Main Male Lead Disqualified

“We should start with the one where people get off quickly.”

Jeong-hwan said as he looked at the long line. The only ride that seemed to take in and let out a large group of people at once was the Viking ship. Seeing Jeong-hwan striding ahead, Hanbin hurriedly grabbed the collar.

“Why?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Hanbin gave an awkward smile and let go of the collar he had grabbed.

“The Viking’s good. Yeah.”

Jeong-hwan thought Hanbin’s face looked strangely stiff. If the wait time was long, he planned to use that as an excuse to suggest a different ride.

“Thank goodness, I can ride this.”

But contrary to Hanbin’s hopes, the line moved quickly. They hadn’t waited long before it was already their turn.

“Where should we sit? Does that even matter?”

“Usually, people go for the very back. There are many scenes where the female lead laughs at the male lead who secretly gets scared even though he’s big…”

Hearing Hanbin’s words, Jeong-hwan turned to line up for the far end. Hanbin quickly grabbed him again.

“To be honest, I’m scared of these kinds of things.”

Seeing Hanbin’s face filled with tension, Jeong-hwan flinched.

“I wasn’t planning to force you. We can leave.”

“No! I think I’ll be okay if I sit in the middle! Let’s do it! I’m definitely going to ride!”

Hanbin stood in front of Jeong-hwan, who was about to walk away. Because of Hanbin’s firm resolve, Jeong-hwan had no choice but to turn around and line up for the Viking ride.

“If you feel unwell while riding the Viking, please cross your arms over your head in an X!”

At the safety staff’s announcement, Jeong-hwan lightly tapped Hanbin’s shoulder and gave him a look as if to say, “Got it?” Hanbin responded that he’d be fine, but still looked visibly tense. Watching from the side, Jeong-hwan leaned in and whispered.

“Nervous?”

“No? Not really?”

Hanbin tightly shut his eyes as he shamelessly lied.

“I’m a bit nervous, actually.”

Hanbin opened one eye slightly and asked, surprised at Jeong-hwan’s response.

“You’re scared too?”

“Yeah.”

Jeong-hwan subtly moved his hand holding the safety bar until it brushed against Hanbin’s.

“I might end up grabbing your hand because I’m scared.”

Hanbin looked down. Jeong-hwan had laid the groundwork like this so he could “accidentally” grab Hanbin’s hand when the Viking reached its highest point.

“Waaaah~!”

As the Viking started to move, cheers erupted from the crowd. At that moment, Hanbin said something completely unexpected.

“L-Let’s just hold hands now!”

“What?”

“Aaaah!”

Overcome with fear, Hanbin grabbed Jeong-hwan’s hand first. In the confusion, their fingers interlocked. Jeong-hwan was dumbfounded.

‘He’s totally fine with this?’

The Viking swung up and down a couple of times. The whole time, Hanbin never opened his eyes.

‘Well, he doesn’t look like he even has the time to.’

Jeong-hwan felt guilty for thinking about something else while Hanbin was trembling beside him.

“Hah.”

“A-Are you okay?”

“No.”

Hanbin couldn’t even open his eyes properly as he tried to comfort Jeong-hwan, mistakenly thinking Jeonghwan’s sigh was from fear.

“Service! One more time!”

Jeong-hwan covered his reddened face with his free hand. Even though they were soaring high, it wasn’t particularly scary, just a feeling of weightlessness. Still, Jeong-hwan’s heart was pounding faster than anyone else’s on the ride.

‘It’s happening again.’

Jeong-hwan stared at their joined hands with complicated eyes. It felt like all his nerves were focused on his palm, as if his heart wasn’t in his chest but in his hand.

‘It was like this last time too.’

Since Hanbin had his head down, his face couldn’t be seen. The ride, supposedly on its final round, showed no signs of stopping.

“Ugh!”

At the moment when the ride reached its peak, a scream that wasn’t scream escaped Jeong-hwan’s mouth.

“Hey, your nails,your nails!”

“Aaaack!”

It wasn’t screams of fear but a pain.Hanbin was squeezing Jeong-hwan’s hand so tightly that his nails were digging in. Only when the Viking completely stopped did Hanbin finally let go.

“Seriously, how could someone with short nails… hey, where are you going!”

As Jeong-hwan muttered while looking at his messed-up hand, Hanbin dashed toward the exit.

“Urgh…”

“Is throwing up part of the female lead’s role in a romance too?”

Jeong-hwan patted Hanbin’s back as he clung to a trash can.

“If it made you that queasy, you should’ve just gotten off midway.”

“I was so scared I couldn’t think straight.”

Hanbin felt like dying, and the fact that nothing was coming up made it worse. Seeing Hanbin’s condition, Jeong-hwan dragged him somewhere.

“You should sit and rest a bit.”

