Chapter 119

But he hated the feeling of losing.

Gyeol hardened his gaze and endured it like they were locked in a staring match.

It felt like the first time he had ever faced Seong Yo Han this closely in bright light. Even closer than when they filmed that drama full of explicit scenes. Close enough that he could see his own eyes reflected in Yo Han’s pupils.

Then suddenly, the lights inside the room went out.

Gyeol froze completely in place.

He had missed his chance to escape.

Beyond the front glass, colorful lights began flashing across the enormous screen in the distance. The advertisements started playing, but he couldn’t hear a single thing.

All he could focus on was the person right in front of him.

So intensely that it felt like time itself had stopped.

His chest tightened painfully.

The other man’s breath brushed against him. It almost felt as though that infamous pheromone scent he had smelled in the Pheromone Booth was drifting around the tip of his nose again.

“What are you thinking about?”

Yo Han asked in a low voice.

What was he thinking about?

Obviously the person filling his entire vision.

“I was wondering what kind of movie this is.”

After the dishonest answer, Yo Han let out a soft breath of laughter.

“It’s a new release. Romance.”

At the same time, beneath the blanket, Yo Han’s hand settled over the back of Gyeol’s hand.

Deliberately.

His fingers stroked gently across Gyeol’s skin before finally curling around his hand.

Gyeol wanted to pretend not to notice, but his heartbeat was already speeding up. Heat crept up the back of his neck. The hand touching him felt strangely ticklish.

This was different from before.

Far too different from the days when all he felt toward Yo Han was disgust and revulsion so intense he wanted to curse him out.

“You’re speaking casually.”

Gyeol intentionally changed the subject.

What he really wanted to ask was whether Yo Han had forgotten the cameras were running.

“Huh. Guess I want to speak casually to you.”

But Yo Han brushed it aside effortlessly.

Then he laughed softly again and tilted his head toward Gyeol.

Without realizing it, Gyeol squeezed his eyes shut.

But no lips touched him.

Instead, Yo Han’s tilted head came to rest against Gyeol’s shoulder. Unlike the sharp pheromone scent, a softer, more mature fragrance wrapped faintly around him.

“You don’t like it when I talk casually?”

The weight resting against his shoulder, the warmth of his body—it all made Yo Han’s presence feel unbearably real.

“...No. It’s not that.”

Yo Han’s hair tickled lightly against Gyeol’s jaw.

Opening his eyes again with his face burning hot, Gyeol thought it was fortunate the room was dark enough to hide it. He didn’t have the mental space to figure out whether his flushed face came from embarrassment or something else.

Beyond the front glass, more and more seats in the theater were filling up.

People who had no idea what was happening behind that dark wall.

People who especially had no idea that the man sitting inside was Seong Yo Han, the object of the world’s admiration.

“Isn’t this uncomfortable for you? You’re taller than me.”

“It’s not uncomfortable at all.”

Right. Good for you. I’m dying over here.

Breathing was difficult.

Every inhale and exhale became painfully conscious. He couldn’t stop thinking about how every movement of his body would be transmitted directly to Yo Han.

And because he was aware of the cameras, he couldn’t recklessly pull away either.

In the end, the only thing Gyeol could do to express himself was slip his hand free from Yo Han’s grasp beneath the blanket.

But Yo Han had no intention of letting him escape.

Fingertips chased after him, this time wrapping around his wrist.

Seriously.

Gyeol shook his hand as though telling him to get lost.

In response, Yo Han merely patted soothingly across the back of his hand.

What the hell are you trying to do, you lunatic?

For a while, the battle between their hands continued beneath the blanket.

Like a swan gliding elegantly across the water while its feet paddled frantically underneath, the two of them sat perfectly still staring at the advertisements while waging a silent war beneath the blanket.

It was a fight between Go Gyeol trying desperately to regain his freedom and Seong Yo Han refusing to let him go no matter what.

Eventually the screen darkened.

The loud commercials cut off abruptly.

A gentle melody flowed out first, while lush greenery filled the screen. Then birdsong sliced through the background music.

Beautiful.

For a moment, Gyeol’s attention was stolen completely.

Yo Han seized that opening instantly.

His fingers slid between Gyeol’s.

Finger after finger intertwined deeply, fitting tightly together. Then Yo Han tightened his grip firmly around his hand.

Only afterward did Gyeol belatedly try to shake him off, but Yo Han showed absolutely no intention of releasing him.

“.......”

“.......”

Both of them stared at the screen, yet none of the movie actually entered Gyeol’s head.

Well-constructed scenes passed by. Actors spoke their lines. That was all he registered.

How much time had passed?

His legs were starting to go numb.

It was only natural. He had been sitting upright cross-legged this entire time while supporting the weight of someone this large against his shoulder.

Gyeol glanced sideways at Yo Han.

