VSP 179
Perhaps he had inherited his mother’s talent for cooking, or maybe he’d always been a natural in the kitchen, Sejun showed off his skills to his heart’s content, while the two of them cheered him on with applause. Just as the meal was nearly finished, Ryu Sehyun was the first to arrive.
“What is this?”
Na Yookyung teased him upon seeing the heavy shopping bag he was carrying.
Even as she said this, Na Yookyung didn’t refuse it. Ryu Sehyun chuckled, placed the shopping bag in her arms, and then greeted Yerin and Sejun.
“……”
Sejun, who would normally have welcomed Sehyun warmly, greeted him with an awkward posture.
Although he’d always been confident in his ability to put on a front, he was far from the delusional self-admiration that assumed anyone would actually like him, let alone imagine that the person in question would be a hyung he was close to. To Sejun, discovering Ryu Sehyun’s “sub-top” moments in the memories of the other “Seo Sejun” was nothing short of a shock.
I never even wanted to know what the word “sub-top” meant in the first place!
“Haa.”
Sejun screamed inwardly before sighing.
……They say ignorance is bliss, and that old saying was absolutely right. But now that he knew, he couldn’t just ignore it.
Sejun scratched the back of his head. He soon made up his mind. No matter what anyone said, it was best to be firm in matters like this.
“Hyung.”
“Yes.”
Seeing Ryu Sehyun respond so meekly made Sejun’s heart ache already, but he didn’t stop.
“Can we talk for a second?”
Ryu Sehyun paused and looked at Sejun.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Na Yookyung and Choi Yerin also looked over at the two of them and exchanged glances.
“Hmm~ I think I’ll go play with my cutie, Hoya.”
“Oh, unnie, me too!”
The two of them approached Hoya, who was lounging lazily in the living room, and naturally, only Sehyun and Sejun were left behind.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Are you still busy?”
“Yes, I still have a lot to do, but that’s always the case. Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes.”
They exchanged small talk about trivial matters.
Even though he had created this situation, Sejun felt anxious. The outcome was already clear. All he had to do was say it. But those words…
……There was no point in delaying it any longer. Having made up his mind, Sejun opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
Sehyun fell silent.
It was a rather out-of-the-blue apology. After all, Sejun had never done anything wrong to Ryu Sehyun.
Even if Sejun had done something wrong, Sehyun wouldn’t have gotten angry enough to need to forgive him.
But this wasn’t an apology for a mistake.
Sehyun knew it was a response to his own feelings, ones he had never once been able to express.
“……What are you sorry for? I should be thanking you for saving me.”
Sehyun didn’t accept the apology. Instead, he took it as an apology for having briefly left the battlefield, causing Sejun to lift his head.
“Hyung, I…!”
“Sejun.”
He had only called his name, but Sejun immediately stopped talking. Though he didn’t say it, it sounded like a command to stop. And that was probably exactly what it was.
The two fell silent for a moment.
The silence didn’t last long. Sehyun opened his mouth with a short sigh.
“Maybe someday I’ll get tired of this too.”
“……”
“Until then, I’ll do as I please.”
Sejun couldn’t force Sehyun to change his heart. Telling him to give up might have been overstepping his bounds.
Considering he was meddling with someone who had a boyfriend, Ryu Sehyun was someone who had never once forced his feelings on Sejun.
He smiled faintly as he watched Sejun stammer.
“Do you remember what you explained to me before? That our world has secrets others don’t know about.”
“……I remember.”
“I’ve been thinking about that for a while.”
To explain the Sejun from the other world who had briefly appeared, after defeating Asura, Sejun gave the other hunters a brief and vague explanation of this world.
He didn’t directly say that this world was inside a novel, or rather, that it had been inside a novel, but he explained it in a way they could understand to some extent.
Since everyone was feeling a certain curiosity about the feeling of liberation they’d experienced after the story concluded, no one thought Sejun was lying.
Jeong Siwoo was the only one who looked a bit confused, but he didn’t seem to think Sejun was lying either.
Sejun was a bit stunned because he hadn’t expected everyone to believe him so readily, but the matter was settled for the time being.
However, he had anticipated that everyone would have a lot on their minds, as it was a reality that was difficult to accept so easily.
“I used to wonder why I always froze and couldn’t act at the decisive moment, but the day I heard what you said, I understood the reason.”
And Ryu Sehyun had reached this conclusion.
“I haven’t challenged anything, and I haven’t even had the chance to.”
