By Zephyria 
This time, he traced down the bridge of his nose.
Sliding down the straight ridge of his nose, he pressed lightly, and the breathing grew just a little rougher.
He tapped the tip of his nose and continued down, stopping at the edge of his lips.
His heart thudded heavily again.
Until just moments ago, this was a place that seemed ready to completely engulf and swallow him whole.
As he traced the outline of the upper lip ever so slightly with his fingertip, the heat from earlier seemed to rise again.
“Keep touching me…”
Cha Jeong-won’s voice dropped low.
His eyes were still closed.
“It feels strange.”
“Do you dislike it?”
Haon blurted out.
He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, but somehow his voice trembled at the end.
“If you disliked it, you would have stopped me.”
Instead, he turned his head slightly, pulling Haon’s hand closer to his own lips.
A moist breath lightly touched his skin before scattering.
Those words gave him an inexplicable surge of courage.
Haon swept his finger across the corner of his mouth and moved down.
The firm line of his jaw caught against his hand. Haon muttered to himself.
‘Isn’t this cheating…’
This time, he cupped Cha Jeong-won’s face with his entire palm.
Cha Jeong-won didn’t avoid the touch, accepting it as it was.
The studio air, which had felt cold until just moments ago, had now grown strangely warm.
Pheromones rippled softly. They weren’t boiling over like before, but the scent was enough to densely fill the space between them.
His chest fluttered and pounded as if tickled.
“Senior.”
Haon called out very softly.
“Yeah.”
The reply was equally low.
The tone was drained of energy, like someone right before falling asleep.
“When I’m this close, I keep wanting to do more.”
“Do what.”
“I don’t know. Touching your face is nice, kissing is nice… just everything.”
As he voiced the thoughts that came to mind, his energy drained away instead.
It was because a wave of embarrassment washed over him all at once.
Cha Jeong-won was silent for a moment.
Instead, he tightened his arm around Haon’s waist a little more.
Haon’s body fit snugly against his chest.
“Do as much as you want.”
At that permission, instead of kissing him, Haon relaxed his neck and leaned against his chest.
His heartbeat was slow and steady. Haon felt his own breath gradually calming to match that rhythm.
“Ah… This is nice.”
The light streaming in from outside cast a long shadow inside the studio.
On the sofa, the spot where the two were intertwined felt like a quiet, isolated island.
“Are you going to sleep?”
“If I get up, I have to work, right? Seems like all you think about is creating, Senior.”
Haon mumbled.
“I’m creating right now.”
“What?”
“Memories with you.”
The answer was so natural that he was momentarily speechless. He couldn’t even tell if it was a joke or serious.
“You’re good at saying cheesy things, so why have people been saying you’re a man of few words all this time?”
Though he grumbled with his mouth, his body was already settling in.
He pressed his cheek against Cha Jeong-won’s chest, tucked his legs in a little further, and leaned into the arm wrapped around his waist.
As he adjusted his posture like that, his eyelids grew heavy before he knew it.
Haon’s hand swept down his jawline one last time.
After that, he didn’t move.
“Senior.”
A small yawn escaped.
“You have to hold me tight, okay?”
“I won’t let you fall.”
It was a voice that inspired a certain trust.
Haon’s breathing gradually slowed.
Not long after, only the sound of their breathing remained in the studio.
＊ ＊ ＊
Haon woke up first.
When he opened his eyes, the first thing he felt was a suffocating, heavy weight.
There was an arm firmly wrapped around his chest and waist.
If it tightened just a little more, it felt like he truly wouldn’t be able to escape, even in his dreams.
“He’s really holding on tight.”
You’d think his grip would loosen when he fell asleep, but it hadn’t. He wondered if he was pretending to sleep.
Lifting his head a little, he saw Cha Jeong-won’s sleeping face.
His breathing was steady, and his lips were slightly parted for someone pretending to sleep…
“He’s really asleep.”
Haon glanced to the side.
Though obscured by the curtain, he could see the entire studio interior. Light seemed to be seeping in from somewhere.
“You can sleep well even if it’s not pitch black?”
Or was it because he hadn’t slept all night?
Seeing him up close, the signs of fatigue were even clearer.
