-10-

Marteo’s departure was an hour and a half earlier than scheduled.

Suspicion and anxiety swirled around his head like a bottomless swamp, and he couldn’t concentrate on his work at all.

5:30 PM.

The Maybach, carrying a long, diagonal shadow, passed through the steel gate where the heat of the day had not yet dissipated and stopped in front of the mansion.

Without waiting for the driver’s escort, Marteo stepped out and entered the front door at a brisk pace.

“Welcome home.”

“Where’s Yeon-ho?”

“He’s in his room.”

Hearing the necessary answer from Tony, who had come to greet him, his feet picked up speed once more.

Then, he collided with two women in the middle of the hall. It was Lucia and Eleonora, whom he had seen in the morning as well.

“Oh, Mr. Marteo. I saw the car coming in and wondered if it was you…. You’re leaving work early today. We were having tea in the drawing room, and Lucia said it looked like Mr. Marteo’s car.”

“Yes.”

That was the only answer to the long greeting. The flustered women tried to say something more, but Marteo, after briefly glancing at them and saying, “Then,” turned his back and strode toward the stairs.

Their situation was still better. Unlike the two of them, Angelica, who had been upstairs, didn’t even have time to greet him when she ran into Marteo on the landing.

As soon as their eyes met, Marteo tilted his head insincerely and brushed past Angelica.

He could feel her presence as she hesitated, unable to go down or back up, but he didn’t care.

Impatience was in every step. He didn’t have the leeway to bestow the same charity as yesterday.

His feet barely stopped when he reached the end of the second-floor hallway.

He took a breath in front of the familiar door. He straightened his jacket collar, which wasn’t particularly disheveled, and slowly closed and opened his eyelids.

Knock knock.

The knock, after calming his mind, was as deliberate as usual, and there was no response for a long time.

After waiting for about ten seconds, his angled fist knocked on the wooden door again.

Knock knock knock.

The sound was a little louder than the first time. It was only the distance of one door, and he wasn’t waiting for hours, but he felt the impatience he had been trying to suppress slowly rising again.

After some time, the door finally opened with a click. It was just before he was about to knock for the third time.

Yeon-ho’s long eyes widened as he looked up at Marteo, who was standing in front of the door.

“I’m… home.”When… no, why at this hour….””

There was a sense of bewilderment in the voice that came out as if he hadn’t even imagined that it would be him knocking on the door.

Marteo’s eyebrows lifted slightly. As far as he knew, embarrassment was a word that had little to do with Do Yeon-ho.

“I finished work early.”

“…Ah.”

“……”

“Ha, well. You leave early every time, so there must be days when you finish early too. ……It’s really a bit, a lot early, though.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t like it, but he certainly wasn’t welcoming it either. Marteo narrowed his eyes and repeatedly scanned Yeon-ho. Then. Another strange thing happened.

Their eyes met for a second or two. Yeon-ho turned his head away!

“Was it… hot today? I was taking a walk earlier and I got sweaty… go… go take a shower.”

Changing the subject so obviously was also something he didn’t usually do.

Even if he avoided eye contact first, he would usually act coy or sulky half the time, but now he was neither.

‘Why the hell…?’

Marteo reflexively grabbed the side of the door as Yeon-ho hurriedly tried to close it. He didn’t push his foot in as forcefully as before, but the knuckles on the back of his hand were protruding, as if he was putting a lot of strength into it.

Yeon-ho’s gaze naturally went to his hand because of the prominent shape. Then, unlike his face, he stared at his hand for a long time.

As if his hand was better than his face. Or as if he was seeing his hand for the first time.

Marteo’s suspicion and doubt were half right and half wrong as a result.

‘Wow. His hands… now that I see it, his knuckles are really thick? Were they always this big? His nails… he cut them neatly.’

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see his face, but that he couldn’t, and it was as if he was really seeing his hand for the first time.

The perfect realization of his emotions. Small pieces of everyday life that he had carelessly overlooked felt new and fresh. It was a kind of side effect.

Unfortunately, Marteo had no way of knowing this about Yeon-ho. The impatience he had barely suppressed swelled up again at Yeon-ho’s repeated staring at his hand. And finally, it squeezed through the gap in his lips.

“Do Yeon-ho.”

“Huh. …Huh?”

“…Did something happen?”

It was either out of the blue or too timely of a question.

Something…… too much had happened.

Some of it didn’t need to be said, and the problem was that he wasn’t ready to talk about the other half.

Yeon-ho, who had inadvertently looked up at Marteo again, dropped his gaze to somewhere around his philtrum in 0.1 seconds this time.

Then, the appreciation time started again.

‘Damn. Even his philtrum is handsome. Is it even possible for a philtrum to be handsome?’

It was only after he had finished the specific calculation of how long his philtrum was that he barely cleared his throat.

“Nothing happened?”

“…Really, nothing happened?”

“Yeah.”

“……”

“More than that, aren’t you going to change? Isn’t that suit uncomfortable?”

He told him to shower a little while ago, and now he’s telling him to change…. The implication that he was wondering about became clear at this point.

He wasn’t just changing the subject, he was trying to turn him away.

Marteo’s hand holding the door gained strength again. Now, even blue veins were bulging on top of the knuckles that Yeon-ho had been admiring.

“Clothes don’t matter.”

The reply was rougher than he intended. Yeon-ho, who had been scanning his equally handsome lips after passing his philtrum, raised his eyes in surprise.

Marteo, realizing his mistake, paused to catch his breath. As if trying to regain his composure from his constantly hoarse voice.

“More than that… about the phone call at lunchtime today.”

But the effort was in vain. Yeon-ho’s shoulders twitched even more at these words. Marteo, who hadn’t taken his eyes off him for a moment, couldn’t have missed it.

Yeon-ho’s voice, asking again after a pause, was about half a tone higher than before.

“Ph…one…? Phone why, phone what?At the end, he even swallowed, as if he was swallowing saliva, and his Adam’s apple was clearly visible.

His insides, his mouth, were parched. What he wanted to ask was, of course, clear.

Did nothing happened include the phone call you made today? Who did you talk to on the phone for so long?

Was that person… the new sponsor you mentioned before?

But when he saw Yeon-ho’s eyelashes, which were wavering back and forth unlike usual, he couldn’t say anything.

What if he couldn’t scold Yeon-ho if he got that answer?

What if he rashly asked and the current precarious peace was broken?

Suddenly, he felt like he was going to laugh. He had heard that there were idiots who chose to remain silent even when they knew about their lover’s affair, but he never thought he would become that idiot.

“Phone what.”

Yeon-ho urged him, as if he was getting impatient because the silence was getting longer. He bit his tongue and released it. It was only after a long time that a sound flowed out, forcibly rewritten instead of the words he had mumbled.

“I… didn’t call. I said I would, but I didn’t.”

“……Huh?”

It wasn’t a cell phone that he had opened himself, and given Do Yeon-ho’s personality, he probably hadn’t set up a separate missed call history. In this case, calls that came in while he was on the phone were not recorded.

As if his prediction was correct, Yeon-ho changed the sound from huh? to ah… and blinked for a moment. Then, the next moment, his face was filled with obvious relief. If he had to put it into words, it was a I was wondering what you were going to say expression.

Instead of stiff tension, Yeon-ho’s lips lifted slightly upward. Even though he had become an idiot, he even thought that he had done well to change his words because he had barely seen the smile.

But the relief that had come over him was very short-lived.

“It’s okay. I forgot about it too. I didn’t care.”

The reply that flowed out so coolly, even waving his hand, was something else. Needless to say, the face he had barely managed to pull together hardened again.

‘You… didn’t care? I even left a memo…?’

But Yeon-ho had good reason to be like this. He had no nerves left after his conversation with Seung-won.

─You like that guy. And not just like, but enough to try desperately to give him up.

He would jump up even while sitting down. He was too busy cooling down his burning insides while pacing around the room because of the pointed realization.

It was similar now. Even with Marteo’s frozen face right in front of him, he had no time to notice anything else because his heart was beating so fast.

At best, he was just thinking, Even when he frowns, he’s still cool, right?

Yeon-ho, who had been staring intently at Marteo’s face, forgetting that he had been avoiding it, belatedly coughed dryly.

“Anyway, you’ve said everything you wanted to say, right? Then go take a shower and change.”

It was the final version of what he had said earlier. Marteo, who could no longer stand it, grabbed Yeon-ho’s wrist this time instead of the door as Yeon-ho’s hand reached for the doorknob.

“……!”

An electric current ran up his wrist.

It wasn’t the first or second time this had happened, but his heartbeat reached its peak at this moment. He felt like all of his blood vessels, which were throbbing in his connected hand, would be exposed. He froze for a few seconds and then yanked the hand that had been grabbed away.

He knew he was overreacting, but the problem now was his flushed cheeks.

“I’m, I’m sweaty.”

“……”

“It’s hot…. I guess I’m the one who needs to shower.”

“……”

“Then… I’ll see you at dinner.”

Yeon-ho, who barely managed to leave one more word after repeating himself and giving explanations that no one had asked for, slammed the door shut!

Marteo’s eyebrows, who had been left alone outside the hallway, gathered for a moment and then slowly rose upward. Inside the room, Yeon-ho was hugging his wrist, which still had a handprint on it, and squatting down on the floor, sliding down the door.

The two of them had perfectly matching feelings at the moment.

It’s weird.

‘Just because I grabbed his wrist.’

‘Just because my wrist was grabbed once.’

‘Is it something to hate this much?’

‘Is it something to be this excited about??He was troubled. The feelings were the same, but their hearts were throbbing in different ways. Nevertheless, the thoughts they arrived at were once again the same.

‘How am I supposed to wait until dinner….’

The feet that were stuck inside and outside the door wouldn’t move easily.

Three hours later.

The sun, which had heated up the earth and sky, had disappeared. The heat that had made Yeon-ho’s face stuffy had also found its place around this time. Whatever was going on inside, at least on the outside.

Just then, the maid reported that dinner was ready.

‘Let’s just act normal. It’s not suddenly this time, right?’

Yeon-ho, who had calmed his breathing, decided that he would not repeat the embarrassment of a few hours ago and left the room.

But… the steps he took out of the room were uneven and inconsistent. It was as fast as flying when he was walking down the hallway, and as slow as a snail when he was stepping on the stairs.

It would be embarrassing to arrive too early, but if he went late, it would seem like he was acting. The complicated review was stuck to the soles of his feet, and they wouldn’t listen to him as he had intended.

He stopped and went, stopped and went, and when he finally reached the hallway where the dining room was, he felt like he had finished an 8-night, 9-day, thousand-mile march. In the midst of all this, a familiar figure came into view.

It was Marteo’s back, standing in front of the door. As soon as he saw it, his heart made a loud noise.

‘Hey, I told you not to act up!’

He pinched his thigh instead of his heart, which he couldn’t pinch, and then calmed his breathing again. His steps, which were slow and fast, closed the remaining distance.

“What are you doing without going in?The carefully disguised Taeyeon sounded quite natural even to himself.

But Marteo’s expression when he turned around wasn’t natural at all.

Frowning eyes. Lips tightly closed in a straight line.

‘What’s wrong. Is he still bothered by me shaking off his hand earlier?’

It was when Yeon-ho hesitated. A voice was heard from inside the dining room. Yeon-ho’s gaze, which had passed the man’s shoulder, turned to the inside of the room because of the strangely annoying noise.

