By Zephyria “Am I the only one on a diet? Our members are working even harder. Can’t you see how skinny those guys are?”
“……”
Sung Se-han rolled his eyes to scan the members and then looked back at me.
“Is Sky Blue’s debut song a skeleton concept?”
“What?”
This bastard, I’ve been holding back…! I already had a fever, but as the heat rose to the top of my head, I felt dizzy.
“Tae-kyung Hyung…!”
Soo-in, who was next to me, tried to support my shoulder, but a faster hand grabbed my body.
Huh…?
The Cologne scent rushed in, and my face touched a solid shoulder. A strong arm tightly wrapped around my stiffened back.
And a large hand wrapped around my neck and pressed down.
I forgot to breathe and just blinked blankly.
Thump. Thump. Thump. The sound of a rapidly beating heart. Only after pressing my ear tightly against his solid body did the tension slowly leave my body.
A familiar scent and a wide embrace hugged me without hesitation. It was Sung Se-han, alive and kicking.
But why am I so uneasy…?
Sung Se-han hugged my trembling body tightly. My shoulders, which were not at all small, were completely submerged in Sung Se-han’s arms.
“Ha… Lee Tae-kyung is just skin and bones now.”
I squeezed my eyes shut at the voice whispering in my ear.
“I’ll take care of Tae-kyung, so everyone else can go out.”
And I gritted my teeth. Because if I didn’t, something would burst out right away.
“Then… Se-han, Tae-kyung needs to rest, so put him to sleep.”
The members quietly left the room, and soon I heard the sound of the door closing.
“Hng…!”
I couldn’t hold back any longer and ended up making a sobbing sound. Sung Se-han’s hand, which was stroking my back, stopped abruptly.
“Lee Tae-kyung.”
He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away from him. But I kept my head down and didn’t show my face.
“Lee Tae-kyung, lift your face.”
Sung Se-han tried to twist my face to check my expression, but I turned my head this way and that to avoid him.
“What’s wrong.”
Sung Se-han finally grabbed my chin with one hand and forced me to look at him. I didn’t want to show him my ugly crying face, so I pushed his hand away with both hands.
“Ugh, this sucks….”
It sucks that I can’t beat his brute strength, and it sucks that my tears won’t stop. Everything just sucked.
“Tae-kyung, I need you to tell me what’s wrong so I can know.”
Sung Se-han’s voice was soft as if he was trying to soothe me, but the hand holding my chin was firm. I kept resisting to avoid him, but I ended up meeting his brown eyes.
“You’re not crying because you’re in pain. Right?”
He wasn’t trying to coax me. He didn’t hide the fact that he was frowning fiercely and forcibly holding back his anger.
“Should I go out and ask the members?”
I shook my head urgently when I saw his brown eyes flashing. What was he going to do to the innocent kids…!
“Then you tell me. The reason you’re crying.”
The hand holding my face gradually tightened. I closed my eyes tightly and let the remaining tears flow.
I was too scared.
I couldn’t say that I was going crazy because I was so scared that this moment, with you alive, might be a dream.
“I’m just… tired….”
Even to my own ears, my voice sounded too pathetic.
Shit. Sung Se-han took a rough breath that made his shoulders shake. I suddenly had the feeling that I had said something wrong.
“Hoo.”
Sung Se-han, who had been catching his breath for a moment, met my gaze.
“Tell me what’s making you tired. I’ll help you.”
A large hand that seemed like it would cover my entire face gently wiped away my tears. I opened my eyes and looked straight at the brown eyes in front of me.
Those cold eyes that were pretending to be worried now, but shone with a resolute sharpness when you left me.
“Sung Se-han.”
Yeah. Sung Se-han tilted his head as if he was ready to listen. I faced his beautiful face, which was perfect in every way, from very close.
After you left, everything was hard for me.
“Back then… when you said you were leaving the company, if I had stopped you.”
Maybe if I didn’t have a fever, if I was in a completely normal state, I wouldn’t have brought up these words.
“Didn’t he leave? Or did he stay in our team…?”
He probably wanted to use his fever as an excuse to receive some pathetic comfort.
I had first learned about Sung Se-han leaving Global and going to Century Entertainment through an article. I was so betrayed that I didn’t even listen to what he had to say when he came to find me.
I just told him to go and live well, spitting out harsh words.
