# Chapter 107
Come to think of it, Kang Dongha, who hadn’t contacted him for days, was also on his mind—perhaps he didn’t remember what happened when he was drunk. Lee Hwan had hit his neck and even taken pictures of his eyes, so he expected frantic calls as soon as Dongha woke up. He had planned to ignore everything and head to the research building…
‘But there was no interference at all.’
Lee Hwan had thought Dongha might still be passed out from the hangover, but when he entered the office to return the ID card, everything was neatly cleaned up. As if someone had come and gone in a sober state.
And then there was Jade. Jade probably wouldn’t return the drug. Was it because Lee Hwan had relied on him when he was sick and received meals twice? Lee Hwan now found himself increasingly concerned about Jade’s life and death.
‘Haaaaaah…’
Ruminating on all these thoughts, even if he went to bed early, his bedtime easily passed 3 or 4 AM. Even when he finally fell asleep, he would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night. He also had many dreams.
For the first two days, he had all kinds of nightmares. After that, as if his repertoire had been exhausted, all sorts of bizarre dreams started appearing.
Especially the dream from the previous night was indescribably strange. For some reason, Lee Hwan had become a cat in his dream. A cat with soft brown fur.
The young post-regression Taesung was sleeping on Jade’s sofa. Lee Hwan, with familiar ease, walked on all fours and carefully climbed onto the sofa, lying down on Taesung’s chest.
His belly was warm. With each rise and fall, he could smell Taesung’s scent. Lee Hwan suddenly felt so good that he perked his tail straight up.
The sleeping Taesung looked just like a sculpture crafted by a master artisan. His perfectly symmetrical, sharp nose bridge was even awe-inspiring. Somehow, Lee Hwan felt he could appreciate that well-defined brow and jaw all day long.
However, just enjoying it quietly made his heart beat so hard it could almost make a thumping sound. Lee Hwan, confused without knowing why, tried to jump down, but in that moment realized he was merely a cat.
‘…Meow?’
A cat could do this, couldn’t it? With that thought, Lee Hwan rubbed his face against Taesung’s body. Whatever it was that he liked, he even made purring sounds while licking the t-shirt thoroughly.
He rubbed against Taesung, who was in such deep sleep that he didn’t wake up, and even nibbled on his arms. He also enjoyed the sensation of squeezing between Taesung’s arms and feeling his body tightly pressed.
Being embarrassingly close to him like that, he felt at ease for the first time in his life. Well, that was because he was a cat. Cats were allowed to do such things.
Then, when he opened his eyes, his rationality slowly returned, and Lee Hwan silently screamed.
‘Damn it! Damn it, crazy, crazy! CRAZY! What kind of dream is this?’
Lee Hwan threw away the blanket he had been holding, almost convulsing. He was so startled that he threw it upward, and the bundled blanket fell back down on his head with a thud.
No matter how disturbed his state of mind was, how could he have such a bizarre dream beyond a mere strange one? Besides, what kind of logic was “it’s okay because I’m a cat,” even if it was just a dream?
Before the regression, he had leaned on Taesung or hugged him for comfort, but he had never rubbed against him like this. Even though it was a dream and one party was an animal, Lee Hwan felt unbearably hot with embarrassment.
So he neatly folded up that dream, tied it to a heavy stone, and threw it into the deep river in his mind…
But at dawn, in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening, the memory kept popping up to torment him.
‘What a relief that the person himself doesn’t know the content of the dream…’
There was no way to know what his subconscious was trying to say, but anyway, because of it, Lee Hwan was now thinking about Taesung more frequently than before, even though he wasn’t anywhere in sight.
What made it more problematic was that Taesung was involved in everything. The regression, Jade, the TF meetings and the Health Promotion Association, and…
[Yeomhwa: Sir]
That damn fan site too.
After logging in to the fan site after several days, there was a message in the chat room format on his personal page. The sender was even the site administrator. The first word was ‘Sir’.
Could there be a problem with the post he had haphazardly uploaded? Lee Hwan quickly looked for the post he had written.
Comments 29 ▼
[Seong-anae] What is this?
└ [Seong-anae] Is this real?
└ [Mirong] As if it would be
[Mirong] Is this a fake or delusion? In my dreams, my Aesung likes vanilla ice cream too lol
[Jinbul-i] I know because I’ve married Aesung, it’s fake
└ [Yorang] How many times has this bastard married Aesung? Get lost already
└ [Jinbul-i] I’ll invite you to the next wedding(✿◡‿◡)
[Mapdal-lawsuit-taesung-rose…] Reason why we can’t determine authenticity: Never seen Aesung smile with satisfaction
└ [Fire-attribute-spouse] lolololololol
└ [Yorang] lolololololololol
└ [Yorang] Reason 2: Never seen Aesung eat anything
└ [Jinbul-i] Our Aesung lives on my love alone
└ [Yorang] I said get lost already
[Aesicool] What does it mean that he’ll stop appearing in Geoje Island from the end of this year?
