Chapter 59: Finger Games in the Dark

When Yunhwan looked away, pretending not to see him, the corners of Seonghye’s mouth curled upward. It was only for a split second, but he caught the hazy, unfocused look in Yunhwan’s pupils—a telltale sign of the alcohol taking hold.

The drinking session had been in full swing long before Seonghye sat down, and the number of empty bottles was already significant. Seonghye looked at the cluster of bottles with an intrigued expression before fixing a peculiar gaze on Yunhwan.

“You’ve had a lot.”

Just then, Seong-pil stood up to take a phone call, leaving the two of them alone in a space once again thick with uncomfortable silence.

Suddenly, Min Seonghye nudged Yunhwan’s foot under the table.

“You should stop drinking now, Hyung. You look drunk.”

When Yunhwan frowned slightly at the remark, Seonghye let out a soft chuckle.

“Do you think I’m just trying to spoil your fun for no reason?”

Contrary to his playful tone, his dark pupils grew deeper.

Even a simple furrow of the brow gave Yunhwan a languid aura that was different from his usual self. The man who had actually done the drinking didn’t seem to realize it, but that unraveled expression made it impossible for Seonghye to take his eyes off him.

A night wind, which had grown noticeably colder lately, blew between them. Bracing against the breeze, Seonghye stared into those softened hazel eyes.

Whenever Yunhwan stole a glance at him, Seonghye met his gaze with a mischievous, boyish expression. Seeing that specific glint of playfulness, Yunhwan’s hand—which had been fidgeting with his beer glass—faltered.

The subtle tension was just beginning to thaw when Seong-pil, having finished his call, blurted his way back into the conversation.

“Oh, that’s right! Hyung-nim, I heard they told you to come back up to Seoul.”

“Ack—!”

Yunhwan erupted into a coughing fit mid-sip. While Seonghye moved to sit closer to him, Yunhwan glared at Seong-pil with all his might, and the younger man wisely shut his mouth.

But the water was already spilled, and the one to react first was Min Seonghye. Patting Yunhwan’s back as he choked, Seonghye asked Seong-pil in a low voice:

“Who told him to come back?”

“That… I’m not sure.”

As a drunken Seong-pil dodged the question with a slurred tongue, Seonghye’s dark eyes naturally drifted toward the man beside him.

“Are you going somewhere without me?”

At the blunt question, Yunhwan shook his head rapidly.

“Then what’s this about going to Seoul?”

Min Seonghye arched an eyebrow at this new information. At that slight change in expression, the atmosphere that had briefly softened receded like a low tide, replaced by a strange tension.

Flustered by Seonghye’s questioning, Yunhwan spoke reflexively.

“It—it was just a call from the company I used to work for.”

Upon hearing the answer, Seonghye leaned his head in closer.

“Why would your old company call you?”

“Well….”

It was true that he’d been contacted by his former employer, as Seong-pil said, but he had declined the offer long ago. It was a cleanly severed tie from his past, yet Yunhwan’s voice was thick with hesitation.

Yunhwan’s fingers traced the condensation on his glass, sliding against the surface. Just as Seonghye was about to speak again—

“It’s nothing major… they just asked if I had any intention of working for them again….”

Yunhwan trailed off, letting out a small sigh. He knew Seonghye’s obsessive gaze was scanning every inch of his face, but he couldn’t bring himself to give a clear answer. An awkward explanation might jeopardize the secrets he was hiding.

That was exactly why he hadn’t told Seonghye in the first place. If he slipped up, the fact that he had worked for a Private Military Company (PMC) would surely come to light, so he chose his words carefully.

Then, his hazel eyes drifted downward.

“…….”

The tension in his pupils finally vanished.

His gaze stopped at a pair of fingers slowly tugging at the edge of his sleeve. Seeing those pale fingers pulling downward—hidden from Seong-pil’s view—Yunhwan realized that the man’s anxiety was a bigger issue than his own fluster. He spoke again.

“The harvest is my priority for now—”

“…….”

“Actually, right now, I’m more worried and concerned about you than the farming….”

Watching the face that was listening to his words with bated breath, Yunhwan finished calmly.

“Hey… didn’t you say you wanted to harvest the Aronia berries together?”

A brief silence descended.

Feeling suddenly bashful, Yunhwan rubbed the back of his neck. It wasn’t a calculated excuse to fix the situation; it was a sincere remark acknowledging the other’s feelings, and the result was a creeping sense of embarrassment. He turned his gaze away, burying his tingling fingertips against his skin. It was then that Min Seonghye burst out laughing.

