By Zephyria 
They touched.
“Stop being so scared.”
It was the tip of the nose, not the lips.
Kwon Mi-eon’s low chuckle tickled his ear. He playfully rubbed their touching noses together.
His eyes curved into a small smile, and his lips were relaxed. However, there was something Mo Yeon-hu was more concerned about than the soft sensation against the tip of his nose.
‘…I thought he was going to kiss me.’
How could he have such a crazy thought? He had just expected Kwon Mi-eon to kiss him, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
‘Huh? Natural?’
Am I insane? Why on earth would I think that’s natural?
“Hyung, do you sleep with your eyes open?”
Kwon Mi-eon asked curiously, perhaps finding it strange that Mo Yeon-hu had frozen with his eyes wide open, but he didn’t have the confidence to voice the thoughts in his head, nor the confidence to let them show.
“I-I don’t know. When did I pretend to sleep? I actually just woke up…. I’m sleepy, so I’m going to sleep. Stop joking around.”
Mo Yeon-hu squeezed his eyes shut and abruptly turned away. Kwon Mi-eon watched him roll away, wrapped tightly in the blanket, and reached out.
“Alright.”
With a small laugh, he hugged Mo Yeon-hu, though more loosely than before. As Mo Yeon-hu looked down, he saw the large hand gripping him.
“Goodnight, Hyung.”
It felt loose, yet he didn’t let go completely. The breath from the man pressed tightly against his back kept hitting the nape of his neck, sending shivers down his spine. Soon after, the steady sound of Kwon Mi-eon’s breathing indicated he had fallen asleep, but….
‘Crazy.’
Mo Yeon-hu was still covered in goosebumps, and because he was so conscious of Kwon Mi-eon behind him, he couldn’t fall asleep. It was only natural. The thing he understood least right now was his own behavior.
It felt strange how his heart was thumping as if he had just done a heavy workout, and he tried to escape Kwon Mi-eon’s embrace several times, but then—
“Mmm.”
As Kwon Mi-eon tossed and turned, the thick arm entwining him made his strength vanish, leaving him unable to move an inch.
“Move this hand… and….”
Eventually, he would try to push him away strongly, telling him to move, but then—
“Hyung….”
Whenever he felt Kwon Mi-eon burrowing in again, his heart would race wildly because of the breath touching his neck….
“Hyung, what’s wrong with your face? Did you not sleep? Those dark circles are….”
He hadn’t slept a single wink until the morning sun rose!
Unlike Mo Yeon-hu’s hollowed-out appearance, which clearly showed he had stayed up all night, Kwon Mi-eon looked refreshed.
His smooth, glowing face seemed to radiate a halo from early morning, but looking at that face, Mo Yeon-hu became certain.
Seeing his heart, which had finally calmed down, start racing wildly again, it was clear that he—
“Hyung?”
…definitely had a Kwon Mi-eon phobia.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“I want to ask you something.”
Of the two sitting side by side silently staring at the monitor, Kwon Mi-eon was the first to speak, as if he could no longer endure the silence.
With the sound of wheels rolling, Kwon Mi-eon turned his chair completely toward Mo Yeon-hu.
“You said you had something to go grab….”
As soon as Mo Yeon-hu had stood up, he said he felt like he had to go home. Kwon Mi-eon, who had been about to ask him to eat breakfast together, had no choice but to let him go after seeing that haggard face.
“What on earth is with that look?”
This was the result.
Kwon Mi-eon’s bewildered gaze swept over Mo Yeon-hu. He was currently sitting in front of the monitor with a thick blanket draped over his head, wearing a mask and a pair of deep black sunglasses—where he had even found them, he didn’t know.
“Can you even see the screen?”
It was absurd enough that he had come dressed in some kind of veteran look from a game, but seeing him sit in front of the monitor like that made it even more ridiculous.
“What’s wrong with it? I like it.”
“‘What’s wrong’ is your response right now? Anyone can see you look strange, Hyung.”
“It’s not strange at all.”
“Look at me. Take off the sunglasses.”
