Precious ◈ | Seongjoong/Yungi ✓

Episode 12: Utopia ◈ Part 2

He isn't in the infirmary, so Jongho checks the archive for Yeosang. Not here. Not in our room. Jongho purses his lips and goes for the third-best place.

Sure enough, he finds Yeosang curled up with a book in the library. The ravenette is dozing peacefully, his head bobbing comically. Jongho treads with silent steps. As he normally does when he catches the elder in this position, the younger gingerly removes the book from his hands and sets it aside.

However, when he goes to lift him to take him somewhere comfortable, Yeosang's eyes flutter open. The recordkeeper shrinks back upon seeing his bodyguard so close to his face. "Wh-What are you doing?"

"I was just going to take you back to the infirmary," Jongho mumbles, moving away. He pockets his hands and stares at the ravenette uncertainly.

Yeosang sits up uncomfortably and avoids eye contact. "Oh..."

Jongho huffs, "This is annoying. Did I do something to you? Why have you been so weird?"

Refusing to answer, Yeosang bites the inside of his cheek. They stay like this for a while before the younger rolls his eyes and walks away. He's not going to fight him on it if he's that hesitant.

Yeosang's eyes widen in fear. He doesn't want Jongho to be mad at him, and he doesn't want him to misunderstand. Scraping together courage, he stands up and blurts, "Dayeol told me you're in love with me!"

Jongho stops in his tracks.

"H-He told me right before he died." Yeosang purses his lips and fiddles with his fingers. "Is it true?"

Jongho jabs his inner cheek with his tongue. Just when he's wondering where the ex-officer may have figured that out, he remembers getting caught in their shared room that night. Secretly showing his affection, he kissed Yeosang's forehead and got busted by Ahn Dayeol.

Accepting his fate, he turns back around to face the elder seriously. "Yeah. He told you the truth."

Yeosang tenses up slightly, unsure how to proceed. So, Jongho does it for him.

"I didn't think I would care about anyone this much ever again after my parents' deaths. Then, I met you." Jongho hangs his head for a moment before meeting the other's hazel eyes again. "It wasn't always this way. At first, I really was only concerned as a friend. However, eventually that affection expanded in a way I've never felt before. You're the person I care about the most. Nobody compares to you."

Yeosang swallows harshly, fluttering his red-rimmed eyes. Deep in his chest, his heart is hammering wildly. He's not sure what to do with this feeling. The gunslinger's confession touches him in a meaningful way that he never expected from the younger.

Jongho adds, "However, I don't want to date. That's something far off from my mind, and I don't care to have a relationship like the others do. I'm fine with just understanding my feelings."

Now, that's more along the lines of what Yeosang thought. It doesn't upset him or disappoint him. He actually feels relieved.

"Me too," the elder utters with a soft smile, "I'm okay with just knowing. I think I love you romantically as well, but I don't want to date you. I'm not ready."

He walks closer and takes the gunslinger's jacket sleeve between his fingers. Their hearts race in sync. Their hands cross the threshold to connect as they walk their separate, parallel roads.

"We don't need to be like the other couples. As long as we know how we feel, that's all that counts."

Jongho breaks into a gummy smile, and it's the prettiest expression Yeosang has ever seen him wear. It makes him giddy, his hazel eyes no longer clouded by fear.