Light Mr. XX

“Trying to finish up all by yourself and run away?”

Choi Sang-hyuk glared at him, his eyes practically cursing. Meanwhile, Kim Min-seok swiftly wrapped himself up in the blanket, fortifying a perfect defense.

“If you rush things too quickly, it’s not good for relationship-building.”

Kim Min-seok spewed whatever nonsense came to mind.

“You know what they say, right? If a fire burns too fast, it goes out just as quickly… So…”

“So?”

Choi Sang-hyuk’s glare intensified, his skill in silent cursing exceptional.

“So… I mean… for today… maybe we should stop here?”

Ha!

Choi Sang-hyuk let out a scoff, as if dumbfounded. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, looking sinfully sexy while doing it.

Still wrapped up like a blanket burrito, Kim Min-seok unconsciously let his gaze roam over Choi Sang-hyuk’s perfectly sculpted upper body. That physique… Forget about being jealous as a fellow man—he was more disappointed that after all the heated things they had just done, he hadn’t had the chance to properly touch it.

‘Wait… am I actually gay?’

Kim Min-seok muttered internally. He had never dated before, too busy just trying to survive. Was it because he’d never been with a woman that he wasn’t particularly repulsed by this?

“Are you mad?”

Kim Min-seok cautiously asked, trying to placate Choi Sang-hyuk, who was still glaring at him. Choi Sang-hyuk stared at him for a moment before letting out a dry chuckle. Then, he grabbed the dress shirt he had tossed aside and began buttoning it up.

“Forget it. I only stopped by for a bit, and I wasn’t planning to do anything. But since you were practically begging for it, I ended up missing my meeting. If we’d actually gone all the way, my entire schedule for the day would’ve been screwed.”

Kim Min-seok flushed red at his words. It sounded as if he’d seduced someone who hadn’t even been interested and then kept them occupied with lewd acts, making them miss their meeting.

“But you were the one who started it…”

Kim Min-seok protested, only for Choi Sang-hyuk to chuckle as he fastened the buttons of his shirt.

“And who was the one who got wet both front and back just from a single kiss and begged me to make them come?”

“Ah, seriously! Do you have to say that out loud?”

Kim Min-seok reached out and covered Choi Sang-hyuk’s mouth with his hand. Choi Sang-hyuk raised an eyebrow as if to say, You dare to cover my mouth?

Normally, Kim Min-seok would have immediately pulled his hand back. But perhaps because they had just done something so intimate, Choi Sang-hyuk felt oddly familiar now. Even when he frowned, he didn’t seem all that scary.

“…Just hurry up and get dressed.”

Kim Min-seok picked up the scattered vest and suit jacket from the bed and handed them over. Then, he searched for his own clothes, pulling them on while staying hidden under the blanket, struggling to get dressed.

Underwear, pants, and shirt—only after putting everything on did Kim Min-seok finally throw off the blanket. Meanwhile, Choi Sang-hyuk, now impeccably dressed in his suit, stood beside the bed, watching him. It felt like he should say something, but he had no idea what. As Kim Min-seok hesitated, Choi Sang-hyuk reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket and pulled something out, holding it toward him.

“Take it.”

“Huh… a phone? Is this mine?”

“Yeah. Your old one was completely wrecked, so I got you a new one.”

“T-Thanks.”

Buying him a brand-new phone to replace the broken one? That was a level of thoughtfulness completely at odds with Choi Sang-hyuk’s first impression.

Holding the latest model in his hands put him in a good mood. Without realizing it, he smiled as he turned the phone over in his hands, examining it. That was when Choi Sang-hyuk grabbed his chin and tilted it upward.

“Let me make this clear. Don’t put a password on it. I’ll be checking it regularly.”

No password? And he was going to inspect it?

“That’s a total invasion of privacy.”

“I paid for it.”

“Still, that’s—”

Kim Min-seok had been about to argue, but the moment he saw Choi Sang-hyuk glaring at him with those deep, dark eyes, cursing at him without a single word, he promptly shut his mouth.

“I’ll be back tonight. Stay put and don’t go anywhere.”

After saying that, Choi Sang-hyuk took a step back. He looked at Kim Min-seok with a thoughtful expression for a moment before adding,

“If that bastard comes, don’t open the door for him. No matter what.”

