HFS 55

Lee Cheong-hyeon slipped into the bathroom attached to Seo Hee-won’s room. Just thinking about attending classes and then gaming like this in the future already made him feel somewhat tired. Now that he needed to conserve both sleeping time and travel time, he even considered staying at Seo Hee-won’s place on days when he had no classes, like today. Considering the large monitor, comfortable chair, and much better desktop computer compared to what he had at home, it wasn’t a bad idea. Though he wasn’t sure what the homeowner would think about it.

After showering quickly, Lee Cheong-hyeon changed into the clothes he had been given. He had thought their sizes would be similar, but the clothes were more spacious than expected, as if Seo Hee-won wore a size larger than him. By the time he finished drying his hair, Seo Hee-won was still showering in the other bathroom.

Lee Cheong-hyeon climbed onto the neatly made bed, claimed one pillow, and lay down. The plush mattress and soft blanket emitted a pleasant scent. He sniffed around, then stretched his arms out wide. Seeing how much space was left, it seemed there would be enough room for both of them. He squirmed to the side to make space for Seo Hee-won.

“He’s taking a really long time to shower.”

Finding it funny to wait for Seo Hee-won like this, he dimmed the lights and closed his eyes. The atmosphere became strangely romantic. Though he tried to fall asleep, out of courtesy for the host who had given up his bed, he fidgeted with his phone while waiting for him. After about 10 minutes, Seo Hee-won entered the room with wet hair. His well-fitting pajamas were similar in design to what Lee Cheong-hyeon was wearing.

“Why did you take so long, honey?”

As he said this, lifting the blanket with one arm as if inviting him in, Seo Hee-won froze in place, his mouth opening and closing. Then he abruptly went back into the bathroom.

“I’ll dry my hair and come back.”

Lee Cheong-hyeon lowered his arm in response to the awkward reaction. Come to think of it, hadn’t Seo Hee-won mentioned he couldn’t sleep comfortably with other people? If Seo Hee-won was uncomfortable because of him, that would be concerning. After thoroughly drying his hair, Seo Hee-won reentered the room looking fluffy and dry. Instead of acting natural, he paced around aimlessly until he felt Lee Cheong-hyeon’s direct gaze on him and finally walked toward the bed. The way he cautiously raised one knee onto the bed made it look like he really didn’t want to sleep together.

“Should I just sleep on the sofa?”

“No? Why?”

“You said before that you’re uncomfortable sleeping with other people.”

“I told you, you’re fine…”

With those words, Seo Hee-won completely climbed onto the bed and lay down. Looking at his calm profile with eyes closed, Lee Cheong-hyeon felt a sense of fulfillment. It was like earning the trust of a fierce wildcat. Lee Cheong-hyeon didn’t hide his delight as he spoke boastfully, “You really like me, huh?”

“Not really…”

Seo Hee-won pulled the blanket up to cover his eyes. Lee Cheong-hyeon laughed teasingly and said goodnight, to which Seo Hee-won responded with a simple “Yes.”

In the completely darkened room, only the soft sounds of their breathing could be heard. Being quite late already, sleep came quickly. As his consciousness gradually faded, he heard rustling sounds from right beside him. Seo Hee-won, who had turned to face Lee Cheong-hyeon, spoke in a quiet voice.

“Hyung, are you asleep?”

“Yeah.”

“I see.”

“…”

“But doesn’t it bother you when I ask you to come over all the time?”

“It does.”

“…”

He heard the sound of Seo Hee-won sitting up beside him. Still lying down with his eyes closed, Lee Cheong-hyeon just stretched out his arm. He firmly pressed Seo Hee-won down, making him lie back again. Even without looking, he could imagine what expression Seo Hee-won was making. His glare was so fierce that Lee Cheong-hyeon’s cheeks felt like they were stinging. Since he couldn’t start a war in the early hours of the morning, he explained with a sleep-laden voice, “But it means I want to see you enough to overcome that inconvenience.”

“…Why?”

“Because…”

It was true that meeting Seo Hee-won every time was a straight up hassle, but it was also true that he wanted to see him despite of that. As his voice trailed off while pondering the question, Lee Cheong-hyeon just answered with whatever came to mind. He was too sleepy to think deeply.

“I have a debt to repay…”

“That’s your reason?”

“Ah, I think I know why you keep paying for meals. You’re afraid I won’t hang out with you anymore once I pay off my debt, right?”

“No…Wait, hyung, were you thinking of doing that?”

Hearing the sound of Seo Hee-won trying to sit up again, Lee Cheong-hyeon pressed him down with his arm just like before.

“Of course not.”

“That’s really mean.”

“I told you, no…Let’s just get some sleep.”

“You haven’t finished telling me the reasons yet.”

