“……”The faint sound of movement crept slowly from the doorway toward the bed. Even after reaching it, there was a long pause before the edge of the mattress dipped. The whole room was steeped in silence. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard, and Seo-eul slowly opened his eyes. His pupils, adjusted to the dark, caught the faint outline of the figure before him.Even when their eyes met, neither of them spoke for a long time.Even after realizing Seo-eul was awake, Sa-heon didn’t seem particularly startled. Who knew how long they’d been staring at each other? Finally, with that shadowed gaze fixed on him, Sa-heon spoke.“I can’t sleep.”“……”“I keep thinking… what if you go somewhere while I’m asleep.”His tone was half weary. It was such a sad, simple explanation that Seo-eul had no choice but to admit his own mistake. He’d been too abrupt—his words had sounded like a declaration, not a discussion. He’d wanted to believe everything was fine again, but all that talk of being “better” had just been his own wishful thinking.“I’m sorry.”“……”“I shouldn’t have rushed you. I really thought you were okay.”Seo-eul sat up and pulled Sa-heon, who was sitting blankly at the bedside, into an embrace. His hand on Sa-heon’s stiff back moved carefully, as if piecing together shards of glass. The thought that Sa-heon probably hadn’t slept properly for days made something inside him twist painfully tight.Because he knew—beneath that bold exterior, Sa-heon was fragile.“Let’s do it your way, Heon. Slowly. I’ll make sure you don’t feel anxious…”In the end, Seo-eul was the one giving in again.When Sa-heon pressed his forehead wordlessly against him like a chastened child, Seo-eul’s heart caved. If someone had to suffer, it should have been him. If he’d known it would turn out like this, he would have taken more time—talked it through.“I’m sorry,” he whispered again, and the weight leaning on his shoulder grew heavier. Sa-heon relaxed, slowly tilting toward him, and Seo-eul instinctively tensed to keep from falling back. Holding steady, he murmured softly,“So now, get some sleep, okay?”“Yeah.”“And do the show too. I’ll call the CEO in the morning.”“Mm…”The words trailed off, sounding like drowsy child’s talk.Seo-eul’s breath quieted as sleep finally seemed to catch up with him. His hand, still patting Sa-heon’s back, moved more gently. If he fell asleep like this, Seo-eul thought, it might be better to just let him stay here.The weight on him increased little by little. It was heavy, but he didn’t complain, only straightened his spine and bore it. Maybe I really should start working out, he thought faintly. There was a clear difference in their size, but still—it hurt his pride a little. Realistically, it was Sa-heon who needed to fix this habit, though that seemed unlikely ever to happen.As thoughts drifted, Seo-eul added softly,“Once filming ends, we’ll start sorting things out slowly, okay? If it’s hard, we can get counseling again. I’ll go with you, so don’t worry.”The shooting period was supposed to last two weeks. If he adjusted his schedule now, they’d have two, maybe three months total to work things out. That felt reasonable, so he made the suggestion—but Sa-heon didn’t answer.“Asleep?” Seo-eul whispered, but only the faint sound of breathing replied. He closed his mouth again. It would probably be better to let him sleep comfortably, but he was afraid to wake him. I’ll let him rest a little longer, he decided, glancing toward the dark room and feeling grateful he’d left the lamp off.“……”So Seo-eul never noticed.That the eyes of Seo Sa-heon—resting his cheek against Seo-eul’s shoulder—were half open.That he was staring at the slender curve of Seo-eul’s neck and suppressing a smile he already knew too well.Counseling, my ass. If anything, he thought, it would be more satisfying to drive the nail in for good this time.***Early that morning, CEO Yeom practically screamed when he received the call. It felt like being handed a surprise gift he hadn’t dared to hope for. After four days with no word, he’d assumed it had fallen through—but now Seo-eul himself was calling to say he wanted to appear on the show. It was the kind of thing you had to see with your own eyes to believe—like the sun rising in the west.Still, the man had a hunch—and the accuracy of it sent chills down his spine. He pelted Seo-eul with questions like a police emergency line operator. Was he with Seo Sa-heon right now? Was he being threatened? If he couldn’t answer freely, he should tap the speaker twice…None of that applied, and after insisting “No” several times, Seo-eul finally sent him a picture of Sa-heon fast asleep, and only then did Yeom relax. His voice brightened immediately.