Then, ah… a crushed groan leaked out. The heart that had been acting up turned into a deflated ball at this moment.

The table, which he had thought was unnecessarily large every time he saw it, was quite full today.

Eleonora and Lucia on the left side of the door, and Angelica on the right…. The flock of birds that had finished occupying the position earlier had made their nests in the dining room.

Tony, who was creating a walnut on his chin, noticed the presence and hurriedly approached them.

“Have you come down?”

Marteo, who was only asking with his eyes what had happened, bit and released his lips.

“Well, the ladies said they would like to have dinner together….”

When he thought about it, it was something he should have guessed. The women who had barged into his room a few hours ago and threatened him to leave wouldn’t have just let a dinner for two go.

Before he knew it, they had all gotten up from their seats and were waiting for the two of them, or rather, Marteo. Tony, who had moistened his tongue in succession, lowered his voice.

“Anyway, they’re guests in the house. Just one meal….There were many meanings in the unfinished and unclear sentence. When Marteo didn’t reply, Tony turned to Yeon-ho.

His eyes seemed to be asking for help. At this moment, Yeon-ho made a decision.

Even if he broke up the spot here, the women would obviously approach Marteo in other ways. If he was unlucky, he might be sent back to his room alone like yesterday.

‘I’m not going to go through that again. Me.It was better to have them playing tricks in front of him, and if he was going to experience unpleasantness anyway, discord was better than separation.

Yeon-ho, who had made up his mind, deliberately touched Marteo’s arm as if to show the women.

“What are you doing standing there? Can’t you see the guests are waiting?”

Marteo’s eyebrows rose. It wasn’t an expression that looked good to anyone. That’s why it was a relief. He would be even more pissed off if he was happy about it.

Unlike the hesitation he had shown earlier, when he had taken one step forward and one step back, Yeon-ho naturally moved his feet to the table first.

There were two seats to choose from. The head of the table. And the seat next to Angelica.

Without hesitation, Yeon-ho went around the table and took a seat next to Angelica. It wasn’t out of courtesy that he didn’t choose the head of the table, which was obviously left empty for the host.

If I sit there, that bastard will sit next to this woman, won’t he?

Whether he knew what was going on inside or not, Marteo was still standing in his place, looking at Yeon-ho with incredulous eyes.

But what could he do? He couldn’t drag Yeon-ho out now that he was already seated, and he definitely didn’t want to leave Yeon-ho alone in that group of females.

Marteo, with a twisted lip, suppressed a sigh and approached the table. As soon as Marteo sat down, Tony, visibly relieved, quickly gestured to the waiting servants.

Soon, the prepared dishes were brought to the table one after another.

The first course was a light aperitif and appetizers. Without greetings or toasts, Marteo raised his glass and moistened his lips alone.

It was clear to everyone that they should start eating on their own. The women, who had raised their glasses with anticipation, hesitated and lowered their hands. Of course, Yeon-ho hadn’t even thought of raising his glass in the first place.

Amidst the occasional clinking of silverware, Eleonora was the first to break the silence with a forced smile.

“It seems like summer is just around the corner. The days are getting so much longer these days, aren’t they?”

It was a safe and low-risk opening. At her words, Marteo turned to look at Eleonora. But with an indifferent expression, he blinked and shifted his gaze towards Yeon-ho instead of replying.

The message was clear again. He meant that they should refrain from using languages that Yeon-ho couldn’t understand in this setting.

Naturally, Eleonora’s face, who had spoken in her native language, stiffened awkwardly. Taking her as a cautionary tale, Lucia waited a while and then cautiously spoke in English.

The topics ranged from light current affairs to politics and economics in general, quite sophisticated and diverse. It was a unique appeal to showcase her knowledge as a potential partner for Averto.

However, Marteo’s answer to any topic was only one of three:

Yes. No. Maybe.

Could this even be considered a conversation…?

Even Yeon-ho was taken aback by the extreme lack of sincerity.

The meal continued in that manner. After several courses and when the main dish was about half finished, the women’s words had noticeably decreased.

Angelica was the exception. Yeon-ho noticed her clenching her fist. Angelica, leaning forward as if determined, raised her cheekbones brightly.

“What do you usually do on your days off?”

Maybe.

Yeon-ho thought that answer would come out this time as well. The other women, not thinking much differently, seemed to be mocking Angelica with their crooked smiles.

However, Angelica was smarter than she looked. Although she might be inferior to the two women in terms of grace and knowledge, her information-gathering skills were superior. Before Marteo could even open his mouth, she quickly took the lead.

“I heard you like horseback riding, do you still enjoy it these days?”

‘Maybe’ wouldn’t be the right answer, and whether he said ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ it was an easy question to follow up on.

“…No.”

She avoided ‘maybe’ as intended. Angelica, having overcome one hurdle, widened her eyes in surprise as she had prepared.

“Oh, why? I heard you recently got a new horse.”

Marteo’s hand slowly stopped moving. And after raising his glass to moisten his throat, he looked at Angelica, then turned to Yeon-ho beside her.

The longest answer he had given today was next.

“Because my butt hurts.”

“…Excuse me?”

Angelica was taken aback, and Yeon-ho’s shoulders jumped. It was a very familiar reply. It was the answer he had given to Marteo when he asked if he wanted to go horseback riding.

Angelica, momentarily stunned by the unexpected reason, belatedly composed herself.

“Ha, well, yes. If you ride wrong, your body can ache all over for a while.”

“…”

“Then, is there a new sport you enjoy…?”

“Maybe. I don’t really like sweating.”

“You didn’t like exercising?”

“Exercising is something you watch, not do. Except for breathing exercises.”

The fluent words were, as expected, a copy.

Angelica’s eyes darted around even more as the information she knew about Marteo frequently contradicted.

“What about shooting? I heard you like shooting too…”

“That makes my hands numb.”

“…Oh, right. You also have a yacht, don’t you? Isn’t it perfect to enjoy in this weather?”

“I don’t like the smell of the water. And I think I get seasick.”

Negation after negation. Still, at first glance, it seemed that he was faithfully answering Angelica’s questions for some reason.

But Yeon-ho knew. What Marteo was doing now was repeating a conversation that only he and Yeon-ho knew.

Should I laugh at this? Or not?

His lips couldn’t decide whether to rise or not in this absurd yet strangely pleasant game.

“Perhaps… do you like opera?”

For the first time, Angelica asked a question that Yeon-ho didn’t remember. Marteo’s lips, which had been answering so well, closed again. He wondered if the conversation would end like this.

But then, something truly unexpected happened.

“Verona is close to our house. Now that I think about it, Verona is in the middle of its opera festival these days.”

As Angelica chattered on, the corners of Marteo’s lips, which had been drawn into a straight line, slowly began to rise. His eyes softened as if searching for something.

Angelica, who had asked the question, and the women who had been jealously watching the conversation between the two, and even Yeon-ho, raised their eyebrows at this sudden smile.

But the short smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, before they could even find an answer.

“I don’t really have any hobbies.”

Even the only guess that opera must be that good was cut off.

Even though the smile had disappeared, its aftereffects were quite strong. Angelica, whose cheeks had flushed, leaned her upper body forward even more aggressively than before.

“Then what do you like?”

The question, thrown without any more roundaboutness or technique, was therefore more sincere.

Perhaps she was fully prepared to applaud and say it was a wonderful hobby, even if Marteo enjoyed ice-cold showers in the middle of winter or lit a bonfire in the scorching sun. Because sincerity is about admiring even the back of the hand or the length of the philtrum.

Yeon-ho, unknowingly letting out a bitter laugh, turned to look at Angelica.

At that moment, Marteo, now completely back to his original attitude, spat out the answer he should have given earlier.

“Maybe.”

One side was too hot, and the other was lukewarm, no, cold. The clear temperature difference showed the gap all too clearly.

Disappointment filled Angelica’s sparkling eyes. Her shoulders, which had been full of expectation, also quickly dropped.

Of course. The swans and crows suppressed their laughter as if mocking her.

But… for some reason. Even Yeon-ho’s bitter smile gradually faded. Angelica, who had been excited alone and then cooled down, and Marteo’s cold face, who was ignoring her and going back to eating, were not refreshing at all, but strangely unsettling.

It was as if he had missed something important. It was as if something he had forgotten was just now surfacing.

Yeon-ho tilted his head slowly, alternating between Angelica and Marteo once more. At that moment, his eyes met Marteo’s by chance. A gaze that still held some of the coldness he couldn’t erase.

…Ah.

The ambiguity that had been elusive and incomprehensible suddenly transformed into a clear form and stabbed deep into his heart. At the same time, Yeon-ho’s eyes wavered.

─Then what do you like, Marteo?

─Maybe.

‘Right. Why… did I only think of this now?’

No longer able to look directly at Marteo, he immediately lowered his gaze to the table. The pounding of his heart flew past his ears. It wasn’t because of childish reasons like excitement or nervousness, like a few hours ago.

The hand holding the cutlery felt heavy as lead, and he couldn’t taste anything in the food he hurriedly shoved into his mouth.

Meanwhile, the women, having regrouped, began to speak to Marteo again, one or two words at a time. The still fruitless conversations flowed in one ear and out the other.

He didn’t know how he finished the rest of the meal… He came to his senses after the main dish was cleared and dessert was served.

If he just finished this, dinner would be over.

But the coming next, the time after that, was not welcome at all right now. He could guarantee that his head was much softer than the soft panna cotta in front of him.

Yeon-ho, dropping the small spoon he was holding, finally pushed back his chair and stood up.

Marteo was the first to turn his gaze to Yeon-ho at this sudden outburst.

“I… I don’t feel like dessert… I’ll get up first.”

Of course, Marteo was the first to react to the words spoken in Korean. Marteo, who had been following Yeon-ho with pursuing eyes, also jumped up from his seat.

He couldn’t even take three steps out of the hallway before Marteo finally grabbed him.

“Do Yeon-ho!” His shoulders jumped at the man grabbing his wrist like before. Marteo, hesitating, slowly released his grip. Instead, his tall figure blocked the way.

“What is it all of a sudden?”

“…”

“Were you… uncomfortable at the table?”

Still unable to look directly at Marteo, his eyeballs, like billiard balls, rolled this way and that before landing on Marteo’s shoe tips. In that state, the words he barely managed to utter were,

“I… I remembered something I had to do.”

It was a ridiculous excuse, even to himself. What could he possibly have to do in this mansion?

“Something to do?”

Disbelief was evident in the questioning voice. Yeon-ho, choosing something he could do from the nonexistent tasks, recalled the closest memory.

“Um… a phone call. I need to make a call.”

But it wasn’t a good choice. It was at this point that Marteo’s eyes, which had been filled with about 20% concern, turned cold.

Suddenly, the air turned chilly. Yeon-ho inadvertently raised his head at Marteo’s prolonged silence, and his shoulders flinched much more than when his wrist had been grabbed.

A cold gaze. An extremely stiff face. Marteo was staring intently at Yeon-ho with narrowed eyes. It was impossible to avoid his gaze.

To the right if he went to the right, to the left if he went to the left, the piercing eyes were like a snare. The voice he uttered next was no less intense.

“At this hour?”

“…Huh?”

“You don’t know anyone here. And it’s… dawn in Korea right now.”

Ah! He realized he had missed the time difference after being pointed out. But it was even stranger to change his words now.

