I peeked at him through the gaps between my fingers, my face still covered.
Our eyes met across the quiet room.
“Pfft.”
Han Tae-ryeong suddenly laughed. As if even he had been caught off guard by his own reaction, he quickly cleared his throat and covered his mouth.
“Ahem.”
Even so, the playful amusement on his face did not fade.
“You’re red as a tomato.”
“Don’t lau—hic—gh…”
I had meant to snap at him sharply, but the hiccup that cut me off turned my words into a ridiculous mess.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. He did not look intimidated in the slightest. Instead, he made no effort to hide the grin spreading across his face.
“I never took you for this much of an idiot.”
[It’s not me. Seong Yu-un is the idiot.]
Han Tae-ryeong laughed at me, and Min Yu-un chimed in with a rebuttal of his own. I was utterly dumbfounded.
I pressed the backs of my hands against my burning cheeks, letting the coolness sink in as I tried to calm down. As I did, Han Tae-ryeong held out his juice-stained T-shirt.
Still avoiding his gaze, I accepted it absentmindedly.
“I’m going to wash up.”
“What about your pants? Don’t you need to wash those too—hic?”
“Why? Should I take them off right here?”
My heart, which I had only just managed to settle, sank at Han Tae-ryeong’s teasing question.
Forgetting all about Min Yu-un’s past wrongs—and the fact that I had no right to act so recklessly toward him because of them—I shoved him away.
“Are you—hic—kidding me?”
Han Tae-ryeong let himself be pushed toward the bathroom without resisting.
“I’ll leave my pants outside. Grab them later.”
“Got—hic—got it.”
“Drink some water too.”
Han Tae-ryeong walked away, his expression somewhere between a sneer and open mockery.
As soon as the bathroom door clicked shut, I hurried to the balcony. I yanked open the washing machine lid harder than necessary and shoved the T-shirt inside.
Then I froze, my clenched fists trembling.
This is so embarrassing.
Even with Han Tae-ryeong gone, my face still felt like it was on fire. Nothing serious had happened. He had only taken off his juice-soaked shirt because it was uncomfortable. We were both guys, so it should not have mattered.
Sure, this was technically the world of a BL novel, but that had nothing to do with my relationship with Han Tae-ryeong.
And yet here I was, blushing like an idiot just because I had seen him shirtless.
[Are you some kind of total prude?]
Min Yu-un was clearly provoking me on purpose.
“Shut up.”
All I could manage was a weak mumble, pathetically self-conscious. Even I had to admit I was hopeless, just like Han Tae-ryeong and Min Yu-un had said.
Once I finally calmed down, I picked up the pants Han Tae-ryeong had left outside the bathroom. After starting the wash cycle, I paused for a moment before heading to the bedroom and opening the closet.
“Min Yu-un, do I have anything Han Tae-ryeong can wear?”
[Nothing that’ll fit him.]
“I can’t just leave him naked.”
Min Yu-un chuckled at my exasperated grumbling.
[Then give him a bathrobe. Clothes probably won’t fit, but the robe’s pretty big.]
I rummaged through the closet in frustration. As expected, there was nothing that would fit Han Tae-ryeong’s frame.
“Haaah… A bathrobe is practically the same as being naked.”
[At least he’ll technically be wearing something.]
He had a point. Several bathrobes were neatly stacked in the closet. I had not used one since taking over this body.
[Or do you want him to stay naked? So you can start hiccuping again?]
I gritted my teeth. If Min Yu-un had been standing in front of me, I would have punched him on the spot. Left with no other choice, I reluctantly grabbed a bathrobe.
*****
Han Tae-ryeong tightened the sash of the bathrobe around his waist.
“Sorry. I don’t have any clothes that fit you.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Silence settled between us, broken only by the soft rustle of the robe. I glanced around nervously before speaking.
“I started the wash. If I put them in the dryer after, it’ll still take a while.”
Han Tae-ryeong lifted his head and looked at me.
“Or should I go to your place and get you some clothes?”
He slowly turned his gaze toward the clock hanging on the wall. The hour hand had just passed eight.
“It’s already eight.”
Following his gaze, I looked at the clock as well.
