Kiss the Ground

When did he learn that kind of word? That was truly an appropriate choice. The staff’s excitement rose at the remarkably smooth pronunciation. The polished greeting, perfect for decorating the end of the interview, was also a testament to why he was so popular among rational fans.“I know it too.”Chahyun immediately turned his head to look at the voice coming from the left. Despite trying not to, it was a somehow blunt voice. Since it wasn’t a rule to answer first-come-first-served, if Misha says the right thing, the game’s outcome remains deadlocked.This is getting nerve-wracking. Misha, with tightly sealed lips, seemed to be pondering something. What could he be thinking about? ‘Hello’, ‘I’m hungry’, ‘It’s delicious’… Yeah, there’s also ‘Hyungnim’, taught a year ago. Surely, whatever Misha Asplund says, fans would love it. The room fell silent, and everyone’s attention was focused on Misha’s words.Finally, a brief statement escaped from his lips. However, it was undoubtedly a word that wasn’t in Yoon Chahyun’s expected answer.[…Crazy.]“Ah, oops!”Chahyun inadvertently rushed forward like a flash and covered Misha’s mouth. Though the words were like that, in the movement that seized the back of his head like holding a watermelon, Misha’s body shook uncontrollably.“Ha, haha… ha… this…”An unwitting laughter escaped. Ignoring the piercing gaze, Chahyun firmly grasped his cheek. He swore he never taught such curses. Where on earth did this kid learn such specific Korean…?Ah. In a flash of memory, Chahyun involuntarily took a breath.Misha had definitely heard that word before. It was a word pronounced by none other than Yoon Chahyun himself. It happened the day after Open Training Day, when he visited the medical room to see him with a bruised face. It was an exclamation that grabbed his cheek, demanding a kiss from Yoon Chahyun in exchange for his sacrifice, referring to an uncontrollable madness.He remembered such an insignificant word?You can’t even take cold water in front of a child…! His face heated up in an instant. With a flushed and distorted face, Chahyun forgot the location and grabbed Misha’s collar. With a beet-red and bluish gaze, Misha’s expression was like a beagle tearing up a bedsheet, indicating what he was thinking.“You didn’t just say ‘crazy’ now, did you?”“Wow… what should we do?”At the staff’s murmured voice, Chahyun robotically turned his head towards the front. Despite Chahyun’s efforts to cover Misha’s slipped words, it seemed like Misha’s words resonated throughout the entire interview room, judging by the people in front covering their mouths and widening their eyes.And behind them all stood Director Cheon Seongju, who had been watching the filming. His wide-open mouth and clasped hands, along with his sinister smile, were unmistakable even from afar.In this situation, there was only one thing Chahyun could say. Chahyun muttered with a sense of desperation, as if catching at straws, “Could you please cut this out…?”“Cut what? It’s been quite fun for once.”“Just please, hyung, if this gets out, it’s my image again…”“No, constantly hearing cyborg stuff, isn’t that boring? What’s the point of making the interview clean? If you keep building up that image, you’ll get even more backlash when something happens later. Even if Yoon Chahyun behaves, it’s chaos behind the scenes.”“No, what you’re saying doesn’t make sense. Why would I get into an accident?”“Anyway, no. It’s not easy to make you look funny all the time.”Even in the face of Chahyun’s insistence, Cheon Seongju stubbornly shook his head. He seemed unwilling to edit the third response from the friendship test that happened at the end of the interview. His determination remained unshaken, even in the face of Yoon Chahyun’s persistent pleading after the interview ended.“Why are you teaching the kid to curse? Aren’t you swearing at your teammates because they can’t understand you in the team?”“Well, there have been times when that’s happened…”“What times? Do you want him to curse at you secretly in Swedish?”“…”Seeing Chahyun’s helpless expression as he struggled to come up with an answer, Cheon Seongju threw a sly jab. Chahyun had no choice but to wear a disgruntled expression, unable to offer any other response.“We’ll edit today’s footage quickly and release it as a teaser. There’s no time to cut and trim.”“So quickly?”“Remember, Yoon Chahyun. Fans like it when you’re happy. Now go and kick some balls.”Amidst the bustling atmosphere of adjusting filming equipment, Cheon Seongju also prepared to leave. With a sense of resignation, Chahyun embraced his waist. Despite being bulkier than most athletes, he looked at Chahyun, who hung onto him like a koala, with a bewildered expression.“Wanna settle this physically?”“Oh, stop it.”“Since it’s all about you… Hey, Chahyun.”As he loosened Chahyun’s hand wrapped around his waist like a lid of a pot, Seongju suddenly lowered his voice. Wondering what was going on, Chahyun raised his head, and Seongju, looking into the distance, muttered softly.“Isn’t that your friend who’s staring daggers?”“Huh?”Chahyun quickly turned his head to look behind. Misha stood far away near the entrance. Instead of leaving the interview room as directed by the staff, he stood there, glaring at them as if he were shooting lasers. His eyes were as sharp as flames, enough to be intimidating.