Anyway, in order to not become his target anymore, he needed to get along with other people at an appropriate level. Sungjin steeled his mind and nodded.
“Okay. Then I’ll be comfortable. You can be comfortable too.”
As long as he didn’t suddenly go around saying “hey” and “you,” it didn’t matter if he dropped honorifics. Then Jiyoon answered brightly with a smiling face.
“Oh, is that okay? Then let’s do that! I’m ill-mannered, so speaking casually is more comfortable for me.”
His attitude, which seemed to have no reserve or shame, was even a bit enviable. Sungjin probably could never have Jiyoon’s sociability even if he died and came back to life.
“Are you going in to rest now?”
Jiyoon had already changed into comfortable clothes as if he’d quickly washed up and come out, and his hair also felt slightly wet.
“Yeah. There are several bathrooms here, so you can choose one to use. The women’s rooms are on the 2nd floor, so as long as you don’t go up to the 2nd floor… Ah! You said hyung did the interior here, right?”
The other participants seemed to not even listen with one ear, but he remembered that. Sungjin felt embarrassed for no reason but also a bit proud as his shoulders rose while answering.
“Yeah. I also helped with the setting….”
“Wow. Really? That’s cool. You seem like a professional.”
If the definition of professional was limited to ‘a person who has a related degree and works in that field,’ it wasn’t wrong. Sungjin’s mood improved at the compliment Jiyoon gave nonchalantly, but only for a moment before he quickly lost interest.
“Ah, then I’ll go to my room first. Find an empty bathroom and use it~.”
Sungjin stared blankly at Jiyoon’s back as he disappeared without giving him time to feel more proud, then his face turned red. Why are you getting happy over a meaningless comment he made?
Except for what Jiyoon had just said, no one had praised Sungjin’s hard work, but it seemed clear that everyone was satisfied with this space.
‘I hope they like the bedroom too.’
He agonized for days because he wanted to create a comfortable yet sensuous atmosphere. To other people’s eyes, it might seem like what’s the big deal to put so much effort into it, but to Sungjin, it was a very important part.
A home, especially a bedroom, should be the most comfortable space for the user. At the same time, it should look good and faithfully fulfill the role of comfortably restoring the body.
However, this time there was one more condition to fulfill. It wasn’t simply a space for playing, eating, and resting, but a place where people with various experiences gather to radiate each other’s charm, so it had to be sophisticated enough to support those people’s charm.
The time to check the reaction to that result was gradually approaching. He had stopped by briefly earlier to drop off his luggage, but he was too busy to see a proper reaction.
Sungjin stood blankly in the hallway, then suddenly came to his senses and headed to the bedroom. Not knowing what other quagmire was waiting for him there.
***
“……?”
What? Sungjin, who entered the bedroom, was flustered. The carrier he had definitely left when he came in briefly to drop off his luggage earlier was nowhere to be seen. Precisely, it had disappeared without a trace from where he had placed it.
‘Where did it go?’
When Sungjin entered the bedroom, he had placed his carrier in front of the bed attached to the right wall, located in the deepest part. He had placed it right up against it so anyone could see it was a bed someone had claimed, so there was no way someone else would have moved it carelessly. But where the hell did it go?
With cameras filming the bedroom 24 hours a day, there wouldn’t be a bold thief who would touch other people’s things. Moreover, on top of the bed Sungjin had claimed, another person’s luggage was piled up.
“Uh….”
When Sungjin looked around the bedroom in surprise, another participant who was looking at his phone on the bed asked. Perhaps everyone was taking care of their own business, as only he and Sungjin were in the bedroom.
“Are you looking for something?”
Sungjin desperately tried to speak without letting a whining voice come out.
“I had left my carrier over here. I don’t see it where I left it.”
“Ah~. What color is it?”
“Navy. Did you happen to see it?”
Then he shrugged and gestured somewhere with his head.
“Isn’t that it? I think that’s it.”
What was in the direction he pointed was a bed located in the middle position, without walls attached on either side. When Sungjin hurriedly turned around, just as he said, his carrier was in the space under the bed.
