“Graaah… aahk! Wh-What the—Monster! There’s a monster…!”
“There’s no monster. Wipe the drool off your face first.”
Rion smacked Joo-chan on the back of the head as he lay sleeping with his mouth wide open, dead to the world. Joo-chan flailed his arms and legs as if he’d just been ambushed, bolting upright.
“H-Huh? When did I even fall asleep…?”
“Your snoring was loud enough to reach my tent.”
“Yu-won! You should’ve woken me up! That’s so low.”
“What’s low about it? The real problem is that the night watch fell asleep in the first place.”
“Seriously? Since when do you take Yu-won’s side, Rion?”
Still dazed, Joo-chan wondered if he was dreaming. Rion taking Yu-won’s side? That couldn’t be real.
“Uwaah!”
“Still half-asleep, huh? Feels like a dream now?”
Rion grabbed Joo-chan by the ankle and dangled him upside down in the air, shaking him like a rag doll. Joo-chan’s eyes snapped open, finally coming to his senses.
“Okay! I’m awake! Put me down!”
“You’re talking nonsense.”
“Considering how you normally act, it’s only natural to think—”
“What was that?”
“Nothing. I didn’t say anything.”
Muttering to himself, Joo-chan clamped his mouth shut as if he’d never said a word. Once he was fully awake, his brain finally kicked back into gear—and one question popped into his head: why was Rion still awake?
“But seriously, why are you up? You must be exhausted.”
“Your snoring was so loud it sounded like a monster’s roar. That’s why.”
“Come on, that’s just mean.”
Joo-chan pouted. But the more he looked at Rion and Yu-won standing side by side, the more suspicious things seemed.
Because they were standing together.
Normally, if those two were within ten feet of each other, they’d be bickering nonstop—or at best, pretending the other didn’t exist. More often than not, they were deliberately keeping their distance. But now they were shoulder to shoulder.
That wasn’t all. Rion was… awkwardly smiling. He even kept sneaking glances at Yu-won.
The light was too dim to be certain, but Joo-chan thought he saw the faintest hint of red under Rion’s eyes.
Yu-won, for his part, looked pretty normal, but there was something slightly different. His gaze seemed drawn to Rion more than usual.
After going into a few Gates with Yu-won, Joo-chan had figured something out—Yu-won wasn’t actually that inflexible. He could be a bit cold with Rion, sure, but with others, he’d swap night watch shifts if someone was struggling, or cover for someone who accidentally fell asleep. He was the type to quietly make things easier for people.
“Did something happen while I was asleep?”
“What do you mean, ‘happen’? You’re still dreaming or what?”
“No, no way. Look—my eyes are totally alert, can’t you tell?”
“Then why are you spouting nonsense?”
“It’s just… I got a weird feeling… Never mind. I’m probably imagining things.”
I swear something went down between those two while I was out. But they’re not gonna tell me even if I ask. I should just shut up.
Joo-chan backed off, sneaking glances at Rion.
In the end, it was Rion who took over the night watch in Joo-chan’s place.
Even though Joo-chan insisted over and over that he was fully awake and ready, Rion wasn’t having it.
“Forget it. What if you dozed off again and something actually happened?”
“But seriously, I’m wide awake now—”
“Then you can take my shift next time. Good enough?”
Now stuck with an extra night watch shift, Joo-chan looked absolutely miserable. There were only a few hours of rest time left, and he was already wide awake, so even if he tried sleeping again, he wouldn’t get much rest.
But he’d gotten caught sleeping on duty, and Rion’s expression was too firm to argue against. Eventually, Joo-chan gave in with a sigh.
“Fine…”
“Go sleep.”
After sending Joo-chan off, Rion turned to Yu-won with a small grin.
“Got rid of him.”
Yu-won lowered his gaze slightly and smiled.
Rion’s eyes widened in surprise.
When was the last time I saw Yu-won smile like that? No, have I ever seen him smile like that at all?
All he’d ever seen were expressionless stares, furrowed brows, or that serious, unreadable face. But this… It was just a faint smile, but it hit differently.
