Different Dreams in the Same Bed (1)
“Wow, look at that guy.”
“He’s really handsome. Must be an alpha, right? What was he in his past life, Admiral Yi Sun-sin?”
Students passing by the lecture hall chattered while looking at Jaehyuk’s face.
‘At least they have eyes.’
Normally he would have frowned once and moved on, but Jaehyuk felt strangely good today.
‘…Yeah. I don’t know about Admiral Yi Sun-sin in a past life, but in this life, I’m Kang Jeongbae’s wife candidate number 1.’
Since they were strangers anyway, he didn’t answer, but Jaehyuk was ready to actually hand out flyers if it came to it.
He smiled sinisterly imagining putting a large photo of Jeongbae, dirty like a mud puppy, in the center with “Yoon Jaehyuk’s” written big above it to distribute. His delusion disease had gone beyond acting up to a serious level.
‘I’m really dating. Very, very deeply too.’
The person in question hadn’t acknowledged it yet, but it didn’t matter. Jaehyuk’s generosity had broadened enough to fully enjoy even the current ambiguous relationship. The biggest reason was, of course, ‘that night’ when Jeongbae was forcibly put into heat.
Jaehyuk slowly licked his lips with his tongue. It was thrilling no matter how many times he imagined it again.
‘But there hasn’t been another opportunity since then.’
Yesterday, he got excited alone seeing Jeongbae sitting in the living room humming while folding towels. Every time he bent over, the pink nipples inside could be glimpsed through the stretched neckline of the t-shirt. The straight legs and slender ankles revealed below the short shorts. Stretching his feet out and wiggling them left and right, shaking his head too—he looked very happy.
“What song are you singing?”
“Huh? Song? What song?”
The mischievous face widened its eyes and asked back. It seemed he didn’t even know he was singing. Jaehyuk’s heart ached because it was too cute.
‘Ah, I feel like I’ll get a nosebleed. I want to make him bend over the dining table just like that and do it.’
But…
“Hyuuung… I want to eat pork belly.”
Human beagle Lee Dogyeom, rolling around on the floor only shedding hair, was always getting in the way. Jaehyuk’s eyes instantly filled with murderous intent.
“Why are you staring? Disgusting. Don’t look. You viper bastard!”
Jaehyuk ignored Dogyeom’s yapping and began rolling up packing tape backward to pick up the golden hair that fell on the floor. Something about his hair breaking from bleaching it so much.
“You’re going to go bald soon.”
At that low comment, Dogyeom, properly scratched, started acting up again.
“This crazy bastard has nothing he can’t say to a hair designer. I’m going to tell hyung.”
Then he sprang up and clung tightly like a koala to Jeongbae’s back as he folded towels.
“Hyung, hyung, hyung. Did you see? That viper…”
The beagle bastard tattling about every little thing. Jeongbae nodded with a mischievous face, playing along. Seeing that, Jaehyuk’s guts twisted.
‘I need to get rid of that human beagle as soon as possible…’
He was maintaining peace and hierarchy by feeding him anyway, but to Yoon Jaehyuk in newlywed mode, he was just an obstacle that needed to be removed.
‘I really need brother-in-law Sejin’s help.’
Jaehyuk thought of Sejin, who’d been holing up lately. At that childish dinner table where they competed over penis sizes, Jaehyuk dragged Sejin into the bathroom and instead of pulling down his pants, seriously asked.
‘Brother-in-law, do you happen to like that beagle bastard?’
‘…No, rather than liking him.’
He didn’t even say who the beagle was…. The big bear turned his face bright red and twisted his body.
‘Just go for it boldly. Look at me. I’m even living with Kang Jeongbae like this.’
‘But if I do that…’
‘If you do that? If you keep dragging your feet like that, another alpha bastard will snatch him right up.’
‘…You think so?’
Sejin’s thin ears fluttered. Jaehyuk fanned the flames once more. If the two got together well and left this house, he’d be more than happy.
‘Of course. Men need momentum. Just pounce on him first.’
Determination appeared on Sejin’s face.
…That was a while ago. This stupid guy seemed to have messed things up somehow.
‘Such a soft touch… do it right. Even going into hiding.’
Even though he’d ruined someone else’s love affair with bad advice, Jaehyuk was shameless.
Now it was time to move to the next lecture, and some guy approached him.
“Hey, Yoon Jaehyuk. There’s a false rumor going around that you got married…”
It was a male classmate he more or less talked to. The classmate was also an alpha, so they’d done assignments together once or twice.
“Who said that?”
When Jaehyuk responded with an expressionless face, he could feel him flinch.
“No, my close friend’s younger sister’s cousin heard it from the boss of the rice soup restaurant where you work…”
“……”
“Ah… never mind then. Why are you looking at me so seriously?”
Jaehyuk responded dryly.
“It’s not a false rumor, so that’s why—when you call it false.”
“What! Really?!”
The classmate’s face instantly filled with shock. Jaehyuk was inwardly satisfied. He really did have an eye for people. To think the rice soup restaurant boss would spread the rumor this far. A true benefactor.
