Saehyeon’s eyes snapped open amidst a splitting headache. Harsh sunlight poured through the small, high window.
“Ugh… I’m never drinking again…”
He squirmed like an earthworm emerging from the ground on a rainy day, trying to escape the light stabbing at his eyes.
It was the kind of terrible hangover he’d only felt the morning after recklessly downing alcohol at age 20, not knowing his own limits. He dealt with headaches and dizziness every morning, but that pain was of a different nature than this. The endless nausea made him mistake the floor not for sticky linoleum but for the deck of a ship.
Still, through his hazy vision he could see a yellowed ceiling instead of the sky, and he could feel the texture of blankets around his body, so it seemed that while he’d lost his memory from drinking, he’d at least made it home safely. Saehyeon had benefited greatly from this “drunken instinct” even during his college days. To call it a drunken instinct when no matter where or how much he drank, he’d wake up at home. If nothing else, he’d thought himself quite lucky in that regard. If it weren’t for this, he would’ve surely ended up with a twisted mouth on the streets or created countless embarrassing moments long ago.
‘College…’
Thinking of his drunken instinct naturally brought thoughts of college along with it. He didn’t know why he’d been thinking so much about the old days lately. If desperately thinking about it could make him go back, he would’ve returned ages ago.
What was even funnier was that whenever he reminisced about the past, that bastard would suddenly stick his face in. They hadn’t even been particularly close, and all they’d done was fight, yet somehow he was always there in his memories.
Like a stain that couldn’t be removed, like an imprint that couldn’t be erased.
‘I think I just had a dream about that bastard too.’
It felt like having a dream within a dream. Saehyeon recalled the sparkling face he’d encountered recently, both in his dream and in reality, and unconsciously ground his teeth.
He and Gil Taeseo were so terribly entangled that it made him wonder if it was even right. No matter how hard he tried to erase him from his life, he wouldn’t fade, and when he tried to forget, Taeseo lingered in his mind. It was truly terrible how he kept popping his head in, not just in reality but even in dreams.
After rolling around cursing that particular person for a while, Saehyeon suddenly realized his mouth was bone dry. While it was natural to be thirsty at this time of day, this time it was severe. Every time he swallowed, sharp pain scraped at his throat, as if he’d been shouting for a long time. Eventually, Saehyeon couldn’t stand it and sluggishly sat up.
“Water…”
Dizzying low blood pressure and nauseating queasiness. Combined with a pounding headache like being struck with a hammer, his arms couldn’t properly support his swaying body. He could see his arms trembling and shaking as they pressed against the floor.
His teeth ground once more at his pathetic state, but what he needed now was patience. If he rolled around a bit in the blankets and got up slowly, it was somewhat better. It was his own know-how, learned through much suffering with his garbage body.
‘Ah, really, if someone would just bring me water, I’d have no other wishes. Preferably honey water.’
That’s when it happened, as Saehyeon was half-lying, half-sitting with only his eyes blinking. As if reading his mind, a cup suddenly appeared before his eyes. Steam rose from a cup with faded gilding on the rim and a cracked, faded print in the center. Flustered by the suddenly appearing cup, he just stared blankly at it, and it was pushed even closer as if urging him to take it.
Saehyeon mumbled “Uh, uh” and accepted the cup without thinking. Warmth instantly spread through his cold hands.
When he brought the cup to his nose, a sweet smell stung his nostrils. Only after reflexively taking a sip could he identify it. The thick sweetness lingering in his mouth and the distinctive aroma were unmistakably honey water. The very thing he’d been desperately searching for.
“Ah, thank—cough.”
It was then, as Saehyeon’s mind slowly returned while he blinked and sipped the honey water.
‘Is there anyone in my house who could… make honey water?’
He did have a housemate, but it was still the time when they’d be sound asleep. And even if they were awake, while they might be able to give him plain water, they weren’t the type to make warm honey water.
His housemate didn’t go anywhere near heat sources, as if thoroughly trained not to. And the current Saehyeon agreed with that opinion as well.
Which meant… someone else must have given it to him.
