# Chapter 57
***
Dohyuk woke up sixteen hours later. A small auxiliary lamp on the side table of the dark rest room was casting a faint light. Blinking because of his blurry vision, Dohyuk suddenly realized that his right shoulder felt strangely warm.
His gaze, which had been on the ceiling, turned to the side. A hand wrapped around his right shoulder. Following the wrist with its fine lines downward, he saw a pitch-black shadow. Dohyuk reached out his hand. The shadow that flowed between his fingers undulated with his movements, like a night sea. The hand embracing Dohyuk’s shoulder flinched slightly, moved a little, and then its owner slowly raised his head. Dohyuk met his eyes while still stroking Junseo’s hair.
“…It must have been uncomfortable. Here… ahem. I’ll make room so you can lie down.”
His throat, which had been closed for a long time, released a sunken voice. Dohyuk cleared his throat with a fake cough and sat up.
Though still dizzy, his physical condition was much better compared to when he first woke up. Even without seeing the pale energy coloring Junseo’s face, he could tell how hard Junseo had worked, focusing on guiding by Dohyuk’s side. With a sorrowful heart, Dohyuk carefully rubbed his cheek with the same hand that had been stroking his hair. The face that had been bright as a puppy’s had lost weight in an instant. Junseo buried his face in Dohyuk’s hand that was caressing his cheek and lowered his large eyes.
Soft lips touched Dohyuk’s palm. Feeling that sensation imprinting deeper inside him, Dohyuk trembled without realizing it. Even considering Junseo’s naturally comfortable attitude toward physical contact, this intimacy was excessive.
Just as Dohyuk was about to pull his hand away, feeling greatly shocked by the feather-like touch as if hit by an iron hammer, with his face flushing up to his eyes.
Dohyuk stopped moving. The soft palm where the soft lips had touched was getting wet.
“…Why are you crying, Junseo?”
Junseo, who had made sad faces expressing worry while guiding Dohyuk when he first regained consciousness, had never actually cried.
“I don’t know either. Maybe I’m upset because I like you too much.”
His black eyes endlessly poured tears like a lake of unfathomable depth. Dohyuk hurriedly extended his other hand as well to cradle Junseo’s face. Even so, tears were still dripping down his cheeks, overflowing like a water glass. Junseo continued speaking.
“Yet you don’t even think about taking care of your own body?”
Only then did Dohyuk trace back his memories. Was Junseo displeased with his conversation with Sangjun? Though he often raised his voice saying it was frustrating whenever others dealt with him, Junseo shedding tears was a first for him as well.
“I’m fine, really. Thanks to you, my condition is already much better…”
“The more you say you’re fine.”
His voice was thoroughly wet, as if he had no intention of clearing his throat. Dohyuk understood the mindset of a prisoner in shackles. Facing those moist eyes, he couldn’t do anything.
“Why am I not fine at all?”
His eye corners, already bright red, must be stinging, yet with tears still pouring out drop by drop, Dohyuk finally sighed and closed Junseo’s eyes by pressing his finger against his eyelids.
“Don’t cry.”
“Do I look unpleasant?”
“…What are you saying, you’re always pretty… I was wrong, so please stop crying, Junseo. …I won’t get hurt.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
“That’s a lie. You’re still going on the dungeon mission next week, no matter how much I try to stop you, right?”
The tears pooled at the corners of his eyes flowed down his cheeks again as his eyelids closed. Dohyuk looked down at Junseo, who was obediently entrusting his body to Dohyuk’s hands with his eyes closed. His face, with deep shadows in the faint light of the auxiliary lamp, seemed only like an illusion.
He thought he understood why people press their lips against someone precious. He wanted to rub his lips against those elegant eye corners, the bridge of his nose, his wet cheeks, to confirm that he would never disappear. He wanted to behave like a thoughtless beast, setting his teeth upon the skin touching the tip of his tongue. He wanted to settle with his body tucked into his arms.
“I have to go. I’m fi— No. No… I said don’t cry.”
It was an excessive emotion.
It wasn’t surprising. Perhaps he had vaguely thought it from the first time he saw him. That this beautiful creature would eventually ruin his peaceful life.
***
Junseo, who left the rest room only after the dim dawn brightened, quietly closed the door. It was a kind act, concerned that Dohyuk, who had fallen back asleep as if collapsing, might wake up. After casually wiping his reddened eye area, he took out his phone from his pocket and walked quickly.
“What about what I instructed?”
His tone was so cold that it was impossible to think it was the same voice that had been consistently blurred with tears in front of Dohyuk.
