Chapter 144

A spirited voice rang out from one side of the hospital room.

“Uncle! Uncle, that drama Dad and that man were in last ti— Mmph. Mmmph!”

Hyesung Bae practically threw himself across the bed and clapped a hand over Yuli’s mouth.

The child narrowed his eyes into sharp triangles and thrashed wildly.

“Please, Yuli... We agreed not to talk about Dad’s work outside...”

Hyesung whispered, close to tears.

The child took enormous pride in the fact that his dad had once been an idol and was now a celebrity.

It was not as though Hyesung did not understand how Yuli felt. Like any child his age, he probably wanted to brag to everyone around him about his wonderful dad.

They were constantly warning him to keep it secret, but whenever a stranger happened to be nearby or rode the elevator with them, he would suddenly ask things like, “Dad, what was your job again?” or “Dad, how do you get on TV?” and send every adult present into a panic.

“I woh say anyfing.”

I won’t say anything. Yuli whispered after Hyesung, his words muffled beneath the hand over his mouth.

“You promise...?”

And of course he had inherited his father’s powerful voice.

When he had been sick, the sight of him had been heartbreaking. But now that he was recovering, taking care of him had become twice as difficult. He was not well enough to be discharged, yet he was overflowing with energy and seemed to have no idea what to do with it. He would even blurt out terrifying subjects like this without warning, despite the other person in the hospital room.

“Uh-huh.”

Even after receiving Yuli’s firm answer, Hyesung still did not trust him. He pressed a finger to his lips and warned him once more. Only after Yuli nodded vigorously did he finally remove his hand.

“Then, Uncle. Give me your ear.”

“......”

What is he planning to say?

“You have to whisper. Really quietly.”

“Uh-huh.”

After giving him another warning, Hyesung bent down and brought his ear close to the child’s mouth.

Yuli cupped one tiny hand around his lips and whispered,

“That man is really, really famous, right? He makes a whole lot of money too, right?”

Hyesung felt as though he had heard the same question a hundred times over the past few days. Yuli’s use of the word “romance person” instead of “celebrity” was simply because he did not quite know the word yet.

Feeling like crying, Hyesung nodded.

“Then when Yuli leaves the hospital, show me the drama that man and Dad were in together.”

“......”

That probably isn’t possible.

Hyesung’s gaze went unfocused.

That one is rated for viewers fifteen and older, Yuli.

“Hm? Hm?”

“...Uncle will think about it.”

And the scene your dad filmed with Yo Han Sung was practically X-rated.

“Huh? No thinking. Promise.”

“......”

“Unclllle.”

Gyeol, when are you coming back? I’m seriously losing my mind.

“...Do you want some jelly?”

“Not jelly! Promise.”

Hyesung genuinely wanted to burst into tears.

***

The warmth of the lips that had pressed against his forehead was searingly hot, unlike the cool water of the pool.

Rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand, Gyeol spoke quietly.

“...Do you know how many times that makes today?”

“So you’ve been counting, Gyeol.”

“It’s forbidden from now on. You can’t just...”

Don’t kiss me.

Don’t put your lips on me.

Every possible choice of words sounded indecent. In the end, Gyeol could not finish the sentence.

Yo Han’s wet body shimmered faintly beneath the slanting sunlight. Avoiding his gaze, Gyeol pulled his hand free from Yo Han’s grip and strode toward the deeper end. Now that he was already wet, it seemed better to hide his body beneath the water.

“Where are you going?”

“Somewhere you aren’t.”

At his curt reply, laughter sounded behind him.

Let him laugh.

Gyeol stubbornly pushed forward through the water. Yo Han let his body float, submerged his face halfway until only his eyes showed, and followed behind with slow, lazy kicks. The fact that he never overtook him and merely trailed him at an easy pace only made Gyeol more conscious of him.

Before long, Gyeol reached the far edge of the infinity pool, where the entire view opened up below. Since this seemed to be the highest point on the island, the unobstructed horizon stretched out before him at a glance.

“Wow...”

The exclamation escaped him naturally.

Gyeol looked out over the scenery as he slowly moved toward the corner of the infinity pool. He wondered whether, from a point unobstructed by buildings or trees, he might be able to see the shared lodging on the ground below or any of the other contestants.

But he could not even see the edge of the lodging roof.

Instead, another realization struck him.

From here, the annex pool was completely visible.

Not vaguely visible, either. Because the difference in elevation was not great, he could see clearly and precisely who was in the pool and what they were doing. The building would block the view farther inside, but at least half the pool lay completely exposed.

What had happened in the annex pool flashed rapidly through Gyeol’s mind.

The moment his eyes had met Yo Han’s back then, too.

It had not been his imagination. Yo Han really had been standing here, watching him.

How much did he see? Did he see Sun spreading my legs and moving between them?

A splash scattered Gyeol’s attention. Yo Han surged out of the water and stopped beside him.

“You can see the annex pool really well from here.”

“...You can.”

Reading where Gyeol was looking, he spoke as though it were nothing important.

Gyeol had done nothing wrong and had nothing to feel guilty about. Yet the memory bothered him strangely. His mouth went dry.

