By Zephyria 
Еvеn after a lоng timе, Do-hyun did nоt return to thе tаblе. Тhе сlub members sееmеd to havе forgotten his еxistеncе, chаtting eхсitеdly amоng themsеlves, and unablе to watch аny longer, Wоo-уеon stood up to lоok for him. Hе hаd sееmеd quite drunk, and thеre wаs nо reasоn fоr him to be gone fоr this long.
Тhе restroоm insidе thе bаr, thе smoking rооm in the сorner, and the emergеncy еxit neхt to the entrаncе. Do-hyun wаs nоwhere tо be seеn. Left with nо сhoiсе, Woо-уeоn dесided to gо dоwn the stаirs аnd сhеck outside the building.
“Where did he go…”
Outside, where the neon signs were gaudy, a cool breeze blew, making it refreshing. The night air was still chilly, but the tropical nights would begin soon. By then, the media’s interest would likely fade to some extent.
Instead of walking aimlessly, Woo-yeon took out his phone and made a call. It would be more efficient to find him this way than to trust his own instincts, given that he had no sense of direction. Fortunately, as soon as the ringing started, he heard a vibration nearby.
‘Is he in the back?’
One step, then another. Following the faint vibration, he arrived at a narrow path behind a streetlight. On the steel stairs leading to the outdoor restroom, someone was sitting, leaning against the wall. Though the streetlight was dim, it wasn’t hard to recognize that it was Do-hyun.
Instead of calling out to him, Woo-yeon gradually closed the distance. Do-hyun was staring blankly at his phone screen with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. The letters ‘Woo-yeon’ were clear even in the darkness.
“Does staring at it like that make the call get answered?”
Startled, his straight shoulders jerked. Woo-yeon saw his broad, straight, and neat back stiffen awkwardly. After a short pause, Do-hyun slowly turned his head.
“Oh…”
For some reason, he looked surprised. Well, it was natural to be surprised if someone spoke from behind. Woo-yeon hung up and put his phone in his pocket.
“I thought you quit smoking?”
Do-hyun blinked a couple of times and immediately took the cigarette out of his mouth. The cigarette flickered between his long fingers. He closed his mouth, opened it again, and after repeating this a few times, he frowned clumsily.
“…Why did you come out?”
The question sounded as if he didn’t particularly welcome Woo-yeon, which left Woo-yeon inwardly flustered. An ambiguous relationship—neither dating nor not dating. In such a relationship, was it wrong to follow a drunk person outside?
“No… I’m not saying that.”
As if reading Woo-yeon’s thoughts, Do-hyun slowly shook his head. Leaning the back of his head against the wall with his eyes cast down, he seemed as though the effects of the alcohol hadn’t worn off yet.
“I thought I was seeing things.”
“…Why?”
“Because I was thinking about you…”
As he said this, Do-hyun smiled beautifully. His eyes curved like crescent moons and his lips formed an arc. His gentle face looked utterly innocent.
“Yeon-ah.”
“…”
Woo-yeon couldn’t even answer and just stared blankly at Do-hyun. He had always thought Do-hyun looked beautiful when he smiled, but right now, he looked like an actual angel. Almost to the point where Woo-yeon’s legs felt weak, as if he might just collapse.
“Come here, sit here.”
What he pointed to was none other than his own lap. Woo-yeon almost sat down as told, as if possessed, before suddenly snapping back to his senses. He hadn’t had a single drop of alcohol; he couldn’t fall for this kind of drunken behavior.
“Are you drunk?”
“Hmm…”
Do-hyun tilted his head. The hair covering his forehead scattered softly. With the cigarette still between his fingers, he curled his thumb and index finger and winked.
“A little?”
“…I don’t think it’s just ‘a little’.”
“It is a little.”
Unable to argue further, Woo-yeon sat on the stairs as he led him. It was surely dirty, but it was already too late to feel bothered by it. Do-hyun sat Woo-yeon beside him and slowly leaned his head on Woo-yeon’s shoulder.
“You’re too short.”
It was a rather brazen comment, considering he was the one who leaned on him as he pleased. Even his confident demand for Woo-yeon to sit up a bit higher was like that. Ridiculously, Woo-yeon obediently straightened his back to help him lean comfortably.
“What were you doing out here?”
Do-hyun didn’t answer and instead rubbed his cheek against the shoulder. It was similar to how a cat or a dog marks its scent. Teacher becomes very aegyo-filled when he’s drunk. He had learned another fact he hadn’t known.
“Since you didn’t come back for so long… people were worried.”
In truth, no one was worried, but that’s what Woo-yeon said. Without such an excuse, he couldn’t explain why he had come out to find Do-hyun. However, Do-hyun casually dismissed Woo-yeon’s words as a lie.
“You really are terrible at lying.”
“…”
It wasn’t a monologue. It felt as if he were intentionally teasing Woo-yeon. As Woo-yeon turned his head the other way, a ticklish phrase reached him.
“I thought about you.”
The deep part of his throat felt itchy. It was a different feeling from hearing that someone liked him. In a languid, loosened voice, Do-hyun softly added more.
“I thought I missed you, I thought you were cute, and I wondered when you would finally accept me… I had thoughts like that.”
“…Why are you thinking about that out here?”
“I’m already drunk… and since you’re next to me, it feels strange.”
“And you said you weren’t drunk.”
“I said I was a little drunk.”
A faint smell of alcohol and pheromones emanated from Do-hyun. Seeing that the scent was stronger than usual, it seemed he had forgotten to control his pheromones due to the alcohol. Woo-yeon didn’t bother to point that out and slowly spoke.
“Seonbae.”
“Hyung.”
It was déjà vu. Because Do-hyun had requested it so many times, Woo-yeon still remembered it clearly.
