SWAP 66

As a postscript, the address of a famous franchise store was attached, which was a clear PPL product placement to anyone’s eyes. It meant one of the four of them had to go make pizza eventually… but why did it have to be right now? His irritation surged as he glared at the red, flashing notification window, but the only thing that changed was the stopwatch. Seeing Saheon looking ready to split the phone in half rather than make pizza, Seoul finally spoke.

“…Take the car and go quickly. So we can eat as soon as the others arrive.”

“Lee Seoul. Do you like turning me into a pizza delivery guy?”

“Yes. I like it. I want to eat pepperoni.”

“…”

“I’ll eat two slices. Add a lot of toppings and deliver it.”

Saheon’s gaze shifted stiffly to the side. It was because he found it fascinating that Seoul, who usually had a small appetite, would declare first that he would eat two whole slices. Sure enough, despite his brazen answer, Seoul sat there fidgeting and sipping ice water. Guessing that the statement hadn’t been cleared with Seoul’s stomach, Saheon reached out without a word.

Even without this, the kid was already sleeping every night wrapped tightly in Saheon’s hoodies and blankets; Saheon was afraid he might catch a cold.

He snatched the mug with condensation on its surface and set it on the table.

After that, Saheon opened a bottle of water, pressed it into Seoul’s hand, and stood up from the sofa with a sigh. Thinking to himself that Lee Seoul was actually the most fox-like of them all if you looked closely, Saheon glanced down, only to see Seoul looking at him with a bright, innocent face.

“Take an umbrella. Don’t get hit by the rain…”

…Unless it was a torrential downpour, Saheon was the type to just dart through short distances. It seemed Seoul was worried he might head to the parking lot that way even now. The moment he heard those words, all the tension left Saheon’s body. Grinding his molars, Saheon’s hardened expression finally crumbled. What fox, my ass. He’s so soft-hearted, what am I going to do with him?

Saheon, the kind of person who would immediately throw a fit if anyone else joked about “using” him, was always like this when it came to Seoul.

Roughly sweeping back his unstyled hair, Saheon leaned down toward Seoul and muttered with a feigned ferocity.

“You just wait. I’m going to make five pepperoni pizzas and bring them back.”

“No, I said I’m only eating two slices…”

“Isn’t stacking several on top of each other still considered one slice? It’s up to the delivery man. Lee Seoul, be prepared to take digestive medicine before you sleep today.”

He threatened him fiercely, but it was a bluff no one would believe. Knowing full well that Saheon would just eat them in his place rather than let him get an upset stomach, Seoul simply nodded half-heartedly. Then, with an expression that hadn’t swallowed a single piece of fear, he urged Saheon on.

“I got it. I’ll find the digestive medicine, so just go quickly, you.”

“…”

Isn’t this basically being kicked out?

Picking up his car keys and umbrella with eyes full of dissatisfaction, Saheon kicked open the front door. Since things had turned out this way, there was nothing to do but go quickly and make whatever it was. Planning to pile the toppings as high as a mountain as per the order, Saheon used his long legs to clear the gate in an instant. The production crew hurriedly followed after him.

“…”

And so, the living room where even Saheon had disappeared.

Left all alone on the sofa, Seoul sat without the slightest movement for a long time.

Unlike the boisterous atmosphere from before, there was nothing but silence except for the occasional sound of rain. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes… Around the time the watching staff began to wonder if the screen had frozen because he was so still, it happened.

Seoul, who had been lost in thought for a long time with an unreadable expression, suddenly jerked his head up.

He glanced around his surroundings, then checked the time and let out a short groan.

He had momentarily forgotten he was filming. Unable to believe that 30 minutes had passed in the blink of an eye, Seoul rubbed his face and turned on the screen of the phone he was holding. There was still no word from Ye Juyeol and Yun Hyeok, who had said they were going to the convenience store. Since they had already exchanged numbers, he found Yun Hyeok’s name in his contacts and pressed the call button.

