Pull Out

The two held hands tightly, their fingers interlocked. Their shoulders were pressed together without any gap between them. They didn't seem to be talking about anything particularly significant, yet enthusiastic reactions followed every word the other spoke. Even as he slipped his phone into the front pocket of his bag, the man never let go of the hand he was holding. It was mid-October, but a summer hat woven from raffia rested on each of their laps.

A couple at the peak of happiness. They looked like newlyweds heading off to a warm resort for their honeymoon.

After checking in, Yeehyeon sat on a nearby bench in case he was called about an issue with his luggage. He had been gazing absently at the couple sitting just a few steps away, but as they began whispering sweet nothings to each other, he subtly turned his gaze elsewhere.

A family of four just entering the airport, pushing a cart piled high with suitcases. A group of friends who looked to be in their early twenties, chattering and joking excitedly despite the check-in line barely moving. A foreign businessman clutching his passport and ticket, hurrying as if he had arrived just in time. Yeehyeon observed the various people around him with quiet interest, then bent forward, propped his chin on his thigh, and turned to look at Yuni sitting beside him.

She had been lost in thought with a slightly tense expression, but when she noticed Yeehyeon looking at her, she met his eyes and smiled broadly. As Yeehyeon smiled back, she reached out and ruffled his hair.

"The Director said he'd be at Phantom late tonight for the final check of the joint exhibition."

She probably assumed Yeehyeon was waiting for Liu. But Yeehyeon harbored no such expectation — which surprised even himself. He simply smiled faintly and nodded.

Yuni didn't know, but the previous evening, Yeehyeon had gone to Phantom to see him.

When he went up to the second floor, Liu was standing in the center of the exhibition hall — directly ahead at the top of the stairs — contemplating the placement of the works. It was the exact place where they had first met. A strange sensation washed over Yeehyeon, and instead of approaching him right away, he leaned against the railing and watched him for a moment.

When they first met, Liu had gradually come into view as he ascended those same stairs, and Yeehyeon had been helping Yuni and Juhan from the very spot where Liu now stood. That intense, commanding presence and striking appearance — this person might be a Golden Alpha — had been his first impression. Back then, all Liu had asked Yeehyeon was, "How do you know Manager Han?"

Watching him now — rolling up his shirt sleeves, skimming the list of works in his hand, absently fussing with his brow — Yeehyeon couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at the sheer magnitude of change time had brought.

Liu noticed him too, and offered a slightly awkward smile as he set the file he had been holding down on the desk.

Yeehyeon had come up from Donghae three days earlier and was staying at Juhan's officetel. This was the first time he had seen Liu since they parted in front of his grandfather's gate that day.

"When I get there... I'll contact you."

After exchanging a few words about the pieces submitted for the exhibition, Yeehyeon had said that, smoothing a hand down his sleeve. Liu had nodded slightly, lips pressed tightly together. Just as Yeehyeon had nodded — knowing that Liu's earlier words about coming to meet him in Paris had been a lie.

Yeehyeon had been the first to kiss him, looking up at him from a tilted angle. When he gripped the back of Liu's neck and pulled him close, pressing their lips together, Liu's chest went rigid against his own in an instant. As Yeehyeon turned his jaw and deepened the kiss, Liu finally shed his hesitation and wrapped his arms tightly around Yeehyeon's waist. It was an embrace like someone casting everything else away just to hold on to Yeehyeon alone.

As Liu buried himself deeper, his nose pressing hard against Yeehyeon's, his breath trembled faintly and grew ragged. Yeehyeon stroked his long hair and drew hard on his lower lip — just as Liu had always done for him. Beneath lowered eyelids, Liu looked back at him with a pained smile.

After sharing a kiss in a scent he knew he would never forget — a scent he already missed — Yeehyeon left Phantom and wandered the streets until late into the night.

"Looks like there's no problem. Shall we head in?"

Yuni confirmed that more than five minutes had passed, slung her crossbody bag over her shoulder, and stood up first. Yeehyeon, his backpack still on, took one last look around the still-crowded hall before following her toward the departure gate.

He felt as if someone were watching him from somewhere — wearing the sunglasses Liu always kept tucked in his chest pocket. Even if that were true, he had no desire to find him and confirm it. And even if it wasn't literally true, it felt no different from being watched by him.

The flight to Charles de Gaulle Airport, with layovers in Shanghai and Amsterdam, would take well over twenty-five hours. The economy seat was cramped and hard, but Yeehyeon could feel neither boredom nor discomfort. With his left shoulder given over to the sleeping Yuni, inside the darkened cabin, he thought of only one thing.