SWAP 48

“…What? How are you awake?”

Even without looking back, the familiar scent of his body made all the tension drain out of me. Since he was usually the type to open his eyes late around noon, Seoul asked with genuine wonder. Hadn’t he confirmed the man was sleeping dead to the world before coming out? He had even restored the room temperature, which had risen by about 3 degrees because of him, back to normal.

But why was he awake?

Feeling somewhat guilty, Seoul was just about to surreptitiously put down the knife he was holding.

Without any particular answer, Seo Saheon, who was leaning against Seoul, spat out a single syllable in a voice thick with sleep.

“…Ah.”

Understanding immediately with just that, Seoul picked up the knife he had put down. At any other point, it might have looked like a scene from a thriller, but of course, no crazy development like swinging the blade occurred. Seoul simply finished peeling the apple in his left hand, sliced it into bite-sized pieces, and handed one back over his shoulder. Then Saheon, who hadn’t even opened his eyes, accepted and ate it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Crunch, crunch.

As the sound of rhythmic chewing faded, the next slice was automatically refilled.

After this continued for a while, and Seoul eventually fed him the last piece, Saheon took it with his lips and slowly pulled his body back from where he was leaning to say:

“I’ll be back. One hour.”

“Okay.”

In perfect timing, the moka pot began to boil. After washing his hands, which were covered in apple juice, Seoul quickly turned off the induction power and turned around to get some ice. By then, Saheon had already disappeared out the front door, leaving only a dumbfounded Ye Juyeol in his wake. Whether that was the case or not, Seoul headed toward the freezer nonchalantly, while Ye Juyeol’s confusion only grew.

What did I just see…?

Unable to control his hanging jaw, Ye Juyeol gaped and mentally replayed the scene from a moment ago.

So, it was around the time when he was wiggling his butt on the chair like a dog that needed to go outside, suppressing his burning desire to go stand by Seoul’s side just as Seoul had expected. He thought he heard a door opening and closing, and when he whipped his gaze toward the stairs, two long legs soon came sauntering out. When the legs—which felt like they should have ended long ago—finally finished and revealed the waist, upper body, and face, Ye Juyeol thought to himself: Wow. It’s true that models are chosen by the heavens.

He himself had never felt lacking in height anywhere he went, but this person’s proportions were different from the start.

Even though he was just wearing ordinary training pants and a thin cotton T-shirt, seeing the stylishness of Seo Saheon made a joke he had heard once play back in his head.

They say that due to the nature of the modeling profession where the main clothing must be emphasized, being too handsome is actually treated as a flaw; however, people said that only because he was “unusually pretty.” They say that if someone is “unrivaled” in their good looks, people lose their words, and that story was right.

Yesterday, because he was so thrilled to be filming with Seoul, he hadn’t paid much attention to Saheon, but seeing him today, he was impressed all over again. Thinking there was a reason Saheon was able to take the ambassador position for the snooty Carde, Ye Juyeol sent a wave of respect internally and gave a quick nod to Saheon as he approached. And that was all.

“…….”

“…….”

Yes, this was exactly the point that was strange.

If it were his usual self, he would have been busy running over to someone he gave two thumbs up to, striking up a conversation and clinging to them. But strangely, he couldn’t do that with Seo Saheon. His heart just didn’t beat that way, and to take it a step further, it was even a bit eerie.

Is this that “Mr. S Vibe” or whatever people talk about?

Since there were cameras everywhere and they were wearing microphones, they couldn’t exactly share their opinions, but Yun Hyeok seemed to have a similar impression. Take what happened last night, for instance. Just thinking about that eye contact—which he feared would appear in his dreams—made him break into a cold sweat.

Anyway, since that Seo Saheon had come out to the living room, it meant his one-on-one talk show with Seoul was as good as gone again. He should have just said let’s talk more instead of drinking coffee. While he was whining internally even though he knew it was useless to regret it now, it happened.

“…?”

Let’s overlook the fact that the two only exchanged a nod.

However, he couldn’t just pass over that act of sticking to Seoul’s back so closely—far too closely.

Since the man was well over 190 cm, from this angle, it created an optical illusion that made it look almost like he was giving a back hug. Fortunately, he barely managed to register that it was just a posture where Saheon had his hands in his pockets and simply leaned his upper body to rest his face on Seoul’s shoulder…. But no matter how you looked at it, amidst a scene that appeared scandalous, the sound of something being chewed soon echoed.

