120
Sunlight poured in through my narrowly opened eyes.
“Morning…”
Seeing how bright the entire room was, it seemed closer to noon than morning.
Which meant I was late.
When I flinched in panic, the arm wrapped around my waist tightened gently. It was more like preventing me from getting up in a hurry.
Pouring sunlight, large hands, familiar scent, and a body without a single thread of clothing.
As I turned my head, a face smiling brightly at me filled my vision—he must have been awake for some time already.
“Hello, Sanho hyung.”
Jin Woohyeon greeted me with a bright smile.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“…”
“I thought you might be hungry, so I was planning to feed you breakfast as soon as you woke up… but I figured we’d both be disappointed if you woke up during that time.”
His smiling face looked completely delighted as he said he’d just been lazy instead.
“Should we order delivery for a late breakfast?”
Though I knew I should answer, words wouldn’t come out. All my attention was focused on his appearance, his smile, and some emotion melting in his gaze.
Turning toward him, I carefully reached out my hand. I traced his disheveled hair, smooth forehead, straight eyebrows, slowly blinking eyelashes, and elongated eye corners with my fingertips.
Jin Woohyeon quietly waited for me until my hand, which had been wandering around his nose and cheeks, came to rest on his lower lip. As if letting me do whatever I wanted. As if my wish was his wish.
“It’s amazing…”
When I muttered that, Jin Woohyeon gently gripped my wrist and placed small kisses on my fingertips.
“What is?”
“Just…”
Pressing my finger against his slightly upturned lips, I said:
“Thinking that it’s not such a big deal after all.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he answered with a voice full of laughter.
“Happiness is usually something trivial, right?”
“…I guess so.”
“Well then, shall we continue the conversation we couldn’t finish because we had to put out the urgent fire?”
Retracing my memories of last night, I recalled the anxiety I had carelessly spilled to him.
‘He still remembers.’
It was probably because I reacted more sensitively due to the heat cycle. Now that the heat had passed, I was noticeably more stable, and that anxiety that had stirred inside me was mostly quiet.
Of course, I thought we should talk sometime, but it didn’t seem necessary for him to be so serious about it.
“I’m fine now.”
“No.”
But Jin Woohyeon seemed to have a different opinion. He answered in a gentle yet firm voice.
“You’re not fine. You just feel that way momentarily right now.”
“…”
“Anxiety is something that will come back anytime if you don’t pull it out by the roots.”
He calmly said as he interlaced his fingers with mine.
“So tell me. What makes you anxious, why you’re anxious. It can be trivial or absurd. You can pour it out incoherently, and if you want to blame me, you can.”
“…Woohyeon.”
“You just need to tell me. It’s about the two of us.”
I didn’t know where to start. I’m not good with words, so even bringing up the topic was quite difficult.
But I wanted to do it. Because he was waiting for me. As Jin Woohyeon said, this was an issue for both of us, and if I didn’t speak, no one could know what was in my heart.
“I felt like you would leave…”
My anxiety unraveled from there, one strand at a time, very carefully.
“I heard stories about you. That your family is quite a well-known wealthy family even in America, and that your grandparents don’t particularly like your acting activities in Korea.”
Jin Woohyeon, who was about to say something, firmly closed his mouth. He slightly furrowed his brow then relaxed it, holding my hand tightly and saying softly, “Go on.”
I nodded and continued.
“I knew you were from a well-off family, but I didn’t know it was to that extent. Then I wondered, will there come a time when you’ll want to go back? That’s what I worried about.”
“…”
“And then I realized. I don’t know much about you. You always asked about even the smallest things about me and cared, but I don’t think I did the same for you. As the center of our relationship shifted more toward me, your place seemed to get smaller and smaller, and us growing apart like that…”
My ears turned red with embarrassment when I said I didn’t know much about him.
“I hated that. I wanted to fix it while I could. Just as you’re a good person to me, I wanted to be that kind of person to you too. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I do.”
Jin Woohyeon pulled our clasped hands closer and whispered as he kissed the back of my hand.
“I understand too well. That our Sanho hyung is an incomparably sweet person.”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“I know.”
Only after pressing his lips to my hand several more times did Jin Woohyeon lift his head.
“Can I explain now?”
When I nodded, Jin Woohyeon’s calm voice continued.
“Most of what you heard is true. It’s nothing particularly secret. My grandparents are American, and my father is a businessman. I lived in America until high school.”
He said it was also true that he had been walking a path paved with gold and was supposed to inherit hotel management when he became an adult.
“But that was just what the adults wanted. I didn’t want to do that. Above all, my parents divorced when I was in high school. My mother wanted to have my sister’s surgery and rehabilitation in Korea after her accident, but my father wanted to stay in America, so they couldn’t agree.”
Jin Woohyeon’s face looked somewhat embarrassed as he said that.
“I don’t think of it as a disgrace, of course. It was just a topic that was difficult to bring up out of nowhere. I just thought this way. The Sanho hyung I know is kind and warm, so if I told him this, he would definitely worry about the young Jin Woohyeon from a time he never even met…”
“Of course I would.”
“I didn’t want to make you concerned. Even if it was hard then, it’s not now. I don’t mean I wanted to keep it a secret, but you’ve been very busy lately.”
When I let out a groan, he quickly added that he wasn’t trying to blame me.
“How’s your relationship with your grandparents?”
“We get along. Sometimes I go over to America to see them.”
“Even though they’re against you being an actor?”
“Well, we clash occasionally. But it’s tolerable. People can’t always agree on everything.”
After playing with my hand for a while, he finally let go of our interlaced fingers and started to touch my cheeks with both hands.
“But that’s it. I don’t think of it as a place to return to. My place to return to is here.”
“…”
“I want to be by your side, hyung. That’s all I want.”
His voice was as clear and warm as his affection.
“Will you believe that I take our relationship just as seriously as you do?”
“…I believe you.”
I couldn’t help but believe him. It was so clear.
After hesitating for a moment, I asked:
“Then… when I said our relationship seemed unequal, why did you agree?”
“Hmm…”
Jin Woohyeon, who was avoiding my gaze slightly and smiling awkwardly, suddenly bumped his forehead against mine.
“Because I think I like you too much.”
“…”
“This is my first time liking someone this much. It’s my first time experiencing this emotion, and I’m so excited that I just want to give everything. But I’m not confident that I can be such an amazing love for you…”
It was a first. Jin Woohyeon showing an insecure expression. He always seemed so composed that I thought he wouldn’t have such worries.
“Would you believe me if I said the world feels ridiculously wonderful just because of you, and then feels terribly mundane for the simple reason that you’re not there?”
“I believe you.”
I burst into laughter and hugged him tightly.
“Why do you think it’s unfair? I feel the same way.”
“…”
“To me, you’re that kind of person too, Woohyeon.”
Jin Woohyeon’s eyes sparkled, filled with sunlight. He was scrutinizing my face, trying to read every bit of sincerity contained in it.
His appearance seemed foolish, cute, lovable, affectionate, and precious.
“I love you.”
So I couldn’t help but smile like someone who had the whole world.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