“Hey! Why didn’t you give out invitations? Let us see your wife’s face—bring her to school sometime. Everyone’s dying of curiosity.”
Jaehyuk mulled over those words for a moment.
“…To school? Why?”
The omitted words after were these:
‘There are so many hot-blooded alpha bastards here you trip over them—what if something happens?’
“Why? To have a campus date. There’s a festival coming up soon too.”
“Well, I’ll handle it.”
Jaehyuk ended the conversation there. But even as he walked, his thoughts continued. Jaehyuk’s school, one of the top prestigious universities, was also famous for having a beautiful campus. The festival was quite grand, so many outsiders besides current students would come to have fun. They’d wear the school’s signature navy blue cheering uniforms and cheer together for basketball or soccer games against other schools, and last year a famous singer came and held a water bomb concert too.
‘Come to think of it, going to the library together, eating together… if Jeongbae enrolled in our school…’
Jaehyuk’s mouth gaped open.
The image of Jeongbae wearing a cheering uniform, sitting on a campus bench holding takeout coffee. Or…
Imagining him wearing clean white tee and jeans instead of the construction site fluorescent vest, he looked quite… well-suited, more than expected.
‘Mm. That picture would be nice.’
Scenes of eating chicken together on the lawn, and Jeongbae with reddened ears from drinking leaning on his shoulder naturally appeared. These were things previous dating partners had suggested but he’d rejected all of them. But when he substituted Jeongbae’s face, they all looked plausible.
‘If we come together, it would be fun.’
At that thought, Jaehyuk unconsciously lifted the corners of his mouth slightly. When he turned on his phone, the photo of Jeongbae from their first date appeared as the wallpaper. The shabby face, the slightly intimidated awkward smile, even looking blankly at the camera with cream on his lips—perfect.
‘Fuck, getting hard again.’
Looking at a photo that wouldn’t turn anyone on, Jaehyuk had absurd thoughts. His rose-colored glasses were at bulletproof vest level.
“No, I’m too busy working so I don’t think I can.”
Jeongbae flatly rejected the proposal to come play at school together, as expected. But Jaehyuk wasn’t one to stop here.
“You quit Casino Pub now. You’ll have time in the evening, won’t you?”
“Instead I’m doing designated driving. And if I have that time, I should study.”
“……”
Jeongbae seemed uncomfortable somehow. Jaehyuk was annoyed but backed off for now.
“You really have no sense at all.”
Dogyeom whispered annoyingly, just for Jaehyuk to hear.
“What?”
“Hyung graduated from a vocational school and is in his late twenties—would he want to go where those prestigious university students play? He’d be the only one standing out…”
“……”
“Some people couldn’t afford teeth and eventually pulled them out, but here you are thinking about playing around—good job.”
“……”
“You don’t know hyung wears clothes he fishes out of donation bins, right? Anyway, bourgeois bastards… tsk tsk…”
Jaehyuk closed his mouth. Every t-shirt he wore did have a stretched neckline. Come to think of it, he’d been burdening Jeongbae with even his living expenses under the excuse of mooching off him.
Kang Jeongbae who gave him a check card with 200,000 won telling him to use it all first and talk later. Of course, he didn’t use that card either and kept it well in his wallet. It was an ultra-rare item with Kang Jeongbae’s name on it.
“What about you? You’re also mooching off for free, eating and playing.”
Jaehyuk deliberately turned the arrow to Dogyeom.
“What are you talking about? I’ve been paying for groceries since I moved in. Who’s the one who really came in with just his two balls…”
“……”
Jaehyuk choked up but had no words to refute. Come to think of it, it was touching, admirable, and cute that Jeongbae was feeding him with money he earned. It must be quite burdensome, but he never complained or whined even once. Jaehyuk felt like he’d be kicked out right away if he found out he had plenty of money, so he’d been deliberately pretending not to know about the financial part. The more he thought about it, the more sorry he felt.
‘But besides that, there’s something else that bothers me…’
The shadow that fell on Jaehyuk’s face deepened.
When Jeongbae finished designated driving and returned, it was well past midnight. After quitting Casino Pub, he finished work at the rice soup restaurant, came home for a simple dinner, and did housework. Then he went out again at night to catch designated driving calls.
‘It more or less works out, but it’s a bit tight after all.’
Fortunately this month, he had construction work part-time on weekends. If there was no construction work, he planned to do traffic signal work, which had lower pay but less intense work. Of course, that was only if there were positions available.
With the rice soup restaurant also doing badly economically, he just kept going vaguely. In many ways, he had a lot on his mind.
After washing up, Dogyeom was already asleep and Jaehyuk was looking into a book. Jeongbae also quietly sat next to him and opened his workbook. Lately, it was the most peaceful and anticipated time.
“By any chance…”
Jaehyuk said while taking off the glasses he was wearing. That motion looked strangely cool, so Jeongbae blushed.
“Are you short on living expenses?”
