Chapter 125

They touched.

“Scaredy-cat.”

Not lips, though. Just the tips of their noses.

Kwon Mieon’s low chuckle tickled Yeonhoo’s ear. Still teasing, he rubbed their noses together.

His eyes curved with a quiet laugh, the corners of his mouth relaxed. But Mo Yeonhoo was far more preoccupied with something else than the soft sensation against the tip of his nose.

...I thought he was going to kiss me.

How could he even have a thought that insane? Just now, he’d simply assumed Kwon Mieon was about to kiss him—as if that were the most natural thing in the world.

Huh? Natural?

Am I crazy? What the hell is natural about that?

“Yeonhoo, do you sleep with your eyes open?”

Apparently finding it strange that Yeonhoo had gone stiff with his eyes wide open, Kwon asked in confusion. But Yeonhoo couldn’t bring himself to say what had just gone through his head—or let any of it show on his face.

“I-I don’t know. When did I ever pretend to be asleep? I really was asleep and just woke up.... I’m tired, so I’m going back to sleep. And quit messing around.”

Yeonhoo squeezed his eyes shut and abruptly rolled over. Kwon watched him roll away, still bundled tightly in the blanket, then reached out.

“Okay.”

With a quiet laugh, he wrapped his arms around Yeonhoo again, though more loosely than before. Yeonhoo lowered his gaze and saw the large hand holding him.

“Good night, Yeonhoo.”

The embrace was loose, but not loose enough to actually let him go. Kwon was pressed close behind him, his breath repeatedly brushing the back of Yeonhoo’s neck and sending goosebumps racing over his skin. Before long, Kwon’s breathing evened out as though he had fallen asleep, but....

This is insane.

Yeonhoo was still covered in goosebumps and far too conscious of Kwon behind him to sleep.

And really, who could blame him? The person he understood least right now was himself.

His heart was pounding like he’d just finished a workout. He tried several times to slip out of Kwon’s arms, only for—

“Mmm.”

—the thick arm wrapped around him to tighten whenever Kwon shifted in his sleep, somehow draining all the strength out of him until he couldn’t move at all.

“Move your hand....”

Eventually, Yeonhoo tried shoving it away more forcefully.

“Yeonhooo....”

But every time Kwon burrowed closer again, the breath against his neck made his heart hammer so violently that....

“Yeonhoo, what’s wrong with your face? Did you not sleep? Those dark circles are....”

He didn’t get a single wink until sunrise!

Unlike Yeonhoo, who looked unmistakably like he had stayed up all night, Kwon looked perfectly refreshed.

His smooth face practically glowed in the morning light, but one look at it was enough for Yeonhoo to become certain.

His heart, which had finally settled down a little, was going crazy again.

Which meant he obviously had—

“Yeonhoo?”

...a Kwon Mieon phobia.

*****

“Yeonhoo.”

“Yeah.”

“I want to ask you something.”

Of the two men sitting side by side in silence, staring at their monitors, Kwon was the first to speak, sounding like he couldn’t take it anymore.

Rrrk.

His chair wheels scraped across the floor as he turned all the way toward Yeonhoo.

“You said you just needed to go grab something....”

The moment Yeonhoo woke up, he’d said he thought he needed to go home for a bit. Kwon had been about to suggest breakfast together, but after seeing how exhausted he looked, he’d had no choice but to let him go.

And this was what came back.

“What the hell is that getup?”

Kwon stared at him in disbelief.

Yeonhoo was currently sitting at the computer with a thick blanket pulled all the way over his head, a mask covering his face, and—somehow—a pair of pitch-black sunglasses with lenses so dark Kwon had no idea where he’d even found them.

“Can you even see the screen?”

It was ridiculous enough that he’d shown up looking like some max-level veteran straight out of a game. Sitting in front of the monitor dressed like that made it even worse.

“What’s wrong with it? I think it’s great.”

“You’re seriously asking what’s wrong with it? Yeonhoo, anyone can see you look weird.”

“There’s nothing weird about it.”

“Look at me. Take off the sunglasses.”

