Archive of Our Own

It was the third birthday that Seongje was spending alone. Notification pop-ups kept appearing on his phone's lock screen, ranging from messages from his parents on Kakao to notifications from his banking app informing him that money had been transferred to his account.

Buy something you like. Happy birthday, son. Your mother and I are very proud of you.

As usual, his parents had to travel on business to the company's Japanese branch. By this point, they were spending more time at the Japanese branch than at the company's headquarters in Seoul. He picks up his cell phone to put it on "Do Not Disturb" and then sets the device down with the screen facing up on the table.

He doesn't live in the university dormitory, and the times he went there were when a classmate invited him and a few other people for drinks – which was rare, considering that the hangout spot was usually Seongje's apartment because it was more private and there was no risk of getting a warning from the RA.

He didn't have many friends in his Business Administration course. His only real friend was Baekjin, who was studying at US University. Sometimes he went out to bars and other places with his classmates, but he never felt that sense of belonging. Most of the time he liked being alone, but sometimes he missed having someone sitting next to him telling him about their day.

Seongje's bedroom window overlooked a park across the street and the entrance to his building. He sat spinning in his gaming chair at his desk, glancing out the window every five seconds to see if the delivery person was arriving with his food. The order was already twenty minutes late, and as Seongje got up from his chair to go to the bathroom, the doorbell rang. He stopped in the middle of the room, confused, wondering how the delivery person had arrived in the time it took him to look away from the window and get up, but it didn't matter, he was starving. The clock was almost 10 pm.

“Fuck, finally.” He pulls his phone off the table and puts it in his pocket. He leaves the room, walks down a small hallway, and arrives at the living room. The apartment was almost completely dark, illuminated only by the light coming from Seongje's bathroom. He didn't bother turning on the lights because he was going back to eat in the room anyway.

When he opened the door, he was confronted by a white man with curly blond hair. Seongje tried to understand what was happening; this guy didn't look like a restaurant employee. He was wearing a light brown overcoat, a plain pastel pink shirt—was that the Prada logo? And he was definitely wearing the same expensive cologne his father sometimes wore. Seongje looked up and was almost hypnotized by the man's blue eyes. The stranger was almost two meters tall. Seongje realized he had stared for too long—and with his mouth slightly open—when the man gave a slight smile.

Seongje looks away and clears his throat, slightly embarrassed. He still has his hand on the doorknob, keeping the door only slightly open. "Can I help you?" The stranger's smile widens.

“Actually, I’m the one who came to help you, sweetheart.” He puts his hand on the door and pushes it open, revealing the living room. He briefly examines it before passing Seongje and entering the apartment. “How do you walk in this darkness without tripping over things? I can’t see anything.” The realization that a stranger had invited himself in seemed to dawn on Seongje. “Excuse me? What the fuck are you doing at my apartment?” The blond turns to look at Seongje and grimaces. “What a foul mouth, little boy.”

Seongje's face unconsciously contorts at the stranger's audacity. Seongje slowly walks towards the kitchen, maintaining eye contact with the man, who follows him with his gaze and a smile never leaving his face. It's as if the man is reading Seongje's every move. When he pulls a dirty knife from the sink and points it at the man, all he does is laugh.

"What the fuck do you want? Do you know me?"

“Not exactly, but I hear your soul crying every day. As much as I love a good tragedy play, I’ve started to feel sorry for you.” This seemed to be the last straw for Seongje. He growls and throws the knife at the man. As if watching everything in slow motion, the stranger presses his lips together, lamenting Seongje’s prickly personality, and snaps his fingers. Before it even flies through the air, the knife transforms into five orange butterflies that fly out the window.

“You were planning to attack me with a blunt knife?” Seongje’s eyes are wide and his mouth is open, staring at the butterflies flying out of the apartment. He rubs his eyes for a few seconds, as if it were an illusion or as if he were hallucinating. Could he have taken drugs and not remembered? When he takes his hands away from his eyes and adjusts his glasses, the apartment is empty.

“I heard Baekjin is doing really well abroad.” Seongje quickly turns toward the direction the voice is coming from. The blond is now in the apartment hallway looking at the only photo Seongje bothered to frame.

"Who exactly are you?" He tries to make his voice as calm as possible, but it still comes out shaky.

“I’ve been called many names throughout the ages. You must have heard of me.” He looks away from the photo and back at Seongje, now with a serious expression.

“You know, it’s funny to see you acting like this for the first time in years. It’s not very nice being the one on this side, is it?” He places the photo on the hallway table and walks towards Seongje, who remains standing and pretending not to be terrified at that moment, but before approaching, the stranger stops about five meters away from Seongje. “Since today is your birthday, I decided to grant you a favor. You won’t be alone anymore, Seongje.” The stranger raises his left arm, brings it behind his back, and pulls out a large dark wooden bow with details painted in what appeared to be gold. He puts his right hand in the small outer pocket of his overcoat and pulls out a huge white and gold arrow. “What the fuck is this?”

“I see you understand what’s happening.” As soon as he nocks the arrow into the bow, his skin begins to emit a bright golden light and his large white wings open as he pulls the arrow back. He closes one eye to aim at the middle of Seongje’s chest and then releases the arrow. Seongje doesn’t feel the impact or the arrow piercing his chest, but he is almost thrown backward and sees a bright flash of light before fainting.

—

Seongje wakes up with the sunlight hitting his eyes and a slight headache. He runs his hand across his forehead and uses the other to grope for his glasses on the bedside table. That's when he realizes he's on the floor. On the living room floor, to be precise. He sits up abruptly. The sudden change in position makes him a little dizzy, so he supports himself with his right hand and uses his left to rub his eyes. That's when he realizes it. All the confusion he's feeling at the moment is focused on the floating red line that comes from his left little finger and extends beyond the main door of the apartment. He rubs his eyes again and gets up from the floor.

When he stood up, he staggered back, still in shock from what his eyes were seeing. So everything that had happened last night hadn't been a dream? Had it really happened?

He lifts his shirt and looks for any injuries, but the skin on his entire torso is completely normal and without any marks. He looks back at the string. The string is loose, but when Seongje raises his arm, it seems to have reached its maximum length. It has no elasticity whatsoever, and after several attempts to cut it, whether with scissors, a knife or even trying to set it on fire, Seongje found that the string was also ultra-resistant. It also seemed to be held by some kind of resistance, but by applying some force, Seongje managed to pull part of the string closer.

