Jaehyuk busily pressed the remote next to Junghyun, quickly scanning the movies that appeared on the main screen with his eyes.
With a fork in his hand, Junghyun spoke seriously to Jaehyuk, who was pretending to be casual while choosing a movie.
“Hyung.”
“What?”
“This is overwhelming. You seem like you’d propose marriage on our first marriage meeting.”
At this subtle mockery, Jaehyuk laughed nonchalantly and retorted, “That would be good too. If there’s certainty.”
As Jaehyuk operated the remote, saying there was no need to waste time, Junghyun spotted a movie on the screen and tapped Jaehyuk’s hand.
“That one. Yongwoo says that one’s good.”
“Sci-fi?”
“Yes. It’s an older film that’s hard to find, but it’s available now. Let’s watch that.”
“Securities Yorkshire?”
Junghyun, who was taking a large bite of cake, laughed as if tickled by that comment.
“You have a good memory.”
“The combination was too shocking to forget. Chihuahua and Yorkshire—just add a Maltese and you’d have the devil dog trio complete.”
“I’ll try to recruit a Maltese too.”
“Don’t. I’ll probably avoid looking at it. But speaking of Yorkshire recommendations, I have a bad feeling about this…”
“He says it’s a sci-fi masterpiece.”
Though the recommender made him uneasy, Jaehyuk didn’t have any particular movie he wanted to watch, so he finally selected that film and lay back in the recliner. Then he took a large spoonful of the cake from Junghyun’s hand.
Meanwhile, the movie was showing a typical world-building intro.
Like a classic sci-fi film, the screen showed a chronology along with slow views of the spaceship interior, then suddenly rushed inward and zoomed in on a disheveled man’s face.
Then a brief scream sounded.
Thanks to the tense opening sequence, Jaehyuk could guess the film’s genre without needing to read the description.
This was clearly sci-fi horror.
“Oh… you’re not that surprised?”
Despite Junghyun’s muttering, which suggested disappointment at his reaction, Jaehyuk wasn’t surprised at all.
It was too predictable.
“I guess your informant didn’t tell you? I don’t fear horror movies—I despise them. Occult themes in particular are a collection of primitive, undeveloped stimuli that target base nerves, which I dislike. I’m uncomfortable with the mindless barbarism based on shamanism. There’s no reason to fear such surrealism if you don’t believe in it.”
At Jaehyuk’s warning look that told him not to do unnecessary things, Junghyun slowly nodded with cake in his mouth.
“Well, I guess there’s nothing to fear if you don’t believe.”
“Right. So let’s turn it off.”
“Let’s just watch it. It’s not scary anyway.”
“It’s a waste of time.”
Jaehyuk turned off the movie and quickly selected a safe family film before getting caught by Junghyun again.
One with a very cute bear in it.
This was quite surprising.
“Unexpected taste. I thought you’d watch movies where everything gets smashed.”
“That’s your taste.”
“You’re right. I like movies with things breaking, smashing, and exploding. That’s why I fall asleep with 99% probability when watching movies like this.”
“You’d fall asleep regardless of the movie anyway.”
It was clearly obvious that Junghyun was already thinking of sleeping from the moment the recliner was laid back. Honestly, considering Junghyun’s usual sleeping time, this was already quite late.
Junghyun was only enduring for the sake of eating cake.
“You caught me. That’s why I never go to movie theaters with reclining seats.”
“A wise choice. You’d never be able to get up after the movie ends.”
“So let’s watch something with smashing instead.”
“That’s denied. I don’t like things getting smashed.”
As Jaehyuk leaned back against the seat while pulling up the blanket and slowly increasing the volume, Junghyun stared at him in surprise, as if what he said didn’t make sense.
“You don’t like things getting smashed?”
“When watching a movie to relax, there’s no need for my ears or eyes to be assaulted.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Junghyun, who had thought everyone liked dopamine-filled movies these days, muttered with curiosity.
“…That’s the first I’m learning of this. That wasn’t in your data.”
“Then take this opportunity to learn. For movies, I like human comedies or gentle family dramas. I don’t particularly like music. If I have to listen, I prefer old pop, but I don’t like loud sounds. I’m not picky about food, but pasta is my favorite. And I prefer strong seasoning when possible. I also like spicy food. I enjoy spicy ribs and stews, but I eat them only occasionally due to health concerns. However, I don’t like sweet things. Additionally, I don’t particularly like alcohol. One more thing—after surfing, camping is what I like most. Especially winter camping.”
