“Haah…”
With a heavy sigh, Jaeyoon stepped out of the car and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the mansion in front of him. The magnificent appearance of the mansion, which clearly seemed like a place where only the wealthy would live, made him sigh involuntarily.
He briefly cast a resentful glance at Han Doyoon, who had ignored his protests and forcibly put him in the car, then scrunched his face at Han Doyoon’s smiling expression.
“Welcome back, young master.”
A man who appeared to be in his late thirties bowed to Han Doyoon. Dressed impeccably from head to toe, he seemed to be a secretary.
‘Even has a secretary, the rich really are rich.’
Noticing Jaeyoon’s gaze, the secretary also greeted him politely.
“You must be the young master’s guest.”
“Ye-es… I suppose so.”
“Please come in.”
As the secretary gestured toward the mansion, Jaeyoon moved his reluctant feet and entered the magnificent building.
The interior was, as Jaeyoon had expected, lavish and luxurious. Expensive-looking paintings, decorative items made of jewels, and porcelain pieces were displayed throughout.
‘If I accidentally break something… I shouldn’t even imagine it, so I better not go anywhere near those things.’
“I’ve prepared bath water for you.”
“Good.”
“Then, please make yourselves comfortable.”
Click.
Watching quietly as the butler closed the door and left, Jaeyoon frowned as he sensed something strange.
‘Why am I in the same room as Han Doyoon?’
Having been distracted by the expensive items and unconsciously followed Han Doyoon, Jaeyoon turned to leave the room.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m just asking to be sure, but you’re not thinking we’ll sleep in the same room, right?”
“Is there a problem with that?”
‘Me, with you? Why?!’
Jaeyoon barely swallowed the words that had risen to his throat and looked at Han Doyoon, who was smiling casually. He’s enjoying this.
“Haah…”
He didn’t know how many times he’d sighed since coming to this world. Jaeyoon frowned as he felt his stomach hurting along with a headache. He had a feeling he might not live out his full lifespan at this rate.
“I’ve been curious since earlier, what’s that?”
Han Doyoon was pointing at the stack of drawings Jaeyoon had received from Jung Jihoo.
Having wandered around the school since then, unable to store the drawings anywhere, Jaeyoon had been carrying them constantly. He briefly glanced at the drawings and then looked at Han Doyoon and said:
“I received them as a gift.”
“…Dirt-covered drawings…?”
Han Doyoon frowned as he looked at the drawing on top of the stack.
‘Ah, the one that Sunbae Jihoo stepped on…’
As Jaeyoon smiled slightly while looking at the drawings, Han Doyoon’s eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t know you liked drawings.”
“I don’t particularly like them.”
“Yet you’re holding them so preciously?”
“I just like these ones.”
“Hmm…”
Han Doyoon, who had been sitting on the bed watching Jaeyoon, stood up. As Han Doyoon approached him with large strides, Jaeyoon unconsciously took a step back, but Han Doyoon was already right in front of him, narrowing his red eyes with a smile.
“Hurry up and take a bath. Or, shall we bathe together?”
Han Doyoon’s red eyes slowly traced Jaeyoon’s face, neck, and chest. Under that gaze, Jaeyoon felt as if he were naked despite being fully clothed, and his face grew hot.
“That’s sexual harassment.”
“Sexual harassment?”
Han Doyoon smiled with an innocent face as if he had no idea what Jaeyoon was talking about, then bent down to whisper in Jaeyoon’s ear:
“This is what sexual harassment is.”
Jaeyoon’s expression crumpled at the cool sensation of a hand entering under his clothes.
‘This bastard…!’
Instead of getting angry, Jaeyoon expressionlessly swatted Han Doyoon’s hand away.
“That’s sexual assault.”
Han Doyoon enjoyed each and every one of Jaeyoon’s reactions. Like someone poking an animal in a cage to see its response. Han Doyoon would be delighted even if Jaeyoon got angry, and he would be pleased even if Jaeyoon cried from humiliation.
‘For someone like this, ignoring is the answer.’
