And so, from the first day of this half-believing romance, they ended up sleeping together. After finishing his usual bedtime preparations and lying down on the bed, Yeonjun burrowed into the spot next to Eunha. It wasn’t simply lying next to him, but intertwining limbs and pulling him into an embrace, so he immediately craned his neck and stared. Then the pupils he faced wavered faintly before holding a subtle eye-smile like an excuse.
“……They said to do it like this?”
“Who?”
“Yesterday’s hyung.”
Eunha immediately made a sour expression. It seemed his drunk self had personally expounded on how to sleep well. He thought he’d said all sorts of nonsense. If I drink again, I’m not a person but a dog…….
Regret came flooding in anew, causing a faint headache. He sighed and straightened his head. As he blinked in the perfect darkness, a ticklish breeze touched his ear.
Hyung. Sleep well.
At the low whispered voice, Eunha pulled the blanket covering up to his neck a bit more meticulously. It felt tense, as if all five senses were sprouting sensitively. For a while, it seemed he was conscious of it like that and bothered by it.
However, he was excessively tired to continue his thoughts at length, and deep sleep was desperately urgent. His body was screaming that it wanted to rest. Because what reached him in that state was a cozy embrace and warmth, Eunha felt his consciousness quickly grow hazy.
Then, without realizing it, his consciousness snapped off as he fell into sleep.
The next day. When he woke up, it was just past 7 o’clock. Eunha, who groggily raised his body, sat still clutching the edge of the blanket, letting time pass until the drowsiness faded. He stared blankly at the light faintly seeping in around the edges of the blackout curtains. Then when he turned his gaze.
“……Ah.”
Yeonjun, still sleeping while lying on his side facing this way, immediately came into view. Inside the dim room with light mostly blocked. The indoor space where moderately lukewarm cold air was circulating. Quiet stillness.
In that space, Eunha, looking down with subtle eyes at the man sleeping quietly beside him in a disheveled state, let out a small cough at one moment. Like someone troubled, he covered his mouth area with his fist, yet even while doing so, he didn’t stop glancing and observing Yeonjun. As if constantly confirming with his own two eyes something unbelievable.
What should I do.
Because of this, it really feels like we’re dating.
“………”
It was a realization that truly came crashing in slowly. How long had he been feeling flustered like that? He felt a sign of movement. It didn’t take long for Yeonjun, who had been burying his face deep in the pillow and nuzzling, to slowly lift his eyelids.
“You awake?”
“……Yes……”
An answer came after a slight pause. Yesss, in a weakly drawn-out tone. Utterly adorable.
It was when Eunha was trying hard to keep the corners of his mouth flat, which wanted to twitch regardless of his will. As if the sleepiness hadn’t worn off, Yeonjun reached out his arms while closing his eyes again subtly. He wrapped around Eunha’s waist and pulled him in, burying his face against his side. Thinking he’d fallen back asleep since there was no movement for a while in that state.
“Did you sleep well?”
It was a voice heavy with sleep. The end slightly scratching.
“……Yeah.”
Eunha answered ambiguously while simultaneously falling into thought. Turning his gaze toward the blackout curtains, he pondered the current state for a moment before reaching a conclusion. That he really had slept well. That there didn’t seem to have been a time recently when he’d slept more comfortably, longer, and deeper than this.
Then his mind became clear and he felt refreshed. Eunha, whose characteristically dry eyes rarely held something resembling vitality, spoke up again as if to emphasize.
“I slept well.”
Yeah.
And he was extremely pleased with that.
Which meant that day became the start of sleeping together.
* * *
One day, two days, three days…… They began sleeping and waking up together every day. His awkward fidgeting that didn’t suit him lasted only briefly—Eunha was able to roughly finish adapting in exactly one week. The high quality of life that good sleep brought made Eunha that way. Since he slept well, his condition improved, and then he reached an optimistic attitude that whatever was good was simply good.
While Eunha’s mind was clearing like that—the very young same-sex lover he’d unexpectedly ended up with, who wasn’t even planned, didn’t think of leaving Eunha’s side like a piece of gum stuck to him during that week. Part of the reason for the quick adaptation was thanks to spending time together all day in a way that made it impossible not to adapt.
Except for briefly stopping by his family home for dinner and going to meet his high school friends once, Yeonjun really stayed attached to Eunha’s side the entire time. Sleeping together, waking up together. After roughly having a light meal, going to the cafe together, hovering nearby helping as if assisting while he managed the plants, sitting settled in a corner of the store waiting for Eunha while he briefly worked. Then after getting off work, having dinner, naturally going on dates, and returning home again.
During that time, Yeonjun’s belongings naturally piled up bit by bit in Eunha’s house. Spare clothes and a toothbrush, the supplies he used for drawing, and various other miscellaneous things…….
One day, in the midst of that situation, Eunha thought carefully.
‘Isn’t this cohabitation?’
For some reason, the direction seemed to be flowing that way. It wasn’t that he was unwilling, but since it also seemed premature to go that far yet, Eunha spoke indirectly.
“Don’t you have any plans for vacation or something?”
He was also genuinely curious. Because these days, Yeonjun was living a life that was truly the epitome of an idle college student. It was pure curiosity. Does this kid have no schedule if not for me, he wondered.
It was a weekday morning. When he was tending to the plants after going to work as always. Yeonjun, who had helped a few times recently and was assisting from the side with hands that had become somewhat skilled in the meantime, looked back at Eunha.
“Mmm. I think I have a lot.”
“If you have a lot, then you have a lot—what’s with ‘I think’?”
“There’s a lot I want to do.”
“Like what?”
“First, getting my license and-.”
Eunha nodded, taking a posture of listening silently. Then at the words that followed, he had to make an absurd expression as if thrown off. Learning to cook. Increasing alcohol tolerance. Practicing eating spicy food well…… Strangely, they were all things he’d heard somewhere before.
It was from some time ago. When Yeonjun had asked him about his ideal type, he had deliberately listed elements opposite to his characteristics in order to build a wall. A hollow breath escaped on its own.
“……You’ve been remembering all that this whole time?”
“Because I want to look good to you, hyung.”
“You know I said that on purpose.”
“Still, just in case?”
He retorted as if joking. Right. It seemed half a joke, but also seemed about half sincere. Because I want to look good to you. For just that reason, he’d kept remembering those things all along without forgetting.
Not knowing how to answer, he was delaying with an ambiguous expression when Yeonjun let out a slight laugh and opened his mouth first.
“But I do want to get my license. Since you’re always the one driving, hyung.”
A supplementary explanation followed that it had bothered him often. Of all the trivial things…… Eunha muttered and asked again, letting out a small snort.
“Other than stuff like that, what else?”
“Stuff like that?”
“Things not related to me.”
