“Did you really plan our trip this far ahead?”
Kuro laughs a little. “I only brought my laptop so I could work on composing while you write, but I have some practice clothes from when we were on tour.” He hands the bag over to Iseul, letting him pick whatever he wants to wear. “They should fit you fine, but Kotone might be a little disappointed today.”
“I’ll tell her that I’ll wear something nice for the festival,” Iseul decides.
The bag is full of neatly rolled clothes, most of them black in color than anything else. He reaches inside, but his fingers brush against something soft and foam-like in texture. He pulls it out from the bag.
Iseul stares at it, disbelieving. “You wear shoe insoles?”
“Ah.” Kuro clears his throat, and this is probably the closest he’ll ever get to seeing him embarrassed. “I forgot those were in there. It’s fine when you’re performing by yourself on stage, but it gets hard when Bora is taller than you—especially when she wears heels.”
“I can’t believe,” Iseul says, unable to help the laugh that escapes him, sounding more like a huff of amusement, “that Lee Kuro has a complex about his height.” He doesn’t miss the way Kuro’s eyebrows raise, how it takes him a few moments to realize he’s being teased. “This is like those guys who lie about their height on dating apps—”
“That’s not it.” Kuro tries to sound serious and fails. He reaches out to swipe it from Iseul’s hands, but misses just as Iseul turns away. That startles another laugh from him, and he actually feels it rise from his chest this time. “Dating apps? Don’t tell me you actually use them—”
“Of course not.” Iseul quells his laughter down to a smile, then tosses the insoles back into the bag. “I think you look fine without them.”
Kuro’s mouth parts wordlessly.
Iseul tilts his head, echoing the way Kuro does when he’s curious. “What?”
“You,” Kuro starts, finding his voice again. “You should laugh more. It’s pretty.”
It’s a strikingly honest thing to say, but very characteristic of how Kuro has a habit of saying things that are more embarrassing than they should be. Iseul’s only response for him is a half-hearted huff.
Iseul returns his attention to the bag in his hands, choosing to pick up a plain black sweater. It looks like any other sweater, only that the tag says Balenciaga. His face scrunches up as he scrutinizes the front and back. “You can find something like this at a department store. I can’t believe you’d wear this to practice—”
“It’s sponsored,” Kuro answers lightly. “All of my black sweaters have very subtle differences, if you care to know.” While some people wear the same clothes in different colors, Kuro wears the same styles in the same colors. “You’re not going to find anything more reasonable, so pick whatever you like.”
Iseul spends some time sifting through his clothes, hoping to find something more worn and faded so he doesn’t feel like he’s owing Kuro something, but Kuro’s right. He can’t find anything that belongs from a normal inexpensive brand, so he ends up settling for the sweater and a pair of loose jeans. He murmurs his thanks to Kuro for letting him borrow his clothes, then retreats to their bathroom to get changed.
Even if Kuro doesn’t particularly care, Iseul handles his clothes carefully, making a mental note to keep them clean throughout the day. The sweater is slightly big on him, falling over his shoulders lower than they should and ending over his upper thigh. He rolls up the jeans twice to create a cuff over his ankles, but as he casts a quick glance at his reflection in the mirror, he finds that the coordinate doesn’t look too bad although his clothes are looser than they should be. It's better than wearing pants so tight that they may as well be cutting off circulation to important parts of the body.
He returns to the room, where Kuro has changed into more casual clothes too. Beneath his leather jacket, he’s wearing a plain white shirt to contrast with his black jeans, distressed at the knees. Perhaps he changed because he didn’t want Iseul to feel out of place.
Kuro just stares at him, making him wonder if he’s been stunned into wordlessness again.
Then, he says, “I guess this is what people mean by boyfriend clothes.”
There’s that flirtatious lilt in his voice again, but this time, it doesn’t sound the same as those carefully practiced words spoken to his fans just for performance’s sake. Slowly, Iseul brings a hand to his own face, feeling his cheeks flush with delayed embarrassment.
He turns away from Kuro, thinking of slapping himself on the face to get a hold of himself. This makes absolutely no sense—Kuro’s attempts shouldn’t be thought of as exclusive to him. Maybe, it’s because of how Kuro's unabashedly staring at him that he unconsciously reacted this way.
“If I was caught wearing this by your fans,” Iseul says, fighting back the warmth on his face, “we’d be done for.”
Kuro’s gaze burns at Iseul's back. “Then, it’s a good thing they aren’t here to see this.”
Iseul exhales deeply, enough that some strands of his hair flutter around his face. He hopes that his blush has receded when he looks back at Kuro. “Please, don’t push it.”
The mirth softens around the edges of Kuro's mouth. “Push what?”
“You know exactly what you’re doing,” Iseul says, his words lacking any heat. He swipes the room key from the table, heading to the door. “Let’s go already.”
As he walks ahead, down the hallway, Kuro catches up to him. “What do you mean?”
Iseul doesn’t think that Kuro could be that oblivious about his behavior around him, when he seems perfectly aware of his social graces toward everyone else. “You don’t have to play up your public persona when you’re with me.”
Kuro sounds genuinely confused. “Is that what you think?”
“Not always,” Iseul admits, because he has experienced firsthand how serious Kuro takes his work, how critical yet trusting he is of Iseul to handle his feedback. It’s this other side of him, the one with overflowing charm and nonchalance, never failing to woo, that makes him think twice. “I know you’re not being insincere, but sometimes, it sounds like you’re speaking to me as if I’m one of your fans.”
Kuro stops for a moment. “I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”
It’s not the answer that Iseul expects. Kuro thinks he has overstepped some boundaries, when there were never any lines drawn in the first place.
“Not at all,” Iseul assures him, then pauses. “I don’t understand why you like teasing me like this, when you know I’m not going to react like one of your fans.” He's not going to fall all over Kuro just because of something he says, and certainly doesn’t plan on reciprocating even if it isn’t expected of him. “People are going to misunderstand if you keep doing this, and—I just want you to be yourself.”
Kuro tilts his head in question, as though there’s no reason he wouldn’t be. “But, I am being myself.” He sounds composed and self-assured, as always. “You don't believe me?”
“I’m not sure.” Iseul leaves through one of the side doors leading to the gardens. The sun feels warmer against his face today. He turns around to face Kuro, where he’s still gazing at him steadily from inside the inn. “I don’t think I doubt you.”
Kuro steps outside, standing right in front of him. His dark eyes smolder in the sunlight as he looks at him. He looks like he wants Iseul to understand, but how can he when he never understands what Kuro is thinking?
“I’m not playing around with you, if that’s what you think.” His words turn soft, becoming more gentle. "I did tell you that I’d like to make you my fan, but I would be very happy if you ended up liking me as yourself, too.”
Whenever Kuro says things like that, Iseul has the urge to write down what he says, underline all of his words so that he can read them later. He knows how Kuro is capable of speaking candidly and effortlessly, but there’s enough charm to his words that they don’t come off as thoughtless.
It’s difficult to understand where their relationship stands, if they’re supposed to be friends now. He knows that Kuro isn’t the stranger he was a week ago, but now there’s a sense of uncertainty around how he should be acting with Kuro.
He appreciates their professional relationship, even considers their potential friendship when being around Kuro makes him comfortable enough to confide in him, but beyond that—he doesn’t want to dwell too much, lest his face start feeling warm again.
Iseul decides to walk ahead without a response, not knowing which direction he should be headed toward or where they even plan on going today. Kuro doesn’t seem to mind his silence, although he can feel the weight of Kuro’s gaze on his back from time to time.
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