“…I don’t usually sleep well at this hour.”

Who.

“I forgot I said I’d call earlier…”

So, to whom.

On the other hand, the words he couldn’t utter this time piled up inside Marteo’s throat, suffocating him. Yeon-ho, unaware, added another word.

“It’ll probably take a long time to talk. I think I’ll fall asleep while I’m at it…”

So? He was going to spend all of his time after this ‘talking’ to ‘someone’? And he had forgotten about Marteo’s call?

His throat was so tight that even his chest ached.

It was impossible to pretend not to know any longer. Marteo called out Do Yeon-ho’s name as if squeezing it out. At that time,

“Excuse me, is something wrong?”

Someone hesitantly poked their head out from outside the dining room door.

It was Angelica. She probably didn’t follow him out of concern, but it was the first helpful interruption. Yeon-ho, not missing the opportunity, quickly stepped aside from Marteo.

“I’ll go up now.”

His swift feet kicked off down the hallway. Marteo? He heard Angelica’s voice calling the man again behind him.

At the same time, what the two of them had discussed earlier was jumbled up in his head once more.

─Then what do you like, Marteo?

─Maybe.

Yeon-ho’s face contorted.

Even as he stepped down the stairs, even as he flew through the second-floor hallway, even as he slammed the door shut and slammed his forehead against the door even harder, his crumpled face didn’t smooth out for a long time.

Right. Why couldn’t I think of this? Why did I only think of this now?

Even if someone’s heart is sincere, the weight can be different.

A newfound realization. He was too busy flustered by the first experience of this emotion to think of anything else, but when he thought about it, it wasn’t his heart that was the problem.

A proposition that had been exposed to himself, not to anyone else, and could no longer be reversed.

I… like Marteo.

But… what about Theon? What about that bastard??

No definite answer came. All that circled around his ears was an infinite echo of maybe, maybe, maybe~.

Of course, he didn’t think Theon would hate him.

Even when he was Tony, even in the moments when he knew his identity and was on guard, the kindness and unnecessary consideration that occasionally surfaced. Anyone could see that it was goodwill.

…But Yoon Seung-won was like that too, wasn’t he.

Affection and love are different.

Sex and kisses are possible without any deep feelings. There are plenty of guys who get swept up in the atmosphere and spout sweet words.

He might think that he’s not a bad marriage candidate unrelated to his brothers, but what if that’s all there is to it?

As he had worried at first, what if it’s just uncooled lust, just that much?

Moreover, when he looked back, there was never a time.

Despite all the words and actions that confused and excited him, he had never directly heard the words ‘I like you’ from that man.

Yeon-ho, having thought this far, slammed his forehead against the door once more with a groan. His usual talent for understanding the situation shone without fail even in these moments.

He really didn’t want to imagine it, and it was too embarrassing to even think about it, but…

Could this be… not a romance drama, but a pathetic genre of one-sided sunflower love?

‘What if I’m the only one who likes him~!’

It seemed like it wasn’t the time to be sitting around feeling giddy.

♥ ♥ ♥

A one-sided love crisis that came at the age of thirty-two, not twenty-three like a wrongly flipped number. That night, filled with turmoil and anguish that rushed in at the same time as the realization of his feelings.

Did Yeon-ho spend the night sleepless?

To put it bluntly, no.

Although he had been a bit dramatic about whether this genre was melodrama or pathos, Yeon-ho crawled into bed before 10 p.m., pulled the fluffy blanket up to his chest, and closed his eyes, managing his heart, which had been working hard all day, with the 478 breathing method.

‘Okay, okay. Sleeping is good for your skin.’

However, one innocent victim was created in this process: Yoon Seung-won, Do Yeon-ho’s retirement insurance, who spent the night sleepless, tearing at his hair instead of Yeon-ho.

Exactly one hour before Yeon-ho went to bed.

Four o’clock in the morning, when the dawn wasn’t bright and even the skylarks weren’t singing. Yoon Seung-won, who had been proving his existence with a snoring sound, suddenly raised his upper body like a zombie at the thunderous ringing of the bell.

‘Wh, what is it? What’s going on?’

Due to the nature of his job, he had never seen a good outcome from calls received after work, especially at night. The opening line in these situations was usually ‘President, something terrible has happened!’

Seung-won, barely opening his swollen eyes, hurriedly reached for the phone under his pillow and slid his thick fingertips across the green button, fervently chanting one mantra.

Please don’t let it be the police station. Please, please, don’t let it be drunk driving or drugs!

“Yep. This is Yoon Seung-won.”

Seung-won, gathering his tongue, which was still chewing like meat because he wasn’t fully awake, identified himself. But- even though his eye sockets weren’t open, his eardrums were wide open, and he couldn’t understand the sound that was coming through?

“How do you seduce someone?”

“…Excuse me?”

This is the Gangnam Police Station. This is the Jongno Police Station. Below, here, here… First of all, it was a great relief that he didn’t hear any place names, but the blunt and sullen voice text was not a relief at all.

Roughly rubbing the eye he had barely opened with his other hand, Seung-won properly looked down at the illuminated screen.

A call from overseas… His first thought was that it was a new type of voice phishing. His second thought was that the number seemed familiar. And then, at the sound he heard again, his remaining eye popped open.

“What do you have to do to make someone like you?”

“You… Ye, Yeon-ho?”

An unusual sense of etiquette and manners that broke someone’s leg in the middle of the night. He recognized the voice thanks to this lack of consideration.

“Hey, you crazy…! What is it! What time is it right now? You scared me!”

The distance between Korea and Rome is approximately 90,000 km. The time difference is 7 hours.

He had a right to be angry. Especially when he thought about how his heart had been shriveling up until just now, wondering what would happen if our actor was number one on the real-time search rankings today.

But the reaction on the other end of the line was too quiet despite his screaming. Seung-won’s excitement gradually subsided. And then, before long, he swallowed an exclamation of ah…

‘He’s made… a decision.’

Half a day ago, Seung-won had been a bit nosy as a business partner, as a brother, and as a friend.

What did Socrates say? Know thyself, didn’t he? There’s a reason why that person is famous. Even if you’re going to give up, know what your heart is really like before you do…

‘That bastard. He didn’t say anything about this or that back then…’

Seung-won, pinching the bridge of his nose between his eyes, shook off his sleep and shook his head.

“Hey. Hold on. Let me get my head straight. Ahem! Hmm. What did you say just now…? Who what?”

“…What do you have to do to make someone like you?”

Even after hearing it again, it was a line that made him think voice phishing would be a waste of time. But even with the words that didn’t suit Yeon-ho at all, Seung-won stretched his philtrum and suppressed a smile that couldn’t be seen.

There’s only one reason why he would say something like this right now, isn’t there?

“Why… are you trying to come back to Korea?”

If I were to honestly recall Tony’s face as he cornered me about contacting Do Yeon-ho, I wouldn’t even bother trying to seduce him, but I swallowed those words.

Still, calling at 4:20 AM is a bit much, isn’t it? Instead, I deliberately beat around the bush, my voice completely free of sleepiness.

“Hey. Isn’t that your specialty? Flirting with guys. Why is a scholar in that field asking for advice from a mere mortal?”

“The existing database is useless.”

“…Huh?”

“Hyung said it, didn’t he? Affection and liking are different.”

“He did, he did say that, but…”

“At least Yoon Seung-won is more sincere about relationships than I am. So tell me, what does it take for someone to be more than just fond of me? What do I need?”

“Well… that…”

What am I supposed to do when you come at me like this? I suddenly felt embarrassed for talking nonsense. Seung-won pursed his lips and fidgeted with his fingers.

And after a long deliberation, he subtly raised his voice at the end.

“…Uh, face?”

“…What?”

“Yeah. Face. First of all, looks are important.”

“Yoon Seung-won…”

“No, I’m not kidding, what’s more effective than what’s visible to any animal with eyes? We always tell the kids, ‘Looks are your main asset. Manage it well and it’ll skyrocket. Mess it up and it’ll plummet.’ What’s easier than developing affection for a stock that’s soaring?”

“…”

“Speaking of which, Tony saw that face of yours when you were at our place, right? He probably took at least ten steps back. Forget affection, how could anyone get attached to that? So, instead of worrying about ruining your looks, just eat well and sleep well… huh?”

“…”

I wanted to punch him, but listening to him, he had a point.

I was initially captivated by his face too…

Yeon-ho, who had been clenching his fist, relaxed his grip and cleared his throat in a somewhat softened tone.

“…Then, besides looks.”

“Besides?”

“Looks are the hardware, but you need software to run the program.”

“Besides… besides, wouldn’t it work if you just did the opposite of what you usually do?”

“…What?”

“No, you’re always like, ‘Whatever, I don’t care. Annoying, forget it, I don’t need it.’ You say that all the time. Honestly, even I feel a little hurt sometimes. I wonder if he dislikes me… Am I that annoying? Even I, who’s known you for ten years, feel this way, so how would others feel?”

“…”

“Smile a little when you make eye contact, and initiate conversation first. And stop cutting people off with short answers. Just doing that would be enough to impress anyone who knows you.”

I don’t know if he understood or not, but Yeon-ho on the other end of the line remained silent for a long time. Seung-won, waiting for a response, ended up ruffling his hair.

“Hey. Never mind. What’s the point of saying all this? Anyway, just come here first. Come here and think about it. You’ll figure it out when you see him.”

“…”

“Speaking of which, when are you really coming?”

“I don’t know… I’ll have to try it first.”

“Try what?”

“Try seducing him. To see how long it takes.”

“Huh?”

Seung-won’s head tilted to one side. It felt like we were communicating, but also strangely not. Then, the question mark in his head suddenly turned into an exclamation point.

“Wait, hold on. Just a minute, Do Yeon-ho.”

Seung-won unconsciously reached out his arm towards Yeon-ho, who couldn’t even see him.

“Um, I’m suddenly confused… who are you talking about right now? You’re talking about Tony, right?”

“…”

“No? Don’t tell me you’re planning to seduce your match… Abernathy or whatever his name is?!”

There was no response. Seung-won, his eyes wide open, couldn’t contain his impatience and raised his voice again.

“Ah, who are you trying to seduce?!”

In that instant, Yeon-ho’s voice cut through the receiver.

“Both.”

“…Wh-what?”

“I’m hanging up now.”

And before he could say anything, the call ended abruptly. “Hello? Hello??” Seung-won, belatedly shouting into the disconnected phone, spat for a while longer before dropping his hand onto the bed.

As expected, no good ever comes from calls received at this hour.

‘What to do. This bastard… is he really going to get married and even have a mistress!’

With alarm bells ringing in his head, there was no way he could fall asleep.

Meanwhile, 90,000 kilometers away. Yeon-ho, who had finished his call with Seung-won, crossed his arms with a serious expression.

‘Looks… and attitude, huh?’

If this were a melodrama or a tearjerker, a real drama, the next scene and the next script would come out on their own, even if I did nothing. Even if it went terribly, it would still head towards a happy ending.

But reality isn’t so easy. If I don’t want to remain a mere supporting character 1 or 2 in someone’s, no, Theon’s life, this isn’t the time to bury my face in my pillow.

Before his gleaming eyes, the plump skin of the three birds, around twenty years old, flashed by.

Yeon-ho, exhaling a rough breath, turned and headed for the bathroom.

He washed his face more carefully than usual, meticulously applied toner and lotion, and then burrowed into the bed.