Seongje looks at the classroom clock and it's still 6:30. His first class wasn't until 9, so he decides he'll put on a coat and follow the path of the string. Luckily, the thread goes through clothes and he has no trouble putting on a coat.

He leaves the apartment and goes down the stairs. Seongje also decides not to use his motorcycle and to walk. In doing so, he notices that the length of the string adjusts to the distance of the other end from Seongje, decreasing as he approaches and lengthening as he moves away, but the maximum distance of the string seemed to be at Seongje's apartment.

He thinks he's been walking for twenty minutes and still can't see the other end, but he feels something burning stronger and stronger in his chest and feels himself getting closer and closer. After another five minutes of walking, he arrives at the university gates. He slows his pace and rethinks Cupid's words. "You will no longer be alone." Was that the favor he had received? To be bound to someone? He mentally curses the god and hopes he's listening to his thoughts.

On the other hand, he thinks about what it would be like to wake up to a good morning message, sleep embraced, have a confidant, feel desired as a person, wear matching skins in LoL… it was something he never had and isn't sure if he could handle. He was never taught how to express himself, how to show affection, and how to deal with it. Maybe that's why the god visited him last night. Maybe the god was talking about this when he said he heard his soul every day.

The string curves and heads toward the campus grassy field. There was a running track around the field that many students used for exercise, which is what the other person was apparently doing. Seongje had put on good walking shoes and was wearing comfortable sweatpants, so he didn't think twice before quickening his pace and starting to run on the track. He squints and sees, almost at the limit of his vision, a person who appeared to be the other end of the string.

He quickens his running speed and approaches the stranger. He was wearing a black cap, professional running shoes, shorts, and a sweatshirt. The string was tied to the little finger of his right hand. He thinks it would be too strange to poke the stranger just to see his face, so he thought about running alongside and at the other guy's pace and saying some bullshit like, "It's so cold today, isn't it?"

His whole plan goes awry when he catches up to the man and starts running alongside him on his left. The stranger turns his head and his eyes widen. It's the fucking Go Hyuntak. The last time they'd seen each other was what? Four years ago?

Hyuntak loses his rhythm and stumbles, but Seongje catches him by the arm. That's when Hyuntak seems to start seeing the red thread.

“What—what the fuck is this? What did you do to me?” He steps back and stares wide-eyed at the wire. His shock intensifies when another person runs between them and crosses the wire. He looks at the person who passed, looks at the wire, and then looks back at Seongje. He looked exactly as Hyuntak remembered. Perhaps his hair was neater now, and he had changed his glasses frames.

Seongje then starts laughing. Laughing loudly. Hysterically. Hyuntak stares at him in horror.

"You must be fucking kidding me. Undo this shit right now”.

“Oh my God. Are you high?”. Hyuntak asks.

"HIGH?! You're seeing this shit too, you asshole." Hyuntak runs his hands over his face and then presses his temples.

“You know what? Fuck you.” Hyuntak decides he wants to end that little argument and says it while pushing his index finger into Seongje’s chest. It hurts a little. He turns to leave, but when he tries to move his arm, the length of the string simply doesn’t increase. Instead, Seongje’s hand is pulled.

“W- what?” With a frightened look, he pulls his arm away forcefully again, and Seongje's arm is pulled once more. “What is this?”

"I don't know! It should have grown bigger!" Seongje is just as horrified as Hyuntak. He grabs the string with both hands to try and stretch it, but it's no use.

“I don’t know what you’ve done now, but I’m gonna fucking kill you.” Hyuntak lunges forward to punch Seongje in the face, but luckily he still had a relatively short reaction time and managed to dodge the attack. Before Hyuntak could deliver the second blow, the cord shortened again, pulling them closer. It should have been, at most, 60 centimeters long. They both widened their eyes and raised their heads to face each other. “What did you do?”

"How am I supposed to know?!"

“This shit only appeared after you arrived.” Hyuntak takes a deep breath, puts a hand on his hip, and checks the time. Holy shit. He needed to go back to the dorm to shower and go to class, which started at eight. While Hyuntak was slightly confused as he stared at the floor, Seongje allowed herself to study Hyuntak's face. He had more mature features than Seongje remembered and carried some dark circles under his eyes, in addition to slightly longer hair. Cute. Seongje also noticed that Hyuntak had a purple bruise on his left eyebrow. “Are you still fighting?”

Hyuntak frowned. "I fell out of bed." Seongje didn't know how he held back a laugh. So that 's what he'd pulled that morning when he pulled the string.

"That explains why you're awake and running at this hour."

“You’re awake too, asshole.” Seongje takes a deep breath and suppresses all the urge he feels to fight, scream, curse God, curse Hyuntak… “Look…” Seongje tries to speak, but is interrupted by Hyuntak.

“No. ‘Look’ you, you fucker.” He makes air quotes with his fingers. “My life was going perfectly well during those years that I wasn’t tormented by your presence. You can’t—you can’t just show up like this out of nowhere and… and follow me like a creepy ass stalker demon.”

“Stop acting like all this shit is all my fault. I didn’t ask for the fucking cupid to tie myself with a fucking bitchass loser like you.” Seongje growls and approaches Hyuntak again, trying to intimidate him. However, all Hyuntak does is laugh when he hears the word “cupid.”

“Oh my God. You are insane. Oh my fucking God, perfect. I'm stuck with a lunatic.” And then, after the urge to laugh passes, it seems like it clicks for Hyuntak. “I'm stuck with you.”

“That's what I was trying to tell you, idiot”.

“Are you sure it won’t stretch any further?” He holds the red string and tries to pull, but it’s no use again. “Why—why won’t you leave alone?” Hyuntak tenses his shoulders and looks down. There was a certain anguish in his gaze, as if everything he had experienced during his school years was flashing through his mind. “What pleasure do you get from disrupting my life, Seongje? I had even forgotten how much I hate you.”

Seongje remains silent. Nothing crosses his mind. He has nothing to say. It wasn't fair to him. He didn't ask for any of this: he didn't ask to be lonely, he didn't ask to be cursed with that arrow, he didn't ask for a soulmate, and he certainly didn't ask to be the fucking Go Hyuntak.

"Are you really going to just stand there staring at me?" This seems to snap Seongje out of his own thoughts. "You know I could kick your ass if I wanted to."

“I’d love to see you try.” He smiles and looks Hyuntak up and down, until his gaze lingers on the scar on his knee for a few seconds before looking him in the eyes again. “Is your knee working again? Or is it still crumbling?” He gives a mocking laugh, solely to provoke Hyuntak. He takes a deep breath, angry, and clenches his fist tightly to try and control his rage.

