47
* * *
Although Doun had asked to be dropped off near his apartment, Samin stubbornly came inside all the way to his home. He thought this might be when the saying “once is hard, twice is easy” applied.
Still, he must have had some conscience since instead of asking to sleep over, he just thoroughly examined Doun’s newly bought suitcase before leaving. Even when he said he’d leave and headed to the entrance, he looked back with such regretful eyes.
Chasing him out didn’t feel entirely comfortable. The living room, which had become as quiet as a mouse after just one person left, felt strangely unfamiliar. Doun looked at the suitcase sitting there alone and couldn’t help but chuckle.
‘Hyung. I think I could fit in here, right? It’s perfect for a 2-night 3-day trip!’
It was because Samin’s voice was still vivid, having just been stuffing his large body into the suitcase while spouting nonsense.
He kept saying to put him in there and take him tomorrow, or that if they lived together he was confident he could take care of all the packing himself – anyway, he chattered endlessly. Listening to him was so mentally exhausting.
“…What would I do if I actually said let’s live together, when he keeps saying let’s live together?”
Doun wasn’t rejecting Samin’s roommate request because he disliked his noisy and energetic personality. Rather, he even had a subtle certainty that being together would be full of fun and wonderful things.
He was just worried about what would happen after giving too much of his daily life to Samin.
This was the same Samin who had followed him around like a puppy for over a month, thinking he was some amazing hunter. It wasn’t enough to just show him cool sides – he’d even coughed up buckets of blood and had his unpredictable emotional ups and downs exposed.
It was only a year ago that he’d been lonely, dependent on people, and used by them. The feelings of constantly planning suicide methods or hoping to die by getting involved in some incident couldn’t heal easily.
In front of people, he tried his best to act bright and pretend to be okay, but in truth, Lee Doun was still occasionally depressed, sometimes felt suffocated, and often became absorbed in negative emotions.
“…Here we go again.”
Doun forcibly cut off his rising thoughts with a single muttered word. How long had it been since he met Samin that he already noticed the empty space? When he was completely absorbed in moving around, caught up in Samin’s cheerful personality and unpredictable fascinating way of speaking, he felt separated from his depression.
But when Samin wasn’t there, the loneliness of being alone again would stealthily raise its head. If he accepted Samin’s proposal and lived with him, it would certainly be fun and happy, but that’s exactly why he was more afraid.
It wasn’t that he was hesitating because Samin wanted to date him, wanted to kiss him, and was a man with the same genitals as himself.
‘Ah. After actually living with hyung, all my fantasies were shattered. I just want to move out. Now that I’ve actually gone around towers together, Magnetic isn’t much either. You understand what I mean, right?’
He was scared that Samin might say such things, disappointed in the reality of human Lee Doun rather than the rank 1 hunter Magnetic.
‘Let me start by filling the suitcase.’
Doun forcibly changed his thoughts and began packing the luggage he’d need for the next 2 nights and 3 days. Starting with comfortable clothes to wear at the pension, he was gathering travel items when he stared at his phone that had just received a text.
[Kyung Samin: Did you happen to see anything I left at hyung’s house? Σ(-᷅_-᷄๑)]
‘He left something at my house?’
Even though he usually made him burst with frustration through nonsense and playful behavior, he didn’t seem like the type to carelessly leave things behind.
Even looking around the living room that had become a chaotic mess with various items from packing, there didn’t seem to be any unfamiliar objects. Doun scratched his cheek and slowly sent a reply.
[What did you leave behind? Can’t find it]
It would be easier to find if he knew what type of item it was. After pressing send and waiting briefly, a reply arrived quickly. Reading the content slowly, Doun squeezed his eyes shut. Honestly, it was content that left him no choice.
[Kyung Samin: Samin’s burning love for hyung (~♡’ㅅ’)~♡⁼³₌₃]
What was he supposed to reply to this kind of text? Doun wiggled his thumb for a long time but couldn’t complete even a single character.
“How does he even think of such weird things…”
It was hard to collect himself from confessions that burst out from unexpected places. While his face heated up and he fanned himself with his hand, another text arrived as if he’d gotten tired of waiting.
[Kyung Samin: What? Why no reply? Couldn’t find it? Should I come back and show you what it is????? (~˘▾˘)~? I guess I should, right? Hyung, should I turn the car around now? Should I come back to hyung’s house??? It wouldn’t be bad if hyung’s house became our house while we’re at it??]
It was a bombardment of questions that made the reader’s head spin. Why were the emoticons naturally inserted in the middle as if they belonged there so annoying today?
Doun decided to quickly send a reply in case Samin might actually come back to his house. The “burning love” that Samin claimed to have left behind was nowhere to be seen. Of course, an intangible emotion like love couldn’t be visible in the first place.
[No, I found it so don’t come.]