‘There’s nothing better for the skin than a good night’s sleep.’

This is the whole story of why some people slept in the midst of anguish and turmoil, while others spent a sleepless dawn.

And after ten hours of full sleep.

Yeon-ho opened his eyes with fresh, bloodshot-free eyes. As soon as he opened his eyes, he knew. That he was in the best condition he’d been in lately.

The cheeks he touched with the back of his hand were moist and firm, thanks to the cream he had generously applied the night before, and not a single bone creaked when he stretched.

‘That’s it. At this rate, I might even be able to compete with twenty-year-olds?’

A nod of satisfaction. Without his usual laziness, Yeon-ho immediately threw back the sheets and stepped out of bed.

His light, floating steps led him to the bathroom, just like the night before. Brushing his teeth and washing his face. Showering. And then the repeated skincare routine. The face in the mirror after he finished grooming was so radiant that even he was impressed.

A second nod.

Now that his face was ready, the next was his body. Yeon-ho approached the closet in the corner of the bedroom and flung the doors open wide with both arms.

‘Let’s see. What should I wear?’

However, his hands and feet, which had been so decisive until now, faltered at this point.

He had no clothes. Or rather, no clothes worth wearing.

He wore this on the first day, and that on the next day…

The shirts and pants he had brought from Korea were all he had, and he had already worn them all. Moreover, now that he looked at them, the colors and designs were terribly plain.

Isn’t this almost office attire? What’s with this sexless dress shirt? And why are these pants so wide? How can I show off my figure properly like this?

His eyes and hands were busy rummaging through the clothes hanging on the hangers. But no matter how many times he looked, new clothes wouldn’t magically appear…

In the end, he chose the best of what he had, but he couldn’t help feeling deflated.

After a while, a thought struck him! His fingers snapped.

‘Wait, should I go shopping instead? Buy a couple of clothes and maybe get a haircut while I’m at it…’

It seemed like a good idea. There’s no way they’d let me go alone, so Tony would naturally come along, and in the process, I could naturally extract information about Marteo’s preferences and so on…

That’s killing two birds with one stone!

Yeon-ho, who had finished buttoning up the remaining buttons, tucked his shirt into his pants and hurriedly left the room. And, as expected, it was when he turned the corner of the hallway with hurried steps. Thud. He sensed a presence from the opposite side.

‘Antonio?’

He raised his head happily, thinking of the face that had come to mind first because of his plan. But it wasn’t Tony who had noticed Yeon-ho and stopped walking. Yeon-ho’s eyes widened as their gazes met.

The man he had assumed would already be at work at this hour. It was Marteo. He seemed just as surprised, as his eyebrows were slightly raised.

“…”

“…”

An awkward atmosphere flowed between the two, separated by about three meters. After a few seconds, Yeon-ho was the first to snap out of it.

Don’t forget the face! Remember the attitude!

At the same time as the determination flashed through his head like a 1970s New Village Movement slogan, a deliberate smile spread across Yeon-ho’s face.

It was also a bonus that he tiptoed lightly and closed the remaining distance, acting very pleased.

It was a stark contrast to how he had avoided eye contact in front of his room yesterday and turned away, shaking off his hand, saying he had something to do.

Marteo’s eyebrows, already raised, became even more angled. Do Yeon-ho smiling so brightly from the morning. It was a rare sight even when he was in Korea.

Marteo, repeatedly scanning Yeon-ho’s face, which seemed particularly radiant today, finally parted his lips.

“…It’s the weekend.”

“Huh?”

“Saturday. A day off from work.”

Ah… He failed miserably from the start. He should have just said good morning.

But Yeon-ho doesn’t know. That the words “good morning” are the most irritating to Marteo.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Ahem! Is it because it’s the weekend, like you said?”

“…”

“I don’t know why, but I felt incredibly refreshed from the moment I woke up. The body always knows when it’s the weekend. Ah, it’s a day off~.”

Even though Yeon-ho has been resting ever since he came to Italy.

More than anything, Marteo’s face, who is actually having a day off, is a billion years away from looking refreshed to anyone.

‘Is Do Yeon-ho still on the phone with that guy?’

‘Should I barge in right now and snatch the phone away?’

Because he wasn’t the only victim who couldn’t sleep last night, Yoon Seung-won wasn’t the only one.

Yeon-ho, unaware of these feelings, had his own complicated thoughts.

‘No, he’s even smiling, why is he making that face?’

‘Is this not enough? If I overdo it more, it’ll seem pathetic…’

Even so, the voice he spoke again was still unusually bouncy.

“By the way, where are you going?”

It was a stupid question. This direction only leads to Yeon-ho’s room. This man probably doesn’t know that I walked the same path an hour ago and stood in front of his door for a while, which was silent.

Marteo, swallowing his bitter feelings, returned the question instead of answering.

“Where are you going, Do Yeon-ho?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m just going to see Antonio for a bit…”

“To Tony? …Is there something you need him to do?”

It was a casual remark, but every time he said something like this, I was reminded of the man’s position. Not something to ask for, but something to order. The expression came out so naturally, as if it were ingrained in his body.

But putting these things aside, I couldn’t tell him the truth, that I was going out to buy some clothes to look good to you.

“Well, it’s not really work, but… Antonio is the only person in this house I can talk to comfortably.”

He thought it was a plausible answer, but Marteo’s expression became even more sullen. Yeon-ho, sensing his mood, changed his words again.

“By the way, have you had breakfast? Have you already eaten?”

“…Not yet.”

“Really? Then how about me and…”

But he couldn’t finish his sentence this time either.

Thinking about it, there was no guarantee that women wouldn’t join them at the meal again, like yesterday. But it would be strange to eat alone in his room… Ah, is there anywhere we can be alone?

Instead of his mouth, his head became busy.

“What about you?”

Marteo, who had been silent for a while, opened his mouth.

“Are you hungry?”

He couldn’t think of anything yet. In the end, he shook his head.

“Not really…”

Marteo smirked for the first time.

“That’s good.”

“…Huh?”

“Let’s go out. Since we both don’t feel like eating.”

Then he grabbed his shoulder.

His lips, which were subtly raised as if they were twisted, caught his eye once more. His face was full of other thoughts, far from having no thoughts at all.

Was this what he had planned from the beginning? A car was already waiting in front of the entrance.

It wasn’t the Maybach that Marteo used for commuting, nor was it the car that Yeon-ho had rented before. The sleek sports car was a Porsche.

I don’t think a driver would drive a car like this. The moment he thought that, Marteo, who had opened the passenger seat door, pushed Yeon-ho’s back into the car.

It was as if he was worried that he would refuse to get in, but… today’s Do Yeon-ho was not yesterday’s Do Yeon-ho.

In fact, I have more ulterior motives than you do.

Yeon-ho, who got into the car easily, opened his mouth to Marteo, who had entered the driver’s seat.

“Are you going to drive?”

“Do you want to?”

He must know what the question means, but he’s pretending not to…

But it was a good thing after all. Being alone is a complete thank you.

Yeon-ho, who was also pretending not to know, just fastened his seat belt. Marteo, who had narrowed his eyes as if he was surprised by his easy compliance, smiled faintly and started the engine.

As they passed the garden, the gate, and completely left the village of mansions, Yeon-ho looked back at Marteo again.

Marteo anticipated his glancing gaze.

“I’m not going to a strange place.”

If it were Yeon-ho at any other time, he would have said something like, “Where’s a strange place?”

But right now, he didn’t care if it was a strange place. No, he wasn’t even curious about the destination. No matter how strange it is, it can’t be as strange as I am right now.

What Yeon-ho is currently focused on is Marteo’s profile as he holds the steering wheel. This is the fourth time he’s been in a car driven by him.

The first time was the day they went to Gyeongbokgung Palace, but at that time, he was preoccupied with where this guy lived. When he went to Gunsan to catch Oh Tae-jin, he was only focused on how to catch and kill Oh Tae-jin. And the third time was on the day of the blind date, but at this time, he was so angry that he couldn’t see anything.

But now, he had the luxury of admiring him for the first time, thinking, “He looks pretty cool driving.” Of course…

“Why do you keep staring at me?”

His burning gaze seems unwelcome to someone.

Yeon-ho, feeling frustrated, twitched his cheeks for a moment. But still, don’t forget the face. Don’t forget the attitude! The slogan he had engraved in his heart was still going strong.

Yeon-ho, composing himself, smiles sweetly, hiding his teeth.

“Shall we listen to music?”

It was a pretty version of saying, “Shut up and look ahead so I can finish admiring your face.”

After driving for about an hour, Marteo said he wasn’t going to a strange place, but the place where the car finally stopped was actually not strange.

It was so unstrange that it felt strange because it was so unstrange.

Unlike the Roman city center, which is always crowded with tourists, this place had no huge ruins, no crowds taking selfies, and no glamorous shopping streets.

Instead, the buildings, standing side by side with their backs to each other, all had an atmosphere that had aged well over time, filled with leisurely peace.

Surprised by the unexpected scenery, he continued to blink even after getting out of the car, and Marteo, who had approached him, coughed softly.

“Did you prefer the touristy area?”

His tone was strangely nervous. Instead of answering, he looked around again.

Small shops located on the first floor of faded brick and stone buildings. Above them, a few potted plants and laundry hung from the windows, fluttering in the wind.

He also noticed a woman who had just come out of a grocery store and was putting bags in her bicycle basket, and a few elderly people sitting on the cafe terrace, drinking espresso.

It was a simple, ordinary town, far from the hustle and bustle.

But he didn’t dislike this everyday atmosphere, this extreme ordinariness. He felt a sense of peace settling somewhere in his heart, like the sunlight caressing the rough stone floor.

“No… I like it.”

Marteo’s lips finally turned upwards, as if relieved by the unadorned answer.

“Shall we take a walk?”

It was like he was offering his hand. He almost reached out his arm without realizing it, but he caught himself and nodded.

Marteo naturally placed Yeon-ho on the inside of the road and began to walk slowly, matching his pace. He didn’t hesitate, even with his slow steps, as if he had been here before.

Just like in the car, Yeon-ho’s gaze glanced at Marteo’s profile.

“How do you know about this place? …Does someone you know live here?”

Marteo, meeting his gaze with a look of curiosity and doubt, chuckled briefly. Now that he said it, it seemed like it was worth laughing at.

It didn’t seem like someone this man knew would live in such an ordinary neighborhood. Yeon-ho, feeling sulky, forgot the slogan he had been chanting and blurted out.

“Or did you buy land here or something?”

Even after saying that, he realized he had made a mistake, but Marteo’s expression didn’t change. Rather, he seemed to have a much more pleased look than when he was trying to be kind.

It was like he was saying, “Now you’re the Do Yeon-ho I know.”

Yeon-ho, feeling embarrassed, quickened his pace. “Let’s go together.” Marteo, still smiling, approached him with a voice that was still smiling, and stood much closer than before.

It was a distance where their hands could brush against each other even without holding hands. His fingers were itching.

He used to grab me without permission at other times…

When he had such thoughts, he couldn’t take his eyes off his face.

Marteo, who didn’t seem to have any questions about their frequent eye contact, always turned his gaze back in the same way, still wearing a smile that tormented people.

At this rate, he felt like he would end up grabbing his hand first. Yeon-ho, biting his tongue, barely turned his head.

But as he walked along, scanning the shops along the street, he realized.

