When he opened his eyes, several people came into his hazy vision. Seoho blinked blankly.
A woman with silver hair wearing a gentle smile, two men with brown hair, and a beautiful man with golden hair that didn’t lose its shine even in his blurred vision.
Only then did Seoho begin to grasp the situation, at least roughly.
‘It wasn’t a dream.’
Seoho had taken the hand offered by the man who seemed to be the owner of the eerie eyes on the wall and the crying voice, and crossed over to a strange place.
And ridiculously, he had fallen asleep.
‘I’m really not in my right mind.’
A series of strange events, and himself accepting those strange events far too casually.
His head became complicated with matters where he couldn’t tell who to blame. While Seoho was trying to organize his thoughts, everyone had left the room before he knew it, leaving only the golden-haired man.
The golden-haired man carefully called out to Seoho.
“You.”
Seoho looked at the man with his gradually clearing vision and opened his mouth. First, he needed to confirm if his guess was correct.
“Are you the person who was crying every day?”
The man looked at Seoho with eyes that widened slightly in surprise, then answered hesitantly.
“…That’s right.”
Seoho examined the man’s face. Fortunately, there were no traces of tears on his face now. Even in this bewildering situation, that one fact pleased him.
“May I ask why you were crying?”
Why had he cried like that for over a month? It was something he had always been curious about.
At Seoho’s question, the man’s eyes shook greatly. After moving his lips for a while, he glanced at Seoho and opened his mouth.
“Because I missed you, because I wanted to have a direct conversation with you, because I wanted to face you, because I wanted to hear your voice, because I wanted to bring you to this place… Everything was just because of my greed.”
The man who had been speaking slowly as if carefully choosing his words couldn’t look Seoho properly in the eye after finishing. Feeling frustrated, Seoho reached out and grabbed the man’s wrist, met his eyes, and asked.
“So now, did things turn out the way you wanted?”
Blue eyes reminiscent of a lake stared blankly at Seoho before curving beautifully. The man’s cheeks turned red.
“…There are still a few things remaining.”
Seoho, who had been staring as if entranced at those reddened cheeks, asked him the most important thing.
“I see. But you won’t cry anymore now, right?”
The man pondered for a while before opening his mouth.
“I can’t promise that.”
The answer was so honest that it made him laugh.
“You’re a crybaby, unlike how you look.”
The man, who had been rolling his eyes here and there as if not understanding, smiled faintly along with Seoho and asked.
“Don’t you have anything you’re curious about?”
Of course Seoho had things he was curious about too. A lot of them.
But there was something that needed to be corrected first. The form of address that had been giving Seoho goosebumps ever since he first heard it.
Seoho introduced himself.
“Seoho.”
“What?”
“Lee Seoho. What’s your name?”
The man pressed his lips shut once more and took a deep breath. When the man couldn’t easily open his mouth, Seoho raised the corners of his lips and asked.
“Why? I listened to you crying every day, but you don’t intend to tell me your name?”
The man urgently shook his head and grabbed Seoho’s hand. With a voice shaking as much as his trembling lips, he introduced himself.
“…I am, Rosetta Aurora Borealis.”
The name was incredibly long. As he had felt when seeing that silver-haired woman earlier, this place was indeed not Seoho’s world.
In fact, he had already realized that the words coming out of his mouth weren’t Korean. Seoho muttered the man’s name a few times and asked.
“Your name is incredibly long. You are human, right? What should I call you?”
“Rosetta, or Aurora. And yes, I’m human.”
Fortunately, the answer that came back to the question he threw out just in case—because the person was so beautiful—was that he was human.
“I’ll call you Rosetta. Call me Seoho.”
“Alright, Seoho.”
The man smiled beautifully like a flower blooming. Seoho almost lost his senses again at the man who smiled with both cheeks flushed red and eyes folded, looking truly happy, but he shook his head and held onto his mind.
There were still too many things he needed to ask.
“…Then will you tell me now how this all happened?”
It was time to find out about this absurd situation.
***
Rosetta tried to capture everything about the person before his eyes.
‘Seoho…’
While Seoho was trying to understand what he had told him, Rosetta quietly rolled his name around in his mouth.
The name wrapping around his tongue was too sweet.
‘Lee Seoho.’
How could even Seoho’s name be this beautiful?
Well, he was someone with a beautiful voice too. Rosetta recalled Seoho’s voice calling his name.
