Yoon Jooho, who had been standing there fiddling with the knuckle of his left pinky, let out a brief laugh.
Did I stare too obviously…?
Feeling his palms damp with sweat, Song Hyunsoo rubbed the back of his neck and looked away.
Yoon Jooho strolled into the room with a grin on his face.
It was an ominous smile, like he was scheming something mischievous.
“Now that I see it, you’re a repeat offender.”
“A repeat what?”
“Feeling people up with your eyes.”
“Wh—at?! No, that’s seriously dangerous talk, what are you saying, sunbae??”
As if someone might be eavesdropping in the room, Song Hyunsoo glanced quickly around.
Whether it was because of the terrifying accusation, or because it came out of Yoon Jooho’s own mouth, his heart started pounding.
“You’re lashing out because you’re guilty.”
“Why would I be guilty?”
Hyunsoo jumped in denial.
It was one of those strong denials that screamed strong affirmation.
Despite making someone flush red and pale in turns, Yoon Jooho remained unfazed.
He stopped in front of the clothes hanger, picked one garment out among many, and rehung it at the front.
As he removed the cover bag, his voice remained steady, calm—no louder or faster than usual.
“You ogled someone who was wearing nothing but a towel. Don’t think you can just play innocent. Especially the butt—you were practically feeling it with your eyes.”
“Stop saying nonsense!”
“Ah… I was honestly worried you were about to pounce.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you were terrified. And I’m the idiot actually responding to this.”
Hyunsoo wanted to scrub his face to hide the flush rising to it, but he couldn’t, because of his makeup.
Instead, he spun the lone stool left in front of the mirror, now that all the makeup carriers had been taken away, and tried to casually change the subject.
“By the way, where did the directors go?”
“They left.”
“What? You could’ve told me! I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”
“They’ll be at the party later.”
“Ah… but why did you tell me to come home first? Isn’t the birthday party in Jamsil?”
Two days ago, he’d gotten a call from Bang, the manager, telling him not to head straight to the party venue, but to stop by Yoon Jooho’s house first.
“You probably didn’t have anything decent to wear anyway…”
Turning away from the hanger, Yoon Jooho gave Hyunsoo, now stripped down to just a shirt under his jacket, a once-over.
The pearl-sheened suit, though a little flashy in its white tones, was still undeniably high-quality.
“Where’d you get that?”
“I do have at least one good suit, you know.”
With a confident expression, Hyunsoo tilted his chin up and even did a slow twirl in front of him.
“How do I look? Not bad, right? This is Louis Vuitton. Your Louis Vuitton, ambassador sunbae.”
“That’s from a past season. No way you bought it new. You’re always saying you’re broke. Did you borrow it?”
“A friend’s older brother got it a while ago, and he gave it to—”
Suddenly, Yoon Jooho’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Take it off.”
“…Huh?”
“Take it off, that thing.”
Grabbing the neck of the hanger whose cover he’d just removed, Yoon Jooho strode up and thrust a new suit into Hyunsoo’s chest.
“Change into this.”
Hyunsoo, pushed back a step by the force, rested the hanger on the stool for now and looked down at his own outfit.
“Why? This looks fine too. Don’t I look cool?”
“…Cool, my ass.”
“The taxi driver said I looked like a celebrity, you know?”
Since he’d dressed up more than usual, he’d even splurged on a taxi.
He didn’t exactly look like someone who should be taking the bus.
The driver, who had kept glancing at him in the rearview mirror, finally spoke up around Hannam Bridge.
‘You’ve got the look. You could totally be a celebrity. I’ve driven a lot of them around—they give off this certain vibe. And you’ve got that too.’
Thanks to that, Hyunsoo had felt a rare boost in confidence.
What’s the harm in a little compliment?
But Jooho scoffed in disbelief.
“That’s a compliment? You are a celebrity.”
Then, without warning, he stepped right up to him.
Hyunsoo thought he was going for the collar, but instead, Jooho casually reached for the buttons on his shirt.
It felt like being branded with fire.
“Whoa! Where do you think you’re touching?! Sunbae, you’re seriously crossing a line!”
Without meaning to, Hyunsoo crossed his arms in an X over his chest and pulled away.
Jooho paused with his hand in mid-air, squinting slightly.
“Now that’s a fresh reaction.”
“Wh-what is?”
“You actually didn’t want me taking off your clothes.”
“Shu—just go away!”
Hyunsoo turned away from Jooho completely, only to catch sight of himself in the mirror and widen his eyes. One of his shirt buttons was already undone.
“What the hell—when did that happen? You total sneak!”
“Oh, please.”
Jooho chuckled through his nose and wandered toward the sofa.
While a cold sweat ran down Hyunsoo’s back, Jooho’s gait—one hand casually in his pocket—was relaxed to the point of infuriating.
And from behind, Hyunsoo muttered furiously at his back.
