still hadn’t memorized all the choreography or were lip-syncing mixed in with other team members were picked out like ghosts and scolded by the masters.
Juha had no flaws to be criticized for in terms of skill, but that wasn’t necessarily good. Being unremarkable meant there was no content worth broadcasting.
As soon as regular practice ended, everyone was in chaos trying to manage themselves for tomorrow’s photo shoot. Additional practice was the last thing on the trainees’ minds now. Everyone was just excited about the dream of hitting the jackpot with one well-taken photo.
Even quite a few trainees skipped meals, wanting to look sharp.
Yeom Sangyeop went to the hotel gym with some fitness boys to build emergency muscles, and Seo Eunwon fluttered around beside him before getting dragged to the gym accidentally.
While everyone was excited about the profile shoot, Lee Juha went to sleep early.
Last night, Juha had flinched every time he felt Choi Taeri’s presence while trying to calm his body with the Gapsajahwa. Unlike usual when he fell asleep easily, yesterday he had unusual trouble sleeping.
It was probably just a thoughtless prank for Choi Taeri, but suffering alone all night felt pathetic and unfair. But it was also awkward to get angry and tell him not to pull such pranks again.
He didn’t want to become ridiculous to Choi Taeri by showing overly sensitive reactions. If he really survived until the end and debuted with Taeri, it was best not to let such weaknesses be caught.
While Juha suffered through all kinds of worries all night last night, Choi Taeri also seemed to toss and turn. Eventually, Juha barely fell asleep while Taeri went to the bathroom late at dawn.
For that reason, having slept only 2-3 hours last night, Juha collapsed on the bed like dead from 10 o’clock today.
* * *
“I’ll trim your eyebrows a bit.”
“Yes.”
With a scraping sound, the eyebrow razor scraped across Juha’s skin. It didn’t hurt, but his body flinched at the vivid sensation of the jagged saw blade brushing his skin.
The makeup artist brushed off the eyebrow pieces stuck to Juha’s face and calmly built up from basic makeup. Juha relaxed his body and closed his eyes.
Even dividing the 80 trainees among multiple studios, there were so many people that each person had allocated time.
Juha was assigned 4th in Studio 3. The trainee in the seat next to him in the same dressing room was chattering away with his makeup artist.
Beside them, Juha just quietly kept his lips closed and entrusted his face.
“Make the eye area more reddish. Wine colored.”
Jung Iyeong, Juha’s assigned stylist, gave instructions while watching the makeup.
“Yes.”
The makeup artist brushed blush on the back of her hand and tapped it to adjust the color.
The concept plan Juha had sent was close to a debauched, rough tyrant. However, Jung Iyeong, who was responsible for his style today, saw Juha in person and recommended some concept modifications.
The reason was that given Juha’s skin tone and facial feature combination, emphasizing sensuality would bring out more charm.
“Your skin is really pale. Female idols would be jealous.”
Throughout styling, Jung Iyeong praised Juha.
“Thank you.”
Juha greeted her awkwardly.
“The kid before chattered a lot, but you’re really shy too.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not good with words…”
Iyeong had been putting her heart into Juha’s style for two hours now.
The trainees around him had been acting cute to their assigned stylists throughout their makeup. Saying noona was so pretty, that they’d get high-quality photos thanks to noona today, that this was the first time they’d met someone who captured concepts so well. The compliments were varied.
Juha could have said something too, but he’d been quietly just offering his face, worried about interfering with her work.
“That’s fine. Talking a lot just leads to verbal mistakes. Just keep your mouth shut. So the makeup doesn’t smudge.”
Though Iyeong spoke as if scolding, it was closer to concern for Juha. Since she didn’t particularly like young kids being slickly smooth, Iyeong actually found quiet and well-behaved Juha more comfortable.
“Done. Look in the mirror. Tell me if anything’s strange.”
“Yes.”
Juha stood up and stood in front of the large full-length mirror. Iyeong tidied Juha’s collar until the end while looking in the mirror. The clothes were quite heavy from layering to bring out the hanbok’s fit.
“How is it? Not bad, right?”
Checking mirror-Juha for the last time, Iyeong had expectant eyes for an answer.
“It’s… strange.”
Looking at his reflection in the mirror, Juha awkwardly touched his neck. It felt like the mirror wasn’t showing his actual appearance but showing a drawing of someone else.
“Hey. What am I supposed to do if you say it’s strange? Look how much effort I put in.”
“Oh, no. That’s not what I meant. It doesn’t look like me.”
Juha hurriedly waved his hands.
Looking again, Lee Juha in the mirror looked like he’d been pulled from a comic book.
Although Juha’s skin was already on the pale side, the concept shoot adjusted his skin tone to be pale to the point of being white and emphasized his eyes with wine-colored eyeshadow. The area under his eyes and cheeks had a reddish tinge, making him look drunk at first glance.
The jeogori worn inside was loosely lowered so bare skin showed down to Juha’s chest area. The red gonryongpo strings worn over it were completely untied.
Juha found his appearance after finishing makeup according to the theme of “debauched king” unfamiliar.
“Trainee Lee Juha! If you’re ready, please move!”
A staff member’s voice was heard from outside.
“Yes.”
Juha answered and left the dressing room.
Iyeong still followed behind him as if something was lacking, tidying his clothes.
* * *
“Hello, I’m Lee Juha.”
“Oh…”
When Juha appeared, low admiration erupted in the studio. The gazes looking at him were also unfamiliar. They were looks that went beyond wide-eyed to seeming entranced.
‘Why are they like that?’
When gazes he’d never seen in his life converged at once, Juha lowered his head for no reason.
It might be because the atmosphere was different from the basic uniform shoot, or it might be that they conventionally exclaimed in admiration when someone came out with concept makeup.
Thinking it was probably just that kind of reason, Juha approached the staff one by one and bowed in greeting.
“Hello, I’m Lee Juha.”
“Sit over there.”
Kim Dongmin, his assigned photographer, spoke without even looking at Juha. As if something didn’t please him, he kept frowning while only looking at the camera screen.
Juha quietly assessed the atmosphere and entered the center of the studio where lighting was set up.
In the studio with a white background, there was only one long chair without a backrest. It was an antique design with ornate phoenix carvings gilded on the leg posts and edges, and a blue silk cushion embroidered with gold thread.
“Try posing.”
Following Kim Dongmin’s words, Juha sat on the chair and folded one knee. With his opposite hand, he loosely gripped the chair and placed the ikseon-gwan in the empty space. With a cynical gaze as if completely uninterested in the throne, Juha looked at the camera lens.
Kim Dongmin, who had been watching Juha’s movements through the viewfinder, shook his head as if something displeased him. He hadn’t taken a single shot yet.
“Iyeong, make his nape show more.”
At Kim Dongmin’s word, Jung Iyeong rushed over and pulled back Juha’s hanbok collar further. When the heavy clothes fell back, the center of gravity shifted backward. Not only his nape but bare skin was exposed enough to show his back.
“Mess up his hair a bit more.”
Iyeong disheveled Juha’s hair according to Kim Dongmin’s order.
“I poured my soul into making you, so take proper photos. Got it?”
Iyeong turned her back to Kim Dongmin and whispered secretly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
