Chapter 20: The Rooftop Confession

Cool palms cupped his cheeks. Jun-ho’s face drew close—close enough that barely a fist’s width remained between them. Their eyes met. Min-hyeon’s lashes trembled.

Their breaths were close enough to touch. Min-hyeon could barely breathe. His heart pounded so violently he worried it might burst through his chest.

Min-hyeon couldn’t read any emotion in Jun-ho’s dark eyes as they stared straight at him. Captivated by those black eyes that betrayed no thought, Min-hyeon trembled. His voice, calling Jun-ho, shook just as pitifully.

“H-hyung?”

Instead of answering, Jun-ho gazed intently at Min-hyeon. Held captive by a gaze that bound him tightly and wouldn’t let go, even blinking felt difficult. He barely managed to squeeze out his failing voice.

“Jun-ho… hyung.”

A suffocating silence stretched for a few seconds. Perhaps it was even shorter than the blink of an eye—a fleeting moment. Min-hyeon forgot even to breathe as he waited for Jun-ho’s response. His wildly pounding heart announced its presence. Thump, thump, thump, thump. The sound of his heartbeat shook his eardrums.

After what felt like an endless standoff, light gradually began to return to Jun-ho’s eyes. Those black pupils, which had seemed like nothing but an abyss of endless darkness, regained their light.

“How is it? Isn’t it cool?”

A mischievous smile spread across Jun-ho’s previously expressionless face. The tension that had filled the air until just moments ago melted into his smile and vanished like a lie.

“Huh?”

“You said you were hot, didn’t you? My hands are cool, so I thought I’d cool you down a bit. Feeling any better?”

“Ah! Hyung! You scared me!”

The strength drained from Min-hyeon’s body. A wave of profound exhaustion seemed to sweep through him. Looking into Jun-ho’s playful, sparkling eyes, Min-hyeon felt deep relief.

“I thought you were…”

Going to kiss me.

Heat rushed to Min-hyeon’s face again. Jun-ho’s cool hands cupping his cheeks felt even more vivid against his heated skin.

“Oh my. You’ve gotten even hotter.”

“…I guess so. It must be because the weather is so hot.”

Min-hyeon’s shoulders slumped. He tucked away the faint disappointment that surfaced beneath his relief.

‘What was I even expecting.’

Is this what having a one-sided crush is like?

Even Jun-ho’s playful, casual touches—he interpreted them all ‘that way.’ Probably because he liked Jun-ho ‘that way.’

Swallowing a sigh, Min-hyeon forced a smile as if nothing was wrong.

“But hyung, your hands are really cold. It’s nice and cool in summer, but in winter, they must be freezing. My hands are actually pretty warm. Should I hold your hands for you in winter?”

“Will you?”

Jun-ho readily accepted Min-hyeon’s offer. That answer probably wasn’t 100% sincere on Jun-ho’s part—but Min-hyeon was satisfied enough that Jun-ho didn’t take his joke with hidden motives seriously, instead smiling and playing along.

“Leave it to me. I’ll warm you up.”

Min-hyeon answered in a fairly confident voice. Jun-ho chuckled lightly, finally releasing Min-hyeon’s face and patting his shoulder, saying he’d count on him.

Once Jun-ho’s hands dropped, Min-hyeon slowly let the tension leave his body and lay down on the rooftop floor. They hadn’t done much since coming up, but for some reason he felt utterly exhausted, as if he couldn’t lift a finger.

An unusually large, white cloud drifted slowly into view. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a sky this blue. Min-hyeon watched the fluffy clouds drift lazily, saying nothing for a while. The clouds gliding idly across the summer sky soothed his startled heart.

Jun-ho quietly raised his camera and began filming Min-hyeon lying down. Min-hyeon didn’t notice at all. By the time his pounding heart had calmed to a steadier rhythm, Min-hyeon spoke, still gazing at the sky. His voice had grown considerably more relaxed.

“The sky is really beautiful today. I wish we could just film the project like this—lying down comfortably, looking at the sky. Wouldn’t that be less nerve-wracking?”

“Let’s try it. We’ll see how it comes out.”

“Should I really give it a try? I’m Choi Min-hyeon. A freshman in the photography department. As you can see, I like lying around and looking at the sky.”

Completely unaware that he was being filmed, Min-hyeon’s attitude was perfectly at ease. He pointed at the sky.

“That cloud over there looks just like a basketball hoop. Ah. I want to play basketball.”

“Do you like basketball?”

“Yes! I like basketball too… I like all ball games. Watching them, playing them—all of it.”

“You don’t seem like you’d be good at basketball.”

When Jun-ho teased him, Min-hyeon sat up abruptly. Still unaware of the camera in Jun-ho’s hands, he confidently made a proposal.

“Want to bet on it?”

“What’s the stake?”

“Loser buys beer? Or… Aaah! Were you filming all this just now?”

