Chapter 9
After a long time, he dreamed of his childhood.
Since becoming an adult, he didn’t often think about those times, but occasionally they appeared in dreams like this. Every time that happened, his heart ached too much. It hurt as if someone was stabbing the most tender part of his heart with an awl, just like that.
However, today the pain in another place was greater than the pain in his heart. It felt like his head was going to split in two.
Yuwon scrunched up his face and lifted his heavy eyelids. His blurry vision was completely dim.
Where is this?
It was a ceiling he’d never seen before. The bed he was lying on, the blanket covering him, even the scent brushing his nose were all unfamiliar.
After rolling his eyes around for a while, Yuwon slowly sat up. Then a stabbing pain spread through his head, which had been quiet.
“Ugh…”
Yuwon grabbed his head and lowered it. This was his first time experiencing such severe hangover. He gritted his teeth at the unfamiliar pain.
Last night’s events flashed through his mind. He had met Jaejoon and Seongcheol, went to a beer hall, drank for a long time, and got quite drunk from mixing soju with beer.
The important thing was that he couldn’t remember anything that happened after that at all. He vaguely remembered walking to the bus stop to go home, but crucially, he had no memory of getting on the bus.
Yuwon carefully examined his surroundings with only one eye open. No sunlight came through the window with black curtains, and the room with only a bed and small nightstand was desolate. It really seemed like a place made just for sleeping.
His head still hurt too much, but getting out of this place was the priority. Yuwon slowly lowered his legs below the bed. Just as he was about to slowly step on the floor and stand up, the door opened.
“You’re awake?”
Yuwon, who had been startled by the sound of the door opening, was even more shocked when he saw Jeonghyeok. Instead of the usual suit he always wore, he was wearing a gray sweater and loose pants, which looked very unfamiliar.
Yuwon barely managed to open his stiffened mouth.
“Why are you here, ajeossi…”
“Why am I here?”
Jeonghyeok laughed as if incredulous and shrugged his shoulders as he spoke:
“Well, because this is my house.”
“…”
“Don’t you remember what happened yesterday?”
He didn’t. Not at all.
Yuwon made a troubled expression and gripped the blanket tightly. Looking at Yuwon’s pale face, which was as white as his fingertips, Jeonghyeok spoke lightly:
“Come out first.”
Yuwon stared blankly at the spot where Jeonghyeok had suddenly disappeared. He was already dazed from having just woken up not long ago, and he wondered if he was dreaming right now.
What on earth had happened? Even sitting on the bed and trying to organize yesterday’s events in his head, nothing came to mind. Where he had met Jeonghyeok, how he had ended up in this house. He had no idea at all.
But one thing was certain – this situation where he had stupidly gotten completely drunk and imposed on someone else’s house was reality, not a dream.
Yuwon swallowed the sigh that was about to burst out and got up. Perhaps because he was so surprised, even the splitting headache had calmed down a bit.
When he opened the door and went out, he was immediately dazzled by the pouring sunlight. Unlike the interior of the room which had been dark because of the curtains, the living room was very bright.
Yuwon looked out the window with drowsy eyes.
Thanks to the high floor, the outside scenery was clear. He could even see the Han River between the buildings lined up in rows. Although it was quite far away, the sparkling waves were vivid. Yuwon stared out the window in a daze.
This was his first time looking down at Seoul’s streets from such a high place. He’d heard that other people paid money to go to observation decks, but if you lived in a place like this, there would be no need for that.
If it’s like this during the day, how much prettier would it be at night? Just as he was blankly imagining the night view, he heard Jeonghyeok’s voice from behind.
“Here.”
Yuwon turned his head to look in Jeonghyeok’s direction. He had approached at some point and was holding out a cup to Yuwon.
Warm steam was rising from the water in the white cup. It looked slightly cloudy, so it didn’t seem to be plain water.
“It’s honey water.”
“…”
“Drink it before you go.”
Though his expression and tone were still cynical, Yuwon felt tenderness in Jeonghyeok’s actions. His chest began to tremble finely. It might not have much meaning to him, but to Yuwon it was kindness like a gift.
Yuwon reached out and took the cup. At that moment, both men’s hands touched.