At his strong self-assertion, Junghyun pushed aside the empty cake plate and asked dumbfoundedly.
“Do I need to know all that?”
“Keep it in mind. It’ll be more convenient that way.”
“Then, while we’re at it, you should know about me too. I like movies where everything gets smashed—action, hero, spy films, and so on. I mainly listen to rock or hip-hop, and for food, I’ll eat anything except the table legs. My favorite is meat. I’m not picky about seasoning either. As long as I can eat it, it’s fine. But as you know, I’m terrible at cooking. Actually, I haven’t tried it, so I don’t even know if I’m good or bad. Additionally, I’m crazy about alcohol and I like baseball. And I hate camping. Especially winter camping. I hate it because it’s freaking cold.”
“I’ll take note of that. But we’re going camping next week.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You’ll like it too. There’s not much winter left anyway.”
“Didn’t you say you prefer going alone to rest?”
“That was before.”
But not now, was the implication—and no response came. At the strange silence, Jaehyuk, who had been watching the bear walking on screen, looked to the side.
There he saw Junghyun, inevitably asleep.
He had suspected it, and sure enough.
He had thought that since a recliner was essentially the same as a bed when adjusted, Junghyun might fall asleep as soon as he lay down—and his prediction was correct.
Apparently, Junghyun had the amazing talent of being able to sleep anywhere as long as he could stretch his legs and rest his head.
Seeing Junghyun awkwardly leaning back against the recliner adjusted to the screen height, Jaehyuk found the recliner’s remote and lowered the backrest. Then he placed a cushion under Junghyun’s head and pulled the blanket up to his neck.
He wondered if it was okay for Junghyun to fall asleep right after eating a whole cake, but he didn’t have the confidence to wake him up again.
Waking Junghyun would require waging a war.
Daily life continued to flow peacefully as if nothing had happened.
Junghyun still fell asleep whenever his head touched a surface and had trouble waking up in the morning. After he managed to open his eyes with difficulty, they would go to work together, return home together when their schedules aligned, have dinner together when possible, and occasionally dine out.
On weekends, they spent time together like this, and after the somewhat awkward period had passed, they were able to maintain natural conversation again.
Of course, not everything could be the same as before.
There was still clearly some distance between the two, but things were flowing well enough.
Just as he had wanted.
Listening to the actors’ dialogue that sounded like white noise, Jaehyuk brushed Junghyun’s hair aside.
There was clearly no problem.
Everything was going smoothly.
So why did he feel so uneasy?
* * *
What woke Junghyun, who had fallen asleep, was a delicious smell.
At the appetizing aroma of his favorite meat mixed with soy sauce, Junghyun raised his body before opening his eyes and, with his eyes still closed, moved only his head to find the source of the smell.
Certainly, this was the smell of braised ribs. Or maybe rib soup.
Somehow feeling hungry, he managed to open his eyes and looked around, but the room was dark.
Unusually so.
The sun should have risen by the time he woke up, but the room was still dim.
Feeling that strange dissonance, he slowly looked around to see the unfamiliar room’s scenery.
That’s when he remembered falling asleep while watching a movie last night.
This was the movie room built in the innermost part of the house.
One that was barely used and left neglected.
Since his eyes were open, he figured he should get up, so he looked for his phone on the table and saw it was approaching 11 AM.
Again, he had slept nearly 12 hours.
But given his recent condition, this wasn’t unusual, so he got up and, dragging his slippers, left the room to find the source of the delicious smell.
It was the kitchen.
Since it was a holiday and Director Jang wouldn’t have come to work, he wondered if food had been bought or ordered, but when he entered the kitchen, he saw a familiar back.
Seeing him in a comfortable dark T-shirt and matching training pants, tasting the seasoning in front of a large pot, Junghyun leaned against the doorframe, thinking, “What am I seeing right now?”
He was clearly awake, but he was seeing a dream before his eyes.
Or was he still asleep?
Finding the scene unbelievable, he pressed his eyes firmly and looked up again, only for the other to greet him first.
“Finally awake?”
“…Am I really awake?”
“You’re walking upright, so unless you’re sleepwalking, you’re awake.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
