‘There’s no way he’ll come.’
One leg resting on the floor trembled anxiously.
‘He’s definitely not coming.’
Yeohwi let out a deep sigh and ran his hand through his hair. Through the gaps between his fingers, thin strands of hair became disheveled and messy. It wasn’t like he’d gotten a proper answer in the bathroom earlier. As time passed, his uncertainty about Dowon only grew.
But then, at that moment.
Click.
The sound of the bedroom door handle turning rang out loudly. In reality, it was a very small sound, but to Yeohwi’s ears, it sounded as tremendous as thunder. Yeohwi straightened his posture on the sofa.
Through the slowly opening door, Dowon walked in.
He had just finished showering, but he wasn’t wearing a robe. He was dressed in black slacks and a thin cotton T-shirt.
His wet black hair, saturated with moisture, gleamed smoothly like metal. As he lightly shook off his hair with the towel hanging around his neck, transparent water droplets scattered into the air before falling onto his collarbone and shoulder line.
“Dowon-ssi.”
When Yeohwi called out to him, Dowon’s movements stopped abruptly.
Sharp eyes revealed between strands of wet hair turned toward Yeohwi, who was looking up at him.
“Dowon-ssi… You, you came.”
Yeohwi murmured dreamily from the sofa. He couldn’t even bring himself to stand up in greeting. Just looking at Dowon with wide-open eyes was more than enough.
Dowon stared at Yeohwi’s face like that for a moment, then his gaze slid over to the perfectly prepared bed beside him.
A sense of déjà vu washed over him.
The memory of their first night—which felt like ages ago but had only been half a year—flashed through his mind. Back then, Dowon had sat arrogantly on the sofa waiting for Yeohwi to finish washing, and Yeohwi, who entered the bedroom late, had been trembling.
Young Seong Yeohwi, dripping with water and not knowing what to do, and cold Dowon observing him… But now, as one could see, the situation was reversed.
Dowon’s brow furrowed.
“…I knew this wouldn’t work.”
“What?”
“This is a mistake. I won’t do what you’re asking.”
Dowon roughly threw the wet towel onto the nightstand. And instead of approaching the bed, he silently turned around.
He was leaving the bedroom.
“…!”
Yeohwi jumped up. The chair slid backward, scraping the floor, as his large body rushed forward.
Dowon was trying to leave. He had to stop him.
“No!”
Yeohwi, who had rushed over desperately, grabbed his arm. The rough, coarse texture of the bandaged hand could be felt even through the T-shirt.
“Move.”
Dowon, who had stopped, turned his head and looked down at Yeohwi with cold eyes. Yeohwi clung to him desperately.
“You can’t go. I won’t let you leave.”
His moist eyes were pleading.
“Seong Yeohwi.”
Dowon opened his mouth to coldly shake off Yeohwi. But Yeohwi was faster.
He turned to block the door with his body and pressed the switch on the wall with his back. In an instant, all the lights in the room went out. The bedroom was plunged into pitch-black darkness, and only the faint, bluish light from downtown Seoul shining through the window illuminated the silhouettes of the two men.
“I’ll turn off the lights first.”
Yeohwi’s voice rang out softly in the darkness. If you listened carefully, it was trembling a little, but it also revealed a stubbornness that refused to back down.
“This way, you can’t see anything. You can’t see my face either. You won’t even know who’s beside you.”
Before Dowon’s eyes could adjust to the darkness, Yeohwi pulled him along. He wrapped his arms around his waist and led him toward the bed without hesitation. Dowon tried to stand firm, but Yeohwi was desperate. Eventually, the two of them stood in front of the bed.
“See? It’s so dark. If you lie down and close your eyes too, you won’t know at all. It’ll be exactly the same as sleeping alone, won’t it?”
“You’re going to cling to me.”
“I won’t. What are you talking about?”
“You did. In Switzerland.”
“That was just then. Now is different.”
“What’s different?”
“It’s different. I’ve matured.”
“You’re the same. Just good with words.”
“Anyway, it’s different. Just lie down.”
“Ha…”
A deep sigh burst from Dowon. It was a heavy breath mixed with regret, self-reproach, and inevitable resignation. This was clearly a mistake. A wrong choice. But something like a thorn was stuck in his throat, making it impossible to turn back. That faint hesitation caught Dowon’s ankle.
