SOG Ch 178

On the third day of barely leaving their room, Seon Jae-chan finally dressed, concealing the marks scattered across his body under neat clothes as he sat through an examination. Near the end of the check-up, his doctor, who had muttered to herself throughout, “Even if it’s a paid job…” unexpectedly leaned in close and whispered:

“Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“What do you mean?” Jae-chan asked, pretending not to understand as he put his eyepatch back on.

He had noticed the doctor glancing at his condition. Woo-jin had brought him a light, soft sweater that came up to his neck, but even the best clothes couldn’t hide the marks densely left on his cheeks, ears, and the back of his hands. He thought the doctor might find it strange.

“…Do you have a cell phone?”

“Of course,” Seon Jae-chan lied with a very trustworthy attitude.

The doctor looked doubtful, but contrary to her thoughts, Seon Jae-chan was an accomplice in seeking isolated time for just the two of them. So even as the doctor left and Woo-jin’s hands stripped him down to his underwear again, Jae-chan didn’t think about his own well-being at all. He was only worried that Woo-jin might be misunderstood.

And that same night.

Jae-chan, who had fallen asleep after another long session of sex, opened his eyes slightly at the sound of a phone call seeping into his ears.

“…”

Putting on a robe and going out to the living room, he found Woo-jin on the phone with Esper Chae Seong-hwan. Jae-chan approached Woo-jin closely while drinking water from a glass. Woo-jin just stroked Jae-chan’s shortened hair on one side, continuing the call without minding.

“But how long are you going to stay holed up in that officetel? It’s not easy to keep that man in check. He might fly off to another country at any time.”

It was near the end of the call. Jae-chan nearly choked on his water at the comment from Esper Chae Seong-hwan pointing out Woo-jin’s extended absence.

“Make sure to thoroughly question the Guide Seon too. If you coddle him just because he’s cute, you might end up blindsided one day. It’s best to address any lingering issues so you’re at ease, don’t you think?”

When Chae Seong-hwan said that, Woo-jin erased the smile he had been wearing. “I’ll call you back later,” he said and hung up abruptly.

“…”

After a moment of awkward silence, Jae-chan spoke first.

“Aren’t you going to work?”

“I’m on reward leave,” Woo-jin answered, pushing his phone far away.

It was true, and he planned to take more time off. Although Go Woo-jin himself had partly induced it, his father Go Young-chang was quite upset with President Gyeong Jeonseok over this incident. He wanted to express his displeasure to the military in various ways.

Go Woo-jin’s non-participation in operations would also be one such method. Woo-jin, who had endured the military’s unreasonable orders and encouraged his team members to participate until now, no longer felt the need to make such efforts.

As if that explanation was sufficient, Woo-jin picked Jae-chan up. As he was carried to the bedroom by Woo-jin’s long strides, Seon Jae-chan acquiesced without further suspicion. If Woo-jin was okay with it, it must be fine.

Unlike before falling asleep, he was laid down again on the bed, now with fresh bedding. Jae-chan familiarly accepted the touch caressing every corner of his body. He spread his legs to make Woo-jin comfortable.

However, there was something else that needed to be addressed. After penetrative sex, while embracing Go Woo-jin in the languid feeling of climax, Seon Jae-chan quickly spoke up as the heated air cleared slightly:

“…You heard from Esper Chae Seong-hwan, right? About that strange lab in the research wing of District 5 Center.”

At this unexpected topic, Woo-jin’s languidly lowered eyelashes lifted slightly. As if Jae-chan had said something disruptive, Woo-jin, whose gaze had intensified after climaxing, bit Jae-chan’s lips. Undeterred by this mischief, Seon Jae-chan gently bit back at Woo-jin’s prominent nose bridge and continued speaking.

“My photo was posted there.”

“…”

“They said I was your weakness.”

Woo-jin looked down at Jae-chan, then reached to pull the blanket over him, covering the body he’d left marked with red spots. In a voice close enough that their noses nearly touched, Woo-jin replied firmly.

