Chapter 52

“Yes?”

For a moment, Gyeol thought Sun wanted to talk.

“That.”

It was not a request for conversation.

Sun gestured upward with his eyes.

At first Gyeol could not understand what he meant, but when his gaze lifted higher, his field of vision suddenly widened.

The cloudless night sky glittered with what looked like an endless shower of stars.

A quiet gasp escaped him before he realized it.

With no tall buildings obstructing the view, it felt as though an infinite curtain of night had spread directly above them.

Gyeol stared upward in a daze at the stars embroidered across the deep violet sky.

Beside him, Sun added shyly,

“Sorry. It’s hard to see something like this in Seoul. I just... really wanted you to see it.”

“No, not at all. If you hadn’t pointed it out, I would’ve completely missed it.”

He meant it sincerely.

He almost missed a sight this beautiful.

“I think the sky’s especially clear because the storm finally passed.”

“Then why couldn’t we see it earlier?”

“...Probably because of the campfire smoke and all the lighting.”

This time Jun answered.

Gyeol nodded easily.

Awkwardness, hurt feelings, worries—everything suddenly felt trivial.

Looking at the vast night sky made the tightness in his chest dissolve.

Even the exhaustion piled up over the course of the day eased noticeably.

The North Star. Cassiopeia...

He suddenly thought of Yuli, who had recently become obsessed with constellations and chattered about them nonstop.

Someday, he wanted to show this view to Yuli too.

He could already picture the child staring up with wide sparkling eyes in amazement.

After gazing upward for a long while, Gyeol finally lowered his eyes.

Sun and Jun were still standing there watching him.

Ah.

Feeling embarrassed, Gyeol hurriedly said good night again.

“Thank you. I got to see something beautiful thanks to you... You should both head in and rest.”

Completely unaware that thinking about Yuli had put a smile brighter than the stars across his face.

Watching him, Sun felt his ears grow hot.

Thankfully, it was dark enough that nobody could tell.

“Yes. Then you should head inside too, Gyeol.”

Jun, who had been staring at Gyeol as though rooted in place, finally lifted a hand beside Sun and waved.

“Go on. Sweet dreams.”

It was what Jun used to tell him every night eight years ago.

Sweet dreams.

And if possible, dream about me.

But now, after eight years had passed, he could no longer bring himself to say the rest aloud.

As tangled emotions crossed between them, the chaotic fifth night slowly came to an end.

***

The next morning, Gyeol overslept for once.

After years of bouncing between part-time jobs, his body normally woke automatically around seven in the morning.

But today, when he opened his eyes, it was already close to ten.

The moment he checked the time, Gyeol jolted upright in panic.

Even if he had fallen asleep after two in the morning, this was still far too late.

Thankfully, there were no morning filming schedules today.

Isu Yoon’s bed was already empty.

Instead, a note placed beside the pillow caught his eye.

It said that Isu had gone on a brunch date with Jun Shin, that Gyeol had looked deeply asleep so he deliberately hadn’t woken him, and that he hoped Gyeol rested well.

Right.

Sun and Isu had both won yesterday’s game.

Even though Isu’s choice of date partner had practically been predetermined from the start, it seemed he had still struggled for the opportunity before finally getting it.

Still half asleep, Gyeol found the feeling strangely complicated.

Just as Gyeol himself would go on dates with other Alphas, he had always known Jun would go on dates with other Omegas too.

But reading it so directly written on a note felt entirely different.

“...I should wash up.”

Slapping both cheeks lightly to shake off the emotion, Gyeol headed for the bathroom.

Maybe it was because he had overslept, or maybe all the accumulated fatigue was finally catching up to him, but his body felt unbearably heavy.

After turning on his phone and stretching a little, he took a quick shower.

Before drying his hair, he checked his phone and immediately noticed a new message.

Dad!!

I miss you

(crying rabbit emoji)

The sender was Bae Hyesung, but there was no way Hyesung himself would type with this many mistakes or call him Dad.

A few moments later, another message appeared.

I didn’t just hand over the phone randomly I swear

Yuli kept crying and asking when you’re coming home so I only showed one single episode of Ppuroroping seriously that’s all

I will never hand over the phone again. I sincerely apologize. (deep bow emoji)

That one was definitely from Hyesung.

Reading the defensive excuse, Gyeol let out a small laugh without realizing it.

One of the unspoken rules in “the Go Yuli household” was that they did not show phone videos to Yuli yet.

Gyeol was especially adamant about it, and Hyesung agreed.

But after Yuli learned about Ppuroroping from daycare friends, enforcing that rule had become dramatically harder.

Even the day before Gyeol left for Pheromone Island, Yuli had collapsed dramatically onto the floor demanding Ppuroroping.

“Hmm...”

There had been exactly one time Hyesung secretly showed Yuli a Ppuroroping video while Gyeol was out grocery shopping.

When Gyeol returned home, Yuli had been lying on the living room floor completely absorbed in the phone screen without even turning around, while Hyesung sat in his room playing the FPS game he had been obsessed with at the time.