Sejun felt his mouth go dry. Ah, the inevitability of the original story… He was saying that he had just realized that. That the reason he hadn’t dared to do anything, even though he had feelings for Sejun, was because of that inevitability.
“Please don’t take even that chance away from me.”
“……”
“I’m not saying I’m going to try to do something with someone who has a boyfriend; I just mean, please don’t take even that away from me. Do you understand?”
In the end, Sejun couldn’t say a word and just nodded. At that moment, if one were to determine a winner, it was Ryu Sehyun’s victory.
He knew there were no absolutes, but when it came to his feelings, Sejun was absolutely certain.
The only thing that had taken root perfectly in his heart was his feelings for Cha Dogyeong. He hadn’t left any room for anyone else to enter.
But what could he say to someone who insisted they didn’t want to give up? No matter how many confessions he heard or how many relationships he’d built, almost no one knew the right answer to this. Sejun felt confused.
“We’re here!”
Just as silence filled the space between the two of them, the doorbell rang, and the other three appeared.
Lee Dohun, Choi Hangyeol, and Jeong Siwoo came in all at once, saying they’d met at the entrance, and in an instant, the house became noisy.
“Damn, I’m rich in toilet paper now.”
It wasn’t a housewarming party, but thanks to the gifts everyone had brought out of courtesy, Na Yookyung groaned in delight. Naturally, the mood improved.
It wasn’t even dinnertime yet, and Cha Dogyeong hadn’t arrived, so everyone started chatting in the living room while munching on snacks and sipping drinks.
Even though it was their first gathering, no one was awkward. Sejun, who had expected to feel awkward, found himself sitting right in the middle of the group and constantly being drawn into the conversation.
Although he felt a little uncomfortable because of his conversation with Ryu Sehyun, it wasn’t all that bad.
“Yerin, do you want to see that outfit I told you I’d give you last time?”
“Yeah, I’d love to!”
Then, at some point, the two women disappeared into the closet, saying they wanted to look at clothes.
“Just a moment.”
Ryu Sehyun, who was still busy, kept glancing at his phone as it rang repeatedly, and finally, with a sigh, headed to a corner to take the call.
“Since we didn’t bring any alcohol, I’ll go buy some…”
Jeong Siwoo, being the youngest, grumbled at the news that no alcohol had been brought and went out on an errand.
Suddenly left alone with Choi Hangyeol and Lee Dohun, Sejun felt as if the snack he’d been happily munching on was getting stuck in his throat because of the sudden silence from the two of them.
“……”
Sejun tried to ease his frustration by chugging a soda, but he quickly realized that this wasn’t the kind of frustration that could be washed away with a little fizz.
They say you should strike while the iron is hot, so Sejun made up his mind. Just get this over with today.
“Hey.”
The faces that turned toward him obediently at Sejun’s call were unnecessarily handsome.
Sejun suddenly felt irritated.
Right, since this is a BL genre, it’s only natural that they’re all good-looking…
Sejun shook his head vigorously as that thought crossed his mind.
“Don’t like me.”
And he declared it boldly.
Though it said “boldly,” once the words were out, they sounded like something a narcissist would say, and his face turned bright red.
Damn it, I should’ve thought more carefully about my choice of words. But it was already too late.
Lee Dohun dropped the snack he was eating, while Choi Hangyeol looked strangely calm.
“Why?”
He actually asked why. Sejun scratched his cheek.
“I have a boyfriend.”
“I know.”
He was speechless at the confident reply. He even began to wonder if Choi Hangyeol was taking this as a joke.
But Choi Hangyeol wasn’t joking.
“Whether I give up or not, it’s my choice.”
“Hey, Choi Hangyeol.”
“There’s a goalkeeper….”
Hangyeol was about to quote a certain famous line, but cut himself off because even that had become too much trouble. Then he shrugged.
“You know, right?”
The way he waved his hand dismissively made Sejun wonder if he was really the guy he liked.
If it weren’t for the memories of ‘Seo Sejun’ and the behavior of those guys in the past, which made it possible to figure it out, Sejun wondered if he would have never known in his entire life.
What does even he know? Sejun muttered sullenly to himself as he roughly ruffled his own hair.
“Ugh, do whatever you want!”
Sejun jumped up from his seat. Watching him walk out, Choi Hangyeol asked,
“Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom!”
Sejun yelled and actually headed for the bathroom. Hangyeol watched his retreating back with a smirk and finished the rest of his drink.
It had definitely been sweet and refreshing just a moment ago, but for some reason, the aftertaste was bitter.
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