Dusk (BL Light Novel)

At first, I tried not to take the bait—I just let it slide with a yeah, yeah, whatever. But when Gang Jaegyung straightened his back and looked down on me with that smug face while “sincerely” congratulating me, it was clearly deliberate. He was trying to provoke me, thinking I'd fall for it?

Cocky little bastard. I slung my arm over Gang Jaegyung’s shoulder and pulled down with a bit of force, lowering him to my eye level.
“Go on. Keep talking.”
“……Do you like it when I baby you like this, Go Yeong?”

The second I brought him down, Gang Jaegyung instantly dropped the teasing look and feigned innocence, widening his eyes and peering up at me like he’d never done anything wrong. Like hell you’re fooling me. You were about to tuck your tail anyway.
“Why the hell would I like that?”
“Then why’d you tell me to keep going? I was seriously wondering if I needed to go study how to baby someone.”

Is he out of his mind?
“Instead of that, maybe study more for your Medical Commander class.”
“Wow. Did you really just tell me to go study Medical Commander?”

“You did lose while playing Medical Commander, didn’t you?”
Gang Jaegyung grumbled with an utterly betrayed expression. Sure, it probably felt unfair—but a loss is still a loss, and he couldn’t say anything back. This was the privilege of the final victor.
He kept mumbling under his breath nonstop, but when I ignored him long enough, his voice took on a more dejected tone, and he turned his head away. Then, as if he noticed something, he fell completely silent and pulled his phone out of a paper bag he'd set in front of him.

The screen was already on, something must’ve come through. He tilted his head slightly at the display before opening it.
Seeing him check his phone naturally made me want to check mine, too. Could be a message from my family or my uncle.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone—I'd put it on silent before going up on stage. The moment the screen lit up, my brows furrowed.

All I wanted was to check for important messages, but it was a mess. The notification bar was flooded with missed calls and message icons. Even people I hadn’t spoken to in years—people I wasn’t even close with—had messaged me.
[Hyung, if you’re free, wanna come to the reunion in Oct?] (5)
[Is this really you?] (16)
[Yeong-nim, you still play Dusk??] (1)
[Is this you, hyung?] (4)
[Yeongpa, you still on Dusk????] (2)
[Yeongpa, where you at?] (1)
[Yeong-nim, you there?] (1)
[ign?] (4)
A reunion? Seriously? What’s even the point at this age—just a bunch of guys drinking, talking about college, the army, jobs, and then going home. Are they calling me to brag about a new job? Or to borrow money…?

When the hell am I going to reply to all this…? Maybe I’ll just toss them all into a group chat and answer in bulk. Too much of a hassle to reply one by one.
Eventually I got tired of thinking about it, shut the screen off, and stuffed the phone back into my jacket pocket.
If my phone looked like this, Gang Jaegyung’s must’ve been chaos.
I glanced over, remembering how his screen had been lit up earlier—and sure enough, I saw him quickly going through his chats, blocking people as they messaged. Even when a little call notification popped up, he ignored it entirely.

Curious, I peeked a bit more and caught the clear irritation in his expression. It wasn’t an exaggerated scowl, more of a flat, unreadable face—but the mood was totally different from when he was with me. It was obvious he was in a bad state.
“……What’re you doing?”
“Ah, I guess some people recognized my face. I’ve been getting a bunch of messages.”

People who weren’t even close to him. That thought must’ve slipped out, because I didn’t even get to ask Why are you blocking them all? before the moment passed.
But I knew him well enough to understand: if he wanted to talk about it, he would’ve said something already. No point in prying.
Instead, I tried to steer the mood away from whatever was bothering him.

“So… why’d you wait for me on stage and ask to go together?”
At that, Gang Jaegyung immediately brightened like nothing had happened. His hands, which had been rapidly tapping away at his phone, froze mid-motion.
“To have fun!”

He looked absolutely certain that I would indulge him. His face was practically glowing with expectation, like he’d switched masks in an instant.
I felt a sudden pang of guilt.
“Sorry… I can’t.”

“Why not?”
He looked genuinely disappointed. Kind of fascinating, actually.
“I can’t stay out long. Got stuff going on.”

