#106
He woke up several times afterward, but each time he was in bed. Whether in the dark of night or the blue light of dawn, the hand stroking his back was always there.
Around dawn, he seemed to have asked Kang Jihan why he wasn’t sleeping.
“You might wake up.”
Judging by how clearly he remembered the faint voice he’d heard, it definitely wasn’t a dream. Then what was it that might wake up?
“…Me? I might wake up?”
If that was the case, shouldn’t he be still rather than patting his back? In reality, he had essentially woken up from the touch caressing his body, so Kang Jihan had basically woken him up.
Anyway, the hand that hadn’t rested all night was now quietly still. Nam Seonwoo traced the warmth clinging under the blanket one by one, imagining the posture of a leech. Palms wrapped around his chest and lower abdomen, the peaceful heartbeat resonating behind his back, and the rhythmic breathing pouring over his shoulder. He had finally fallen asleep.
It was a quiet morning. Not only was external noise absent, but even the sounds of the only two people present were as uniform as if from a single person. When Kang Jihan’s chest expanded, Nam Seonwoo inhaled, and when his chest fell, he exhaled. The two hearts breathing at the same pace were also beating in the same rhythm.
Suddenly, he felt the sentiment that this was the first time he’d greeted the morning like this with Kang Jihan. He hadn’t opened his eyes in an empty bed as in his previous life, nor did he need to escape from the bed in a hurry as he had done several times in this life. Just lying with eyes closed under the morning sunlight made him feel like the pain that had been piercing his entire body was subsiding.
Just as he was about to surrender to the approaching sleepiness—
Buzzzzz.
An inconsiderate vibration sounded from the bedside table. And it kept going without stopping.
But he couldn’t get up. This giant leech was as immovable as a turtle shell, so Nam Seonwoo finally spoke.
“Hey, Ji…”
But what escaped his lips was closer to a metallic noise than a voice. Being in the teaching profession meant that losing his voice was a daily occurrence, but he suddenly realized that his voice could split into “several” different strands.
Kang Jihan showed no signs of waking up, and the vibration didn’t seem like it would stop. The phone paused briefly, then started ringing again. Nam Seonwoo twisted his arm to reach it, his fingertips barely touching the phone. But that alone wasn’t enough to tell whose it was. After Kang Jihan’s motorcycle accident had shattered his phone, he had deliberately switched to a model from two years ago, which meant they still had the same model.
So he could only identify the phone’s owner by the caller’s name on the screen.
[Park Gyuhyeon]
“…?”
Seeing that he was saved under his full name rather than “Bakgyu,” it was definitely Kang Jihan’s phone. But Nam Seonwoo couldn’t readily understand why Park Gyuhyeon would call—not text—Kang Jihan at this early hour.
The call ended. Perhaps thinking that making three consecutive calls was a bit much, Park Gyuhyeon finally stopped, and the phone became quiet. And Kang Jihan, too, remained quiet.
As Nam Seonwoo stared blankly at the phone, he moved his finger as if entranced. Park Gyuhyeon was saved as “Park Gyuhyeon.” Then how was Nam Seonwoo saved? Was it still “Nam Seonwoo” as it had been two years ago, or had it changed a bit? He was curious.
The background was still the graduation photo. Nam Seonwoo dialed his own number and immediately frowned at the contact name that appeared.
[Player]
“What, why ‘Player’…?”
“Why?”
At the sudden voice in his ear, Nam Seonwoo dropped the phone.
“It’s better than ‘Hyunsasi’s Kang Jihan’ at least.”
He wasn’t sure when Kang Jihan had woken up, but his voice was also quite hoarse.
But… Nam Seonwoo quietly rolled his eyes. Did I not change the contact name? He couldn’t immediately counter due to vague memories. After all, he had only cared about contact names briefly when he was younger; at some point, he often just left them as they were when first saved.
“You should at least change it to Jihankang.”
As Nam Seonwoo was listening to the complaint with embarrassment, he paused at the word “Jihankang.” Suddenly, he recalled the note from the first Hyunsasi class. When he remembered the handwriting of “Hangang” who had asked, “You must like peaches,” Nam Seonwoo quickly turned his head.
“Don’t tell me that Hangang was—”
His continued words were cut off by a soft “chu” sound. As if saying “you just realized that now?”, the lips pecking between his cheek and mouth were more like reproach than a kiss, causing Nam Seonwoo’s lips to curl up without resistance.
Meanwhile, an arm extended from behind and took Nam Seonwoo’s phone. Kang Jihan rested his chin on Nam Seonwoo’s shoulder and said:
“Change it.”
It felt like he needed to change it right now, and to something that would satisfy Kang Jihan. Nam Seonwoo picked up the phone with a burdened heart. Not only could his science-oriented brain not come up with something creative, but changing it while being so obviously watched made him feel shy. Finally, after much contemplation, his fingers tapped on the keyboard.