At Seo Hee-won’s words, he tried to come up with another reason. It seemed like he needed to say something more to be able to sleep.

“Well…As we get closer, I like seeing behaviors that you only show in front of me.”

“…”

“Who would have imagined you’d ask these kinds of questions before falling asleep?”

“…”

“When I think that I’m the only one who knows this side of you…it feels good.”

He had never consciously thought about it, but now that he did, it was true. He enjoyed the special feeling of seeing Seo Hee-won being friendly only with him.

“So don’t try to draw a line like before.”

He recalled the recent meetup day. Back then, Seo Hee-won seemed cold, just like before they became close. The fact that this memory came to mind now suggested that he had felt quite hurt at the time. He hoped Seo Hee-won wouldn’t distance himself like that again. After being silent for a while, Seo Hee-won muttered in a small voice, “…Jerk.”

“Huh?”

“Just go to sleep.”

After waking up someone who was trying to sleep by talking incessantly, he now arbitrarily cut off the conversation. Lee Cheong-hyeon  was about to grumble, but could no longer fight against sleep, so he obediently closed his eyes. Not long after, he entered a state of light sleep.

Lying still and breathing quietly, Lee Cheong-hyeon unconsciously shifted to find a more comfortable position. He rolled halfway onto his side, but unfortunately turned in Seo Hee-won’s direction, causing his leg to land squarely on Seo Hee-won’s thigh. Sensing something was off, Lee Cheong-hyeon blinked his closed eyes open to find Seo Hee-won’s rigidly frozen face right in front of him.

“Ah, sorry.”

“…”

As he belatedly reacted and slid his leg off, the sound of fabric brushing against fabric could be heard. Seo Hee-won, who had been frozen without even blinking for a moment, suddenly jumped up. Startled by Seo Hee-won’s unexpected behavior, Lee Cheong-hyeon also sat up. Being in a half-asleep state, he couldn’t quickly grasp the situation. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he turned on the light and looked up at Seo Hee-won, who was acting strangely.

“What’s wrong?”

Without answering, Seo Hee-won glared at Lee Cheong-hyeon as if looking at a shameless person. Then he roughly grabbed his pillow and got down onto the floor. Before Lee Cheong-hyeon’s mind could catch up with the sudden shift in the situation, Seo Hee-won had already brought out a new blanket and laid it on the floor. He immediately lay down on it, turned his back, and pulled the blanket all the way over his head.

“Come on…Are you doing this just because my leg brushed against you?”

“…”

“I’m sorry, it was an accident. I’ll be careful, so just come back up.”

“No. I’ve been thinking, and it’s uncomfortable after all. I’ll just sleep on the floor.”

Seo Hee-won spoke rapidly with clenched teeth, barely breathing. Seeing him react as if having a seizure was both bewildering and unpleasant. His extreme reaction of getting down to the floor made Lee Cheong-hyeon wonder if he had accidentally touched a sensitive area. But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t remember feeling any suspicious sensation.

“It’s uncomfortable sleeping on the floor. Just come up and sleep together. I’ll really stay still, I’ll stick to the wall.”

“No.”

“Come on, I’m not some germ. Will you die if we touch a little? Why are you making such a big deal out of this? Or did I maybe touch your, you know, sensitive part?”

“Are you crazy? What are you even saying?”

“Just asking…”

Seo Hee-won suddenly got up again, tucked the pillow under his arm, and neatly folded the blanket. Then he walked toward the door, breathing heavily.

“Where are you going?”

“You’d better apologize to me someday.”

After glaring at Lee Cheong-hyeon with all his might, he left with those words, slamming the door shut. Staring in disbelief at the firmly closed door, Lee Cheong-hyeon shouted loudly, “I already said I’m sorry! Hey! What’s wrong with you? Am I dirty or something? Just you wait until morning when you complain about not sleeping well or having a sore back! Huh?”

Only Lee Cheong-hyeon’s voice echoed in the now-empty room. He had only been concerned about kicking the homeowner out and sleeping alone in the bed, but suddenly he had become someone desperate to sleep in the same bed with a man bigger than himself.

“Wow…Why am I so angry? If you were going to act like this, you shouldn’t have said I was fine in the first place. This isn’t funny…”

If Seo Hee-won hadn’t said those things, Lee Cheong-hyeon wouldn’t have felt disappointed or betrayed. Though he grumbled with dissatisfaction, his voice wouldn’t reach Seo Hee-won, who had already fled outside. Lee Cheong-hyeon lay sprawled roughly on the wide bed, tossing and turning irritably. Despite not having lost anything to Seo Hee-won, he strangely felt like something had been taken from him. Lee Cheong-hyeon discovered a doll on the bed’s headboard and stretched it out, tormenting it. It turned out to be the cat-shaped doll he had won for Seo Hee-won earlier.