But he felt like he needed to send this kind of text. Honestly, even while typing the text, he felt a bit self-deprecating. He felt a little stupid for replying to every single thing like this. It had only been a few seconds since he sent it when the notification for another text flashed.
“Ah. What now…”
He was afraid of what kind of nonsense might be written this time. After Doun took a long breath to steel himself, he slowly checked the text Samin had sent.
[Kyung Samin: I’m glad you know I like you, hyung. See you tomorrow, hyung]
It was a cleaner text than he’d expected. Doun, who had unintentionally been caught off guard, let out a hollow laugh. He should have recognized it when the variations of nonsense were diverse. It seemed he’d decided to add variation to his confessions of liking him too.
“Is this bastard some kind of playboy or something?”
Doun had to stare at Samin’s text for a long time, forgetting even about packing. Reading the text didn’t make him feel like he was alone.
* * *
In front of a pension filled with the fresh scent emitted by lush forests, the group wearing sunglasses slowly gathered.
“Wow!”
Kim Chansol, who had been exclaiming even before getting out of the car, took off his sunglasses and looked around. When Samin had sent the pension site link, he’d been surprised but didn’t expect it to be exactly like the real thing.
“I’m feeling relative deprivation toward our guild master who easily borrowed a place like this during peak season through connections. What do you think?”
Kim Chansol nudged Do Hyeonwoo, who was standing next to him with his suitcase, and asked.
“Hasn’t Min hyung being annoying been going on for more than a day or two? I’m not really surprised by anything that hyung does anymore.”
“That’s true but… Hmm.”
His gaze swept over the pension’s clean and sophisticated exterior before turning toward Doun. Finding Lee Doun was very easy because a guy with the build of a brown bear was stuck to him with almost 100% probability.
“Hyung. Give me your suitcase. I’ll pull it.”
“It’s fine. But it’s hot, so stop sticking to me.”
“Have you ever thought that you’re hotter because you keep wearing black clothes? Black absorbs heat, you know.”
“I didn’t know it would be this hot. But I only brought black clothes… What should I do?”
Doun grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and flapped it while making a sad face. I should have bought clothes when I bought the suitcase. His regretful voice seemed quite depressed. Samin, like a hyena that had been waiting, spouted words full of ulterior motives.
“You can just wear mine.”
“You want me to wear yours? Anyone can see our sizes are different.”
“Isn’t it better for clothes to be a bit big than struggling with heat?”
“…I’ll try to endure it as much as possible first, and if I really can’t, then maybe I’ll borrow them.”
“Oh. Manly Lee Doun. You’ll endure heat with fighting spirit?”
Samin acted playful as usual, and Doun couldn’t respond anymore and just drooped.
‘Oh my. Lee Doun is slowly melting.’
Samin quickly took Doun inside the pension while making a fuss.
“Alright, everyone. The room at the very end on the 2nd floor will be used by me and Doun hyung, so except for that room, just unpack wherever you like.”
With that perfunctory announcement, Samin quickly grabbed Doun’s suitcase and went up to the 2nd floor. Doun, who had his suitcase stolen and ended up sharing a room with Samin, could only laugh in bewilderment.
“Doun hyung! Come up quickly and check out the room!”
At the urging from the 2nd floor, Doun slowly climbed the stairs. After entering the room where Samin was waiting, he who had been drooping like a zombie squeezed his eyes shut. It was an unconscious action trying to deny reality.
‘I must be seeing things wrong because of the heat.’
Doun slowly opened his closed eyes. However, the scene in the room hadn’t changed.
“Hey. There’s only one bed…”
“But it’s really big instead.”
“No, even so…”
“What’s the big deal? We’re both guys. More importantly, hyung, come here. This room on the 2nd floor has the best view.”
He didn’t expect to use that “what’s the big deal between guys” line like this. Now that he’d used it again, it seemed like an all-purpose excuse. Samin led Doun, who was shocked at the single bed, to the window.
“Look quickly. It’s really pretty, I tell you.”
How pretty could a pension view be? Doun looked out the window without much expectation, then opened his mouth slightly a moment later. Where he looked out after slightly sticking his head out, he could see a white tower with no visible end between the blue sky and lush trees.
He’d seen plenty of dense forests and strange ruins in towers. However, most of the time he didn’t feel much impression because the environment had a strangely alien feeling for something called real nature.
He thought he’d only see trees since it was a pension in the mountains, but the scenery that actually filled his eyes was much more beautiful. Perhaps because these were real trees and sky that had been guarding this place for a very long time, not artificial ecosystems generated multiple times by mysterious power, the impression was different.
“Since hyung likes towers so much, I specially chose a room with a good view of the tower.”
Samin shrugged with a nuance asking for praise. It was nerve that wasn’t hateful. Doun smiled brightly and lightly patted his shoulder.
“Good job. It’s really pretty.”
Even though he hadn’t said Samin was pretty, Samin’s face turned bright red for no reason.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