He approaches Seongje and lowers his voice. "You're still the same jerk as always, aren't you? Mommy and Daddy didn't pay enough attention to you? Is that why you act like this?"

Then, Seongje acts without thinking and delivers a quick punch to Hyuntak's chin. The rope shortens by half, and now they are separated by only 30 centimeters.

“Look what you did, asshole!” Hyuntak runs a hand over his chin and stares at the wire. “Do you want to hold hands with me, idiot?”

"Shut—shut the fuck up, Hyuntak. Maybe if we stop fighting the string will go back to the size it was before."

"Yeah? And how do you plan to attend classes and... and... I don't know! Take a shower?! I need a fucking shower!"

"Where's your dorm? We go there to take some of your clothes and then go to my place."

"Have you lost your fucking mind? I'm not going to your place!"

“Stop being an idiot for a fucking second. It’s temporary.” Hyuntak stares at Seongje and analyzes the options he has – none. He stretches and cracks his neck, then his back, and then his fingers, as if preparing himself psychologically. “Okay, but I need an explanation. I think you owe me one.”

Seongje falls silent and begins to follow Hyuntak towards the dormitories. It's strange walking so close beside him. They avoid eye contact as much as possible and don't start a conversation. They both shudder when their arms accidentally touch.

—

The first thing Hyuntak thinks as soon as he enters Seongje's apartment is how enormous it is compared to his own shared dorm. He feels a little lost and out of place, but he has no choice but to follow Seongje.

They go to a closet and Seongje grabs a towel and hands it to Hyuntak. He takes it and stares at him.

"What?"

"You don't expect me to take a shower now with you next to me, do you?"

“What’s the problem? Besides, you stink. Since I’m tied to you, at least smell good, for goodness sake…” Hyuntak looks at Seongje as if he were saying something absurd, and in a way he was. There was no way he could go in to get himself taken if Seongje didn’t go in too. “You’ll have to go in too, idiot.” Seongje hears those words and forms an “O” with his mouth. He hadn’t thought of that. He scratches his head and then has an idea.

"Put on some swimming trunks."

“Why would I have a fucking swim trunks right now, Seongje?”

"I'll lend you one, idiot."

That was the least bad option, but Hyuntak doesn't know how he controlled his nervousness when he told Seongje to close his eyes so he could change. Seongje couldn't describe the feeling of knowing that Hyuntak was there, naked, in front of him in his room. All he had to do was open his eyes.

“I’m done. Your turn.” Hyuntak closes his eyes and turns around. Before changing clothes, he allows himself to admire Hyuntak’s body. He was definitely bigger than he was in high school. His shoulders were broader, his chest and stomach more defined, but the scars were the same. Seongje changes clothes without worrying too much about whether Hyuntak opens his eyes or not.

“Ok.” Hyuntak opens his eyes and turns around. He feels a little awkward about the whole situation and looks at Seongje as if he were studying him too. Seongje clears his throat and leads them to the bathroom. He mentally thanks himself for cleaning the bathroom and picking up the dirty clothes from the floor the previous day.

Sharing a shower with Seongje must be the most awkward situation Hyuntak has ever experienced. They try to avoid arguing, but the first fight happens when Hyuntak insists he only showers with cold water. Seongje calls him crazy and then bites his lip. If they fought, the tension would certainly decrease, so he takes a deep breath and gets wet. Hyuntak laughs when Seongje screams because of the water.

They take turns under the shower. While one lathers up the soap, the other gets wet. There was something intimate about sharing the bathroom with Hyuntak. In all these years, he hadn't showered with even his most serious situationships. But it's not like this is their choice now. With the water falling on his head, he closes his eyes and tries to talk to the god, begging for guidance, questioning if it had been a mistake and if it could be reversed. Later that same day, entangled in a plant on the balcony, Hyuntak sees a piece of paper.

“Do you leave your notes scattered around the house? I always thought you were sloppy anyway.” Seongje stares at him confused, then looks at the plant. His eyes widen and he runs towards the paper, consequently pulling Hyuntak by the wire.

"Look! Look! I told you! I said so!" On the paper, it was written simply: Until midnight on Sunday. Eros.

“What the fuck does this mean?”

"He wants us to stay together for three more days, idiot."

"He who?"

“EROS. THE GOD OF LOVE. THE FUCKING CUPID, ASSHOLE.” Hyuntak flinched at Seongje’s scream and looked back at the letter, if it could even be called that. Sometimes, Hyuntak hated being so understanding. He tried to put both hands behind his neck but couldn’t. “Okay. Okay. Three days, I can handle that. But—fuck. What about classes?”

“If we don’t fight, maybe he’ll go back to that size.” Hyuntak nods in agreement. He only grabbed a change of clothes. They would have to go back to the dorm to get the rest of their things. Seongje’s eyes light up. “Actually, I think I can get a fake doctor’s note for us.”

"What? How?!"

"What? You've never bought a prescription or a doctor's note to skip class?" Hyuntak stares at him, his eyes wide.

“No?! I didn’t?!” Seongje just shrugs and looks for the contact on his phone. “Your loss.”

The second awkward situation of that day was when they sat down at the table to eat. Hyuntak hadn't had breakfast, and neither of them felt like leaving the apartment to eat out, so they had to prepare something. There was something domestic about seeing Hyuntak opening his cupboards, rummaging through his things, and frying an omelet for them to eat. He watches Hyuntak from behind, his hair still wet from the shower and a few drops of water falling on his shirt. Hyuntak catches him staring at him when he suddenly turns around holding the pan with the ready omelets. Seongje notices there are two.

"Did you do this for me?"

“Yes…?” Hyuntak replies as if it were obvious. “Where are the dishes?”

Seongje learns a few things about Hyuntak that day. The first was when Seongje complained that Hyuntak was wasting shampoo, but he said he “had” to wash his hair twice. The second was when he cracked the eggs to make the omelet with only one hand, 'he should at least have some cooking skills,' Seongje thinks; and the third is that Hyuntak was left-handed. Actually, he should already know that. He searches his memory for all the times they've fought and remembers that Hyuntak's hooks were always with his left arm.

Seongje also discovered that Hyuntak can only study by listening to audio of rain sounds. After eating, they wash the dishes and sit down to study. It was uncomfortable having only one arm available to use the keyboard and mouse, but it was even worse having to pull his hand away and then feel Hyuntak pulling back. They exchange small teases and insults, but nothing that makes the tension change.

