“……”There was no mistaking that voice.Even without its trademark rasping drawl, he heard it every single day — there was no way he wouldn’t recognize it. Frozen stiff in disbelief, wondering why the hell he was even here, Seo-eul felt a slow, low laugh brush past his ear. Warm breath grazed the rim, tickling. When he reflexively leaned forward, the weight behind him followed.“Ugh—”A short sound escaped him as the solid weight pressed down on his back. He raised a hand at once.The thick arm now circling his neck didn’t so much as twitch away when he tapped it. If anything, the body above him bent a little closer. The deliberate pressure was heavy in a way that wasn’t purely physical.“Seo Sa-heon, stop messing around.”“Do you?”The warning went unheeded. For a moment, the question made no sense—until Seo-eul caught up a beat later. Do I what? …Do I have another best friend besides you? He couldn’t fathom why he was asking something so absurd.Especially when they both knew exactly how small each other’s circles were.The way he constantly tried to confirm it—childish, really. But at times it felt more like a quiet plea for reassurance, and that made Seo-eul’s chest sink without meaning to.“…Can you let go?”Not that he could show that feeling on his face.Expression smooth again, he tapped Sa-heon’s arm once more. Across from them, Yeom Gang-sik didn’t even glance up, clearly used to this kind of scene. The man had learned by experience that whoever showed attention always lost.Not an inaccurate lesson.That bitter thought drained what little energy he had left.Whether Sa-heon sensed it or not, that low voice curled around his ear again.“Who is it?”“I told you to stop.”“Who?”“Hey.”“Seo-eul. Who is it?”“……”“You really hiding someone from me?”“What the…”Hiding what, exactly?It was such a ridiculous accusation that there was no point arguing. Better to stay silent—he’d keep pestering him until he got the answer he wanted anyway.Seo-eul sighed, surrendering early. If he didn’t, Sa-heon would just find another way to torment him later. He was exactly that kind of man.“There’s no one. So stop leaning on me. You’re heavy, how many times do I have to say it?”“I’m not heavy.”Yeah, right. He’d already passed one-eighty centimeters back in middle school, and he was still saying that.He nearly laughed remembering that same boyish face once whining about aching bones from growing too fast—but he held it in. The guy now was over one-ninety, built like a damn doorframe; claiming he wasn’t heavy was pure hypocrisy.Still, apparently that was the answer he’d wanted. The weight pressing him down loosened a little.Seo-eul seized the opening.“Did you wet your lips?”“Yeah.”“Let me see.”He tapped the seat beside him on purpose. A quiet laugh followed.They knew each other too well—Sa-heon’s gaze said plainly that he saw right through the ploy to make him move away.But giving in, as always, was part of Sa-heon’s charm. Moving unhurriedly, he withdrew and trailed his palm along the sofa back before circling around to drop into the seat next to him. He tilted his face just so, at the angle where his jawline looked its sharpest.“How do I look.”That uninvited generosity—showing off that face so close—it left Seo-eul momentarily speechless.Maybe it was because Sa-heon was a model. Even in a loose shirt and unstyled, soft hair, he looked like he’d stepped straight out of a magazine spread. The clean cut of his features, the faint shadows under his eyes—Seo-eul’s gaze caught on them for a second before he muttered silently inside his mouth words he’d never dare to say aloud. How does he look? You’d freak out if I told you honestly.So all he said was, “Put more on.”He turned away coolly, but caught the slight shake of Sa-heon’s shoulders—stifled laughter. For a man usually expressionless, those easy smiles reserved for him alone were strangely frequent.Glancing aside, Seo-eul noticed Yeom Gang-sik pretending to scroll through his phone, unbothered even by Sa-heon’s sudden intrusion. That silence, though, was suspicious.“So what are you even doing here?”“Came to pick you up. You ditched me, so I chased you here.”“…You came to the set?”