— What the hell? Acting like you’d never do it, huh? Aigoo, you beautiful thing…!“…I’m not confident, but I’ll do my best.”— Stop right there. Don’t even try that hard. You’ll make yourself sick.Seo-eul had always been conscientious to the bone. Even for the smallest role, he’d study a script until the pages tore, memorizing not only his own lines but his partner’s as well. Knowing how obsessive his focus could get, Yeom hurried to reassure him.— You don’t need to do anything, got it? Just relax. What the fans want is to see what you’re like normally—what you eat, how you zone out… stuff like that. PD Jeon Jae-yeon will handle the production beautifully, so don’t stress.“Hmm. That’s good to hear.”— Oh, come on, again with that tone. You don’t believe me, do you? I’ve said it a hundred times—Seo-eul, you’re the pride of Korea! The man of Cannes! The most beloved national actor—anyone in this country who doesn’t know your name is living under a rock!“……”Here we go again.At the familiar grand opening, Seo-eul quietly pulled the phone away from his ear and sighed.It was sweet, how much Yeom cared for his actors, but he had a bad habit of laying the praise on too thick. Seo-eul wanted to just say, That’s not true, and end it politely—but doing that would only pour gasoline on the fire.Choosing silence wisely, he turned his gaze toward Sa-heon, whose face was half buried in the pillow.Still sleeping soundly, not even stirring.Well, it’s been days since he last slept. No wonder. Seo-eul absently ran his fingers through the messy strands of hair. Without the usual wax, it felt soft and slightly rough—pleasant to touch. He’s not a dog, he thought, yet the comparison came anyway.He stayed like that for a while, killing time, until Yeom’s long-winded pep talk finally ended.— …Got it? Keep that in mind, Seo-eul. Oh, and we’ll confirm later, but you’ll probably have the pre-interview soon. You’re the only one we needed the OK from. Good thing you had a break. Poor Seo Sa-heon’s gonna suffer, though.“Why? Is he that busy?”— Busy? He’s swamped. He’s got an overseas schedule next week, and when he told us to cancel it, I nearly fainted. He’s been turning down drama offers left and right, and it’s driving me crazy. Maybe you can talk to him.As if he’d listen.They’d always stayed out of each other’s professional affairs, so Seo-eul’s reaction was lukewarm. He had been surprised when Sa-heon suddenly decided to take a drama role—after only ever doing modeling—but with the entertainment world blurring so much these days, he hadn’t thought much of it.What had puzzled him more was the reason.You were interested in acting? he’d asked. Why didn’t you tell me?And Sa-heon had answered in that lazy tone of his,Because you seemed obsessed with it. I got curious.All that just because of him—it was absurd. Yet somehow, the reaction had been overwhelmingly positive. His first drama had blown up, and every project since had been a hit. Even so, Sa-heon stubbornly stuck to bit parts and supporting roles. When Seo-eul asked why, he’d said that main characters were for people who truly loved acting.It was funny—someone with no apparent sensitivity could be so strangely particular about things like that.“He’ll figure it out. If he finds a script that excites him, he’ll probably want to do it.”— He doesn’t even read the scripts.“Well… acting isn’t his main job. Honestly, I already think it’s amazing that he’s even in the industry at all.”— Huh…Yeom had to admit that much. When a man that private—someone who hated attention and people in general—decided to debut in show business, it had felt like a hallucination.Now that he knew the real, uglier reason behind it, he didn’t dare say anything.Smoothing it over awkwardly, he raised his voice.— Anyway, you’ll both be busy starting tomorrow. Take a good look at that boy’s face while you can. I’ll call you again, Seo-eul.Take a good look at his face? Seo-eul chuckled softly at the odd phrasing and nodded. “Yes, have a good day, sir.”It was a simple farewell, but Yeom heard the sincerity behind it and laughed warmly before hanging up.Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at that point.Later that afternoon, Seo-eul passed along the details of the call to Sa-heon, who’d woken up late—but all he got in return was a ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ vague, unbothered response.It was only a few days later that Seo-eul finally realized Yeom hadn’t been exaggerating at all.

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