Whether Donghyeok hadn’t heard a thing or had caught on to everything and was pretending otherwise, he kept himself busy shaking out the bedding. He packed the duvet, pillowcases, and pajamas all into the basket he’d brought, rolled up the packaging waste neatly and tucked it away, then hurried off toward the main building.
All of the embarrassment was left behind — entirely Seowoo’s to carry.
“……Shall we go?”
They passed through the gate and walked toward the daycare, and Seowoo’s cheeks felt warm. He glanced back and found Lee Hyeon still smiling to himself. Even he seemed unaccustomed to smiling like that — he stuck the tip of his tongue out slightly, then bit down on his lower lip.
Good grief.
“I think you’re under a big misunderstanding right now — those are my blankets. The ones Dano and I used to share were getting too worn out, and I didn’t like the color anyway.”
“Did I say anything.”
Oh for—……
That was worse than saying nothing at all. Seowoo decided to keep his mouth shut.
A brief silence settled between them. The blossoms had long since fallen, and the streets were lush with green. The two of them walked side by side, stepping through patches of sunlight filtering down between the leaves. Aside from the gently drifting scent, it was a quiet walk.
When the yellow daycare building came into view, Lee Hyeon spoke again.
“So you’re sleeping at your place tonight.”
“……Yes, more or less.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
And then, as though he hadn’t said a word, he walked right past Seowoo and headed toward the daycare with long, easy strides. Seowoo followed a beat behind. He made a deliberate effort to ignore the flush creeping up his neck.
* * *
That night.
“Come in.”
Despite this being the night of their first shared sleep — arrived at after every conceivable form of deliberation — Seowoo greeted him in a relatively composed tone.
Lee Hyeon, too, stepped through the front door with an unhurried expression. The only heavy thing was the thud of the door closing behind him.
The house was as clean as the day they’d first moved in after the renovations. Seowoo had swept and scrubbed every corner of it all evening, to the point where he was bracing himself for sore muscles the next day. It wasn’t his first visit, of course — but there was a clear difference between someone dropping in unannounced and being invited in with his own two hands, and that wasn’t something he could brush past carelessly.
Seowoo wiped his damp palms on his pants and studied Lee Hyeon. He was standing there with an expression that was slightly different from before. If the first day had been all curiosity and assessment, today there was something quietly tense beneath the surface. Though it was possible he only perceived it that way because he himself was so on edge.
He gestured toward a chair and pulled it out, and Lee Hyeon came over and sat down without resistance.
“Can I get you something to drink? Beer?”
“No — alcohol actually keeps me up if anything.”
“……”
“Have some if you need it.”
“I don’t need it either.”
The blunt reply cut the conversation dead. Talking over the phone hadn’t felt this awkward. Unable to bear it any longer, Seowoo balled his hands into fists and blurted out —
“Then I’ll get ready for bed.”
Ugh. Seowoo immediately squeezed his eyes shut. Lee Hyeon, sitting across from him, didn’t so much as flicker in expression or complexion.
Seowoo left him where he was and headed straight for the master bedroom, pushing the door open. The room was dim and quiet with only the sleep lamp on — and on the bed, Dano was asleep beneath a colorful character-print duvet. The white bedding Seowoo had bought that afternoon and already run through the wash was laid out carefully on the floor below the bed.
He pulled a fresh set of pajamas from the dresser drawer and spun around — nearly planting his nose directly into Lee Hyeon’s chest.
“……!”
When did he follow me in. His eyes, which had nearly leapt out of his head, blinked rapidly, and Lee Hyeon raised one finger to his lips — shh, a gesture to keep quiet.
Lee Hyeon reached out and pulled the half-closed dresser drawer back open. Then he leaned in close enough that their foreheads nearly touched, and whispered.
“Is this mine?”
What he had taken out was the third set of pajamas — the one Donghyeok had picked out and tucked in. Lee Hyeon’s gaze moved in turn from Dano lying on the bed, to Seowoo. Three sets of pajamas in the same design, in other words.
Seowoo’s eyes darted every which way, and he swallowed dryly.
“……Yes.”
He couldn’t bring himself to say no. He couldn’t explain why he’d done it. Was it because Lee Hyeon’s eyes were too pretty? He couldn’t snatch the pajamas back and say they weren’t his and he wasn’t allowed to wear them.
“I’ll go wash up.”
He’d expected at least one teasing remark — but Lee Hyeon simply gave Seowoo’s shoulder one brief stroke, that was all. He turned his back right away and headed for the bathroom, and Seowoo finally managed to breathe. He clutched his hammering chest and scrambled into his pajamas in a flustered rush.
