SWAP 75

Seoul had already finished his shower as soon as he woke up. Since it hadn’t even been 2 hours since he dried his hair, he peeked up at him as if asking what kind of joke this was. However, upon meeting Saheon’s excessively serious gaze, he had no choice but to shut his mouth. No, seriously, is it that bad…?

Seoul wore a dumbfounded expression for a moment at Saheon’s attitude, which looked like no joke no matter how he viewed it. Saheon, looking as if something was incredibly bothersome, lowered the hand that had been holding Seoul’s chin and hauled him up. Then, as Saheon dragged him out of the room in an instant, a startled Seoul struggled and shouted.

“Hey, I showered. Just a little while ago…!”

“You can just do it again.”

“You said you were leaving right now anyway!”

“Yeah. So wash up quickly. Before the smell soaks into the room.”

“Ha…”

Anyone watching would think Ye Juyeol had performed a biochemical terror attack. Because of Saheon, who treated someone else’s perfume almost like stinky tofu, Seoul was pushed into the bathroom with a look of utter absurdity. The smooth tiles felt beneath the soles of his feet made it even more ridiculous. Saheon, standing in front of the bathroom door and blocking it, urged him with a shameless face.

“I have to leave right away, so hurry.”

“…”

“You were going to sleep anyway. Wash up and come out, then get some shut-eye until I get back.”

“…Are you really serious?”

“Yeah. I feel like I’m really going to throw up.”

By this point, Seoul also became serious. Since Saheon was someone who played pranks as often as he ate meals, Seoul had started by doubting him, but it was rare for Saheon to dislike something to this extent. He was usually a calm person who let things go… but now he was practically having a fit, so Seoul eventually nodded with a sigh.

Fine, how hard could it be to take one more shower.

There was no reason to stubbornly persist when he said he hated it that much.

Seoul, closing the bathroom door after telling him to go quickly since he understood, took off the clothes he was wearing and stepped into the shower booth. Since he had come all the way into the bathroom, it seemed more ridiculous to just pretend to wash and leave, so he just yanked the lever hard.

Seoul, soaking his hair which he had worked so hard to dry, squeezed some shampoo into his hand and worked up a lather.

Feeling the scent being layered over him in an instant, he washed away even his dizzy thoughts.

It was the moment when Seoul, having finished his second shower in a hurry, was putting back on the clothes he had taken off. He paused in the middle of trying to put his arm into a thin t-shirt. Since the place Ye Juyeol had hugged was his shoulder, it was more likely the scent had soaked into his clothes rather than onto him.

It was a bit unique, but it wasn’t a strange scent.

Rather, Seoul, who had thought the fragrance suited Ye Juyeol’s image quite well, buried his face in the t-shirt he was holding. He tried taking a shallow breath, but as expected, there was nothing but the familiar smell of fabric softener. Thinking it was only natural since it was a freshly taken out piece of clothing, he tried to focus a bit more, and it felt like he could smell something subtle…

Unable to tell if it was because he was conscious of it or if he could actually smell it, Seoul soon developed a face that looked like a reality check had hit him. He didn’t know what on earth he was doing since morning. He found it absurd himself, but feeling somewhat uncomfortable, he gave up on putting the t-shirt on. It wasn’t like he was only in his underwear, and since his room was right there anyway, Seoul, deciding to just change his top, swung the bathroom door open.

And he had no choice but to draw a question mark at the gaze he immediately encountered.

“…?”

What. Why is he still here.

When Seoul, surprised by the fact that Saheon—who he thought would have left for the gym while he was washing—was still here, blinked his eyes. Saheon, who had been leaning against the wall like a gatekeeper waiting for Seoul to come out, had a face that turned rock hard. His eyes, which had been half-closed, flashed open as if struck by lightning, and he rushed in an instant, shoving Seoul back into the bathroom. It was something that happened in a matter of seconds.

“Ack…!”

The one who was horrified by this was, naturally, Seoul. He had no choice but to stumble greatly, losing his balance at Saheon’s near-ambush action. The bathroom floor was slippery with moisture anyway. As he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the back of his head to crack open, a hand grabbed his forearm firmly as if anticipating it. Instead of falling, he ended up standing still.

Thanks to that, he avoided a situation where he would be carried to the emergency room, but he couldn’t stop his heart from thumping wildly. He was about to give him a piece of his mind for doing something so dangerous, but before that, a voice colder than anything in the world poured down over his head.

“Aren’t you going to put your clothes on properly? Why are you coming out completely naked.”