“Senior…”
No answer came. His heart was still beating regularly and calmly.
Haon carefully adjusted his position a little.
He tried to extricate himself from him but eventually gave up.
“…He really won’t let go.”
He grumbled in a small voice. Still, it wasn’t bad.
Rather, the feeling of being relied on to this extent made one side of his chest swell warmly.
He raised his hand slightly and tidied his bangs.
As he lightly brushed back the hair that had fallen over his forehead while sleeping, his eyebrows twitched slightly.
Still, he didn’t wake up.
“It’s okay. You can sleep a little longer.”
It was an ambiguous statement, unsure if it was meant for himself or for him. Still, perhaps because of it, the grip seemed to loosen slightly.
Confirming that Cha Jeong-won was deeply asleep, Haon very slowly slipped out from under his arm.
Trying to get out without waking Cha Jeong-won, who seemed to want to pull Haon’s body back into an embrace, he later thought he might just topple over.
“I shouldn’t ask to be held next time.”
It’s nice, but suffocating; it’s suffocating, but nice!
He took a deep breath and sat up. For a moment, he stood there, looking down at him.
How many times had he seen this defenseless face now?
“Wait… At this point, isn’t he just someone who sleeps well beside me?”
He had always thought of him as someone who controlled everything, someone who seemed to have no vulnerabilities anywhere.
“I have to ask him when he wakes up.”
Haon belatedly remembered the reason he had tried to slip out of Cha Jeong-won’s embrace.
The box that supposedly contained something ominous.
“It might be here.”
Since he had to search Cha Jeong-won’s space whenever he got the chance, now was the perfect time.
“This isn’t stealing. I’m just checking. I’m sorry for touching it without permission.”
After offering an apology that wouldn’t be heard, Haon moved toward the studio.
The inside of the studio wasn’t much different from before they fell asleep, but the atmosphere was a little calmer.
The slanted light from outside cast a long shadow over the workbench.
The neatly arranged tools, wooden boards, and sample pieces came into view at a glance.
‘If it’s a box, would there be a separate place for storing them?’
Haon recalled the description of the box’s shape from the original work.
About the size of two palms put together.
The first thing that caught his eye was the storage cabinet under the workbench.
As Haon carefully opened the door, the small creaking sound made his shoulders flinch for no reason.
Inside, bundles of sandpaper, leftover wood pieces, and several small containers were lined up.
He pushed and lifted them one by one with his hand. Screws and nails clattered, but there was no box of the size he was looking for.
He quietly closed the door again and this time headed toward the high shelves. Plastic boxes with labels on each compartment stood in rows.
‘Someone who organizes this well…’
His heart beat faster for no reason.
If he had taken it out and hidden it somewhere separately, it might stand out even more.
Maybe it was mixed in with other things, or perhaps buried deep in a drawer.
Haon stood on his tiptoes and reached toward the top shelf.
He pulled the plastic box forward a little and scanned the inside. All that touched his hand were toolboxes and packaging materials.
‘Not here.’
His mind grew complicated.
This time, he headed toward the metal drawer beside the workbench.
He grabbed the handle and pulled very gently.
Inside the drawer were pencils, a tape measure, a cutter, ballpoint pens, and a few metal boxes.
Exactly this size.
Haon’s heart pounded loudly again.
He opened the lids of the metal boxes one by one. Inside, screws, nails, and small washers were each stored in different boxes.
Yet, his hand didn’t stop.
It was the moment he opened the third box.
“Yoon Haon?”
A low voice came from behind, accompanied by the faint sound of the drawer rattling slightly.
As if electricity shot up his spine, Haon’s body froze.
The moment he turned to look at Cha Jeong-won, it felt like a creaking sound came from his neck.
Since it was something he had done secretly while he was sleeping, his heart raced madly, and cold sweat broke out.
“You’re… awake?”
Cha Jeong-won was in a posture with one hand raking through his tousled hair and the other braced against the back of the sofa.
His eyes weren’t fully open yet, but his gaze was clearly awake.
“What are you doing.”
He asked.
His voice was husky, but the question was so simple that it made him even more flustered.
“Ah, that…”
Haon stood frozen, still holding the metal box.
His mind went completely blank, unsure how to answer.