Today was a special match held at FCC’s home stadium.
“Connor said he felt uncomfortable going alone and decided to watch the game at home. If you’re okay with it, would you like to come with us?”
Leif said he had reserved a suite at the stadium.
It was a luxurious space with comfortable seats offering a panoramic view of the field, complete with a private bathroom and various food and beverage services.
The reason was that if Leif, who had retired last season but was still very popular, appeared in the spectator seats, fans might swarm him and cause chaos.
“I absolutely hate bothersome situations. It’s just going to be Winston and me anyway, so come with us.”
It meant that just three people would have plenty of room in a space that could accommodate up to 15 people.
Grateful for the invitation, Hyowoo accepted without hesitation.
They planned to arrive at the stadium early, enjoy some light refreshments, and watch the game with excited hearts, but…
About 20 minutes into the first half, Hyowoo was nowhere to be seen in the suite.
‘How’s the game going…?’
He was holed up in the bathroom.
Throughout the game, Lee Seohee’s goals were blocked every single time.
When even his third shot narrowly missed, Hyowoo suddenly recalled last season’s UEFA Champions League match.
‘Could it be… that goals aren’t going in because I’m watching, just like back then?’
Once that thought occurred to him, he couldn’t bring himself to watch the game at all.
Worried about Hyowoo, who was anxiously pacing and unable to leave the bathroom, Leif knocked on the door.
“Hyowoo, are you okay?”
“Huh? Oh, yes…”
Finding Hyowoo crouched in a corner of the bathroom, Leif was quite flustered.
“Why are you like this?”
“Well… that’s…”
He briefly considered making an excuse, but realizing he couldn’t escape Leif’s sharp gaze, Hyowoo eventually confessed honestly.
“…Do you think that makes sense?”
After hearing the reason, Leif grabbed Hyowoo’s arm with an exasperated expression.
“What kind of stupid jinx is that? Come out right now!”
“B-but… what if it really is because of me…?”
“There’s absolutely no way that’s true!”
“Still…”
As the small tug-of-war between the two continued, even Leif’s husband Winston came to the bathroom.
“Fine. I won’t force you to watch the game, but at least come out of here.”
Though Hyowoo’s stubborn insistence was absurd, Leif found the worried look for his lover adorably cute.
Instead of taking Hyowoo to the viewing seats, he sat him down on a sofa in the lounge area where food and drinks were prepared.
Hyowoo glanced occasionally at the large TV screen on the wall, barely managing to follow the flow of the game.
“Hey, Erikson! How long has it been since you retired and you’re already back at the stadium?”
During the game, former teammates and staff who heard that Leif had arrived came to visit the suite.
To those who were also acquainted with Lee Seohee, Leif introduced Hyowoo as ‘Connor’s boyfriend.’
“Ah, so this person is the ‘Sleeping Bunny’?”
“That’s right, that Sleeping Bunny.”
Every time Hyowoo was introduced, everyone couldn’t stop laughing, saying they’d finally met his cute lover they’d only heard about.
And on this day, Hyowoo learned for the first time that he was called ‘Sleeping Bunny’ among Lee Seohee’s acquaintances.
‘Being called cute is already embarrassing, but why does it have to be bunny of all things…? No, more than that, what does “Sleeping Bunny” even mean?’
Though embarrassed and shy, relief warmly permeated his heart.
His ex-boyfriend, who had been no different from a devil, had thoroughly tried to hide their relationship.
In contrast, Lee Seohee introduced Hyowoo to anyone without hesitation.
Each and every one of those small actions was so precious to Hyowoo.
‘But no matter how I think about it… I’m really not a bunny, Seohee-ssi…’
While he was deciding to say something about it tonight when he got the chance, the game ended 2-0, with FCC’s complete victory.
As soon as the win was confirmed, the three of them left the stadium early before the exits got crowded.
Then they bought champagne and steak from a famous department store’s food hall and headed straight to Leif’s house. About three hours later, Lee Seohee joined them, and they enjoyed dinner celebrating his victory.
After temporarily forgetting about the bunny talk and having a pleasant time, Lee Seohee and Hyowoo returned home in good spirits, where Pie greeted them.
Pie, who would normally be excitedly running around, was today sitting obediently at the entrance with something clenched in his mouth, only wagging his tail.
Looking closely, what Pie had in his mouth was Hyowoo’s coat.
“Pie, why are you holding this?”
