Ji Se-min froze.
His wide, stunned brown eyes were locked onto the message glowing on his lock screen, utterly transfixed.
“……”
After a moment, the screen went black again. Reflected on the opaque surface, Se-min saw his own gaping mouth. He snapped it shut with a tight press of his lips.
…What the hell was that?
Tilting the phone slightly toward himself, the screen lit up once more, revealing the message again. Se-min shot upright and immediately unlocked it.
He pulled down the notification bar. Cha-hyeon’s message was clear as day—and so was the way his past self had saved his name.
“…Cha-hyeon hyung?”
Even just saying it aloud made his skin crawl with secondhand embarrassment. It wasn’t technically wrong—he was older, and his name was Cha-hyeon—but still…
“Cha-hyeon hyung” sounded way too… something. Too familiar? Too sweet?
Shuddering, Se-min read the message under his breath.
“…‘What are you up to?’…”
The smiley he’d tacked on brought to mind the way Cha-hyeon’s eyes curved when he smiled. Heat flared up in Se-min’s ears, and he shook his head hard before tapping into the chat.
He entered the conversation instinctively—then froze, realizing too late that the read receipt would now show. Damn it.
Flustered, Se-min tapped his thumbs together nervously.
He’d opened the message, so he had to reply now. But what the hell was he supposed to say? Scrambling for an answer, it took him a moment to realize—why am I even freaking out over this?
Seriously. Why was he this tense over one simple message from Cha-hyeon? Couldn’t he just say what he was actually doing?
Swallowing a lump in his throat, Se-min started typing. A strange sensation stirred in his chest, like feathers tickling the inside of his ribcage.
Lying dow—
That’s as far as he got before holding down the backspace key. No. That sounded too casual.
Saying “I was lying down” was the kind of reply you’d give someone you were super close with, right? Would it make him sound lazy, too…?
Chewing his lip, Se-min began typing again, this time more carefully. Tap tap. The soft sound of his nails against the screen echoed in the still room.
Hello, hyung.
I didn’t expect you to message me first.
I saw your messag—
He was typing like he was answering a work email.
With a grimace, he spammed the backspace key again. When only “Hello” was left, Se-min, face flushed, rewrote his reply.
Hello, hyung. I’m in my room. What’s up?
It seemed like the best option out of all the awkward drafts he’d typed. Polite, not too stiff, didn’t make him sound lazy, and it got straight to the point.
Swallowing dryly, Se-min hit send.
But he didn’t even have time to breathe. The moment he sent it, the read receipt disappeared instantly.
Se-min choked on a gasp.
Wait. Was he already in the chat waiting? How long was that? A few minutes?
His heart clenched tight, then kicked into a rapid, panicked rhythm. He couldn’t tell if it was nerves or dread, but his chest was pounding like crazy.
Unlike him—who’d agonized over a single message for several minutes—Cha-hyeon’s reply came back instantly. Only then did Se-min realize he hadn’t left the chat either.
“Shit…”
Without even reading the reply, Se-min darted out of the chat window.
Wouldn’t checking too fast make him look desperate? He should’ve waited a beat before letting the “1” disappear. The sheer pettiness of the thought made him want to punch himself, but it was already too late.
Flushed with embarrassment, Se-min clicked back into the chat. His heart still thudded steadily, betraying the calm he tried to feign.
Cha-hyeon hyung
Just~ ㅠ
…What’s with this tone?
It took Se-min a second to process the contrast between Cha-hyeon’s usual speech and the playful tone of his messages. He blinked in confusion. Then the next message popped up.
Cha-hyeon hyung
I have a favor to askㅠ 🙁
Se-min stared blankly at the trailing vowel and the emoticon. “ㅠ” and “:(”. Was this guy for real?
So he’s the type who texts differently from how he talks?
Curious now, Se-min scrolled up through their message history. There weren’t many past messages—far fewer than he’d expected.
Had they mostly spoken on the phone? Or maybe since they lived together, there was no need to text?
They couldn’t have been attached at the hip all day… right?
Still oblivious to the truth hiding in plain sight, Se-min kept scrolling—until his finger stopped.
The tone of those older messages was totally different from now—dry, direct, and very un-Cha-hyeon-like compared to what he was seeing.
Where are you, hyung? Coming home late tonight?
Cha-hyeon hyung
Sorry, the clear took longer than expected. Heading home now. Did you eat?
Yeah. You?
Cha-hyeon hyung
Just a light meal. I have to stop by the Center. Don’t wait up—Baby should go to bed first.
Aside from that painfully cheesy use of “Baby,” the whole exchange had been totally bland. Tapping the old message brought him back to the present chat window.
Cha-hyeon hyung
There’s a bathrobe in hyung’s room. Can you bring it over? I’m already in the bathroom but forgotㅠ.ㅠ
The tone shift was like a different person had taken over his phone.
Se-min blinked at the message—then his jaw dropped as the words registered.
He’s already in the bathroom and wants me to bring him his bathrobe.
Imagination is a dangerous thing.
Before he could stop himself, Se-min’s brain conjured a vivid image of Cha-hyeon standing under the shower. His face flushed crimson.
He shook his head wildly, hair standing on end from the force. What the hell am I doing, imagining something so dirty?! Stop it!
But of course, telling yourself not to imagine something only makes it worse.
And now, in one corner of his mind, a dripping wet Cha-hyeon hovered like a mental screensaver. Damp skin glistening, water-slicked hair brushed back, casually texting Se-min…
The constant low-level dissonance that had been gnawing at Se-min vanished in an instant. His head swam with confusion.
He’d never had a single sexual thought about anyone—not once. And now this?
“……!”
Startled, Se-min yanked the blanket over his lap, covering the tent forming in his pants. Slowly, inevitably, resentment toward the one who had triggered this chaos began to bubble up.
Couldn’t he have just worn what he already had on? Or was it already dumped in the laundry?
Still, they were both guys—what did it matter?
Wait, was it awkward because they were dating now? But even then, if Cha-hyeon stayed in the bathroom, it’s not like Se-min would see anything, right?
Although… it was cold. But come on—he’s an S-Rank Esper. Can’t he handle a little chill?!
His thoughts spiraled out of control. His throat bobbed unconsciously.
Honestly? He just wanted to reply, Can’t you just figure it out yourself?
Cha-hyeon hyung
You can just leave it in front of the bathroom door.
Is that okay?
That second message was the cold water Se-min needed.
“…Huh?”
A dumb little sound slipped out.
Just leave it in front of the door?
His blazing red face began to cool as clarity returned.
Now that he thought about it, Cha-hyeon hadn’t said anything about barging in on him showering. He’d simply forgotten his robe and asked for help.
And of course he’d tell him to leave it outside. That’s the normal thing to do.
If you’re home with someone, asking them to drop off a robe isn’t that big a deal.
In fact, it was completely reasonable.
Realizing that he’d single-handedly hyped this up for no reason, Se-min flushed again—this time with shame. He collapsed forward onto the bed.
“Ughhhhh…”
Face buried in the blanket, he let out a pained groan and shook his head violently. His ears were bright red.
Why the hell… did I imagine something so perverted?!
It’s not like Cha-hyeon had said anything suggestive.
…Although, didn’t he kind of leave room for interpretation?
“Hyung has to seduce me to raise Favorability.”
Se-min froze mid-squirm. That line—resurfing now of all times—shut him up completely.
