SDM 41
by Soraiip[Restricted Number]
Young Master Ryu Chae-yoon must be contactable every hour, and if he cannot be reached, a bodyguard may visit. Please take care not to overexert the young master’s health.
“This, this was sent from the secretarial office?”
“Where else would it be from?”
“Which bas…”
Which bastard did this? Seong-woon glared at Baek Sang-hyun’s phone, then hung his head. There were too many suspects capable of doing this, he couldn’t even begin to guess. Are they really trying to embarrass their youngest brother to death?
“Was this also the reason you suddenly changed the location to the company last time?”
“…I guess so.”
Baek Sang-hyun, who had been quietly observing Seong-woon, chuckled and patted his head. Seriously, what’s with everyone today?
“Since such a precious guest has come to visit, I should provide proper hospitality, shouldn’t I?”
Hospitality… Baek Sang-hyun definitely didn’t mean it that way, but Seong-woon still knew how ‘Ryu Chae-yoon’s’ proposal had been misinterpreted, so that word really bothered him. Plus, that damn kiss…!
“Get your books out. We should start by nailing down the concepts first.”
Not giving time for any strange thoughts, Baek Sang-hyun began cramming knowledge into Seong-woon’s head.
Drinking herbal tea that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, Seong-woon tried to use the part of his brain that had only developed in one direction for something else. Surely this must be Ryu Chae-yoon’s brain, so why is studying so difficult? Wasn’t he supposed to be good at studying…
“Stop thinking unnecessary thoughts and look at the book.”
Unable to complain since he had indeed been thinking unnecessary thoughts, Seong-woon buried his head in the book again. Just as he was thinking he should try to memorize the whole book first, someone’s hand touched the back of his neck.
Startled by the touch that was warm, almost hot, he lifted his head to find Baek Sang-hyun twirling a strand of his hair between his fingers.
“Don’t try to memorize it, try to understand.”
“…Do you read minds or something?”
Like what’s in my head.
“I can guess what you’re thinking, more or less.”
How does he know that? I’ve been told many times that I have no expression when I’m not acting. Even if I’ve entered Ryu Chae-yoon’s body, it shouldn’t have given me expressions I never had before.
“What am I supposed to do when everything’s so obvious?”
That grin… well, no wonder he’s been doing coffee commercials for 3 years. Seong-woon had worked with people on TV for 30 years, and because of (or despite) that, he had very high standards. He could dismiss most good-looking or pretty faces with a mere “I see,” but Baek Sang-hyun… he was surprised by how handsome he was at first sight, and still found him surprising at times.
On the other hand, having such high standards meant that he rarely found faces he liked, which made him particularly vulnerable to those who did pass his bar. Of course, there had only been one or two such people in his 30 years of life. Seong-woon prided himself on not showing that he cared about looks.
“What, do you like what you see that much?”
“…Pardon?”
“Your eyes narrowed slightly and the muscles around your mouth relaxed a bit. You look pleased.”
“…”
Has he always been this good at reading others’ expressions? As if reading the big question mark drawn on Seong-woon’s face, Baek Sang-hyun burst out laughing.
Thinking that even flowers in bloom wouldn’t be as radiant as this, Seong-woon cursed himself for once again marvelling at Baek Sang-hyun’s face, yet couldn’t take his eyes off the gently curving eyes and the beautifully upturned corners of his mouth moving in the opposite direction.
“By the way.”
“Yes?”
The voice resonated with such a gentle and affectionate tone that one could easily misunderstand the person’s emotions just by listening.
“Why… did you do that?”
“Do what?”
Look at him pretending not to understand again. Seong-woon pressed his flushed cheeks and gripped his pen tightly. If he had been a little stronger, the pen might have already broken.
“Oh, the kiss?”
No, what on earth am I asking! I must be crazy! Could it be that Ryu Chae-yoon’s soul is controlling my body now? He wanted to say that no answer was necessary, but Baek Sang-hyun was quicker.