Jeonghyeok’s hands, which had only looked rough, were softer than expected, so Yuwon flinched and trembled. He pretended not to notice and gripped the cup tightly, and the warm heat spread through his palms to his entire body.
On the other hand, Jeonghyeok sat on the sofa indifferently as if his business was done. A pillow and blanket were scattered on the black sofa. Anyone could see that they were what he had used to sleep.
Yuwon, who discovered them belatedly, asked with a “surely not” feeling:
“Did you sleep here because of me?”
“Well, as you can see.”
Jeonghyeok leaned back on the sofa with a tired face.
Last night, holding onto Yuwon who had lost consciousness in front of the elevator, Jeonghyeok had quite a hard time.
First, he searched Yuwon’s pockets and took out his phone. But the fingerprint didn’t work, and there was a lock pattern, but there was no way Yuwon, who was completely blacked out, could unlock it.
Since he had already finished work, it was awkward to call Taeju again, and the only person he knew around Yuwon was the boss of Cheolpan-jip, but he didn’t want to ask for help from someone he had clearly seen treating Yuwon harshly.
After thinking for a long time in an awkward position, Jeonghyeok eventually brought Yuwon to his house with a feeling of resignation.
Even while taking off his shoes and coat at the entrance, Yuwon didn’t come to his senses. The body he lifted up to move to the bedroom was as light as an empty can.
The image of him picking at his jajangmyeon a few days ago was vivid. What does he eat to survive? Jeonghyeok glanced at Yuwon, who had his eyes closed as if dead.
He scanned with his eyes the slender nape below the clear face and the sunken collarbone, but stopped because looking any further somehow felt like sinning.
After laying him on the bed and covering him with a blanket, Yuwon finally stirred his body. Wondering if he had woken up, Jeonghyeok looked closely, but he never opened his eyes. As if he was having a bad dream, he just occasionally let out faint moans with his brows deeply furrowed.
Had something happened? Was that why he had become so unconscious like this?
Jeonghyeok watched over Yuwon from beside the bed for a while. Until Yuwon’s deeply frowning expression relaxed and his groaning moans quieted down.
With his usual personality, he would have left him outside to freeze to death or not. Strangely, only to this little guy did he show affection. Even so, he couldn’t be heartless to someone who followed him around saying he liked him.
Finding himself ridiculous for even making honey water while tired, Jeonghyeok let out a sneer. It would have been enough to let him sleep for one night, but was there really a need to personally take care of his hangover cure?
“Ajeossi, your house is really nice. This is my first time coming to a house where you can see the Han River.”
Seeing Yuwon excited even in this situation made him sigh. Jeonghyeok pressed his temple with his fingertips and said:
“Hurry up and drink it, then go.”
“But how did you find me? I don’t remember anything.”
“…”
He keeps not listening to what I say when I tell him to hurry up and drink it then go. Jeonghyeok slowly closed and opened his eyes, then answered Yuwon’s question while recalling last night’s events.
“I didn’t find you, you found me.”
“What?”
“You suddenly appeared and hugged me and made a fuss.”
“I, I did?”
The suspicion he had secretly harbored that maybe Yuwon remembered everything and was pretending not to know disappeared in an instant. Seeing his shocked expression, Yuwon seemed to truly not remember yesterday’s events.
When did he brazenly hug someone, and now he has such an innocent face? Jeonghyeok let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity.
Perhaps interpreting the meaning of that laugh differently, Yuwon said accusingly:
“You’re teasing me right now, aren’t you?”
“Why would I tease you?”
“You’re lying. I’m not such a clueless bastard, you know?”
It was a tone that was confident he couldn’t have done such a thing. His glaring eyes were full of distrust.
He can’t even tell heaven from earth, and after I graciously let him sleep here, now he’s treating me like a liar?
Jeonghyeok, who had raised his eyebrows, got up from his seat and approached Yuwon. When he bent his waist, their eye levels matched exactly.
Unlike the relaxed Jeonghyeok, Yuwon felt like his breath was going to stop. This was the first time they had faced each other this close. They were close enough to feel each other’s breath.
Jeonghyeok deliberately whispered in a low voice:
“When did you grope someone’s body as you pleased, and now you’re pretending not to know?”
“…”
“Don’t drink alcohol from now on. If you cling to some innocent guy like that, you could really get fucked over.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
