Dusk (BL Light Novel)

[Seonhwa]
wya? 09:52
up? 09:59
I’m heading out first?? 10:35
I’m out
(emoji) 10:43
Moon Seonhwa had already left 30 minutes ago. Since it was now past 11:10, she was probably just about to arrive or had already entered the building.

[Me]
k
Where are you heading first? 11:10 1
I sent her a message, but the “1” stayed. Maybe she ran into someone, or maybe she was just wandering around. Either way, she’d always been like this since we were kids, so I just backed out of the chat.
As I returned to the conversation list, I saw a few messages from family members telling me to be careful—but I forgot about them quickly. What caught my eye more was something else entirely. Almost like I was drawn to it, I tapped that chat.

[Kang Jaegyung]
Text me when you get here 11:02
So he was already there. He’d just worked all night and barely gotten to sleep, and now he’d woken up again and arrived early. That’s Jaegyung for you.
Reading his message made the tiny pebble of nervousness in my chest swell rapidly. I’d been all cocky, acting like I was about to win a PvP IRL match—but maybe it only felt that way because the fact I was actually meeting Retaking hadn’t really hit me yet.

Now that it was real—now that the actual meetup was just around the corner—it was starting to mess with my head.
What did he look like? He’d seemed pretty slim on camera, but he was a bodyguard, so he was probably tall too, right? At the very least, he wouldn’t be shorter than me. I already knew his voice well… would he look as soft and kind as he sounded? Or would he have a rough, intimidating look that matched the whole “bodyguard” vibe?
I couldn’t stop my thoughts from spiraling. I read those six words in the white speech bubble over and over again before finally turning off the screen. Then, without thinking, I pressed my lips together and looked out the car window.

The car zipped down the road, with only the structures directly in front of us flashing past. The large buildings off in the distance stayed put, only shifting angles—a bit like my own mind, which had stayed weirdly calm until now and was only now getting into a tizzy now that the moment was here.
Less than an hour remained until I’d be face to face with Retaking.
***

Staring out the window like someone with some unspeakable past, I ended up arriving at the venue before I realized it.
After parking, I entered the stadium with my uncle. It was muggy outside, so I took off the jersey jacket I’d brought just in case and tied it around my waist. Despite being in the rainy season, there wasn’t a single raincloud in sight. Lucky.
The first-floor lobby was packed. Just seeing it made my heart beat differently for a new reason. I clutched my uncle’s wrist tightly. Yeah, I probably looked like a little kid on a field trip with their guardian—but I couldn’t help it.

Some people were standing in line to get their tickets, while others were sitting on sofas chatting. It was almost lunchtime, so a few folks were heading back out to grab food. The exhibition was on the 14th and 15th floors, but judging from the crowd on the [N O V E L I G H T] first floor, those floors must’ve been even more jammed. The 700 tickets had sold out in under a minute—says it all, really.
We were swallowed up by the crowd, which was too busy chatting to pay much attention to us, and it started making me feel queasy. I tried not to focus on them too much, letting my gaze drift. But I stayed on high alert in case anyone besides my uncle tried to approach.
Since I had an invitation, there was no need to line up for a ticket. We skipped the ticketing area and headed straight for the elevator. Even here, people stood clustered with just enough space between them to pretend they weren’t together.

Trying to distract myself, I kept replaying the part where I’d been told to head to the 13th floor first. Then I realized I was chewing my lip and pulled out my phone. After hesitating, I opened KakaoTalk and replied to Retaking.
[Me]
Here 11:48 1
As I flicked my thumb across the screen, hoping the “1” would disappear, several elevators arrived. I managed to wedge myself in among the crowd. The elevator lit up with multiple floor buttons and carried us all upward.
“Thirteenth floor, right?” my uncle whispered into my ear. I just nodded while keeping my eyes glued to my phone.

Even though he was the one who told me to text when I arrived, Retaking didn’t check the message even as we passed the 2nd, 3rd, and 11th floors and finally reached the 13th. Not that it was a long wait—barely over a minute. Maybe he was caught up in something. Knowing him, he could’ve been stopped by fans or offering service with a smile.
Only three people got off on the 13th floor besides me and my uncle. One of them seemed to have gotten off by mistake and quickly said, “Oh, sorry, wrong floor,” before hopping back on.
This floor was much quieter than the first. Most people were staff wearing matching black shirts that said STAFF in big letters, rushing around on various errands. The few who didn’t look like staff were still clearly working—just not in uniform.

Now what?
They’d said someone would come get me before noon, but I didn’t see anyone who looked like they were here to meet me. Just a bunch of staff doing their own thing.
Guess I’d just grab someone and ask. The place was crawling with staff—surely someone would know. I spotted a staffer chatting with someone seated on a bench who looked relatively free, so I made my way toward them.

But before I could say anything, my eyes met those of the man sitting on the bench—and my lips clamped shut.
A man with unusual amber eyes stopped talking mid-sentence and stared right at me.
I half-wondered if they’d invited some celebrity for the commentary desk. I held his gaze, not backing down—but he just kept staring, for several long seconds. I blinked, trying to signal that I wasn’t hostile, but his expression didn’t change.

What the hell kind of staring contest did I just get roped into?
I tried to keep my expression neutral and figure out what the hell was going on. Did he know me? No, couldn’t be. Even the photos of me that had ended up in online articles were edited and blurry enough that no random stranger should recognize me. If he was someone I went to school with… well, I’d definitely remember that face.
“You know him?” my uncle asked quietly behind me.

I didn’t respond. I just kept locking eyes with that bastard.
What the hell is this guy’s problem?
As we glared at each other in total silence, passersby started taking notice. Someone even asked the staffer who’d been talking with the guy what was going on, like it was a fight or something.

The tension was so thick it felt like it’d last until someone stepped in. My expression twisted into a scowl. I was right on the verge of snapping—got a staring problem, pal?—when my uncle waved his hand in front of my face to block my view.
“Yeong-ah, come on. Let’s go. What are you doing?”
I didn’t want to back down, especially when I was already fired up. But he was right—we didn’t have time for this. Retaking was probably waiting for me with his neck stretched out by now. Wasting my energy on some random bastard like this was just that: a waste.

Catch you later, asshole.
Grinding my teeth, I turned my back on the still-staring man and looked around for a nearby staffer I could ask about where I was supposed to go as a demo participant—
“Yeong-ah?”

If not for that voice, I wouldn’t have turned around.
It was a voice I knew well. Sweet enough to be made from the honey harvested in the deepest part of Krubera Cave, the deepest natural cave in the world.
The unexpected call instantly cooled the anger boiling inside me. I was so stunned I immediately turned to find the source of that voice.

…But weirdly enough, the voice had come from that same guy who’d been glaring at me like I kicked his dog. Now, all the sharpness in his eyes was gone—he looked at me with the biggest, roundest, gentlest puppy eyes I’d ever seen. If my memory wasn’t sharp, I might’ve thought it was a completely different person.
The voice just now had definitely been Retaking’s.
…No way.

Before I could get a word out, the man stood up and started walking toward me. My uncle, ever the bodyguard, moved to shield me protectively. The man stopped in his tracks, raising his hands slightly.
“I didn’t expect to meet you like this.
You’re Bread, right?
Kkulbbang-nim.”