By Zephyria 
Rustle. Jin Seon-yu picked up the shopping bag he had placed on an empty chair.
“Gi-jun told me to bring this to you as an apology.”
Seo Yi-kyung stared at the shopping bag Jin Seon-yu held out. He felt no need to know what was inside, nor any reason to accept it.
Seo Yi-kyung shook his head.
“There is no apology to accept, and I won’t take that either.”
Jin Seon-yu placed the shopping bag back by his side. Seo Yi-kyung’s expression was so resolute and firm that he couldn’t press the matter further.
“Alright. I brought it, but I already told him you might not accept it. Don’t worry about it.”
As Jin Seon-yu lifted his wine glass and held it forward, Seo Yi-kyung also lifted the glass beside him and lightly tapped it against the other. The two glasses met with a clear, ringing sound.
“My eldest Hyung wouldn’t even let me go outside, so it’s been a really long time since I’ve finally managed to get out.”
Seo Yi-kyung gazed blankly at Jin Seon-yu as he drank the wine. He lightly swirled the wine glass in his hand, catching a bit of the scent.
Suddenly, Seo Yi-kyung recalled an accident he had caused while drinking wine like it was water. It was when he had gone to meet Han Seung-jae’s parents. Contrary to his expectations, it had been a family banquet; he had been too nervous, and his heat cycle had coincided with the event.
“But aren’t you drinking too much?”
After the toast, Seo Yi-kyung had simply set his glass down without drinking. Thus, Jin Seon-yu was the only one continuously drinking wine.
“This much is no problem. Besides, it has a sweet fruity scent, so it’s easy to drink.”
* * *
…Stagger. As Jin Seon-yu entered the suite, his legs crossed in a zigzag. With the help of a staff member, he barely managed to lay himself down on the bed.
Following him in, Seo Yi-kyung thanked the departing staff member and placed Jin Seon-yu’s outerwear and the shopping bag, which he had been carrying, on the sofa.
Seo Yi-kyung approached the bed and called out to him repeatedly. Jin Seon-yu faintly lifted his eyelids. His cheeks were flushed.
Seo Yi-kyung sat on the edge of the bed and looked closely at Jin Seon-yu.
“Are you awake?”
“Ha… the ceiling is spinning.”
“What were you thinking, drinking all of that?”
A moment ago, Seo Yi-kyung had been startled to see Jin Seon-yu stagger as he stood up from the table. Barely maintaining his balance, Jin Seon-yu had held his head, repeatedly muttering, ‘Why am I so dizzy?’ He then claimed that if he went home like this, his eldest Hyung might beat him to death, and insisted on booking a suite.
“Yi-kyung, you go first.”
Jin Seon-yu’s eyelids, which had barely opened, slowly drifted shut.
“….”
Seo Yi-kyung let out a long sigh and reached out. Stroking Jin Seon-yu’s forehead, he undid a couple of buttons on his collar. It wasn’t a heat cycle. He had simply been swept up in the excitement of being outside for the first time in a while, drank all the wine, and collapsed in intoxication.
Step. Standing up, Seo Yi-kyung took off the jacket he was wearing. He drank a glass of water to moisten his dry throat. He tried to support Jin Seon-yu somehow, but there was no way he could handle a drunk person with just one arm. Therefore, he had no choice but to accept the staff’s help.
Filling a new glass with water and placing it by the bedside, Seo Yi-kyung looked out the wide window. The sunlight was streaming in long. There was still time before Han Seung-jae would finish work.
Seo Yi-kyung sat on the edge of the bed. Jin Seon-yu had come to pick up Seo Yi-kyung, who had nowhere to go, and despite his fear of Jin Tae-won, he had hidden Seo Yi-kyung and provided a place for him to sleep. Regardless of the outcome, he had struggled desperately to help. How could he leave such a person here and go alone?
‘…I thought Seung-jae was the one preventing him from meeting me.’
And there was something Seo Yi-kyung had realized while talking to Jin Seon-yu. He had thought Han Seung-jae was preventing the meeting, but it seemed he had been mistaken. Jin Seon-yu had been fussing and cursing, saying that Jin Tae-won was the one who wouldn’t let him go outside. That was also why he had drunk more wine than usual.
How long had he been like that?
Buzz— Seo Yi-kyung, who had been lying beside Jin Seon-yu, sat up. He walked around the bed, following the vibration of a phone. It wasn’t his. He checked Jin Seon-yu’s outerwear on the sofa.
When he pulled the phone out of the pocket, the words ‘Little Hyung’ appeared on the screen. Immediately, the image of the short-tempered Jin Seok-young flickered before Seo Yi-kyung’s eyes.