Jeong-hwan sat him on a bench and handed him a bottle of water from his bag. Hanbin, seemingly too exhausted to drink, just pressed the bottle to his cheek to cool down. As color slowly returned to his face, Jeonghwan nudged him playfully.

“Hey, look. You left nail marks on the back of my hand.”

“Huh? Oh no, really!”

Hanbin looked shocked to realize it was his doing. Jeong-hwan had meant it as a joke to lighten the mood, but Hanbin grabbed his hand again, making Jeong-hwan tense up.

“I have a band-aid! Hold on.”

“You carry everything.”

Just as he was rummaging through his bag, Hanbin paused and looked at Jeong-hwan. Jeong-hwan stared back, wondering why he was hesitating.

“Umm… I’m not a licensed medical professional, is that okay?”

“Just hurry up and put it on.”

Jeong-hwan almost laughed at how seriously Hanbin remembered that line he had said before. It seemed like Hanbin had been serious about what he said .

“How do you even put a band-aid on something like this…”

Hanbin frowned. Jeong-hwan felt oddly conscious of Hanbin fiddling with his hand.

“Give it here. I’ll do it myself.”

Of course, his racing heart wouldn’t be heard aloud. But Jeong-hwan still felt like Hanbin might somehow notice how flustered he was just from putting on a band-aid.

“See? You don’t trust unlicensed care after all.”

Hanbin seemed to think Jeong-hwan was self-treating because he didn’t trust him.

“You really remember the most unnecessary stuff.”

“I’ve got a good memory, so I remember everything you say. So be careful.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve said more things that are better left forgotten.”

“As long as you know.”

Hanbin burst into laughter and stretched.

“Anyway, I guess I’m not used to it since it’s been a while. I used to be really good at these rides.”

Jeonghwan casually replied, glancing at Hanbin.

“You said the ride isn’t the point anyway. I’ll show you around the other stuff.”

“True.”

They stayed seated for a while, taking a break. Jeong-hwan, watching Hanbin idly kicking his legs, spoke up.

“Hey, don’t you think it’s kind of funny?”

Hanbin raised his head and looked at Jeong-hwan.

“Even if this is a dream, the genre totally doesn’t suit me. A romance comic?”

Jeong-hwan said, shrugging his shoulders.

“I don’t think so.”

Expecting Hanbin to say something like “Exactly,” Jeong-hwan was surprised by his answer.

“Male leads like you are typical in romance comics.”

Images of countless black-haired male leads flashed through Hanbin’s mind. He thought of all the clichés of regretful love interests in the stories he’d read.

“At first, they say hurtful things because they’re not in love, but then they fall in love, regret it, and become kind. That’s the classic path.”

“Do they even end up together after that?”

“I’d prefer they didn’t, but usually, yeah.”

Jeong-hwan, who was staring at Hanbin, nodded, holding back his laughter that was about to burst out.

“Not a bad ending.”

“How is that not bad?”

Hanbin looked confused.

“In several ways.”

Thinking Jeong-hwan’s reply lacked sincerity, Hanbin just brushed it off. Jeong-hwan glanced at Hanbin from the corner of his eye and fell deep in thought.

‘Yeah, I’m definitely bothered. But maybe it’s better not to figure out exactly what I’m feeling.’

When the time came for Jeong-hwan to make a decision, he hesitated to define his feelings for Hanbin. It was Hanbin’s voice that pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Doesn’t it feel like we’re dating, just sitting here like this?”

Hanbin teased with a bright smile. Jeong-hwan deliberately frowned deeper.

“Just cuss me out instead.”

“That was the cuss. You catch on fast.”

It was obvious that Hanbin was just joking around with no ulterior motive. Jeong-hwan shook his head.

“Alright, should we get going again?”

He randomly cupped both of Hanbin’s cheeks in one hand. Hanbin pouted like a fish and frowned.

“Looks like I’ve still got a lot to learn from you.”

“Then you should learn that this is not okay too.”

Hanbin pretended to punch Jeong-hwan and slipped out of his grip. Jeong-hwan watched him with a broad smile.

***

“Where did you and Lee Jeong-hwan go over the weekend?”

Hyunwoo stared at Hanbin in disbelief.

“Why?”

Hanbin wondered if he had said something wrong given Hyunwoo’s strong reaction.

“It’s just… I’ve never heard of that guy going anywhere besides the gym.”

“Yeah, he didn’t seem like the type either.”

“It’s not about the place…”

Trailing off, Hyunwoo seemed to recall something and bit his lip to hold back a laugh.

“No way. It can’t be true.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Hyunwoo looked mischievously at Hanbin.

“Hey, Hanbin.”

Even though Jeong-hwan wasn’t nearby, Hyunwoo glanced around and whispered into Hanbin’s ear.

“Want me to tell you a weakness about Lee Jeong-hwan?”