By Zephyria 
Lee Han finished exactly one glass of wine before getting up from his seat.
Before getting into the back seat of the black sedan, he waved to Song Hyun-soo and Jung Ji-in. Despite his actions, Song Hyun-soo couldn’t bring himself to think of him as the same age.
“Lee Han, you’re so cool.”
“Really?”
“Anyone can see that. You know it too, don’t you, hyung?”
“More than Yoon Joo-ho?”
“Well… honestly, you’re a top actor, hyung. You’ll have 50 million followers soon.”
“Ah… so, Yoon Joo-ho is cooler?”
“If you had a vote, hyung would win, honestly.”
“That’s unfair to Han. His fame is different.”
In the end, it was a childish argument about whose boyfriend was cooler. Realizing this belatedly, the two of them laughed weakly.
He didn’t know Jung Ji-in had this side to him. Being introduced to his lover, seeing more of him that he didn’t know, and feeling like he knew him better made him happy. He thought it was a good idea to take the time to meet, even if it was just for two hours.
Around the time hazelnut ice cream with apricot and cherry compote was served for dessert, another message arrived from Yoon Joo-ho. He, who had been quiet for a while, kindly informed them that it was almost time to part ways.
Two hours wasn’t enough to tell all the stories they had missed.
Regret was evident on both of their faces as they checked the time.
“Two hours went by too quickly.”
“It did.”
“No matter how much we regret it, we have to return you to Yoon Joo-ho now.”
Jung Ji-in added, looking down at Song Hyun-soo’s phone, which was vibrating for the third time.
“Otherwise, that bastard will barge in here. He’ll charge late fees by the minute.”
The car that would take Song Hyun-soo arrived around the corner on time.
The two of them got up from their seats after paying the bill.
Jung Ji-in patted Song Hyun-soo’s drooping shoulder affectionately.
“I’m going to Seoul at the end of the year. We can see each other then.”
“That’s right.”
“Song Hyun-soo’s first movie is being released, so I have to see it in the theater.”
“Let’s see each other for longer than two hours then, hyung.”
“Let’s do that. I should go to ‘Jessica’ and have Hyun-soo make me a cocktail for the first time in a while.”
Around the end of the year when Jung Ji-in visits Seoul with Lee Han, Song Hyun-soo will have completely quit ‘Jessica’.
The fact that he could see Jung Ji-in again in about two months was a great comfort. Nevertheless, the two of them couldn’t easily leave each other’s side and lingered.
“Hyung, I’m still grateful.”
“For what?”
“Back then, hyung… for not pretending not to know me.”
Back then, when he was on the verge of collapse in the aftermath of the ‘X-boy Scandal’.
“I’ll be grateful for the rest of my life.”
“I’m grateful to you too.”
“What do you have to be grateful for?”
“If I had lost Hong-seo alone, it would have been harder to bear. To me, you are a comrade who went through the same time together, Hyun-soo.”
Jung Ji-in narrowed his eyes in the yellow autumn sunlight and said with a smile warmer than that autumn sunlight.
“So maybe that’s why we both didn’t freeze to death.”
Because they didn’t try to survive alone, but tried to lead each other to the light beyond the darkness.
With each other’s body temperature. With the comfort and solidarity of being together.
Song Hyun-soo couldn’t help but agree with that.
Jung Ji-in said he was going to stop by a fellow actor’s studio nearby.
“Hyung, go first. I’ll get in the car when I don’t see you anymore.”
Wearing simple sunglasses, he put a paperback book in his outer pocket and turned away first. And before turning around the alley, he turned back once more and waved to Song Hyun-soo.
He waved back at him as he disappeared into the shimmering golden sunlight.
Suddenly, he felt that it was really time. It was closer to a feeling that arose naturally in his heart than a thought.
When he returned to Seoul, he would visit Choi Hong-seo. As promised with Yoon Joo-ho, the two of them together.
The back seat window of the waiting car went down, and a dissatisfied voice was heard.
“What are you looking at so affectionately?”
It was Yoon Joo-ho.
■
The two moved to the nearby Parc Monceau.
It was close enough to walk from the restaurant where they met Jung Ji-in to the south entrance in 5 minutes. Despite being a fairly large park, it was somewhat off the main tourist attractions and city center, so it was mainly visited by local residents rather than tourists.
As they entered and started walking, the park felt much larger. The trees were dense, giving the feeling of entering a small forest.
Entering through the quiet south entrance, they slowly began to walk along the promenade on the edge of the park towards the pond.
“Do you want mine? Do you want to drink?”
Song Hyun-soo, who had taken a sip of the water he bought on the way, handed it to Yoon Joo-ho.
“No, I’m okay.”
“Aren’t you thirsty?”
Yoon Joo-ho shook his head.
“What did you do while I was gone?”
“I had some time to myself.”
“Did you go out somewhere?”
“Just. Here and there.”
Song Hyun-soo glanced back. Two bodyguards in casual clothes so as not to be conspicuous were following at a distance.
“Did you go out with the bodyguards?”
“I did.”
“What about lunch?”
“I didn’t eat anything as delicious as you. You seemed to be having a lot of fun?”
Passing a bench where a couple was sitting side by side, the two entered a narrower path.
“It’s not that I was having fun… I was just happy to see hyung after a year.”
“Are you okay now?”
“With what?”
“Jung Ji-in. Are you not bothered by him anymore?”
It was an unexpected remark. Song Hyun-soo stopped walking without realizing it and widened his eyes.
“What. Do you want me to be bothered?”
“It’s not that…”
Seeing Yoon Joo-ho’s expression, which was uncharacteristically vague, made him feel even worse.
He had made such a fuss because of the past. Now that he seemed okay, did he want him to be jealous? Song Hyun-soo chuckled this time. Ah, a difficult man.
Looking around, he caught up with him, who was two or three steps ahead, and gently took his hand. Yoon Joo-ho looked down at Song Hyun-soo with a surprised expression, as Song Hyun-soo had been wary of being recognized whenever Yoon Joo-ho approached him first in Paris.
“Sunbae.”
“Yeah.”
“What if I said I liked someone else?”
“Was it that guitar-playing bastard?”
Yoon Joo-ho frowned as if he was about to run out to find ‘that bastard’ right away.
“Just imagine it, imagine.”
“Why would I imagine something like that?”
“Even though you know I’m sleeping with and dating that man, will you have the patience to slowly try to win me back?”
Yoon Joo-ho, who had been lost in thought, opened his mouth.
“Can I be honest?”
Nod.
“No matter who it is, you can’t date or sleep with that bastard.”
“Why? If I want to, I will.”
“Unfortunately, I have no intention of breaking up with you, whether you like another guy or not.”
A runner in sportswear with earphones in his ears passed by the two. To make way, the two moved closer to each other. As they started walking again in that state, Song Hyun-soo said.
“That’s why I’m okay now.”
“With what.”
“You were weak to me from the beginning.”
“Who?”
“You, sunbae. To me.”
“Think whatever you want.”
“You chased after me right away and asked me to date you because I ran away.”
“……”
“You can’t stand me going to another man, even for 5 minutes.”
“……”
“No matter what happens, you won’t give me up.”
Yoon Joo-ho stopped walking. Song Hyun-soo also stopped two or three steps ahead and looked back.
Without letting go of his hand, Yoon Joo-ho silently looked at his lover.
A great wind swept through the tall trees above their heads. Shuaaa, it was as if he was facing Yoon Joo-ho in the middle of the rain.
“I told you.”
“What did you say.”
“I’m secretly confident in sunbae’s love for me.”