“Who is it?”
“It’s me, who else.”
Dawoon sat up. Ryu Taeha, whom he thought had already left, was still at the dorm.
“What is it?”
“I want to ask you something. I’m coming in.”
Instead of blocking the opening door, Dawoon went to the door first so he wouldn’t come to the bed.
“What is it?”
As if he had no intention of coming inside, Ryu Taeha leaned against the doorway.
“……”
Having come all the way to the room like someone with important business, he didn’t open his mouth right away. Only after staring intently at Dawoon with a face lost in thought did he convey the reason for his visit.
“Do you meet your new partner often?”
“What?”
Dawoon tilted his head. The content was so out of the blue that he didn’t understand it at once.
“I’m asking if you meet your new partner often.”
New partner? When did I get something like that?
At the sudden question, Dawoon only blinked. Ryu Taeha, who wore a languid smile while looking at him, leaned the back of his head against the doorway.
“Gangsik, Ducheol, Cheolho. Which one of these three is it?”
Who are those guys?
“It’s not like Dawoon’s personality to meet all three. Right?”
Dawoon tilted his head at the unfamiliar names, then suddenly recalled the name candidates he’d scribbled in his phone’s notepad.
Gangsik, Ducheol, Cheolho.
These were names Dawoon had thought of while contemplating changing his name. Something even Dawoon had forgotten, but Ryu Taeha seemed to have memorized it until now after seeing it briefly.
“You’re not meeting all three, right? When did you meet recently? No, more than that, what’s their affiliation?”
Ryu Taeha, as if planning to investigate directly, told him to state all of their affiliations and surnames. His characteristically relaxed voice was the same, but there was an oddly nagging air about him.
Dawoon silently watched such Ryu Taeha before asking back.
“Why are you suddenly asking that?”
“Because I’m worried.”
“Worried about what?”
Ryu Taeha, who had closed his mouth for a moment, straightened Dawoon’s clothes that had gotten wrinkled from rolling around on the bed.
“I wondered if your sudden change was all due to your new partner’s influence.”
“……”
“Dawoon, you’re greatly influenced by people you like.”
The changed attitude and way of speaking, the reversed eating habits, and even the open mind toward contact Guiding.
If he’d changed after meeting a new partner, it would all be easily understood. Because Dawoon had a personality that was excessively influenced by people he liked.
Especially in the beginning when his heart was burning, he would try to do anything for the other person. Taeha, who knew Dawoon better than anyone, concluded that the reason he’d changed was because of a new partner.
It was the most plausible reason. At least for Dawoon, it was.
“As a Leader, I should have an interview. I need to know what kind of bastard our precious guild member is meeting.”
“……”
“I’m a person with a lot of prejudices, so just hearing the names makes me a bit uneasy.”
They were all rough names that looked strong. Gangsik, Ducheol, Cheolho. At the combination that seemed like tough names were deliberately picked, Ryu Taeha let out a sigh.
Why did he even use profanity he doesn’t usually use? It seems he met some gangster-like bastard somewhere.
Our Dawoon, to have such poor judgment of people.
“If you’re going to meet a new partner anyway, you should meet a good one. There’s a truckload of people who fell into ruin from meeting the wrong partner.”
One of those people who fell into ruin was precisely Jeong Dawoon.
Dawoon was dumbfounded that none other than Ryu Taeha was saying such things. And yet, at the same time, other feelings arose.
“They’re not new partner names.”
Dawoon answered in a calm voice.
“Then what are they?”
“I was thinking of changing my name. To a strong name.”
Ryu Taeha, who had been rattling on, quietly tilted his head to the side.
“Changing your name?”
“Yes. Why would I write a partner’s name in my notepad? I’m not an idiot, I’d just memorize it.”
He seemed a bit disbelieving at first, then soon rolled his eyes briefly and chuckled.
“Was that it?”
Dawoon nodded. Ryu Taeha, whose expression brightened in an instant, grinned like someone whose joke had landed.
“I thought so. The names didn’t seem like Dawoon’s type from the start.”
Gangsik, Ducheol, Cheolho. His smile deepened as he recited the names that sounded like the back-alley trio.
Dawoon observed his brightly smiling face closely, as if examining it.
“Why suddenly change your name?”
Ryu Taeha, having appropriately calmed his laughter, asked.
“To throw away my name and live anew.”
Ryu Taeha slowly nodded with only the corners of his mouth raised without saying anything. His persistent gaze stuck to Dawoon tenaciously.