After the dial tone rang for a moment, a familiar voice came through from the other side.

— Hyung, I was actually just about to contact you.

“Yeah. Is something wrong? I called because I was worried.”

— Well, something did happen, but it’s nothing major. Because we exchanged each other here, right now we’re…

To summarize, after they exchanged each other for beer and snacks at the convenience store, they had simultaneously become the employee and the manager of that convenience store. They were told they had to work part-time for two hours, but they had only filled one hour so far. Yun Hyeok, muttering in an exhausted tone, soon secretly criticized Ye Juyeol for acting like a manager even though he couldn’t even process orders properly. As if adding credibility to that, Ye Juyeol’s voice came over the speaker, asking how he dared to make a phone call in a sacred workplace.

Having understood the general situation, Seoul laughed and replied.

“You’re both working hard. Keep it up, and I’ve ordered pizza, so let’s eat that for dinner later. Yeah. No, it’s fine. Just buy what you guys want to eat. Okay… I’m hanging up.”

Click. Looking at the screen after the call ended, the current time appeared.

7:15 PM.

Including Saheon, it seemed all three of them wouldn’t arrive until after 8:30 PM.

Left alone unexpectedly, Seoul glanced around once more. He hadn’t thought much of it when they were all together, but seeing it like this, he realized anew how spacious the place was. Since the house he lived in with Saheon had a similar duplex structure, he felt strangely emotional. Muttering to himself that this is how it would feel to live alone in the future, he involuntarily replayed the situation from earlier.

‘Yes, so my first kiss is also yet to happen.’

That one sentence Saheon had tossed out so casually. The hurt he had barely managed to swallow came rushing back again. Earlier, because there were other people present, he had desperately held it in, but not now. Feeling his throat grow hot, Seoul stood up and headed to the second floor. He grabbed some random clothes from the room and hurried into the bathroom.

Click.

As soon as the door closed, he removed his microphone and pushed the faucet handle all the way up.

Whoosh. The sound of rushing water filled the square space.

Only then could Seoul let out a small, ragged breath as he looked down at the sink. Unable to handle the pouring stream, more water pooled in the basin than drained out. Staring at it, he felt like a bigger fool for his behavior this morning.

The moment when he had been lost in thought alone, wondering if he should reconsider… because he was suddenly terrified of the time he would be left alone without Saheon.

Why did I do that?

His eyes stung, so he naturally bowed his head.

Even while telling himself not to delay any longer and to quit now, on the other hand, it seemed he had secretly… been hoping again. When he looked at every single action Saheon took that was exceptionally attentive only toward him, his heart kept thumping even though he told himself not to let it. It was embarrassing, but at times, it felt unfair. He felt that anyone would naturally be mistaken if called by that person with such a face and such a voice.

However, Saheon had driven a nail into it this time too, as if he had been waiting.

As if he had noticed Seoul’s misunderstanding, and with that same nonchalant face.

It felt like a warning in advance that there was nothing between the two of them, and that something like that wouldn’t even count as a kiss. Seoul knew he had hated it then, and he had apologized and promised never to do it again… but still, treating it as something that never happened right in front of him was a wound.

Normally, he probably would have just let it go.

He likely would have forced a smile and pretended to be fine, saying, “Yeah, me neither.”

But today… he was just suddenly so, so hurt, and yet there was nothing he could say. Even if it wasn’t for Saheon, that had been a first kiss for Seoul, and that’s how he thought of it. He thought it was okay to say at least that much… but seeing Saheon’s face as he got annoyed, asking what kind of first kiss that was, Seoul had felt a sudden surge of emotion.

So he had argued back, but the more he thought about it quietly, the more he realized it wasn’t Seo Saheon’s fault. From Saheon’s perspective, it was a shitty enough situation, and it was true that it was an incident he never wanted to bring up again. In the end, since it was his own fault, Seoul had no choice but to apologize quietly. At the same time, his stomach churned as he realized that he himself hadn’t changed at all since that time.