[Kang Jihan]
As expected, a dissatisfied voice erupted from behind.
“Why ‘Kang Jihan’?”
“…Then what should I save Kang Jihan as, if not Kang Jihan?”
“Yet you didn’t save Park Gyuhyeon as Park Gyuhyeon.”
The two arms extending from around his waist snatched the phone from Nam Seonwoo. Kang Jihan kept Nam Seonwoo in his arms while arbitrarily touching the keyboard. Nam Seonwoo watched the screen with slight tension, anxiously worrying that he wouldn’t add something like a heart.
[Kangji]
…This was simple enough. Moreover, Nam Seonwoo let out a small laugh as he recalled his mother’s voice saying, “Did you call Jihani a ‘Kangaji’ (puppy)?” It was amusing how after exchanging such shocked looks back then, Kang Jihan had now made himself into a puppy.
“You change yours too. Did I cheat on you or what?”
“You did. Going to another department and getting close with another guy.”
“That’s not cheating, it’s called social interaction, you human.”
“Maybe I should transfer to your department.”
“Don’t even joke about that. How are two teachers supposed to survive in this expensive era? You have to take responsibility for my meager salary.”
This time, laughter erupted from behind. Kang Jihan pressed his lips to Nam Seonwoo’s shoulder and tightly hugged his lower abdomen as he replied.
“Yes. I have to take responsibility.”
Whether it was because Kang Jihan kept whispering on his shoulder, or because he was fiddling with his stomach, the parts where they touched tickled. To the point where he couldn’t keep his hands still. Nam Seonwoo casually picked up Kang Jihan’s phone. Seeing the missed call notification, he belatedly remembered Park Gyuhyeon’s existence and abruptly opened Kang Jihan’s message app, but the phone’s owner didn’t show any particular objection.
The message app, without any password protection, contained all the conversation history with Park Gyuhyeon. The scroll was quite long.
He knew they had briefly contacted each other on April Fools’ Day, but he didn’t know they had been in such constant communication. The endless upward-scrolling chat window was less of a “conversation” and more like one side unilaterally rambling, but nonetheless, Kang Jihan occasionally replied.
“Why are you in contact with Bakgyu?”
“Because we’re friends.”
“…Friends?”
It was puzzling when Kang Jihan, who had treated Park Gyuhyeon like a ghost two years ago, started considering him a friend. Moreover, seeing that after Park Gyuhyeon’s message asking “Can I drive your car just once?” there was a “Thanks, Jihan, I succeeded at the blind date thanks to you,” it seemed he had readily lent his car keys. To someone not familiar with the two, it would appear as if Kang Jihan was trying to impress Park Gyuhyeon.
At that moment, a message appeared with a vibration.
[Park Gyuhyeon: Jihan, are you sleeping? Sorry for the urgency… ㅠ Can you lend me your car this weekend..? ㅠ]
‘Huh… since when were they this close?’
Recalling that Kang Jihan had sought out Park Gyuhyeon after disappearing on graduation day, they seem to have maintained contact since then. While it was slightly bewildering that the two had developed a friendship without his knowledge, there was no reason to feel upset about his boyfriend getting along with a close friend.
Nam Seonwoo put down the phone and shifted his body. Lying on his side for so long had made him feel a bit stiff. But that movement made him realize that what was touching his buttocks wasn’t a leg, but something else. And it had been standing upright since the moment he woke up.
“…Just to let you know, I can’t do it anymore.”
Kang Jihan, who had buried his nose in Nam Seonwoo’s nape, nodded obediently. But the situation below was still threatening, so Nam Seonwoo remained tense, nestled against Kang Jihan like stacked dishes. He feared that the slightest movement would make what was down there even more menacing.
Taking a deep breath, Kang Jihan mumbled about the “good smell.” Each time his lips mumbled against the back of his neck, it tickled the skin, causing Nam Seonwoo to deliberately grumble, “We used the same body wash, what are you talking about?” However, when that thing pressing against his buttocks throbbed once in response, Nam Seonwoo decided to just keep his mouth shut.
Kang Jihan nibbled on his skin for a long time. Not just his lips gnawing at his nape like a bite, but also his hands that traveled from stomach to waist and up to his chest. His chest, swollen because of someone, was as puffy as his lips, with the slightest touch causing a ticklish sting.
But Kang Jihan didn’t seem to have any real intention of doing anything. When Nam Seonwoo’s shoulders twitched, Kang Jihan buried his face deeper as if savoring the tremor, while his other hand continued to knead his lower abdomen.
It was at that moment, as his palm firmly pressed against his stomach as if recalling what had bulged out the night before, that a thunderous sound reverberated from below.
“……”
Nam Seonwoo tightly closed his mouth in embarrassment. Kang Jihan said nothing, but judging by how the body buried against him was slightly trembling, he was definitely laughing.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