“That’s a good idea. But there are so many pretty names, why did you only pick ones that don’t suit you?”
“Because they look strong. I thought if I changed to a tough name, it might hurt less.”
“I think it would hurt less if you just did your work normally.”
“Then there’s no point in hurting less.”
Dawoon wanted to use his abilities as much as he wanted and have a strong body that could step up without difficulty when he needed to help others. Since he didn’t have the personality to live cautiously anyway, he hoped to become someone who didn’t tire easily.
“Don’t overdo it too much.”
Ryu Taeha said in an affectionate tone. And as if he still had something to say, he leaned against the doorway, smiled, and opened his mouth.
“Dawoon.”
What’s he trying to say now, setting the mood like that? Dawoon mentally prepared himself in advance so he wouldn’t be flustered no matter what was said.
“Is it really hard for you to see Ryu Jin?”
The following question was also out of the blue. However, this time he immediately grasped the meaning of the question.
“It’s not hard. I’m not uncomfortable with Ryu Jin either. This incident just happened because my body is weak.”
He drove home the point that his Guiding refusal wasn’t because of Ryu Jin.
If it were Jeong Dawoon from the novel, he would have felt aversion, but Dawoon didn’t. Rather, he only wanted to treat him well and get closer to him.
More than that, what are you going to do if I’m having a hard time? It’s not like you’d like Jeong Dawoon instead of Ryu Jin.
“Are you being sincere?”
“Yes.”
Ryu Taeha wore a strange smile. While scrutinizing his expression, unable to read his inner thoughts, a new question suddenly arose in Dawoon’s mind.
That guy couldn’t possibly… actually like Jeong Dawoon, could he…?
In the novel, he treated Jeong Dawoon thoroughly as just a sex partner. While pretending to be affectionate, in the end he only took his body and gave his heart only to Ryu Jin.
As if emphasizing that Jeong Dawoon was merely a supporting character and not the protagonist, there was a clear difference in his attitude when dealing with Ryu Jin versus when dealing with Jeong Dawoon.
However, the person he actually met was affectionate to him.
Though he was affectionate to everyone, he seemed to give particularly more attention to Jeong Dawoon. Through today’s conversation, he clearly realized that Ryu Taeha’s attitude toward Jeong Dawoon was different from the novel.
Could Ryu Taeha also… truly like Jeong Dawoon? Like Go Yeoul?
Then what about Ryu Jin…?
“Dawoon.”
Dawoon flinched at Ryu Taeha’s palm that suddenly touched his cheek and blinked his eyes.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
Dawoon, who felt awkward for spacing out in front of someone again, cleared his throat.
“No, I’m just sleepy…. I guess I got drowsy after being full.”
Dawoon shrugged as if nothing was wrong. His head, filled with many thoughts, began to weigh down his body that had finally become light.
“Can you sleep right away? If you lie down, you won’t digest well.”
Ryu Taeha tried to support him while checking Dawoon’s complexion. Dawoon, who appropriately declined his touch saying he’d take him to bed, faced him.
“Leader.”
Dawoon’s expression, with the smile wiped away, was quite serious.
“Yeah, tell me.”
Ryu Taeha, who responded with a faint smile, waited for him to speak. Dawoon examined every corner of his eyes and expression as if dissecting them.
Until now, he’d been too busy pushing away Ryu Taeha, who constantly made passes at him, to look properly. He also found him disgusting.
However, looking closely like this, quite a lot came into view.
Ryu Taeha had the face of someone with their beloved right before their eyes. Though he already had a face that smiled carelessly, a layer of heavy affection was covering his eyes.
It wasn’t the kind of look one would show to a simple sex partner. Everything he did and said was like that.
If all of that was also acting to seduce someone, Ryu Taeha should become an actor before opening a restaurant. Then he’d definitely rake in a tremendous amount of money.
“I’m listening.”
Ryu Taeha, who blew air at Dawoon’s face, woke him up as he was about to fall into thought again. Dawoon cleared his throat again and carefully opened his mouth.
“Um, by any chance….”
Cough.
Just then, a faint coughing sound was heard from the bed.
Cough, cough….
Dawoon, startled, immediately turned his eyes to the bed. The cat that had been sleeping soundly on the pure white blanket was trembling with its body curled up tightly.
“What’s wrong?”
The moment Dawoon hurriedly ran to the bed, the cat that had been bursting into coughs began to vomit.