Even after lying down beside Dano, it took a long while for him to calm down — enough to worry him. His body was unpredictable enough on a normal day. All Seowoo could do was desperately hope that sleeping in the same room like this would actually do something.
About ten minutes must have passed. The sound of a hair dryer started up from the direction of the bathroom. While Seowoo was debating whether to just pretend to be asleep, the lights in the kitchen and living room clicked off, one by one.
“……”
But the man now filling the doorway of the master bedroom didn’t lie down immediately — he stood there looking at Seowoo.
“We’re supposed to sleep together. Am I meant to sleep on the floor alone?”
“What?”
He gestured with his chin toward the bedding laid out on the floor.
“You said those were your blankets.”
He was telling Seowoo to come down from the bed too.
“Wouldn’t just being in the same room be enough for the pheromones to share?”
Lee Hyeon’s only response was a raised eyebrow.
“……”
Seowoo clutched the character-print duvet like a lifeline. While he worked on steadying his quickening breath, Lee Hyeon stood waiting with his arms folded. His entire posture suggested he was ready to turn around and leave at any moment.
“Make up your mind within reason. You’ve come this far either way.”
“……”
He let go of the character duvet at last. Right — if he was going to do this, he may as well do it properly. Steeling himself, Seowoo climbed down from the bed and wriggled himself into the floor bedding.
Then he lay on his side, turning his back toward the space where Lee Hyeon would lie. Turning his back was the most defense Seowoo could manage.
“I’ll sleep here. We just need to sleep, right.”
Lee Hyeon closed the bedroom door without hesitation, as if he’d been waiting for exactly that. A soft click — and just as the surprise faded, the covers beside him were lifted in one smooth motion. A warm presence settled at his back, and at the same moment, Lee Hyeon’s scent rushed over him all at once.
“Good night.”
“Good night.”
Even after exchanging goodnights, his shoulders refused to unknot. Seowoo lay still in the dark, only his eyes blinking. The bedding rustled at the slightest movement, so he couldn’t so much as twitch a fingertip.
There’s no way I’m going to sleep.
Professor Lee is a complete quack……
They were a full hand’s width apart, and yet he could feel body heat as though they were touching. Every breath they took sent pheromones spilling out and pooling together. It was seeping in far more deeply than during the day.
“I think holding you might actually be better.”
Lee Hyeon murmured it, then reached out without any warning. He wrapped Seowoo up, blanket and all, pulled him in, and tucked him into his chest, lightly patting his hand against Seowoo’s front.
“Lee Hyeon?!”
“Relax. There’s no sleeping like this.”
“……”
“Hold still.”
The sensation of their bodies pressed together all at once made his head swim. Seowoo squeezed his eyes shut. Lee Hyeon’s breath scattered across the top of his head, Lee Hyeon’s chest pressed against his back — and even with a thick duvet between them, it felt like bare skin against bare skin.
And yet the thought of pulling away didn’t come to him, which was strange in itself.
“……I’m not tense.”
He answered in a slightly cracked voice, and a short, laugh-edged exhale drifted above his head.
“Sure. Let’s say that.”
Seowoo glanced up at the bed. Beneath the soft glow of the yellow sleep lamp, Dano was fast asleep in a bizarre position, completely dead to the world. Seeing that small mouth fall slightly open in a little triangle shape as he breathed in and out in tiny, steady puffs — Seowoo’s heart gradually settled.
When he closed his eyes again, breathing came a little easier than before. His heart was still beating fast, but his body was no longer stiff the way it had been. In fact, responding to Lee Hyeon’s pheromones, the tension was slowly draining out from his fingertips and toes. In time with the light patting against his chest, his heartbeat was finding its way back to something normal.
Like sinking into a hot bath, his body slowly unwound. The more he let go and let himself breathe in long, slow draws, the more Lee Hyeon’s arms began to feel like somewhere he could rest.
When quite some time had passed, Lee Hyeon whispered in the smallest of voices.
“Better now.”
Seowoo didn’t reply — only acknowledged it quietly, to himself. And in the same moment, he fell into a deep sleep, as though dropping off a ledge.
In the early hours of the morning, Seowoo was woken by something pressing into his chest. He forced his heavy eyes open and was just trying to push himself upright when the solid, heavy arm draped over his shoulder suddenly fell away. Seowoo startled so violently he gasped.
“Hyeon?”
Fumbling through the memories of the night, Seowoo finally came back to himself — and only then noticed Dano, face buried in his chest.
“Daddy……”
Cradled in his arms was a three-year-old wearing an expression like the world had ended.
