# Chapter 57
Dojin crouched in front of Habin, who was curled up like a shrimp on the sofa. The last he remembered of Habin was him sitting on the sofa watching a movie on TV after eating the tteokbokki they had ordered.
It took Dojin 30 minutes to finish getting ready to go out, and it seemed that Habin had fallen asleep within those 30 minutes.
“Habin, are you sleeping?”
“Mmm-.”
As if he had no intention of waking him, Dojin whispered in a very small voice. Habin’s hand twitched in response, making a brief sleep complaint.
Since it was the first time seeing Habin sleeping, Dojin stared intently at his face with his cheek resting on his knee. Habin, who slept like a dead mouse, didn’t move at all unless there was external stimulation.
His breathing was so quiet that when Dojin had first discovered him sleeping, he had placed his index finger under Habin’s nose.
“Should I cover him with a blanket?”
Even though it was spring, it felt a bit chilly to sleep without a blanket. He must have been very tired from taking exams. Dojin went to the bedroom and neatly folded the blanket from the bed, carrying it in his arms.
As he carefully covered Habin with the blanket in the living room, Dojin suddenly remembered that Habin had said he would go home to sleep. He had thought it was just an excuse to refuse his invitation for lunch, but it seemed he was genuinely sleepy.
Feeling somewhat guilty for insisting on his own way when Habin was tired, Dojin felt apologetic. With a careful hand, he brushed back the hair that was tickling Habin’s face and turned off the TV that was still playing the movie.
And unable to ignore the phone that had been vibrating for a while now, he left the living room.
“What?”
[Cut it out and just come already? I need to take care of Poppo too, but I’m keeping things in check here!]
“I was just about to leave. I’ll be there in 30 minutes.”
Dojin moved the phone away from his ear as Baek Han’s voice mercilessly assaulted his eardrum. His head throbbed painfully, as if the peace he had felt just moments ago was a lie.
[Ji Haecheon, that bastard, isn’t even pretending to come. Ahn Ji Yu is whining about being tired, and Sunwoo Hyun is stuck to Ahn Ji Yu with no intention of moving away! Not one of them is doing their part properly!]
Dojin, wearing a blue jacket, let Baek Han’s complaints pass over him as he searched for a notepad that should be somewhere in the house. Since there was a high chance he wouldn’t be back by the time Habin woke up, he planned to leave a note so that Habin wouldn’t be confused.
“So, what’s the situation like?”
With the phone propped on his shoulder, Dojin held the notepad with his left hand and moved the pen. After completing the sentence, he frowned when he saw that the writing wasn’t neat, and crumpled the notepad.
[It’s a mess. I feel like just beating them all up.]
“Then beat them up. If they won’t listen to words, they should get hit.”
He hadn’t thought it could be resolved peacefully from the beginning. Dojin calmly responded to Baek Han’s words and wrote the same sentence on a new notepad.
[Don’t say otherwise later.]
“Just finish it quickly. Nothing good comes from dragging it out.”
[I know that too, you know? I’ll definitely finish within two hours and go play with Poppo.]
Baek Han, having made his firm resolution, ended the call without listening to Dojin’s response. Similarly, Dojin, who had nothing more to say to Baek Han, put his phone in his pocket without regrets.
– I’m going out for a while. I’ll be back before dinner, so let’s eat together.
He carefully checked whether there were any typos or if the writing was crooked in the sentence on the notepad. Dojin, who didn’t forget to add his affection to the memo, took a rabbit-shaped magnet attached to the refrigerator.
Returning to the living room with the magnet and notepad, he placed the memo on the table in front of the sofa. To ensure it wouldn’t disappear, Dojin fixed it with the magnet and tapped the rabbit magnet, which was sitting and nibbling on a carrot, with his index finger.
He had impulsively purchased the magnet when it appeared as an ad while using his phone, thinking it resembled Habin. Having been neatly attached to the refrigerator without much use, it was now doing its job for the first time.
Finding it somewhat amusing, he let out a small laugh as he got up. Dojin was heading to the entrance to go outside when he paused at the sight of a bag of chocolates on the dining table.
Somehow, seeing that made him think of Habin sipping hot chocolate, holding the mug with both hands.
Changing his direction from the entrance to the dining table, he checked if there were any hot chocolate spoons left. Fortunately, he saw that one remained, took it out of the bag, and returned to the sofa where Habin was sleeping.
Dojin placed the hot chocolate spoon next to the notepad where Habin would see it when he woke up, and looked at Habin who was still sleeping soundly.
“I’ll be back.”
Whispering at Habin’s bedside as he bent down, Dojin finally left the house. This was after lingering near Habin three times.
* * *
Hot.
In my sleep-addled state, my mind was filled with this word, and I reflexively moved my body. As I wriggled around, I vaguely heard a rustling sound.
Rustling? Just as I was about to fall back asleep, still not recovered from fatigue, I felt a sense of déjà vu. The bedding I used had been changed to a duvet, which didn’t make rustling sounds.
