"Can't you do something other than smiling?"
As I turned my gaze towards the director, who seemed uncomfortable with the amusement turning unpleasant, I saw him shrug. Why did I agree to do this? The suggestion to skip the smiling shots came when a thick sense of self-disgust was evident in the tone.
I took a few more individual shots afterward, and at the director's suggestion to have Seowoo join in, the three of us took a photo together. With me in the middle and one person on each side, the height difference was clearly noticeable. Sihyun, who had experienced an unexpected humiliation, could finally leave the set only after several more shutter sounds echoed.
Even if I hadn't heard the following conversation, it was clear.
The director asked if I was okay with shooting until the October issue. In the moment of refusal, Yuseowoo suggested not mentioning the fact that Sihyun had fainted so far. It didn't take long for the shooting to resume.
Click, click, the sight flashed before my eyes, tired and exhausted.
Then, towards the end, Gunwoo devised a bromance strategy, placing a long sofa and having Gunwoo get on top of me to take a picture. It would have been comfortable for me to just lie down and close my eyes, but it seemed not for Gunwoo.
He, who had received praise all along, received warnings several times. The first one or two times felt refreshing, but when it surpassed ten times, his expression wrinkled. The shooting continued for a long time. We arrived in the afternoon, but the sun had already set outside. Skipping breakfast and lunch, starving and exhausted, the delayed shooting became increasingly frustrating.
At this rate, the leather on my belly seemed to stick to the leather on my back.
Even though I asked him to speak properly a few times, the natural stiffness didn't seem to go away. Frustrated, Sihyun, unable to endure the frustration, got up.
Swish, my vision changed in an instant. Sihyun, who had grabbed Gunwoo's collar and laid him down under me, covered the blue eyes looking at me with fatigue. It was because of the embarrassment on his face.
The situation reversed in the blink of an eye. When everyone was staring blankly at the scene, Sihyun looked at the director with tired eyes. I didn't know what I was doing to gain such prestige. I didn't know it would be so difficult not to hear nagging after just eating a little.
"Let's just shoot it like this."
He spoke with a tired look and blinked his eyes. Even though his eyes were tired, at that moment, the shutter sound echoed, revitalizing the somewhat faltering shooting.
"Great job!"
After more than 30 minutes of additional time, the shooting was over. Sihyun, who quickly changed clothes and came out, looked at Seowoo, who was waiting for him as before, with a faint impression. His complexion seemed paler than before, perhaps due to the long shoot.
"I didn't say it would take this long."
"I didn't expect it to take this long either. Wasn't it hard to smile a lot?"
"...."
Hungry and sluggish, with no energy to argue, Sihyun chose to keep his mouth shut instead. Instead of rejecting, he watched Gunwoo coming out of the dressing room on the opposite side, where he had been waiting as before. Gunwoo, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, approached with his hat firmly pressed down. Among the three, only he had the same expression as before the shoot. It was annoying.
"Why are you coming last and dragging it out?"
"...Sorry."
When Sihyun pointed out the incident during the last shoot, Gunwoo checked his phone and apologized succinctly. There was no need to push the person who was already apologizing. However, despite that, Sihyun was writing an impression of not feeling relieved. Tick-tock, Gunwoo, who tapped his phone a few times, looked up and stared at Sihyun.
"Why?"
"I have to go now."
"Do you have plans?"
"I have a dinner appointment tonight."
It was a short answer for each question. Except when angry or serious, all his responses in conversations were consistently cut off. Now accustomed to his way of speaking, Sihyun turned on his phone and checked the time, a little past 8 o'clock.
"Then I should go now."
"Yeah."
"Where are you going? Don't go."
"...It's been a long time since I saw you."
"Hmm?"
"I feel like I haven't seen you in a really long time."
Sihyun, who was gesturing to hurry up, stopped at the sudden remark. Whether it was a criticism for not contacting him or an expression of missing him, or a desire to spend more time together, he didn't know. Sihyun, who pondered over multiple possibilities, shrugged his shoulders. It was because he wondered when Baek Geonwoo had started thinking and speaking like this.
"Oh, it's been a while."
"...."
Responding with the safest words, he fell silent. Whether something was bothering him or not, he gathered his eyebrows and lowered the corners of his eyes. It was a facial expression that seemed familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.
Yes, it was similar to the expression he had shown when they first had a meal together, sitting alone and apart. With a sulky face like back then, Sihyun turned his head and looked at Seowoo. Although he wanted to briefly look and speak, Sihyun, who had ignored his gaze deliberately, sighed.
"Why."
"Just wondering what you're going to do after this."
"I'm going home."
"We haven't seen each other in a week."
"So what?"
The blue eyes gazed at Suhwoo with a hint of curiosity. Whether it was after a week or a month, it seemed insignificant.