It was the same that day.

After the tedious heatwave ended and the seasons turned a couple of times, it was the middle of winter.

It was a point where the college entrance exams were all over, and all that remained was the graduation ceremony. Around the time when everyone was roaming around bars and clubs in excitement over the fact that they had just shed their “minor” labels, Seo Saheon fell ill with the flu for the first time in his life.

Of all times, it was during Seoul’s busiest period. He was in the middle of filming a movie with a director he had waited a full year to work with, so even though he heard the news, he couldn’t clear his schedule. By the time he barely finished and rushed over with a burning heart, it was already dawn several days later. Since they knew each other’s house passwords perfectly, he crept into Saheon’s room, killing his footsteps.

Until then, he didn’t have any particular ulterior motives. It was true he had realized his feelings in the infirmary, but the well-being of the supposedly dying Seo Saheon was more important than that. Saheon was a guy who normally loathed the heat, but after receiving a message from Seo Suran saying he had been suffering from a fever the whole time, Seoul had been restless all day. Having approached the bed with an armful of worries, he found Saheon asleep with a face that looked more decent than expected.

The fever seemed to have broken in the meantime.

Only after personally feeling Saheon’s forehead did Seoul’s tension release, and he slumped down beside the bed.

What a relief. I was so worried because a kid who never even caught a cold suddenly fell ill. Letting out a long sigh, Seoul peeked his head up and rested his chin on the bed. Once he caught his breath, other things finally came into view.

Come to think of it, how long had it been since he came to this room…?

He thought it was probably the first time since he realized his feelings for Saheon were not just simple friendship.

Part of it was because he was busy, but the bigger reason was that he felt strangely shy. Since everything from A to Z was filled with Saheon, he didn’t have the confidence to act composed at all. It was to the point where he didn’t know how he had been coming and going as if it were his own room until now.

Look, even now.

The sheets he buried his face in smelled entirely of Seo Saheon.

When he cast his gaze forward, he saw Saheon sleeping soundly, perhaps drugged by medicine. Inside the dark room with only the auxiliary light on. Because his heart was suddenly thumping at the sight of Saheon closing his eyes with a slightly tired face unlike usual… he just stared for a long while as if etching it into his retinas.

Is it because I realized I like him?

He wondered if it was normal for everything to look so pretty… but thinking about it, Saheon had been the same since they were kids. From the very first moment he remembered, Saheon was always sparkling. No matter what he did, he was great and wonderful, so the clumsy Seoul was busy following him around.

Laughing “pfft” at the suddenly felt passage of time, Seoul slowly reached out his hand. Don’t be sick. He whispered quietly and swept back the disheveled hair once. That was when Saheon’s firmly closed lips suddenly came into sharp focus.

His throat felt parched for no reason because of a memory that naturally surfaced.

As the sweltering summer, the faint smell of disinfectant, and even the heat that had touched his palm were revived… Seoul unknowingly lifted his knees slightly.

That is to say, he probably knew it would turn out like this.

That was why he hadn’t come.

Because he would become curious about how that heat, and that soft texture, would feel if it touched somewhere other than his palm. For example, like this. If their lips touched, then…

‘…!’

Chu.

His head had tilted forward of its own accord.

It had only just touched. Only that, yet a lightning-like sensation pierced through him. Trembling all over down to his toes and not knowing what to do, Seoul tilted his head a little more. Mwah. This time, they touched a little more. Even that alone made his heart beat so boisterously that he was afraid of being caught.

Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to pull his lips away… so while staying still in contact like that, chu, chu… it was the moment he was timidly sucking only on Saheon’s lower lip while shaking.

At some point, a large hand came and firmly grabbed the back of his neck, and simultaneously, a hot tongue abruptly invaded his mouth.