Baek Hye-seong had vanished from sight, and he was farther than expected. Just when he was about to lose control again, he spotted the round back of a head sitting on the steps.
He’d assumed Hye-seong was still in the banquet hall or maybe had gone to the restroom, but no—he’d walked all the way to the entrance of the hotel. Letting out a relieved breath, he relaxed his expression and pushed through the revolving door.
When he slumped down beside him, Hye-seong slowly turned his head, startled a beat too late.
“What are you doing out here? You said you’d bring me something too.”
“…Huh?”
Truthfully, he’d been a little worried when he couldn’t find him inside. If this hadn’t been an island, he might’ve panicked a lot more.
“Oh, right…”
“So you forgot about me, huh.”
Even though it was half a joke, Hye-seong’s shoulders slumped, and he let out a deep sigh.
“I drank both glasses. I’m sorry…”
“Did you come out here to head up to the room? You could’ve said something. I held off because you looked like you were having fun.”
“…No.”
Hye-seong gave a small reply as he stared down at his sneakers. Yoo Ji-ho raised an eyebrow.
“Then?”
“I wanted to go home, but I couldn’t… so I just came out here and sat down.”
He looked so downcast that Ji-ho reached out and gently patted the bowed head. His voice softened.
“We’ll be heading back soon, so just hang in there a little longer. Once the sun’s up, I’ll ask if we can leave early.”
“Come to think of it, it feels like it’s been ages since I’ve been home.”
“…”
The home he was talking about wasn’t the dormitory—it was Baek Hye-seong’s actual home. Only then did Ji-ho grasp what he really meant.
“My house is right there… How did things end up like this…”
I want to go home.
Hye-seong muttered the words and hung his head. Ji-ho stared at him in silence.
“…”
“…”
After a long stretch of silence, Ji-ho rose to his feet. Hye-seong looked like he’d stay sitting there forever if left alone. Ji-ho grabbed his arm and quietly urged him up.
“Let’s go up to the room for now. You can’t go home right now.”
“…Okay, I’ll go ahead first.”
Hye-seong stood up naturally, peeled away from Ji-ho’s grip, and backed off.
His gaze had been fixed on the ground the whole time.
“You’re going alone?”
Now that he thought about it, from the moment they’d run into each other again, Hye-seong hadn’t made eye contact even once. More than the fact that he was trying to go alone, what really bothered Ji-ho was that downcast gaze.
There wasn’t a single thing that didn’t bother him.
Was this some kind of sudden homesickness brought on by Jeju Island? From his talk about wanting to go home to saying he’d return to the hotel room by himself, even backing away from Ji-ho—something he’d never done before.
“Hye-seong.”
“I know the room number… Just give me the key, I’ll go on ahead. You should go back inside and enjoy yourself a little more.”
“I was going to go anyway. What’s the point?”
Hye-seong flinched at the sudden chill in Ji-ho’s voice. He blinked rapidly, his eyes still glued to the ground, but his flustered state was plain as day.
“You remember how much I hate crowded places, don’t you?”
“…Yeah.”
Hye-seong glanced around, clearly thinking something over, then shook his head. Ji-ho let out a slow breath as he stared off into space. This creeping unease was driving him mad.
As the uncomfortable silence dragged on, Hye-seong finally opened his mouth again.
“Then… let’s go together.”
“…”
“I’d really like it if you came with me.”
When Ji-ho still didn’t respond, Hye-seong spoke again, his voice tinged with quiet desperation.
“I want to go with you, Ji-ho…”
“….”
Ji-ho frowned slightly, then turned around, still holding Hye-seong’s arm.
Back in the hotel room, after taking a shower, Yoo Ji-ho sat in a chair, staring holes through the closed bathroom door where Baek Hye-seong was.
He had insisted on going alone, yet asked Ji-ho to come with him right after their eyes met. That’s when Ji-ho realized:
Baek Hye-seong didn’t know his own alcohol limit and was now tipsy from sipping champagne—basically, this was drunken nonsense. That thought made him oddly amused.
Suddenly, a loud thud came from the bathroom, and Ji-ho immediately stood up.
When he opened the door, Hye-seong was slumped in front of the toilet. It looked like he’d thrown everything up and was too weak to stand. Ji-ho had been worried ever since he insisted on using the other room’s bathroom alone.
“Gah—don’t come in…!”
“Hold still.”
Startled, Hye-seong jerked his head up and frantically shook it.
“It’s gross, please leave! Ugh, I can do this myself!”
Ji-ho helped him up as he struggled, rinsed his mouth, and wiped his face. Thankfully, Hye-seong was already undressed, but he still needed to be washed off, so Ji-ho put him in the tub and turned on the water.
From the moment Ji-ho began wiping the vomit from his lips with his fingers, Hye-seong stopped resisting—as if he had resigned himself to it all.
“How much did you even drink?”