Seo Yi-kyung hesitated over whether to answer the phone and explain the situation. In the meantime, the vibration leaking from his palm abruptly stopped. Holding the phone, Seo Yi-kyung returned to the bed where Jin Seon-yu lay.
“Seon-yu.”
Seo Yi-kyung called him, but Jin Seon-yu didn’t budge.
Meanwhile, the phone vibrated again. Seo Yi-kyung pressed the answer button. He couldn’t just leave Jin Seon-yu here. Just as Seo Yi-kyung was about to speak, Jin Seok-young’s furious voice burst through the phone first.
[Hey! Where are you? Why aren’t you back?]
Seo Yi-kyung pulled the phone slightly away from his ear. It hurt as if his ear were about to fall off. Despite that, Jin Seok-young’s voice didn’t subside in the slightest.
[This bastard begged me to let him out for just two hours, so I let him go, and now you’re not coming home?]
Seo Yi-kyung pulled the phone back to his ear. If this continued, it would only be more troublesome for Jin Seon-yu. It would be better to explain the situation now. It seemed there was plenty of room to resolve the situation if he explained it calmly and persuaded him.
“Um.”
[Don’t even think about lying and saying you’re in your room. I’m on my way down after checking your room. Where are you? Why aren’t you here yet?]
“That…”
[Speak up. What are you going to do if Eldest Hyung finds out? Huh? I get beaten every time because of you!]
Jin Seok-young poured out his words tirelessly. Seo Yi-kyung slowly pressed the end-call button. It was an inevitable decision. Truly, Seo Yi-kyung had no other choice.
With his eloquence, he simply couldn’t keep up with Jin Seok-young’s relentless barrage of words. He was just angry without even taking a breath. It became clearer that he was not someone Seo Yi-kyung could persuade.
Clutching the phone tightly in his hand, Seo Yi-kyung shouted toward Jin Seon-yu.
“Seon-yu, wake up.”
Buzz—
With a clouded expression, Seo Yi-kyung looked down at the phone vibrating in his grip. He left the phone on the bed and shook Jin Seon-yu.
While Jin Seok-young only got angry and never actually laid a hand on Jin Seon-yu, Jin Tae-won was different. Seo Yi-kyung had met him at the Ivory Pavilion. Jin Tae-won had unhesitatingly grabbed Jin Seon-yu by the throat and tried to drag him away.
Thus, he could sufficiently guess what Jin Seok-young was worried about. Just as Jin Seok-young said, if Jin Tae-won saw Jin Seon-yu in this drunken state, not only would he prevent him from ever going outside again, but a disaster would ensue.
Using Jin Seon-yu’s finger, who absolutely would not wake up, Seo Yi-kyung unlocked the phone. He wanted to see if there was any way to save him before he was beaten to death. Seeing a message from Kwon Gwi-jun, whom he had been in contact with recently, he contemplated calling him.
Seo Yi-kyung knew very well that Gwi-jun liked Jin Seon-yu. That was why he had answered the phone at such an early hour, come out to buy breakfast, and tried to help Seo Yi-kyung.
Similarly, there was a high probability he would come running if called now.
However, Jin Seon-yu’s feelings were not yet clear. Therefore, he couldn’t contact Kwon Gwi-jun either. Seo Yi-kyung strongly hoped that Jin Seon-yu would meet someone who liked him more than anyone and could understand him.
At that moment, Seo Yi-kyung’s eyebrows furrowed gloomily. He grabbed a pillow and covered Jin Seon-yu’s phone as if it were a bomb.
“We’re in trouble, Seon-yu. Your Hyung keeps calling.”
For a while, Seo Yi-kyung desperately tried to wake Jin Seon-yu without answering the phone. He even tried placing a damp towel on Jin Seon-yu’s forehead. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed. Seo Yi-kyung looked back as a phone rang again. But this time, it wasn’t Jin Seon-yu’s.
Seo Yi-kyung sat up and looked down at his own phone. Han Seung-jae’s name filled his vision on the screen.
‘What should I do…’
Seo Yi-kyung looked back at Jin Seon-yu lying on the bed. Han Seung-jae had not been fond of him meeting Jin Seon-yu, and if he found out such a thing had happened, he might tell him not to meet him anymore.
But he couldn’t not answer the call. It was rare for Han Seung-jae to call personally. Usually, he gave instructions to Secretary Park. Wasn’t it Secretary Park who handled most of the affairs?
Seo Yi-kyung slowly pressed the answer button. Silence hung over the phone.
[…]
Because of this, Seo Yi-kyung went through the trouble of checking the screen to see if the call had been disconnected. However, the connection was still active.
Seo Yi-kyung held the phone to his ear and parted his lips.
“Seung-jae.”
Then, as if in response, Han Seung-jae’s cool, low voice came back.
[Will you come down? Or should I go up?]