Speaking of time, he suddenly remembered the day at the research lab. He wasn't sure if Sihyun was doing well. If he entered the lab, there would be no way to contact him. Unless, of course, Sihyun had already thought about everything during the weeks of silence.
While others might assume that no messages meant he was busy, for Sihyun, it was an exception. Being someone who had lived through hardships in the lab, a week of no contact was a matter that set him apart from others.
Sighing, Sihyun, who had pressed the power button on his phone in vain, looked at the clean lock screen. He pondered whether preventing him from going to the lab was the right decision.
"Why are you thinking so hard about it?"
In front of him.
Suhwoo, who had rested his forehead on Sihyun's shoulder, turned to him, asking. Startled, Sihyun's body, stiffened by surprise, felt the soft strands of hair rustle against him. The rustling sound tickled his ears.
Sihyun looked at the platinum hair that gleamed in his vision. Lately, there had been a strangely frequent occurrence of skinship. It was hard to say whether it had crossed a line to the point of being surprising. Yusuhwoo was someone who ambiguously crossed the line he had drawn and stimulated his nerves. If he had crossed the line first...
... That was a mistake.
Thinking about the incident during the chess game, Sihyun furrowed his brow. As he was close enough to see Suhwoo's lips directly, he suddenly realized that he, too, had no record of such skinship. It was an accident...
When he pushed aside the memory, Sihyun raised his eyebrows. Suhwoo's lips were now visible directly. Come to think of it, he had no records with him either. Sihyun recalled the skinship that had ended in doubt, and his hand reached up. His white fingertips lightly touched the back of the neck with a marked spot.
"Hmm?"
When Sihyun didn't show much reaction, Suhwoo asked as he lifted his forehead. Despite the considerable height difference, he bowed his head, resting his forehead against his. Whether Suhwoo would lift his head first, or Sihyun would push him away first, Sihyun pondered. Watching the platinum hair, he briefly considered, but then frowned. For some reason, it seemed like Yusuhwoo would continue like this even if his neck broke.
"Step back and talk."
Eventually, Sihyun lifted his hand. As he pushed his forehead, Suhwoo laughed as their eyes met. His gaze fell on Sihyun's phone.
"Do you expect a call?"
"No."
"But why do you keep looking at your phone, Sihyun? And with such tender eyes."
It was a strangely sulking tone. Maybe it automatically formed such an expression when he thought about what happened during the day. Sihyun, raising his hand, felt his eye area with only what he could feel. From the sound of his throat clearing, Suhwoo seemed to find something amusing. His laughter, like the morning radio, gently enveloped Sihyun's ears.
"You're cute in unexpected ways."
"What?"
"So, have you thought about your partner?"
"Haru, hyung."
"Yeah, your partner."
"...."
When will that be fixed?
No matter how many times he corrected it, he didn't know how to fix it. It was a stubbornness that didn't suit his appearance. There wasn't much time left now.
Come to think of it, there really wasn't much time left.
After the new semester begins, he has to change his partner from the one he has had so far. It was unimaginable for Haru to become someone else's partner, and it was also unimaginable for him to form a partnership with someone else. But if he thought about it.
...Maybe with him.
Suhwoo's figure became clearer in his blue eyes.
There was no one else to do it. Many people had requested, but leaving him and forming a partnership with Shin Ijae would make the remaining semester miserable. Sihyun raised the white platinum hair in thought.
"Anyway, you have a bad personality."
"Hmm?"
Sihyun pointed out his personality out of the blue, and Suhwoo looked puzzled. He had seemed a bit absent-minded all day. Although he always smiled as if he knew everything or showed a nonchalant expression, today he looked quite puzzled, making him look like a boy of his age. Wondering how such a person would grow to have a twisted personality like a snake, Sihyun, narrowing his eyebrows, roughly reached out and messed up the well-arranged platinum hair.
"You need to fix your personality."
"...What's with the sudden comment?"
After suddenly stumbling over his personality, Suhwoo now patted his head. There was no inconsistency in his words and actions. Even so, his touch wasn't bad. Seeing Suhwoo, who had been quiet because of his muttered words, regaining the lost topic thanks to Sihyun's muttering, he opened his mouth again.
"Do you have anything to do at home?"
"I do."
"But you said you were free today."
"...But I'll still go home."
Should have said he was busy.
The regret from lunch didn't stop even in the evening. Seeing Suhwoo, who had seen his furrowed forehead, smoothed out the wrinkles with his fingers. Suhwoo's body temperature on his skin was higher than usual.
With a poke, his thumb that pressed against his forehead gave him a more imposing appearance. The wrinkles that had been smoothed out were back in place. It was sweet, and Suhwoo, who smiled as if it was pleasant, opened his mouth again, pressing his forehead once more.
"Then should I go to your place too?"
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