Radiant Short Story Collection

The Secret Outside the Frame

“This is our first trip just the two of us — it really feels wonderful.” Sitting side by side on the bed, I wrapped my arm around Chanyeon’s shoulders and gave a small laugh. “Though it all started like an accident that happened by chance.”

Chanyeon turned his head slightly and stared at me. The deep, cozy warmth in that look came through perfectly. “Me too. But I’m sorry the room got much hotter than the forecast.”

“Can’t be helped, I guess.” I shrugged lightly, kissed his cheek, and then, reluctant as I was, let go of the arm I’d had around his neck.

Just as I was about to back away, a bright ringtone suddenly rang out through the quiet room. The moment Chanyeon looked down at his phone screen and saw it was a video call from Hyunjin, a bright smile spread across his face. Noticing it, I slipped back until I was completely out of the camera’s wide frame before he accepted the call.

“Oh, Hyunjin! How have you been?” Chanyeon said with an easy smile, lifting the phone.

“Don’t even get me started, seriously.” His friend’s voice came through the speaker with a deep, dramatic sigh. “I’m still so disappointed I couldn’t go with you, I’m dying here. You know how things blow up at work, hyung. But what about us? You did go together, right?”

“Yeah, I’m here.” Chanyeon turned his head a little toward me and went on as naturally as ever. Then, as if acting like he was going to another room to call me over, he walked to the other side of the bed—only to pivot in an instant, gently grab my wrist, and playfully tug me right back onto the mattress beside him. “Found you!”

“Ah!” I bumped my shoulder against Chanyeon’s and laughed, waving at the screen. “I’m really sorry I couldn’t come. The vibe here is amazing. It’s just way too hot right now.”

On the screen, Hyunjin leaned his face right up toward the camera and narrowed his eyes teasingly. “Hold on, isn’t there an air conditioner there? Your face looks like it’s about to melt.”

“It’s okay, the machine just isn’t working properly yet.” Chanyeon answered for me with a soft smile, lips curving faintly.

While the two of them kept up their rapid-fire conversation about the chaos at work, the stuffy, sweltering air in the bedroom grew heavier and heavier. The thick T-shirt I was wearing felt like a blanket, and the fabric of my pants was suffocating.

“I can’t do this. I need to change.” Muttering under my breath, I slipped back out of frame. “Guess I shouldn’t have worn thick pants. This T-shirt is too heavy for this weather too. I’ll change and be right back.”

I walked over to the dresser, opened a drawer, and looked for something light to wear. Rummaging through the drawer, I pulled out a light sleeveless top and a pair of comfortable shorts. So focused on just getting away from the heat that I didn’t even think about where I was. Crossing my arms, I grabbed the hem of the thick T-shirt and pulled it up over my head in one go.

Aside from Chanyeon’s low voice as he listened and replied to Hyunjin’s everyday chatter, the room was wrapped in soft silence. But the very moment the clothes slipped past my face and my hair fell back into place, Chanyeon’s voice, mid-sentence, cut off abruptly.

When I turned my head in surprise, Chanyeon was looking straight at me.

He didn’t move at all, as if he’d completely forgotten his conversation with Hyunjin. Unhidden affection pooled deep in his eyes. Warmth meant only for me, with nothing to do with the broken air conditioner, filled his gaze, and in that instant my heart dropped with a thud before starting to race hard between my ribs.

My cheeks flared red in an instant from the sudden embarrassment. “What are you looking at?” I asked with a teasing smile, trying to break his intense, suffocating stare. And before I knew it, I’d crumpled up the thick T-shirt in my hands and tossed it at him.

“At you, obviously.” Chanyeon gave a low laugh. His hand shot out and caught the flying shirt just before it could cover his face, and he tossed it onto the floor beside the bed before giving me a calm smile.

“Wait... what was that look just now? Since when were you two like that?” Hyunjin’s voice suddenly burst through from the other side of the screen, shattering the quiet, romantic atmosphere that had spread through the room. My friend on the screen was staring wide-eyed, having witnessed Chanyeon’s impossible-to-hide love-struck expression and the flying laundry in real time.

Before I knew it, an awkward laugh escaped me as if I’d stopped breathing, and Chanyeon scratched the back of his head, the tips of his ears turning red.

“Well... guess we’re busted.” Lowering his voice even more, Chanyeon confessed in a soft, affectionate tone. He didn’t look at the phone screen. Instead, he reached out, let his fingers brush mine, then gently wrapped his hand around my wrist and pulled me toward his side. “We’ve been together for a while. We just haven’t told anyone yet.”

Hyunjin’s face instantly lit up with huge amusement. “Oh? Then there really are two rooms there? Or is it just you guys...?”

“Ah, shut up!” I leaned over Chanyeon’s lap and waved my hand playfully toward the phone screen.

“We’re hanging up now.” Chanyeon chuckled low in his throat, his shoulders shaking, then moved the phone far enough away that I couldn’t reach it. “Good luck with the rest of your shift.”

“Yep, yep, you two are very cute indeed, you sickening lovebirds.” Hyunjin cackled, shaking his head. “Have a good time!”

The call cut off. Chanyeon tossed the phone onto the nightstand as if wiping out every trace of the outside world’s noise. The stuffy heat in the room was gone before I knew it, and as he sat down close beside me, the steady, comforting weight of him filled the space. He wrapped his long arms around my waist and pulled me fully against his chest without leaving me room to breathe.

Bending down, he pressed his lips to my temple, and warm breath brushed my skin. “Let’s take a nap,” he whispered against my hair, his fingers stroking down my arm tenderly. “And later, once it gets a little cooler, want to take a long walk by the beach? What do you think?”

I just nodded and melted fully into his arms with a satisfied sigh. My head rested lightly over the steady, calm beat of his heart.