“Oh boy.”Here we go again. Seongju chuckled as he watched Chahyun loosen his tensed arms.“They must be really close, huh? Well, they live together, sleep together, and even have a dog together.”“Yeah.”Chahyun remembered handing over the footage of him and Misha playing in the yard. Now he understood why Misha was invited to programs with such ominous titles as dual interviews and friendship tests. Seongju smiled reluctantly as he watched Misha leave the room.“He’s handsome, but sometimes he acts like a kid. Kinda cute, as someone said.”“Can you forget about that?”Recalling the painful memory from just now, Chahyun wrinkled his nose. Seongju, who had been gently touching his chin while responding, looked at him again.“Is Yoon Chahyun falling apart lately? That’s not like you.”Despite his words, Seongju’s voice lacked tension. Chahyun looked back at Seongju’s face, which seemed strangely joyful, contrary to what he was saying.“What? I’ve been doing well lately.”“Other than soccer.”“What other than soccer?”“Well, it feels like your mind is elsewhere.”Chahyun felt a bit puzzled by the vague expression. Seeing Chahyun’s eyebrows furrowed as if he didn’t understand, Seongju lowered his hand and placed it on his own waist.“But I think now is better. It’s more fun. You used to be all about soccer, running blindly, you know… Since you were a kid.”“Since I was a kid?”“Yeah. I mean, talking about it now feels a bit scary, doesn’t it?”Seongju, who had been observing Chahyun since childhood, was saying this for the first time. Feeling unfamiliar, Chahyun faced him without saying anything.“But if you mess up like that, you’ll crash. You know? Once you break, you can’t get back up. People need a solid foundation. Whether it’s someone else or anything else.”After saying that, Seongju looked at Chahyun with a rather affectionate gaze and nodded his head.“I don’t know why, but I’m not worried anymore. About Yoon Chahyun.”“What do you mean?”“Exactly what I said. I’m not worried, so you do well on your own. The Villadevalt match is coming up soon, right? Get a bit more footage.”Without giving him the luxury of throwing a tantrum, Seongju forcefully patted Yoon Chahyun’s back. Pushed by the strong swing, Chahyun closed his mouth. Just as he was about to give up and turn away, a thought flashed through his mind, and he called out to Seongju again.“Hyung, then give me that.”After finishing up and leaving the interview room alone, it was already a bit tight on time. The players participating in the afternoon training were already warming up on the field. Although he was worried about jumping into a practice game without warming up, changing clothes came first.In the neatly arranged dressing room, Misha, who had already left his seat, was waiting. He had already taken off the uniform he wore for the interview, changed into training pants, and was holding the remaining top in his hand.“Misha… good job.”Chahyun’s half-hearted greeting was directed towards Misha. Taking a brief pause at the entrance, Chahyun walked in. His momentary hesitation was due to the memory of Misha’s piercing gaze from just a moment ago, when he and Seongju were being stared at intently. Ironically, it was Misha who spoke first.“Yuan, are you close with the manager?”Well, yeah. Misha’s gaze, which doubted every figure around Yoon Chahyun, was as fierce as ever.“Aren’t you close?”“I don’t hug.”Well, yeah. Chahyun closed and opened his eyes deeply.“Are you thinking something weird again?”“Yeah. I’m thinking something weird.”In response, Chahyun swallowed hard. There was no need for excuses, but they came out anyway.“He’s just like an older brother to me. Someone I’ve known since I was a kid.”“I don’t hug my brothers.”“…Of course, there are people like that too.”Indeed, the two didn’t seem like they would embrace each other warmly. Chahyun took off his uniform and put on his training pants, his subtly tense mind quickly shifting to another topic.“Oh right, what was that Korean phrase you said earlier? How did you remember it until now?”“I wanted to ask that too. What did it mean?”“You said it without even knowing what it meant?!”Chahyun turned to look at him behind his back. Still half undressed, Misha turned his body to face Chahyun on the opposite side. Their hazy gazes met in the air.“What did it mean?”“That, that… that was…”Was he really speaking without knowing what it meant? His response seemed so confident, as if he had researched it somewhere. If it was really something weird, what could be done about it… But as Seongju had said, regardless of how Misha learned that word, it was somehow Yoon Chahyun’s fault.“You…”“Yeah?”“You’re crazy…”Absolutely crazy. Translating his words into English, Chahyun watched Misha’s reaction. At that moment, it was a sincere statement. Feeling somewhat guilty, he glanced down for a moment, then raised his eyes again, only to find an unexpected expression on the other’s face. It was a smile full of ambiguity.“Right, that’s what it was.”That’s what it was…? Chahyun questioned that smile with a blank face.“Why are you laughing? Aren’t you upset?”