“I don’t see Tommy or Hee Jun. Maybe they’re busy eating themselves happy first.”

“Probably... They might have started with French toast.”

Gyeol gave an awkward laugh.

Yo Han rested his elbows on the edge of the infinity pool and looked down at Gyeol with the sun behind him. At some point, the sun had reached the horizon and was spilling an orange sunset across the sky.

“Do you want some too, Gyeol? French toast.”

“No, I’m fine.”

Yo Han stepped closer, entering the precariously narrow space where their bodies nearly touched.

Gyeol pressed his feet firmly against the floor and suppressed the urge to retreat.

“Then what do you want?”

I wish I could just pour alcohol down my throat.

Losing his grip on his senses a little would probably make this time much easier to endure.

“Alcohol.”

“Alcohol?”

Yo Han repeated it, apparently surprised.

“...Yes. Something sweet.”

“Then we should order sparkling wine, something like champagne. Or Somersby?”

“I like both.”

Plip, plip, plip...

Somewhere nearby came the faint sound of water flowing in and out. It was proof of how sharply alert all five of Gyeol’s senses had become.

This is impossible.

He could not endure the taut tension any longer. In the end, Gyeol decided to take one step back.

“Where are you going again?”

Yo Han asked in a dissatisfied voice as he strode closer. He crossed the boundary Gyeol had drawn as though it did not exist and grasped his forearm, as if forbidding him to leave.

“You’re too close.”

And both of them were practically naked.

“We were closer earlier.”

“We were wearing clothes earlier.”

This man always makes me say these things out loud.

“We even sat holding each other in the hot tub.”

“Do you really think then and now are the same?”

Gyeol shot back, exasperated.

“They’re different.”

Yo Han tilted his head toward him as he answered.

“Very different.”

“......”

“That’s why you need to stop running away.”

Gyeol narrowed his eyes at those words and worked his lips soundlessly. His cheeks were not merely hot anymore. They were burning.

“...I won’t run away, so let go.”

“You look like you will.”

“That’s because you keep coming closer.”

“What am I supposed to do when I want to stay pressed against you?”

“......”

His chest churned so violently it felt ready to burst. Then he realized his heart had begun pounding furiously.

“We finally managed to be alone.”

“I don’t know. Just let go of this first...”

Unable to bear it any longer, Gyeol shook off his hand. But his body, unaccustomed to moving underwater, did not obey him properly, and the vague fear rooted in one corner of his mind caught around his ankles.

Perhaps Yo Han’s desire to hold on to him was simply far stronger than Gyeol’s desire to escape.

And everything tended to favor the more desperate person.

Yo Han trapped Gyeol between both arms in an instant. With nowhere left to retreat, his back bumped against the wall. Gyeol found himself helplessly imprisoned between Yo Han’s palms.

At that exact moment, all the lights came on at once—the terrace, the room, and even the underwater lights inside the pool. The sun had already set, and darkness had settled over their surroundings.

Light rising through the water cast rippling shadows across Yo Han’s face.

Swaying and wavering.

The moment Gyeol saw those shadows, he finally sensed what kind of moment this was.

The tension settled over them, far thicker than the water, and his heart surged more violently than the pool around him.

This was the moment when he had to decide whether to swallow the poison.

Use me.

He did not know whether deciding what came next by relying on those words would truly count as using him or merely serve as a convenient excuse.

It did not matter.

He decided to think only of those words.

Whether they were an excuse or a pretext, Yo Han was also the only person Gyeol could ever allow himself to treat selfishly.

“Let me go.”

“What do you think I’m going to say?”

“No.”

“You know me well.”

A secret desire slowly raised its head.

He wanted to control him.

It was unlike Gyeol, but this man had wronged him. He had tormented him. And now he wanted to make amends and had willingly offered himself for Gyeol to use.

Repeating thoughts that could never be called healthy, Gyeol was seized by the urge to wield freely the authority he had never allowed anyone to place in his hands before.

A desire he had never imagined could exist inside him.

An impulse he had never felt before.

“...Do you want me to let you go?”

When he saw this impossibly proud man apparently holding something back, yet ultimately yielding to him—

“What happens if you don’t?”

Questions like that slipped from his lips.

“......”

He found himself wanting to provoke the man who looked as though he had not considered that far ahead.

“Will you hold me again?”

“...If you allow me.”

“You’re acting as though you’ve ever asked permission before.”

“You said then and now were different.”

Gyeol let out a soft breath of laughter.

“No.”

The word landed like a final nail, and Yo Han’s gaze deepened. Gyeol could not tell whether it was because their surroundings had grown darker or merely his imagination.

His throat tightened as though he had swallowed too much sugar. At last, when desire and impulse reached their limit, Gyeol asked Yo Han casually,

“By the way... what was your first wish again?”

A faint smile curved Gyeol’s lips, and his eyes gleamed with quiet cunning.

“......?”

Not fully understanding the meaning behind the question, Yo Han lifted one eyebrow slightly without answering.

“A ki—”

Before Yo Han could finish, Gyeol cupped his cheeks in both hands, rose onto his toes, and kissed him.