# Chapter 149
‘Heeek!’
He almost coughed up his heart. Lee Hwan startled as if he had committed a crime, stepped back, then quickly regained his composure and faced Taesung.
In the pitch-black dawn. What on earth was this guy doing sitting in the living room with all the lights turned off?
Surely he hadn’t been staying up all night here in case someone tried to leave. He probably just happened to spot him while sitting here.
It seemed Taesung couldn’t sleep. Despite acting perfectly normal, he still wasn’t stable.
Just like how Lee Hwan himself had shed tears upon waking up and realizing he was in Taesung’s house.
Lee Hwan lowered his eyebrows and approached Taesung. He had been concerned about his eyes, which appeared tired despite his efforts to hide it.
Sitting down next to him and leaning against his body, a warm sensation transferred through his shoulder. Being an Awakened person, he could even feel Taesung’s subtle heartbeat pounding into his veins.
“Why can’t you sleep?”
“…Where were you going?”
“Just out for some fresh air. Aren’t you tired?”
As he asked and turned his head, it seemed like there were dark circles under Taesung’s eyes, though it might have been his imagination. Lee Hwan unconsciously reached out to touch his face but quickly folded his arm back.
“This isn’t a dream. We really came back.”
Although there was still the difficult task of stopping the monster wave ahead, Lee Hwan was fully satisfied just being able to sleep without worrying about each other getting hurt.
Taesung gently stroked Lee Hwan’s head that was resting on his shoulder. Though he didn’t say anything, whatever was making him anxious had kept his hands restless since the afternoon.
Lee Hwan closed his eyes, feeling the rustling sensation and took a deep breath.
“It would be sad if we survived by luck but couldn’t even sleep, right?”
“That’s true.”
His stiffened voice began to soften. Lee Hwan removed the hand on his head and slowly stood up. Then he pulled Taesung, who was sitting like he was nailed to the spot.
The man who had been firmly planted on the sofa followed obediently as Lee Hwan led him. Lee Hwan pulled Taesung and found his bedroom with familiarity.
Click.
Through the smoothly opened door, a quiet space with an untouched bed sheet was revealed.
“Go to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As he pulled on the firmly held hand and pushed him in, Taesung walked into the room with no resistance. Lee Hwan watched his retreating figure, then closed the door and stepped out.
In the quiet house, Lee Hwan silently looked at the living room where the lights were still on. He could leave now if he wanted to. But he didn’t feel like leaving Taesung behind.
‘The skills… sigh. Let’s just try them tomorrow.’
Lee Hwan turned around and entered his room. The first night after regression passed in a daze and with a bit of sadness.
* * *
In his dream, Lee Hwan was constantly being chased. Finally, when the path ended and his back touched the wall, he looked at his pursuer with somehow wounded eyes.
‘I backed off. There must be a reason someone with all limbs intact lives like this.’
‘I, ugh… it’s not me.’
‘Just tell me clearly what you’re after. Money? Connections? Staying in the Support Team, is it… for benefits?’
No. No. As Lee Hwan denied it, a strong hand approached his neck. As it pressed down on his throat and completely cut off his breathing, his vision gradually went black.
Fear and sorrow rushed in together, completely shaking his chest. As he tried to hold back tears and shook his body with all his might to resist, suddenly with a gasping sound, his blocked breathing returned.
Through fading memories, Lee Hwan felt that the voice condemning him was somehow familiar.
“Heuk! Haa… haa…”
When he opened his eyes wide, he saw a ceiling of calm color. As he wiped the sweat from his forehead and sat up, he saw a bedroom flooded with midday sunlight.
It was Taesung’s house. Lee Hwan had the same thought as when he woke up at dawn, pressing his face firmly with his hands. His rough breathing echoed in the quiet room for a while.
‘What was I dreaming about?’
Though he couldn’t remember, the feeling of utter frustration remained. Lee Hwan calmed his heated face with his lukewarm hands, grumbling as he couldn’t contain his indignation over something he didn’t even understand.
‘What time is it?’
The numbers on his phone showed 12:12. Even amid his emotional turmoil, he found it amusing that he was thinking about seeing two 12s.
Lee Hwan got up and was about to open the door when he suddenly paused. Since he had overslept, Taesung had probably been waiting all this time, but for some reason, he didn’t want to leave the room.
It seemed he had already become lazy after just one day of rest. Urging his mind that kept trying to retreat, Lee Hwan took a long breath and opened the door.
Click.
The sound of the opening door echoed in the quiet space. Lee Hwan walked through the house where not a trace of presence could be felt and entered the living room.
The sofa was empty. After quickly glancing at the room where he had pushed Taesung in at dawn, Lee Hwan instinctively realized he wasn’t here.
‘…What’s going on?’
As he scratched the back of his head and turned around, the kitchen table caught Lee Hwan’s eye. Several takeout containers were gathered on top of it.
When he went over and opened them, they contained pretty arrangements of croffle, eggs, and bacon, as if brought from some brunch cafe.
[I was planning to rest for a few days, but something urgent came up at the company. I’ll be back before it gets late, so take it easy.]
A note, seemingly written by Taesung, was placed next to a knife. Lee Hwan read it over and over like he was ruminating, then suddenly thought:
‘Why am I resting here? I should go home.’
Still, he was going to eat. It was a meal prepared by someone who probably couldn’t sleep last night, even in his hurry. Leaving behind something so meticulously prepared would make him a psychopath, not a human being.
