Chapter 131

When Gyeol returned to the lounge with Sun after their brief conversation, Yo Han was the only person still there.

“Yo Han, you’re here alone.”

Sun greeted him first with a nod.

“Yes. Everyone went off to talk. I was looking at the sea.”

Yo Han raised one hand in greeting and smiled at them.

Everyone went off to talk?

Gyeol mentally counted the Alphas and Omegas. Hwang Gyujin had been added as a late-entry twist, but Woo Seok Jung had left, so the numbers of Alphas and Omegas were still equal. If everyone had paired off, there should have been no reason for Yo Han to be left alone.

Did Gyujin go off with Hanseul and Jaekyung as a group of three?

Tilting his head, Gyeol reached the table, then paused.

Where am I supposed to sit?

Yo Han was seated at one end of the large table, which could easily accommodate all ten of them, while Sun had just taken a seat across from him. Gyeol usually sat wherever there happened to be room, or simply chose an empty spot before anyone else did. This was the first time he had been presented with such an obvious choice.

It would look strange if he sat far away.

Sitting beside Sun would be uncomfortable after the conversation they had just shared. On top of that, he would have to face Yo Han directly.

But sit beside Yo Han instead? The person would change, but the situation would hardly be any different.

The cameras were filming all three of them. The longer he hesitated, the stranger the shot would look. After a moment’s consideration, Gyeol decided to leave one chair empty and sit beside Sun, who was relatively closer.

He had just started to move when Yo Han rose from his seat.

“Gyeol, why don’t we go talk too?”

I’d rather not.

Gyeol barely managed to swallow the words that sprang to the tip of his tongue.

“...Okay.”

Yo Han inclined his head toward Sun.

“We’ll be back, Sun.”

“All right. Take your time.”

Sun nodded with innocent eyes. They had not exchanged many words, but was it only Gyeol’s imagination that the two of them seemed much more at ease with each other than before?

In any case, refusing to talk was not an option. After giving Sun a slight nod, Gyeol followed Yo Han and left the lounge for the second time.

The instant Yo Han stepped into the blazing sun, he frowned deeply and muttered,

“The weather is brutal today.”

Then, before Gyeol had fully stepped out from beneath the lounge roof, Yo Han gestured for him to wait in the shade.

“What?”

“Hold on. Stay there. It’s hot, so don’t step into the sun.”

Leaving Gyeol behind, Yo Han strode toward the production staff on his long legs.

Gyeol stood there alone, watching him in bewilderment.

What is he doing?

After exchanging a few words with Producer Yoo Kijeong, Yo Han headed toward the box containing the contestants’ belongings.

When he returned, he was holding a black folding umbrella. The sun was so fierce that, even in that short span of time, sweat could be seen sliding down the thick line of his neck.

Yo Han opened the umbrella and extended his arm, holding it out to the edge of the roof where Gyeol stood.

“Come on. Get under here.”

“......”

“Can’t let that pretty face get sunburned.”

And yet Yo Han himself was still standing fully beneath the sun.

Without answering, Gyeol stepped under the umbrella. He did not like the sight of Yo Han leaving himself exposed to the sunlight just to keep the umbrella over him. With no better option, Gyeol chose to stand pressed close against him.

Umbrellas were strange things. They were open on every side, and yet the moment two people stepped beneath one, it felt as though some invisible barrier had formed, creating a space meant only for them. The other person’s words and breathing sounded unusually loud, and sometimes even their natural scent seemed to bloom more intensely.

A peculiar tension crept along Gyeol’s back. Deliberately straightening his posture, he walked beside Yo Han beneath the same umbrella.

The black, clunky umbrella was the sort of mass-produced item that could be found anywhere. But when Gyeol looked at it more closely, he found a tiny pig logo and the name Black Pork Piggy Trio printed inside. A laugh escaped him before he could stop it.

“What is with this umbrella? It doesn’t suit you at all.”

“Hmm? Oh.”

Yo Han looked at Gyeol as though he had no idea what he meant, then followed Gyeol’s pointing finger and glanced up at the inside of the umbrella. His brow furrowed.

“Of all the things he could have packed...”

“So you didn’t pick it yourself. Did your manager pack it for you?”

The image was certainly a mismatch. Yo Han’s luxurious public image practically demanded a designer umbrella, and yet here he was holding one from Black Pork Piggy Trio. Gyeol had heard that managers for famous celebrities paid close attention even to the smallest props, but apparently Yo Han’s manager was an exception.

“...My little brother packed it. He said I’d need one if I was going to an island in summer.”

Once they had moved far enough from the lounge to be completely alone, Yo Han dropped into casual speech.

“Your brother? You have a brother?”

Gyeol blinked rapidly at the unexpected revelation.

