ACTSV chapter 185

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Soohyuk’s frantic footsteps suddenly came to a halt. It was as if his feet had been nailed to the ground, and he froze in place.

Even people passing by stopped to watch, as Wonbeom and Jingyeom were drawing all the attention.

Some of them took out their phones, but the bodyguards who had been secretly following them stepped in to stop them.

Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Jingyeom’s thoughts came to a complete standstill.

The vivid sensation on his lips and Wonbeom’s face right in front of him didn’t feel real.

After a moment, he regained his senses and tried to push Wonbeom away, but it was useless.

He couldn’t move, his neck held tightly in place, and all he could do was clench his lips and endure the situation.

Then, he realized that Wonbeom’s gaze was not on him.

In an instant, Wonbeom pulled away and turned, falling into someone’s embrace.

“Hah, hah.”

The sound of heavy breathing came from above, and the arms holding him tightened with force, squeezing his body.

‘This coat…’

Jingyeom realized it was the coat he had picked out for Soohyuk earlier that morning.

He quickly looked up.

Soohyuk’s expression was one he had never seen before—he was glaring at someone with a look that could kill.

“Are you crazy? Where do you think this is?”

“…”

“You’re burying your face in my chest.”

Despite his cold voice, Soohyuk carefully placed his hands around Jingyeom’s head to avoid touching the bruise and pressed him gently.

Then, he flung his coat over Jingyeom’s body, completely covering him.

Jingyeom’s heart was racing as he gripped the hem of Soohyuk’s waist tightly.

He couldn’t calm down.

As he started breathing heavily, Soohyuk lowered his head again.

With a short click of his tongue, Soohyuk took off his coat and placed it over Jingyeom’s head.

“Wrap your arms around my neck. I’ll carry you.”

“…I can walk on my own.”

“I’m not letting you. Wrap your arms around me.”

Jingyeom’s eyes filled with tears at his harsh tone.

In this situation, Soohyuk might be angry, but he felt wronged—he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Even though he wanted to push Soohyuk away and walk on his own, he understood why Soohyuk was acting this way, so he obediently wrapped his arms around his neck.

Soohyuk then draped his arm over Jingyeom’s waist and lifted him.

“You can talk later.”

“Just do it.”

“Later, I said.”

Covered by two large coats and with his back to Wonbeom, it was impossible for him to know what state Jingyeom was in.

But seeing Soohyuk step back so willingly, Wonbeom nodded as if to signal his understanding, sensing the situation was not favorable.

Soohyuk pulled the coat tighter around Jingyeom, completely shielding him, and then headed toward the parking lot.

Wonbeom stood still, watching until they disappeared, then started walking away.

---

Jingyeom, now sitting in the passenger seat, felt his heartbeat slow, but as he glanced at Soohyuk’s eyes, which were fixed on him, he quickly turned his head to look out the window in fear.

Soohyuk checked his watch before starting the car, worried they might run into someone who had seen Jingyeom earlier at the parking lot.

Although Jingyeom wasn’t a famous person and wouldn’t likely make headlines, a scandal involving a company President would still be a tempting target for the media.

The car sped out of the parking lot.

They had been driving for a while, but Soohyuk hadn’t spoken.

Jingyeom, unaccustomed to the silence between them, stole a glance at Soohyuk in the rearview mirror.

‘…He must be hurt. Is he mad?’

If it had been him, seeing the person he liked kiss someone else right in front of him would have been a huge shock, causing deep pain.

Feeling suffocated by the coat that was still draped over him, Jingyeom tried to push it away slightly, and Soohyuk’s eyebrows twitched at the movement.

Knowing the coat was Wonbeom’s, Jingyeom felt a sudden, childish resentment.

“Ignoring calls, ignoring messages… Must be nice, Baek Jingyeom.”

“…”

“Are you ignoring me now? That’s not a good way to handle things.”

The voice, so different from usual, continued.

Jingyeom, who had been carefully folding Soohyuk’s coat, froze.

Although he understood why Soohyuk was speaking with that mocking tone, his chest tightened with a sense of injustice and sorrow.

He had been deceived into going to the hospital with Soohyuk’s suggestion to “go eat,” and the kiss from Wonbeom had been completely against his will.

None of these things had been his decision.

“Ha.”

At Soohyuk’s sigh, tears finally welled up in Jingyeom’s eyes.

Crying wouldn’t solve anything, and staying silent wouldn’t make things go away either.

He knew it all, but in his helpless state, his tears threatened to spill.

Soohyuk, who had been focused on driving, glanced over at the sound of sniffles.

He relaxed the furrow in his brow and quickly pulled the car over to the shoulder.

Then, he turned to look at Jingyeom’s face and shouted.

“You’re bleeding!”

Jingyeom had bitten his lower lip so hard in an attempt to hold back his tears that it started bleeding.

To make matters worse, tears were now streaming down his face.

Soohyuk unbuckled his seatbelt, turned his body towards Jingyeom, and said firmly,

“Let go of your lip.”

“…”

“Are you really going to the hospital again like this?”

Tears filled Jingyeom’s eyes as he looked at Soohyuk.

He had been nervously chewing on his lip during the drive, and it had torn from the pressure.

His skin was sensitive, so even the slightest force could break his lips open.

Soohyuk took the coat that Jingyeom was holding and retrieved a handkerchief from it, throwing the coat into the backseat.

He gently pressed the handkerchief against Jingyeom’s bleeding lip.