Lee Hwan took a bite of the croffle, which still looked crispy on the outside despite having gone cold. The rich, nutty taste stimulated his stiff tongue, making saliva rush into his mouth.
‘I wonder if Kang Taesung ate before he left.’
The cold eggs were honestly delicious too. Even the simple cherry tomatoes and bacon had a particularly special tangy and salty taste as they spread on his tongue.
In truth, anything would have tasted this good. A thoughtfully prepared brunch after returning from a world on the brink of destruction. The taste was 180 degrees different from the dry preserved rations, reviving his sunken mood.
‘It would have been nice to eat together.’
Eating something delicious kept making him think of Taesung. If they had been together, this menu would have become a food Taesung liked too. Because he would have said he liked it.
He had a habit of simply following Lee Hwan’s preferences. Lee Hwan always found it both funny and grateful. That guy, with his calm face, often did such adorable things.
After filling his stomach with a proper meal for the first time in ages, Lee Hwan cleaned up the trash with a satisfied face. He carefully folded the note Taesung had left and put it in his pocket.
“Where should I go?”
Lee Hwan muttered aloud though no one was there to hear him, tidying his hair as he went to the entrance. On the second day after regression, he planned to casually take care of things he couldn’t do on the first day while Taesung was away.
But the moment he turned the doorknob.
Click.
“…What?”
He had a strong feeling that things wouldn’t go as planned. A dull sensation was transmitted through his fingertips. Lee Hwan raised and lowered his eyebrows, then turned the handle again.
Rattle, rattle- click!
“Why won’t this open?”
No matter how much he turned it, the lock wouldn’t release. Finding it strange, he even pressed the open button firmly, but nothing seemed to work. Only then did he lower his head to check and found that not even the lights on the machine were on.
“Ah, shit… what’s going on here?”
How was he supposed to open this and get out? Lee Hwan pressed the nape of his neck firmly, pondered for a while, and finally gave up, taking out his phone.
When he habitually pressed the speed dial, an unfamiliar phone number appeared, reminding Lee Hwan once again that this was seven years ago.
‘I wonder if he used that number back then too?’
After hesitating, he called Taesung’s number, and after a while of ringing, there was a click. Soon, an affectionate voice came through the receiver.
—Lee Hwan.
It was Kang Taesung. So he used the same number back then too. Lee Hwan felt somehow reassured and opened his mouth.
“How did you know it was me? The number’s different.”
—Hmm, well.
“What are you doing right now? Busy?”
—A little. Something urgent came up suddenly… What’s up?
“Well, I was trying to go home, but the front door here won’t open.”
He had left a note saying to rest, but I called to say I was leaving right away—might he feel a little hurt? But what was he supposed to do, staying alone in someone else’s empty house?
“I keep turning the handle, but it’s no use. It seems broken or something.”
—Ah… that.
Taesung elongated his words as if he knew what Lee Hwan was talking about. Lee Hwan waited for his answer, tapping on the door lock that still had no lights on.
—I did notice it was acting weird when I was leaving this morning. I’ve already called someone, so could you wait until it’s fixed?
“Ah, I see…”
A brief sigh escaped Lee Hwan’s lips.
“When are they coming? How long might it take?”
There was a mountain of things to do. He needed to go home to figure out what his seven-year-younger self had been doing, and climb some quiet hill to check his skills. Especially since he hadn’t mentioned the skills to Taesung, it would be best to try them out while he was tied up with work…
But Taesung, unaware of Lee Hwan’s thoughts, had a strangely calm voice. His answer was absurdly short.
—Well…
“…Huh?”
—I haven’t checked yet.
Since Taesung said he was busy, Lee Hwan couldn’t ask him to check now. As he was about to sigh and let it go, he suddenly felt something odd.
Wait. How can he not know when they’re coming if he was the one who called them? Does that even make sense?
—Would you like to rest and watch TV until the door is fixed? I’ll be back soon.
Normally, he would have nodded to his words and returned to the living room. He would have turned on the TV, flipped through channels while lying on the sofa, and when Taesung returned, they would vaguely have dinner and stay until late at night.
But somehow, he suddenly didn’t want to follow that suggestion. Perhaps it was because he had been feeling strange since waking up.
Unexpectedly, the dawn incident came to mind. He also remembered Taesung’s face as he stopped him from leaving. He had thought his sitting in the living room was just due to insomnia, but…
Why was that memory suddenly resurfacing with this peculiar sensation?
‘This guy is doing something strange.’
Taesung was someone who would carefully ask first if he wanted something. Sometimes he would use his face as a weapon and get a bit clingy, but usually, if he received a negative answer, he would cleanly accept it and back off.
He had truly never been arbitrary with Lee Hwan, not even once.
‘If he had some plan, he would have told me first.’
So this behavior was completely unlike him. Realizing that, an inexplicable anxiety suddenly arose.
Lee Hwan frowned deeply and then smoothed his expression, carefully examining the door lock.
‘For something that suddenly broke down, it’s too unresponsive.’
After pondering for a few seconds, Lee Hwan tore off the battery cover. Eight batteries were perfectly in place, making him wonder if he was mistaken at first, but soon he discovered several cut wires inside.
‘….’
Hard to believe, but this was Kang Taesung’s doing. Lee Hwan was speechless for a moment.