“Oh. Why is that there…?”
Sungjin was relieved that he hadn’t lost his carrier, but he didn’t feel refreshed.
“Thank you for letting me know.”
“No, it’s nothing. I think it probably got pushed while other people were organizing their luggage.”
“Yes….”
It was a bit unsettling, but rather than being displeased thinking someone had moved his luggage and taken the bed, it was better to just pass it off as nothing.
If I’d known this would happen, I should have just put it on top of the bed. Some of the other participants had done that, but Sungjin didn’t want to dirty the space where he would lie down and rest by putting his bag on it. So he had timidly placed it in front, and this is what happened. It was unfortunate, but he decided to shake it off thinking it was just a bed anyway.
‘Let’s hurry up, wash, and sleep.’
Tired, Sungjin took out pajamas and underwear to change into from his carrier and headed to the shower room. He didn’t know yet that the night’s ordeal wasn’t over.
***
A little later, Sungjin, who had washed in the shower booth in the bathroom and come out, almost fainted as soon as he opened the bedroom door. That terrifying and beautiful existence whose thoughts he couldn’t know was leaning against the backrest next to his bed, wearing a headset and looking at a tablet PC, then raised his head to look at him.
‘Why is it the seat next to me of all places?’
Of course, although the room was spacious, they had crammed six queen-size beds into one room, so it would be hard to avoid Lee Yuwon being in his field of vision no matter which bed he used. Even so, the only words that came out were really ‘why of all places.’
Sungjin took one step at a time, his head deeply bowed, looking only at the floor. It was an action he had become familiar with during his school days to move without being noticed by the so-called popular crowd. When he did this, everyone usually just ignored him like an invisible person, but Lee Yuwon had no such mercy.
“Did you wash up?”
At the sudden question, Sungjin almost shrank his shoulders but barely calmed down and answered.
“Ah, yes.”
Yuwon didn’t let Sungjin go and immediately asked.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Uh….”
Why are you curious about that? Sungjin didn’t blurt out what he thought inside and answered calmly.
“I’m going to sleep now. Maybe because I did physical work during the day, I’m a bit tired.”
“……”
Yuwon still stared intently at Sungjin with an unreadable face, then turned his head sharply.
“Okay, whatever.”
What, really. It doesn’t seem like he has anything particular to say either. Anyway, Yuwon didn’t seem to have any intention of bothering Sungjin for the moment. Not missing this opportunity, he quickly headed to the bed and burrowed into the blanket.
Please, no one talk to me now. Earnestly praying inside, he pulled the blanket up to cover even the top of his head. Then peace finally arrived. A little later, he heard the sounds of other participants who had entered the room chattering, but he had no desire to participate in the conversation.
‘I have to endure this for six more nights.’
Even if he somehow succeeded in surviving, he had to endure another week. No matter how he thought about it, it was absurd. If it were up to him, he wanted to pack his bags and go home right now. Right now was harder to endure than military life.
Thinking about it now, he seemed to have had quite lucky military life. What was both an advantage and disadvantage of military life? It was being able to meet people from various environments that are difficult to encounter in one’s ordinary daily life. Moreover, rank automatically increased just by time passing.
Among Sungjin’s seniors, there was an otaku with even more loser-like tastes than Sungjin. Thanks to him viewing Sungjin quite favorably, Sungjin was able to finish his military life without being bullied by other seniors or peers.
Was it because he didn’t properly experience trials and tribulations then? Sungjin barely fell asleep while thinking, ‘I’d rather enlist for 2 weeks if they told me to, that would be better,’ the kind of thought that other participants would be shocked to hear.
And that night. Sungjin suffered from a long nightmare. It felt stuffy as if a large rock was placed on his chest, and cold sweat flowed over his forehead. Was I having sleep paralysis? After suffering for a while, Sungjin barely opened his eyes. Then he saw something like a lump sitting on his chest. What is it? He wanted to scream in surprise, but no sound came out.