Here or there. Marteo’s face, reflected in the shop windows, was still facing him.

I wasn’t just catching his eye every time I turned, but his gaze had been on me the whole time.

The moment I realized, my heart leaped!

‘Is this attitude… really just simple kindness or affection?’

‘Could the same actions have different weight with him?’

Yeon-ho’s steps, which had been gradually slowing, finally came to a complete halt. Clang, the shop door opened with a small bell sound.

“Cerca qualcosa? Se vuole, entri pure e dia un’occhiata con calma.”

She looked to be in her mid-thirties. A woman with crow’s feet wrinkles around her eyes smiled and spoke. Unable to understand the sounds, I turned to Marteo, who furrowed his brow.

“She’s asking if you’re looking for something. She says come in and have a look around.”

The shop owner had mistaken Yeon-ho’s actions of staring intently at the shop window. Yeon-ho, who hadn’t even realized what kind of shop it was because he was too busy looking at the man reflected in the glass, finally took a proper look at the shop. And ah… he let out a small exclamation.

Whether it was an unfortunate coincidence or perfect timing, the shop he had stopped in front of was a clothing store.

The shop owner’s eyes widened for a moment at Marteo’s incomprehensible words, but she met Yeon-ho’s eyes and smiled brightly again.

Yeon-ho returned a vague smile. It was highly unlikely that anyone would come to buy clothes at this hour. Could there be a superstition here that the first customer leaving would bring bad luck?

I didn’t know, but the plan I had thought of a few hours ago was strangely fitting.

“Can I take a look?”

A merchant’s intuition is universal. Even with words he still couldn’t understand, the woman pushed the remaining glass door open wide.

I thought it was just a common clothing store, but when I came inside, I realized it wasn’t ready-made clothes, but a boutique selling clothes she had designed herself.

The shop owner, who was also probably the designer, was kind and enthusiastic despite the communication barrier. The clothes, decorated like objects, were full of detailed sense.

‘It’s better than I thought? No… I quite like it.’

Indeed, this was the country of fashion. To find high-quality clothes comparable to high-end brands in such an ordinary town.

Yeon-ho, who was looking at the clothes one by one, enjoying the bold cuts and unexpected materials, picked out a shirt and pants that particularly caught his eye. At his gesture asking if he could try them on, she checked the sizes and immediately gave him an okay sign.

He entered the fitting room, separated by a curtain in one corner of the store, changed his clothes, and came out, and she burst into reaction.

“Stupendo∼!”

Well, whether it was that they suited him well, or that he looked good. You can’t not know what it means even if you don’t know the words. Yeon-ho smiled back lightly and stood in front of the mirror, looking at his body this way and that.

The clothes were much more comfortable to wear than to look at. At the same time, the shirt designed to reveal the collarbone and the bottoms that emphasized the hip line were sexy.

“How is it. Does it look good?”

Finally, Yeon-ho turned to Marteo, who was standing a distance away, with a proud confidence.

But… his reaction wasn’t great.

He didn’t say anything, just pursed his lips with a stiff face… and then even furrowed his brow.

The bursting confidence lost its power. Yeon-ho also frowned.

“Why… is it bad?”

“……”

“Does it not suit me?”

Only after repeated prodding did Marteo finally move his lips.

“…It suits you.”

“But why that look on your face… no, what’s wrong?”

“…It suits you, that’s why.”

…Right. So there are times when I can’t understand Korean better than a foreign language?

Still, the deliberation didn’t last long. Anyway, he said it suits me, right? Then that’s that.

“I’ll wear this.”

Yeon-ho conveyed his intention to the owner in English. Her face brightened as she watched the conversation between the two. On the other hand, a clearer wrinkle was etched on Marteo’s brow.

After such a slow reply, Marteo quickly closed the distance in a few steps.

“Are you really going to buy those clothes?”

“No? I’m going to buy these clothes ‘too’?”

“……?”

“I’m going to look at one or two more. How about it. Look. This is good too, right?”

Yeon-ho took out another top from the hanger. Marteo’s eyebrows twitched and rose.

A loose knit loosely woven with thin threads. The flimsy, net-like fabric was so sheer that Yeon-ho’s hand could be faintly seen through it.

“Having experienced it, the weather here isn’t easy either. It’s a bit hot these days. Ah, should I change into this and go?”

“……!”

“Excuse me, does he also……”

It was embarrassing that I had been grumbling inwardly that he wasn’t grabbing me quickly enough. As soon as Yeon-ho turned to look at the woman, Marteo hurriedly grabbed Yeon-ho’s wrist. He shook his head with a somewhat urgent expression.

“It’s not… that hot yet. The temperature will drop more at night too. So just wear what you have on now.”

…What. Is he planning to stay until night?

That was a clue that came into my ears even in the midst of all this. Yeon-ho cleared his throat and took a step back.

“…Is that so? Well, it’s not quite summer, is it?”

Even so, he didn’t let go of the mesh clothes in his hand. Even if I don’t wear it now, I might later?

Shopping continued afterward. After a long time, Yeon-ho stood in front of the counter with a few more clothes he had picked out. But the movement of rummaging through the pockets of the clothes he was wearing soon stopped.

He had been dragged out by Marteo as soon as he came out of the room, so there was no way he would have any belongings.

He looked up at Marteo, who was standing next to him, blinking in confusion.

He must have already guessed the situation. In his hand was the wallet that Yeon-ho didn’t have. Without even asking the price, Marteo handed over his card.

Even if it was small, a boutique was a boutique. The clothes weren’t cheap. The owner’s greeting of ‘Have a nice day’ was quite sincere.

As soon as they came outside, Marteo naturally snatched the shopping bag from Yeon-ho’s hand. There were several clothes in it, but it was so light…. Well, that was to be expected. The things Yeon-ho had chosen were all small in area.

‘I should have at least left out that mesh top!’

It was when his gaze repeatedly turned to the shopping bag. Yeon-ho, who had been keeping a distance, teased.

“Why. Are you that sorry for buying me clothes?”

Marteo turned to look at Yeon-ho. With a somewhat dumbfounded expression. Then he scanned him up and down again and parted his lips.

“Yes. I am sorry.”

That one word had a strange weight and fell on Yeon-ho’s heart.

Yeon-ho knew it too. That man who even gave him his card to use, that man who didn’t say anything even when he thought he had lost money at the casino, there was no way he would be stingy over just a few clothes.

So what he meant now was… it wasn’t the clothes he regretted…….

At the end of the thought, his cheeks became hot. It was like when Marteo was Tony, and I had the same thought.

That I didn’t want to see this man… with anyone else.

I couldn’t know the true meaning 100%, but… my heart was already running wild as it pleased.

After a while, Marteo spoke again.

“More importantly, how’s your stomach?”

“…Stomach?”

“I’m asking if you can still not eat.”

“Ah….”

It took an hour to get here. And almost another hour picking out clothes at the store. Now that I heard it, I was starting to feel hungry.

“Do you know a place?”

“What do you want to eat?”

It was as if he could do anything if I just said it, so I suddenly felt a mischievous playfulness. To calm down my pounding heart, Yeon-ho pretended to be thinking and deliberately dragged out his words, then raised the corners of his lips with a smirk.

“Korean food? I want to eat some hot kimchi stew.”

“……”

Look at his expression. The intended goal was achieved. Yeon-ho bit back a laugh and moved his feet lightly.

“Let’s go to the closest place.”

Actually, it felt like it would be good no matter where we went now.

One block from the clothing store. The first store that caught my eye was an ordinary trattoria in the town.

It’s open here? Yeon-ho made a decision as soon as he found it and went straight into the store before Marteo could say anything. Marteo followed behind him in a daze, but even after sitting down, he wasn’t completely comfortable.

The checkered tablecloth with frayed edges, the slightly creaky chairs, the setting where you had to pour your own water.

Even so, there must be a better place than here….

Marteo finally spoke cautiously to Yeon-ho, who was flapping a single sheet of paper that was hardly even a menu.

“Let’s just go somewhere else.”

“Why. Is this place bad?”

“I just didn’t expect you to choose like this.”

“It’s okay, then. Anyway, there’s no kimchi stew no matter where we go, right?”

He had nothing to say. In the meantime, Yeon-ho lowered the paper he was holding and met his eyes.

“They sell pasta here, right?”

“Do you want to eat pasta?”

It was a menu that was too far from kimchi stew. Despite the question, Yeon-ho shrugged nonchalantly.

“Life is all or nothing anyway. Besides, I came to Italy, so I should try some local pasta.”

If that’s what you think, shouldn’t we go somewhere else?

It was when Marteo’s brow furrowed again. Yeon-ho, who suddenly let out a short laugh, began to scan Marteo up and down with a teasing look.

“Why… are you looking at me like that?”

“No. Now that I think about it, the first thing I ate with you was pasta too.”

“……Ah.”

Whether to give him a ride or not. The Italian restaurant I went to after giving up on hangover soup because the atmosphere had become somehow cold and pasta was for kids!

Now I knew what the man’s reaction that day, which I couldn’t understand at all, was all about.

If it were me, I would have spat out kimchi stew with whipped cream in it.

Yeon-ho, who remembered the memory, narrowed his eyes again as if glaring.

“What did you say back then. That you came from Scotland?”

“……”

“That you borrowed the clothes from a rental shop? That the watch is fake?”

“……Let’s order.”

Marteo, who had changed his attitude, quickly averted his gaze and raised his hand toward the counter. Yeon-ho, who suppressed the rising laughter, ordered carbonara to the approaching server. It was the same menu that Marteo had chosen that day.

Marteo, who couldn’t stand the intentional choice, ran his hand over his forehead. Even so, what he additionally ordered was still the same margherita pizza as back then.

Before long, the food was carried onto the table. But while playing with the fork, there was no time to distinguish whether it was delicious or not, or how different it was from what I had eaten in Korea.

Just trying to hold back the lips that seemed like they would burst into laughter if our eyes met.

All the food was just all sweet.

Even after finishing the meal and leaving the store, the walk continued a little longer.

The sun was scorching, but the wind was surprisingly refreshing. The steps of the two people, who were walking through the narrow alleys that led here and there, were side by side, and their shoulders and the backs of their hands often brushed against each other. The first few times I flinched, but later even those touches felt natural.

How much time had passed like that? At the end of the alley, a small square appeared in front of the two.

The round space, nestled between similar buildings, seemed to be a meeting place or resting place for the townspeople.

In the middle of the square, a small, old-looking fountain was creating fine sprays of water, and around it were benches with overgrown trees providing shade.

Yeon-ho’s gaze, who was looking around for a moment, stopped at the shops located across the square.

There was a line at one of the shops that was open for business with the windows open. Someone at the front was paying and turned around. In his hand was a small cup. Marteo, who had been following Yeon-ho’s gaze, smiled shallowly.

“It’s Gelato. Do you want some?”

Normally, I would have said, ‘No, I’m not a kid.’ But the expression on the woman’s face as she took a bite of the Gelato she had just received was refreshing.

Yeon-ho cleared his throat. Marteo’s smile deepened as if he knew without hearing an answer.

“Wait here.”

He must have known that I wanted to eat it but didn’t want to stand in line.

Instead of saying no, Yeon-ho nodded obediently and approached the bench. Marteo, who immediately turned to the store, added one person to the end of the line.

Yeon-ho, who sat on the edge of the bench, put his elbows on his knees and slowly scanned the back of the tall man.