“…”
“You talked so much last time you were drunk. So I guess this doesn’t happen every time, huh?”
“…”
“You won’t even look at me.”
Even then, Hye-seong didn’t lift his gaze. Hugging his knees, he tucked his head down even further. A moment later, his voice echoed softly in the bathroom.
“…How are you so kind?”
“What?”
Ji-ho let out a short laugh at the absurd question, but Hye-seong only shook his head. His lips curled upward from habit, but the smile looked bitter. Something about him had seemed off all evening—this slumped, heavy energy was unfamiliar.
Seeing Hye-seong this downcast was a first for Ji-ho.
The whole separate-bed issue had ended up going Ji-ho’s way in the end. Despite all his efforts, even here in Jeju, Hye-seong was sharing a bed with him.
After lifting Hye-seong’s limp body out of the tub and dressing him in a bathrobe, Ji-ho laid him down beside him.
“Hye-seong.”
“…”
He lay on his side, gazing steadily at him. His hand reached out and gently played with Hye-seong’s fingers. It had become a habit.
Despite being called, Hye-seong kept his eyes tightly shut like he was faking sleep. They both knew he wasn’t really asleep, but he stayed like that anyway.
“You’re acting really strange.”
At Ji-ho’s now-cool tone, Hye-seong’s shoulders flinched. Even so, he stubbornly refused to lift his head. Ji-ho’s certainty grew stronger.
“Why does it feel like… ever since earlier…”
“…”
“…you’ve been avoiding my eyes.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d felt this. At the aquarium, Hye-seong had stared at him so openly they could’ve locked eyes any time—but not today. He’d avoided eye contact in the supply room, too. It had only gotten worse after he started drinking. And now he looked like he was in an unusually low mood.
“You were looking just fine earlier.”
“That’s not it…”
“Did I do something wrong?”
He’d wanted to ask this all along. And finally, Hye-seong snapped his head up and looked right at him.
“N-No! No way, it’s not like that…!”
“Then why?”
Did he find something out?
When Ji-ho asked why, Hye-seong once again averted his gaze. Ji-ho’s patience was running dangerously thin. Ever since he’d dragged the runaway Hye-seong into his home, he’d come to realize just how much leeway Hye-seong gave him.
Maybe that had made him let his guard down a bit too much. He never once doubted that Hye-seong might have figured something out. At some point, Ji-ho even wondered if Hye-seong would ever feel disappointed in him.
Ji-ho sat up and turned to face him, carefully lifting Hye-seong’s chin. Even as their faces drew close, Hye-seong kept his gaze down. He still offered his face willingly, like always, but he wouldn’t look up.
Why?
“Come to think of it, it feels like it’s been ages since I’ve been home.”
Those words suddenly echoed in Ji-ho’s mind.
Back in front of the Guide Dormitory, a drunk Baek Hye-seong had also stared at the ground like this before disappearing—leaving behind that fucking bouquet.
That unpredictability used to seem charming. But it also meant he was capable of doing the kind of thing you could never forget. The reason he left back then was something Ji-ho could never understand, no matter how hard he tried.
He didn’t want to be a burden to the person he liked. What kind of fairy-tale bullshit was that?
Ji-ho muttered quietly, almost to himself.
“Why are you doing this?”
“It’s nothing…”
“Then why? What is it this time?”
It was the moment a memory he’d pushed aside came rushing back.
Something he thought was already within his grasp now felt like it might slip right through his fingers, like grains of sand.
“Did someone say something to you? Or did I mess up somehow?”
“It’s not your fault, please don’t say that…!”
Ji-ho’s grip on Hye-seong’s cheek began to tighten.
But he released it in an instant and pulled his hand away. Hye-seong looked at him in a daze before his gaze dropped again. Ji-ho’s jaw clenched at the sight.
“Uh…”
“This won’t do. Get up and get dressed.”
Ji-ho stood up from the bed. Looked like they’d have to head back to Seoul early. It wouldn’t be easy, but there had to be a way. The plan was to get him back inside the house first—then try talking.
Still sitting on the bed, Hye-seong suddenly threw his arms around Ji-ho’s waist, shouting urgently.
“Wait, just wait!”
When Ji-ho looked down with a sigh, Hye-seong was staring up at him with frightened eyes.
“It’s not your fault at all, Ji-ho. It’s not like that…”
But he still hesitated to speak.
“It’s just, actually…”
“…”
Ji-ho stayed quiet, waiting for him to continue.
“I think… I won’t be able to be your Guide anymore.”
And with that, the worst-case scenario became reality. It felt like ice was coursing through his veins.
“Why?”
His voice was dry, and his face calm—outwardly, at least. Hye-seong lowered his gaze even further, hesitating.
“Why?”
Not that he could see Ji-ho’s face—he was hanging his head like someone guilty of a crime.
And then, the answer came—completely unexpected.
“…Because I like you.”