“I’m tired, so I’ll bathe first.”
At Jaeyoon’s indifferent response, the red eyes that had been full of childish mischief instantly lost interest.
Shrugging his shoulders, Han Doyoon silently looked down at Jaeyoon, then opened his mouth.
“How boring.”
Han Doyoon looked straight into Jaeyoon’s blue eyes and smiled. In response, Jaeyoon also smiled gently at the corners of his mouth and beamed.
“To be called boring, I’m honored.”
Han Doyoon’s red eyes widened in surprise. Jaeyoon gazed at him indifferently and turned around to enter the bathroom.
“Whoa…!”
Staring quietly at the marble bathtub with steam rising from it, Jaeyoon’s expression crumpled when his eyes met the lion statue at the end of the tub.
‘What? What is this overwhelming bathroom…?!’
Why does someone living alone need such a large bathroom? More importantly, that lion is intimidating! This is like some kind of torture!
Jaeyoon considered leaving the bathroom but quickly gave up the idea. Just thinking about how much Han Doyoon would tease him if he came out without bathing because the lavish bathroom was overwhelming was stressful.
‘That thing doesn’t exist. It’s not in my field of vision.’
Jaeyoon gave himself this self-suggestion as he removed his clothes with tears in his eyes.
‘I should have just stayed at the dormitory!’
***
“That was quick?”
Han Doyoon smiled at Jaeyoon, who was still steaming from his bath.
“Yeah, well…”
“You didn’t rush out because our bathroom was too intimidating, did you?”
Jaeyoon smiled while imagining cute animals in his mind. He had no intention of giving his opponent the reaction he wanted. But Han Doyoon seemed to find even this response amusing, curling up the corners of his mouth into a smile.
‘I shouldn’t think this, but… I want to hit him just once.’
With an involuntary sigh, Jaeyoon sat down in a chair at the table in the middle of the room and used the towel he had draped over his shoulders to dry his wet hair.
Han Doyoon, who had been quietly watching Jaeyoon from the bed, soon got up and approached him.
As a shadow fell over his head, Jaeyoon blankly looked up. Han Doyoon took the towel from Jaeyoon’s hand, ignored his protests, and gently dried the dripping chocolate-colored hair. Then he took a red hairdryer from a drawer and began drying Jaeyoon’s hair.
‘What is he doing?’
Jaeyoon frowned, unable to hide his bewilderment at Han Doyoon’s actions of drying his hair.
His body involuntarily flinched at the feeling of large hands brushing through his hair. A small laugh was heard from above Jaeyoon’s head.
‘He’s laughing? Am I funny??’
Jaeyoon bit his lip tightly and closed his eyes. Then he interlocked his fingers and firmly anchored his body to the chair. This was a special measure to prevent himself from flinching unconsciously at Han Doyoon’s touch again.
This time, he heard a snort from above his head. Thanks to that, Jaeyoon’s already sour expression became even more crumpled.
For mental stability, he imagined petting a small, white dog with fluffy fur. Feeling peace return to his mind, Jaeyoon reached out and grabbed the hairdryer that was passing by his ear.
“I’ll dry it myself now.”
“Alright, then.”
Jaeyoon let out a sigh of relief as Han Doyoon backed away without protest.
“I’ve prepared the next room for you to sleep in.”
“Excuse me…?”
“Of course, if you want to sleep with me, I won’t stop you.”
“Good night.”
Jaeyoon left Han Doyoon’s room without looking back. Outside the room, the secretary was already waiting for him.
Guided by the secretary to the room right next to Han Doyoon’s, he quietly watched as the secretary left after greeting him, then turned his head.
Seeing the spacious room with the same layout as the adjacent one, Jaeyoon dragged his heavy feet and dived onto the bed. At this rate, the dormitory room might have been better. Although he could hear the noisy couple, it was still much more comfortable than here.
“If I wear earplugs with AirPods… maybe I can completely block out the noise…?”
Deciding to try it next time, Jaeyoon turned his head to look out the window. As he blankly gazed at the pitch-black night sky with twilight settling in, he felt his eyelids growing heavy and shifted his gaze to the drawings in his hand.