Seongje glanced at what Hyuntak was writing on his laptop: Updated Guideline for the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Seongje managed to suppress the urge to ask and guessed it was physiotherapy. It even suited Hyuntak. The athletic type always suited him. Maybe that influenced him to gain more muscle. He didn't want to think about it, but the sleeveless shirt that left his shoulders bare didn't help. He gave up trying to finish his project. Thankfully, he had another week to submit it to the professor. Seongje put on his headphones and watched a YouTube video until Hyuntak nudged his arm and said he needed to go to the bathroom.

"You must be fucking kidding me." Hyuntak looks at him with an indignant look.

“What? Did you perhaps forget that I'm human and have physiological needs?” Hyuntak says as if it were obvious. Seongje rolls her eyes and stands up.

—

The rest of the day was very, very strange. They ordered lunch and spent most of the time in silence. Seongje was almost going crazy with the amount of water Hyuntak drank a day and the consequent frequent trips to the bathroom. Hyuntak was also curious. He kept looking at the details of Seongje's apartment: the pile of dirty clothes on top of the washing machine, the books scattered on the table, the plants on the apartment balcony… it was only slightly stranger than having Hyuntak in his room. His eyes widened when he saw Seongje's setup.

"Holy shit. Is that an RTX 4060? What do you need all that to play?"

"Some games"

“No shit, asshole. Let me see. What’s your password?” Hyuntak pulls Seongje and sits in the chair. Seongje looks at the wire and notices that its length has increased slightly. He takes a deep breath and suppresses the urge to curse Hyuntak.

"I'm not gonna give my fucking password. Get up from there."

“You want to keep me locked up for a fucking week and I can’t even enjoy the only good thing this has to offer? Fuck you, asshole.” Seongje rolls his eyes and leans over to enter the password. The first thing that appears when he unlocks the computer is the Stardew Valley lobby. Hyuntak alternates his gaze between Seongje and the computer and bites his lip to stifle a laugh.

"What? You never had to buy Stardew to play with a girl? Fucking loser. Did you at least have your first kiss?"

“Why are you so nervous? I didn’t say anything…” Hyuntak smiles and closes the game to explore the other ones Seongje plays.

“Fuck off.” Seongje pulls up a second chair from the room and sits down next to Hyuntak.

Watching him play is almost a horror show. Seongje nearly combusts when Hyuntak starts playing League. They agree to take turns using the computer so each can play a match. And so time passes until nightfall, until Seongje finally brings up the elephant in the room.

"How are we going to sleep?"

“What do you mean, ‘how are we going to sleep?’ You don’t have a bed— Oh.” That’s when he turns his head and sees that the bed was only for one person. They would have to be very close together to both fit. The options were: the bed or sleeping on the sofa. Hopefully, in the following days the wire would be long enough for them to put a blanket on the floor, but for now Hyuntak is standing next to Seongje holding a box of instant noodles, waiting for him to finish watering the orchids. It was funny to see someone who used to be so rough and aggressive handling the plants with such delicacy and watering them with a spray bottle…!!

"I never would have imagined you were the plant guy." Seongje doesn't even turn his head to answer him.

“You don’t know me.” Hyuntak’s almost forced smile disappears, and he frowns. “I’m just trying to make conversation, asshole.”

"I don't feel like talking."

"Oh my God, how childish you are. Are you still upset about the games you lost?"

“Shut the fuck up, asshole.” He places the spray bottle on a small table with other gardening equipment next to the plants and pulls Hyuntak off the balcony and back into the living room. When they sit on the sofa, Seongje throws the TV remote at Hyuntak. They eat in silence while watching a generic Netflix slasher horror film, and Seongje uses all his self-control not to complain about Hyuntak's feet on the coffee table, but can't hold back when he spills some noodles on the sofa.

"You eat like a pig."

"Can't you go five minutes without cursing at me?" Hyuntak puts the empty noodle box on the coffee table and looks at him with a mixture of weariness and indignation.

"You deserve"

“Do I deserve this? I fucking deserve what? To be tied up with an OCD lunatic asshole for a fucking week?! I’m being too understanding with you and you’re still unbearable!” Hyuntak approaches and yells in Seongje’s face. He feels the warm breath, still smelling of noodles, hitting his face, and then both hands reach out again. “Great. Look what you did.”

"Me?! You're the one who's emotional unstable. I was just—"

“Please, shut the fuck up.” Hyuntak looks at him and shrinks back on the sofa. Their hands were almost touching. The movie is heading towards a generic plot twist where the serial killer was actually a friend of the protagonist, and even though Hyuntak was super bored with the movie he himself chose, Seongje seemed focused on the television. He tries not to glance at Seongje out of the corner of his eye. It's the first time Hyuntak notices he has a mole under his eye. He also sees that Seongje now has an earring. A small, silver hoop. Hyuntak never had the courage to get near a piercing needle. He uses this time to answer a barrage of messages from friends asking where the hell he was, and when he raises his head, he notices Seongje looking at him, but instead of being embarrassed for being caught staring, he blurts out:

"You put on this shit ass movie for me to watch so you could be on your phone?" Hyuntak doesn't even bother to answer. He rolls his eyes and puts his phone on the table.

—

Sleeping on the sofa was far more uncomfortable than they had imagined. The only possible positions were 1) sleeping sitting up with their heads hanging back and waking up with a stiff neck; 2) one sleeping on top of the other – which was out of the question. So the solution they found was to go back and sleep in Seongje's room.

Hyuntak buries his head in the pillow and notices that his sheets smell of lavender, until Seongje pulls the pillow from under Hyuntak's head. "You should have brought your own."

“What?! Don’t be an asshole. There’s room for both of us.” Hyuntak pulls the pillow back and settles his head. When the room falls silent, the two realize the situation they are in: sharing a single bed and lying facing each other. It was the only position they could manage because of the limited distance caused by the wire.

"Are you really going to keep staring at me and make this even more awkward than it already is?" Hyuntak blushes slightly and tilts his head upwards.

“I’ve never seen you on campus. I thought you’d left Korea.” Hyuntak changes the subject, and Seongje tries not to notice that Hyuntak implied he was thinking about him. “Our buildings are on opposite sides.” Seongje already had his eyes closed and didn’t seem to want to talk.

“Fair.” Hyuntak pulls the sheet up and covers himself to his shoulders. The truth was he wasn’t sleepy at all and didn’t think he’d be able to fall asleep anytime soon. Even though Seongje hadn’t posed a threat during the rest of the day, Hyuntak couldn’t help but remember everything that had happened during high school. He felt like a rabbit exploring a hyena’s den. He felt the adrenaline coursing through his blood at that moment. Seongje seemed to sense he was being stared at and opened his eyes to see Hyuntak staring back, but this time he held the gaze.

