Chapter 137

Bare skin held pooled body heat, and it covered Gyeol completely. It was hot enough to melt a person down.

Gyeol froze in place, unable even to flinch. Both arms hovered in the air, with nowhere to go.

What the hell was this situation supposed to be? The only thing he could tell was that the other man had not weighed the consequences or thought it through. His mood was distinctly different from the usual Yo Han Sung.

“That... is going to look strange on camera.”

Unable to figure out how he was supposed to act or handle this, Gyeol deliberately chose words that would break the mood.

But Yo Han ignored him and tightened the arms wrapped around Gyeol.

“...If I were going to worry about that now, I wouldn’t have tried anything while going on about wishes.”

So he did realize he had tried something. But the fact that he could say that so casually meant he did not realize he was still half-asleep, did he?

With that huge body, why is he curled up like a kid, hugging someone...?

Unable to move an inch, Gyeol only glanced at the camera attached to the ceiling and let out a short sigh.

For some reason, the man curling his large body in on itself and holding him felt younger than usual. He kept seeing sides of Yo Han that did not suit him, seeing them, seeing them again, and yet new sides kept appearing.

Am I having ridiculous thoughts because I’m used to looking after Yuli?

The breath brushing his ear was languid. Feeling a quiet heat begin to gather at the nape of his neck, Gyeol admonished Yo Han again.

“You can’t fall asleep. And sleep talk like this is a problem too.”

“......”

“What did you say?”

It seemed like he had mumbled something, but Gyeol had not heard it properly. With an extremely cautious heart, he lightly patted Yo Han’s bare back.

“I can’t hear you. Let go of me and...”

Just then, a small whisper reached his ear.

“Hold me. Just once.”

“......”

He could not ask why, nor could he shove him away by force. Something incomprehensible hovered between them.

As if timed to it, a rapid heartbeat carried through where their chests touched. It was a loud, tightly spaced heartbeat, like when someone woke in shock.

“...Why, after dreaming about someone else? It must have been a nightmare. Did I turn into a zombie and chew you up or something?”

Even as he said that, he hesitated before carefully setting a hand on Yo Han’s back.

Yo Han let out a breathy laugh, and his back rose lightly once before settling.

“That’s funny...”

“It’s not funny. I don’t want to get shot or stabbed in the head, so please just let me wander around as a zombie.”

He answered back curtly, but the position of his hand was hopelessly awkward.

“I don’t know... If that happened to me, I’d want someone to blow my head open as fast as possible.”

Why did a conversation drifting into nonsense sound so damp? Why did the other man look lonely and hollow?

He did not even know the story behind it, and yet he was feeling something like sympathy or pity for someone who was far more successful than him and should have had far fewer worries.

A sharp, prickling ache came near his chest. Damn it, he had no idea. Gyeol abruptly grabbed Yo Han’s head.

Then he stroked his hair the way he did for Yuli.

“...Are you trying to crack my head open?”

Of all the things to say in response to such a gentle touch, he chose that.

Annoyed, Gyeol grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged it where the camera could not tell, meaning for him to stay quiet, then answered bluntly.

“Were you bitten?”

“It does feel a little similar right now.”

“That’s a serious problem. You said you were hoping for a headshot.”

How long had he been stroking his hair while they traded words? Yo Han let out a soft breath and finally broke into a low laugh.

“...When I really look at you, you seriously never lose a single exchange.”

“I’m satisfying to hit.”

Yo Han laughed again, a low sound in his throat.

Then he slowly raised himself. Once he pulled away, a large shadow fell over Gyeol, and his shirtless upper body filled Gyeol’s vision. It was even more awkward than when they had been holding each other, so Gyeol deliberately lowered his eyes.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I slept well and woke up well.”

“......”

Now that you’re done, please get off me.

He could not bring himself to say that, so he tucked his lips in slightly and nodded. Even after that, Yo Han did not move away.

Silence flowed, and Gyeol felt the obvious weight of his gaze fall on him.

A tension hovered between them, as if the slightest force applied at either end would pull it taut and sharp. But really, what kind of tension was it?

Without fully understanding what it was, Gyeol creased his brow and reluctantly glanced up a little.

“If you’re done talking, could you move now...”

Kiss. A clear sound of friction rang against his ear.

Only after the sound struck first did he register the sensation left near his eye.

“Excuse me?”

Gyeol let out a flustered voice and cupped his own cheek.

At that, Yo Han drew up the corner of his mouth in a satisfied smile and lowered his head again.

“I kissed near your eye. Why are you holding there?”

Immediately afterward, he kissed his cheek too. It was right above the place Gyeol had covered with his hand. His lower lip pressed against the nail of Gyeol’s left ring finger.

“Stop it...!”

Gyeol shoved Yo Han away with both hands as hard as he could. Being pushed back easily with a laugh, Yo Han, at the same time he sank down as if lying with his back against the sofa, effortlessly wrapped a hand around Gyeol’s wrist and pulled him in.

Gyeol tried not to be dragged along, but it was useless. His body was already tipping forward.

He almost ended up sprawled over Yo Han’s body, but braced himself with a hand on his chest. Gyeol ended up in a position covering Yo Han.

“What are you so flustered about?”

As if blood had rushed beneath the fingernail where Yo Han’s lips had touched, his fingertip tingled. That hand was now planted on the left side of Yo Han’s chest. The place where his heart beat.

“We agreed to do a business gay performance.”

The moment Gyeol saw his eyes curve prettily, he exploded. Heat surged through his entire body, and at the same time, he struck the upper part of Yo Han’s chest with his fist and pushed himself up.

With a low groan, Yo Han let him go. It seemed the blow had landed properly.