Apparently deeply immersed in the movie, Yo Han barely even blinked as he maintained the same position.

This wouldn’t work.

The leg trapped underneath him was losing feeling entirely.

Twisting the hand trapped in Yo Han’s grasp, Gyeol cautiously called out to him.

“Um, Seong Yo Han.”

“...Hm?”

Yo Han tilted his head back to look up at him.

Damn it, his face was close.

Gyeol awkwardly pulled back a little as he explained.

“Sorry, but my leg’s gone numb.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Yo Han apologized readily, and for a moment it seemed like he would finally move away—

only for him to deliberately settle his head back onto Gyeol’s shoulder again.

Not only that, he openly pressed down harder this time.

What?

Gyeol stared down at him like he’d lost his mind.

“Big brother.”

“...What?”

“If you called me that.”

“.......”

Only one thought crossed Gyeol’s mind.

Has this bastard gone insane?

“...Right now? You’re saying that right now? At a moment like this?”

“Right now. Saying this. At a moment like this.”

“.......”

The way Yo Han gently repeated his words back at him left Gyeol genuinely speechless.

Should I just sacrifice the leg?

The ridiculous thought flashed through his head before Yuli’s bright Dad! echoed in his memory, instantly dragging his reason back into place.

No. He could not sacrifice the leg.

He had a child to feed.

“...Stop messing around.”

“I’m not joking. Didn’t I suggest we speak casually back at Ivory Mansion too? And...”

Yo Han trailed off.

Right then, something crashed and shattered loudly in the movie. To anyone else it would have looked perfectly natural, but Gyeol already knew exactly what words were meant to follow.

Not actor.

What?

Not actor. Try calling me “big brother.”

Back then too, during that private night drinking together alone, Yo Han had made a similar suggestion.

H-How could I possibly call a senior actor that...

Why not? What’s wrong with acting like brothers?

...No, but still. That’s...

Gyeol. Are you really going to make me wait that long?

The perfect face smiling beneath the lights remained vivid as if it had happened yesterday.

...Big brother.

There was no way Gyeol could fail to understand the implication behind Yo Han’s words now.

Something surged violently inside him.

Gyeol stopped thinking.

Stopped enduring.

Without hesitation, he grabbed Yo Han’s opposite shoulder and shoved him backward hard.

It was the hand wrapped in bandages.

The instant Yo Han noticed it, he couldn’t bring himself to resist. His body collapsed backward immediately. His broad back sank into the seat, his long legs sliding downward.

Gyeol’s shadow fell over him.

Looking down at Yo Han, Gyeol parted his lips.

“Big brother.”

His pronunciation was perfectly clear.

He saw Yo Han’s eyes widen.

Gyeol curved his eyes into a smile and called him again.

“Big brother.”

“.......”

“You like that?”

“.......”

While he was at it, he dropped the formal speech too.

Beneath them, screen light flickered across their faces.

Apparently this was supposed to be a romance movie, but currently some kind of gunfight scene was exploding across the screen.

Bang, bang!

Gunshots filled the silence between them.

What happened next unfolded instantly.

Yo Han wrapped a thick arm around Gyeol’s waist and flipped them over in one swift movement.

His entire field of vision inverted.

By the time Gyeol finally sucked in a startled breath and began panting, Yo Han was already above him.

One hand braced on either side of Gyeol’s body.

Gunfire continued erupting below them. Thanks to the theater’s sound system, every shot reverberated through their bodies.

Gyeol couldn’t tell whether the thing shaking his body was the gunfire or his heartbeat.

“.......”

“.......”

Neither of them spoke first.

But Gyeol knew.

This time, they had truly almost kissed.

The impatient touch that failed to overcome impulse branded itself onto Gyeol’s body like a mark.

If there had been no cameras, Yo Han would have kissed him without hesitation.

His expression said so plainly enough.

“...You shouldn’t tease adults like that.”

The formal speech had returned again.

Gyeol let out a low laugh.

“We’re not even that far apart in age...”

“.......”

Yo Han’s gaze landed openly on his lips.

The cameras were mounted at both ends of the ceiling, meaning all they would capture was Yo Han’s back covering Gyeol.

His lips suddenly felt dry.

Gyeol wet his lower lip with the tip of his tongue.

Beside his head, leather creaked under pressure.

Yo Han had clenched his fist.

The gaze fixed on him looked almost animalistic.

A raw gaze that resembled Yo Han’s pheromones.

Even though he knew he shouldn’t provoke him, Gyeol couldn’t stop himself from smiling, eyes curving as he mouthed words only Yo Han could see.

Why?

He saw Yo Han’s eyes shake faintly.

Do you want to kiss me?

At the question, Yo Han’s pupils widened.

And as if perfectly timed, the screen flooded crimson as the movie’s sex scene began.

Wet, shameless moans filled the entire theater.