“Why were you acting like that?” He didn’t need to specify for Seongje to know what he was talking about. “Today you seemed so… normal.” Hyuntak finally mustered the courage to ask the question he’d wanted to ask all day. For almost all of his high school years.

“Boredom, I guess.” Seongje lies. He couldn’t tell Hyuntak that he acted the way he did to gain respect by instilling fear, to always have people around him, and, most importantly, to get Baekjin’s approval. “You ruined my life out of ‘boredom’? Seriously?”

"Your life doesn't seem to be ruined, Hyuntak," Seongje tries to retort.

“But I can’t stop thinking about what it could have been. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it 100%, to be honest.” Seongje tensed his shoulders at that. He hadn’t expected Hyuntak to open up to him. He didn’t even know why he did what he did to Hyuntak; it was just irritating how he was always surrounded by friends, had a promising future in the sport he loved, and especially because he didn’t bow down to him. “Don’t you feel bad about the things you did?” Seongje stared at Hyuntak in silence. He didn’t feel particularly bad; he had never stopped to think about it, nor did he feel remorse, but he felt something different now, seeing Hyuntak, in his clothes and in his bed, opening up and asking such intimate questions.

“I’m sorry.” This makes Hyuntak’s eyes widen. He hadn’t imagined words like “Sorry,” “Excuse me,” or “Please” coming from someone like Seongje, but he didn’t need to say that now and make the atmosphere even more awkward than it already was.

"Okay." Seongje listens and half-closes her eyes.

“Simply 'OK'?”

“What do you want me to say, Seongje? Should I lament more about my knee?” This irritates Seongje. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that Hyuntak was so understanding, it wasn’t fair that he had managed to move on so easily, and it was also completely pathetic of him to forgive so easily someone who had hurt him so much. Hyuntak realizes he said something wrong because Seongje’s expression hardens, but he doesn’t want to ask or delve into the subject either.

—

Hyuntak wakes up first. His biological clock worked in a way that made him wake up before 7am every day, but this time he woke up because of the exposed skin rubbing against his legs. That's when he fully wakes up and realizes that Seongje has practically snuggled up against him. His head was buried in his chest and their legs were completely intertwined. He swallows hard and mentally thanks all the deities for being the first to wake up. He slowly gets out of bed and that's when he notices that the red string has grown longer. He gets up and tests the string’s limit. It must be at least ten meters long.

Could it have something to do with them sleeping together? Actually, it was more likely because of their bedtime conversations. So the closer they got, the stronger the connection grew. This "Eros" thing was practically forcing them to get along. Hyuntak didn't want to believe Seongje's story, but if it wasn't that, what could it be? He took advantage of Seongje still sleeping to do some research.

Hyuntak dislikes everything he reads. Among many things, he reads about an ancient legend related to his soulmate and someone he was destined to meet. How could someone who had done him so much harm be his soulmate? So, breaking his knee –having his knee broken by his own soulmate– was fate?! It wasn't fair to Hyuntak. He hadn't asked for any of this. He feels anger towards Seongje at that moment. Anger for everything he had done, anger for somehow getting him into this situation, and also for not seeming as shaken by it as Hyuntak was.

Hyuntak took the opportunity to look around Seongje's apartment. The apartment wasn't very furnished and only had the essentials. Hyuntak noticed that the only photo he had was with Baekjin. Nothing of his parents. He felt a little bad about the words he said to Seongje the day before.

Hyuntak finds it funny how Seongje's books are organized by color and how the food in his kitchen is arranged alphabetically. He always seemed like the chaotic type who doesn't care about those things. Apparently, he just doesn't care about other people's things.

Hyuntak grabs an instant coffee he found in the back of a kitchen cupboard and decides to exercise in the living room since he can't go out for a run. He puts on the shorts and sweatshirt he'd worn the previous morning, but after a while, he starts sweating and throws the sweatshirt onto the sofa.

He didn't hear Seongje's footsteps coming down the small hallway. He stood there watching Hyuntak doing planks. Shirtless. And sweaty. The sweat gave an extra shine to Hyuntak's tense back and highlighted his muscles. He swallowed hard and tried not to notice too much. He jumped when an alarm went off and Hyuntak relaxed. He seemed startled by Seongje.

“Fuck, Seongje. Are you going to just stand there like a ghost?” He gets up and pulls the shirt off the sofa to put it over his shoulder. When Seongje doesn’t respond, he rolls his eyes and pulls the sweatshirt that was on the sofa to put it over his shoulders. “What do you want to eat?”

"Why? Are you going to do it for me?"

“Yeah…? Why not?” Hyuntak asks as if it were obvious. Hyuntak’s damn altruism and kindness. Seongje sits at the kitchen table and stares at Hyuntak, shirtless and with his back to her, preparing a smoothie for them.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" He quickly jumps up from his chair and runs towards Hyuntak when he sees him cracking an egg into the blender.

"What? You can't even taste it..." He says as he turns on the blender and turns to throw the peel in the trash.

"No way I'm eating this."

“Your loss.” Hyuntak turns off the blender and drinks the smoothie straight from the glass. Seongje just watches Hyuntak's neck stretched out, his head tilted back, and his damn Adam's apple rising and falling. Seongje is almost hypnotized and can only look away when Hyuntak puts the glass down.

"See? It doesn't taste like egg at all."

"Whatever".

“Asshole. I’m going to make some eggs à la française. Want some?” Seongje doesn’t answer and just groans in agreement. Hyuntak is good in the kitchen. He doesn’t make a mess and seems to be very comfortable with kitchen utensils.

"Since when do you cook?" Hyuntak turns around while holding a bowl of eggs and stirs them with a fork.

"I think it's always been that way. My mother always worked a lot and I had to fend for myself... you know how it is, right? I learned a lot from those cooking shows."

“Mm. Cool.” Seongje raises an eyebrow when she sees Hyuntak putting some cream on the eggs before pouring them into the pan. It’s nice to see Hyuntak cooking. Seongje will never admit this aloud. Another thing Seongje finds totally unfair is how thin Hyuntak’s waist is. Why on earth hadn’t he put on a shirt yet? Why was he so comfortable in Seongje’s presence? When Hyuntak turns around, he’s holding a plate with sliced bread and another with a large portion of creamy eggs topped with some dried herbs—which Seongje didn’t even remember she had—and a smile on his face as if he were proud of his own work.