Dowon slowly laid his body on the bed.
The mattress sank heavily, accepting his weight.
Lying flat on his back facing the ceiling, Dowon clasped his hands over his stomach and stared at the pitch-black void without closing his eyes. His head was a tangled mess. His rational circuits were paralyzed, and only his five senses came alive sensitively. He definitely wasn’t in his right mind.
Soon, there was a rustling sound beside him as the blanket was lifted. Yeohwi crawled into the bed.
The subtle vibration transmitted through the mattress. The warmth filling the space beside him. And the subtle scent of Dowon’s cedarwood fragrance.
For Yeohwi, who had slept alone his entire life, the presence of another person on the bed was so unfamiliar it felt alien. It felt like every hair on his body was standing on end. And it was the same for Dowon. He too found Yeohwi unfamiliar.
“…”
Dowon blinked slowly. He couldn’t see anything in the darkness, but he could clearly feel Yeohwi fidgeting. Tsk, he clicked his tongue inwardly and closed his eyes. Perhaps this strange sensation would disappear if he blocked his vision.
“I’m sleeping.”
Dowon muttered lowly.
“…Yes. Sleep well.”
Yeohwi’s voice came from right beside him, very close. Close enough for their breaths to touch. Dowon frowned.
He turned over to show his back, trying to force himself to sleep, when something approached from within the blanket. Without even needing to think, it was Seong Yeohwi. Despite spouting nonsense about not clinging or having matured, he had no intention of keeping such words from the start and stealthily pressed his body against Dowon’s side.
First their shoulders touched, then their arms.
And finally, Yeohwi’s arm carefully came up over Dowon’s waist.
Yeohwi tightly embraced Dowon with his bandaged arm. Then he buried his face in Dowon’s shoulder and pressed his entire body close. Like hugging a precious treasure chest he feared losing.
Their legs intertwined and their chests touched. As always, Seong Yeohwi’s regular, rapid heartbeat was transmitted completely to Dowon’s back. Thump, thump, thump. It was beating so hard it seemed like it would burst at any moment.
“Hey… You’re loud.”
“Oh, am I…? What should I do? Should I cover your ears?”
“You just need to move away.”
“Mm.”
Yeohwi only responded but stayed still just like that. Still embracing Dowon, he pressed his cheek against his nape.
After staying like that for a while, he murmured quietly.
“…Just listen for now, Dowon-ssi.”
Unlike his pounding heart, it was a very small, quiet voice like a whisper.
“My watch broke, you know.”
That watch that had shattered during the fight at the abandoned factory.
“We went through the trouble of matching them together, so it’s upsetting. So, about that… I want to have something else instead.”
Yeohwi’s breath tickled Dowon’s nape. Goosebumps ran down his spine.
“You’ll say you don’t want it, Dowon-ssi, but still, I think it would be nice to have something like… wedding rings. How about we get matching rings?”
“…”
Dowon naturally didn’t answer. He ignored it. Yeohwi also didn’t seem to be waiting for an answer.
“It’s just symbolic, isn’t it? Wedding rings. And just imagining what kind of ring would suit Dowon-ssi’s hand makes me feel really strange.”
Yeohwi put a little more strength into the arm wrapped around Dowon’s waist.
“Because Dowon-ssi’s fingers are really long and pretty. They go well with holding a fountain pen too. So when I think about a wedding ring on that hand, wow…”
As if just imagining it alone was overwhelming, Yeohwi murmured softly. He described it in succession as if drawing a ring placed on Dowon’s hand.
“The design shouldn’t be too fancy. I think a basic ring shape would suit you. Something simple would suit you best. The size should be a bit small. Tight on the finger, with the ring smaller than the knuckle so it absolutely won’t come off. To the point where you can’t remove it unless someone forcibly cuts it off with pliers. That way, you won’t lose it even if you die. Should we make it platinum, or…”
Yeohwi, who had been muttering to himself, gradually reduced his voice. His breathing subsided and soon became quiet.
“Well, I’m just saying.”
With those words as his last, Yeohwi didn’t open his mouth again. Dowon opened his eyes again in the darkness, then slowly closed them.