“What?”

“Where are you going in that state. What, are you an exhibitionist?”

An exhibitionist. It was a word he had spat at Saheon before, but it was a word he never expected to hear himself. Seoul, who couldn’t process the situation immediately and blinked dazed, opened his lips a beat late. What is he talking about right now? He had only taken off his top, so he didn’t know what he meant by being completely naked. Seoul, his face turning into one of utter grievance, protested in embarrassment.

“Am, am I a pervert? What do you mean completely naked…!”

“You’re naked right now.”

“No, you said I smelled…! So…”

“Even so, you come out naked?”

“I’m not naked,”

“Then what is this.”

Saheon, who had already squeezed half his body into the bathroom, let his gaze slide down. Passing the slender nape of the neck he had grasped in one hand a moment ago, his gaze pooled between the straight collarbones. Drip. A water droplet that fell from the wet hair stroked down the hollow area. Without stopping there, it flowed down, and Saheon’s pupils followed it downward accordingly.

The area around Seoul’s ears instantly burned up.

Until a moment ago, it was definitely fine… but suddenly he felt an unbearable sense of embarrassment. Since he was holding a towel, his chest was covered, but still, something, something was strange.

When the water droplet rolling down the white skin disappeared into the concave navel, Saheon’s eyes twitched strangely. He knew it made no sense, but it was a sensation as if his gaze had a sense of touch and was licking somewhere. Seoul, his shoulders trembling, hurried to cover his lower stomach with his palms. A low sigh broke out from a span above as he bit his lip, admitting that delusions were also a disease.

“…Wait.”

Swish. Saheon, withdrawing his body just like that, slammed the bathroom door shut.

Before Seoul, who had frozen without a chance to reply, could even come to his senses, Saheon returned with his own hoodie in his hand.

Saheon, who snatched the crumpled t-shirt from Seoul’s hesitating hands, even snatched away the towel wrapped around his shoulders. And only after roughly putting his own clothes on him with relentless hands did his fierce aura settle down as he opened his mouth.

“Lee Seoul.”

“…”

“Why, were you upset because you wanted to show off your body but I put clothes on you?”

It was a frame-up that would make a tow truck driver cry.

Seoul’s gaze, which had been frozen like a doll as he was being dressed, creaked toward Saheon.

As if his acting like a yaksha was a thing of the past, Seoul’s face soon crumpled into a mess as he faced Saheon, who playfully shrugged his shoulders when their eyes met. Eventually, unable to hold back, Seoul pushed Saheon, who was blocking his way, and shouted in annoyance.

“You, you… I, told you, not to, talk, nonsense…!”

“Ouch.”

“Show off my body? Are you really crazy?”

“Yeah. Why do you keep asking when you know?”

“Hey!”

Seriously. As a commotion broke out with Seoul shouting at Saheon’s attitude of casually affirming it, it reached a peak. Making someone feel troubled since morning and now handing them a “heart disease” from anger was a talent if it could be called one. Well, that didn’t mean a fistfight was going to happen, and the situation ended with Saheon, who eventually admitted his frame-up after bickering a few times, bowing down low.

“I’ll wake you up later. Just sleep.”

By the time he had coaxed and soothed the indignant Seoul and even dried his hair, over 20 minutes had already passed. When Seoul curled up on the bed as if falling ill, unable to handle his shattered mental state, Saheon covered him with a blanket and whispered Dajeong-ly. Since it was only annoying anyway, Seoul, who glared with sharp eyes, grabbed Ttatta who was next to him and tried to throw—it, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it and just buried his head in the pillow. He had only been awake for a few hours, but his fatigue was already at its limit.

Click.

The sound of the door closing was heard, and before long, Saheon left the house.

Seoul, who had just said he should lie down and didn’t really intend to fall asleep, found himself falling into a deep sleep before he knew it.

“…”

How much time had passed.

When Saheon returned to the room after coming back from the gym 2 hours later, Seoul was still asleep. Saheon, who contemplated for a moment whether he should wake him because he was breathing so peacefully, carefully reached out his hand. He considered leaving him behind, but knowing Lee Seoul’s personality, it was certain he would wake up in less than an hour anyway.

I should just let him sleep more in the car.

It was just as he was about to take the kid, who hadn’t fully come to his senses, after preparing him roughly to his car, where he had left the air conditioner on without turning off the engine. Someone popped out from beside the large car body and shouted in a welcoming voice.

“Hyung-nim!”

“…”

It was a face that shouldn’t be here.