Chapter 113: A Step Closer

“R-really? I don’t have to leave?”

The eyes visible through the gap widened.

His voice sounded excited, as if that was a reward.

Wooju let out a deep sigh.

“Ah, that’s not what I meant.”

Just what kind of thinking did he have?

He had been holding his hands up like that for so long—didn’t it even hurt?

Using force wasn’t an option either.

He could hurt his face.

And threatening to lock him in wasn’t a punishment for Jitae—it was more like a reward.

In that situation, Wooju came up with another strategy.

When fighting, you use the opponent’s personality.

“I want to see your face.”

“……”

“It’s my request. You’re really not going to listen?”

Jitae’s body went limp as he slowly began lowering his hands.

Won Jitae couldn’t refuse Kang Wooju’s requests.

And Wooju had come to realize that very well.

He had only tested it half-seriously, but seeing Jitae obediently give in at just the words “my request”…

It was ridiculously cute.

And at the same time, something strange stirred inside him.

Jitae sniffed once and glanced at Wooju.

Maybe because he had been crying while hugging him, his skin looked slightly flushed, especially around his eyes.

Other than that, his face looked the same as usual.

No—

With his messy hair and casual clothes, his disheveled state felt oddly… different.

On top of that, Wooju was sitting on Jitae’s thigh, almost restraining him.

Jitae had obediently lowered his hands like following an order, and now he fidgeted, looking both dissatisfied and uneasy.

Wooju had once seen people say things like they wanted to make a certain actor cry or watch them in emotional scenes.

Back then, he didn’t understand why anyone would want to make someone cry.

But now—

He could understand it a hundred, no, a thousand times over.

“……”

At the strange, dark desire rising inside him, Wooju suddenly let out a laugh and rubbed his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing… I’m just fighting with a newly discovered side of myself.”

“What are you even saying? It’s because my face looks bad, right?”

Muttering like a sulky teenager, Jitae complained.

Wooju slowly reached out his hand toward him.

“Ugly? Bullshit. How many times do I have to tell you that you look good no matter what?”

He gently pulled at Jitae’s cheek.

Jitae frowned deeper, which only made him look even cuter.

So Wooju kept touching his face, wiping away the tears still clinging to his eyelashes.

“……”

At first, Jitae complained that he was being teased.

But gradually, he fell silent.

The rough fingertips, calloused from years of training, felt unusually vivid against his skin today.

In the end, unable to bear it anymore, Jitae placed his hand over Wooju’s.

The warmth startled Wooju—

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Jitae suddenly brought Wooju’s hand to his cheek and slowly rubbed his face against his palm.

A tall man, lowering his gaze and quietly leaning into his hand like that—

Wooju blinked slowly.

At that moment, their eyes met.

“……”

“……”

Neither of them spoke.

Neither pulled away.

This time, Jitae reached out and touched Wooju’s face.

Wooju instinctively leaned back slightly—

But he couldn’t push away the warmth that followed.

The situation had formed naturally.

Wooju sitting on Jitae’s thigh.

Their hands gently touching each other’s faces.

And this was Wooju’s home.

No one else was there.

A space completely free from anyone’s gaze.

As Jitae slightly lifted his body, the leather sofa creaked softly.

Wooju felt his breathing grow uneven.

And he didn’t avoid Jitae as he slowly moved closer.

Is this happening?

Are we really doing this?

And if we are… what exactly are we doing?

Questions flooded his mind like alarms going off.

Jitae’s familiar scent brushed against his nose.

When the distance between them shrank to just a hand’s width—

Wooju tightly grabbed Jitae’s shoulder and shut his eyes.

The large hand that had been touching his face slid gently to the back of his neck and pulled him closer.

Their breaths mingled.

Their lips were about to meet—

Ring ring ring—

A loud ringtone shattered the moment.

Both of them flinched in surprise.

Wooju opened his eyes, and as he met Jitae’s gaze again, reality came rushing back.

The dreamlike haze disappeared instantly.

Everything became sharp.

“W-who’s phone is that?!”

Wooju jumped up from Jitae’s lap.

The ringtone felt like a bucket of cold water thrown over them.

Jitae stared at his now-empty thigh.

“Hey, I think it’s yours.”

Wooju found the phone wedged between the sofa cushions and handed it over.

Jitae took it, looking oddly disappointed.

He wanted to ignore it and continue what they were doing—

But the name on the screen was Sangwon.

“Hello.”

Jitae answered weakly.

Meanwhile, Wooju quickly rushed to the kitchen, flung open the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and chugged it down.

Like a firefighter putting out flames, he gulped down the entire bottle in one go, running his hand through his hair.

Only then did the heat inside him subside slightly.

“Ah! Right!”

Jitae’s sharp voice came from the living room.

Wooju crushed the empty bottle and walked back.

“Ah, sorry hyung. I forgot. I’m not far—I can get there within 15 minutes.”

What’s going on?

Wooju hesitated and stood beside him.

Jitae, while still on the call, casually fixed Wooju’s hair.

“Okay, got it. I’ll wait at home.”

The unexpected touch made Wooju freeze stiffly.

Jitae ended the call.

“I-is something wrong?”

“I have a shoot out of town starting tomorrow. I have to leave early morning… I forgot.”

“Hey, you should’ve said that earlier. We could’ve met another time.”

Come to think of it, he hadn’t even asked if Jitae was busy before calling him over.

“It’s okay. It’s not too late. My manager just called to check if I was asleep.”

“Then go quickly.”

Jitae picked up the chocolate milk Wooju had given him and walked toward the door.

Even in that short distance, he kept stopping and turning back, as if he had forgotten something—until Wooju finally called him out.

As Jitae slowly put on his shoes, he glanced at Wooju.

“What?”

“I don’t want to go.”

Wooju looked at him like, what am I supposed to do about that?

“Um… Wooju. About us… what should I think we are?”

It was that classic question— What are we?

Wooju never imagined he would hear that in his life.

“We talked about everything honestly, but we haven’t really talked about that yet.”

For some reason, Wooju’s toes curled.

He bit the inside of his cheek.

He knew—

Sometimes, relationships needed clear definition.

They had already passed the stage of clearing misunderstandings and opening their hearts.

Now they stood before the next step.

“About that… I think I need some time too. We don’t really have time to talk about it properly right now.”

Wooju scratched his head.

He knew Jitae wasn’t just a rival or simply a close friend.

But giving it a name—right now, here at the doorway—was difficult.

After all, Wooju had lived 27 years without dating or even thinking about romance.

“Yeah… I get it.”

Jitae understood.

More than anything, this wasn’t a typical relationship.

“Let’s talk about it after your shoot.”

“Then… can I contact you in the meantime? Like texting?”

“Of course. Why are you even asking?”

Wooju turned his head, embarrassed.

Jitae’s face lit up instantly, like a child’s.

It was hard to believe he had been crying just moments ago.

“Then… maybe video calls too…?”

“How long are you going to stay here? Go already.”

“Okay, don’t push me…”

Wooju shoved him lightly, saying his manager must be waiting.

Unable to resist, Jitae opened the door.

“Get home safely.”

“You sleep well too.”

“Hey.”

Wooju leaned his head out through the door.

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