VSP 52

“…….”

Of course, Cha Dogyeong had told Sejun to sleep, but he had not meant for him to sleep in his room. He just stood there and looked at the scene, then belatedly headed toward his room.

Sejun, who was already curled up on the large bed where Cha Dogyeong slept and woke up every day, covered his stomach roughly with the blanket and greeted Dogyeong, who was staring at him in disbelief.

“Good night.”

Then he really fell asleep.

Amidst Sejun’s rumbling snores, Dogyeong, who was silently watching Sejun’s show that wasn’t really a show, belatedly reacted.

“Heh.”

He was someone who never shared a bedroom with anyone, but this was so absurd he did not even have a chance to stop it.

Somehow, he did not feel like stopping it either.

Dogyeong thought he might be someone who enjoyed drinking since he had devoured the Krug vintage as if it were something delicious, but from the looks of it, he normally did not even drink much.

Well, would Seo Sejun ever drink with anyone? Better that he did not know alcohol at all than drinking gloomily by himself at home. If he did not know, then he could be taught.

Dogyeong, who could not shake off his gloomy mood the more he found out about the dungeon overflow in Busan that had shaken the whole country all day, finally felt his mood improve only after he came home holding the very cause of his gloom, Seo Sejun, in his arms.

He did not know why.

What should he call this feeling? Compassion? Pity?

No, it was slightly different from that. The moment he saw Seo Sejun throwing his body to block for someone who was live streaming, Dogyeong clearly felt anger.

If it had not been something already finished by the time the video spread on the internet and appeared on the news, he might have flown straight to Busan.

That anger, which had burned like an active volcano, calmed down somewhat the moment he returned home with Seo Sejun, who looked fine. But seeing Sejun’s face, which anyone could tell looked gloomy, his chest felt suffocated and the anger slowly rose again.

Why?

Why was he this angry? Dogyeong no longer knew what the cause was. He did not know why he was angry.

Why could he not just ignore Seo Sejun when he should have? Why did he end up dragging him back to his house?

Why had he wasted his precious time waiting nervously until Seo Sejun returned?

Why had he felt such displeasure when he saw Seo Sejun burst into tears and throw himself into his arms?

He did not know a single thing.

He had only done what he always did, what he wanted. Instead of leaving Seo Sejun alone, he had pulled him to his side.

That was enough. He was satisfied with that. There was no answer to be found right now about these unknown feelings, so the best choice would be to just let it pass for now.

Anyway.

“…Ha.”

Dogyeong’s gaze turned toward Sejun, who was lying asleep.

I cannot sleep in the same bed with anyone.

Even if he had sex with someone, he had never shared a bed to sleep together.

He did not like sharing his space with others, so since he was old enough to understand, he had lived alone. He had never brought anyone into his house, let alone his bed.

Of course, this was the first time he had ever invited someone into this house.

Dogyeong’s eyes slowly scanned Sejun lying on the bed.

Maybe he usually slept lying flat, because Sejun was lying straight with his mouth slightly open. Because he had wriggled around on the bed, the gown had come loose.

His skin, faintly flushed from alcohol, looked smooth in sight, probably because it was already good to begin with.

Looking between the loose gown, Dogyeong suddenly felt a sensation sweep through his whole body, and he let out a sigh of disbelief, “Ha.”

No way, what is this?

He knew all too well what that sensation was. Being a perfectly healthy adult man at twenty-four, there was no way he would not know.

Am I drunk?

With a man, not even a woman? And with Seo Sejun on top of that?

Of course, that sensation quickly disappeared like it was an illusion. Even as he looked down at Sejun sleeping again, he felt not that sensation but rather frustration at the thought of how he was supposed to sleep like this.

“Tsk.”

It had to be a mistake.

He could not admit that he had even thought of such a thing for a moment.

After a brief hesitation, Dogyeong lay down next to Sejun. Even if Sejun had invaded first, it was still his bed, so how could it make sense for him to avoid it?

Carefully lying beside him so as not to wake the intruder who had stolen his bed, Dogyeong thought for a while, then straightened Sejun’s loose gown and pulled the blanket up to cover more than just his stomach.

