PSY CH 72

By the time Jooyoung came to his senses, they were already outside. Dohyun was gripping Jooyoung’s wrist tightly and striding ahead, while Jooyoung was half-dazed, dragged along.

At the parking lot behind the building, where the only sound was the rustling of leaves in the wind, Dohyun finally stopped.

“Bae Jooyoung.”

Jooyoung stared blankly at the ground, his face pale as white paper. Seeing his vacant state, Dohyun furrowed his brows.

“Bae Jooyoung, did you just—”

“…Did you see that?”

A low, subdued voice echoed faintly from below.

“Sigh…”

Dohyun sighed, brushing back his hair.

Honestly, he still couldn’t believe it. Feeling frustrated, he had stepped out of the arcade to smoke a cigarette, and just then, Jooyoung passed by. Before he even had a chance to think about what to do, he impulsively followed him.

He was planning to apologize one more time. While watching Jooyoung through the glass, waiting for him to come out of the pharmacy, something unbelievable happened.

Jooyoung, who had been suspiciously looking around, suddenly tried to slip some unpaid medicine into his pocket.

Reflexively, Dohyun lunged forward. As soon as he entered the pharmacy, he grabbed Jooyoung’s wrist tightly, and Jooyoung trembled like someone caught red-handed.

It wasn’t just a careless mistake of forgetting to pay. His face was drained white as if all the blood had left him, his lower lip trembling, and he couldn’t even breathe properly.

“…”

Dohyun recalled Jooyoung on the CCTV. He had been wandering endlessly around the hallway, but suddenly turned and entered the kitchen. He stood still in front of a shelf of instant noodles for ten minutes. Not long after, he came out holding a bundle of ramen in his hand.

Maybe because the previous behavior was more shocking, Dohyun hadn’t thought it was strange. He just assumed it was a symptom of sleepwalking.

But if it wasn’t that…

“Were you really trying to steal?”

Jooyoung’s hunched shoulders twitched.

“Bae Jooyoung.”

Dohyun couldn’t hold back his frustration and called out sharply. But no matter how long he waited, Jooyoung’s tightly sealed lips showed no sign of opening.

“Are you out of your damn mind?”

“…”

“Damn it, there are so many people here—what if you got caught?!”

At that moment, Jooyoung suddenly lifted his head. The first thing Dohyun saw was his wide-open eyes. His pupils shook wildly as if facing the most terrifying thing in the world.

“I-is there someone else see me?”

“…”

“Who? Who saw me?”

Jooyoung clutched Dohyun’s arm desperately, his face twisted as if about to cry.

“What do I do? Ah, what do I do…”

Jooyoung stomped his feet, completely at a loss. He looked like he was about to burst into tears.

“Bae Jooyoung.”

“Who? Who saw me? Ah, what do I do? This can’t be… ah, ah…”

Jooyoung sobbed, holding onto Dohyun. His breathing was tangled, barely able to catch his breath. He kept panting, sounding like he couldn’t stop hiccuping.

“Bae Jooyoung.”

Dohyun held his curse under his breath, then cupped Jooyoung’s face with both hands.

“Bae Jooyoung.”

“…”

“Hyung, please look at me.”

Panting, Jooyoung looked up helplessly at Dohyun.

“Dohyun, I-I don’t know what to do…”

He had always seemed bigger and better than him… but at this moment, Jooyoung looked fragile, like wet paper. One small mistake would make him tear apart without a trace.

“No one saw you.”

“…”

“No one but me saw you. I swear,” Dohyun spoke firmly. “I told you, I don’t lie.”

He left no room for doubt

“…R-really?”

Jooyoung’s moist lips quivered as he asked.

“Yes, really.”

“No one saw me. Right?”

“Yeah, no one saw.”

“Haa…”

At that moment, Jooyoung’s legs gave out as if losing strength, and he collapsed heavily into Dohyun’s arms. Dohyun was momentarily startled but quickly caught him steadily. Soon, his chest began to feel warm and wet.

“…Damn it, ugh. It… it’s so annoying.”

Jooyoung, still panting in Dohyun’s arms, muttered a low curse. His voice was thick with resentment, but it wasn’t clear who it was directed at. Maybe it was at himself—after all, he was the one who had lost control and caused this mess.

“…”

Dohyun couldn’t say anything. He simply waited silently until Jooyoung stopped crying.

He had always desperately wished for Jooyoung to fall, to collapse and break down…

But he didn’t understand why, at this moment, he felt like his heart stung as if pricked by needles.