When he made eye contact with Marteo, who often looked back, he pretended not to notice, but his gaze eventually turned back to the man as if drawn by a magnet.

The air, the atmosphere, everything was peaceful and comfortable. It felt like I could stay like this for hours. Of course, it would be even better if the man and the Gelato were together.

It was when I smiled without realizing it at the unexpectedly sentimental thought.

“Ciao, bella!”

Suddenly someone touched my shoulder. The leisurely air was shattered in an instant. Yeon-ho, who frowned, turned around.

When did he approach? A man was resting his hand on the back of the bench.

Red hair faded by the sun. A big mouth that was smiling coolly. Slender eyes that were even winking at me…….

‘Ah….’

A small exclamation was swallowed into Yeon-ho’s mouth. Then the thought that came to mind was,

‘Do Yeon-ho… isn’t dead.’

There wasn’t even a trace of embarrassment as to why he was talking to me. I’ve been through quite a lot, so this was obviously a pick-up.

Yeon-ho, who had finished calculating in 0.1 seconds, straightened his loose upper body. The shirt flowed down along with him. As his collarbone was faintly revealed in the low-cut top, the man’s eyes went to his chest. Then a excited voice flowed out again.

Chinese? Japanese?? I knew he was asking about my nationality, but the fact that Korean didn’t come out first took away even the points I didn’t have. Whether he knew it or not, the man who had jumped over the bench was sticking right next to me.

“I’ve been watching you since earlier, but you’re so pretty that I couldn’t just pass by.”

Yeah. I don’t understand a damn thing he’s saying.

“Are you traveling? Or are you a student? I came to play.”

Still, he has the spirit. Seeing him keep talking to me even though I’m not answering.

Yeon-ho, whose sincerity had become touching, opened his mouth.

“I don’t know your language.”

“Wow. You have a pretty voice too?”

I didn’t have the generosity to use English for a passing guy, so I spat it out in Korean, but it didn’t work. No, did it work in some way? Seeing his eyes sparkling even more.

The problem was that it was just more annoying. Yeon-ho, who just swallowed a sigh without even arguing, tried to get up from his seat. But the man, who noticed the movement, hurriedly started waving his hand this time.

“Wait, wait a minute. I’m not a weird person. That’s right! Should I show you something fun? Actually, I’m a Morpheus?”

Stopped. I couldn’t understand anything else, but I heard one word clearly. A word that works anywhere in the world. Mor.phe.us.

It couldn’t be that he noticed Yeon-ho’s true identity, so does this mean that he’s a Morpheus? He inadvertently looked back at the man again.

The man, who must have thought this was his chance, smiled and slightly released his Anima. At the same time, something was wriggling above his red hair. Then, like a spring, pop! What popped up was… long ears.

Yeon-ho’s eyes widened. The ears, which moved freely as if to show off, were rabbits no matter how you looked at them. A rabbit with pure white fur, too.

At the unexpected identity and the man who was even wiggling his nose cutely, the corners of Yeon-ho’s lips were about to rise. Of course, not because he was cute, but because it was ridiculous.

‘Is this his pick-up method? Well. I guess women might like it?’

It was when I was making a cold assessment. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew from somewhere. No, to be exact, it felt like it was blowing.

The air, which was refreshing but not chilly, suddenly felt cold.

Ah…… It was a kind I had experienced sometime. The sensation I felt behind the set on the day Seung-won pushed me to the filming site.

My back stiffened and I turned my eyes…… Marteo was there.

Yeah…. Just like now.

Yeon-ho’s head turned to the Gelato shop. And as expected, our eyes met. With the Eagle, who was emitting pheromones.

The threat of a raptor flying and being imprinted on the skin was more vivid when releasing Anima.

No different. The rabbit, who was wiggling his ears and making all sorts of antics, was already stiff. Then, as he turned his head stiffly as well, his ears, which were standing up, soared up once more.

Marteo, who had been standing still, was flying… no, walking toward the bench with quick steps.

He was holding small ice creams in both hands. He had a shopping bag dangling from his wrist, but it seemed difficult to be so threatening.

The rabbit jumped up from his seat once again.

“D, did you have company? You should have said so. Sorry, have a nice day!”

He’s still got the spirit. He’s still saying hello even in this situation? If he was born as a real rabbit, he would have died first?

Anyway, the man crossed the square in a hurry after saying those words. The upper part of his turned back butt was a bit bulging, so I guess his tail popped out in surprise.

Marteo stopped in front of the bench by a hair’s breadth.

It was obvious, but the Eagle’s pheromones couldn’t be comfortable for the chicken either. Still, Yeon-ho pretended not to know and reached out his hand.

“What flavor did you buy?”

He snatched one of the cups at random before I could even hand it over, and bit off the top of the Gelato.

“It’s plain?”

Marteo’s chest, which had been swelling up with the nonchalant attitude, sank down a bit.

“What is that. That guy.”

Even so, his sharp eyes glanced once more at the rabbit’s back as it darted away, as if to lash out at it.

“Don’t know? He was just rambling on about something by himself.”

“……”

“More importantly, what flavor is that?”

It was a deliberate feigning of ignorance. In truth, who cared about a rabbit right now?

Marteo, looking back at Yeon-ho with narrow eyes, sighed and withdrew his pheromone.

“Strawberry.”

It was a word that didn’t suit his expression at all. What was he thinking, choosing strawberry?

Yeon-ho looked down at the pale pink Gelato and bit back a smile, causing Marteo’s brow to furrow once more.

‘No wonder he’s talking to me!’

Marteo plopped down next to Yeon-ho and handed him the strawberry cup instead of the plain one. It seemed he had bought the strawberry one for Yeon-ho from the start.

Marteo took a bite from the same spot Yeon-ho had, and then finally burst out in a sulky tone.

“Is that question I asked back then still valid?”

“Huh?”

“About teaching me Italian in Korea.”

“……?”

“Sparisci.”

“Sppa…risci?”

“Get lost.”

Yeon-ho’s eyes widened. He felt like he was about to burst out laughing, barely holding it in. Back then, he had asked what he would use it for…

The newly bitten strawberry Gelato was definitely sweeter and more refreshing than the plain one. He hesitated to devour it all at once and picked up his spoon.

As he slowly savored each spoonful, he felt the gaze on his face again. He impulsively held out the spoonful of Gelato to Marteo.

“Want to try some?”

Marteo raised his eyebrows. Yeon-ho wondered if he had gone too far and was about to turn his head away, but his wrist was grabbed.

The man, holding Yeon-ho’s hand that held the spoon, slowly swallowed the Gelato. It must have melted by now, but after putting it in his mouth, he didn’t let go for a long time. Of course, Yeon-ho didn’t pull his hand away either.

Thump, thump. The throbbing next to his temple, was it because of the cold ice cream? Or because of the heat from the hand holding his?

It was a moment when they couldn’t take their eyes off each other, even in the uncomfortable position.

Thump, thump, thump. Roll.

Suddenly, something rolled to their feet. It was a soccer ball.

“Ehi, mi dai la palla!(Hey, throw us the ball!)”

Two or three children standing at the far end were waving at them. It seemed their pass had gone astray while playing.

Marteo, finally letting go of Yeon-ho’s hand, got up and tapped the ball with his toe. With a light movement, he kicked the ball into the air, and it flew in an arc, landing right in front of the child as if measured.

The children smiled brightly and gave him a thumbs up.

The atmosphere was good… Without showing any sign of being disturbed, Marteo also wore a faint smile.

Yeon-ho, watching the man quietly, parted his lips.

“You do like them, don’t you?”

“……?”

“Kids.”

The way he treated the Morpheus child he met at the ancient palace in Korea, and the way he was treating these kids now, Marteo’s attitude was kind.

What he had previously thought was just surprising was now very important to Yeon-ho. Without realizing it, Yeon-ho raised his hand to his stomach and tried to act nonchalant as he spoke again.

“If he has his own child… I think he’d play with them well.”

“……”

“Why… wouldn’t his own child be even more beautiful?”

Marteo narrowed his eyes as if trying to figure out what he was asking with that intention. The few seconds it took for an answer to come felt very long.

At the end of it, an answer came back as if it were nothing special.

“They’re beautiful because they’re not my children.”

“……Huh?”

“Because I don’t have to take responsibility for them.”

“……”

“You said that before too. That children are a nuisance. Thinking about it, I think you’re right.”

“…Well, I just don’t like kids in general… Besides, your situation is a bit different, isn’t it?”

“……?”

“I heard that children are quite an important part of the succession story…”

“If it’s a position I can’t reach without a child, then it’s not for me in the first place. I don’t need… children.”

His fingers tightened. As if shielding the ears of someone whose eardrums might not even have formed yet.

At the same time, his cheeks flushed a little.

If he had given a positive answer, would I have tried to use a child as a weapon? That what he needed was something I had?

When his heart was impatient, a person could become so petty and unsightly.

Yeon-ho began to scoop up the Gelato he had been savoring. Forgetting about his face, his attitude, and the new heart slogan he had been looking for, he was just making wild guesses.

“Aren’t you going to eat it? It’s all melting.”

“……?”

He looked like he didn’t know why Yeon-ho had suddenly become unhappy. But that was only for a moment. An approaching finger gently brushed the area around Yeon-ho’s chin.

“You’re the child here.”

It seemed the Gelato, which had melted quite a bit by now, had wet the area below his lips.

Marteo mischievously curved his eyes at the flustered Yeon-ho. Then, he licked the wet finger.

“It’s delicious.”

He couldn’t think of anything to say. He rubbed his chin and bit the lower lip where the finger had touched. A place filled with ticklishness.

Time passed by just fine without anything special.

Even in a small bookstore packed with letters he couldn’t even read, there was no room for boredom. Instead of reading books, he read the man’s face, and in a miscellaneous goods store, they tried on trivial items for each other, making silly jokes about whether they suited each other or not. They lingered for a long time in front of workshops and flower shops that he wouldn’t normally have been interested in.

As if they were not just spending time, but capturing it.

When he finally came to his senses, the edge of the sky was quite red.

‘Should we head back soon…?’

It was a time when he felt regret even after being together all day.

“Do your feet hurt?”

Marteo spoke, perhaps misreading his hesitant steps.

Feelings and physical strength were different things, so honestly, his legs did hurt. But if he said yes, it felt like they would go back right away, so he hesitated to answer…

“Should I give you a piggyback ride?”

It was a completely unexpected sound.

“What?”

He asked back, wondering if he had misheard, and the man grinned.

“Or you could ride that.”

His fingertip pointed somewhere. That? With a question mark in his mind, he followed the fingertip and saw a sign. It was kindly written in English as well.

“Cable…car?”

Now that he thought about it, he had occasionally seen wires crossing the sky while walking around the town. But he hadn’t thought much about it because all his attention was on the man next to him.

‘That wasn’t just an electric wire…’

Yeon-ho, belatedly curious, looked back at Marteo, estimating the end of the steel cable that he couldn’t see from here.

“What’s up there?”

“You’ll find out when you go.”

It was the kind of answer he didn’t like. Still… he liked that he didn’t seem to be planning to go back right away. Yeon-ho kicked his aching legs with energy.

“Which way do we have to go?”

The small cable car, with a capacity of six people, was empty, so they were able to occupy an entire cabin.

Sitting facing each other, their knees touched. It was partly because the space was small, but the man’s legs had to be quite long.

