Jaegyeom sipped his drink continuously with a gloomy expression on his face.
"Number 7, sing a song. Who's number 7?"
Everyone except jaegyeom was enjoying the lively drinking party. For a while now, the woman with the bob had been leading the games. The game she proposed was called the "king game." Through drawing lots, the person chosen as king would randomly pick a number and give orders as they pleased.
The orders varied. There were various commands like drinking bomb shots, dancing, singing, etc. If someone didn't want to carry out an order, they had to drink strong alcohol as punishment. While everyone was having fun, only Jaegyeom was isolated like a lone island. Completely drunk, he couldn't care less about drinking games or anything else.
As the alcohol warmed him up, he sprawled out on the sofa like a limp pancake.
Meanwhile, a new round began. This time, Shin Jihye was the king.
"Number 1 and number 8, kiss."
Since it was a mixed-gender drinking party, as the mood heightened, mischievous penalties emerged.
The drunk people cheered loudly in response. "Oooh, who's number 1?" People giggled as they searched for the called numbers. Just then, Park Sangjun, sitting next to jaegyeom, inhaled sharply.
"I'm number 1."
When Park Sangjun showed his lot, people burst into laughter.
"Number 1 is Sangjun! Then who's number 8? Who's number 8?"
However, even after asking several times, number 8 didn't come forward. So Shin Jihye went around the table checking people's number tags. Jaegyeom, overwhelmed by the sudden rush of alcohol, had nodded off momentarily without even looking at the number on his lot. Shin Jihye checked Jaegyeom's number tag
"You're number 8!"
When they realized two men had been caught by the penalty, an explosive reaction erupted. Park Sangjun, who had been secretly rejoicing, smiled slyly and gently placed his hand on Jaegyeom's shoulder next to him.
"What?"
Jaegyeom, still unaware of the situation, frowned as he looked at Park Sangjun.
"Do you want to do it? Or should I?"
"Do what?"
"The kiss."
As if that was some nonsensical talk, Jaegyeom stiffened and hardened his expression.
"We both got caught. We have to kiss as a penalty."
Jaegyeom looked around. All eyes were on them.
Everyone was watching the two with keen interest.
Yoon Taehee's fingertips silently scratched his shirt while his arms were crossed.
"No. Why should I? I won't."
"Why? Is it your first time kissing?"
When Park Sangjun asked teasingly, people burst into laughter.
"I, 've, I've, l've done it before."
The drunk Jaegyeom retorted angrily.
"Really? Then what's the problem?"
"You're ugly, so I don't want to do it with you."
At Jaegyeom's answer, people erupted in laughter.
They had expected a typical response like "How can two men kiss?", but this was an unexpectedly silly answer. After all, Jaegyeom had naturally accepted the premise that men could kiss each other for some time
now.
Park Sangjun, insulted to his face, asked with a slightly dejected expression.
"Then who do you think is the most handsome person here?"
The most handsome person? There was no need to even think about that. Without hesitation, Jaegyeom raised his index finger in his drunken state. At that moment, Yoon Taehee, who was bringing a glass to his lips, froze.
"..."
The person Jaegyeom pointed to was none other than Yoon Taehee. As he pointed, the muscles in Yoon Taehee's back twitched, but no one noticed. Shin Jihye giggled and said to Yoon Taehee.
"Sweetheart, did you hear that? He says you're the most handsome one here."
jaegyeom didn't hesitate at all in pointing out Yoon Taehee. After all, it was true that Yoon Taehee was the most handsome person there. Just then, Shin Jihye, who had been laughing mischievously, made a new suggestion.
"Then how about the most handsome person becomes Sangjun's black knight*?"
(*Someone who help takes the other person's punishment in a game.)
At Shin Jihye's words, Park Sangjun said with an incredulous expression.
"Hey, what's that? That's not how it works."
"You have to do what the king says."
"I didn't even ask for a black knight."
The people around them booed in unison. Faced with the reaction not to ruin the mood, Park Sangjun couldn't say anything more and looked embarrassed.
Shin Jihye giggled and urged Yoon Taehee.
"This is fan service too. Since you're my fan, give a deep kiss on my behalf, sweetheart."
Yoon Taehee, who had been looking down and fiddling with the ends of his eyebrows, looked at Shin Jihye and slowly got up. As Yoon Taehee stood up, Park Sangjun moved aside with a sour expression.
Pushing Park Sangjun aside and sitting next to Jaegyeom, Yoon Taehee finally faced Jaegyeom.
As jaegyeom hesitated, Yoon Taehee gently cupped the back of jaegyeom's head and slowly tilted his head.