Seongje almost rolls his eyes when he takes the first bite. It's delicious. Hyuntak eats in front of him as if it were nothing, but it's the best thing Seongje has eaten in days. He was tired of eating only instant noodles, coffee, and melon.

“Why didn’t you even do that yesterday?” Seongje says with her mouth full, then takes a sip of her coffee. Hyuntak lets out a muffled laugh.

“Is that your way of saying you liked it?” Seongje smiles discreetly, but it’s enough for Hyuntak to notice. “If you want, I mean, if there’s nothing better, I can make lunch… I’m in the mood for homemade food”.

"There's no need to even ask." Seongje replies without looking at Hyuntak as he shoves a whole piece of toast into his mouth and misses the other smile Hyuntak gives him.

—

Seongje also discovers that Hyuntak liked to chat. Anything he saw on his phone that he found even slightly funny, he would show to Seongje; if he had an opinion on a topic that became trending online, he would comment on it.

“The chair in your room is the same one Keria is using in the live stream, look.” He shoves his phone in Seongje’s face, and Seongje has to grab Hyuntak’s arm to move it away to see properly. “Cool.” Hyuntak rolls his eyes. “Don’t be so boring.” He goes back to looking at his own phone. Seongje stops paying attention to the book he was reading to look at Hyuntak. The phone was long enough for them to be in different rooms, but here they were: sitting side by side on the sofa and acting like it was just another ordinary day. Hyuntak has his leg stretched out on the coffee table, and Seongje can clearly see the scar. He bites his cheek and looks away.

"Don't you feel pain when you run?" Hyuntak looks up from his phone and stares at him for a few seconds before understanding what he was talking about.

"Running, no. But sometimes when I jump and feel the impact on the ground, it hurts. My range of motion isn't very good either..."

"Jump?"

“Yeah. I’m on the university basketball team.” Hyuntak shrugs, as if it were nothing. And Seongje also tries to absorb that information as if it were nothing, but in reality it’s impressive that he performs so well in a sport he started playing defensively after an injury. “I only got into college because I got a scholarship, to tell you the truth.” That really impresses Seongje. He could even say how cool that was if his pride allowed it, so all he does is tease Hyuntak again.

"If it depended on getting a scholarship based on grades, you wouldn't be able to, would you?"

“Asshole. My grades have always been above average, okay?” Hyuntak replies, suppressing a laugh. He turns his face and sees the ashtray on the coffee table. “Did you quit smoking?” Seongje raises his eyebrows at the question. He hadn’t quit smoking. He had simply forgotten, as idiotic as that sounded. It was as if the need he felt to smoke to fill any void had simply vanished. That emptiness had simply disappeared. Was like that fucker Eros was actually right.

"Yeah. I'm kind of trying to stop." It wasn't exactly a lie. The number of packs he consumed per week was gradually decreasing.

“Oh. I’m happy for you, then.” Seongje looks at Hyuntak, wondering if she heard right. “Happy for me?”

“Of course! You’re lucky you don’t have emphysema. I mean, you probably don’t, right? Considering you managed to run alongside me that day and—” Hyuntak continues talking, but Seongje stops paying attention at some point. He could only pay attention to how Hyuntak gestured while talking, how his eyes closed while he laughed at his own joke, and how most of his smiles were sideways. He thinks about how he learned new things about Hyuntak that he never imagined he would associate with him. All in just a day and a half. He finds himself creating fictional scenarios in his head and feels like an idiot because all of this wouldn’t last more than a day. The thread would disappear, and they would return to their ordinary lives. But after everything Seongje did, can Hyuntak want Seongje as his soulmate? Eros implied that they would have the free will to break the thread after three days, but three days was so, so little.

Seongje feels a little selfish for wishing it would last longer.

—

They could have slept in separate rooms. It was unconscious of him to follow Seongje to his room at bedtime. He also felt obligated to sleep at the same time as Seongje, even though he was already falling asleep. This time, Hyuntak manages to sleep on the duvet on the floor. He suppresses and buries the thought that he might want to wake up again with Seongje snuggled up against him.

He feels less nervous today than he did the night before. It could be because Seongje didn't seem like a threat during the day. Shit, he even treated him well. They didn't even remember to go to Hyuntak's dorm to get his things because somehow Seongje had everything in his apartment.

Hyuntak remembers earlier when Seongje said he needed underwear and he just shrugged and replied that he didn't wear any at home. He noticed Seongje's shoulders tensing and tried, he swears he tried not to be pleased by it. Hyuntak wasn't innocent. He also pretended not to notice Seongje looking at his body that morning. I mean, it wasn't because it was Seongje. Everyone likes to feel desired, right? But feeling desired by someone who almost daily told him to his face how despicable he was is simply something else.

Hyuntak looks up and sees a faint light turned on.

"Are you still awake?"

"Yes. I'm kind of sleepless."

"Me too."

“Shut up, you were practically drooling on my couch.” Seongje rolled onto his stomach, stuck his head out of bed, and looked up at Hyuntak. They stared at each other for a few seconds, but Hyuntak felt awkward under the stare and cleared his throat.

"What are you going to do the day after tomorrow?" Hyuntak looks away when he asks. Seongje smiles slightly at his awkward attempt to start a conversation.

"Nothing. I'm going back to my normal life." Seongje doesn't like how those words sound coming from him.

"I kind of miss my classmates. Don't you?"

"Not at all. I can't stand the people in my class."

“What!? But the best part of college is going to parties with friends.” He straightens up and places his hands on the duvet behind him for support. “Haven’t you ever been to one of those totally unsanitary parties in a house that looks abandoned?”

"No? Why would I go to a place like that?"

“Because it’s fun, Seongje. Ever heard of the word ‘fun’?” He impulsively punches Seongje’s arm, which was hanging out of bed, as if he were talking to a close friend. “Come next week, show up and say that I called you.” Hyuntak says, winking at Seongje in a playful way, but it’s enough to make Seongje feel disconcerted and wonder how popular Hyuntak was that people knew him by name. Actually, it wasn’t surprising since he played on the college team. Seongje feels a pang of jealousy.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll think about it.” He says awkwardly and turns over in bed. He wanted to ask why Hyuntak was acting so casually with him. Shit. Hyuntak cooked their lunch and made the best salmon Seongje had ever eaten, even though Seongje was unbearable most of the time and told him to be careful not to break his things or touch other people’s. Hyuntak was too good for Seongje.

