By Zephyria ■
The news that the first snow would be late this year was true.
A damp fog enveloped Seoul, and a fine rain that had started yesterday drizzled all day. It was the same even now, towards evening.
Nox Hotel, an affiliate of Hanseo Group.
Park Dong-ha was scheduled to meet them at the hotel’s French restaurant this evening, and Lee Hae-sung and Choi Hong-seo had arrived a day early to leisurely enjoy their time together.
The hotel, built on high ground, boasted a spectacular view even from the lower floors, but due to the fog and rain, only the hotel’s garden directly below was visible.
Standing by the room window, Choi Hong-seo recalled a hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. Jakarta was where he had stayed before being moved to Bangkok, Thailand, where he had ended his life. The city view of Jakarta seen from that room had also been blurred by fog, and it was there that Choi Hong-seo had already begun to accept his own end, consciously or unconsciously.
As the ‘X-Boy Scandal’ spread rapidly, Go Ji-woon, a former idol turned actor and an acquaintance of Choi Hong-seo, was targeted as the X-Boy. Go Ji-woon, who had attempted suicide at his home, was recovering in the hospital at the time, and the public was now about to start hunting for the next X-Boy.
The source of that ‘X-Boy Scandal,’ maliciously edited to be unfavorable to a specific person and stripped of truth, was none other than Lee Seo-kyung. It was a warning letter from Lee Seo-kyung to Choi Hong-seo.
The past, filled only with blood and gore, was bound to cause pain even to Lee Hae-sung. Would he hide behind his power and ask to be held responsible for that past and to clean it up, or would he fight back and deliver at least one blow to Lee Seo-kyung, who was waiting for him to surrender? Choi Hong-seo had to make a decision.
And the methods of resistance available to someone who had nothing were limited.
“What can you see outside? The view isn’t great because of the fog, is it?”
At Lee Hae-sung’s affectionate voice from behind, Choi Hong-seo turned around. Lee Hae-sung, fully dressed, was just coming out of the dressing room.
Wearing a light blue shirt under a V-neck knit, he walked down the hallway, adjusting the strap of his wristwatch. He looked neat but not overly formal, comfortable. In other words, thanks to his innate grace and composed demeanor, every movement looked beautiful without being overly casual.
It was as he said.
His features, limbs, physique. More unique than the beauty of the body itself was the way he handled and used that body. The way he used chopsticks, the way he drove, his speaking style that conveyed firm content gently during work-related calls, and even the way he walked towards him now. He loved every way Lee Hae-sung existed.
“What’s wrong? You’re just staring.”
“You look so handsome. That’s why I was looking so intently.”
“Hmm… I thought I was used to compliments like this. But it feels new and shy when someone I like says it?”
“You’re really handsome, oppa. When you’re in a suit, when you’re dressed like this, even when you’re dressed more casually at home…”
“Even when you’re wearing nothing?”
“……”
Lee Hae-sung pulled Choi Hong-seo closer, embracing his lower back, and asked with a hint of mischief. Feeling each other’s lower bodies against one another was always thrilling. Even after checking into the room yesterday afternoon and spending a full day here alone, touching, tasting, and feeling each other sufficiently, the passion that ignited at the moment of contact was always new.
“I think you look best when you’re wearing nothing, too.”
“Hoho…”
Lee Hae-sung’s eyes widened in delight, as if he hadn’t expected such an answer. It was the face of someone delighted to hear an unexpectedly bold reply from someone he thought was just a child. He looked down at his lover in his arms and lightly nudged his nose.
“I can be bold too. That’s exactly the look on your face, isn’t it?”
Where his hand had let go, he now placed his lips. His slightly rough but warm lips pressed gently, slightly flattening his nose. His lips moved down to his philtrum and softly enveloped Choi Hong-seo’s upper lip. His lips were warmer than any other skin. He felt like he was melting away in that warmth. Choi Hong-seo wrapped his arms around his back. It was a comforting embrace, like hugging a thick-trunked tree with deep roots, unswayed by any wind. Just as he parted his lips, anticipating a more intimate kiss, the doorbell interrupted them.
“Ah… I guess what I asked for has arrived.”
Concluding with a short kiss instead of a deep one, Lee Hae-sung looked clearly disappointed. However, as he walked towards the door, his face turned back towards him looked excited again.
The visitor, at first glance, was not a hotel staff member but Lee Hae-sung’s attendant. Returning to the living room, Lee Hae-sung held a small, well-wrapped box. He beckoned Choi Hong-seo over, holding the small box up to eye level as he stood by the dining table.
“What is it?”
“Open it.”
From the moment he peeled back half of the rustling wrapping paper, Choi Hong-seo’s hands and breathing trembled. Lee Hae-sung came up behind the trembling Choi Hong-seo and loosely embraced his lower abdomen.
“I ordered it when Hong-seo was coming into Bundang, but it’s custom-made, so it just arrived. The manufacturing process is complicated,” he whispered lowly, like a secret, rubbing his lips against Choi Hong-seo’s temple.
