SWAP 59

“You’re working unnecessarily hard on something you could just snap a few shots of and be done with.”

Saheon, who just a few minutes ago had been filming Seoul with his whole heart and soul, completely forgot his own actions and spoke while intentionally controlling his expression.

He didn’t have any hobby of acting charming in front of the camera; he was just acting a bit prickly because he found Lee Seoul—who was peering intently at his reflection through the lens—so cute.

“…Why aren’t you smiling?”

Just as expected. Saheon had looked like he was about to smile only to suddenly turn stone-faced out of spite. Seoul, who had been working hard to find an angle that would look pretty, snapped his head up and asked. His bewildered eyes were unnecessarily clear. That pure gaze of someone who naturally trusts that Saheon will follow his lead; the gaze that Saheon himself had made him have.

Because he loved that gaze so much it made him feel ticklish, Saheon spoke even more casually.

“There has to be something worth smiling about for me to smile.”

“Suddenly…? You smile just fine usually.”

“I do?”

Saheon, who hadn’t thought that far, asked back in wonder. It wasn’t that he was unaware of himself smiling, but he looked as if he didn’t realize it happened often enough to warrant the adverb “just fine.”

At that, Seoul answered as if Saheon were saying the strangest thing.

“Yeah. You smile well. You act slick sometimes, too.”

Or is it often? When Seoul spoke with the nuance that it was a bit confusing because Saheon mostly spent his time trying to tease him, Saheon, who almost let a chuckle slip, shifted into a look of “Oh, really?” He wondered why a comment like that would make him laugh, but the one laughing at it was him. Because that realization was funny in itself, he confessed lightly.

“I guess my smiles are cheap for you.”

When he added that they weren’t just cheap but practically a bargain, the expression on Seoul’s face, which had been clutching the camera tightly, soon turned playful. Then, he asked quite solemnly.

“How much?”

“…What?”

“The smiling. Don’t you do it if I pay you money?”

He seemed to be recalling what had happened at the center just moments ago. He was turning the table on Saheon, using the same joke Saheon had calmly made to Ye Juyeol when asked if he could touch his forearm: “If you pay me.” Earlier, Seoul had looked at him like he was talking nonsense, and now he was doing it himself. Even so, Saheon played along immediately.

“I don’t know. How much should I get, Seoul?”

“Hmm… I’ll give you a thousand won. Swipe it on the corporate card.”

“…That won’t work because of the transaction fees.”

“Then you can just swipe it including the fees.”

We have plenty of money anyway. When Seoul spoke confidently, mentioning the budget that had been doubled, Saheon finally lost. Laughing with an incredulous expression, he asked Seoul, who immediately held up the camera, in a grumbling tone.

“Lee Seoul. Am I worth a thousand won to you?”

“No.”

“Then how much?”

“…Ten thousand won?”

“You, come here.”

“Agh!” Avoiding Saheon as he took a long stride toward him, Seoul dashed forward and ran quite a distance away. Even while doing so, he whipped around, capturing Saheon fully in the lens while grinning broadly. “You’re the one who said it was cheap. I’ll give you ten thousand won, so smile exactly ten times, Saheon.”

“……”

Was it because of the sunlight?

Because that sight was strangely dazzling, Saheon also lifted his camera.

He captured Lee Seoul—who must have been caught in someone’s lens hundreds or thousands of times already—in sharp focus. He manipulated the buttons just as he had hurriedly learned from the staff to pull the distant boy toward him.

Closer. Just a span closer.

As the angle zoomed in more and more, the expression on Seoul’s face began to vanish. Seeing the face where the bouquet-like smile had disappeared, replaced by a look where only the corners of his mouth twitched awkwardly, Seoul naturally turned his head and spoke.

“Stop filming and come here quickly. We won’t be able to go home at this rate.”

“……”

“…Saheon?”

Thinking it was strange that no answer came back, Seoul turned his head again. Saheon had already lowered the camera and was staring his way. Not knowing why he was acting like that, Seoul tilted his head and then slightly lifted his chin to look up. The piercing sunlight blurred his vision, so he squeezed his eyelids shut and looked forward.

Did he melt because it’s too hot?

Come to think of it, it seemed like the clouds had disappeared more than before.

Since he himself had a constitution that was less affected by heat, he wasn’t as sensitive as Saheon, so he walked all the way back the way he came. As it happened, there was a cafe not far away. It wasn’t like they were particularly pressed for time, and thinking he should get Saheon under some air conditioning to freeze him back up, Seoul grabbed Saheon’s wrist and pulled.

“……?”

But he stopped before even taking a few steps.

Rather than being pulled, Saheon stood rooted to the spot and wouldn’t budge. Seoul, forced to stop walking because of him, asked in flustered confusion.

“Why? Can’t you walk? Is it that hot?”