But the truth was different. I believed that there was no way he would leave me, that he would soon apologize and come back. I wanted to believe that.
I didn’t know he was the kind of guy who would leave so easily.
For a while, I blamed myself. If I had listened to him and stopped him, maybe…
“Tae-kyung.”
Sung Se-han’s cold fingers touched my hot ear.
“Going to Century Entertainment was my choice. No matter what I did, the outcome wouldn’t have changed.”
His voice was as firm as the day he told me he was leaving our team.
Ah, right. You were that kind of guy.
A heartless bastard who never once apologized even after leaving.
But now, I can’t even call you a heartless and selfish bastard.
Because you walk straight ahead without hesitation in the direction you want, and even your back view is dazzling. Because I can’t deny it anymore.
“Yeah.”
I didn’t want to show that I was hurt, but I couldn’t help it. I shook off his hand that was touching my ear and lowered my head.
“I must be really sick. I’m saying all sorts of useless things.”
“Tae-kyung.”
His hand, which had been removed, landed on the back of my neck. I couldn’t bring myself to push away the cold hand that was cooling down my hot neck.
“I’ll help you.”
“Help me with what…”
When I left him alone, his long fingers stroked my neck here and there, causing my shoulders to tense up.
“Anything.”
So, what are you going to help me with?
Sung Se-han’s hands kept touching my neck and shoulders, making me more and more uncomfortable. It was awkward to tell him to take his hand away now, but if I just left it, it would get worse and worse…
“The Perfect Puzzle song that was set aside for the next song, should I give you Sky Blue?”
What…? I raised my head abruptly. What is he talking about?
Sung Se-han tilted his head and looked into my eyes. Even then, he was touching my ear and neck at the same time with his other hand.
“I’ll arrange it to suit you, how about it?”
Sung Se-han’s glittering brown eyes had never looked so crazy as they did now.
“Hey, you crazy bastard!”
I was so angry that I was about to faint. Before I collapsed from anger, I grabbed a pillow and hit him with it.
“You, crazy bastard! Who said I wanted something like that! Is this the time for jokes? Huh?”
“Ah, ouch. It’s not a joke…”
“Shut up! Please shut up!”
Thwack! Thwack! Even though I hit him hard with the pillow, Sung Se-han couldn’t help but laugh, as if he was enjoying it.
Seeing how angry I am, it seems like this isn’t a dream. No matter how much of a Sung Se-han he is, he wouldn’t act like this in a dream.
Damn it, you jerk! Thwack! Because I was too excited, I accidentally hit his face.
“Gasp!”
Sung Se-han, who was covering his face, collapsed onto my lap.
“Se, Se-han! Are you okay?”
I was so flustered that I didn’t know what to do, but Sung Se-han started to shake his shoulders.
“Keuh, Puhahaha!”
Because Sung Se-han was lying down and laughing, I looked up at the ceiling.
I needed a breathing technique to calm my mind right now.
To do that, I need to sit in a lotus position, but this jerk won’t get off my lap.
“Then, how about this.”
Sung Se-han, who suddenly got up, roughly swept back his disheveled hair.
“Wh, what!”
It was hard to handle this guy, so I slowly backed away. Maybe the only way for me to live is to not deal with him.
“‘Prince of the Ring’ limited edition figure.”
What…? My mouth dropped open. Prince of the Ring limited edition…! It was a rare item that I had been looking for on used item sites and auction sites for years but couldn’t find.
The original price was close to a million won, but when it came up for auction a few years ago, it was going for three million won, so I had given up on bidding altogether.
“That…? Could it be…?”
My pupils must be shaking as much as my voice is trembling.
“I’ve been lurking for about six months.”
Sung Se-han, resting one hand on the bed, arrogantly raised his chin.
“A limited edition of a thousand worldwide. I got the Prince of the Ring figure with item number 8 out of those.”
“Number 8? Wow… that’s crazy!”
Without realizing it, I put my hands together in a humble posture. I couldn’t believe it. That precious limited edition Prince of the Ring, which only a few people in Korea own…
“But Se-han, you’re not interested in that kind of thing. Why did you get it?”
I sat close to Sung Se-han and asked him as if I was interrogating him. No one could blame me if my face looked expectant. This is too obvious!
“I’ve become a little interested too.”
What? My head tilted. The guy who was stroking his chin with his fingers glanced at me.