SWAP 81

The appearance of an item he hadn’t even considered caused Seoul’s already confused expression to sink even deeper into a labyrinth. It was because he couldn’t fathom the intent behind the other man suddenly running over in the middle of a hard-working shoot to hand him a lipstick. Unsure of what he was supposed to do with it, Seoul hesitated before slowly lifting his head.

If it had been anyone else, it might be different, but his opponent was Seo Saheon.

He felt afraid even before he could ask for a reason, but he couldn’t just stay like this. Bracing his voice to keep it from trembling, he asked.

“…Why are you giving this to me?”

“They say it’s instead of the kiss scene.”

Seoul already knew this, as he had heard it through Angela just a moment ago. Since Saheon had refused so flatly, they decided to go with the lipstick being smudged instead…. Having recalled that much, Seoul suddenly felt a chill. It was an absurd assumption, but the problem was that Seo Saheon was a human who always personally turned those absurd assumptions into reality.

“You do it for me.”

…And this time, as expected, he dropped a dynamite stick with a nonchalant face. Seoul reflexively gripped the lipstick tightly. It was due to the sentence becoming ambiguous because Saheon had omitted the subject. He was confused about what exactly Saheon wanted him to do, but for starters, Seo Saheon’s face as he smiled while saying that deserved a life sentence.

Who on earth would whisper such a remark in front of a camera, and with their upper body coolly bared at that?

Only then did Seoul realize why Saheon was bending his waist to match his eye level, and he crumpled the corners of his eyes fiercely. Either way, the fact that it was nonsense remained unchanged, so he replied coldly.

“I told you to stop joking around.”

“Seoul, is a commercial a joke? I’m in a crisis right now. I’ve never done anything like this, so I don’t know it well. What if I show my amateur side here and get fired from my exclusive contract? Do I have to sit out on the street again?”

The crisis was this situation itself.

Watching Saheon, who looked ready to sell out the country with that tongue of his, Seoul was inevitably left speechless. Amateur, my foot; Seoul was merely flustered because he already knew exactly how the person in front of him kissed. Seoul had been the one to swell up down below from just a single kiss. The scene where Saheon didn’t just lick every nook and cranny but even messily swallowed the dripping saliva was still vivid.

He felt like demanding to know what kind of amateur used their tongue like that, but since it was something he could never do anyway, he unconsciously bit his molars hard. His mouth felt bitter as he recalled that dawn when Saheon had been excessively skillful from start to finish.

Well, sure. Thinking about it, that probably wasn’t his first time either.

Whether he was out of his mind or whatever, the fact remained that women swarmed around Saheon. Though he acted indifferent as if he weren’t interested, one could never know. Since Saheon had confirmed through Seoul that men were a no-go, his dating pool was obvious. Someone small enough to fit in one’s arms, someone pretty… He would probably like a woman who looked perfect standing side-by-side with him.

It was just as he was trying to erase the thoughts of someone’s vaguely surfacing image.

Saheon, who had been staring intently at Seoul as he gave no response to his pushiness, broke his expressionless face. As a smile slowly spread over that handsome face, Angela, who had unexpectedly faced this situation from the closest distance, instinctively flinched. It was a moment when she thought that while it was clearly a smiling expression to anyone’s eyes, it felt strangely unpleasant.

“What are friends for? You should help at a time like this.”

Squish. Pressing both of Seoul’s cheeks with his large hands, Saheon grumbled in a friendly tone. At the words thrown out as if protesting why he wasn’t focusing on him, Seoul hurried to snap out of it. Help, his foot. This wasn’t something that could be solved just by whining with a smiling face.

“Saheon. Is being friends everything?”

“Yeah. I have to go into filming, so hurry up.”

“No, what exactly do you want me to do…”

“Apply it. You know how lipstick smudges.”

At that, Seoul’s mouth fell open in absurdity. Because Saheon’s expression was so serious that someone listening might misunderstand it as the truth, Seoul denied it with a sense of injustice.

“How would I know that?”

“You don’t know?”

“Of course I don’t know, what am I, some kind of debauchee? Stop talking nonsense and take this and go get your touch-up quickly.”

