The early weather in mid-May was nothing short of fantastic.
Sunshine as bright as a bouquet illuminated every corner of the world, and a breeze, sweet as a lover’s breath, stirred the plump green leaves and tickled cheeks.
In Myeonghaeri, the last shadows of winter had already faded away.
But for Yoon Jooho and Song Hyunsoo, there was no time to enjoy such sunlight and gentle breezes.
Both dressed in shorts, shirts off, the two were each sweating it out in the yard of an empty house, currently serving as a temporary waiting room.
“Forty-four, forty-five, forty-six… forty-sev…”
“That’s enough! How many do you plan on doing?”
Yoon Jooho, in the midst of push-ups, turned his head to look up.
“Isn’t it cheating to get so pumped right before filming?”
Song Hyunsoo looked down at him, sulking with a face full of injustice.
Picking up a towel he’d left beside him, Yoon Jooho wiped the sweat from his face and stood up.
“You were just curling dumbbells, pumping your biceps a moment ago.”
“That’s only because… well, compared to you, I’m still lacking.”
Song Hyunsoo muttered as he stole glances at the sweat-slicked chest of Yoon Jooho.
Yoon Jooho’s main focus was on his upper chest, so his pecs weren’t so much bulky as they were broad and firm.
One could practically play chess on his chest with him lying down.
And yet, the sharply defined line running up to his upper chest told of long and grueling self-discipline.
Yoon Jooho grinned ominously and drew closer.
“Hm, it’s the first exposure scene for Actor Song.”
As his sweat-beaded body approached, the pheromones he radiated made Song Hyunsoo momentarily dizzy.
It was enough to paralyze his nervous system.
Was it really true that humans had no sex pheromones?
Maybe a rare few still had working glands, bewitching the rest of humanity wherever they went.
Song Hyunsoo instinctively stepped back.
“What do you mean, exposure scene? D-don’t say weird stuff like that.”
“Don’t worry too much.”
His voice was suspiciously gentle.
Yoon Jooho reached for Song Hyunsoo’s chest.
He cupped the most pronounced part of the muscle, pressing it with his fingertips as if to test the resilience, and smiled brightly.
“My chest is bigger around, but yours has way better volume.”
Song Hyunsoo shoved him away.
Yoon Jooho laughed aloud, wiping the sweat from his torso.
He picked up a big tumbler from the ground and, even as he drank, kept glancing at Song Hyunsoo’s chest.
Wiping his lips with the back of his hand, he frowned.
“The fact that I have to let other people see you half-naked isn’t exactly great.”
“H-half-naked… Nobody thinks of it like that! Only pervy old men like you do!”
“Pervy old man? To your one and only precious boyfriend?”
Yoon Jooho stepped in and cupped Song Hyunsoo’s cheeks in both hands.
On a normal day, Hyunsoo would have played along with his teasing, but now his ears burned, and he glanced away.
“Why haven’t you looked me in the face since yesterday?”
“W-when did I do that?”
“Since yesterday. And you’re doing it now too.”
“I’m just avoiding the pervy old man.”
“Hmmm.”
With a suspicious hum, Yoon Jooho’s face moved even closer. Their noses were nearly touching.
“Why? Nervous?”
“What is?”
“My face.”
“Wow… Seriously… Where does that confidence come from?”
He tried to act nonchalant, but his earlobes were flushing.
Damn, was he really this weak to someone’s face?
Yesterday, Yoon Jooho had cut his hair.
He’d finished shooting all the scenes requiring long hair.
In the distant past scenes, and in the later chronological scenes, Baek Kang’s hair wasn’t long.
The fresh short cut made his features stand out even more.
Since the first time they’d met, Yoon Jooho had been growing his hair out for the role.
So Song Hyunsoo wasn’t used to this sharp, exposed look.
Without the shield of his hair, his features struck with overwhelming force.
Every glance sent his heart hammering.
A slight smile tugged at Yoon Jooho’s lips, adding a hint of mischief.
“Where does my confidence come from? Thanks to you, of course. You like my face, don’t you?”
“Th… th… That’s true, but…”
“And it’s not just my face you like, so what’s wrong with that?”
Hm, now that he thought about it, that made sense.
“Right?”
Yoon Jooho’s fingers, still holding Hyunsoo’s cheeks, gently pressed his lips.
Then, tracing down his neck, he stroked from chest to navel.
“Your face and your body. I fucking love them too.”