“It’s not that late yet. If you wait a little, I can—”
“It’s bedtime.”
What?
A deflated sound escaped me as I turned back to Tae-ryeong. He shrugged with an utterly shameless expression.
“Isn’t it? Eight o’clock. Bedtime.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I usually go to bed at eight.”
My eyes narrowed with suspicion.
That made no sense. A high school student in Korea going to bed at eight? And not because of exhaustion, but as a routine?
Sure, it was possible.
But not for Han Tae-ryeong.
I had read it in the novel.
Han Tae-ryeong was someone who barely slept. He maintained a near-miraculous routine, going to sleep at two in the morning and waking up at five. The novel mentioned that he had developed this habit when he was nine years old, and that it was something he would never change for the rest of his life.
I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out.
Even though I knew all that, I could not say it aloud. If Han Tae-ryeong asked where I had gotten that information and I answered, I read it in a novel, he would probably send me straight to a psychiatric hospital.
“Then I’ll go to your place and—”
“What makes you think I’d tell you anything about my house?”
Han Tae-ryeong had a point.
[What did I even do that was so bad he keeps acting like this?]
Min Yu-un grumbled without a trace of remorse, but I ignored him.
“So you’re saying you’re going to sleep here?”
I asked cautiously, just in case, but Tae-ryeong answered immediately.
As if he had been waiting for the question.
“Looks like I have no choice.”
No choice, my ass.
For some reason, it felt like he had already decided to stay the night. He was supposed to hate me. He was supposed to despise me. Han Tae-ryeong had always recoiled from my very presence, let alone my touch.
And now he was choosing to stay?
Now that I thought about it, it was not just Han Tae-ryeong. Yoo Si-eon and Lee Soo-hyeon had also been acting strangely lately. It had only been a week since I had started living as Min Yu-un.
No way. Did they figure out I’m not the real Min Yu-un?
I knew it was a pointless worry. A normal person would never even consider the possibility of possession or anything supernatural like that.
“I’ll sleep on the couch, so don’t mind me. Sleep like you usually do, Min Yu-un.”
Slowly, I came back to my senses.
After staring at Tae-ryeong in silence for a moment, I went to the wardrobe in my room and pulled out a blanket and pillow. Then I quickly returned to the living room and set them on the couch.
“I’ll sleep here. You take the bed.”
“You’re the owner of the house.”
“I usually sleep on the couch.”
I knew it was a lie that would never work. But I could be just as shameless as Han Tae-ryeong and Min Yu-un.
Settling onto the couch, I added,
“Besides, I have too many sins.”
At some point, the relaxed atmosphere froze over completely.
It felt exactly like the day we first met.
A chill ran up my arm, and I rubbed at it to fight off the goosebumps. Steeling myself, I looked straight into Tae-ryeong’s crimson eyes.
“Hurry up and go to sleep. You said you sleep at eight, right?”
Han Tae-ryeong, who had been standing perfectly still, finally turned away.
Before stepping into the bedroom, he paused for a moment. A soft click echoed through the room as he flicked the switch, plunging the living room into darkness.
There was no Good night.
No See you tomorrow.
Of course there was not.
Ours was a relationship bound by one-sided hatred.
Tae-ryeong entered the bedroom. I could no longer see him, but I never heard the door close. Too exhausted to think, I let everything slip away and closed my eyes.
[Seong Yu-un.]
A soft voice brushed past my ear.
[Good night.]
The first and only person who had ever said good night to me was Min Yu-un.
Maybe that was why.
Maybe that was why I kept sympathizing with him. Why I kept taking his side.
Because we shared the same fate of being unloved. Because it was easier for us to understand each other. Because we could trust without doubting the affection behind it.
“You too. Sleep well.”
I mumbled the words drowsily.
I did not know whether Min Yu-un could even sleep. But at least for tonight, I hoped both of us could have a good dream.
*****
Han Tae-ryeong lay staring at the ceiling for a long time before sitting up.
The rustle of bedsheets filled the silent room. From the living room came the faint sound of breathing.
Tae-ryeong moved without a sound.
He stood before the sleeping boy and stared down at him in silence.
His crimson eyes, dark and unfathomable, remained fixed on him.