“You weren’t complimenting me? And anyway, your clothes wouldn’t even fit me—”
“They’re your size.”
“…What?”
Picking up a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table, Yoon Jooho pulled one out and stuck it between his lips, muttering like it was too much trouble to explain.
“They’re your size. So quit yapping and just put them on.”
Then he struck the lighter and lit the cigarette.
Dressed sharp like that, the whole scene felt straight out of a movie again.
Maybe it was his physique, the flawless proportions that made every movement look like art.
Even the sliver of winter sunlight filtering through the full-length windows seemed like it was purposefully backlighting Yoon Jooho’s silhouette.
At least to Song Hyunsoo, that’s exactly how it looked.
After exhaling a long plume of smoke with his sharp chin tilted up, Yoon Jooho bent down and picked something up.
He turned and held out a shopping bag to Hyunsoo.
“Shoes.”
“What is all this? What are you trying to do here? Am I supposed to wear this for a day and give it back to you?”
The shoes were from the same brand as the suit.
Hyunsoo was starting to feel genuinely dumbfounded.
As he brought the cigarette back to his lips, Jooho gave the shopping bag a little shake, like he was impatient for Hyunsoo to take it.
“Like you said, they’re not my size, so what am I supposed to do with them if you return them to me?”
Hyunsoo took the bag and walked past Jooho, placing it on the sofa.
“I can’t accept the suit or the shoes.”
“You accepted the puffer jacket.”
“Exactly. I already accepted that, so I definitely can’t accept more.”
“I’m not showering you with gifts to seduce you. There’s nothing weird about accepting it—it’s your bartender uniform.”
“Please don’t say ridiculous things.”
“Then what other reason would I have for buying this and handing it to you?”
“……”
Jooho pointed at Hyunsoo’s chest with the fingers holding his cigarette.
“You’re my party’s bartender. And you want to wear a suit that’s seasons out of date?”
That’s what I’m saying.
I’m just bartending at your party, not showing up as your partner or anything.
Hyunsoo wanted to shoot back like that, but he knew whatever came out of Jooho’s mouth in response wouldn’t be pleasant.
Jooho inhaled sharply, drawing on the cigarette so hard his cheeks hollowed, his expression tightening into an intimidating frown.
“You really gonna embarrass me like that?”
“……”
A bartender in an outdated suit and cheap-brand shoes, working behind the bar at a fancy birthday party—yeah, maybe that would be embarrassing in Jooho’s eyes.
Still, to Hyunsoo, this felt more like some ploy to get him to accept the gift.
Or maybe, like Jeongho said, he was just thinking too highly of Yoon Jooho.
Either way, there was no winning an argument with someone who said they’d be embarrassed.
Letting out a resigned sigh, Hyunsoo began undoing the buttons of his shirt.
Jooho had already undone the first one earlier.
Now he moved to the second, the third… and by the time he reached the fourth, Jooho still hadn’t left the room.
Far from leaving, Jooho had casually crossed his legs and was sitting on the sofa, openly watching him while smoking.
“You’re just going to sit there?”
“Why? Got a problem?”
Jooho tilted his chin with exaggerated confidence and exhaled a puff of smoke.
“We’re both guys.”
Technically true. Back in the dorm days, or even in front of Jeongho, Hyunsoo had no problem walking around in just his underwear after a shower.
But with Yoon Jooho… it was different.
Maybe it was because Jooho’s face was too beautiful.
Or maybe it was the way he said things so casually like he wasn’t saying anything at all, but implying something anyway.
Things that had never been a problem before suddenly felt like problems.
As he continued unbuttoning his shirt, Hyunsoo muttered dryly,
“It just kinda feels like I’m being voyeuristically watched.”
Jooho scoffed through his nose.
“That’s more your area of expertise, isn’t it?”
“……”
“I’m not into guys who are popular with kittens, so relax.”
What was the point of clarifying that he wasn’t into him when they were both guys anyway?
Like how Hyunsoo wasn’t into girls taller or buffer than he was—some things just didn’t need stating.
He finished unbuttoning his shirt, then unhooked and unzipped his pants.
His hands paused a moment before pulling them down, but then he let them drop.
As he bent over to step out of the pants, Jooho exhaled another long breath of smoke.
Hnnh.
It sounded like a low moan, deep in his throat—almost like a sexy groan.
It made Hyunsoo’s head spin a little, and as he tried to step into the new pants, he lost balance and had to stagger and readjust a couple of times.
Jooho, still seated, pressed a hand to his temple and shook his head, cigarette dangling from his fingers.
A headache?
Only after getting the new pants on did Hyunsoo finally take off his shirt.
He was usually pretty confident in his body, but somehow, he kept instinctively turning his back to Jooho.
Maybe it was all in his head, but… it felt like he shouldn’t be showing his nipples to the guy.