# Chapter 57
A night had passed since he regained consciousness. Despite Dohyuk saying he was fine now, Junseo, who had been sticking closely to him, finally left his side because of a phone call. Dohyuk pushed Junseo’s back as he said regretfully, “Something urgent came up, so I think I need to go away for about an hour.”
Had he felt a sense of responsibility to care for Dohyuk? Since leaving the dungeon, his overprotectiveness had intensified, and Dohyuk, who had never received such treatment in his life, couldn’t help but feel bewildered. Just now, Junseo had even tried to feed him lunch spoonful by spoonful.
The increasingly frequent guiding along with strangely intensified physical contact.
The biggest problem was that all these things didn’t feel entirely uncomfortable. Every time he saw that white face, Dohyuk desperately needed time to compose himself to suppress the sinister thoughts rising inside him. Whether knowing or not knowing Dohyuk’s feelings, Junseo—recently one of Dohyuk’s biggest concerns—actually wore an expression of being unable to find direction in the midst of great worry, and just before leaving the rest room, he turned to Dohyuk and asked only this.
“Hyung, which color do you prefer between brown and gray?”
“I think either is fine for me.”
“But if you had to choose?”
“Hmm, well… Brown?”
“Between wood and marble, would you prefer wood?”
“Are you planning to buy furniture? I don’t really know, but I think wood would be better.”
Of course, there was a separate reason Dohyuk answered that way. He thought wood suited Junseo’s warm impression better than cold marble.
Junseo smiled brightly at Dohyuk’s words. The way his elegantly lined eyes folded beautifully, as if drawn at once by a skilled painter, was enough to make anyone feel dreamy whenever they saw it.
“Right? I thought wood would suit you better too. Marble is too cold.”
“Huh?”
Dohyuk, who had become accustomed to expressions like stiff or dry due to his blunt and cool impression, questioned Junseo with confusion, but Junseo just said, “Oh no. I’m really late. I’ll be back soon, so just wait a little,” waved his hand innocently, and left the rest room in the blink of an eye.
Had it been 20 minutes since then? Before there was even time to feel lonely because the person who had been constantly by his side disappeared, another visitor appeared. Not a surprising face.
“Choi Dohyuk! Are you about to retire? What’s with all the commotion every time?”
“I was really shocked when I heard from Uncle Seungmin.”
Behind Seungmin, Seah poked her head out with a slightly sulky face. Her concerned look remained the same.
“I’m not badly hurt.”
“Oh yeah, sure. And that’s why someone in that state was unconscious in the recovery room? I went to visit you, but you were half-dead and only that cra— I mean, Guide Yu Junseo-nim was there, so I left again.”
“Half-dead?”
“…No, Seah. Park Seungmin always exaggerates, you know. Look at me. I don’t even have any injuries. I just fell asleep briefly because I was mentally exhausted.”
Fortunately, they didn’t seem to know why Dohyuk had ended up in the recovery room. Seungmin had a suspicious look until the end but didn’t raise his voice in front of Seah. He just glared at Dohyuk and said:
“Don’t you think you should get some rest?”
Dohyuk just smiled with his lips at Seungmin’s words.
“That’s the plan. I’m thinking of using about two days of my precious annual leave.”
“Really?”
As if it was just something he’d thrown out there, Seungmin questioned Dohyuk’s answer in disbelief. It was understandable that Seungmin was surprised, considering Dohyuk had never rested, working like an ant through the murderous schedule that continued after returning to Seoul. Of course, Dohyuk had no intention of letting him know that this rest was to recover his body for next week’s mission.
Seah brightened up, her round eyes sparkling.
“Wow! You’re going to rest, uncle? Then let’s go see a movie together. There’s a new horror movie out, but Uncle Seungmin says he doesn’t want to see it because he’s scared.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to see it because I’m scared, but I said, ‘It’s winter now, what’s with this out-of-season horror movie?’ And look at Choi Dohyuk’s face. He’s turned so pale that he’s more of a horror. Let him rest.”
When Seungmin tried to act tough despite being someone who couldn’t watch ghost movies at all while hunting monsters without a care, Seah snorted.
“You are scared! Besides, this is a really famous foreign film that was just imported. Let’s go see it with me on the last day of your leave after you’ve had a good rest. And eat something delicious too.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure if I’ll have time. I’ve been away from home for a long time, so I need to clean up a bit, and I also have something scheduled at the research institute tomorrow.”
“What research institute are you going to again? If you’re taking time off, just rest, will you? Your face is a mess right now. I was shocked when I saw you just now, I tell you.”
Seah looked disappointed, but she seemed to agree with Seungmin’s words that the first priority for Dohyuk, whose complexion was not good, was rest.