As soon as Yoon Taehee's lips met Jaegyeom's, people held their breath and a moment of silence fell. Then,
passionate cheers erupted.
"Sweetheart, that's enough now."
At Shin Jihye's words, Yoon Taehee obediently pulled away. Jaegyeom, who had been following the kiss as if entranced, opened his eyes wide.He never listened to what jaegyeom said, but now Yoon Taehee was carefully heeding every word Shin Jihye uttered.
Finally annoyed, Jaegyeom said harshly.
"Who said to stop?"
Yoon Taehee paused for a moment.
"Do it again."
Jaegyeom glared at him and spoke in a low voice. For a fleeting moment, a flicker of agitation crossed Yoon Taehee's eyes. It was a rare sign of bewilderment. It seemed like he had seen that expression somewhere before.
"Sweetheart, what are you doing? I said that's enough."
Shin Jihye spoke up again. Yoon Taehee, who had been looking at Jaegyeom with a strange expression, slowly pulled his head back. Then Jaegyeom grabbed Yoon Taehee's shirt tightly, breathing heavily.
"I said continue."
If he ignored him again this time, Jaegyeom was thinking of grabbing Yoon Taehee by the collar dragging him out of here. Just then, Yoon Taehee, who had been frozen for a moment, removed Jaegyeom's hand from his shoulder.
"..."
Jaegyeom's face turned vicious at the forceful way his hand was removed. As he was about to grab the collar again, Yoon Taehee suddenly intertwined his fingers with Jaegyeom's removed hand, tilted his head, and kissed Jaegyeom. Jaegyeom, who had been leaning against the sofa, slid down. People let out screams mixed with cheers, but at this unprompted action, Shin Jihye's expression became slightly strange.
What the... Why is he suddenly doing something he wasn't told to do?
Shin Jihye spoke up again with a bewildered face.
"That's enough, you can stop now."
But Yoon Taehee didn't stop kissing.
"Sweetheart! I said that's enough..?"
Finally, Shin Jihye furrowed her brow.
"Can't you hear me? I said stop!"
Only when Shin Jihye shouted sharply did Yoon Taehee stop moving. Jaegyeom opened his eyes with a slightly flushed face. He was completely out of it from the alcohol. Their eyes met with their noses still touching. Yoon Taehee, who had been looking down at Jaegyeom with an expressionless gaze, curled the corners of his mouth and muttered.
"What should we do, she says to stop..."
Just as Jaegyeom was trying to focus his half-lidded eyes, Yoon Taehee cupped Jaegyeom's cheeks with both hands, slowly rubbed his eyebrow bone with his thumbs, and murmured softly.
"Well, there are too many eyes watching here."
Only then did Shin Jihye sense that something was off and her expression hardened. Just then, Yoon Taehee kissed Jaegyeom's forehead with a smack and stood up. Yoon Taehee slowly turned his head to look around at the people, then took out the folding fan he had tucked in his back pocket.
"Let's stop now and go home."
Yoon Taehee looked around with a strangely cold expression and swung the fan in his hand widely Suddenly, a great wind arose in the party room.
Crash——!
An inexplicable gust of wind swept over the table. At the same time, the chandelier hanging from the ceiling and bottles of alcohol shattered into pieces, turning the party room into chaos in an instant. Screams of
"Kyaaak!" erupted here and there at the sudden situation.
Panicked by the sudden commotion, people rushed out of the party room, but Shin Jihye was hiding under the table. Yoon Taehee approached Shin Jihye, who was crouching with her arms wrapped around her head, and bent his knees to meet her eye level.
"Shall we talk for a moment?"
Shin Jihye slowly raised her head and glared at Yoon Taehee.
"Since when have you been free?"
"What do you mean, since when?"
"When we first met, you must have been enchanted by me..."
Shin Jihye had an expression of disbelief.
"Don't tell me you've been deceiving me from the start?"
"Well, we've both been deceiving each other, haven't we?"
Yoon Taehee said in a low voice as he snapped his fan shut.
"No need to introduce yourself. I already know who you are."
What? Shin Jihye flinched as she looked up at him.
"A spirit that bewitches humans and eats their organs..."
Just as Shin jihye hurriedly averted her gaze, Yoon Taehee, who was kneeling in front of her, used the fan in his hand to gently lift the hem of the cloth covering her feet. This revealed her bare feet in sandals. Yoon Taehee looked down at her feet with a sharp gaze. On
Shin Jihye's feet were blue scales that couldn't be considered human.
"...A mermaid of legends disguised as a human."
At these words, Shin Jihye's eyes shook violently.
"'ve been desperately searching for you."
Yoon Taehee had been tracking the mermaid's whereabouts for the past three days.