“Not Teacher, not Seonbae… just Hyung.”
“…”
“I want to call you Hyung.”
Those words carried several meanings. The desire to have a relationship different from the past, the desire to be a more intimate person rather than just a senior, and the desire to be a closer presence to Woo-yeon.
Woo-yeon noticed all those meanings. Perhaps because of the alcohol, Do-hyun’s inner thoughts were excessively easy to read today. No, strictly speaking, those feelings had been clearly visible for some time now.
“The doll Seonbae gave me isn’t a rabbit.”
It was a sudden change of subject, but Do-hyun willingly followed along. When he asked what it was, Woo-yeon let out a sigh of relief.
“They say it’s a fennec fox.”
“A fennec fox?”
Do-hyun hummed longly, as if imagining the doll. Then, he laughed faintly and buried his face in the crook of Woo-yeon’s neck.
“It resembles you.”
“In what way, exactly?”
“Just this and that.”
Woo-yeon thought the breath touching his neck felt incredibly erotic. While Do-hyun seemed to have no particular thought about it, Woo-yeon’s body kept becoming sensitive. Whether he knew it or not, Do-hyun let out a soft chuckle.
“I thought it was a rabbit… I kept saying it’s cute, it’s cute, and then I got enchanted.”
Do-hyun’s hand Swoosh entwined with his. The sensation of their fingers interlocking was so familiar it almost brought tears to his eyes. Holding his hand tightly, he whispered tenderly.
“I like you so much, what should I do?”
Sometimes, in the middle of an ordinary day, one suddenly realizes something. For example, that a wound has fully healed, or that bad memories have been forgotten. Or that so much time has already passed.
“I like you, Woo-yeon…”
The rain shower that had poured for a long time ended right there. Just as the sky clears after the rain, a clear day dawned once more. Do-hyun did not leave Woo-yeon’s embrace for a long time.
“…Um.”
With a mind gone blank, Woo-yeon hesitantly started to speak. Do-hyun was still leaning his head, clutching his hand tightly. Warmth was transmitted through their pressed palms.
“I…”
His heart beat with a thumping sound. Pheromones surged wildly, and the area around his ears burned hot. It wasn’t the first time he had said these words, but he felt millions of times more nervous.
“…Me too.”
The words that barely escaped felt small even to Woo-yeon. If things went wrong, they could easily be buried by the sound of insects. Naturally, Do-hyun didn’t respond, so Woo-yeon gathered a bit more courage and spoke.
“I like you.”
It was different from the confession that day, when he said he liked the Teacher. Unlike then, when the words had slipped out unintentionally, this time he was manually pulling out the core of his heart to show it. His head, and his chest, screamed with his whole body that it had to be Do-hyun.
“I’ve thought about it…”
“…”
“I don’t think I can make it without Seonbae.”
In the end, it was Do-hyun. No matter how long the detour, the place Woo-yeon’s heart headed was predetermined.
“I like you, Hyung.”
The true feelings he had kept pressed down regained their size the moment they were released. Like a sponge soaking up water, they swelled up instantly. Even the emotions that had bloomed sparingly like beans in a drought now overflowed enough to fill his heart.
“…”
Do-hyun stopped moving, unable to even breathe. It was as if all time had stopped; even the intermittent sound of breathing vanished. The sound of leaves rustling, the sound of people chatting in the distance, and the unidentified noises heard when focusing deeply.
“…Just now.”
A voice like a breath reached him. He sounded surprised, and perhaps flustered. Regardless, it wasn’t the reaction Woo-yeon had expected.
“Just now, what did you…”
“…I said I like you, Hyung.”
Woo-yeon repeated the words he had just said clearly. They say the first time is always the hardest. The second time wasn’t as nerve-wracking as before. Do-hyun couldn’t say anything; he kept his mouth shut and then covered his eyes with his other hand.
“…Ha.”
A rough breath escaped. His pheromones grew thicker, and he lowered his head while still leaning on the shoulder. The fingertips of their tightly held hands began to tremble slightly.
‘No way…’
With a bewildered face, Woo-yeon slowly looked at Do-hyun. He wanted to see his face, but because of the angle, the expression wasn’t fully visible. However, the sight of him biting his lip was clear, so a voice escaped him unconsciously.
“…Are you crying?”
The pheromones surged violently. Do-hyun, whose shoulders shook almost imperceptibly, stammered an excuse.
“It’s because I drank.”
“Are you really crying?”
“…I told you it’s because I drank.”
A sob was embedded in his voice. The end of his words trembled, and his breath sank low. As Woo-yeon froze, unable to do anything, Do-hyun turned and threw himself into his arms.
“Tell me one more time…”
With awkward movements, Woo-yeon embraced Do-hyun, who had clung to him. Do-hyun was someone who had clung to him while crying before, but Woo-yeon had never held him in his arms like this. It was a clumsy and uncomfortable posture, but he could tell how desperately Do-hyun was clinging to him.
“I like you.”
“…Add ‘Hyung’ to it.”
“I like you, Hyung.”
“One more time…”
“I like you, Hyung.”
The more he confessed, the more certain he became. Not because he was the Teacher, not because he was kind and mature, but simply because he had come to like the person known as Kim Do-hyun. Regardless of how it started, this beginning belonged solely to Woo-yeon.
“See.”
“…”
“I told you it wasn’t a useless thing to do.”
Do-hyun buried his face weakly in Woo-yeon’s shoulder. The shoulder blade began to get damp. As Woo-yeon patted his back, a desperate voice uttered the words of confession.
“I like you too.”
“…”
“I really like you, Yeon-ah…”
The rain shower that had poured for a long time ended exactly there. Just as the rain stops and the sky clears, another clear day descended. Do-hyun did not leave Woo-yeon’s embrace for a long time.