“I thought I wouldn’t die if I kissed you.”
Sang-hyun said, tracing the long scar from his palm to the back of his hand.
“At that time, I really thought I was dying.”
“…”
“I even thought it would be okay to die.”
“So… whenever you have a hard time acting, you grab anyone and kiss them?”
It’s a miracle that he hasn’t been hit by a tow truck yet. If he did this at every filming location, there would have been an uproar long ago… Well, if Baek Sang-hyun kissed someone and asked them to keep it a secret, most people would probably zip their lips tight.
“Why would ‘anyone’ be involved?”
“Because that’s how it sounds…”
Baek Sang-hyun chuckled and extended his long, jade-like finger. It touched Seong-woon’s eye area ever so delicately that he could feel the fingerprint, brushed against the soft hair on his cheek, and carefully traced the line of his lips.
“If you weren’t there, I would have just died.”
Seong-woon, finding it difficult even to breathe, unconsciously glanced at his watch. His heart rate was over 100. But he didn’t feel like running away, so he moved his lips, still feeling Baek Sang-hyun’s finger.
“That… sounds very meaningful? As if…”
“As if I like you?”
“…Yes.”
Is Baek Sang-hyun looking at Jin Seong-woon? Or is he looking at Ryu Chae-yoon?
But Seong-woon couldn’t possibly conclude that Baek Sang-hyun was looking at Ryu Chae-yoon, talking to Ryu Chae-yoon. After all, this must be what they mean by a ‘soul-piercing gaze’ in literature.
“What if that’s the case?”
“…Do you want me to be your sponsor?”
“What? Haha…”
The laughter that burst out as if in disbelief soon faded. Even after such a remark, the emotion in Baek Sang-hyun’s eyes didn’t change at all, making Seong-woon swallow dryly.
“Sponsorship is when you buy me, isn’t it?”
“I… guess so?”
“Why would you try to buy me with money?”
“Because you have value?”
At Seong-woon’s answer, Baek Sang-hyun let out a dejected laugh. He rolled the word ‘value’ around in his mouth a few times, then made a bitter smile as if he had swallowed something unpleasant, and spoke in a softer voice as if to soothe Seong-woon.
“Putting value aside… You’re saying you’ll sponsor me because I won’t move unless given money or fame, right? But is there a need for that now?”
“Then what…”
“You said you didn’t need it… but that doesn’t mean your fondness for me has disappeared, right?”
Well… yes. From Ryu Chae-yoon’s perspective, even if the desire to meet once had turned into a sponsorship proposal, even if he had gone through all the subsequent processes, he would have continued to like Baek Sang-hyun. And Jin Seong-woon… well, Jin Seong-woon isn’t important here, so we can just skip over that.
“…I suppose so?”
“Then if one side likes and the other side has fondness, what would the two do?”
“But… do you really like me…?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“No, isn’t this the most important thing? Does it make sense to suddenly like someone?”
“Why doesn’t it make sense? They say people can fall in love at first sight.”
“That only happens in dramas!”
“Oh really? Go outside and ask anyone. Ask if they’ve ever fallen in love at first sight. I bet more than half will say they have.”
“Then what about you, sunbae? Have you ever fallen in love at first sight?”
“Yes.”
“See, you haven’t… Wait, you have?”
“That’s right.”
“Don’t lie.”
“…”
The gaze was so deep that Seong-woon had to turn his head away. He could see his fingers trembling at the edge of his vision.
“I… don’t really understand what you’re saying. I want to go home.”
Seong-woon swept his books into his bag. He clenched his curling fingers tightly and tried to get out of this quagmire, but Baek Sang-hyun’s next words hit the back of his head like rocks.
“All I’m saying is, let’s date.”
Is he crazy? Seong-woon turned around like a squeaking tin doll and glared at Baek Sang-hyun, who was still smiling.