“Yeah. One kid. There’s a pretty big age gap between us.”

“Wow. I had no idea.”

“Of course you didn’t. I’ve never talked about him anywhere.”

“......”

He always said things like this.

Casually. Like it was nothing.

This is something I’m only showing you.

As though that was what he meant.

Gyeol pressed his lips together briefly, then deliberately kept his reply light.

“If he looks like you, he must be handsome.”

Yo Han silently rubbed the back of his neck.

His gaze, usually so focused and direct, seemed to wander strangely. Gyeol was just beginning to wonder why when he noticed that more than half of Yo Han’s body was exposed to the sun. He had tilted the umbrella heavily toward Gyeol.

Something around Gyeol’s chest softened all at once, like fruit left too long to overripen. It felt as though the slightest touch would crush it without resistance.

He was not used to this. He wished Yo Han would stop showing him this kind of tenderness.

Gyeol lowered his gaze to the ground, then abruptly grabbed Yo Han’s hand and straightened the umbrella shaft upright.

“Hold it properly.”

“What?”

“The sun is getting through.”

Gyeol tapped the shoulder that had been exposed to the sun until a moment ago, then pulled his hand away. Yo Han’s skin had heated so intensely that even that brief touch conveyed its warmth clearly.

Still holding the umbrella as Gyeol had adjusted it, Yo Han stared down at him for a moment before letting out a quiet, breathy laugh.

“You’re so scary I can’t even hold an umbrella however I want.”

Even though Gyeol had been in the shade the entire time, heat gathered at the back of his neck.

“If you know I’m scary, then do it properly.”

When Gyeol snapped at him, Yo Han’s smile only deepened, as though the reprimand delighted him.

Unable to stand it any longer, Gyeol added,

“Why do you keep laughing for no reason?”

“I don’t know. I keep wanting to laugh when I look at you.”

“......”

“Your face is red.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“It is. Even under the umbrella, I can clearly see how prettily your pale cheeks have colored.”

“Oh, seriously. Could you stop saying things like that...”

“Are you embarrassed when I say things like that?”

“...No.”

Gyeol’s lips unconsciously pushed into a slight pout. He had no idea that the reaction made Yo Han want to forget the cameras, wrap a hand around the back of his head, drag him close, and kiss him on the spot.

By the time they had finished bickering, they had already reached the edge of a path through the woods.

It was still hot, but the dense branches and leaves cast shade over the path, making it far more tolerable than the scorching shore.

“Should we sit over there and talk?”

Gyeol pointed to a broad, flat rock large enough for two people.

“Won’t it be uncomfortable? You’re wearing white pants.”

“It’s fine. They aren’t sponsored.”

Answering as though it were no concern, Gyeol approached the rock first and sat down.

He expected Yo Han to sit beside him, but Yo Han headed behind the rock instead. He was also wearing light-colored pants that fell to his ankles, and the hems might get dirty, but he pushed into the knee-high grass without hesitation.

“What are you doing?”

“Just a second.”

Then, with practiced ease, he wedged the umbrella between the branches stretching over the rock, carefully blocking even the few scattered shafts of sunlight falling above Gyeol’s head.

“You really don’t have to go that far...”

“You’re going to keep acting, aren’t you?”

Yo Han stated it as a certainty.

The words struck directly at the center of Gyeol’s heart. After all, when they had gone on their first date at Ivory Mansion, he had already confided that sincere wish to Yo Han while slightly tipsy and searching for something to talk about.

I want to keep acting. I hope I get the chance to play a wider variety of roles.

Apparently, Yo Han had remembered those words and kept them in mind.

“You’re an Omega. If you want to keep acting, you need to take care of yourself.”

The world had changed a great deal, but South Korea still often treated pale, flawless skin as the standard of beauty for Omegas. That was especially true for an actor who needed to take on a variety of roles.

“......”

Gyeol felt strange.

“Soon, people everywhere are going to be asking for you.”

Yo Han said it in a flat tone, as though stating an immutable truth, then sat beside him. Sure enough, rust-colored stains and dirt clung to the hems of his pants.

“Your pants are dirty.”

“It’s fine. They are sponsored, but I can just buy them.”

He had smoothly adapted Gyeol’s own words. Gyeol could not help laughing.

Yo Han watched him in silence, then murmured softly,

“Gyeol, look at me.”

His guard loosened by laughter, Gyeol turned his head without thinking.

Yo Han’s fingertips lightly brushed his bangs. They seemed to graze his forehead as well.

His hand moved down as though tracing the line of Gyeol’s face, then caught his chin. His thumb tapped lightly against Gyeol’s lips.

Gyeol’s lips parted reflexively.

“Right now, what I’m feeling is...”

“......”

“I wish you’d tell me you were granting my first wish this very second.”