Hyowoo had been living in Lee Seohee’s bedroom all along, but his belongings remained in the third-floor guest room where he’d unpacked on the first day.
At first, he thought smart Pie had opened the guest room door, gone in, and brought out the coat.
However, the small holes here and there on the clothes were too small to have been made by Pie’s teeth. Moreover, the claw marks scratched all over were very familiar to Hyowoo.
‘This… looks similar to marks Saewoo chewed and scratched. Could it be…?’
With an ominous feeling, Hyowoo and Lee Seohee hurried up the stairs.
“Oh my…”
The two people who entered the third-floor guest room were speechless at the scene before their eyes.
Hyowoo’s clothes, which had been neatly organized in the dressing room, were all scattered on the floor.
Not only chewed and scratched all over, but there were also large and small traces of waste. They were so damaged that they could hardly be called clothes anymore.
While Pie did enjoy tug-of-war play where he grabbed and pulled things, there was no way he would have done something like this.
That meant only the two cats were left as suspects.
Unlike Pie, the companion cats Lemon and Meringue were still wary of Hyowoo.
Lemon in particular didn’t hide that he disliked Hyowoo, openly showing it. He was probably jealous, feeling that his dad had been stolen.
‘Do they hate me that much…?’
More shocked than the dismayed Hyowoo was Lee Seohee. Unable to continue speaking, he hurriedly apologized to Hyowoo.
“I’m sorry, Hyowoo-ssi. They’ve never had bathroom accidents before. Why on earth would they do this…?”
“N-no. It seems Lemon and Meringue have been having a really hard time because of me…”
The clothes were regrettable, and being hated by the cats hurt his heart.
Yet the first thing that came to mind was feeling sorry for the kids.
‘How stressed must they have been to do this…?’
First, they threw away the clothes that had holes or were too heavily soiled to wear, and put the two t-shirts and jeans that were in relatively good condition into the washing machine.
Fortunately, the underwear had been stored separately in a drawer, so there was no problem with showering.
However, the problem was that there were no clothes left to wear right now.
The clothes he’d worn out were full of dust and sweat from the stadium, so it felt uncomfortable to lie on the sheets in them.
Even if the laundry finished, sleeping in jeans would be unreasonable.
Moreover, it was already late at night. All the stores were closed, and going out to buy new clothes was impossible.
“If you don’t mind, how about wearing my clothes just for tonight?”
At Lee Seohee’s cautious suggestion, Hyowoo hesitated for a moment, but there was no choice.
As a result, he was now in this predicament, stuck in the bathroom wearing his boyfriend’s borrowed clothes, unable to come or go.
He let out an involuntary sigh at his reflection in the mirror, looking like a child wearing adult clothes.
The t-shirt was big but manageable to wear.
However, no matter how tightly he pulled the drawstring on the pants, they kept sliding down.
Unable to help it, he gave up on the pants and had no choice but to wear only the excessively loose t-shirt with his underwear.
He hesitated to appear before Lee Seohee in this awkward state, with his legs fully exposed.
Due to a terrible past incident, Hyowoo extremely disliked being naked or exposing his bare skin in front of others.
Most of all, he didn’t want to show his lover this unsightly body.
‘…I know better than anyone that my body is disgustingly thin…’
As he stood there blankly, not knowing what to do, there was a creaking sound as Lee Seohee got up from the bed.
“Are you really okay? It seems like something’s wrong.”
“N-no. Nothing’s wrong. So please just step out for a moment.”
At Hyowoo’s plea not to ask any more questions and please leave, Lee Seohee eventually agreed and obediently left the room.
When he heard the sound of the door closing, Hyowoo quickly left the bathroom and headed for the bed. At the speed of light, he sat leaning against the headboard and pulled the blanket over himself.
“You can come in now…”
Before he even finished speaking, Lee Seohee, who had been standing outside the door, opened it.
“What are you doing?”
He burst into laughter upon seeing Hyowoo.
“Wh-what?”
“Why are you wrapped up so tightly without any gaps?”
Hyowoo sitting with the blanket pulled up to his chin looked like a round snowman.
“Oh, that’s… I’m a bit cold…”
For Hyowoo, who felt cold easily, Lee Seohee always turned the heating up high.
The inside of the house was warm enough even in short sleeves and shorts, yet he said he was cold.
Even though he knew it was nonsense, he couldn’t think of any other excuse.
Just as he was mumbling this excuse that would be exposed immediately…
Lee Seohee strode over to the bed and tried to lift the blanket slightly.