‘Rosetta.’
Was it because it was a name no one but his mother had called? It felt a bit awkward and strange. But he didn’t dislike that feeling. The peculiar sensation of his existence becoming clear the moment that person called his name.
‘And also the sense of presence Seoho has…’
Even though he had held him directly in his arms, he strangely seemed like an illusory existence. A feeling that even though they were touching, it was as if they weren’t. But still, he had been satisfied just with the certainty that he was by his side.
But when he called his name, everything changed.
‘He’s really by my side. In the same space.’
When the gentle resonance touched his ear, something bigger than what he had felt when watching him through the mirror and holding him directly in his arms enveloped Rosetta. He didn’t know exactly what to call this emotion, but it was certain that the current situation of meeting his eyes and having a conversation was making him excited.
‘This ticklish feeling…’
Yes, it was that feeling from back then. The one he felt when he saw Seoho’s smile instead of tears. A noisy pounding sound was echoing from his body. Rosetta had felt love again the moment he called his name.
He was already someone who made him feel emotions he had never felt before, but to become even more special than before with just one conversation—was such a thing possible? If this was really possible, how much bigger would his feelings toward him grow in the future?
‘I’m greedy.’
What if he could feel happiness and excitement greater than what he was feeling now? He felt this good just from meeting eyes and having his name called, but what if Seoho returned the same feelings?
Saliva pooled in his mouth. It was laughable that he had been satisfied with simply keeping him by his side, with bringing Seoho to this place. More, more… he wanted something bigger than this.
He wanted to fill his hands completely with Seoho. Rosetta stared at Seoho as if entranced, then touched the corner of his eyes that had unconsciously furrowed slightly as if organizing his thoughts.
As he smoothed the wrinkles with his hand, Seoho looked at him with slight surprise, then opened his mouth as if apologetic.
“I’ve been too quiet with you right in front of me, haven’t I? But I think I need to organize my thoughts a bit more. If you’re too busy…”
Even in this situation, Seoho was trying to be considerate of Rosetta’s convenience. He seemed too kind, which worried him.
Rosetta smiled gently and shook his head.
“No, it’s fine. It’s a sudden situation, so you must have a lot on your mind. I’ll wait, so continue thinking.”
“Mm, you’re not busy?”
Rosetta, who didn’t even think of the waiting aides and numerous documents, nodded his head casually.
“That’s right.”
“Then…”
Seoho glanced at Rosetta and became lost in thought again.
‘To be so beautiful and naturally eye-catching, and to have a good personality too. Dangerous.’
People might fall for Seoho the moment they see him.
Rosetta sneaked a peek at the skin with fuzzy peach fuzz still visible. Dark-colored hair was something occasionally seen here too, but skin of this color was something he was seeing for the first time.
That’s why his eyes kept going to him from the first time he saw him.
‘Of course, everything about Seoho is beautiful and pretty.’
Rosetta, who had been examining Seoho, naturally brought his hand to his cheek. He did glance at him briefly, but Seoho didn’t seem to particularly mind.
The careful touch that had been caressing with his fingertips gradually became bolder. Perhaps because he had kept touching him when Seoho was asleep, his hand went there naturally. Using his fingertips, each joint of his fingers, and then his entire palm to cup Seoho’s face, Rosetta felt regret.
‘His face is too small.’
Seoho’s face was so small that one of Rosetta’s hands covered half his face and more. If his face were as big as that pillow over there, wouldn’t he be able to bury himself deeply in this soft skin?
Rosetta, who had been feeling the soft honey-colored skin that fit perfectly in his hand, caressed his jawline with his fingertips. When he got a bit greedier and moved his hand along the smooth jawline until his fingertips touched the soft earlobe, Seoho suddenly grabbed his hand and brought it down.
Without showing disappointment, Rosetta put strength into the hand Seoho had grabbed and clasped his hand. When Rosetta met Seoho’s eyes, he smiled awkwardly and asked.
“Are your hands bored?”
“…A little.”
When Rosetta answered while fiddling with Seoho’s soft hand, Seoho nodded slightly and threw out a question.
“So you’re saying that you and I are destined partners connected by a red string?”
Rosetta nodded proudly.
“That’s right.”
“I have heard of the red string before. Actually, I think I heard about it briefly not long ago too…”
That was a bit surprising. To think there was a story with the same content when they were from different worlds.