“Not at all. I said that only to me. Within this club, just to me.”To Chahyun’s surprise, Misha’s response made him widen his eyes. How on earth could such a thought arise… As if anticipating Chahyun’s confusion, Misha began to move closer, taking a step after another until there was only about a foot of distance between them.“So, I like it. If that’s how you express yourself, it feels special to me.”“You’re so positive…”Chahyun looked at the person who had approached him with a gaze that seemed to waver. The smoothly defined muscles on the bare upper body were visible. Inadvertently taking a step back, Chahyun found himself forced to stop as he bumped against the locker behind him.“Yuan, there’s a practice game next.”Finally, Misha raised both hands and grabbed Chahyun’s arm. Despite it being a quite familiar gesture, perhaps the discomfort stemmed from neither of them having much clothing on. Looking into Misha’s unusually red eyes, Chahyun couldn’t help but wonder what would come next.“I want to kiss you. Right now.”“What? Hey…”Despite his initial protest, a muffled sound escaped from his throat. This wasn’t the place. The dressing room was fundamentally different from the seminar room he occasionally used once or twice a week. It was a space where countless people came and went throughout the day, eating, drinking, showering, and even lying down on benches to rest. How could they dare…“Everyone is out on the field, and the staff won’t be coming in. There’s no one else here except us.”“But still… Even so, here…”“That’s what the agreement is for.”Right. At this moment, Yoon Chahyun couldn’t refuse anymore. It didn’t violate any terms of the contract.Unable to say anything, Chahyun felt the slow, steady breath of the other person against his lips, a sensation he hadn’t felt in the corridor. In the midst of this unexpected contact, Chahyun couldn’t help but recall the kiss in the seminar room.Silent lips met, and a dizzying sensation surged through the back of his neck as if ignited by a flame. Where exactly were they… Unless he had completely lost his mind. The tension that had plagued his legs throughout the interview suddenly dissipated. Holding onto Chahyun’s back as he swayed against the locker, Misha slowly bent his legs and wrapped his arms around his waist.After what felt like an eternity of play, they collapsed onto the locker room floor as if they had turned to jelly. Their training clothes, which they had been holding, fell limply to the ground. With Misha kneeling and holding onto Chahyun, his face was passionately intense.Their bare skin touched too much. The only thing enveloping their racing heartbeats was each other’s thin skin. Sitting on the hard floor, Chahyun grabbed onto Misha’s shoulders aimlessly. It was a gesture of pulling or pushing that he couldn’t even understand himself.Thump, thump, thump.Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed from the corridor outside the dressing room. Chahyun instinctively tightened his grip on Misha’s shoulders, his eyes wide open in alarm.He had completely forgotten. There was one more person who needed to change into their uniform now.Cahill Love!When that thought crossed his mind, Chahyun abruptly stood up from his seat. He regretted his reckless decision to display arrogance in the middle of a locker room where anyone could come and go, but it was already too late. Grabbing Misha’s arm as he struggled to stand upright, Chahyun swiftly whispered, “Come here!”“Wha…”It was a moment when his situational awareness, honed through countless shooting competitions lasting just one or two seconds, shone brilliantly. Without waiting for Misha’s response, Chahyun pulled him towards the large drink bar right next to the corner. As he urgently pushed him into the secluded alcove, the sound of his back hitting the cold wall echoed desolately.“There’s no need to hide, Yuan. Someone’s coming!”“We’re not doing anything wrong! We’re just changing in the dressing room.”Misha, tucked away in the darkness, muttered softly. That was true. Even if they were naked, it would still be within the norm here. It might have been more natural to quickly get up and act nonchalant rather than deliberately hide their bodies and increase the risk of being discovered.However, the reason why Yoon Chahyun dragged Misha here was because he knew who was outside the door. Someone who already had some certainty about the “relationship” between Misha and Yoon Chahyun just by seeing them standing close together, even with their clothes on. Perhaps if they were discreet, they wouldn’t blatantly expose them. But anyway, it wouldn’t be a good thing if someone within the club, let alone a teammate running on the field together, or worse, the captain, found out. Chahyun closed his eyes for a moment and quickly blurted out, “Cahill seems to have noticed. About you and me… our ‘relationship’?”“What? When? How?”Misha’s voice sounded genuinely puzzled. Did he really think he wouldn’t be genuinely caught being jealous in front of him? It was slightly bewildering, but the fact that Cahill’s suspicion had triggered the fuse was mainly on Yoon Chahyun’s side. Feeling somewhat diminished, Chahyun blinked.