Even though it always seemed like he was holding the knife handle, Raon, who at some point would get swept up by Jaehwi, blankly stared at him sleeping with his face buried in his chest.
Let’s sleep together. So he washed up thoroughly.
Bbobbo and the golem were there. They had a drink, put on a movie, and exchanged conversation in their own way.
He had clearly been leaning comfortably against his Jaehwi’s? No, he was practically embraced in his arms. While doing so, they shared moments where his toes curled, his lips dried out, and his heart pounded. Recalling Jaehwi’s warm and ticklish voice that had brushed his ear asking, “Shall we go to bed now?” Raon raised one hand.
With only the dim light coming in, he couldn’t confirm the bruise on his wrist, but this wrist was definitely the bruised wrist, and it was where Jaehwi’s lips and tongue tip had touched. But… Looking at his wrist, Raon looked at Jaehwi sleeping with his face buried in his chest, just like that time in his early childhood.
Looking helplessly at him sleeping deeply with even breathing, firmly embracing his waist with both arms, the corners of Raon’s mouth couldn’t help but rise upward. And he lowered the hand he was holding and stroked Jaehwi’s abundant and soft hair.
This must be what they mean by having different dreams in the same bed. It was his own fault for not being pure and having inappropriate thoughts. It wasn’t Jaehwi’s fault. Though it was different from what he had imagined, wasn’t this also sleeping? Very purely and cleanly, sleeping in its literal sense without any implicit meaning.
After carrying him to the bed in a princess carry, as soon as he put him down on the bed, Jaehwi burrowed into his arms. He tightly embraced his waist as he flinched in confusion, and buried his face in his chest—unlike himself who had expected something, Jaehwi didn’t move any further.
With energy in his hand, he continued to stroke his hair, but Jaehwi didn’t tell him not to guide like before, nor did he avoid his touch.
“He’s a kid. A kid.”
Though there would be nothing to say if asked where there exists such a kid with such a large build, such strength, and such stubbornness, he’s only twenty years old now, isn’t he? Though he says he believes his words about regressing, there’s no way he truly believes it. Jaehwi doesn’t know about that night we spent…
As he chewed over his thoughts and was putting down his feelings, Raon still grabbed Jaehwi’s hair at the sulky feeling that popped up with a thud and pulled it back.
“…Mmm.”
Though he hadn’t pulled it painfully, along with a grumbling sound filled with dissatisfaction, his waist was embraced even more tightly. Raon hurriedly released the hair he was holding.
“Sleep well. Sleep deeply. Don’t even dream, and let’s make up for all the sleep you couldn’t get until now, tonight.”
Raon, who gently rubbed the part of the hair he had pulled with his hand, placed his hand over Jaehwi’s exposed ear. He said that just being close provides guiding, and if any part of their bodies touches even slightly, the senses that had been raging unbelievably would subside.
Knowing that it would be fine since they were clinging together like one body, Raon still wanted to create a quiet time for Jaehwi.
* * *
He watched Jaehwi sleep all night. He covered his ear, then stroked his hair, touched his eyebrows, and looked at his handsome face again and again, but at some point, he seemed to have fallen asleep too. Well, after going through all sorts of battles—on the ground, water, and in the air—in the dungeon, eating a hearty dinner, and showering in warm water. Though not everything tangled up had been untangled yet, he had still put down the burden that had been weighing on his heart, and he was holding Jaehwi who was no different from a human heater, so it might have been natural to fall asleep.
Whether he had embraced him or he had been embraced in that broad chest while sleeping, he didn’t know, but in any case, unlike having fallen asleep together, realizing that the one who had been sharing warmth was gone, Raon slowly sat up.
“Hwiya.”
Calling softly for Jaehwi while feeling around the space beside him with his hand, Raon opened his eyes that he had been keeping closed. The space beside him, not knowing when he had left, held only a cold chill.
“Min Jaehwi!”
How can you run away every time we share the same bed? Though there were many times they fell asleep together, with the memory of waking up alone every time, Raon called for Jaehwi in a slightly louder voice while frowning.
“…Did you wake up?”
He was looking for Jaehwi, but after two short knocks, it was Jay who entered the bedroom. The corners of Raon’s eyes rose sharply. He urgently reached out to find his cell phone, checked the date, and breathed a sigh of relief, but the anxiety that had found him once didn’t easily subside.
“Where’s Jaehwi?”
“Two hours ago. He received contact from the Center and left.”