“If you’re going to be mad, get mad at me. Why are you hurting your lips?”

“…The phone is on silent.”

“…”

“Wonbeom-hyung said he’d contact me.”

“I know. He already did.”

Jingyeom had received the message sent to his phone.

He knew it was from Wonbeom, but he couldn’t bring himself to delete it because of the sender’s name.

Below that message were dozens of others.

But he hadn’t read any of them for hours.

In that situation, he had rushed here after hearing that Cheongoh was at Wolmido.

The traffic had been bad due to the weekend, and he had been anxious the whole way, wondering if they had gone elsewhere.

And then, as soon as he arrived, the first thing he saw was this.

“…But why are you mad at me? Why are you angry at me!”

“I admit that,” Soohyuk replied.

“But… it was understandable.”

His face twisted as he recalled another scene in his mind.

“Yeah, I get that you followed him. But you could’ve contacted me. You didn’t. Can you even imagine how I felt for those few hours?”

“…”

“I know you’re angry about the hospital, but you know I was just worried. You were in bed for two months. It wouldn’t be strange if something happened to your brain. In that situation, you hit your head… Ugh, forget it.”

Even as he spoke, Soohyuk’s gaze didn’t leave Jingyeom’s lips.

Even a small cut wouldn’t stop bleeding easily, and with how it had been bitten and torn, his lip looked badly damaged.

Soohyuk couldn’t help but worry about the possibility of an infection.

He found it strange that, in the midst of all this, he was still concerned about Jingyeom.

He should be angry and scolding him, telling him not to do something like this again.

But instead, all he could think about was the blood on his lip.

Soohyuk sighed, running a hand over his face.

“…”

Why did this small body have so many tears?

Just the other day, he had cried uncontrollably from the pain, exhausted himself, and fallen asleep.

He was worried that if he kept crying like this, Jingyeom might end up dehydrated.

“…I know you’re worried about me. I was just throwing a tantrum because I didn’t want to go to the hospital. …I’ve been there too long.”

“I know. So stop crying.”

Soohyuk pulled out a tissue and dabbed at his endlessly flowing tears.

“The kiss… it wasn’t because I wanted to do it! You suddenly did that… how was I supposed to avoid it? My head was held, my hands were like this…”

Jingyeom clenched his fists and trembled.

He had folded his coat sleeves in the car, but earlier, his hands were covered all the way to the tips of his fingers, so there was nothing he could do.

It wasn’t that he was scared of the kiss with Wonbeom.

He had just been surprised.

But what upset him was having this conversation with Soohyuk, and it bothered him more than he realized why it made him feel this way.

Jingyeom squeezed his eyes shut.

‘I think I like him more than I thought.’

Even now, despite feeling hurt and angry at himself for showing Soohyuk that side of him, his heart was pounding wildly.

He felt bad for showing it, yet was also grateful that Soohyuk appeared in that moment.

He had known for a while that Soohyuk had a place in his heart.

While he hadn’t met many people, those who cared for him were close enough that he could easily feel the difference.

Everything Soohyuk did wasn’t unpleasant to him.

He’d complained, but never once had he genuinely disliked it.

At first, he thought, What kind of person is this? but gradually, he had grown accustomed to it.

Unlike when he was with Wonbeom, he felt comfortable with Soohyuk, and every time they touched, his heart raced.

Most of all, he felt loved every moment he was with Soohyuk.

It was a completely different kind of love than the one he felt from Jinwoo.

In reality, he had been pushing it away, using Jinwoo as an excuse.

If he were to become Soohyuk’s lover, Jinwoo would be the one most uncomfortable with it.

So, at times when his impulse couldn’t be stopped, he would act on it, only to pull back immediately.

Yet, Soohyuk’s consistent expressions of affection made it harder to resist.

‘…So annoying.’

Jingyeom tightly shut his eyes, and his long eyelashes fluttered as they trembled.

Meanwhile, the tears didn’t stop, continuing to trail down his cheeks.

Seeing this, Soohyuk couldn’t hold back and pulled Jingyeom’s head toward him, gently rubbing his shoulders and wiping away the tears.

“That bastard was wrong.”

“…You’re bad too!”

“Yeah. I’m bad too. I’m a jerk.”

“…Not a jerk, though.”

Even though he was sniffling, Jingyeom still managed to speak his mind.

Soohyuk, avoiding the bump on his head, kissed his forehead again, then his eyes, nose, and cheeks, tracing the paths where the tears had fallen, leaving kisses as he went.

He then carefully took away the handkerchief.

The blood, which he thought had stopped, started flowing again.

Soohyuk sighed and pressed the handkerchief back in place.

“Do you… still like me, even like this?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“…Even though I’m so indecisive?”

“That’s part of your charm.”

Soohyuk pulled out another tissue and pressed it to Jingyeom’s nose.

He had cried so much that mucus was running, and every time he spoke, his voice sounded nasally.

“Sniff, go ahead.”

“…I’ll do it.”

“Our little one is a crybaby, so I thought I’d let you practice since it looks like we’ll be doing this a lot.”

Jingyeom, holding still, sniffed as Soohyuk insisted on doing it.

Despite how embarrassed he was, with his ears turning bright red, Soohyuk still pressed the tissue to his nose and told him to do it again.

It wasn’t until Jingyeom had sniffled three times, until all the mucus was cleared, that Soohyuk finally removed the tissue.

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