Chapter 40: A Drunken Embrace

Seo Yeon-ho gazed in bewilderment at the spot where he had been lying just moments before. He could not comprehend why he had abandoned his blanket to descend onto the hard floor.

Yet, even as he struggled to grasp his situation, Seo Yeon-ho’s heart hammered wildly against his ribs. Any trace of sleep had utterly fled. The searing warmth at his back, the faint scent of cologne, and the distinct aroma of alcohol were what truly unsettled him.

He looked down at the arm, thick and rigid as a roller coaster safety bar, draped across him. The watch on its left wrist confirmed for Seo Yeon-ho that the arm belonged to Han Tae-young. This realization only plunged him deeper into confusion and perplexity.

‘Is this some kind of prank, a new trend?’

Seo Yeon-ho suspected that Han Tae-young’s embrace might be a novel form of jest. He himself was oblivious to the latest challenges or games, but Han Tae-young was certainly not. Just recalling how he had been playfully filming videos with the staff at the BBQ restaurant earlier, it was clear he was well-versed in the newest fads.

Alternatively, Han Tae-young might have simply been displeased that Seo Yeon-ho was the only one with a blanket. It wasn’t that Seo Yeon-ho had deliberately withheld a blanket; there was simply only one. However, Han Tae-young wasn’t the type to consider another’s circumstances before indulging his pique.

‘If I tell him to take the blanket, will he let go? No. If he wanted the blanket, he would have just taken it, not done this.’

Seo Yeon-ho decided to quietly wait and observe Han Tae-young’s next move. If he had embraced him like a plush toy in his sleep, he would soon shift positions. If it was a prank or an act of spite, he would surely react first in some way.

Han Tae-young had no patience. Whatever others might say, Seo Yeon-ho had never once witnessed Han Tae-young exercise patience.

Conversely, Seo Yeon-ho possessed such strong endurance that his bandmates had nicknamed him ‘Turtle.’ He was also more adept at long-distance running than sprints. Seo Yeon-ho was certain that Han Tae-young would wave the white flag before he did.

Bzzzt, clatter, clatter.

The whirring of the fan filled the rooftop room. However, Seo Yeon-ho was so preoccupied with Han Tae-young clinging to his back that the fan’s noise barely registered.

‘This is uncomfortable.’

Every slight attempt to change his posture brought his body into immediate contact with Han Tae-young’s. Han Tae-young had a high body temperature, making it difficult for Seo Yeon-ho, who was sensitive to heat, to simply ignore it. Especially when their bare skin touched, he would flinch as if sitting on a leather seat scorched by the sun.

‘Is he always this warm? Or is his body temperature elevated because of the alcohol?’

Rustle.

He heard the soft sound of Han Tae-young’s nose burrowing into his hair. Seo Yeon-ho’s fine hairs stood on end, as if he were listening to an ASMR track through earphones.

Rustle, rustle.

As if pleased by the scent of his shampoo, Han Tae-young rubbed his nose and lips against the crown of Seo Yeon-ho’s head. Had it stopped there, Seo Yeon-ho would have simply dismissed it as an unusual sleeping habit. However, Han Tae-young continued to sniff, then actually put some of Seo Yeon-ho’s hair in his mouth and gnawed on it.

‘Is this guy really a dog?’

Seo Yeon-ho recalled Han Tae-young biting his backside earlier and was utterly dumbfounded. Yet, even calling him a dog felt insufficient. Not even a teething puppy had such a severe biting habit.

“Mmm.”

Apparently tired of chewing on hair, Han Tae-young smacked his lips and shifted his body. Seo Yeon-ho thought he had found an opportunity to escape Han Tae-young’s embrace, but he was mistaken. The moment Seo Yeon-ho lifted his shoulder from the floor, Han Tae-young slid his arm into the gap.

“Gasp.”

Han Tae-young’s arms tightened around Seo Yeon-ho’s waist like a belt. The more Seo Yeon-ho tried to pull away, the stronger the grip on his waist became.

“Hey, I can’t breathe.”

Seo Yeon-ho, now pressed tightly against Han Tae-young as if they were a single entity, uttered a faint complaint. The pressure on his waist lessened slightly, but now something else bothered him.

Han Tae-young rubbed his solid thighs against Seo Yeon-ho’s backside, then breathed moistly against his earlobe. The act, reminiscent of an intimate caress, sent a tingle through Seo Yeon-ho’s lower back.

Damn it.

Seo Yeon-ho bit his lower lip, pressing it firmly. It was absurd and humiliating that he was feeling this sensation precisely while pressed against Han Tae-young.

“Are you listening to me? It’s hot, and I can’t breathe, so let go of me.”

“Uh. Got it.”

As Seo Yeon-ho struggled, Han Tae-young mumbled a reply. Yet, despite his words, his actions remained completely unchanged. Perhaps Han Tae-young had no intention of listening to Seo Yeon-ho in the first place. When Han Tae-young’s hand subtly slipped beneath his shirt, Seo Yeon-ho seized it like a thief’s hand and demanded an explanation.

“What do you ‘get’? You’re not listening to me, are you? And what’s with this hand?”

“Haaah.”

Han Tae-young sighed as if utterly exasperated, then flipped Seo Yeon-ho over. Suddenly finding himself face-to-face with Han Tae-young, Seo Yeon-ho stiffened in surprise.