“But you were fine until now.”
“Had to be—for the match.”
“Then hang out with me.”

“No.”
I said it flatly, and Gang Jaegyung pressed his lips tightly together. No matter how you looked at him, his mouth was screaming I’m very displeased.
“If I’d known this, I would’ve laid down on the stage floor and refused to leave until you said yes.”

“If you’d done that, I’d never speak to you again.”
I imagined Gang Jaegyung lying on the floor like a stubborn anime heroine and felt a headache coming on.
…He’s just joking. Right?

Seeing him mutter resentfully, I offered a compromise.
“I’ll take you home after the signing session.”
“……Home?”

“Yeah. What, is it far from here?”
I thought he lived in Seoul. Or not?
I looked at him curiously, and after a brief hesitation, he answered in a sluggish voice like he didn’t really want to.

“No, not really. About fifteen, twenty minutes by bus.”
“Then why the face?”
“Because it’s close, we won’t get to spend much time together…”

Pressed for an answer, he eventually lowered his eyes and murmured it quietly.
Good god. Anyone hearing this would think we were dating.
“So what—you don’t want me to walk you home and you’d rather leave by yourself?”

“Ah—no, no. Let’s go together.”
The moment I hinted I might revoke the offer, he changed his answer on the spot. What a weird guy. How attached could someone possibly get to someone they just met?
It’s not like I was some stray dog he pet once and now I’m loyally following him home.

“You’ve got stuff to carry, public transit’s a pain—just ride with me.”
“Okay!”
He nodded enthusiastically, all smiles again like he’d never been whining. I chuckled and leaned back in my chair, glancing at the final part of the event unfolding on stage.

The MC was keeping things flowing smoothly, and the crowd burst out laughing every so often. Now that the match was over, maybe I’d finally relaxed—because I couldn’t focus for shit.
I could tell the CEO had stepped in to do a Q&A… The CEO…
My eyes drifted back toward Gang Jaegyung.

“Was the signing session thirty minutes?”
“Yeah, thirty.”
“Then I’m gonna step out for a bit after the event and come back later.”

“Where are you going?”
…That part was hard to explain.
I couldn’t exactly say I was going to say hi to the company director—aka the guy my older brother likes, who also happens to know me personally.

So I dodged it.
“Just meeting someone I know. Briefly.”
“Oh, that’s fine.”

“If it was something else, would it not be fine?”
“As long as you’re not ditching me, I don’t care what it is.”
Gang Jaegyung chirped cheerfully. And really, it’s not like I had anywhere to run—our plans were already set.

Soon enough, staff came by to take Gang Jaegyung to prep for the signing session. As he gathered his stuff, his expression drooped like a dog being left behind. Even though he was the one going to work, and not me leaving—it still tugged at your conscience.
I waved lazily in his direction as he left, telling him to come back quick. I kept my eyes on the stage so I wouldn’t accidentally get attached to that stupidly loyal puppy face.
***

I came back to the event entrance, swinging a box of chocolate chip cookies and a row of macarons in each hand—both things the CEO had pushed at me to take.
Not for me. They were for Gang Jaegyung.
I figured he’d like them, so when the CEO insisted on giving me something, I chose those.

I planned to hand them over after the signing—but the line was still long. There was enough time left, but no way he’d make it through everyone. They’d probably cut the line at some point.
More than anything, I was starting to worry about Gang Jaegyung’s wrist. He still had to play later.
While I was standing there scanning the line, a staffer approached.

“You’re Honeybread, right? Retaking a Class asked me to tell you you can wait over there.”
I followed where she was pointing and saw a seat set up at the far end of the long dura-table where Gang Jaegyung was sitting.
It wasn’t far from the signing area—clearly a spot he’d picked himself.

Even ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ though it was off to the side, it was still a little awkward. But the chair was already there, and it’d be a hassle to reject it and make a fuss. So I just nodded silently.
As I started to head toward the spot the staffer had indicated, my uncle—who’d been following behind me—suddenly grabbed my arm and whispered:
“Yeong-ah, someone’s behind you.”

I took a deep breath, then turned around.
There, I saw a woman with a tense smile plastered on her face, and another woman beside her, pushing her forward from behind.