It was the smile of a bashful guy in his early twenties.
Something about that made Rion’s mood lift. He started circling around Yu-won, teasing him playfully.
“You smiled. Hey, I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you smile like that.”
“Is that so…”
“You should smile more. You look way better when you smile. Maybe it’s ‘cause you’re good-looking?”
Yu-won, getting flustered?
Rion couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. He kept teasing Yu-won for a while.
“Smile more often. They say smiling brings good luck.”
“…I’ll try.”
Yu-won awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth. Rion watched him with a fond expression—but then suddenly remembered something and stiffened.
“Ah, crap. My eyes are gonna be all puffy when I wake up, huh? Should I try cold compresses or something?”
He could pretend the swelling was from fatigue, but if only his eyes were puffed up, some people might guess he’d been crying.
He had to reduce the swelling. Looking a little grim, Rion turned to Yu-won.
“Is there anything in our tent I can use as a cold pack? We can’t use the water from Hyeon-seo’s tent—it’s all stored there… You have anything cold?”
“I’ve got a few drink packs. Want one of those?”
“That’d be great.”
Yu-won ducked into the tent and came back out with a drink pack. Rion recognized it immediately.
“You drink these too? Well, I guess that makes sense—didn’t you say you work out? Probably taking care of your health. That’s smart. The earlier you start, the better.”
Rion’s face lit up at the sight of the health drink he sometimes received as a gift.
“These are good. I used to get them as presents and drank them pretty often. They seem to work faster than the others, you know?”
“Use it on your eyes first before you drink it.”
“Really? But it’s yours—you brought it.”
Rion said as he squeezed the plastic pack with both hands. His guiding issue might’ve been resolved, but good health was still something worth maintaining.
“It’s fine. I brought extra so we could share.”
“Yeah? Then thanks. I’ll take it.”
Rion nodded like he’d been waiting for permission. He pressed the cold pack against his eyes and peeked at Yu-won from the other side.
This situation felt awkward for Yu-won too—his expression was a little stiff. But even that was better than his usual poker face.
“I feel like… I’ll do better tomorrow.”
Rion said, stretching his body. The anxiety hadn’t disappeared completely, but just a few kind words had lightened the weight pressing down on him.
Knowing there was someone who didn’t expect him to be perfect—that alone made the burden feel a little less crushing.
“You’re already doing well enough. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
That usually cold voice, that cool face—suddenly, they felt gentle.
Was my brain fried from all the anxiety?
“At least it’s not too cold tonight. Actually, it’s kind of warm.”
Rion moved the drink pack from his eyes to his cheek.
The cool sensation helped ease the lingering heat in his flushed face.
***
The two of them kept talking, letting the time pass with idle chatter. The conversation wasn’t particularly meaningful—just something to fill the awkward silence—but for some reason, it was soothing.
At some point, the drink pack had completely lost its chill and was now flattened under Rion’s hand, drained of all its contents.
And a few hours later, when the others started to wake up, Rion was able to face them with only slightly swollen eyes.
“Wasn’t Joo-chan supposed to be on night watch today?”
“He was sleeping, so I told him to go lie down. He’ll take my shift next time.”
Jin-ha was the first to wake up. Rion approached him, making sure to take credit for what he’d done.
“Yu-won, you too. Thanks for your hard work.”
“It’s just part of the job.”
“Haha, true. I was supposed to take the same shift as Rion, but I guess I’ll be paired with Joo-chan instead.”
“Keep an eye on that guy. He’s way too soft. I was sleeping next to him and he didn’t even wake me up—just stayed on watch by himself.”
Rion glanced at Yu-won as he spoke. Even though the distance between them had closed a little while sharing the night watch and having an unexpected conversation, that didn’t mean they were suddenly best friends laughing it up.
Yu-won stared at Rion as he walked off toward Jin-ha. Then his gaze slowly shifted, taking in Jin-ha from head to toe.
“What the—why is Rion out here? Where’s Joo-chan?”
As the others started emerging from their tents, yawning, Yu-won’s gaze shifted away. Then, he quietly made his way over to where the Guides were gathered.