As he carefully flipped through them one by one, Jaeyoon’s eyes widened. He felt the corners of his mouth lifting involuntarily as he stared at a drawing of kittens.
“Cute…”
***
Perhaps because he had slept at Han Doyoon’s mansion, that night Jaeyoon dreamed of Lee Jaeyoon and Han Doyoon. More precisely, it could be called a memory.
The memory began with fireworks. Fireworks shot up into the dark blue night sky, blooming into brilliant flowers before fading away. Second year of high school. A campfire on a summer night by the sea. Lee Jaeyoon quietly watched as the laughter of students was drowned out by the fireworks and took a deep breath. Then, he carefully approached Han Doyoon, who was standing apart from the group of students, silently watching the fireworks.
His heart pounded irregularly. Trying to calm his trembling chest, which worried him to the point of thinking he might die, Lee Jaeyoon approached Han Doyoon, whose red eyes gazed at him steadily.
Lee Jaeyoon barely managed to open his mouth and spoke with a trembling voice.
“I like you.”
Han Doyoon’s eyes, colored by the various hues of the fireworks, narrowed.
“I, you…”
Crackle. Crackle-crackle.
At that moment, a mechanical noise drowned out Han Doyoon’s voice, making it hard to hear. The sound, like audio noise, continued in his head until Han Doyoon finished speaking.
Han Doyoon turned away from Lee Jaeyoon. Lee Jaeyoon quickly reached out to grab the sleeve of the departing figure. His snow-white hand, trembling pitifully, gripped the sleeve tightly, full of desperation.
Lee Jaeyoon looked up. As he was about to say something through trembling lips, the moment his eyes met Han Doyoon’s red ones, he let go of the sleeve.
Lee Jaeyoon’s pupils shook rapidly. Han Doyoon left him standing there, frozen in shock.
The corners of his mouth twisted as he blankly stared at the retreating Han Doyoon. Transparent tears flowed down his forcibly upturned lips.
“Me… like that…”
Crackle. Crackle-crackle. Crackle-crackle-crackle.
The noise came again. This time, not only his hearing but also his vision began to fail. The scene before his eyes collapsed piece by piece like a puzzle.
As if reflecting Lee Jaeyoon’s emotions… everything completely crumbled and disappeared.
***
Blinking slowly to clear his hazy vision, Jaeyoon gradually raised his upper body from the bed. Pressing his hand against his foggy head, he slightly frowned.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Jaeyoon took a small deep breath to shake off the emotions from the dream. He slowly inhaled and exhaled, separating dream from reality.
Feeling the cool breeze passing through his hair, his blue eyes slowly revealed themselves. After blinking quietly for a moment, he let out a small sigh and got up from the bed.
“Good morning.”
“Aaack?!”
And within a second, he was back in bed.
The pale pink lips curved into a pleasant smile. Looking at it with displeasure, Jaeyoon brushed back his disheveled hair and called out to the man in front of him.
“Student Council President…”
“To be precise, good afternoon. You sure can sleep this late.”
As Han Doyoon closed his novel with a thud and smiled with his eyes, Jaeyoon frowned.
The bookmark inserted in the middle of the novel meant… Surely, he hadn’t been sitting beside me the whole time he was reading that much…?
Jaeyoon vigorously shook his head to erase the creepy scene he was imagining. Lacking the courage to ask Han Doyoon the truth, he got up from the bed instead and tidied his messy hair.
“What would you like for breakfast?”
“…I don’t usually eat breakfast, so it’s fine.”
“Honestly, at this hour, it’s more like lunch than breakfast.”
Seeing Han Doyoon’s complete unwillingness to listen to what others said, Jaeyoon exhaled a sigh rising from deep within.
“I’ll have pancakes, please.”
“As you command.”
Watching Han Doyoon stand up from the chair with a displeased look, Jaeyoon flinched when Han Doyoon suddenly turned his head to look at him.
‘Red eyes.’
Dream and reality overlapped.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