If someone suddenly asks to date especially while grinning like that, only an idiot would believe it’s real… Why are his ears and neck so red? Seong-woon scanned Baek Sang-hyun’s reddened body parts and blinked hard once.
“Um… I’m a man, you know.”
“Did you ever care about that before?”
Of course I care! I’ve only kissed women in dramas, and now kissing a man… Thinking about it this way really pisses me off.
“Then why did you make the sponsorship offer?”
Ah, shit… I’m really going to kill everyone in Ryu Shin’s secretarial office! What the hell is in your heads to misunderstand the sickly young master’s “I want to meet him” as a sponsorship offer and cause this mess?
Barely suppressing the urge to tear at his hair, Seong-woon forced out a calm voice.
“I told you already. I don’t need it anymore…”
“Oh, do you have a lover?”
Wow, Seong-woon took a step back for a moment. Baek Sang-hyun’s eyes now were no less intense than when Ryu Chang-yoon was about to bury someone.
“No, nothing like that.”
“Then there’s no reason not to date me.”
“…It’s weird. Didn’t you dislike me?”
“I never disliked you.”
“You didn’t even accept my greeting at first!”
“I couldn’t help it, could I? Meeting someone who made a sponsorship offer and even threatened my family without any warning.”
That’s true. Honestly, Baek Sang-hyun’s attitude towards Ryu Chae-yoon was so good it could be called saintly. Anyway, Seong-woon realized he couldn’t continue with this sponsorship misunderstanding. At this rate, they might really end up in bed together!
“The sponsorship thing is really a misunderstanding. I should have told you this first…”
“If that’s a misunderstanding, I must be mentally ill. Hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations might be the symptoms.”
“I just said I wanted to meet you, but the secretarial office misunderstood the reason why I wanted to meet!”
“…Then what was your original reason for wanting to meet?”
…It’s ruined. Wasn’t the reason I didn’t bother to tell Baek Sang-hyun about the sponsorship misunderstanding because it was better than revealing that Ryu Chae-yoon was a huge fan of Baek Sang-hyun?
Seong-woon frowned, inwardly cursing his own careless mouth.
“It’s nice that you specifically wanted to meet me…”
“I’m telling you, that’s all in the past.”
Seong-woon cut off Baek Sang-hyun’s words midway. He knew it revealed even more confused emotions, but he had no choice.
“Oh, so you were disappointed after actually meeting me?”
“…Why would I have liked it?”
“I didn’t do anything particularly bad… And you…”
Sang-hyun took a step closer to Seong-woon and looked down at him. Even though Seong-woon was much taller than the average man, Sang-hyun was even taller. All the brothers are tall, why couldn’t I have been a bit taller…
“Sometimes you look at my face like you want to lick it.”
“Ah, I didn’t do that!”
Seong-woon stammered, feeling like he had been caught red-handed because he had just been looking at him that way. In the meantime, Baek Sang-hyun had come even closer, almost touching him.
“You like my face, and even if you weren’t thinking of sponsoring, you wanted to meet me badly enough to say so…”
“…”
“It seems there’s no reason we can’t date. Don’t you think?”
No, I don’t think so. The moment Seong-woon frowned and lifted his head, something warm touched his lips.
This crazy bastard…! He tried to push against his chest, but before he could even make contact, his hand was caught, and an arm wrapped tightly around his waist, pressing their upper bodies together.
With a thud, his back hit the wall as his lips parted, and a soft but firm tongue invaded his mouth. Seong-woon grabbed Sang-hyun’s arms. Realizing that this wasn’t to push him away, but just… to hold on, his face flushed hot.
“Hng, mmm…”
When he shook his head because he couldn’t breathe, their lips parted for a moment only to urgently reconnect. Trapped between the wall and Baek Sang-hyun, unable to move an inch, Seong-woon shivered at the sensation ravaging his mouth, alternately melting like butter and tensing up.