It was obvious that that bastard referred to Ha Jun-seo.

“Okay…”

Well, Choi Sang-hyuk was the one who had bought this house for him, so it was probably best to listen. Not to mention, there was no way in hell he wanted to be alone with that perverted psycho.

After seeing Choi Sang-hyuk off, Kim Min-seok returned to the bedroom and set about tidying the bed. There were still traces of what they had done earlier, and he simply couldn’t bear to leave them as they were. Once the bed was clean, he felt much more at ease.

With the room sorted, he sprawled out on the living room sofa, playing with his new phone. It was completely empty—a fresh device. He opened the contacts out of curiosity. Only one number had been saved. Predictably, it was Choi Sang-hyuk’s. There was no other data, no saved messages, nothing.

Somehow, that made it feel less interesting. If it had been Seo Ha-yoon’s phone, he might’ve been able to dig up all sorts of personal details. Call logs, texts, messenger conversations—those would have given him some insight into the relationships in his life.

“Ah, my phone!”

Kim Min-seok suddenly exclaimed as a thought struck him. His own phone—the one that belonged to Kim Min-seok. He had no idea where his body was, but his phone had to be with it. If he called it, someone might pick up.

Excited, he quickly dialed the number and pressed the call button.

Rrrrr—

As he pressed the phone to his ear, he heard the ringing tone. His heart pounded. Who would answer? He felt both anticipation and a creeping sense of fear. If the person who answered was—

What if the person who answered the call had Kim Min-seok’s voice? That might actually be the best-case scenario. It would mean he was talking to the person who had swapped bodies with him. They could set up a meeting and figure out what to do about all this.

But… what if the one who picked up was really Seo Ha-yoon, now inhabiting Kim Min-seok’s body? What would happen then? Was there even a way to switch back? And if they did switch back, what would his life look like afterward?

“What do you mean, ‘what happens next’? Nothing changes. Just the same shitty, lonely life, all over again…”

Kim Min-seok muttered to himself in a low voice.

Seo Ha-yoon’s situation wasn’t great either. He didn’t know much about his past or personal history, but at the very least, he was living off another man. Could he really say that his own life was better in comparison?

He had no one to love or be loved by. No one to call a friend. No one who would come running if he collapsed or died. He was a complete loner. He had nothing, no dreams, no future. If he died, he’d probably be written off as just another solitary death. That was his life.

But Seo Ha-yoon… at least he had someone who claimed to love him. He had a life of comfort, even if it wasn’t something he had built himself.

Rrrrr—

“What the hell am I even thinking?”

Kim Min-seok whispered, listening to the endless ringing. The thought that staying as Seo Ha-yoon might be a better option… How could he even let that cross his mind? That was completely out of the question.

The call eventually disconnected with no answer.

[This is the owner of the phone. Please contact me, and I will reward you.]

Kim Min-seok sent a text to his own number, then set the phone down and stretched out on the couch, covering his eyes with his arm.

His mind was a complete mess. If Seo Ha-yoon had actually been some rich heir like he had first thought, none of this would have been an issue. If the real Seo Ha-yoon showed up demanding his body back, he would’ve just taken off running.

“Ah… seriously. What the hell am I supposed to do…?”

Kim Min-seok ruffled his hair in frustration. That wasn’t enough, so he rolled back and forth on the couch, groaning. Then—thud—he ended up tumbling onto the floor.

“Ouch.”

He rubbed his sore backside, then sighed. What the hell was he even doing?

“Alright… I should just go home.”

Determined, he got up.

Getting ready to head out was easy. He grabbed a jacket from the dressing room, picked up his wallet and car keys, and was about to leave when he hesitated. After a moment, he put the car keys back on the living room table.

He could drive. But driving an expensive foreign car—especially someone else’s—through the streets of Seoul? He wasn’t that reckless.

Besides, his wallet had three credit cards in it, two of which belonged to his wealthy lovers. Surely, a taxi fare wouldn’t be a problem.

Kim Min-seok stepped out of the apartment’s main entrance and stood by the roadside, waiting for a taxi. Even as he did, his mind remained a tangled mess.

Half of him wanted to turn around and go right back inside. The other half, though, needed to go and see for himself.