Though my thoughts weren’t functioning properly yet due to drowsiness, I was certain something was strange, so I rubbed my eyelids. My body, complaining about lack of sleep, resisted even opening my eyes.
Knowing it was better to force my body to move in times like these, I used momentum to raise my upper body. Opening my eyes slightly to look around, I immediately realized this wasn’t my room.
“…Is this Kwon Dojin’s house?”
Did I pass out at Kwon Dojin’s house?
The familiar structure, even the familiar furniture. Undeniable evidence was laid out before my eyes. How did I end up sleeping on the sofa? Somehow, it felt like the middle part of my memory had just vanished.
“Did I fall asleep while watching a movie?”
Since Kwon Dojin had said he was getting ready to go out and asked me to go together, I had turned on a movie to watch while waiting. I remembered that much, but the problem was what came after.
Judging by how my memory had vanished, I must have fallen asleep without even realizing it.
“This is crazy.”
Seeing how quiet the house was, it seemed Kwon Dojin wasn’t home. What an absurd situation, peacefully sleeping in someone’s place when the owner wasn’t even there.
Just as I was about to bury my face in my palms, I noticed a memo and a hot chocolate spoon placed on the table. It was obvious that Kwon Dojin had left them there, so I reached out.
After moving aside the cute rabbit-shaped magnet, I picked up the notepad. The neat and familiar handwriting once again confirmed that this was a trace left by Kwon Dojin.
After reading the short sentence, I pondered hard. Would it be right to go home since the owner wasn’t here, or would it be better to wait and have dinner together as the owner suggested, since I had committed a mistake that wasn’t really a mistake?
Rustle. As I moved to change my position, the blanket caught on my legs. I felt the appropriate weight of a blanket. When I turned my head, I also saw the hot chocolate spoon neatly placed next to the memo.
“I’ll just have dinner and go, just dinner.”
With items that clearly showed consideration for me placed all around the sofa, it seemed heartless to ignore them and go back without fulfilling his wishes.
Letting out a short sigh, I removed the blanket covering me. Leaving the sofa, I picked up the blanket that had been crumpled from trying to cover a small area despite its size.
While vigorously shaking the blanket on the balcony, I pondered what to do until Kwon Dojin returned. It felt awkward to touch things without permission, so should I go to a nearby cafe to pass the time?
“That seems fine?”
I’ll send Kwon Dojin a text and then go in with him when he enters the house. The more I thought about it, the better this solution seemed, so I nodded and neatly spread the smoothed-out blanket on the bed in the room.
Having decided, I searched for my phone, which was probably stashed somewhere. I couldn’t quite remember where I had last put it. I thought it might be on the dining table, but it wasn’t there, and I thought it might be on the coffee table, but it wasn’t there either.
I might have put it in my bag, so I checked all the pockets, but it wasn’t there either.
“What the heck, give me back my phone.”
I need to contact Kwon Dojin to decide whether to go out or not.
After thoroughly searching the living room and kitchen, I finally found it. I even called out to AI assistants in between, making all sorts of fuss, but since no one was there to see, it was fine.
Phew, I exhaled strongly enough to make my bangs flutter. I brought up Kwon Dojin’s phone number on the screen and made the call, and the ringtone sounded.
[You’re awake?]
The ringtone rang only one and a half times before Kwon Dojin answered. I stuck out my tongue at his unusual response speed. He must have been looking at his phone.
“Yeah, well. When will you be done with that?”
[I think it’ll take at least another hour-.]
Before Kwon Dojin could finish his sentence, Baek Han’s dissatisfied shout came through the speaker. It seemed that Kwon Dojin had answered the phone while he was busy.
[You can ignore that. Is something wrong?]
“Not really, just call me when you’re coming back. I’ll be at a cafe in the meantime.”
[You can stay at home if you want.]
“I’m uncomfortable, so no.”
Kwon Dojin trailed off, subtly urging me to stay at home, but I firmly rejected it. I didn’t want to awkwardly wait for the homeowner without knowing when he would return.
[Hmm… Then where will you be?]
[Finish the call already and help out!]
I was startled by Baek Han’s voice coming through again. Not only was there Baek Han’s voice, but also the sound of something breaking, which doubled my surprise.
[Oh dear. Did you hear that?]
“Uh… I did. Did glass break or something?”
[Yeah, well. It’s nothing serious, so don’t worry too much.]
That statement made me worry more, but separately, I had absolutely no desire to know the truth.
“Okay. Then I’ll be at a cafe nearby, so contact me when you’re coming.”
[Can you let me know when you arrive at the cafe? Tell me which one it is.]
“Yeah, I’ll-.”
[Hey! That bastard is running away!]
Baek Han’s shout mixed with Kwon Dojin’s sigh. It seemed they were really busy, so I ended the call without properly finishing the conversation.
It’s reality but feels unreal. In that short call, I keenly felt that I was in a world that was real yet surreal.