Feeling the heat spreading from the point of contact, he fidgeted his toes, and Marteo slightly crossed his legs. With the change in body angle, their touching knees naturally separated.

‘A bastard who can’t even take what’s given to him!’

He cursed inwardly, wondering who he was cursing at… Yeon-ho shook off his lingering feelings and belatedly looked out the window.

As the height gradually increased with the creaking of the wire, the scenery of the town they had been wandering around all day slowly came into view.

The winding alleys they had walked through, the blocks with restaurants and clothing stores. The square where they had lingered for a long time… The harmony of the building roofs slowly turning orange and the long shadows.

It was like a decoration in a diorama.

“It’s pretty…”

“It is.”

An answer came back to the words that had slipped out unconsciously. Marteo’s gaze, which he turned to look at, was directed at Yeon-ho, not at the outside.

…What is. Is there something behind me?

Instead of asking, he pretended to look outside again, keeping a distance. He was glad it was this time of day when the sun was setting. Because it would hide his flushed face.

“Weren’t you bored today?”

Marteo opened his mouth in the meantime.

“Horse riding and shooting, you said you didn’t like them… I couldn’t think of any other place to spend time comfortably without thinking. And I figured you’d be tired if we went too far.”

It meant he had chosen the place after some consideration. But he wouldn’t know. That no matter where he was, his heart was no longer at ease when he was with the man.

But he also knew. That he didn’t dislike this kind of discomfort at all.

When Yeon-ho didn’t answer, Marteo coughed awkwardly as if he had become embarrassed.

“I guess it was a little… boring, wasn’t it?”

It was a bonus that he was looking at him with an uncharacteristic cautiousness. Only then did Yeon-ho laugh softly with an unadorned voice.

“No. It was fun.”

“……Really?”

“Yeah. I even got hit on in a place like this.”

A crack appeared on Marteo’s face, which had been still. It was about the rabbit he had seen earlier. Back then, he had pretended not to know anything with a face that said he didn’t know what was going on…

Now it was Marteo who was looking out the window. To be exact, he couldn’t glare at Yeon-ho, so he was glaring at something else.

Yeon-ho’s laughter grew a little louder. It had been a long time since he had laughed so freely in front of Marteo.

Even in the midst of being upset, Marteo’s ears were inevitably drawn to Yeon-ho. In that moment, Yeon-ho slowly opened his mouth with a voice that still had laughter in it.

“It was really nice. I’ll probably… remember it for quite a while…”

Marteo, who had been resting his chin on his hand, turned back to Yeon-ho. Yeon-ho, who had pulled his lips together once more with a face that had lost its playfulness, shrugged his shoulders.

“Whatever the reason, it’s not good to only remember the casino when you’ve come to Italy, right?”

“You went there voluntarily.”

“Do you always have to argue about the rights and wrongs at times like this?”

“……”

“Actually, I’ve been to Italy once before, but I didn’t get to see much back then either.”

“……”

“That’s right. You know about it too, right? The bird gathering held in Verona. I attended once as a substitute for Do Seo-jin.”

“……I know.”

“Yeah. I heard your family sponsors it too.”

He affirmed, thinking of what Tony had told him before, and Marteo smiled subtly. Then he suddenly frowned.

“Do you really think you’ll remember today?”

“Huh?”

“Your memory… doesn’t seem to be that good.”

What is it. I told you not to argue about the rights and wrongs, but are you trying to pick a fight?

But Yeon-ho missed the timing to argue because Marteo’s smile, which he was soon laughing with again, was too soft.

In the meantime, the cable car had almost reached the top. The cable car, which had gradually slowed down, bumped slightly and soon slid onto the platform rail.

Marteo, who had gotten out ahead of him after the machine had completely stopped, reached out his hand to Yeon-ho.

The day he first entered the man’s house in Italy, Marteo, who had gotten out of the car first, had done the same thing as he was doing now. Back then, he had glared at him in disbelief, but…

“There’s a bit of a gap here.”

Even if he hadn’t hastily added those words, he wouldn’t have refused this time. He chuckled inwardly and took the man’s outstretched hand.

During the short time it took to get off, a strong force was briefly exerted on his grip. Marteo, pretending not to know, feigned ignorance towards Yeon-ho, who had looked up at him.

“This time, don’t forget and remember it well.”

Then, his eyes curved once more.

The question of what he meant was immediately answered after he had completely left the platform following the leading steps. And how unnecessary his words were.

The scenery that unfolded before his eyes was the kind that he could never forget.

The wind blowing over the open hill with no obstructions. The sound of the bushes swaying in the breeze. The endless horizon visible beyond the hill.

And in the center of it stood a pure white cathedral.

Marteo gently released Yeon-ho’s hand, which had unknowingly stepped forward. As if his back was being pushed by the wind, Yeon-ho took one or two more steps.

As he got closer, he heard the sound of the bell in the steeple swaying in the wind. The sound fell into his chest, passing through his ears like ripples.

Everything in front of him, bathed in the setting sun, had a faded, photo-like quality, and therefore contained a more serene and nostalgic atmosphere.

After quietly entrusting himself to the wind for a long time, he turned his head at the sound of footsteps approaching him.

“Perhaps, did you… want to show me this place today?”

Marteo, who had stopped beside him, nodded briefly. He asked the question he had asked in the morning, this time with more sincerity.

“How did you know about a place like this?”

He couldn’t imagine a man coming to a small town alone, taking a cable car, and climbing up to this place. Perhaps that question was evident on his face, as Marteo chuckled softly. The answer he hadn’t heard in the morning came after that.

“By flying.”

“……What?”

“Do you see those mountain ranges over there?”

His fingertip pointed somewhere on the horizon. Marteo made eye contact with Yeon-ho, who had followed his fingertip.

“If you go past that, it’s East Asia.”

“……?”

“If I were to go all the way to Korea, would it take about, a month?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Just. I said I found this place by flying with that kind of feeling.”

An expression that was both knowing and unknowing. Before he could even fathom all the subtle nuances contained within it, Marteo, who had changed his expression with a grin, gently pushed Yeon-ho’s back.

“Since we’re here, let’s go inside. It’s my first time inside too.”

“You said you’ve been here before?”

“I said I find it by flying, right? I can’t go in as a Shuri.”

“……Ah.”

“I usually sat up there.”

Marteo’s fingertip pointed somewhere up above again. Yeon-ho’s cheeks twitched as he followed the direction as before and discovered something.

He didn’t know if this should be called blasphemy… The finger was pointing at the cross on top of the cathedral.

“I know that Italians are mostly Christian…”

“Before being Italian, I’m a Morpheus?”

“…You’re treating a perfectly normal Morpheus as if he has no concept of sin.”

Hahahaha. Marteo laughed out loud.

“It’s not a cathedral that’s actually used, but a place that’s used for special masses or holidays. It seems to be quite old, though.”

“Is it a historical site, by any chance?”

“……”

Why would you close your mouth at this point? Italy was full of historical sites, and he suddenly had deep suspicions. But even if he knew the truth, he didn’t think this man would give him a straight answer.

As expected, Marteo, with a poker face, pulled Yeon-ho inside.

He wondered if the door was locked, but the cathedral door was open.

The interior wasn’t large, but the floor and walls were clean, as if someone was always taking care of it.

Next to the high, curved arched ceiling, there were paintings of saints, and the light that had passed through the stained glass was drawing pretty patterns on the floor in pieces.

As he looked around slowly, Marteo, who had moved forward quietly, stopped in front of the altar. With a careful touch, he lit the unlit candle. Then, he seemed to turn to look at Yeon-ho for a moment, but soon closed his eyes in front of the candle with a serene face.

It wasn’t an atmosphere to ask what he was doing or to joke around.

Yeon-ho also watched the man’s profile, which was caressed by the sunlight, holding his breath. He wasn’t even holding his hands together, he was just closing his eyes and bowing his head, but that alone made him feel infinitely serious and reverent.

It was to the point where he felt like he should be confessing in front of that man instead of the cross.

That was when Marteo opened his eyes again. His eyes, which were different colors, were soaked in the same sunset and turned to look at Yeon-ho.

Ah…

At this moment, he felt like he had fallen for him again. Without avoiding his gaze or even thinking of avoiding it, Yeon-ho simply endured his pounding heart.

It was only when they were about to leave the cathedral that he was finally able to speak.

“Did you make a wish or something?”

“……”

“Earlier. You lit a candle and prayed. You said you were a Morpheus before being a Christian.”

“…Sometimes. There are things that can’t be done with human power alone.”

“What did you wish for?”

“Well. A wish to fulfill an old wish?”

He wondered if it was a joke, but his expression was nothing like that. A man who wouldn’t envy anything in terms of wealth, and who was born with much more than others, both externally and internally.

What could an old wish be for such a man?

It was only natural to want to know the aspects of the person he was leaning towards. As he stared up at his face, wondering whether to continue the question or not, Marteo smiled slowly as if he had read his mind.

“Are you curious?”

“……”

“If you hear it, you’ll have to fulfill it instead of God.”

“Well… if it’s something I can fulfill?”

The man’s face, which had been smiling, paused for a moment as if he hadn’t expected it. And then, in the next moment, what bloomed in his eyes was a heat that was hard to explain.

Marteo stopped walking completely. Yeon-ho, who had unknowingly looked down at his toes, saw a fist clenched tightly.

He seemed to be… nervous. He seemed to be trying to control the trembling. The moment he raised his eyes to confirm,

“Do Yeon-ho…”

Marteo called his name. At the same time, it felt like all the wind blowing over the hill had stopped. The words he had said at some point passed through his mind.

─Your name is pretty too.

─Yeon-ho… Every time I call it, it feels like the wind is blowing.

The wind that had stopped seemed to be carried only in the man’s voice, and only the breath that brushed his skin was ticklish.

Now it wasn’t just Marteo who was clenching his fist. Yeon-ho, still looking deeply into the man’s eyes, swallowed hard.

His lips were about to part once more. All his nerves were focused entirely on that.

That’s when it happened.

“Are we almost there?”

“Almost. Just ten more steps!”

“Ugh, why don’t we just load everything onto the cable car!”

“It’s broken, so the length is an issue, what can we do? Tell them to move faster down there. We only have three hours!”

The hill had been filled with only their breathing. The silence was broken by a loud noise, and what’s more, all-too-familiar Korean.

Marteo’s head and Yeon-ho’s gaze turned to the same direction at once.

The cable car platform. Next to it, there was a staircase they hadn’t noticed, and someone was panting as they climbed up. But before the person, what appeared first was a long pole sticking out and bobbing up and down. Yeon-ho widened his eyes.

‘That’s… a boom mic?’

The moment he realized it, another noise came. Squeak, squeak, clunk. It was the sound of the cable car arriving at the platform.

Their gazes met once more in the same direction. Six people, packed tightly inside, were clearly Korean.

And somehow… they smelled like they were playing in familiar waters.

“What’s the maknae doing? Hurry up and get over here!”

“Director, why don’t you try walking up here!”

They were broadcasting station guys. Having just stepped onto the last step, they collapsed onto the ground, but held onto their equipment like it was their life.

It was hard to decide which group to focus on, as they were coming from both directions. But in the end, it was a meaningless dilemma.

“We can’t just come up here comfortably. Thank you for your hard work.”

The last person to get off the arrived cable car.