└ [Mirong] Yeah.. it’s all nonsense but we’ll see if that part’s fake if we wait and see?
└ [Yorang] Probably gonna change their nickname at the end of the year and post that Aesung likes cheese popcorn
[Mirong] Seems like just a fantasy party lol They posted once and disappeared
⤷ Show more comments (12)
Well. For a first post, it had exploded with comments, but there didn’t seem to be any particular issue to be concerned about. If the problem was that the content of the post was false, that user who claimed to have married Taesung multiple times would have been kicked out of the fan site long ago.
‘But why… would the administrator send me a private message, not just another user…?’
Lee Hwan was confused and returned to the message, pondered for a while, and then replied.
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: Yes?]
Then, as if they had been waiting, as though notifications were set, a ‘1’ mark quickly appeared again on the message.
[Yeomhwa: Your reply is late]
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: Yes? Oh… I’ve been busy.]
[Yeomhwa: I commented on your post]
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: Yes]
[Yeomhwa: Where did you get that information?]
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: Yes?]
The immediate response was surprising, but the content was even more so. When Lee Hwan stopped typing, the other person’s questions also paused briefly.
Lee Hwan, who had been thinking he might be cursed and kicked out for spreading false information, was taken aback by this unexpected response and blankly stared at his phone screen.
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: Ah that’s… a work-related secret]
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: But wait… you believe my post?]
It seemed like he’d had a similar conversation with Jade. Lee Hwan felt déjà vu as he scratched the nape of his neck.
If the response to his post had been positive, he wouldn’t have been so nervous. However, every comment treated him like a pathological liar.
Judging by the state of the site’s posts and comments, it seemed that people often lied with ridiculous content, but why would the administrator believe this post?
[Yeomhwa: Well…]
[Yeomhwa: I know some of those things myself]
‘What?’
Which ones? Who? Why? Lee Hwan momentarily felt an odd displeasure rising but quickly suppressed the emotion, wondering what he was thinking.
It was just one aspect of Taesung. There was no rule saying others couldn’t know. Of course, before the regression, he had been the only one that close to Taesung, but it could be different in this timeline.
For example, someone like Jade.
‘No, but Jade is not just someone close…’
Although he constantly called himself a monitor, anyone could see he was someone who acted as a somewhat careless protector. He was different. He couldn’t be compared to Taesung’s “fan.”
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: You know? Who are you to know that?]
The tone of the hastily sent message was understandably not polite. He had confidently written “sorry if others know this too” at the end of his post, but in reality, he thought no one would know these things.
[Yeomhwa: ?]
[Yeomhwa: Who do you think you are to ask for my personal information?]
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: No…. you approached me first.]
[Yeomhwa: Actually, I should be asking you. What kind of associate are you to know such things? It’s not just Kang Taesung’s address or something like that.]
But when questioned about his identity by the other party, Lee Hwan realized he had nothing to say.
In this post-regression world, what exactly was Kang Taesung to him? How should he explain his relationship with him?
A friend? No. A colleague? Not that either. But to call him an enemy would be quite ambiguous and subtle.
Initially, Taesung had avoided him, then he had avoided Taesung, but now he couldn’t stay away from or get close to him as he was entangled in stopping the monster wave.
Yet, the more distance grew between them, the more a willing emotion surged from deep within his chest whenever he thought of Taesung. It gradually became heavier, and recently, just the mention of his name would mercilessly mix up his thoughts and make him lose himself.
It was a sensation beyond simple gladness, closer to happiness. And at the same time, it was also a thirst. A strange yet tender feeling he had never experienced with any “friend” in his not-so-short life.
‘….’
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: A friend.]
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: I just joined out of boredom.]
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: Because I found a fan site I’d never seen before.]
Lee Hwan took a deep breath and sent the message as if being chased, hurriedly pushing away the sweet feeling that was starting to fill him without permission, adding an excuse. It really felt like his heart sank for a moment.
Then, as if confirming, the administrator asked for more detailed information.
[Yeomhwa: A friend? High school friend?]
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: Kang Taesung has been homeschooled since middle school.]
[JuJuLeeHwanHwan: Are you testing me?]
[Yeomhwa: Seems like you’re telling the truth.]
That arrogant Yeomhwa bastard. Lee Hwan gritted his teeth as he flicked his empty tumbler with his finger, making a ‘ting’ sound. He was displeased with being tested, but he was also embarrassed at how shaken he had been by a single question about his relationship with Taesung.
When Lee Hwan pouted and didn’t reply, this time the administrator revealed their own story. Perhaps because they had already read the information post and determined its authenticity, plus Lee Hwan had revealed his identity first, they seemed to lower their guard more than expected.
[Yeomhwa: I’m just, my mother was a homeschooling teacher.]
[Yeomhwa: I’ve heard some stories… so I know a little. That’s all.]