—

Seongje wakes up with a start before Hyuntak. He looks down just to make sure Hyuntak and the wire are still there. He gets up carefully so as not to make a sound and wake him.

He felt a little strange knowing that this would be the last day of whatever it was they were doing. Seongje wanted to ask for more time, wanted to deliberately provoke fights just to stay closer… Shit, he would even go to that stupid party Hyuntak had invited him to just to satisfy his curiosity about how he acts at parties. Seongje returns to the room and lies down on the bed after drinking water and watches Hyuntak sleep.

“Hyuntak.” He stretches out his arm and nudges his shoulder. “Hyuntak. Wake up.” The only thing he does is grimace before covering his face with the sheet. “I thought you liked waking up early…” He continues tapping Hyuntak’s shoulder until he seems to lose patience and pulls his head out from under the covers.

“What the fuck do you want? Fuck off. I want to sleep.” Seongje can’t help but smile when he hears Hyuntak cursing at him. Another thing he discovered about Hyuntak: he would get grumpy if someone woke him up too early.

"I want to eat something. I'm starving." Hyuntak turns around and ignores Seongje. He rolls his eyes and throws a pillow at him.

"What the fuck, Seongje?"

“Get up!” Hyuntak throws the pillow back to Seongje and stares at him, until he gives up and rolls his eyes before getting up and going to the bathroom to wash his face and mouth.

It takes about half an hour for Hyuntak's mood to improve. The frown on his face fades after he does his daily morning stretches. Once again, he fails to convince Seongje to have the smoothie with the egg and ends up making rice with egg, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Hyuntak even joked that the only times of day Seongje didn't complain were when he was eating. He didn't deny it.

Hyuntak noticed that Seongje was quieter than he had been the previous two days, but he didn't feel comfortable asking why. He didn't want to start a fight or argument. He was kind of enjoying their strange routine.

During their high school years, Hyuntak didn't expect Seongje to actually have any life plan. He always thought he'd become some kind of mobster when he grew up, making a living by threatening and extorting people. But apparently Seongje was living very well and had a much more decent life than Hyuntak could ever have imagined.

Suddenly, it all clicks. The whole story about soulmates, destiny, and being spiritually connected to him starts to make sense. It didn't make sense for him to suddenly return to his life, it didn't make sense for him to pursue Hyuntak so much during school just with the excuse that he was "bored," and it made even less sense for them to get along so well in such a short time considering their long history of fighting.

Hyuntak keeps this to himself for the rest of the day and tries to feign normalcy while they have lunch, watch movies, and play games together, but at night he decides to confront Seongje once again after he makes a comment about how Hyuntak messes with things and leaves everything out of place. He stands up and faces Seongje, who was sitting on the sofa and looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

“I’ll give you one more chance to answer me, and now I want you to tell me the truth.” Hyuntak lowers his voice and leans forward. “Why were you pursuing me so much?”

Seongje stares at him with expressionless eyes, as if trying to tell Hyuntak how stupid that question was.

"Because your oily, pimply face took my punches like no other, asshole." Seongje moves away from Hyuntak and leans back against the sofa, but Hyuntak doesn't give him time to rest and grabs the collar of his shirt, lifting him with a force Seongje didn't expect. And that was kinda hot.

“I’m not fucking kidding.” He growls close to Seongje’s face. He alternates his gaze between Hyuntak’s eyes and mouth, then smiles. “Neither am I.” When he blinks, Hyuntak loses his patience and shoves him, trying to knock him to the ground.

Seongje feels an adrenaline rush he hasn't felt in a long time. The kind only his old playmate could provide. "In order to relive the old times, Takkie?" Hyuntak clenches his teeth when he hears the old nickname Seongje used to call him while they were fighting.

“Fuck you, Seongje, you’re completely insane.” Seongje throws his head from side to side to crack his neck and licks his lips. Then Hyuntak makes the first move and tries to land a high kick on Seongje, but he easily blocks it. “The downstairs neighbors are going to complain, Takkie.” He says and smiles. Hyuntak ignores him and throws a side kick, hoping his knee won’t give out. He notices that Seongje easily dodges and blocks the blows, then the image of the boxing gloves that were on the table in Seongje’s room flashes in his mind. Damn it. He must train MMA or something else to move like that.

Hyuntak hadn't practiced his kicks since entering college. Once in a while, when the gym's punching bag was empty, he would test himself and see what he could still do, but fighting Seongje again and reliving almost all the emotions he felt when they fought before and realizing that he had somehow fallen behind in the fight, ignited a different kind of anger within Hyuntak's chest. So he did the only logical thing to do and used to his advantage the only thing he had: brute strength.

He leans forward and runs towards Seongje, grabbing him by the torso. He struggles and throws punches at Hyuntak's groin and side, but he doesn't react. The problem is that in the midst of this confusion, the red string gradually thinned, and at one point one of them accidentally stepped on it, causing both to lose their balance and fall to the ground. One on top of the other.

Before Seongje could feel the impact of his head on the carpet, Hyuntak placed his hand behind his head and cushioned the fall, but this only served to bring the two together in a completely compromising position with their heads very close together.

Hyuntak quickly pulls the hand away from Seongje's head, and he groans as it hits the ground. "Did you have to do all that? Asshole."

“If you had obeyed me and answered me, this wouldn’t have happened.” Hyuntak takes advantage of being on top and pins Seongje’s hands to the ground. To be completely honest, Seongje could have used his legs to kick him and get away, but he didn’t want to. He approaches Seongje and demands an answer again. Hyuntak’s tone is as low as before, but this time his voice is filled with pleading for a response.

Seongje stares at Hyuntak's face, and he doesn't look away. Hyuntak notices when his eyes fall to his lips and swallows hard. He tests Seongje's limits and slowly approaches, studying whether he would make a move to turn his face away or not. When he runs his tongue over his lips and alternates his gaze between Hyuntak's eyes and mouth again, he interprets that as the invitation he's been waiting for. "Fuck it."

The kiss doesn't start calmly. Seongje free himself of Hyuntak's hands grabbing his arms and grabs the hair at the nape of his neck, not letting him take control. Seongje is impatient and shoves his tongue into Hyuntak's mouth in the first few seconds. It was as if he was finally releasing all the years of frustration he had only had to watch Hyuntak's mouth swollen from the fights and not be able to do anything. Hyuntak feels like he's going to drown.