***

Dohyun stared blankly at the painkillers in his hand, then flicked them into the trash. He gathered some water and fever medicine and went back to the bedroom.

“Take your medicine and sleep.”

Jooyoung was lying under the blanket. His sniffles were occasionally heard, so he wasn’t fully asleep.

Dohyun carefully pulled back the blanket while sitting on the bed. Jooyoung, lying on his side, blinked his eyes and frowned.

“…My head hurts.”

“Yeah, that’s why you need to take your medicine and sleep.”

When Dohyun slid his hand under Jooyoung’s neck to help him sit up, Jooyoung got up without protest. Dohyun handed him the pills. Even after peeling off the wrapper and giving only the pill, Jooyoung couldn’t hide his unsettled expression.

“Take it.”

“…”

“Bae Jooyoung.”

Slowly, Jooyoung’s hand reached out and took the medicine. He put water in his mouth and tilted his head back. Under the bright light, his Adam’s apple moved up and down quietly.

Even after swallowing the medicine, Jooyoung stared blankly at the bed, sniffing. His shoulders drooped as if drained of all energy.

“I’ll turn off the light.”

Dohyun took the glass and stood up. 

Then—

“…Can you stay by my side?”

Jooyoung grabbed Dohyun’s sleeve tightly. His eyes were red and swollen, or maybe because they were moist and glistening, his usual sharp attitude was softened.

“I don’t want to be alone.”

Dohyun sighed and rubbed his brow with his index finger. After a moment’s thought, he put the glass on the nightstand. 

“…I’ll turn off the light and come back.” 

He pressed the switch to turn off the light and closed the door. Perfect darkness wrapped around them. Dohyun carefully lay down beside Jooyoung, who was waiting for him. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Jooyoung and instead raised his arm to cover his eyes.

After a while, the tearfulness in Jooyoung’s breathing slowly began to fade. Dohyun lowered his arm and turned his head slightly. Jooyoung was lying facing him. Even in the dark, his pale face looked clean, as if untouched by any stain.

This was the Jooyoung Dohyun knew. The face that always looked down on him with sharp eyes. There was none of the frantic stomping or helplessness there.

Then Jooyoung slowly lifted his eyelids, and his caramel-colored eyes appeared.

“…”

“…”

They quietly stared at each other. Dohyun was the first to speak.

“This isn’t the first time, is it?”

The way Jooyoung glanced around before slipping something into his pocket seemed natural. And when asked if anyone saw him, he almost looked like he was about to faint.

“So that’s why you came down here. And the reason why you asked me not to report…”

Dohyun couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Assault? Theft? Rape?”

“You didn’t kill someone, right?”

Memories came back bit by bit, and the pieces started to fit together.

“So? Did you go to jail or not?”

And when the puzzle was finally complete, its shape was nothing like he had expected—and it was devastating.

“Why did you try to steal?”

“…”

“You’re living well, aren’t you?”

Jooyoung’s father was a bank executive, and his mother was a Grade-5 civil servant. On top of that, his father’s side of the family had always been well-off, so people in the neighborhood often said that Miyoung had married well. If anything, they had more than enough—being short on money was never an issue. In other words, Jooyoung had no reason to steal out of financial need.

“…”

Jooyoung’s gaze dropped, and tears slowly gathered in his eyes.

“Haa, don’t cry.”

“Sh—”

Seeing Jooyoung biting his lower lip until it bled, Dohyun jumped up. He pushed his thumb gently between Jooyoung’s lips.

“You’re bleeding. Stop it.”

“…You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Jooyoung shot Dohyun a fierce glare, eyes wide. The sudden accusation made Dohyun freeze mid-motion, still wiping away the blood.

“What’s so good about this?”

“You’re enjoying seeing me like this, all messed up, aren’t you?”

“…”

“Don’t pretend you don’t.”

“Haa…”

Dohyun let out a heavy sigh. He took a tissue and carefully wiped Jooyoung’s lower lip, where little drops of blood had formed. Jooyoung didn’t make a sound, not even a groan, as if it didn’t hurt at all.

“I don’t enjoy it at all.”

“…”

“Is that enough?”

After roughly tossing the tissue into the trash, Dohyun carefully pulled the blanket up to cover Jooyoung’s neck. 

“Forget it, if you don’t want to talk—just—”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jooyoung, still glaring at Dohyun sharply, said in a harsh voice, “I have a criminal record.”

Dohyun’s hand froze mid-motion as he was adjusting the blanket.