“……”

“Sorry, I’ll buy you a drink. There’s a cafe over there, so let’s stop by.”

“Lee Seoul.”

“What. …Do you really want a piggyback ride?”

But can I even carry you? To be honest, half of him lacked the confidence, so Seoul hesitated, but soon, as if he had made a decision, he turned his back. Signaling that he would at least try, he pulled the wrist he was holding and draped it over his own neck; then, he heard a low voice along with the sound of a huff of laughter.

“Seoul. Are you saying we should roll around on the asphalt together?”

“Hey, it’s not that bad…”

“Even though you always whimper that I’m heavy.”

Well, that’s obvious. Seoul’s expression turned indignant in an instant. What else could he do when someone with that physique pressed down on him? Saheon would even press down hard on purpose, leaving Seoul with nothing to say except an annoyed “get off.” It’s absurd that the one with the bad habit grumbles without any intention of fixing it.

It was the moment Seoul, with furrowed brows, was about to whip his body around with the resolve to give him a piece of his mind. Before he could, Saheon, who had his arm wrapped around Seoul’s shoulder, began to move forward.

“Wait, wait—” In an instant, Seoul found himself in front of the cafe he had pointed out. He looked up with wide eyes, but it was no use. The glass door had already opened with a cling. Dragged along into the cafe by the voice of the clerk welcoming them, Seoul finally gained his freedom only after they reached an empty table. It wasn’t even teleportation. As he sat down with a dazed expression, Saheon, sitting opposite him, asked calmly.

“Iced, hot. Pick.”

“…Iced.”

“Stay seated.”

With that, Saheon stood up again in an instant and headed toward the counter.

Seoul blinked at that large back, and having belatedly come to his senses, he picked up the hand-cam that had been pointing at the floor. He worried about whether he should delete the footage since it must have been shaking all over the place as he was dragged along… but he couldn’t do that because the front part contained Saheon’s smiling face.

Well, I’m sure they’ll edit it appropriately for me.

Thinking that, he captured the sight of Saheon returning toward him on the screen. It felt like his expression was stiffer than before. Others might say it was the same expressionless face, but because they were an old pair, he could distinguish it easily.

“Are you in a bad mood?”

“Why?”

“Just…”

When Seoul trailed off quietly, Saheon, sitting opposite him, smiled and opened his mouth.

“Because it’s hot. But I’m okay now.”

“…Should we stay until the sun goes down?”

“How many cups of coffee are you planning to drink? Are you going to provide this place’s entire revenue by yourself, Seoul?”

“We can just order dessert.”

“And who’s going to eat it?”

“……”

Neither of them liked sweets that much.

If Yun Hyeok and Ye Juyeol were here at a time like this, they could have cleared out the display case. As soon as that thought occurred to him, Seoul had a lightbulb moment and quickly lifted the camera, speaking the thought out loud. He remained steadfast even under Saheon’s gaze, which looked at him as if asking why he was suddenly bringing those two up.

“We’re talking too much about just us.”

“Then what else should we do but talk about us?”

Seoul glared at Saheon, who was asking while resting his chin on the table as if he were saying something truly bizarre. Then, Seoul spoke as he caught a pretty angle and began filming again. This was because there was a scene he had set his mind on filming while they were coming here.

“Hurry up and leave a video message for the guys.”

“…Leave what?”

“They said you looked like a Grim Reaper at the parking lot earlier. Explain yourself.”

After they had escaped to the surface, the two of them had asked in trembling voices if he was truly okay. Seoul had felt even more apologetic, so he had patted them a few times before getting out, but the culprit himself had an expression that asked “so what?”

“Which of the two said that?”

“……”

Both had said it, but Seoul, being tactful, kept silent and tapped the lens with his fingertip. Under the silent pressure, Saheon thought for a moment with a “hmmm,” then looked toward the camera and pronounced each word clearly with an expressionless face.

“Ye Juyeol. Ye Juyeol. Ye Juyeol.”

“…What are you doing?”

“I’m calling the name for the Book of the Dead.”

“Are you crazy?” Horrified, Seoul instinctively covered the lens with his hand. Not that it changed anything, but he was so flustered he couldn’t help it.

How do I delete this…?

Seoul’s eyes shook like a magnitude 9 earthquake as he realized he hadn’t learned how to operate the camera to that extent.

Or should I just steal this and buy them a new one? If I say I accidentally dropped it in the sewer, will they believe me? While his mind was racing, Seo Saheon was nonchalant. Finding that unbelievable, Seoul finally set the hand-cam down on the table and spoke in a voice full of grievance.

“Are you really going to be like this? I came out here because I wanted to show people that you’re a good guy. But why won’t you cooperate?”

“What about me is ‘good’? I’m only decent in front of you.”

“……”

“And why do you want to show that? You’re the only one who needs to know the good things.”