Yeonhoo remained stubbornly unfazed, so Kwon finally shoved back his chair and strode over, apparently determined to check for himself.

But did dressing like a veteran somehow give you a stat boost?

“Huh?”

Whoosh—!

Kwon’s eyebrow twitched.

Yeonhoo had rolled his chair backward with astonishing speed and dodged his hand.

And that was only the beginning.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

As if he’d spent his entire life propelling himself around in office chairs, Yeonhoo zipped away from Kwon with remarkable agility.

Unfortunately for him, Kwon Mieon was not a man who gave up.

He relentlessly closed the distance until—

“Nowhere left to run, huh?”

“.......”

Yeonhoo’s back hit the wall.

Only then did he finally open his mouth.

“I have a suggestion.”

“A suggestion?”

Yeonhoo flinched at Kwon’s chilly tone, but pushed his slipping sunglasses back up and solemnly held out one palm.

“Stay there and listen.”

A crystal-clear gesture telling him not to come any closer.

“So, you know....”

Kwon waited while Yeonhoo hesitated.

Finally—

“How about we... keep a little d-distance for a while?”

Yeonhoo barely managed to force the words out.

Kwon didn’t respond right away. He simply stared down at him for a moment before letting out a disbelieving laugh.

“What? Distance?”

His face turned frightening in an instant, his voice downright menacing, and Yeonhoo suddenly felt like running away.

But this time, he had no intention of backing down just because he was scared.

This is the right call.

He’d spent the entire night thinking it over, and this was the conclusion he’d reached.

If you were afraid of bugs, for example, didn’t your body freeze whenever one got close? Didn’t your heart start pounding, goosebumps rise all over you, and every instinct scream at you to run?

I have a Kwon Mieon phobia.

That was exactly what happened whenever Yeonhoo saw him.

Just looking at Kwon’s face made him freeze. His heart kept racing. And whenever Kwon got too close, he even broke out in goosebumps.

I really just want to bolt....

If it were entirely up to him, he would have put some real distance between himself and Kwon. But that wasn’t exactly possible right now.

There was the spy problem, the issue with Ms. Miyoung... and plenty of other things still weighing on his mind.

So I need to get used to him first while keeping some distance.

Surely, if they kept spending time together, he’d eventually get better. Until then, if he wanted to enjoy a peaceful gaming life, he needed to defend himself thoroughly like this.

Naturally, he had intended to explain all that to Kwon properly.

But....

“Explain.”

With Kwon staring him straight in the face, there was absolutely no way Yeonhoo could say the words Kwon Mieon phobia out loud!

“C-cough.”

Time for Plan B.

Yeonhoo, who had been about to confess everything honestly, abruptly changed course, covered his mouth, and started coughing.

“Cough, cough. Coughhh....”

It was an incredibly unconvincing cough.

“No, it’s just that I think I might be coming down with a cold. Maybe because I slept somewhere unfamiliar last night, I feel kind of weird, so I thought we should keep our distance while we play so you don’t catch it from me....”

The bigger problem was his delivery.

It was so stiff and awkward he sounded like a robot. Even text-to-speech would probably have sounded more natural.

“A-and it might be contagious, so I really think we shouldn’t get too close....”

Yet Yeonhoo was putting every ounce of effort he had into the performance.

Kwon let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Yeonhoo. Yesterday, did you maybe....”

He was just about to say something when—

Ding—!

A sharp notification sound rang out.

It was higher-pitched than usual. Yeonhoo’s eyes widened, and Kwon’s head turned slightly toward the monitor as well.

That sound usually meant an emergency announcement had arrived.

“Yeonhoo.”

Kwon turned back to him, clearly still having unfinished business.

“Uh, shouldn’t we check that right away?!”

Yeonhoo, however, had no such unfinished business.

Seeing him desperately lock his gaze onto the monitor, Kwon parted his lips, then finally let out a long sigh and returned to his seat.

“...That was an announcement alert.”

Anyone could see he knew exactly what Yeonhoo was doing and was simply letting him get away with it.

Yeonhoo, of course, failed to realize that. His face brightened as he nodded eagerly.

“Yeah, let’s check it!”

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