By Zephyria “Se-han.”
My heart was suddenly beating painfully, and I couldn’t stand it. I sprang up and walked towards Sung Se-han. No, maybe I ran.
I covered Sung Se-han, who was opening his arms towards me, and hugged him mindlessly.
Only when his solid chest, touching me without a gap, hugged me tightly and made it hard to breathe, could I finally breathe.
Because Sung Se-han had come back. Just like the bracelet had come back, now that everything had found its place, there was no need to hold back this desperate feeling. There was no need to be aware of anything.
“Sung Se-han, keep your promise.”
Because I believe in Sung Se-han. I’ll believe the promise that he won’t make me cry. So I can hug him so fearlessly, without holding back.
“You too.”
The moment his hot breath covered my ear, I closed my eyes tightly.
“Tell me everything first, no matter what happens. Don’t avoid my calls like today.”
Yeah. As I rubbed my nose against his smooth nape, a mumbled answer flowed out of my mouth.
“I’ll… tell you first.”
I wanted to say thank you, but my head was spinning because of Sung Se-han’s scent, and I couldn’t get the words out properly.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“…!”
I was so horrified by the sudden knocking that I hurriedly pushed Sung Se-han away.
“Hyung! Mom’s asking if steak is okay for dinner?”
Tae-min asked carefully from outside the door, but I was so flustered that I could only move my lips.
“It’s okay.”
Sung Se-han answered first, but I couldn’t tell if he was talking to Tae-min or to me. Sung Se-han, reaching out to the side and grabbing the doorknob, leaned his face towards me.
Don’t come out.
I opened my eyes wide at the voice whispering with a raised corner of his mouth. Sung Se-han, turning away from me, opened the door with a click.
“Oh, Sung Se-han Hyung…!”
I could hear Tae-min’s slightly raised voice, but his figure was hidden by Sung Se-han’s broad back.
“Mother said you’re preparing steak? Ah, that’s too bad. Hyung doesn’t have time.”
Sung Se-han naturally put his arm around Tae-min’s shoulder. I quickly came out of the room to see the two of them walking side by side with their arms around each other’s shoulders.
“You don’t have time? Well… Hyung must have a lot of schedules.”
I unknowingly raised my hand to my left chest at the sight of Tae-min’s profile, smiling happily as he looked up at Sung Se-han.
“Mom! Se-han Hyung has to go because he has a schedule!”
At Tae-min’s shout, Mom, holding asparagus, came out of the kitchen busily.
“You have another schedule? Oh dear, I can’t feed you anything…”
“I’ll come often, Mom. Make me something delicious next time.”
Sung Se-han made a sweet promise to his Mom, who seemed sad, and then headed for the entrance. Only after Sung Se-han disappeared into the hallway did I rush to the front door.
“Sung Se-han…!”
Sung Se-han, who was already opening the door and about to step outside, turned around. I ran barefoot to Sung Se-han, who was waiting for me with a smile, and grabbed his jacket.
“Sung Se-han, thank you so much for coming today. Thanks to you…”
I couldn’t say anything more as a large hand cupped my cheek. Sung Se-han tilted his head, his gaze fixed on my lips. Before I could even breathe, something soft touched my lips and then pulled away.
Sung Se-han strode out the door, leaving me blinking blankly, unsure of what had just happened.
“I’m off.”
With a playful look, Sung Se-han briefly raised his hand, and then, click, the door closed.
I stared at the closed front door before slowly covering my face with both hands.
“Ha….”
I couldn’t bring myself to look in the mirror at my flushed face.
While I was having steak for dinner instead of hamburgers, I received a call from Jeong-min.
“Yeah, Jeong-min.”
—Tae-kyung Hyung! Are you checking the community forums?
Jeong-min’s voice was so loud that I glanced at Mom and Tae-min, who were sitting across from me.
“I’m having dinner right now.”
—I’m talking about the photos of Hyung that were posted today. They’ve been deleted from the three biggest community sites! I watched in real-time as the related posts were taken down!
“Ah… is that so.”
Mom and Tae-min were staring at me with surprised expressions, so they must have heard Jeong-min’s voice.
—And the moderators posted an announcement saying not to upload photos of unverified civilians, right? Judging by the atmosphere, I don’t think anyone can upload just any photo anymore!