Seongje's free hand slides down and smooths Hyuntak's back beneath his shirt, and he groans as Seongje begins to trace a line along his spine, moving up to his neck and down to his lower back. When Seongje finally moves down past his lower back and grabs his butt, he breaks the kiss to bite Seongje's lower lip.

He lifts his left leg and begins rubbing it between Hyuntak's legs, who gives up the support he was making on the ground with his knees and allows himself to rub completely against Seongje. He brings his hands to his hair and begins to pull. Seongje brings his mouth closer to Hyuntak's to deepen the kiss again.

Even though he's on top of Seongje, he's completely submissive in that situation. He feels like he's already surrendered to him a long time ago. He trails kisses down Seongje's jawline, and when he buries his head in the side of his neck, he finally gathers the courage to say, "Room."

—

When Seongje wakes up, it's already morning. He stretches, still lying in bed, and scratches his bare chest. That's when he realizes he shouldn't be alone in bed. He turns to look at the duvet on the floor. Nothing. He gets up and looks for Hyuntak around the house. There's no one there either. Then he realizes he can't see the wire anymore. The clock shows it's already 8 AM. The few things Hyuntak had brought had also disappeared.

Seongje sat on the sofa, staring blankly into space. For a moment, he allowed himself to believe that this was real and not just a free sample of a life he could never have. He felt a tightness rising in his throat and a sudden shortness of breath, but he bit his tongue and didn't allow himself to let out everything he was feeling.

—

Hyuntak feels like the biggest idiot on the entire planet. He realizes the mistake he made as soon as he wakes up with his head resting on Seongje's chest. He holds his breath to make as little noise as possible and gets up. He grabs a plastic bag and puts in all the things he remembers taking there.

As he walked back to the dorms, he wondered why he had run away. It wasn't fear of commitment, nor was it a lack of interest from Hyuntak. The previous night had been the best night of Hyuntak's life; it was as if they were made for each other—which, ironically, was the case. He was afraid he had just been used and decided to leave before Seongje woke up and sent him away. In Hyuntak's mind, he had simply acted sensibly.

He looks at the clothes he was wearing and realizes that he had unconsciously put on Seongje's jacket. The jacket he had been wearing almost every day for the past three days. He bites his cheek and thinks that at least Seongje might come looking for him later to get the jacket back.

—

Except that he doesn't reach out. He also doesn't message Hyuntak on Instagram to see how he's doing or to ask about the jacket. It was as if Hyuntak never existed for him.

He tries to return to his old routine: running every morning, training with the basketball team, going to Sieun and Juntae's dorm and video calling Baku to chat, even going to that party he arranged to go to with Seongje. But nothing filled the void he felt inside.

Things change two weeks later when Hyuntak is having trouble with his library card and overhears someone behind him in line complaining about the wait. When he turns around to tell the person to fuck off, he sees it's Seongje. They both freeze and stare at each other. Hyuntak clears his throat and doesn't try to make a big deal out of the encounter. "Didn't you realize I'm having trouble here, asshole?" he says, biting the inside of his cheek and looking Seongje up and down.

He has a serious expression and raises only one eyebrow. "You're delaying my day and everyone else's—" he stops talking to turn and see the size of the line. "...At least ten people."

“Not my fucking problem.” He growls, but his body freezes and he can’t turn around to look back at the librarian who was trying to fix Hyuntak’s card problem. “You delayed three days of my life and I didn’t even complain.” Before he knew it, he had already spoken. He notices Seongje breathing deeply through his nose. He had noticed during the time he spent with him that he did this to control his anger.

“Did I ruin your fucking life? You…” he shoves his index finger into Hyuntak’s chest. “You fucking hypocrite.” He speaks slowly, his eyebrows furrowed in anger as he approaches Hyuntak.

“Me? Hypocrite?! You tell me all that shit about the fucking cupid or whatever and then didn’t even look for me these days!” Hyuntak finally blurts out. “You didn’t even look for me to return the fucking coat!” Hyuntak walks away with his eyes wide open and breathing through his mouth. He was visibly nervous and had an almost hurt look.

“You ran away from my house and I’m supposed to be the one texting, Hyuntak? Honestly, fuck you.” He shoves the book he was holding against Hyuntak’s chest and turns to leave. Hyuntak watches him walk away and doesn’t follow.

—

Seongje sat at the kitchen table, typing incessantly on his laptop keyboard. He had until the end of the week to finish that project, but he felt he needed to occupy his mind with something.

When he gropes around the table for a new cigarette, he sees that the pack is empty. He curses and gets up to put on a coat and go to the market to buy a pack. As soon as he opens the door, he comes face to face with Hyuntak getting ready to ring the doorbell. He widens his eyes in shock.

As Seongje begins to close the door, Hyuntak puts his foot out and prevents him from slamming the door in his face.

“The fuck are you doing here?”

“I… Mm…” He scratches his head and looks away from Seongje, staring at his own arms. That’s when Seongje lowers his gaze and sees that Hyuntak was holding his jacket. “I came to return the jacket.” Seongje snatches the jacket from Hyuntak’s arms without breaking eye contact.

“If that’s all, you can leave now.” Hyuntak bites his lip and looks down. He had to swallow all his pride to go to Seongje’s building. He wasn’t going to give up now.

“I’m—I’m sorry, okay? For running away this morning, for doubting you, and for judging you. I was—I was afraid of what you would do as soon as you saw that—that the string was gone. I was afraid it wouldn’t mean to you the same it did to me. I’m sorry. Please.” Hyuntak lowers his head and feels a tightness rising in his chest. He was almost crying from nervousness at that moment and didn’t have the courage to look at Seongje’s face, until he feels the pressure of the door on his foot disappearing and sees him opening it completely.

"What's in that bag?" He points to the bag Hyuntak had placed on the floor before Seongje opened the door.

“I was thinking of making dinner. I remember you had some wine here and I thought about making pasta… but only if you want, of course!” He takes a step back, as if protecting himself from the answer that was about to come.

Seongje doesn't answer. He just stretches out his arm and straightens the hair that was falling into Hyuntak's eye. He holds his breath when he feels his hand smoothing his forehead and sliding down his cheek. He stares at Hyuntak for a few moments before bending down to pick up the bag. He turns and goes into the apartment, but Hyuntak remains standing in the same corner.

Seongje realizes he wasn't being followed and turns around again. "Aren't you coming in? I'm starving." Hyuntak sees what appears to be a glimpse of a smile on Seongje's lips. He smiles, takes off his shoes, and enters the apartment.

From afar, watching from the beyond, Eros smiles contentedly. Another job successfully well done .