ACTSV chapter 190

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Jingyeom, who had been tossing and turning, realized that a soft blanket was wrapped around him.

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

‘This is my room, right?’

He was sure he had been on the living room sofa with Soohyuk.

Why was he in bed?

After briefly pondering, he figured Soohyuk must have moved him while he was asleep.

Stretching and shifting, he lay properly on the bed.

Just as he was about to fall back asleep, Soohyuk’s face flashed in his mind, snapping his eyes wide open.

He stared blankly at the ceiling before flipping over and kicking his feet in frustration.

“…Dating, huh.”

Realizing he was smiling, Jingyeom quickly forced the corners of his lips down.

But when they started curling up again, he buried his face in his hands, muffling a laugh.

He had pushed Soohyuk away so many times, yet somehow, they’d ended up dating.

The realization sent his heart racing like crazy, as if he was truly experiencing what people called a relationship.

‘Is this what dating feels like?’

It hadn’t even been a few hours, but Soohyuk kept popping into his thoughts.

He already wanted to see him again.

Acknowledging his feelings seemed to have unleashed everything he had been suppressing.

His whole body tingled, and his heart felt light as air.

The dark room suddenly seemed brighter for no reason.

‘So this is what excitement feels like,’ he thought, his chest swelling with joy as he kicked his feet restlessly under the blanket.

But before long, his excitement waned, and Jingyeom slumped.

It was already too late to take back their decision to date—not that he wanted to.

The only thing weighing on his mind was Wonbeom and Jinwoo.

Especially since it hadn’t even been a full day since he turned down Wonbeom.

Though they agreed to keep it a secret, he wasn’t sure how long that would last.

‘Hyung wouldn’t let it slip, would he?’

Soohyuk’s free-spirited nature made him worry.

What if he accidentally mentioned it offhand?

Still, Soohyuk didn’t seem like the type to make mistakes—unless he was pretending to.

‘You really can’t trust him on these things.’

Lying on his side, Jingyeom curled the blanket tightly around his legs and hugged it with his arms.

It was oddly comforting.

Then, memories from earlier that day resurfaced.

“Are my lips that easy? Huh? You think you can just kiss them whenever you want? Are they lips you can treat like that?”

It was late at night, so he couldn’t yell out loud.

Instead, he pounded his fists into the mattress in frustration.

When he instinctively bit his lip in annoyance, he quickly stopped himself, worried it might bleed again.

He licked it instead and pressed his lips together.

‘I didn’t even get an apology…’

Earlier, as Soohyuk carried him out of that place, he hadn’t had a chance to confront Wonbeom or demand an apology.

Not that Wonbeom seemed like the type who would apologize, even if asked.

‘I knew it. That time, he held back on purpose.’

On the day he sent Jinwoo for coffee, Wonbeom had tried to kiss him in the hospital room.

Jingyeom had barely managed to block it with both hands, leaving the attempt unsuccessful.

Back then, Wonbeom had backed off easily.

But this time, he struck without warning, leaving Jingyeom completely unprepared.

“…Sigh.”

Jingyeom let out a long sigh.

The more he thought about it, the more infuriated he became at Wonbeom’s actions.

Yet no ideas for payback came to mind.

It seemed better to let it pass as if nothing had happened.

After all, he had already rejected Wonbeom, and they were unlikely to meet again unless Wonbeom sought him out.

Feeling sulky, Jingyeom opened his hand and rubbed the mattress where he had been pounding earlier.

Then, he flipped over to lie on his other side.

‘What about Jinwoo?’

Jinwoo, his biggest unresolved issue.

Jingyeom had no idea how to handle it.

When they were in the hospital, he had tried to help Jinwoo find a hobby, but nothing worked.

Leaving things as they were would haunt him for the rest of his life.

‘Paying off the debt isn’t everything.’

Even though they were finally free from their financial struggles, Jinwoo, who had spent his entire life relying solely on Jingyeom, was still a concern.

‘…My head hurts.’

After a long day filled with stress and countless worries, Jingyeom shut his eyes tightly.

He figured it would be better to sleep and deal with it tomorrow.

But no matter how much he tossed and turned, sleep wouldn’t come.

Giving up, he opened his eyes and turned on his phone.

“This was a gift from Soohyuk hyung too.”

He had recently replaced his old phone, which had a broken screen and unresponsive buttons, with this one.

‘…Mine.’

Unlike his previous phone, which technically wasn’t his, this one truly belonged to him.

Should I change my number too?’

He had kept his old number in case Jeong Sanho or Baek Myeongjun tried to contact him.

But now, he wondered if that was even necessary.

If they had fled to China, it was likely due to trouble on their end, which meant they might never return—or couldn’t, even if they wanted to.

Resolving to truly start fresh, Jingyeom opened the app store and downloaded the Stargram app Soohyuk had mentioned earlier.

“Hmm, what should my ID be…”

Remembering Soohyuk’s hint about initials, he typed it in and found an account.

When he clicked it, a photo of Soohyuk holding his hand appeared.

Jingyeom’s thin fingers were completely enveloped by Soohyuk’s large hand, with just the faintest glimpse of the living room rug in the background.

“Anyone who sees this would know it’s hyung’s house.”

He knew only he would recognize the location, but he still grumbled out loud.