Gyeol sprang up and fled toward the dining table, then threw Yo Han the shirt that had been spread over a dining chair. Rubbing his chest and pretending to be in pain, Yo Han snatched the clothes out of the air.

“That’s pretty violent. Very.”

“I didn’t touch your head, at least.”

Gyeol answered, huffing, then whipped around and headed for the entrance.

“Put it on and come out.”

With that final declaration, Gyeol slammed the door shut.

When he came out from the pleasantly cooled indoors into the open air, the heat greeted him.

Rubbing his cheek hard with the back of his hand, Gyeol repeated to himself again and again that he must have been hit by the heat the moment he came outside, and that was why his face felt hot.

***

When the two of them returned to the front of the Pheromone Booth, only a few contestants were left waiting for their turns. Tommy and Jaekyung Park.

Tommy, who noticed them approaching from a distance first, sprang up from his seat and greeted them.

“Gyeol, are you okay? I was worried.”

“I’m okay. I’m sorry. I think I caused trouble for everyone... and for you too, Tommy.”

“No, no! Don’t you remember me at first? I was totally, you know.”

Tommy stammered and waved his hands frantically. A beat later, his face flushed.

Wanting somehow to make Gyeol feel better, he had brought up his own case of his precious area growing impressive, only for embarrassment to wash over him a step too late.

It was not that Gyeol had wanted to be comforted this much... He hesitated over whether he should be grateful or sorry, but he did not want to make Tommy more embarrassed, so he decided to accept the feeling exactly as it was.

“Thank you, Tommy. Really.”

“Yeah......”

“The turns aren’t all over yet, right? Who’s in the booth?”

“Oh, that...”

At Yo Han’s question, Tommy glanced around. Then he answered cautiously.

“For now, it’s Gyujin Hwang.”

The phrase “for now” bothered him. Why was that?

Come to think of it, the set and production staff did feel strangely unsettled.

The issue that had arisen because of Gyeol had been wrapped up for the moment, and a fair amount of time had passed. The production staff who had come to get Gyeol had even checked his condition and accompanied him to the medical team to replace the bandage on his hand.

Just as he guessed that, no matter how he thought about it, the unrest was not because of him, the narration called Tommy’s name.

“Ah, I’ll go in. See you later.”

“Yes. Tommy, you’ve got this...!”

“See you later.”

After Tommy hurried off to the booth, Yo Han checked Gyeol’s face. It was a look assessing his complexion.

“I’m fine.”

Gyeol answered before Yo Han could ask anything.

Yo Han gave a faint nod, then tapped Gyeol’s cheek with the back of his hand. After that, he went to the place where the chairs were arranged in a circle and sat down with some distance from Jaekyung Park.

It seemed like nothing much, but Gyeol could read the implication. It was the place Yo Han had kissed earlier.

Gathering the fingers of his left hand in his right, and after making one final point of being seen by the production staff on set and by Producer Yoo, Gyeol left the area.

Since Gyeol Go had chosen Yo Han Sung’s pheromones, the two of them would be matched anyway.

***

The couples who have successfully matched are Tommy and Hee Jun Kang.

And...

Yo Han Sung and Gyeol Go. Congratulations.

The instant his name was called, Tommy shot up from his seat and roared.

“Right now, you’re not happy that you’re going with me, you’re happy you’re going to Ivory Mansion, aren’t you?”

At Hee Jun Kang’s quick-witted comment, the cast laughed.

Tommy promptly sat back down and said,

“N-No, that’s not it......!”

“Choose. Is it me, or French toast?”

“French toast.”

The one who answered was not Tommy, but Hwang Gyujin.

“Gyujin......!”

Tommy cried out in an aggrieved voice, and Hwang Gyujin, who had failed to win a date pass to Ivory Mansion, only stared up at the sky with all motivation drained from his face.

“Still, you’re the winner here, Kim Tommy, because you get to go to Ivory Mansion......”

“I’m not Kim Tommy, okay? My last name is Choi!”

Contestants who have successfully matched, please finish preparing to leave for Ivory Mansion and gather in front of the lounge by 4 p.m.

Whatever else could be said, pheromone matching was a process that consumed a great deal of physical and mental energy.

Among the contestants who had failed to match, the dominant opinion was that they should rest until dinner.

Among them, Hanseul Ga was the first to leave as soon as the closing remarks dropped.

But no one stopped him or followed him.

Hwang Gyujin merely muttered under his breath, “I don’t get it.”

According to what Isu Yoon quietly told Gyeol while they were moving, during a gap when there were no cameras, something had indeed happened while he and Yo Han had been away.

As luck would have it, Hanseul Ga’s turn had been almost immediately after. Apparently, he had already been sitting there with a deathly expression after the producer and writer coaxed him into coming out to the set, but after seeing Yo Han carrying Gyeol away, when his turn came, he threw a fit, saying, “I won’t participate in the pheromone matching. I want to go in and rest.”

In the end, Producer Yoo stepped in. Whatever she said to persuade Hanseul Ga, she had succeeded in getting him into the booth, but after that, whether because of whatever had happened inside or something else, the atmosphere among the production staff had stayed unsettled the entire time.

“Anyway, I think I need to rest at the lodging until dinner too. You’re going straight back to the lodging to pack, right?”

“No, there’s somewhere I need to stop by for a moment.”

After parting from Isu Yoon in front of the lodging, Gyeol headed to the lodging shared by the three Alphas.

The place where Yo Han Sung, Sun Choi, and Jun Shin were staying.

Before leaving for Ivory Mansion, there was something he absolutely had to do.

Ding-dong. Not long after he pressed the doorbell, a voice came from inside.

“Yes, who is it?”