The moment Yeon-ho saw the man approaching the staff with a gentle smile, his gaze was completely fixed on him.

His eyes widened again. His fist was now clenched with a different meaning. Marteo, standing next to him, couldn’t possibly miss Yeon-ho’s change.

“Do Yeon-ho…?”

Marteo called Yeon-ho with a different tone than before.

At the same time, the other side seemed to have noticed them too. Especially the man Yeon-ho’s eyes were focused on, hesitated, then slowly turned to face them.

“…Executive Director.”

Even from a distance, the shape of his mouth calling Yeon-ho was clearly visible. The man’s face hardened, and Yeon-ho’s face hardened as well.

But the most hardened face was, without a doubt, Marteo’s. Marteo, looking back and forth between the two, slowly looked up at the top of the cathedral with twisted lips.

Does God really exist? It seemed like the cross was only good for using as a torch.

Unlike the way up, the two didn’t exchange a single word as they descended the hill. Even as they arrived at the platform and got off the cable car, Marteo didn’t offer his hand to Yeon-ho, and Yeon-ho had no time to care about him.

He suddenly came to his senses after walking about a dozen steps down the now quite dark alley.

The man who had been matching his pace right next to him, with only a fist’s difference between them, was now more than a step ahead. Yeon-ho, speeding up his pace, hurried to his side.

But… before long, the distance widened again. This time, he walked diligently without any other thoughts, but their steps kept getting out of sync.

Once, twice, three times. After forcibly matching his pace several times, he realized.

The problem wasn’t on his side. Whether it was intentional or unconscious, it was clear that Marteo was creating the distance.

Abruptly. Yeon-ho stopped completely in his tracks. Even so, Marteo continued to walk several more steps. He was flustered by the man’s indifference, which he had never experienced before, and his stomach churned.

“My legs hurt.”

“……”

“I said my legs hurt.”

Only after the second shout did the man who had been walking ahead finally stop. The face that slowly turned around seemed to say, So what?

Should he get angry? Ask why he was walking ahead?

But he didn’t want to say such childish things. Of course not. How old was he? If he was going to say something, it had to be… something even more childish than that!

“Carry me on your back.”

“……”

“You said you’d carry me earlier. I can’t go any further.”

Marteo’s eyebrows twitched slightly. As if he didn’t know what his intentions were. But only for a moment. The man who slowly turned back readily offered his back with bent knees.

Huh? Now it was Yeon-ho’s eyebrows that were raised.

Marteo even stretched his arms back towards Yeon-ho, who was standing there blankly. As if to say, What are you doing, not getting on?

Indifference and affection. He couldn’t figure out what he was thinking at all. Finally, Yeon-ho slapped Marteo’s back with force!

“What are you doing, seriously!”

It must have hurt quite a bit, but Marteo only tilted his head, still in the same position.

“You told me to carry you on my back. You said you couldn’t walk anymore.”

“No, that’s……”

“……”

“Haa. Get up! First, get up and talk.”

After forcibly lifting the large body, he repeatedly sighed.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you suddenly like this?”

“……”

“What are you upset about?”

As expected, there was no denial to the direct question. Yeon-ho watched Marteo’s lips with rare patience.

Marteo also stared at Yeon-ho’s face, which was focused only on him, for a long time. Then, he slowly opened his dry mouth.

“I… I’m upset with myself for constantly becoming clumsy when I’m with you.”

…What? He couldn’t understand what he was saying even after hearing the explanation.

When have you ever been clumsy? Ah… the microwave. That was one time.

But it was clear that it wasn’t about such a trivial topic in this situation.

Yeon-ho looked at Marteo as if asking for an explanation. But this time, the man wasn’t looking at Yeon-ho. Instead, his gaze was fixed on the hill they had just come down from.

Yeon-ho, realizing this, was about to turn his head as well. At that moment, Marteo’s voice continued again.

“The man we saw up there earlier… by any chance, was he also a sponsor?”

“…What?”

“The atmosphere between you two was strange.”

Ah…….

He was finally starting to get a sense of what was going on. For the first time, Yeon-ho’s mouth faltered, and Marteo clenched his fist.

The man and Yeon-ho had only encountered each other for about three minutes up there. But as he said, even in that short time, the energy flowing between them wasn’t ordinary. They clearly recognized each other, and their eyes met, but there was no greeting, and the atmosphere was frozen.

Marteo had also seen another of Yeon-ho’s sponsors when he was in Korea. The man he had encountered at the Paju set. And Oh Tae-jin, who had come to Yeon-ho’s house without permission.

But Yeon-ho’s reaction to the two of them was quite different from the man earlier. If Yeon-ho had acknowledged him, if that man had approached him happily, he wouldn’t have felt this way.

Yeon-ho didn’t say a word when he suggested they go down, and the man didn’t say a word even as he watched Yeon-ho walk away.

As he rode down the cable car, one memory came to mind.

Yeon-ho’s answer when he had once asked him if there had ever been anyone special among his sponsors.

The suspicion was close to certainty. Marteo, repeatedly clenching his fist, moved his lips with a low voice once more.

“You once told me that there was someone among your sponsors that was hard to forget. …Could that be, the man from earlier?”

“……!”

He thought again, where was he clumsy? No, how could he remember the things he had said so long ago in such detail?

Marteo’s lips twisted at Yeon-ho’s openly obvious expression.

“I guess that’s right.”

He left those words behind and turned around, stomping his feet on the ground. Yeon-ho, flustered by the speed that was twice as fast as before, hurriedly chased after him.

“Wait, just wait a minute. You seem to be misunderstanding something…”

“What misunderstanding?”

“He and I weren’t like that, you know?”

“You weren’t sponsors?”

“No, we were sponsors. We were, but… the one I can’t forget isn’t him…”

“Then what. Are you saying there’s someone else besides that man? Someone you can’t forget?”

Uncharacteristically rough language. Stop! His steps came to a halt. Yeon-ho, who didn’t have time to slow down, almost crashed his face into Marteo’s back, stumbled backwards, and finally, his lid blew off properly.

“Ugh, just listen to what I’m saying!”

“What is there to listen to? I’m already about to explode, what more do you want me to hear!”

Marteo’s voice also rose without giving in. It was impossible for two men standing out in the middle of a peaceful village, each raising their voices, not to be noticed.

But neither of them had time to care about the fleeting, curious gazes. Marteo practically gritted his teeth.

“Why are there so many men around you!”

“Huh? Then who’s going to be around a gay man, women?! Besides, there are three women in your house right now!”

“Did I bring them in? I said I didn’t like it from the start!”

He had nothing to say about this part. He had shot himself in the foot, who could he blame? But how could Yeon-ho have known? That Kestrel was serious about Marteo. If he had known, he would never have said such righteous things.

Still, he was upset at the injustice of admitting it, and he was upset that the end of the day was turning out like this. The arrow eventually pointed to the fundamental cause of the argument. Yeon-ho began to pound his chest.

“I feel the same way! Who’s about to explode right now? That bastard or this bastard, really…. No, who said I liked him so much that I can’t forget him!”

“…What?”

“It’s the opposite. I can’t forget him because I want to punch him!”

“What does that……”

“I thought he was dodging me so well all this time…. Damn it. If there weren’t other staff members there earlier, I would have pushed him off the hill! And I would have personally straightened out every one of his fingers as he came up!”

A failed crime plan due to a witness. Marteo’s eyes were belatedly filled with astonishment. Yeon-ho, for his part, clutched his forehead.

Honestly, he was still a little hesitant about whether he should say such things, but the words had already been spoken.

“Besides you… he’s the only one. The only one who saw me turn into a chicken.”

“What?”

He thought the blood that had risen to his neck had finally subsided, but at these words, Marteo’s eyes lit up again.

“You showed him you turned into a chicken…? Why. Why would you show him that!”

“I didn’t show him, he just saw it! He was secretly hiding in my house to do some damn event or something, and he happened to see me turn into a chicken……”

Yeon-ho, who had said this far, pressed his temples again. Then, he changed his words between his teeth.

“He fainted.”

…What?

“He even has a phobia of birds. Especially chickens! I barely managed to wake up the guy who rolled his eyes, foamed at the mouth, and fell backwards after seeing me, but he was terrified again and went to throw up. Would you forget a guy who was gagging while looking at me?”

“……!”

“He was asking me if he had been with a chicken all this time, his face was pale and he was accusing me of being a fraud… I was so dumbfounded. Wouldn’t you want to beat him up in this situation!”

That’s right. He was Yeon-ho’s first sponsor. He had a gentle personality and his actions were simple, so he thought, Is he pretty good?

But the memory of his first sponsorship ended with vomiting. The back of the man who ran out the door without looking back….

Yeon-ho, who didn’t usually reveal that he was a Morpheus, especially after that experience, stopped letting his partners know that he was a chicken.

Except for one person. Except for the man in front of him who laughed and said he liked chickens because they were cool.

When his thoughts reached this point, he even remembered the touch of the man who had held him in his arms when he had turned into a chicken, stroking his back and saying he was pretty, pretty.

After remembering that, even in this situation, something in his chest, deep inside his stomach, tingled.

Yeon-ho, who had been panting, belatedly bit his lip.

“Not everyone in the world likes chickens like you do.”

After saying that, he turned his head away.

It was then that Marteo, who had been silent for a long time, muttered in a low voice.

“I really… wish that were true.”

“What?”

Even though he had said it first, it was a good way to scratch the pride of a chicken, a long-time outcast in the bird world.

Yeon-ho lit up his eyes again. But the eyes he had raised didn’t last long.

Because Marteo’s face, which he had turned back to look at, was indescribably serious. As if he couldn’t bear it any longer, he wiped his face with both hands.

It was after that that a deep sigh was exhaled through his fingers.

“I know. I’m still acting terribly clumsy. But I can’t help it.”

“……?”

“Because I really wish that were true. I wish no one but me liked chickens… I wish no one liked you.”

Yeon-ho’s eyes widened the most they had all day. Marteo’s hands, which had been half-covering his face, slowly fell down in the meantime.

An expression through which countless emotional strands passed, that expression repeatedly scattered and gathered, and finally took on a clear form. He was pouring out the things that were so full that he couldn’t hold them in any longer.

“I like you. Chickens, and you. Even more so, you as a chicken.”

So much so that it’s not enough for me to like you alone….

It was a confession that was too clumsy, as if it would break if he touched it wrong. He had been shouting, and then suddenly, in the middle of the road, without any preparation. So it was a confession in which he could only put strength into each word.

Even so, it felt like the wind, the air, and even time had stopped.

Marteo held Yeon-ho’s hand tightly, who couldn’t say anything and stood there frozen. There was a bitter and painful smile on his lips.

“You asked me earlier. What wish I made at the cathedral. You said you would grant it if it was something you could grant.”

Marteo took a breath.

“I made a wish that only you can grant.”

He intertwined his fingers tightly between the open joints and met his gaze as if to hold onto his trembling eyes.

“Please marry me. Do Yeon-ho.”

Ah…….

Can all the sounds of the world disappear at once like this? Can only the sound of a racing heart be so loud, with everything else erased?

Thump, thump. The ground shook. No, maybe it was his legs that were shaking.

He couldn’t put any strength into his body. It wouldn’t be strange if he turned into a chicken as he was.

The sun had already set, but the golden and red suns were still floating in the man’s eyes. Yeon-ho’s face, reflected in them, was endlessly flushed.