Despite his complaints, Jingyeom was smiling brightly.

---

Sunday passed uneventfully.

Aside from Soohyuk constantly interrupting his calls with Jinwoo, it felt like a peaceful day of rest.

Although Soohyuk’s relentless teasing left him exhausted, for one day, Jingyeom didn’t think about Jinwoo or Wonbeom.

But Monday arrived all too soon, just as he had feared.

Even though Soohyuk needed to leave early to avoid traffic, he clung to Jingyeom for ages before finally heading out.

Jingyeom, who only needed to be out by 11 a.m., had woken up early to have breakfast with Soohyuk and see him off.

What began as a simple gesture of goodwill turned into a struggle to escape Soohyuk’s grasp until the very moment he left.

Only after promising to stay in touch frequently did Soohyuk finally leave for work.

Drained, Jingyeom collapsed onto the sofa with a heavy sigh.

“Would you like some juice?”

“…No, I’ll just lie here for a bit before heading out.”

“Where do you work again? If it’s on the way, I can give you a ride.”

“Uh, XX-dong. It’s pretty far from here.”

“XX-dong? That’s on my way. Let’s leave together later.”

Watching Madam Jeong make the suggestion so casually, Jingyeom thought to himself, ‘She really intends to drive me.’

Grateful, Jingyeom expressed his thanks.

His commute—taking a bus and transferring to the subway—was exhausting, and he didn’t feel like refusing her offer.

While Jingyeom caught a quick nap on the sofa before leaving, Soohyuk was seated across from Wonbeom in the chairman’s office.

Wonbeom didn’t kick Soohyuk out when he showed up early in the morning.

Not that he welcomed him with open arms either.

“I have a meeting this morning.”

“So do I, Chairman. It’s the same meeting we’re both attending,” Soohyuk retorted, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

While it annoyed him that Wonbeom acted so nonchalantly, he didn’t bother pointing it out—he knew that was just how the man was.

Originally, Soohyuk had planned to confront Wonbeom on Saturday after Jingyeom had fallen asleep.

What Wonbeom did that day had crossed the line.

A kiss in private was one thing, but doing it in public, in front of a crowd?

It could only be seen as a performance meant to provoke him.

Still, Jingyeom’s emotions had erupted afterward, which ultimately worked in Soohyuk’s favor, so he had let it slide on Saturday.

But he couldn’t just let it go completely, which is why he came to find Wonbeom now.

“Where’s Jingyeom?”

“If you’re curious, you could’ve just called him. Not a peep from you all weekend, though.”

“…”

“You know you went too far that day, right? What if he’d collapsed from the shock? His heart isn’t that strong.”

Soohyuk believed that Wonbeom had done it deliberately to rile him up, though he also suspected there was more to it than that.

‘He’s serious enough about Jingyeom to take any risk.’

Even if it meant facing a scandal.

Sure, a company chairman kissing someone on the street might not make national headlines or spark public outrage.

But the fact that Jingyeom’s face could have been exposed?

That was a real risk.

“And what if someone had taken a picture? Jingyeom’s face would’ve been all over the internet. Do you think people could forget a face like his after seeing it once?”

“I’d actually like that. Moments like this make me envy celebrities. We’d have had a scandal article out in no time.”

“Yeah, like you’d let that happen.”

“Of course not.”

Wonbeom’s calm reply made Soohyuk’s lips twitch in irritation.

If either of them had been a celebrity, the second any photos were taken, Wonbeom would’ve bribed the reporters and crushed the media outlets without hesitation.

That was the kind of man Tak Wonbeom was.

Soohyuk had to bite his tongue to keep from blurting out that he was Jingyeom’s boyfriend.

He wanted to see how Wonbeom would react.

They’d never clashed over something like this before, which only added to his curiosity.

It was the first time either of them had been so fixated on someone, and the fact that it happened to be the same person felt absurd.

“Jingyeom’s been under a lot of stress. He needs complete rest for a while, so don’t bother calling or trying to reach him.”

“…Isn’t today a workday?”

“It is.”

Wonbeom narrowed his eyes as if to say, ‘You tell me he needs rest, yet you sent him to work?’

Soohyuk chuckled dryly at the unspoken accusation.

“He insisted on working. So don’t think about meddling. If you do, Jingyeom will come straight to me to complain.”

Soohyuk clicked his tongue.

If anything went wrong at Jingyeom’s workplace, he’d undoubtedly get an earful.

Jingyeom had already warned him once, so the odds were a solid 100%.

Despite Soohyuk’s warnings, Wonbeom simply raised an eyebrow without responding.

“Anything else you need?”

“There was, but not anymore.”

“…Get out.”

Wonbeom didn’t bother asking what it was.

The moment Soohyuk left, he yanked off his tie in frustration.

‘So, something is going on between them.’

He’d suspected as much ever since he saw Jingyeom lean into Soohyuk without hesitation.

That, and the fact that Soohyuk hadn’t reached out all weekend and hadn’t even left his house.

That could only mean one thing…

‘Is this how it ends?’

The feelings he could never have… perhaps Soohyuk had managed to claim them instead.

If nothing had happened, Soohyuk wouldn’t have shown up this morning, brimming with confidence.

The man’s true colors always came through when they were alone.

‘…I’m allowed to be a little petty, right?’

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