That day, Gyeol had absolutely ripped Hyesung apart for it.

Afterward, no matter how much Yuli cried or begged, Hyesung never handed over the phone again.

“...I feel bad.”

Gyeol muttered quietly to himself.

He felt guilty toward both Yuli, left behind at home, and Hyesung, who was taking care of the child alone.

Bae Hyesung was Gyeol’s only childhood friend.

They currently lived together as roommates, but technically speaking, Hyesung had absolutely nothing to do with Yuli.

Hyesung was such a genuinely good person that he bordered on being a complete pushover.

Ever since Yuli was a newborn, Hyesung had lived together with them and helped raise the child.

At this point they were practically family, but no matter what, “Uncle Hyesung” was still an outsider.

Gyeol already felt horribly °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° guilty just leaving Yuli behind, and seeing Hyesung apologize so earnestly over letting Yuli watch Ppuroroping once—and for sending a text message—only made the guilt grow heavier.

The last message had arrived at ten last night.

He had probably discovered the messages Yuli sent after finally putting the child to sleep.

Letting out a long sigh, Gyeol typed a reply.

It’s okay to let Yuli watch sometimes if taking care of a kid alone gets too hard

After hesitating, he added another message.

Thank you for everything, Hyesung.

It felt embarrassingly soft for a message sent to a lifelong guy friend.

His finger hovered over the send button for a long time before Gyeol finally squeezed his eyes shut and sent it.

As expected, a reply came immediately.

Whether it was a phone or a PC, Hyesung truly never let go of electronics for even a second.

Holy shit, did someone hack Gyeol Go’s phone?

“Should I kill him?”

The heavy guilt weighing on Gyeol vanished instantly.

No, asshole

Or did you do something wrong?

Actually never mind. Forget I said thanks.

Even while sending an angry rabbit emoji with narrowed eyes, Gyeol was smiling.

Is it really hard over there?

The message perfectly pinpointed Gyeol’s emotional state.

Hang in there.

After the encouragement came a freshly taken morning selfie featuring ugly Hyesung and adorable Yuli together in one frame.

“Right. I can’t let myself get weak.”

Muttering quietly, Gyeol stared at the messages and photo for a long time.

Everyone except Jun Shin and Isu Yoon gathered in the lounge for a combined breakfast and lunch.

The menu was a brand-new instant noodle cup that had not even been released yet.

“Wow, what’s gotten into R-Connect? I thought they’d just feed us potatoes and carrots or something, but they’re actually giving us instant noodles.”

“What’s wrong with potatoes...!”

“Oh. I wasn’t trying to provoke you on purpose.”

“You absolutely were!”

As usual, Hee Jun and Tommy bickered back and forth while the others laughed.

“Ah... I seriously thought I was dying, so this is perfect.”

“You really drank too much yesterday, Woo Seok.”

“Wow. This is my first time seeing someone get scolded by Sun.”

“I-I wasn’t scolding him...”

“This is hilarious. Sun, your ears are red!”

The awkward tension from the previous night had vanished so completely that it almost felt fake.

Producer Yoo explained the instant noodles.

“As you probably guessed, this is product placement. Since it looked like everyone drank quite a bit yesterday, we thought this would be good timing. The product will release alongside Season 10’s broadcast, so please do your best to make it look delicious.”

So it really was PPL.

The contestants nodded obediently at Producer Yoo’s request and opened their noodle cups together before pouring in hot water.

Gyeol reached for the kettle, but Yo Han stepped beside him and grabbed the handle first.

“Sit down. Your hand got injured yesterday too.”

“No, it’s okay. I can do it.”

“I’ll feel uncomfortable if you don’t sit down. Sit, Gyeol.”

“Exactly. Sit down. Yo Han and I can handle it.”

Not missing the opportunity, Hanseul joined in immediately.

There was no way Hanseul’s personality had suddenly become considerate overnight.

He obviously just wanted to wedge himself between Yo Han and Gyeol.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Gyeol had no desire to get caught between the two of them either, so he accepted the offer without resistance and returned to his seat.

Still, sitting at the far end of the table meant he could not help watching the two move around pouring hot water.

Yo Han walked ahead.

Hanseul trailed right after him like a shadow.

‘...They look good together.’

Even setting aside their stereotypically actor-like visuals, the two shared a similar aesthetic.

Yo Han’s features and eyes were sharp, while Hanseul had the classic catlike look.

One leaned more masculine and the other more beautiful, but their overall atmosphere overlapped strongly.

And judging by the way Hanseul kept calling him “senior,” they seemed to already know each other fairly well.

Hanseul acted especially affectionate toward Yo Han alone.

Meanwhile, Yo Han...

‘He doesn’t really seem interested, though.’

The instant the thought crossed Gyeol’s mind, Yo Han’s eyes met his directly.

Startled, Gyeol immediately looked away.

Regret flooded him a second later.

Now it looked exactly like he had been secretly staring.