Cha Dogyeong was pretty kind.

After praising himself a few times, he lay down beside Sejun with a refreshed face and closed his eyes.

Of course, sleep did not come. Having someone’s breathing beside him on the bed where he always slept alone made his body feel strange, so it did not seem like sleep would come easily.

And sleep never came the entire night.

Until dawn broke.

•••

Sejun looked at the steaming soup in front of him with a blank face.

When he stirred it roughly with a spoon, he saw bean sprouts floating lazily inside the hot broth. A bit of red pepper powder too.

Bean sprout soup.

He understood what it was, but the fact that it was right in front of his eyes felt a bit random.

“What?”

Cha Dogyeong looked at Sejun like it was strange that he was puzzled, so Sejun had to shake his head as if it was nothing.

“It’s just…”

…Weird. It was already strange that I drank and slept at Cha Dogyeong’s house, but now I wake up and get bean sprout soup for a hangover, even if it is instant, Cha Dogyeong had heated it up. Does this make sense?

Of course, it was not a proper meal, and Cha Dogyeong was the type to just have that and say let’s go eat outside, so except for that clear soup there was nothing else given. But anyway, he had prepared it for him to recover from the hangover.

That Cha Dogyeong, for Seo Sejun!

If I say this somewhere, will anyone believe me? Cha Dogyeong? That bastard? That guy who never once called me hyung, who always said rude words with that annoying face?

…Of course, lately he had been somewhat reliable, but..

Sejun quietly pushed the bean sprout soup into his mouth. He had drunk a lot, but maybe because he had taken the hangover cure before sleeping, his head did not feel like it was splitting. Or maybe his detox ability was strong like an S-rank hunter should be.

The bean sprout soup had a refreshing taste. It was not homemade, but as a product made with the work of experts, it had a flavor above average.

But while eating the bean sprout soup, why did the taste of the chocolate Cha Dogyeong had shoved into his mouth together with the hangover cure last night keep coming back?

Even Sejun himself could not figure out how he felt.

By the time Sejun had almost emptied the bean sprout soup, the phone placed on the table rang. Thinking it was his parents again, he quickly checked the screen, but unexpectedly it was not them.

It was Ryu Sehyun.

“Uh, hyung.”

Sejun immediately answered the call. At the word hyung, Cha Dogyeong, who was getting ready to go out, looked at Sejun, but Sejun, who was slurping down the rest of the bean sprout soup while taking the call, did not notice that gaze.

-Sejun-ah, where are you right now?

“Me? I…”

He could have just said at Cha Dogyeong’s house, but for some reason the words did not come out right away. Somehow it felt like nobody would believe him.

“At Cha Dogyeong’s house.”

But there was no reason to lie, so Sejun ended up saying it confidently.

The person on the other end stayed silent for a while.

-…At this hour?

“Yeah, I slept here last night.”

Sejun replied casually while proudly showing his emptied bowl to Cha Dogyeong.

Cha Dogyeong looked at the empty bowl with a face that said, “what the hell,” then belatedly seemed to realize Sejun’s intention and laughed like it was ridiculous.

-Come out.

So Sejun reacted a little late to those words.

“Huh?”

-Come out.

Somehow Ryu Sehyun’s tone was unusually harsh. His usually gentle voice was now filled with sharp thorns, enough to make Sejun look flustered.

…Come out? From Cha Dogyeong’s house?

Sejun tilted his head, not fully understanding. This was not the house of a terrorist, so what reason was there to suddenly leave Cha Dogyeong’s house?

-You didn’t eat breakfast, right?

“Uh, yeah.”

He hadn’t, but he had just finished a bowl of instant bean sprout soup. And for some reason, he also did not say that he and Cha Dogyeong had already agreed to go eat outside soon.

-I’ll buy you food, so come out. I also have something to talk about.

His harsh tone calmed down belatedly, and he returned to his usual gentle voice. Like the harshness just now had been an illusion.

But it could not have been an illusion. Why was hyung this angry?

While he was thinking and about to agree anyway, Cha Dogyeong suddenly interrupted him.