“We met once outside before, and then I…”“What happened?”Misha narrowed his eyes. At that moment, they heard the sensor detecting movement right outside the dressing room’s glass door. Being able to come and go here without any problems meant he was undoubtedly a member of Winchester FC. There was no room for doubt.As soon as the interview ended, Chahyun thought Misha would have left early for training, so why was he here now? Unlike just a moment ago, his heart raced with completely different emotions. Chahyun lowered his head, holding his breath as if to hear any sound. The tense pull towards him was Misha’s arm.“Ah!”Their bodies were pressed together closely enough to hear each other’s breathing. Chahyun absentmindedly touched the wall behind Misha, looking up at him. Unlike Chahyun’s eyes, which were trembling with surprise, Misha’s gaze was calm and composed, as if assessing the situation. Strangely, an inexplicable sense of relief engulfed Chahyun’s anxiety at being held by someone’s arms. As the footsteps of an outsider entered the center of the dressing room, Chahyun leaned his forehead against Misha’s shoulder.The footsteps crossing the room soon stopped somewhere. Even with his back turned, Chahyun could still track their movement. In his mind’s eye, the owner of the footsteps naturally stood in front of his own locker. Just like everyone else here.“Hurry up and leave… Quickly…”The time spent changing into a few pieces of clothing felt as long as a year. Though he did indeed stall the person outside for a long time, the unusually warm temperature of their closely pressed bodies also contributed to the feeling of prolonged time. Suddenly, anxiety crept up like a snake in his unexpected delay.The space where the two were hiding was right in front of the passage connecting the dressing room and the shower room. If Cahill outside suddenly decided to take a shower at this moment, he would almost certainly discover Chahyun, clumsily hiding behind the drink bar after having his clothes taken away. It would be almost inevitable, especially with Misha completely tucked inside.Chahyun suddenly lifted his head and looked at Misha.“Why?”Misha, who had wrapped his arms around him abruptly, asked quietly. Watching him, Chahyun quietly remembered.The best defense is a good offense.Chahyun stretched out his toes and stepped on the clothes lying on the slightly distant floor. The training clothes that had just fallen to the ground during the commotion had somehow been pushed and pulled into the hiding space they were in. Chahyun pulled them as quietly as possible towards him. Then, he slowly picked up the clothes that had slipped into the shadows and gestured to Misha.“Stay hidden here quietly until it’s calm, then come out.”“What are you going to do?”“If we stay like this, we’ll get caught anyway. There’s no other way.”And Chahyun immediately covered himself with the training clothes he held in his hand. It was fortunate that it was exactly at Chahyun’s ankle. Misha, like a meerkat, scrutinized Chahyun’s actions from top to bottom.The footsteps that had been lingering in front of the locker for a while began to move astonishingly towards the drink bar as soon as Chahyun managed to pull the clothes down to his waist. Well, of course. Without even bothering to fuss over his messy appearance, Chahyun sent Misha a final gesture.“See you outside later.”Without waiting for a response, he quickly extended his foot towards the light. It was a movement so swift as to not give away their hiding, yet natural enough to not seem awkward.Suddenly, a person’s shadow appeared in front of Chahyun, who had just stood up straight. Sure enough, Inyoung had approached right in front of the drink bar where the two had hidden. That much was expected.“Yikes!”But this shrill cry was not expected. Cahill’s vocal cords surely couldn’t produce such a high-pitched sound. Startled by the dolphin-like scream from the other person, Chahyun barely managed to keep from falling backward.“Yuan!”“Ju, Jude?! What? Why are you here?”“I was about to say the same thing! You almost scared me to death! Do you have nothing better to do than to surprise people?!”Wide-eyed, Jude clutched his chest with both hands and breathed heavily. Both Yoon Chahyun and Jude had hearts pounding as if they were about to break their ribs. Faced with the unexpected appearance of someone, Chahyun stood before him, unable to utter the words he had thought to say.“Is this a hidden camera? Are you here to startle people in an empty dressing room scenario?”It took a few seconds for Jude to straighten up and look around. Meanwhile, his thought process, envisioning the club’s events, was somewhat remarkable.“No, I… I just finished the interview and dropped by. Why, there was supposed to be an interview scheduled for today, wasn’t there? You were the one who said you had a separate schedule, right?”“I just got back after finishing too! What, you think there’s something special about a health check? I have to hurry up and prepare for training…”As Jude stopped mid-sentence, he suddenly furrowed his eyebrows. In a belated realization, his gaze became more alert. Chahyun subtly widened his legs and stood up straight.“But, Yuan… where did you suddenly pop out from?”It was a sharp question. Answer: From behind the drink bar. By the way, Misha is currently half-naked behind there.You can't even take cold water in front of a child...! (아이 보는 데는 찬물도 못 먹는다) is a saying meaning not to act or speak casually in front of children.