Even though he knew there was nothing special hidden in the gaze boring into him, his heart still raced, and an inexplicable flutter rose in his chest. With his head lowered, Yi-hyeon started shoveling pasta into his mouth faster.
“By the way, I don’t think the rain’s going to stop today. We don’t have a place to stay either. It’s cleaner than I expected, so maybe we could just sleep here.”
Yi-hyeon stopped his hand mid-motion and lifted his eyes.
“Here?”
“Why? Is that weird?”
“No, I mean… I’m fine with anything as long as you’re okay with it……”
Was Han Jun really okay with being here? Or was he forcing himself because Yi-hyeon had suddenly grown ears and a tail, and they couldn’t find a place to stay?
“If the rain stops tonight, let’s wake up early tomorrow and walk the trail near the beach together. It’s really pretty at dawn.”
Han Jun stayed seated at the table until Yi-hyeon finished eating. The moment Yi-hyeon polished off the last slice of pizza, Han Jun grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. He sat Yi-hyeon down on the four-seater couch, then took a tablet PC out of his bag.
After setting the tablet stand on the table and placing the tablet on it, Han Jun suddenly flopped down on the couch. He rested his head on Yi-hyeon’s thigh like a pillow, blinking eyes dotted with deep black pupils as he spoke.
“The TV and internet are both cut off here. Let’s just watch a movie on this and go to sleep.”
Why did he have to use his leg as a pillow? Yi-hyeon fidgeted with the soft fabric of the sofa’s armrest and swallowed hard.
“Yoon Yi-hyeon.”
“Yeah.”
With the weight on his thigh making his face burn hot, Yi-hyeon lowered his gaze slightly and nodded once.
“Are you mad?”
“Huh? Me? No?”
Yi-hyeon jolted. In doing so, he ended up meeting those deep, black eyes staring straight at him.
“You keep answering while looking somewhere else. I thought you might be mad at me.”
“There’s absolutely nothing for me to be mad about.”
That’s because just looking at your face makes my heart feel like it’s about to explode.
Swallowing those words down as nothing more than a survival tactic, Yi-hyeon turned his gaze toward the tablet—only for Han Jun to cup Yi-hyeon’s face with his hand and turn it back toward himself. Locking eyes with Yi-hyeon’s wide stare, Han Jun spoke quietly.
“I wasn’t done talking yet, and you’re already looking away again.”
Han Jun’s body heat seeped from his palm into Yi-hyeon’s face. Every time Han Jun spoke, his softly scented breath brushed Yi-hyeon’s lips, making his overheated body twitch. A dull, spreading ache began to pool low in his abdomen.
Why are you touching me so casually…… I’m already losing my mind as it is!
Before something disastrous could happen, Yi-hyeon sprang up from the couch and turned away, blurting out that he was going to the bathroom. His tail, still not gone, clung tightly to his back.
“Yoon Yi-hyeon.”
At Han Jun’s call, Yi-hyeon froze in place.
“That’s the small room. The bathroom’s on the left.”
Watching Yi-hyeon turn sharply left without even looking back, practically fleeing, Han Jun let out a short laugh.
Shhhh.
Listening to the steady rush of water pouring from the faucet like rain falling from the sky, Yi-hyeon crouched on the dry bathroom tiles.
I’ve really lost my mind.
He grabbed his head tightly, his face twisted in deep self-loathing.
After calming himself down and stepping out of the bathroom, Yi-hyeon saw Han Jun fully absorbed in the tablet screen. Each time the reflected light shifted across his face, Han Jun’s clear eyes moved as though tracking the characters on screen.
Still staring at the “TV,” Han Jun must’ve sensed Yi-hyeon’s gaze, because he turned his head. In contrast, Yi-hyeon immediately dragged his eyes back down to the floor.
“You seen this movie before?”
Taking small, quick steps back to the couch, Yi-hyeon asked what movie it was while peering at the screen. It was a foreign romance film he’d only seen briefly reviewed on YouTube.
“No.”
“You always say you haven’t.”
“This one I really haven’t—”
Yi-hyeon cut himself off, hurriedly biting his lower lip.
“……So you did see the last one. Figures.”
Just as Yi-hyeon was about to sit on the side chair with an awkward expression, Han Jun grabbed his arm and pulled him over. Giving in, Yi-hyeon sat back down beside him.
They hadn’t even been watching for ten minutes when the movie was already on its who-knew-how-many-th kiss. Every time the protagonists tangled together with wet, sticky sounds, Yi-hyeon couldn’t bear the awkwardness—he kept swallowing hard and twitching in place.
Holding hands. Rubbing thighs. Then it escalated further, tongues sliding together, the intensity of their skinship deepening. For no real reason, Yi-hyeon even pulled out his phone.
Han Jun, who’d been sneaking sideways glances at him, finally spoke.
“It is because of the kiss scenes, isn’t it.”
“Huh? What? Me?”
Yi-hyeon flinched so hard his shoulders shook. Then, like someone hypnotized, he slowly shook his head at the deep black eyes waiting for his answer.
“No? It’s not?”
“You watched the last one too and said you hadn’t. Then the moment the kiss scenes came up, you suddenly started staring at your phone.”
“……”
“You say you want to be a film director. Are you really going to give feedback while not even being able to look at your protagonists’ kiss scenes and just fiddling with your phone every time?”
“No.”
Yi-hyeon denied it, shaking his head side to side every time Han Jun spoke. With the word kiss coming out of Han Jun’s mouth again and again, he was so flustered he didn’t even realize when his ears and tail had disappeared.
Seeing Yi-hyeon’s panicked expression, Han Jun continued, a sly grin hooking onto the corners of his eyes.
“What if you end up launching a romance movie with the title, ‘A romance film made by a director who’s never even kissed’?”
“……Stop teasing me.”
“If that’s the title, I wouldn’t even count as teasing. Wow—before that, you should at least try it once. Otherwise, your movie’s comment section would be a disaster.”
“Try what?”
“Kissing. If the director who’s supposed to guide the film can’t even handle a single kiss, how are you going to persuade the actors and shape their emotional arc?”
“I won’t put in a kiss scene.”
“What movie these days doesn’t have a kiss scene? Even horror movies have people kissing before they die.”
Han Jun’s words were annoyingly accurate, leaving Yi-hyeon with nothing to argue back. Every point hit so close to home it stung.
Han Jun stared straight at Yi-hyeon’s tightly shut mouth, then seemed to think he’d teased him too much and finally stopped talking.
Shhhh.
Riding atop the relentless sound of rain, Han Jun’s quiet, steady breathing tickled Yi-hyeon’s ear. When Yi-hyeon glanced sideways, he saw Han Jun—broad shoulders drawn inward—staring straight at him.
Then…
Pushing into the not-so-large space between them, Han Jun suddenly leaned his face in close.
“W-why, what are you doing?”
“You’re going to start making movies as soon as you get into college, right?”
“Huh? Uh, y-yeah, probably. The professors will assign stuff and all.”
Yi-hyeon answered while leaning his neck back slightly.
“Then want to try it once before that?”
“Try… try what?”
“What do you mean, what? We’re talking about kissing. Obviously, a kiss.”
“Kiss—”
Yi-hyeon froze, words caught in his throat, and Han Jun gently wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“Do you have someone you’re dating?”
At Han Jun’s question, Yi-hyeon shook his head so hard it looked like it might snap off.
“No.”
“Someone you like?”
“Uh—no!”
“A situationship?”
“None.”
