ACTSV chapter 70

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Jingyeom gently stroked the stuffed toy in his arms. It was indeed soft.

Soohyuk, who had just returned from an overseas business trip, handed it to him as soon as he stepped into the rooftop garden.

“I thought of you as soon as I saw it. Doesn’t it look just like you?”

“……In what way?”

Jingyeom scrutinized the toy, trying to find what resembled him, but the only similarity was that they were both white.

“It’s white, soft, and also…”

Soohyuk’s warm hand touched Jingyeom’s cold cheek.

Jingyeom’s body was cool from staying in the air-conditioned office, but Soohyuk’s was heated from waiting in the sun-soaked rooftop garden.

“It stretches out just like this.”

Unlike his cheeks, which were being stretched out, Jingyeom’s brows furrowed together.

‘Why does he always touch my cheeks when he sees me?’

Wonbeom would always ruffle his hair, and Soohyuk would always touch his cheeks. Jingyeom couldn’t understand why they did that.

Thinking back, Jinwoo both patted his head and touched his cheeks.

‘I guess I do have a face that invites people to touch it.’

Considering his appearance, it made sense that people’s hands would naturally gravitate toward it.

Jingyeom, having misunderstood the situation in his own head, relaxed his brow.

“Didn’t you miss me? We haven’t seen each other in three days.”

“…….”

“At times like this, you should say you missed me. I stayed up all night just to catch the earliest flight to see you. The least you could do is give me some reward.”

It wasn’t that Jingyeom hadn’t thought about Soohyuk.

Over the past few days, he had wondered where Soohyuk was and even asked Jinwoo out of curiosity.

But it didn’t seem the same as missing him.

It was more like he was just curious since the person who used to visit every day suddenly stopped coming.

As Jingyeom simply looked up at him, Soohyuk released his grip on Jingyeom’s cheek.

“Your face could fit entirely in one hand.”

He placed his palm on Jingyeom’s cheek and rotated it, causing Jingyeom’s face to move side to side.

It made Jingyeom feel like the stuffed toy he was holding.

He wanted to tell Soohyuk to stop, but the sheer joy on Soohyuk’s face made him hesitate.

Soohyuk, who always had a cheerful smile, now looked as innocent and carefree as a child. It was fascinating to see that he could even make such a face.

Moreover, with Soohyuk standing in the direction of the sun, Jingyeom, who was in his shadow, thought Soohyuk’s face looked a bit darker and more wistful.

“How long are you going to keep this up?”

“Why? Don’t you like it when I touch you? What did I tell you to do when that happens?”

Jingyeom wrinkled his nose slightly.

‘Does he do this with Jinwoo too?’

He hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, but Soohyuk seemed to touch him too frequently.

“……No! Why does the Director and you keep touching me like this?”

Soohyuk’s bright smile vanished in an instant. The sudden change startled Jingyeom, making him inhale sharply.

“……Did Director Tak touch you like this?”

The soft tone Soohyuk had used earlier was now replaced by a cold one.

“……No, not like that.”

“Then how?”

“He just patted my head, that’s all…”

Jingyeom unconsciously averted his gaze. He could count on one hand the number of times he had avoided Soohyuk’s eyes, but now he felt a little scared.

Jingyeom hugged the stuffed toy in his arms tighter, and Soohyuk closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The fear in Jingyeom’s eyes was evident. Suppressing his irritation, Soohyuk softened his expression.

Jingyeom, still looking down, fidgeted with the toy in his arms. His pale fingers buried in the plush fur looked pretty.

The small, gentle movements of his fingers were unexpectedly adorable.

“Jingyeom.”

“…Yes.”

“Look at me.”

Jingyeom hesitated, but when he finally looked up, his light brown eyes were trembling, still scared.

‘This shouldn’t happen so soon.’

Soohyuk pressed his palm against Jingyeom’s cheek again. His gaze fell on Jingyeom’s red, pouty lips.

“…What are you going to do now?”

“Why?”

“I wonder why.”

Soohyuk chuckled at the puzzled look Jingyeom gave him.

“I feel like this might turn serious.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everything.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“That’s the point.”

Soohyuk smiled and gently stretched Jingyeom’s cheek again. His cheek had turned red from all the rubbing.

“You should stop being so cute. If you weren’t, I wouldn’t act like this.”

“……Did I do something cute?”

“Yeah. Right now, you’re making me want to bite you.”

Soohyuk suddenly leaned closer, causing Jingyeom to step back in surprise.

“What’s this reaction? My face isn’t that bad, is it?”

“You startled me…”

“Good. Keep reacting like that with other guys too. If it’s hard to avoid them, don’t think twice about hitting them. I’ll handle the aftermath.”

Jingyeom straightened his posture. Wonbeom had said something similar.

Maybe it was because they were friends; their thoughts seemed to align.

“What are you doing after work?”

“Going home.”

“Can I come with you?”

“…To my house?”

“Yeah. I’ve been crashing at Director Tak’s place, but I got kicked out. I’ve been staying at hotels lately, and I’m tired of hotel food… Being alone feels lonely and scary.”