“Yeah. Got there ten minutes early. You left twenty minutes early.”Seo-eul had indeed wrapped up early, panicked after hearing the word variety show.He hadn’t imagined Sa-heon would come pick him up, and the realization made him awkwardly murmur, “You could’ve called first… I got summoned out of nowhere. Everything’s been chaos.”“Yeah. Looks like it.”As he spoke, Sa-heon’s hand extended toward Seo-eul’s jaw.For a split second, Seo-eul thought he was about to grab him by the collar.Instead, Sa-heon deftly undid his neatly knotted gray tie.The strip of fabric slid down and was tossed casually over the back of the sofa. Seo-eul exhaled a faint sigh.“…Sorry.”He hadn’t even changed out of his costume yet. His character in the film had been an office worker, and he’d lost the argument with the director who insisted on one last “in a suit” shot.Apologizing under his breath, he watched as Sa-heon quietly reached up and loosened another button at his throat. Seo-eul didn’t stop him. Sa-heon’s dislike of ties was practically pathological—he knew that too well.“This was a gift from the production company—”“Then you’ll go on the show with me, right?”“Yeah, with you—wait, what?”He must have misheard.Praying his hearing had gone bad, Seo-eul turned to him. But Sa-heon’s face didn’t even flicker.“Best Friend X Swap. That’s why you got called in, isn’t it?”There it was again—that damn show. He’d already realized it was a paired format, but appearing on a variety show, with Sa-heon of all people, was unthinkable.His disbelief was written all over his face.“That’s true, but why you? No—together? You and me?”“Yeah.”“Why?”“Because I’m Lee Seo-eul’s best friend.”“You’re seriously going to keep playing word games? Sir, what exactly is going on here?”There was no point arguing with Sa-heon, so Seo-eul turned to the CEO instead.Yeom, who’d been pretending to read news articles, froze. He looked like a calf being dragged to slaughter.“Well, see… it’s, uh… it has to be best friends, right? And it’s not like you’ve got any others in the industry, huh? Plus, your schedules match perfectly—talk about perfect timing, haha…”“I’m pretty sure I cleared my schedule starting today.”“Ha-ha… yeah, technically, but…”“……”“……”“……”Seo-eul narrowed his eyes. The way Yeom avoided his gaze said everything. Something was off.This was the same CEO who’d ignored fans begging for Seo-eul to take more work, the same man who’d honored his wish to act only and never ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ push him into other appearances—a near-saintly level of loyalty.For him to go this far meant only one thing.“…Don’t tell me you volunteered for this.”“Yeah.”He’d asked half in disbelief, but the answer came so flatly that Seo-eul almost forgot how to speak.And then, as if to make it worse, Yeom exploded.“You little punk—! You told me to keep it a secret! Do you know what kind of villain I had to play because of that?!”Having endured days caught between two whales fighting, Yeom finally broke down.“Seo-eul-ah, please, I’m going bald from stress. You should’ve seen it—this guy barged in a week ago declaring he was joining the show with you! I nearly fainted! Thank god the offer came in again, or else he swore he’d skip the upcoming Carde F/W show! Can you believe that? He’s the ambassador!”“……”Everyone in the fashion world knew Seo Sa-heon was the darling of Carde’s head designer. The upcoming F/W collaboration with the house’s original creative director was practically the event of the season. Even Seo-eul, who barely knew the industry, knew how absurd that threat was.Sa-heon was reckless, yes, but he’d never dragged business into personal whims before.Seo-eul shot him a look that said Explain yourself.But Sa-heon just looked serenely unbothered, as if it was all someone else’s story.Seo-eul, who prided himself on calm acceptance, actually felt his temper stir.What the hell is going on in that head of yours…As he stared, Sa-heon finally moved. Elbows on his knees, he looked up at Seo-eul for a long moment before murmuring—“You keep making me upset.”The words sounded almost like a pout, but the meaning underneath was nothing so light. Maybe because Seo-eul already knew what would come next.“You said you were leaving. Moving out.”……“Then where am I supposed to find you, Lee Seo-eul?”That faintly wounded tone caught him off guard.Seo-eul couldn’t answer at all.

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