When Yunhwan looked back, Seonghye was laughing with the back of his hand covering his eyes. The string of tension that had been pulled so taut seemed to have been cut, falling away completely.

Lowering his hand, Seonghye licked his red lips and whispered.

“You’re right. We do have a lot to do here.”

He stole a glance at Seong-pil, who was nodding off from the alcohol, and then interlaced his fingers with Yunhwan’s.

On the way home.

Between two shadows moving side-by-side, a low, heavy voice echoed.

“Should I carry you on my back?”

The stumbling footsteps came to a dead halt. Min Seonghye watched the change with intrigued eyes.

The country road, lit by sparse streetlamps, held a unique charm in the deep of the night. The only thing that didn’t fit the atmosphere was a man who was unusually drunk.

“Hyung, you’re drunk.”

“I’m not.”

Yunhwan spoke while trying to focus his eyes, but the younger man retorted knowingly.

“Don’t you know that when a drunk person tries to answer too fast, their tongue gets tied?”

“…….”

Watching the now-silent Yunhwan, Seonghye let out a short, airy laugh. He looked around the area and let his gaze rest on a specific spot.

“Let’s rest for a bit.”

Before Yunhwan could say a word, Seonghye took his hand and led him away. When they reached a zelkova tree with lush leaves, he sat him down on a flat stone.

Sitting there abruptly under Seonghye’s guidance, Yunhwan frowned as if displeased, but soon his body slumped, and he let out a deep sigh.

Because there were no streetlamps nearby, the surroundings quickly grew dark. In the dim light, Yunhwan hung his head low, as if trying to hide his drunken state. He thought he had stayed within his usual limit, but seeing how the strength was draining from his limbs as if he were soaked in water, he felt it was actually a good thing they stopped.

“Are you dizzy?”

Once again, he replied with a grimace instead of words. Watching that stubbornness, Seonghye wore a meaningful smile.

“You’re not drunk? Really?”

“…Yeah.”

“Is that so?”

When Yunhwan didn’t elaborate, Seonghye drew out his voice deeply. A subtle silence lingered between them. But soon, when Yunhwan’s lowered head was lifted by a gentle grip, something moving entered his field of vision as if it had been waiting.

“…?”

Following that, a familiar voice and a low laugh dropped from above.

“How many fingers?”

“…What?”

“You said you weren’t drunk. Guess.”

Min Seonghye moved his fingers again, coaxingly. When a flustered Yunhwan instinctively tried to pull his head back, the hand holding his chin applied steady pressure. Seonghye urged him again. “Come on, guess.”

Under the pressure to answer, Yunhwan narrowed his eyes. The fingers in front of him seemed to overlap. Because the image kept multiplying, the numbers swirling in his mind went from one to ten.

One, two… After muttering foolishly, he finally managed to answer.

“…Th-three?”

“Wrong.”

“Four?”

“No, wrong again.” Seonghye laughed out loud. At the sound of that refreshing laughter, so well-suited to the cool night air, Yunhwan found himself staring at the laughing face. It looked like a fresh flower that might burst at a touch, or a clear, clean stream untouched by human hands.

While Yunhwan was lost in that thought, Seonghye, who was crouching down to look at him, winked mischievously.

“Guess again.”

“…Hmm….”

“You might be surprised if you get it wrong from now on.”

Because Seonghye kept pushing for an answer, Yunhwan looked forward with an even more serious expression than before. He had never engaged in such games, nor did he particularly like them, but he had no way of refusing Min Seonghye’s persistence.

This time, his lips parted only after a long pause.

“…Two?”

Breaking through the dark surroundings once again, a clear laugh rang out.

“You’re completely gone, Hyung.”

Seonghye leaned forward to face him. A dark shadow fell over Yunhwan’s body as they drew closer. Seonghye imprisoned Yunhwan between his two arms as the older man tried to sit up straight, and Yunhwan hunched his shoulders at the sight of the black hair that looked ready to spill over him at any moment.

He was unable to hide his fluster and tried to pull his upper body back.

That was when those red lips entered his wavering hazel eyes without warning—

“…!”

In an instant, his lips were briefly sucked and then released. At the sudden turn of events, Yunhwan’s eyes widened until they nearly fell out.

“Whoa, careful now.”

Seonghye, having pulled his lips away, caught Yunhwan’s shoulders as he began to tip sideways. Unlike his shocked counterpart, he spoke with an innocent smile.

“I’ll give you one more chance. Now, guess.”