Han Tae-young’s eyelids seemed heavy; he squinted down at Seo Yeon-ho. Under Han Tae-young’s intense gaze, Seo Yeon-ho’s heart lurched.

“Why are you looking at—”

Han Tae-young kissed Seo Yeon-ho’s cheek. Seo Yeon-ho’s eyes widened, unable to believe what had just happened to him.

“There. Now let’s sleep.”

Han Tae-young stroked the back of Seo Yeon-ho’s head as if placating a fussy lover, then closed his eyes again. The moment his eyes shut, he seemed to enter deep sleep mode, his chest rising and falling very slowly.

“…Crazy bastard.”

Seo Yeon-ho’s muttered words echoed in the rooftop room, where even the fan’s whirring had ceased. A considerable amount of time had passed, yet a trace of agitation still lingered in his voice.

After confirming Han Tae-young was truly asleep, Seo Yeon-ho’s hand instinctively traced the corner of his mouth. Han Tae-young’s lips had touched and then left an ambiguous spot, right on the border between his cheek and his lips.

Was that why? Seo Yeon-ho had tensed up, thinking Han Tae-young was going to kiss him when his lips approached. He felt wronged, as he wouldn’t have been nervous if he had anticipated a peck on the cheek. A peck was still startling, but regardless…

The dim light of dawn began to seep into the dark rooftop room.

Seo Yeon-ho glanced up at Han Tae-young, his gaze fixed on the perfectly sculpted lips, as if drawn in a painting. He recalled the heat of those lips. And how Han Tae-young’s lips had brushed the corner of his own.

Why had he kissed—no, pecked him?

Was kissing his drunken habit? Or had he mistaken him for his lover in his sleep?

Han Tae-young had recently broken up with his girlfriend and was completely drunk. There was a strong possibility he had forgotten about his breakup. Much like how Seo Yeon-ho had forgotten Han Tae-young was in the room and emerged naked from the bathroom.

On the other hand, Seo Yeon-ho wondered if it was truly plausible to mistake him for a lover, no matter how drunk. Park Se-yeon was slightly taller than average with a slender build, whereas Seo Yeon-ho was so tall that he rarely saw anyone taller than himself on the street. Without a doubt, their physiques made it impossible to confuse their genders.

‘Don’t overthink it. How can a person who turns into a dog when drunk think normally?’

Seo Yeon-ho shook his head to dispel his doubts. Sometimes, living simply was the wisest course. Believing there was intent behind the antics of a drunk person would only complicate his own mind.

Morning sunlight streamed across Han Tae-young’s bare shoulder. Seo Yeon-ho was startled to see that the bluish dawn light had already transformed into a clear, bright glow. He hadn’t realized so much time had passed.

‘I’ve practically pulled an all-nighter. I wonder if I can get about three more hours of sleep?’

Seo Yeon-ho closed his eyes, hoping to catch even a short nap. However, perhaps due to the uncomfortable position, sleep eluded him despite his closed eyes. He felt as though he might drift off if he could just move Han Tae-young’s arm, but he didn’t dare touch him for fear of waking him. A drunken Han Tae-young was quite literally a ticking time bomb.

‘What a struggle because of this lunatic.’

Seo Yeon-ho slowly opened his eyes and glared for a long time at the calamity he had brought into his own home. He knew he would resent his current self when he had to go to work later if he didn’t sleep now, yet he couldn’t stop glaring at Han Tae-young.

The light streaming through the window illuminated only Han Tae-young, like a spotlight following an actor on stage. With the light draped over him like a blanket, Han Tae-young resembled a subject in a photograph where a photographer had emphasized the shadows.

Han Tae-young was such an extraordinary presence that even the shabby rooftop room felt like a uniquely curated exhibition hall. However, Seo Yeon-ho knew well that it was not an exhibition hall, but merely a storage room for briefly holding photographs.

The warning not to touch the artwork flickered before his eyes. The caution that touching it would incur astronomical compensation costs sounded in his ears like a docent’s audio guide.

Seo Yeon-ho, gazing quietly at Han Tae-young—a disaster, an uninvited guest, and a priceless work of art that could never truly be his—eventually drifted off to sleep.

****

“Oh, I’m dead tired.”

Kim Jin-woo stumbled through the broadcasting station hallway, sipping an energy drink he’d bought from a convenience store. While the other staff had dispersed after the company dinner, Kim Jin-woo, like a pigeon with homing instincts, had returned to the station to review the footage shot the previous day.

“Oh? You’re awake.”

Upon opening the editing room door, he found PD Go Woo-seung, whom he had left in the sleeping quarters, sitting in front of the editing equipment. He had been so utterly drunk that Kim Jin-woo expected him to be out for several more hours, but he had woken up earlier than anticipated.

“Are you feeling alright? Should I get you some honey water instead of this?”

Kim Jin-woo, glad he had thought to buy it just in case, offered a hangover remedy to PD Go Woo-seung with both hands.

“No, it’s fine. This is enough.”

PD Go Woo-seung chugged the hangover remedy in one go, then fixed his gaze on the screen with a serious expression. On the monitor, footage of Seo Yeon-ho acting as Character 77 in place of Baek Hwi-kyung was playing on a loop. Although Seo Yeon-ho had been told they wouldn’t film the rehearsal, PD Go Woo-seung had quietly instructed the camera director to start recording after observing the rehearsal for a while.