“Speak clearly. The Center? NCSC?”
Running his hand through his hair and throwing off the blanket to get down from the bed, Raon checked his cell phone while confirming Jay’s words once more.
“MK Center. It was a reinforcement request from A Beta Team.”
“A Beta is around here and it’s B-grade. Even if they request reinforcements, why would Jaehwi go!”
Having checked yesterday’s schedule and not hiding his displeasure, Raon headed to the bathroom.
“There were no A-grade Espers who could go out immediately.”
“Why! Then send multiple B-grades. Or send an entire team, why send Jaehwi? And I didn’t even give permission, so where does he think he’s going? It’s not even NCSC work.”
Though taking it out on Jay wouldn’t solve anything, Raon, who spoke without hesitation and called Jaehwi, bit his lower lip hard. If it was two hours ago, he would have already entered the dungeon. As expected, when the call didn’t connect, this time he called Hyukjin.
“Look at this. This bastard seems to be deliberately not answering.”
When he couldn’t get through to Hyukjin either, Raon threw his cell phone to Jay and went straight into the bathroom. Without time to dawdle, washing up, getting dressed, and leaving the house took less than 15 minutes, unlike usual.
“How long does it take from here to the dungeon?”
“About 30 minutes.”
Checking the dungeon situation on his tablet, Raon chose to head straight to the dungeon instead of the Center. The Guide is here right now, so where does an Esper think he’s going, carelessly entering and leaving dungeons? Moreover, didn’t they agree just last night with clear minds to go to dungeons together?
If he wasn’t going to accompany him, he should at least wear the watch. But right now, Jaehwi had entered the dungeon without wearing the watch and without informing him. While thinking he should give him a stern warning when they meet, Raon had arrived at the situation room in front of the dungeon.
“Choi Hyukjin. You bastard, do you want to die, not answering my call? Huh? It’s not even an NCSC request and what reason is there for our Hwiya to enter a B-grade dungeon? Do you think I gave you emergency command authority for this?”
As soon as he entered the situation room and saw Hyukjin, pouring out the words he had been holding inside, Raon was handed a headset.
“It’s an emergency like you said, so that’s why I called him. Who else is nearby, together with you, in top condition, and can go in right away to clean it up in one go, other than Esper Min?”
“Even if you call B-grade an emergency, it’s still A-grade at most. The other Espers are…”
Raon’s words stopped there as he put on the headset and glanced around. Why is A Beta Team visible? Those guys who should be in the dungeon. Some had apparently fainted and were completely lying down, and though some were sitting, Guides were attached beside every Esper without exception.
“It’s a fire-attribute dungeon and inside…”
Was it an illusion that his vision suddenly seemed distorted? Hyukjin’s voice explaining the situation was sometimes close, sometimes far, and he couldn’t easily grasp it. At the dizzying feeling, Raon hurriedly shook his head and muttered without realizing it.
“Illusion dungeon.”
“How could illusions appear?”
And from Hyukjin’s words that had been muffled and not heard properly, one sentence stuck clearly in his ear.
“…Jaehwi went in and only the team members all came out?”
“Nox doesn’t accompany anyone unless it’s Nox A Alpha Team. He sends them out immediately upon deployment. That’s why only A Alpha Team knows Nox’s combat capabilities to some extent.”
“……”
It’s not a dangerous dungeon enough to be managed by NCSC, the location is different, and that date hasn’t come yet. But why, among all the dungeons, is it an illusion dungeon? Raising his hand to his forehead, Raon slowly looked around.
His heart that had been beating steadily was raging arbitrarily, and even his breath that had been even had been completely disheveled at some point.
“Bring me equipment to wear.”
“What?”
“Since there’s no time, don’t think about bringing mine from the Center—even if you have to strip someone here on site of what they’re wearing, bring it to me right now.”
We didn’t spend a secret and intimate night that only we would know about, nor did we whisper love as if there were no tomorrow. There was nothing the same as before the regression, but once the anxiety started, it only grew exponentially like a snowball and couldn’t be easily controlled.
“What are you talking about? Why would you go in there?”
“Then who’s going in! I’m Hwiya’s Guide. If not me, who’s going in there! Why is he alone again with no one around? Why! Why! Is everyone so eager to leave him alone in dangerous places? What did he do wrong!”
If until just a moment ago it had been swearing and tone close to a complaint filled with dissatisfaction, the sound Raon was letting out now was close to a scream.