“That’s a relief.”
While I put down my fork and fiddled with the bracelet on my wrist, Jeong-min continued quickly.
—Everyone’s lost their energy and the atmosphere is bad because Tae-kyung Hyung isn’t here. So you have to come tomorrow morning. Or, should we come pick you up?
“Haha. I’ll go early tomorrow, so don’t worry, Jeong-min.”
After ending the call with Jeong-min, I was drinking water when Tae-min, who had been watching me, spoke up.
“Hyung, I also got a call from my friends earlier. They told me not to worry too much because your photos are being taken down.”
“Oh my, is that so? That’s such a relief!”
Mom patted Tae-min’s hand with a happy expression.
“It’s all because of Mom that Tae-kyung had to hear things he didn’t need to….”
“Ah, seriously! Don’t say that, Mom.”
I reached out and covered Mom’s hand, which was holding Tae-min’s hand.
“We decided to forget about what happened that day, right? I’ve already forgotten about today too.”
I didn’t need to look in the mirror to know what kind of expression I had. The fact that Mom and Tae-min’s eyes weren’t filled with anxiety meant that my face must have looked happy.
A lot happened today, but in the end, all that remained was a happy time.
“I’m really happy right now. I wish it could always be like this.”
Because Sung Se-han had returned to me, who wanted nothing more than Sung Se-han.
It was only natural to want this time to continue.
The next day, after having lunch at a buffet with the members for the first time in a while, we were on our way back to the company. I got into the car and sat in the back seat, and Ho-soo, who was sitting by the window, held out his phone.
“Hyung! Tae-kyung Hyung! Did you see this article?”
“Huh? What is it….”
I looked at the article Ho-soo held out and quickly snatched it away.
“Oh!”
The moment I checked the headline, my eyes widened and my mouth dropped open.
As I frantically scanned the article, I kept hearing the members’ exclamations.
“Wow…! That’s really amazing! I can’t believe he’s releasing a solo song so quickly…!”
“Se-han Hyung is going solo? Is that for real? Does that mean he’s leaving Perfect Puzzle?”
“Jeong-min! That’s not it…!”
My voice rose because my heart dropped at Jeong-min’s words.
“Don’t say things like that. Why would Sung Se-han leave?”
I felt like I needed to calm my racing heart first, so I closed my phone.
“He’s just releasing a song. It’s not… it’s not a solo album, just a special single.”
“What kind of special?”
I couldn’t answer Jeong-min, who was asking with wide eyes, and covered my hot cheeks with the back of my hand.
It seemed Sung Se-han had prepared it right away because I had asked him to release a solo song, which was why he had so many personal schedules these days. I wanted to brag about it so much. I wanted to open the window and shout it out loud.
“I knew he’d release a solo song, but this is really fast. I’m a little surprised.”
As Gun-woo Hyung muttered to himself, Ho-soo leaned forward in his seat.
“Gun-woo Hyung, did you know that Sung Se-han Hyung was releasing a solo song?”
“No, but he writes all his songs anyway. I saw his cover song and his vocals were amazing, not just his rap, so why wouldn’t he want to go solo?”
“I heard that Kang Robin Sunbae made the Perfect Puzzle album for them?”
I frowned for a moment at Ho-soo’s words, but there was no need to correct him. That was because Jeong-min, with his triangular eyes, was glaring fiercely at Ho-soo.
“Hey! You’re not allowed on the internet! Where are you hearing all that useless stuff? Do you believe that?”
“No…! I don’t believe it, but I’ve just seen it said so many times….”
“Guys? You’re not fighting, are you? Huh?”
Jeong-min getting angry for Sung Se-han’s sake also made my heart flutter. I stroked Ho-soo and Jeong-min’s heads and leaned back, feeling so happy and comfortable.
“Tae-kyung Hyung, don’t look at the bad comments on Sung Se-han Sunbae’s article.”
Soo-in’s face, as he looked back at me, was full of worry. Ah, how can all my younger brothers be so kind and considerate? I’m definitely a lucky person.
“It’s okay, Soo-in. I don’t really care about that kind of stuff.”
I reassured Soo-in and leisurely opened my phone. There was nothing that could ruin my mood in this situation, searching for news about Sung Se-han’s solo song on the phone Sung Se-han had given me…