“How many hours haven’t you slept?”
– Hmm…… since yesterday? No, since the day before.
It was past midnight, well into the early hours.
It seemed he’d gone the entire previous night without sleeping a wink either. No wonder he was in that kind of state.
I clicked my tongue inwardly, but noticed that his voice was more languid than before — he sounded like he was getting drowsy.
“Then tell me about your love life.”
– What love life?
“Past relationships, current ones — your entire romantic history.”
– …….
I figured that since he was barely coherent with exhaustion, he’d let something slip without thinking — so I’d cast out my fishing line. But Kwon Wookyung, my target fish, refused to take the bait and kept his mouth firmly shut.
“What. Is it a secret even from me?”
– It’s not a secret or anything — there’s just nothing to tell.
“Nothing, really? You had a dating scandal, you know.”
– I don’t know what you’ve been looking at, but that’s not true.
“Really? Wow…… what a letdown. You seemed close with that former child actor, Jung Seowon.”
I dropped the name outright, ears perked up.
I’d switched to bigger bait — but this fish swatted the hook away with his tail fin.
– Jung Seowon…? Are you interested in him?
And then he turned the arrow of the question right back at me.
“No… it’s just surprising, right? That drama he did when he was little was fun, and he’s good-looking too. But you two seemed close so I was curious.”
– We’re not close.
His clipped answer made it blatantly obvious he was in a bad mood.
– In person he’s nothing special, and his personality is even worse.
And then he spent a considerable amount of time explaining just how unimpressive Jung Seowon was.
It was unexpected. On screen, the two of them had seemed warm and close. Had it all been an act for the cameras? Kwon Wookyung seemed to genuinely dislike Jung Seowon. The countless Kwon & Jung shippers online would be devastated to hear this.
“Wow, I’m kind of coming to my senses. I liked him because there were a lot of good stories about him.”
– It’s all a front. Don’t like him.
He was so serious about it that the last line came out almost like a command.
“Okay, okay. I only asked because I was wondering if you’d dated him or something.”
– Me…? Me and Jung Seowon? Why would I?
“Huh? I’m saying there was a scandal?”
The conversation was drifting off at a strange angle. Kwon Wookyung kept saying things like why are you looking at stuff like that, don’t pay attention to it — on and on.
“Okay fine, forget it — do you have a partner? Have you ever had one?”
– No, and no.
I was at a loss for words for a moment.
“Ha — not even one? I mean… there are so many attractive people in the entertainment industry?”
What has this boring guy been doing with his life if not dating? His pickiness from his school days was apparently alive and well.
I’d been expecting exciting adult romance — and instead I was so deflated that I genuinely started to worry about Kwon Wookyung. If this guy wasn’t an actor, he’d probably never leave the house, grow old in isolation, and die alone.
– I only spend time with people because of work… they all show a different face behind closed doors.
He said that and let out a deep sigh — and the way it came through felt like he was breathing right next to my ear, which gave me a brief, faint case of goosebumps. I pulled the warm phone away from my cheek and set it on the bed. I felt drowsy.
“Like you?”
– What do you mean?
“You seem sociable and warm on broadcasts too, don’t you? Can’t you tell that actor Kwon Wookyung and the real you are completely different people?
Who exactly are you criticizing, you Jung Seowon of a guy.
– …….
Kwon Wookyung, hit right where it hurt, stayed silent for a while.
It was both a relief and a genuine worry — that the Kwon Wookyung who delivered lines like “I thought I’d die from wanting to see you” to someone only existed on screen.
Twenty-four and never dated anyone. I feel like the world has been pulling a hidden camera prank on me. Haahm……
I let out a long yawn. I’d been forcing my eyes open, but now sleep was crashing over me in waves I couldn’t fight off.
– Sleepy?
“Yeah…… I think I’m going to fall asleep first.”
It seemed I’d have to give up on putting the insomniac to sleep here.
I couldn’t hold on any longer.
– Sleep if you’re sleepy. I’ll hang up on my own.
My eyelids were too heavy. But I wanted to say this, so I mumbled through my thickening pronunciation.
“You…… try liking something, anything. There are so many beautiful things in this world……”
Why are you living so lonely without anyone to give your heart to, it makes me sad……
I don’t know if I finished what I was trying to say.
I had simply drifted off to sleep.
I know what’s beautiful too
I know how to love something
Shin Haehyeon
Sleep well
Don’t go far away
……That was as far as I caught it in my sleep.
When I came to, it was early morning.
The dim outside world filtering through the curtains still seemed half-asleep itself, and it felt strangely out of place.
My wake-up time was far earlier than usual, and for a moment I thought the wall clock had broken.
“Six thirty……”
By my standards, this was the dead of the early morning.
I’d fallen asleep on the phone with Kwon Wookyung until the early hours, so I couldn’t have slept many hours at all. And yet my body felt unusually light — the quality of sleep must have been good. I could feel it the moment I sat up and stretched.
When did I fall asleep? I turned on my phone, which had switched off on its own while I slept — the call log showed three hours and twelve minutes.
