By Zephyria 
Lee Hae-sung released the two arms that had been tightening around Choi Hong-seo’s chest and waist, then stood beside his lover, wrapping one arm around his shoulder.
“The reason Hyeon-seo reacted that way when he saw Yu-jun isn’t because of the aftereffects of the accident.”
Yi-han furrowed his brow.
“Why is Yu-jun suddenly coming up?”
“He was surprised because he knows him.”
“He… knows him?”
“To be precise, he was a person in a scene he witnessed on the boundary between life and death. Seeing such a person in reality, he couldn’t help but be frightened.”
“Life… death… what the hell… what on earth are you talking about?”
Yi-han had been about to ask what kind of bullshit this was, but he held onto his remaining rationality and corrected his phrasing.
“Han, you might think you first saw Hyeon-seo in my room at the Nox Hotel, but Hyeon-seo saw you before that.”
Jeong Ji-in was holding Yi-han’s hand, and Yi-han was hugging his lover’s shoulder tightly. Relying on each other in that way, the two of them stared intently at Lee Hae-sung.
“After Hong-seo left like that.”
“……”
“You first met Ji-in at Han’s house in Hannam-dong. At that time, Han proposed a personal revenge to me.”
Lee Hae-sung looked down at Choi Hong-seo standing beside him.
“What did Yi-han say to me at that spot?”
“……”
Choi Hong-seo looked at Lee Hae-sung, Yi-han, and Jeong Ji-in in turn. His gaze lingered for a long time on Jeong Ji-in’s trembling hand.
“It’s okay. Just say it exactly as you saw and heard it.”
“Didn’t you… want to cut off his arms and legs?”
“……”
“Didn’t you want to drag him down to the same height and keep pushing him over again and again… that’s what he said.”
Yi-han narrowed his eyes, his brow furrowing, while Jeong Ji-in, conversely, widened his eyes and covered his mouth.
“Would you also tell them what I said after hearing that proposal?”
“Ajusshi…”
“Can you tell them, even if it’s painful?”
Since they had come this far, there was no turning back; Lee Hae-sung looked down into Choi Hong-seo’s eyes without wavering.
“It’s okay. Even in the worst-case scenario, it just becomes a secret between the two of us again.”
Choi Hong-seo’s lips trembled.
“He said that personal retaliation isn’t for that child… that it’s just venting anger.”
“Who is that child?”
“Hyung…”
“Who is that child—who are you?”
It felt as if they had returned to the small gallery in LA.
“Say it. That you are Choi Hong-seo.”
It felt as if they had returned to that place to confirm each other once more.
“If you just say it, I… will believe you.”
“…I am Choi Hong-seo.”
A groan like a sigh escaped Jeong Ji-in’s lips. Yi-han, hugging the staggering Jeong Ji-in’s shoulder more firmly, distorted his expression and raised his voice.
“This is ridiculous… what kind of unpleasant joke is this? Can’t you see this person is shaking?”
Lee Hae-sung pulled Choi Hong-seo’s shoulder closer and confronted him.
“Yi-han, watch your tongue. Your person isn’t the only one who is precious.”
“Then what should I do? Just because Hyeon-seo says… he’s Hong-seo. Are you telling me to just accept it like that?”
As if he found it absurd even as he spoke, Yi-han muttered, “This is driving me crazy,” and sneered. Leaving Yi-han be, Lee Hae-sung spoke toward Jeong Ji-in.
“The conversation we had that day, the layout of the drawing room, the people who were there. He told me everything accurately. Like someone who was actually there.”
Jeong Ji-in’s gaze slowly shifted from Lee Hae-sung to Hyeon-seo. To the face that looked so much like Choi Hong-seo, looking back at him with desperate eyes.
“Ji-in, have you ever told anyone about the conversation from that day?”
At Lee Hae-sung’s question, Jeong Ji-in and Yi-han looked at each other.
“Of course not. Including Yu-jun, the four of us are people who can be trusted in that regard.”
“Someone must have been eavesdropping.”
Lee Hae-sung snorted at Yi-han’s remark.
“Yi-han, what’s wrong with you? You of all people should know that eavesdropping in your house is impossible.”
“……”
Yi-han crushed the area around his mouth with his large palm.
The high-pitched laughter of children drifted from the Luxembourg Gardens. Those sounds, floating up like soap bubbles into the pink-tinted Parisian sky, were peace.
■
The Royal Eiffel Suite at the Nox Hotel Paris.
Lee Hae-sung and Choi Hong-seo returned to their room much earlier than planned. The two, who had been silent throughout the car ride and the elevator, were the same in the dressing room.
As he took off his blouson and hung it on a hanger, Lee Hae-sung asked Choi Hong-seo, who was standing a few steps away. As casually as possible, as if nothing had happened.
“Should we order room service?”
“No.”
It was the expected answer. Continuing to undo the buttons of his linen shirt, he suggested once more.
“We didn’t eat dinner; aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m fine. I have no appetite. Aj… Hyung, order if you’re hungry.”
Pulling the hem of his shirt out of his pants, Lee Hae-sung undid his buttons all the way while facing the open closet. Then, with a sigh, he looked to his right. Much faster than Lee Hae-sung, Choi Hong-seo, already changed into pajamas, was fastening the buttons of his top.
Stepping barefoot across the carpet, Lee Hae-sung approached and grabbed the wrist that was fastening the buttons, pulling him close.
“Are you angry?”
“……”
“You’re angry, aren’t you?”
