Chapter 68

After finishing the interview, Gyeol dragged his exhausted body forward step by step.

Interviews happened anywhere from once to three times a day. Among them, the late-night interview after the favorability vote was a fixed schedule. Unless something unusual happened—like going on an Ivory Mansion date or getting completely drunk during a drinking session—it was never skipped.

Naturally, contestants involved in many love lines tended to have much longer interviews because there were simply more things to ask about.

Thanks to that, Gyeol almost always endured interviews lasting well over thirty minutes, and by the time they ended—after one sharp question after another—he was inevitably drained.

It was already well past one in the morning.

A long dim pathway stretched ahead.

Because cameras were not installed there, it was the only section where he could finally breathe for a moment.

Gyeol stretched lazily as he walked, rolling his shoulders and tilting his head back to loosen the stiffness in his body.

The chilly air tossed through his hair and clothes. Exposed to the cold, it felt as though ice were sinking directly into his brain.

Breathing deeply in and slowly back out, Gyeol walked at a sluggish pace—

then suddenly stopped.

Two steps ahead of him, a lone figure stood in the shadows as if waiting for him.

“Who is it?”

Pretending calm, Gyeol addressed the figure.

The moonlight itself was hidden behind clouds tonight, and the man stood with the distant lighting behind him, making his face difficult to see.

All Gyeol could tell was that he was large enough to be an Alpha.

The first person who came to mind was Woo Seok Jung.

Immediately, memories flashed through his head one after another—Woo Seok rubbing his arm, gripping his wrist, showing visible irritation as if he could not comprehend rejection.

Feeling his heart beating heavily, Gyeol prepared himself to turn around and run if necessary.

But the moment he cautiously shifted one sandal-clad foot backward, the man’s voice stopped him in place.

“Gyeol Go.”

The voice calling his name was remarkably low.

The instant he heard that familiar resonance, the emotion surging through Gyeol was relief.

“You’re defenseless every single time I see you.”

Then the figure stepped into the edge of the light, revealing his face faintly.

Even in the dim pre-dawn darkness, Yo Han’s features looked sharply defined.

Narrowing his eyes at him, Gyeol forcibly shoved down the relief he had felt.

Who exactly are you feeling relieved to see right now?

Was he relieved because it was not Woo Seok?

Or because it was specifically Yo Han?

If it was the latter, that bruised his pride.

Maybe it was both.

Either way, he disliked it.

“...You picked the exact moment I’m most defenseless to show up.”

Keeping his distance, Gyeol muttered the words.

Yo Han slowly approached him.

Gyeol planted strength into his feet but did not step back.

He refused to show Yo Han his back or the sight of himself retreating.

“You think I came here on purpose?”

“Didn’t you?”

“No, you’re right. You know me well.”

Eventually Yo Han stopped directly in front of him.

Close enough to touch if he stretched out his arm.

Yo Han extended one hand toward him.

“Your hand.”

“...What?”

“The injured one. Give it to me.”

The abrupt demand made Gyeol’s body stiffen instantly.

This place was outside camera range.

Meaning Gyeol had absolutely no reason to comply obediently.

“Why?”

At his question, Yo Han laughed quietly.

“You’re asking because you really don’t know?”

“I really don’t.”

Yo Han stared down at him with a crooked gaze before slowly tilting his head.

Right then, the clouds shifted and moonlight spilled over them, allowing Gyeol to finally see his face clearly.

“I watched you get hurt right in front of me. I dragged your dumb ass over and treated you myself. Then you disappeared getting dragged around by other Alpha bastards so I had no way to check how it was healing. Watching you walk around recklessly everywhere is irritating. The way you act with absolutely zero caution gets on my nerves. So what, you need me to spell out personally that that’s why I came all the way here?”

The words came out without hesitation, as though he were reciting lines he had practiced repeatedly for a very long time.

This was the first time Gyeol had ever heard Yo Han speak this much at once.

And especially not about something like this.

Whether he recognized Gyeol’s confusion or not, Yo Han’s expression remained almost monotonously calm, his reddish lips forming every syllable with perfect clarity.

If Gyeol had only seen his face without hearing the sound, he might have mistaken him for solemnly reciting a prayer.

Every element created overwhelming cognitive dissonance.

Momentarily speechless, Gyeol rubbed at the corner of his mouth before replying.

“So you didn’t come here to pick a fight. You came to check my injured hand?”

“Pick a fight?”

“...Don’t latch onto one phrase.”

Yo Han exhaled softly, smoothing out the slight crease between his brows, then waved the hand he still had extended.

“So? Are you giving it to me or not?”

“.......”

If it had been anyone else, maybe he would have handed it over easily.

But this was Yo Han Sung.

Gyeol disliked the situation so much that he could not stop suspecting there had to be some hidden motive.

As Gyeol silently stared at him, Yo Han waved his hand again.

Even then, Gyeol did not move.