Because Mo Yeon-hu remained composed to the end, Kwon Mi-eon eventually pushed off his chair and strode toward him as if to check for himself. Did wearing a veteran look increase one’s stats?
“Ha?”
Swoosh—!
Kwon Mi-eon’s eyebrow twitched. Mo Yeon-hu had very quickly rolled his chair to avoid his hand. And that was only the beginning.
Zip, swoosh, zip!
As if he had spent his entire life pushing a chair, Mo Yeon-hu nimbly dodged away from Kwon Mi-eon. However, Kwon Mi-eon was not a man who gave up.
After stubbornly closing the distance.
“Nowhere left to run, huh?”
“…….”
Mo Yeon-hu’s back hit the wall. Only then did Mo Yeon-hu open his mouth, which had been shut until now.
“I have a suggestion.”
“A suggestion?”
Though he flinched at that chilly voice, Mo Yeon-hu pushed up his slipping sunglasses and held out his palm with dignity.
“Listen from there.”
He gave a clear sign of rejection, telling him not to come closer.
“You know, uh.”
Only after Kwon Mi-eon stared at him as if he were willing to wait for the hesitating man did he finally speak.
“Should we… keep some distance for a while?”
Mo Yeon-hu barely managed to get the words out. Kwon Mi-eon didn’t react immediately. He looked down at him silently, and then let out a scoff of disbelief.
“What? Distance?”
At the sudden frightening expression and menacing tone, Mo Yeon-hu felt an urge to run away. But this time, he didn’t intend to let it slide just because he was scared.
‘This is the right way.’
This was the result of his deliberation all night. For example, if you are afraid of bugs, doesn’t your body freeze, your heart race, and do you get goosebumps and want to run away the moment you get near one?
‘I have a Kwon Mi-eon phobia.’
That was exactly how he felt when he saw Kwon Mi-eon.
He froze just by looking at his face, his heart kept racing, and he even got goosebumps when the man got close to him.
‘I just want to bolt….’
In truth, he wanted to get far away from Kwon Mi-eon, but was he in a situation where he could do that? Between the spy issue and Ms. Mi-yeong… there were too many things weighing on his mind.
‘So I have to adapt first while keeping some distance from Kwon Mi-eon.’
Believing that things would improve if they spent time together, he had to take these thorough precautions if he wanted to spend a peaceful gaming life until then.
Of course, he intended to explain this well to Kwon Mi-eon, but….
“Explain yourself properly.”
Facing Kwon Mi-eon’s face head-on, the words ‘Kwon Mi-eon phobia’ simply would not come out!
“Cough, cough.”
In times like this, Plan B. Mo Yeon-hu, who had intended to be honest, quickly changed course, covered his mouth, and coughed.
“Cough, cough. Cough-cough….”
It was a very clumsy cough.
“No, I think I might have a cold. Maybe it’s because I slept in a different place yesterday, but my body feels strange, so I suggested we play the game with some distance so you don’t catch it from me….”
The problem was the acting tone, which was beyond awkward—it was robotic. It felt as if a TTS voice would have sounded more natural.
“A-and I think it might be contagious, so I really don’t think we should be close….”
Since he was trying so hard, Kwon Mi-eon let out a hollow laugh.
“Hyung. Yesterday, by any chance….”
Just as he was about to say something.
Ding—! A sharp notification sound rang out. At the sound, which was higher pitched than usual, Mo Yeon-hu’s eyes widened, and Kwon Mi-eon’s head turned slightly.
This was because this notification sound usually played when an emergency announcement arrived.
“Hyung.”
Of course, Kwon Mi-eon, looking back at Mo Yeon-hu, still seemed to have unfinished business with him.
“Uh, shouldn’t we check that quickly?!”
Mo Yeon-hu, however, was not. Seeing him desperately fix his gaze on the monitor, Kwon Mi-eon eventually parted his lips, let out a deep sigh, and returned to his seat.
“……It’s the announcement notification.”
It was obvious to anyone that he knew and was just playing along, but Mo Yeon-hu didn’t think he was being indulged; instead, his face brightened as he nodded.
“Yeah, let’s check it quickly!”
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