Finally noticing the camera, Min-hyeon shrieked in shock. Thanks to Min-hyeon’s dramatic expression changes, Jun-ho laughed so hard his shoulders shook. The camera in his hands bobbed up and down along with him.

Still smiling, Jun-ho praised Min-hyeon.

“It was very natural and good.”

“Of course it was—I didn’t know I was being filmed.”

“Even now that you know, your voice isn’t trembling. You’ve completely relaxed, haven’t you? I think we can go with this.”

Min-hyeon let out an exaggerated sigh.

“You said earlier you’d make me look cool. That promise seems to have changed.”

“I said I’d try to make you look cool—I never promised I would.”

“…You said you’d make me look pretty, though.”

“You are pretty. Cute.”

Min-hyeon fell silent for a moment. He couldn’t find the words, just opened and closed his mouth, then roughly rubbed his flushed face with his palms. He let out an even deeper sigh than before.

“I think I just found one of your weaknesses, hyung.”

“My weakness? What is it?”

“Hyung, you have bad eyesight, don’t you? Or maybe you have unique taste.”

“Unfortunately, my eyesight is perfectly normal. As for taste… hmm. I don’t think it’s particularly unique. You’re cute, I said.”

Min-hyeon silently screamed, his face several times redder than before. Watching him, Jun-ho laughed freely.

Even though Jun-ho had been continuously filming their conversation, the fact that they were shooting for the project had somehow faded from Min-hyeon’s mind. He asked Jun-ho about whatever came to mind—favorite foods, disliked subjects, games he’d been playing lately—and answered Jun-ho’s questions in return. Time flew by without them noticing.

Having shed the tension from when they’d first entered the main building and started filming, Min-hyeon came down from the rooftop with a bright smile.

Just stepping through the iron door, the air inside the building was markedly different from the rooftop. The main building’s interior was as deathly quiet as when they’d come up. The silence of the corridor, filled only by footsteps descending the stairs, made his movements instinctively cautious. Min-hyeon lowered his voice.

“If I’d known the rooftop door wasn’t locked, I would have come up here a long time ago.”

He expected some response—but Jun-ho said nothing.

‘Did he not hear me?’

Min-hyeon studied Jun-ho’s expression from a step above. For some reason, Jun-ho’s face didn’t look good. They’d been laughing and talking pleasantly just moments ago—why had his mood suddenly soured? Min-hyeon thought back to what he’d just said, trying to figure out if there was anything that might have upset him, but nothing came to mind.

“H-hy…”

Min-hyeon was about to call out a little louder—but then closed his mouth. There was something about Jun-ho, when he wasn’t smiling, that made him feel like he shouldn’t speak carelessly. His expressionless face stole away Min-hyeon’s courage to speak. He followed silently.

Even though sunset was still far off, the first-floor corridor of the main building was strangely dark, as if sunlight didn’t reach it well. They walked quietly along the silent corridor—then Jun-ho’s pace slowed slightly, and suddenly the door marked “Chairman’s Office” ahead swung open.

Emerging from inside were a middle-aged woman whose age was hard to guess, and a familiar young man—Hae-soo. Recognizing him, Min-hyeon instinctively stepped back.

“I’ve been waiting, hyung.”

Hae-soo approached the two of them immediately, smiling as he placed a hand on Jun-ho’s shoulder. His tone suggested he’d known Jun-ho would be passing by. Instead of answering, Jun-ho turned a cold expression toward Hae-soo.

The woman who had come out with Hae-soo, Miran, didn’t approach—but she gazed at Min-hyeon with a peculiar smile. Meeting Miran’s eyes, Min-hyeon felt inexplicably unsettled and dropped his gaze. He wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.

“Jun-ho, who is this?”

“…A close junior.”

Even though he’d ignored Hae-soo’s words, he couldn’t pretend not to hear Miran’s. Jun-ho answered slowly. Snapping to attention at Jun-ho’s words, Min-hyeon bowed at a right angle.

“Ah! Hello! I’m Choi Min-hyeon, a junior of Jun-ho hyung’s!”

“A junior of Jun-ho’s—so photography department?”

“Yes! Freshman in the photography department!”

“What a cute junior.”

Even as she wore a kind smile, Miran exuded an air of inaccessibility that resembled Jun-ho’s in some way. Min-hyeon smiled awkwardly and thanked her.

“Min-hyeon, it looks like you’ll have to go on your own.”

“Yes, yes! That’s fine! Can I stop by hyung’s hideout and pick up my bag?”

“Of course. Be careful going in.”

“If you’re that uneasy, I could walk you there?”

Hae-soo grinned and tried to insert himself between the two, but Jun-ho shot him a cold glance.

“Hyung, then I’ll see you next time. Goodbye!”

Min-hyeon left his farewell to Jun-ho and his goodbye to Miran, then hurried his steps. Glancing back from the end of the corridor, the three seemed to have entered the chairman’s office again—the corridor was already empty.

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