“……”
“And is that so wrong?”
Gulp.
There was something unreal about the pure white sunlight of May.
In that moment, it felt like the whole world had vanished, leaving only the two of them in Yoon Jooho’s gravity.
He could feel every breath at his lips, every bead of sweat rolling down Yoon Jooho’s skin.
Without thinking, Song Hyunsoo tilted his chin up, about to lean in closer…
“Gang, San. Are you ready?”
The voice of a Staff member from the directing team called out from behind.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Song Hyunsoo turned, pretending to look for something and called out loudly.
“Yes! A-all ready! We’ll be right there!”
He could practically feel the flush on the back of his own neck.
This was all because the newly shorn Yoon Jooho was pointlessly sexy.
He shot him a resentful glare as he pushed away, but Yoon Jooho only looked all the more pleased.
In the face of that smile, Song Hyunsoo could only let his own resistance crumble and smile helplessly back.
Throwing on gowns over their shorts, the two headed out.
In front of the Sea Cliff, at the Myung Haeri Vacant Lot where so many memories lingered, Director Jung Joonhee was watching as the final preparations were completed.
“You two are lucky. The temperature’s up to twenty-four degrees today.”
“Hmm… Still, I bet the sea water’s going to be cold.”
Yoon Jooho tilted his head, not expecting it to be easy.
Today’s scene was Baek Kang and Lee San enjoying a summer swim in the sea.
Even if the air was twenty-four degrees, the sea wouldn’t feel warm, and both of their faces were tense as they gazed at the ocean.
But Director Jung Joonhee only grinned mischievously and clapped Yoon Jooho on the shoulder.
“This isn’t even close to real hardship for a film shoot.”
After YouTuber Kaying dropped the bomb, and Yoon Jooho promptly turned himself in for questioning, and the negative result for propofol was released in less than twenty-four hours after the story broke, the public still didn’t shake their doubts about Yoon Jooho.
Because of this, Bang Manager had suggested that maybe he should take a break from the set for a while.
But Yoon Jooho refused. He didn’t want to cower just because of public opinion when he had done nothing wrong.
That aside, he had steeled himself before coming to the set. He would have to face different looks, a different atmosphere than before.
But when Yoon Jooho and Song Hyunsoo arrived, they were stunned.
Who knew whether the Staff had made some prior agreement among themselves, or whether it was an order from the Director or the production company. No one could tell.
Whatever the reason, the set was unchanged.
The world of <Dissolve>.
It was as if the scandal that had shaken the nation couldn’t penetrate Myeonghaeri.
Even if something unpleasant happened, he’d promised Song Hyunsoo that he’d just take it in stride and not lash back.
And yet, when he arrived, Yoon Jooho was surprised.
A day, two days. Two weeks, three weeks.
After the “Yoon Jooho Propofol Incident” broke out, and even after his parents were revealed as the culprits and arrested.
Not once did Director Jung or anyone on the team bring it up.
They didn’t even say things like “I’m glad you were cleared.”
It was as if such a messy scandal had never existed in the world.
As before, everyone kept to their roles and encouraged each other simply by respecting those roles.
The more attention he received, the lonelier Yoon Jooho felt.
He’d always believed the world was full only of people who would cut him down, spread rumors, and treat him as fodder for gossip.
And indeed, such people always hovered nearby.
But now, Yoon Jooho had decided to acknowledge, accept, and be grateful.
Even if those people existed, they were not the whole world.
“Thanks to the sunlight today, the glitter on the waves is beautiful. I think we’ll get some great shots.”
With a faint smile, Director Jung gazed at the sparkling sea as if making a prophecy.
Standing on either side of him, Yoon Jooho and Song Hyunsoo exchanged a silent glance.
“All right, actors, let’s move to the set. Please board the boat!”
Following the Assistant Director’s lead, the two boarded a boat. It was the fastest way to reach the real shooting location: the rocks below the Sea Cliff.
That spot, far from the shore, was tucked under the cliff that ran along the beach, in a craggy gap over twenty meters beyond the edge.
It was the place where Baek Kang and Lee San had often fished since childhood, and their refuge.
Every summer vacation, the two, along with Lee Sol, would come here to avoid outsiders and have the sea all to themselves.
On days when Lee San’s father beat him badly, he would hide away here and shut out the world.
Those peaceful days when his father was off at sea, working for money.
In other words, it was a scene about the most precariously peaceful days of their lives.