Over three hours. Did we really talk that long yesterday? It didn’t feel like that much. Hmm… maybe Kwon Wookyung dozed off and hung up late.
The brief moment of puzzlement vanished with a single yawn. I felt refreshed — no desire to go back to sleep.
Today feels like it’s going to be another good day, I thought, and opened my door — only to jump back in surprise.
“Haeyong?”
“Whine?”
I’d come face to face with Haeyong, who had just been reaching up to grab the door handle with his front paws. Standing upright like a person, Haeyong made an expression that could only be described as flustered — a wide-eyed “huh?!” look. It was the exact same face he made when caught rummaging through the food bag. My own startled reaction had pulled the handle inward, throwing off Haeyong’s balance and sending him tumbling forward before landing on all fours.
“You can open doors too? Aren’t you a little too smart, Yongyong?”
“Woof!”
I tickled him under the chin and he panted happily, clearly understanding it was a compliment.
He’s clearly very intelligent — he must have turned half-human as he grew up.
Just like Shin Haechan had said, with training it probably would be possible to get him to bite someone. Not that I had even the slightest intention of making our little cutie do something so savage.
“Wait…… you don’t actually speak human, do you? If you do, tell just your hyung in secret, okay?”
“Sniff.”
I whispered it like we were sharing a secret, but Haeyong just pressed his snout against my thigh and rubbed it there, sniffing away. Whether he understood or was playing dumb — the sudden effort to insist ‘I’m just a dog, I am’ only made him more suspicious.
“Alright. Let’s go down and eat.”
Haeyong clearly understood eat — he barked once, wagged his tail, and bounded down to the first floor. I followed that irresistibly adorable backside to the dining room. Unlike my room on the second floor, which was still sunk in sleep, the dining room smelled delicious and was already buzzing with the energy of morning.
“Why is our little rice pup up so early?”
Mom, moving back and forth between the kitchen, brightened the moment she saw me — and Dad, who had just sat down at the table and picked up his chopsticks, and my older hyung both turned to look.
“I don’t know. My eyes just opened early.”
Unlike me with my unhurried, practically lazy lifestyle, Dad and my older hyung were already dressed and ready for work. Seeing the two of them in their shirts made me embarrassed about my still-sleepy, disheveled hair at the back, so I pressed it down repeatedly. Even my younger hyung, who was on a leave of absence, was wide awake and drinking water like a normal person.
Seeing that even Haeyong was up early, it seemed I was the only one who slept in every day.
“Want some breakfast, Haehyeon?”
“Yeah. Let me go wash up first.”
I backed away toward the bathroom to hide the mess of hair at the back of my head. After washing my face and getting my hair roughly in order with water, I came back to the dining room to find chopsticks and a bowl of rice already set at my spot.
Haeyong, sweet as ever, had waited without eating until I sat down — and the moment I took my seat, he pressed his tail right against my feet and started eating his kibble. The sound of the kibble crunching between his teeth was adorable.
I wasn’t a big breakfast eater, so I picked up small amounts of rice with my chopsticks and chewed slowly. Mom didn’t sit down until she’d ladled out doenjang jjigae for me.
“Since Haehyeon’s up early, want to go to the mart with Mom this morning?”
“Sure, I’d love to.”
I liked the distinctly fresh air of supermarkets, so I sometimes tagged along with Mom to carry things. Seeing everything arranged in neat, orderly rows gave me a strange sense of calm.
I’ll buy a ton of snacks while we’re there, I was thinking — and just as I speared the rolled egg Mom had pushed toward me with my fork——
At that moment, my younger hyung sitting across from me muttered a quiet “Ah, damn it……” Not just me — Mom, Dad, and my older hyung all stopped moving their chopsticks and looked at Shin Haechan. Shin Haechan hung his head and stood up from his seat.
“I’m going to go stay at my officetel for a while.”
It was a completely out-of-nowhere announcement to make in the middle of a quiet breakfast. But Dad and my older hyung didn’t question it — they just nodded.
“At least finish eating before you go.”
Mom gave a mild attempt to hold him back.
“It’s fine. I’ll eat there.”
Shin Haechan shook his head sharply, acting like the most urgent thing in the world was to get out of there immediately.
“……What’s going on? Why is he like this?”
Am I the only one who doesn’t understand this situation?
I sent a puzzled look his way, and my younger hyung shot back a look that said you’re hopeless.
“You’re so dense.”
He even got one last dig in before I could say anything back.
“Hey — don’t go causing trouble just because I’m not here. Behave yourself.”
Shin Haechan disappeared like the wind, and Mom followed after him to see him off.
What did he eat to set him off like that……? The side dishes are all fine?
I deliberately chewed hard on the rolled egg dissolving softly in my mouth and glared in the direction Shin Haechan had vanished.
“Hyung, why is my younger hyung acting like that?”
“You really don’t know why Haechan is acting that way?”
My older hyung looked at my bewildered expression and explained calmly.
“His rut is about to start.”