Yo Han finally let out a disbelieving breath.

“Gyeol Go. What exactly are you trying to do here?”

“I should be asking you that.”

After replying, Gyeol discreetly glanced around the area.

Maybe cameras had secretly been installed here without him knowing. Maybe that was why Yo Han was acting like this.

But no matter how carefully he looked, he could not spot even the edge of a camera lens.

“What are you looking for?”

“...Nothing.”

Yo Han’s hand still remained exactly where it was.

Persistent did not even begin to describe it.

It hovered stubbornly in midair as though he had no intention whatsoever of backing down until Gyeol gave him his hand.

What the hell is wrong with this man?

After everything that had happened, Gyeol hesitated until the very end.

Then Yo Han spoke again in a tone that sounded almost disgusted.

“I don’t want to forcefully grab your hand like some bastard.”

“.......”

Gyeol almost laughed in disbelief.

This was the same man who had forcibly cornered him, bruised him, threatened him, and practically smashed their lips together.

And now he was saying this?

Trying to draw a line between himself and Woo Seok now won’t suddenly change anything....

While thinking bitterly and staring dryly up at Yo Han’s face, Gyeol’s thoughts suddenly stopped.

Because the way Yo Han was looking down at his hand looked—

strangely enough—

heartbroken.

Why is he making that expression?

Yo Han was the one who had threatened him.

The one who had grabbed hold of his secret and shaken it over his head.

Then why did he look like he was losing his mind worrying about him?

Why was there confusion in his eyes?

Why was he looking at him with such a painfully contradictory expression?

“God, seriously.”

Gyeol’s face twisted sharply.

As though throwing it at him, he dropped his hand into Yo Han’s palm and bit out the words.

“You know none of your actions make any sense together, right?”

“What doesn’t make sense?”

Answering calmly, Yo Han gently supported Gyeol’s wrist.

Then he peeled off the bandage and began unwrapping the gauze.

“The first person who grabbed me, threatened me, and cornered me after I came to this island was someone named Yo Han Sung, if I remember correctly.”

Even though Gyeol openly jabbed at him, Yo Han remained completely unfazed.

When Yo Han suddenly pulled bandages, gauze, and disinfectant from the inner pocket of his cardigan, Gyeol nearly yanked his hand back in shock.

If Yo Han had not been firmly holding his wrist, he absolutely would have.

He brought those on purpose?

For me?

Yo Han carrying around first-aid supplies in his pocket.

The sheer cognitive dissonance made Gyeol’s face twist again.

“...Seriously.”

“Stop interrogating me about every little thing. I’m irritated too.”

“...Excuse me?”

“I’m just as irritated by this as you are.”

“.......”

Gyeol genuinely had no idea what he was supposed to do with that.

Keeping silent, he simply watched Yo Han examine his hand.

At the very least, Yo Han did not seem likely to hurt someone already injured.

At least, that was how he looked right now.

“You’re not in pain? It’s not stinging?”

“...I’m fine.”

It’s not like the medical staff are unemployed.

The medical team could’ve handled this.

He was inwardly sneering when Yo Han suddenly addressed exactly that point.

“I asked the medical staff. They said you never came back for treatment.”

“.......”

“You still haven’t come to your senses?”

“It’s not that serious. Stuff like this heals on its own if you leave it alone.”

He said that, but honestly he had simply been too overwhelmed.

The schedule never stopped, and every free second someone dragged him off somewhere or started talking to him.

There had barely been time to visit the medical team at all.

Still, it was not entirely a lie.

Back when Yuli had first been born and he was a hopelessly inexperienced father, Gyeol had started cooking baby food himself and cut his hands countless times learning how to use a knife.

Back then he discovered that although he could dance, sing, and act—

he had absolutely no talent with his hands.

Blood stopped eventually.

Split skin closed again.

Scars faded over time.

And during all those years spent raising a child, Gyeol himself had steadily grown too.

Wasn’t that why he now had enough cooking skill to feed every contestant on Pheromone Island?

People forced to live at the mercy of life inevitably became cynical.

To Gyeol, the injuries on his hand and even his time on this island would eventually slip away like grains of sand through his fingers.

The emotionally exhausting confrontation with Jun Shin.

Woo Seok’s troublesome advances.

The temporary peace he found with Tommy.

The uncontrollable guilt he felt toward Sun.

And even—

Yo Han Sung, who acted as if he wanted to devour him alive only to stand here now spewing absurd nonsense instead of concern.

Eventually, all of it would pass.

Compared to that, an injury on his finger was truly nothing.

Too trivial to even bother dwelling on.

A sharp sting interrupted his thoughts.

He saw the red disinfectant spread across the split wound.

“Then at least stop using your hand so carelessly.”

Yo Han carefully pressed gauze against it.

A red stain slowly spread across the white fabric.

“Why did you act like that inside the Pheromone Booth?”