Frowning with a warning to cut it out, Seoul held out the lipstick he had been clutching. Since it was obvious he had snatched it away, Seoul glanced behind Saheon and saw a stylist standing still with a face that didn’t know what to do. Having confirmed that it wasn’t a delay because they were fortunately reorganizing the set, Seoul suddenly whipped his head around. It was because it was strangely quiet.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Sure enough, everyone nearby was watching this way with their jaws dropped. Feeling the sense of heavy shock reaching all the way here, a troubled Seoul gritted his teeth. In times like this, it’s about momentum. Telling himself that the one who collapses first loses, he tried his best to act as if nothing were wrong. He pushed Saheon’s shoulder hard, telling him to hurry up and go, but far from being pushed, Saheon didn’t budge.

To make matters worse, Saheon opened his mouth while wrinkling his brow with a crunch.

“Seoul. Who said anything about rubbing lips?”

“……”

At exactly that point, Seoul felt his mind going faint. He considered covering Saheon’s mouth, but looking at the perfectly finished makeup, he couldn’t bring himself to touch it. Is this guy actually crazy? Terrified and unable to understand what that suddenly meant, Seoul’s shoulders trembled. Unable to cover it up even with acting skills, Seoul finally let everything go and asked in a tone that went beyond absurdity into horror.

“Are you crazy…?”

“Ah. Is my doctor in charge today?”

“……”

“Yes, Doctor. I’m crazy, so what are you going to do about it?”

“……”

“If you glare at me like that, will my illness get a bit better?”

It would be better if he actually had an illness. Then he could prescribe medicine or even have him undergo surgery. Since he didn’t even dare to check the reactions of those around them, he squeezed his eyes shut, only to hear the sound of someone stifling a small laugh. It was to the point where he wanted to smack Saheon’s back, asking if this was funny, so Seoul snapped his eyes open. Thinking that this time he was truly, finally, for real finished, he tried to cover Saheon’s mouth regardless of the makeup, but Saheon stepped back a beat faster and said with a chuckle.

“Alright, sorry. I won’t tease you.”

“You, just come here.”

“I surrender. I lost.”

As he spoke, he held up his palms like someone raising a white flag. Because it was spiteful how he declared defeat only after teasing him to his heart’s content, Seoul glared up at him, and Saheon made a fuss about being scared in a tone as flat as a textbook.

Do you really want to fight? When Seoul asked in a low, settled voice, Saheon finally lay low and pretended to reflect, saying, “No.” It was called reflection, but to others, it just looked like he was busy trying to soothe a Greg-angry Lee Seoul. In fact, the people on set were even more horrified by that side of Seo Saheon. They could handle him spouting whatever and teasing others, but they had never imagined a Seo Saheon who struggled to match someone else’s mood.

What on earth did I just see?

Not unlike the reactions of the viewers, the staff members who had lost their wits, as well as Heo Geosu who was nearby, closed their mouths with slightly surprised faces. He knew Saheon was a few turns short of a full deck to begin with, but he didn’t know he would act like that even in a situation surrounded by cameras. Looking at Saheon, who was acting as if he had some sort of intention, as if he were a semi-madman, Heo Geosu belatedly composed his expression.

In the meantime, Saheon, who had managed to soothe Seoul’s mood by a tiny bit, murmured like a sigh.

“I just need you to apply it, is that so hard? It’s not a brush; to make it smudge, a finger has to touch the lips directly… I hate that.”

As he even slightly knit his brows as if he truly hated it, a translated version was naturally entered into the minds of the people nearby.

‘(It’s not a clean) brush; to make it smudge, (a germ-ridden stranger’s) finger has to touch the lips directly… (Are you joking?) I hate that (because it’s dirty).’

Seo Saheon was famous for being a germaphobe originally. Considering that tendency, they could vaguely grasp the logic of why he had suddenly run over here in the middle of a good shoot. Instead of badgering the innocent stylist, he had decided to borrow his best friend’s finger. It wasn’t as if Lee Seoul’s finger didn’t have germs, but since mysophobia was inherently a mental issue, there was no problem as long as the person involved was okay with it.

Of course, for Seoul, who knew better than anyone that Seo Saheon did not have such an obsessive-compulsive disorder, it was an absurd excuse, but what could he do?

Angela, who felt it was better to borrow a cat’s paw—no, Seoul’s hand—rather than hassling the staff for nothing, forced the corners of her mouth up. Then, as she drove the atmosphere by taking Seo Saheon’s side without meaning it, there was now only one person left who was bewildered.