“……”
Fiddling with the fingertips, Lee Hae-sung lifted the hand he held and pressed his lips to the back of it.
“I know. I would be angry too.”
“Promise me.”
“Promise what?”
Having found a glimmer of hope, Lee Hae-sung stepped forward, ready to promise anything.
“Promise that you’ll never do that to other people.”
“……”
“It only ended at that level because it was Ji-in Hyung and Yi-han Hyung. If it had been other people…”
Choi Hong-seo, who had been looking up at Lee Hae-sung, suddenly turned his head. Tears instantly filled the left eye visible in his profile.
“If people think Hyung is crazy, I…”
And soon, a long tear streamed down.
Lee Hae-sung felt as if his heart, made of iron, had plummeted to his feet. No, it felt as if someone had not only torn his heart to shreds but was slicing it meticulously with a kitchen knife. He embraced Choi Hong-seo just as he was. He pressed and stroked the back of his head, kissing his hair and the curve of his ear countless times, begging for forgiveness.
“I’m sorry. I went too far without consulting you. I’m reflecting on it.”
Choi Hong-seo’s two hands gripped the sides of Lee Hae-sung’s shirt tightly. Choi Hong-seo’s tears dampened Lee Hae-sung’s bare chest, revealed through the gaps of the open shirt.
Besides the scene Choi Hong-seo had witnessed after death, he revealed several more pieces of evidence to Jeong Ji-in and Yi-han. Jeong Ji-in had to sit in a chair, and Yi-han paced the terrace, repeatedly exclaiming, “This is driving me crazy.” The three people, excluding Choi Hong-seo, smoked several cigarettes.
Even while thinking that these were pieces of evidence that only Choi Hong-seo could know, the two could not accept it. And Lee Hae-sung and Choi Hong-seo understood that confusion. That was why they didn’t push further and instead withdrew and left the house.
Despite having received such a shock, they saw the two off as far as the elevator. Just before the doors closed, the expression on Jeong Ji-in’s face as he looked at ‘Hyeon-seo’ seemed like something that would not be forgotten for a long time.
“How can Ajusshi… love me in such a way?”
The tone was resentful, but the content was not.
“You said it’s a story that no one would believe. You said that, Ajusshi. Then why were you so reckless…”
“You’re right. I was reckless.”
“Did it look like… I wanted Ji-in Hyung to recognize me?”
“……”
“If it looked that way, I’m sorry. It’s not like that.”
With a moist voice, Choi Hong-seo shook his head within Lee Hae-sung’s embrace.
“It’s okay if only Ajusshi knows that I’m Choi Hong-seo. So… don’t ever do something so dangerous again.”
Lee Hae-sung, who had been burying his lips in Choi Hong-seo’s hair, carefully pulled his face away from his chest. His stubborn lover, who didn’t want to show his tears, tried to wipe his cheeks haphazardly with the back of his hand. Lee Hae-sung grabbed his wrist to stop him. Choi Hong-seo would no longer have to wipe his own tears. He would not let that happen.
Cupping the two glistening cheeks in his palms, he gently swept over the skin with his thumbs.
“You asked how I could love you like that, right?”
“……”
“Because you love me like that.”
“I do?”
“Yes. Choi Hong-seo, who would do anything for me.”
While his tears were being wiped away, Choi Hong-seo looked meticulously at every corner of Lee Hae-sung’s face. Then, he spoke words that were unexpected.
“Hyung, you’re really naive.”
“A naive Ajusshi who only knows work? Is that what you mean?”
With moisture still sparkling at the tips of his eyelashes, Choi Hong-seo chuckled.
“The love I give isn’t special at all. Other people probably love just like that too. I’m just imitating Ajusshi.”
“I’ve never received love like that.”
Declaring firmly in a husky low voice, Lee Hae-sung gently lifted Choi Hong-seo’s chin.
“You’re the only person who ever tried to give me something.”
The hand that had been holding his chin slid down his neck. Pulling him close enough that their lower abdomens touched, he gently pushed his body back. Choi Hong-seo, pushed back a couple of steps, was soon blocked by the closet door.
Stroking the base of the neck clearly revealed above the pajama top, Lee Hae-sung swept his arm down past the lean shoulder. Interlocking his fingers tightly between sweat-moistened digits, he tilted his head deeply and took Choi Hong-seo’s upper lip into his mouth.
Choi Hong-seo only blinked several times; he did not resist.
He pressed his lips into the gap where the upper and lower lips overlapped. Due to the pressure, the lips parted slightly, and he rubbed the flesh more intensely. The moment Choi Hong-seo’s breathing became ragged, he lightly sucked on the lower lip.
“Mm… ngh.”
He pulled the hand that had been interlocked up above Choi Hong-seo’s head and pressed it against the closet door. Changing the angle of his face, he repeated pressing, rubbing, and taking Choi Hong-seo’s lips into his mouth and letting go. Due to the continuous kissing, Lee Hae-sung’s styled and fixed hair fell over his forehead and eyebrows.
Lee Hae-sung himself looked unstable, like a raging beast. Releasing Choi Hong-seo’s hand, which he had pinned above his head, he this time buried his forehead on his lover’s shoulder as if collapsing.
“Tell me that I’m all you need.”
An uncertain voice whispered and pleaded.
Choi Hong-seo’s two arms hugged Lee Hae-sung’s neck tightly. He stroked the large, hunched back. He turned his head and kissed the warm ear.
“I definitely would have come back because of Ajusshi.”
“……”
“So, Ajusshi is all I need.”