Saehyeon’s head turned slowly. It was a creaking movement, like a rusty robot that hadn’t been oiled. And before long, he met eyes that shimmered with a pale golden light, pooling like water in the sunlight.
“Don’t mention it.”
As if he’d been waiting, the man said this and pulled up the corners of his mouth in a smile. The stream of light flowing from his eyes reached the dimple in his cheek before falling to his chin.
Slightly disheveled hair, a shirt with sleeves roughly rolled up to the forearms, wrinkled pants—it was a perfect face and voice that made even these things seem deliberately styled. Whatever was inside, whatever came out of that mouth, anyone with eyes would admire his physique. His sturdy body, which didn’t match his delicate features, cast a long, large shadow before Saehyeon.
These things were terribly familiar to Saehyeon. The enemy who had filled his childhood enough to appear without fail when reminiscing about something or when dreaming. And the person who, after several years, was intruding into Saehyeon’s life once again. Because that person was this very man before his eyes.
“…Gil… Taeseo?”
At first, he thought he hadn’t fully woken from his dream. Saehyeon’s gaze thoroughly scanned the man’s entire body, searching for traces of distortion. If this were a dream, there would surely be something absurdly out of place. But that attempt soon failed as well. The man clearly looked tired and disheveled, but several things remained preserved as if carefully maintained.
Like the hair and eye color that sparkled gold under the light, the clean skin and admiration-worthy face.
“That’s right. Did you sleep comfortably last night?”
And things like the voice that hummed low and burrowed into his ears.
But everything else was strange. Everything—the person, the place, the situation.
The drowsiness stemming from his hangover and low blood pressure, combined with the situation of facing someone who absolutely shouldn’t be here, left Saehyeon still just blinking when the man crouched down before him.
When Saehyeon’s head, which had slowly followed that movement, was almost level with the man’s, the man opened his mouth with another bright, conspicuous smile.
“I have a mountain of things to say.”
It was a smile anyone would admire, but once the slight afterglow faded, his spine immediately bristled and warning lights began flashing in his head.
“But let me ask just one thing first.”
Partly because he knew better than anyone that when Gil Taeseo, who usually kept his mouth shut with an expressionless face that wouldn’t let a knife through, deliberately smiled brightly, it was either when he was very angry or when he’d cornered someone.
But it was also because Saehyeon had several reasons why facing Gil Taeseo was uncomfortable.
“Daddy… you awake?”
A white face suddenly popped out from beside Gil Taeseo, who loomed before him like a demon. Light brown hair and eyes of the same color, a white and very pretty face—he resembled the man before him to a frightening degree.
However, clear differences could be felt in things like his maple-leaf-like hands and the chubby cheeks that jiggled with baby fat whenever he spoke.
It was as if he’d been stamped from the same mold, just reduced to a much smaller size with cuteness added to complete the look.
Gesturing at the child, Gil Taeseo asked:
“Who is that kid?”
Saehyeon squeezed his eyes shut.
Reason number one why facing Gil Taeseo was uncomfortable: He, who had been a beta, had belatedly manifested as an omega and given birth to Gil Taeseo’s child.
“What are you doing, keeping your mouth shut tight? Should I open it for you?”
Number two: The fact that Gil Taeseo was here right now meant that the things he’d thought were dreams probably weren’t dreams at all.
Which meant he had actually grabbed that expensive-looking shirt in a death grip,
‘How dare you try to eat me?!’
and swung his fist while screaming at the top of his lungs. Come to think of it, the collar area of that stylish shirt did look excessively wrinkled.
Last, number three: He had no memory of the past several years. Right. That thing that often appears in morning dramas. Amnesia.
He knew it was the kind of line that would make listeners scoff and tell him to at least put some effort into his lies. But this was reality, not a dream, an unavoidable fact and something that had already happened in the past.
Cutting the rambling short and getting to the point: He wanted to explain himself, but he didn’t understand the situation either.
Saehyeon squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed every curse inside.
Completely fucked. So it seemed he wouldn’t need to buy more clothes this year. He could just wear a condom. Fuck.