While he was wide-eyed, thinking surely it’s not what I think it is, Seo Saheon slowly moved away from Seoul, pushed the remaining apple into his mouth, and turned around. Whether he was still half-asleep or not, he crunched the apple with his eyes half-closed and headed straight out of the kitchen toward the entrance. And then, before anyone could even say a word, he just whipped himself outside.

It was when he was alternating his gaze between the two of them, dazed by the sudden escape.

Seoul, who had placed a glass of iced Americano full of ice and a plate with two slices of apple—he wasn’t sure when they had been peeled—side by side on the table, spoke.

“I thought your stomach might be sour on an empty stomach. Eat just these two pieces and then drink.”

“Uh….”

“Why? Do you not like apples?”

Not like them? In Ye Juyeol’s dictionary, there were foods he was unfamiliar with, but there was no such thing as a food he hated. When he immediately shook his head and declared he could eat a whole box, Seoul just gave a little laugh. He seemed to think it was a joke.

“Um… but why did he go out just now?”

Mr. Saheon? Saheon hyung? When he actually tried to refer to him, there wasn’t a single word that felt right, so he just skipped it entirely. While popping a neatly peeled apple slice into his mouth with a fork, he gestured with his eyes toward the front door, and Seoul, who was taking a sip of his own coffee, said “ah” and explained with a smile.

“Morning jog. Once that guy wakes up, he always goes for a run for an hour. His usual life pattern is a bit irregular, so I thought he’d wake up late, but for some reason he woke up early today. When he gets back later, let’s wake up Hyeok and have breakfast together.”

“…….”

“…Why? Is there a menu you want to eat?”

Is it really possible to act like that if you live together for about nine years?

Seeing Seoul look so unbothered, Ye Juyeol fell into deep thought for a moment. If he were to assume that he and Yun Hyeok did what just happened…. Just imagining it was such a disaster that a faint crease formed between his brows. Forget feeding each other; he felt like they would fight by throwing punches to the solar plexus while asking each other what kind of disgusting thing they were doing. And in the first place, Hyeok-ssi can’t even put his chin on my shoulder.

It was when he was spilling those unhelpful imaginations on the floor like fallen leaves. Seoul, who had been staring curiously at Ye Juyeol’s brooding face, spoke as if he had remembered something.

“Oh, come to think of it, did you have those in your room too? Ttuttu and Ttatta.”

Gasp. At that question, Ye Juyeol, who had been following his thoughts for over five minutes unlike his usual self, snapped his head up. He had been terrified because of those yesterday. Changing from a serious face to a completely aggrieved expression, Ye Juyeol began to pour out words in a rush. It was a change of topic at the level of swiping through short-form videos.

“Yes! Are they in your room too? We thought they were just cushions and got tricked, then turned off the light and ooh…! We both screamed at dawn, but you didn’t hear us, did you?”

“Huh?”

“We hung out a bit late yesterday. So we didn’t know anything and just turned off the light to sleep, and wow. Their faces suddenly floated up in glow-in-the-dark, and I almost fainted. They looked so normal that I didn’t suspect them at all, I’m so annoyed…!”

“Cushions? Ours are dolls.”

When Seoul corrected him, realizing they were describing different items, Ye Juyeol’s eyes went wide like a rabbit’s and he hurried to pull out his phone. How terrified he had been, thinking the cushions were possessed by evil spirits. In particular, Ttuttu’s despicably grinning expression was the highlight, so he had even taken a photo.

Showing a “ghost photo” at the very front of his album to Seoul, who was making a confused expression, Ye Juyeol cried out.

“Ah, look at this…! I don’t even think these are for sale; I think the production team just made them to tease us!”

Exactly as he said, on the screen with a pitch-black background, the cushions containing the souls of Ttuttu and Ttatta were glowing. It was certainly a visual that would make anyone freak out if they encountered it at night without a second thought. Although these were the children who would later proudly enter the top of the sales rankings after being filmed for “Top 5 Recommended Useless Gifts,” the Ye Juyeol of this moment did not know that. Seoul, who was staring quietly at the screen, unlocked his phone and said:

“The ones in our room are cute, though.”

“Gasp. Did you take a picture? I want to see, I want to see!”

They could have just opened each other’s room doors later, but what was important to Ye Juyeol right now was building rapport with his favorite. Juyeol, who stole a glance at the beaming Seoul, also turned his gaze toward the screen with an excited face. No, just how cute did they make them for him to….

“Look, cute, right?”

“…….”

…What is that?