Soohyuk deliberately slouched his shoulders and hung his head, trying to appear pitiful.

“I was alone during this trip too, and it was so lonely. I wanted to eat Korean food, but I was too busy and could only order room service, and it was all Western food. It was too greasy…”

Soohyuk took a deep breath and exhaled slowly when it seemed like Jingyeom wasn’t going to give in.

“Haah. Eating alone is so tasteless… Should I just skip dinner today?”

He sighed into the air as if lamenting, but he still glanced at Jingyeom.

Jingyeom chewed on his lip. He strongly agreed with the sentiment that eating alone wasn’t enjoyable. There was a noticeable difference in the amount of food he ate when he was eating with Jinwoo compared to when he ate alone.

Moreover, skipping a meal? That was unthinkable. Soohyuk’s previous comment about not having any friends came back to Jingyeom’s mind.

“…Should I ask Jinwoo?”

Since they lived together, Jingyeom couldn’t make a decision on his own.

He suggested it after some thought, but Soohyuk only sighed more deeply. His drooping eyebrows and downturned lips made him look pitiful.

Yet, Jingyeom couldn’t just invite him over because he was concerned about Jinwoo.

They had made a promise to eat dinner at home since they had been eating lunch out almost every day. So, they hadn’t gone out for dinner. Well, except for that time they had chicken a few days ago.

More than anything, Jinwoo seemed to dislike having other people over at their place.

Jingyeom had deduced this from how Jinwoo had treated Wonbeom and Soohyuk.

Jingyeom’s resolve firmed as he looked up at Soohyuk with determination in his eyes.

“I’ll ask him!”

“…”

Soohyuk clicked his tongue regretfully. This must be the limit.

If he pushed any further, Jingyeom would likely feel awkward, so he nodded and let it be.

As expected, Jinwoo was firm.

“No.”

It wasn’t surprising since Jingyeom had anticipated this.

“What’s that?”

Jinwoo pointed at the snow-white stuffed toy Jingyeom was holding after returning from meeting Director Sun on the rooftop garden.

“This? It’s an arctic fox.”

“…That?”

Jinwoo quickly erased the image of an arctic fox from his mind. That wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Anyway. I don’t like other people coming into our home… You didn’t like it either, remember?”

“…”

“Because… it’s our home.”

Our home.

Jingyeom’s eyebrows lowered as he watched Jinwoo say those words. It wasn’t because of the refusal.

The weight of the word “our” hit Jingyeom hard through Jinwoo’s expression and voice.

He had noticed that Jinwoo didn’t like other people coming over, but he hadn’t realized just how much it mattered to him. This wasn’t something he could resolve by just pushing harder.

Jingyeom gave up cleanly. He didn’t want to hurt Jinwoo’s feelings just to invite Soohyuk over.

“I understand. But can I at least have lunch with the director tomorrow?”

Jinwoo’s face began to fill with dissatisfaction. He clearly didn’t like that either. His pouty lips made Jingyeom laugh as he scooted closer to him.

“I even got a gift, so can’t I?”

“You don’t even like stuffed toys.”

“That’s not true. I like it.”

It wasn’t the kind of plush that was fluffy enough to completely bury your fingers in, but it was soft enough to keep touching.

Jingyeom held it out for Jinwoo to feel, but Jinwoo shook his head.

The fact that Director Sun had given him that toy had already put him on Jinwoo’s bad side.

“They said it looks like me. Does it really?”

Jinwoo’s expression softened in an instant, as if he had never been pouting, when he saw Jingyeom holding the toy up next to his face.

“No, you’re cuter.”

“…”

“Why?”

“You’re really something…”

It was intense.

Jinwoo’s fondness for Baek Jingyeom was evident in his words. And now that Jingyeom was seeing him in person, it was even more apparent.

Sometimes, when Jingyeom struggled to open a bottle cap, Jinwoo would somehow appear and silently open it for him.

If there was something heavy to carry, even if Jinwoo was doing something else, he would come over and take it from Jingyeom.

Nowadays, since they commuted to work together, Jinwoo was also doing all the cleaning and laundry.

Even when Jingyeom tried to do it himself, Jinwoo would tell him to rest and send him to his room.

‘Now that I think about it.’

Before, Jingyeom thought Jinwoo’s behavior was excessive, but at some point, he began to accept it naturally.

‘This is scary.’

He had initially resolved to correct Jinwoo’s behavior, but now he was getting used to it.

This wasn’t what he wanted, but at least he wasn’t walking on eggshells around Jinwoo anymore, and that was satisfying.

“What? Why’d you stop talking? I’m curious.”

“It’s nothing. Just that our Jinwoo is amazing.”

“That’s not what you were going to say…”

“It is! I’m texting the director now, saying we’ll have lunch together tomorrow.”

Jinwoo reluctantly nodded. It was better to have Jingyeom within his sight.

He hoped there wouldn’t be a repeat of today’s solo rooftop trip.

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