Inside the simple box with nothing written on it was perfume.
A unique scent that Lee Hae-sung specially ordered and used, one that didn’t overlap with anyone else’s. It was the scent Choi Hong-seo first recognized as Lee Hae-sung’s on their first date walking along Sowol-ro, and it was also the perfume Lee Hae-sung gifted him after their first night together. A scent shared only by Lee Hae-sung and Choi Hong-seo.
Lee Hae-sung stepped forward when Choi Hong-seo, unable to easily open the box, fell silent.
“I know. I was being petty when I gave you a different perfume in the same bottle.”
Lee Hae-sung gave Choi Hong-seo a firm hug, then moved closer and opened the box.
He was talking about ‘Yoon Hye-an’s’ birthday party. Lee Hae-sung had taken ‘Yoon Hye-an’ to a private lounge and gifted him this perfume. No, a different perfume with the same bottle.
“It wasn’t just to see his reaction.”
“……”
“By then, I was already starting to doubt Yoon Hye-an, little by little.”
“What… stage were you at?”
“Yoon Hye-an had no connection to Choi Hong-seo, and even if he saw our private matters recorded somewhere, he wouldn’t know Choi Hong-seo’s way of speaking. Is this possible just by imitating with collected information? That kind of… unanswerable confusion.”
Taking the perfume out of the box, Lee Hae-sung gently rolled up the sleeve of the black knit Choi Hong-seo was wearing. Choi Hong-seo let him do as he pleased, focusing only on his profile.
“That’s why you said number 6. Because it was impossible.”
“Yes. The options were clearly up to number 5, but no matter how I thought about it, there was no answer among them, right? I’m someone who would never choose an answer outside the options, but…”
Lee Hae-sung paused and took a breath. Then, turning to Choi Hong-seo, who stood beside him at the dining table, he met his eyes. With a faint smile that was easy to miss, he said,
“I chose number 6, and that was the correct answer.”
The perfume was sprayed towards Choi Hong-seo’s wrist, revealed beneath the rolled-up sleeve. Not on the inside of the wrist, but the outside. The moment it was sprayed, the scent that immediately occupied his sense of smell spread instantly to Choi Hong-seo’s memories and emotions. The scent was Lee Hae-sung, and all memories with Lee Hae-sung, in itself. He couldn’t help but be stirred.
“I know. I know very well that you’re a rational person who makes choices. That’s why… I didn’t expect it.”
“Did you hate me for giving you a different perfume in the same bottle? Was it cruel?”
Choi Hong-seo raised his right wrist and inhaled the scent more closely, shaking his head vigorously. Cruel? Not at all. Lee Hae-sung, standing beside him, placed an arm around Choi Hong-seo’s shoulder and gently stroked the hair behind his ear.
“Were you really not upset? The moment you realized the perfume smelled different, Hong-seo… you couldn’t hide your expression.”
“My heart ached a little, but… I thought you were doing it to Yoon Hye-an, not to me…”
“You tried not to hate me while thinking that?”
Lee Hae-sung turned Choi Hong-seo’s shoulder to face him. Lee Hae-sung looked down at Choi Hong-seo with a complex expression, a mix of apology and happiness.
“I don’t hate you. No matter what happens.”
Lee Hae-sung looked into the eyes of his lover, who spoke those words clearly and with conviction. Choi Hong-seo’s eyes, which conveyed that he could not compromise on loving Lee Hae-sung, and that he was confident in that alone, held not a trace of doubt.
Sigh. With a sweet sigh, Lee Hae-sung pulled Choi Hong-seo’s shoulder and embraced him. With their ears and cheeks touching, Lee Hae-sung adjusted his hold on the body in his arms several times.
“You just don’t hate me?”
Choi Hong-seo laughed weakly and wrapped his arms around Lee Hae-sung’s back in return.
“I like you. I love you… too. A lot.”
“Mmm.”
With a grunt, he hugged Choi Hong-seo tightly, as if to crush him. The force was enough to make the bones in his shoulders and chest ache. The feeling that he couldn’t disappear if held by such strength.
“Perfume in the same bottle but different contents. This perfume with different bottles but the same contents. Hong-seo, which one do you like better?”
“Of course, I like this perfume. I like this one.”
“That’s right, Hong-seo. Me too.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not the container that’s important, but the scent. Not the outward appearance, but the scent inside is you.”
“Ah…”
Not caring if it wrinkled, he clutched his knit in his hand and closed his eyes. Rubbing his face against his neck and shoulders, he burrowed into his embrace.
“Oppa.”
“Yes.”
“Haesung-ssi.”
“…Yes.”
This time, a low chuckle was followed by a reply.
“It was you who booked good hotels and good rooms for my overseas schedules, wasn’t it?”
“……”
For a moment, his body stiffened. He realized that the ‘overseas schedules’ he was talking about were before his death. Soon, a low sigh was heard, and a large hand slowly stroked Choi Hong-seo’s head.
“It was all I could do for you.”
“Don’t say ‘all you could do.’ You were the only one who treated me like that.”