“Nonsense.”

Having heard various things directly from Chae Seong-hwan and at the scene, Woo-jin understood what Jae-chan was talking about.

Whatever Go Young-woon had analyzed about him and Jae-chan, he didn’t think at all that Jae-chan was his weakness. If anything, he was his strength. Woo-jin continued his thoughts as he pulled Jae-chan closer. By his standards, it would be weaker to sit idly by, preserving one’s safety even after losing a loved one. It would be a mindset the terrorists could never understand.

Meanwhile, Seon Jae-chan, whose thought process was somewhat similar to the terrorists’, said:

“Actually, I like being your weakness. It means you like me that much. For the same reason, I also like that you’re my weakness.”

Woo-jin quietly looked down at Jae-chan wrapped tightly in the blanket. He was contemplating whether he should agree with those words or not.

“But I shouldn’t become your weakness,” Jae-chan said in a low voice as if making a vow. The technician had once mocked him, claiming he would be Woo-jin’s downfall. That he would either become obsessed with Woo-jin or maintain enough distance to avoid getting hurt, making Woo-jin uneasy.

Jae-chan couldn’t dismiss it as nonsense. He had a past where he had already suffered greatly from being too obsessed with Woo-jin. He thought he had been doing well after the regression, but maybe he was still within the boundaries the Technician had classified.

Jae-chan didn’t want that. Woo-jin, slightly furrowing his brow, was about to firmly refute with “No,” but Jae-chan took the initiative and pressed forward.

“I regressed.”

Jae-chan mustered the courage to reveal his inner thoughts to avoid becoming Woo-jin’s flaw.

Woo-jin might think he’s out of his mind. Despite worries rushing in as always when facing Woo-jin – would he become wary of him, what if this becomes their last time together – he put them all aside for now.

“I’m not joking. I really went back in time. Like in those movies we watched together.”

“…”

“But I didn’t go back just a day, I went back 6 years. When I woke up, it had changed from 584 to 578.”

Jae-chan calmly added that he had gone from twenty-seven to twenty-one. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to meet Woo-jin’s gaze. Instead, he focused on Woo-jin’s tense shoulder muscles and continued.

“…Remember when I recently said I was interested in someone else? It was a misunderstanding.”

Woo-jin, frozen by the utterly surreal and unexpected content, suddenly recalled their last phone conversation at Jae-chan’s words. He also remembered what Gyeong Hye-in had mockingly revealed to him before, and how he had thought none of that mattered when he later faced the devastated Jae-chan.

“That someone… it was you. The person I liked then and the person I like now—they were both you.”

“…”

“I liked twenty-seven-year-old you before coming back to the past, and I’ve liked you ever since I met you again.”

“So…”

In the cautious atmosphere, Woo-jin carefully chose his words. Despite the gravity and disbelief surrounding the situation, he couldn’t ignore a question that had suddenly become important to him.

“The ‘older person’ who you liked was me, and the ‘younger person’ you liked was also me?”

Woo-jin asked, recalling what he had heard from Gyeong Hye-in. Gyeong Hye-in had once joked that Jae-chan was juggling ‘too many relationships to count’. That he seemed to have given his heart to both an unnamed older person and a younger person, in addition to him. Until now, Woo-jin had only assumed they were Han Tae-hoon and Nam Hae-sol respectively.

“…Older, younger?”

Meanwhile, Seon Jae-chan, who was muttering blankly, recalled his conversation with Gyeong Hae-in.

It was a memory from late January, they’d shared drinks at a food stall, where she’d talked to him about her supposed love for younger partners, leading Jae-chan to chime in.

‘Don’t pretend to know, you bastard! What do you know about younger guys?’

‘I know, I know everything. You want to rely on older ones, and younger ones are… really cute, right? It’s more thrilling when you get physical.’

‘Ha, look at that expression. This guy knows everything.’

Clearly, the drunk Gyeong Hye-in had spilled everything to Woo-jin in detail. That person really told him everything. Seon Jae-chan’s face contorted grimly, but then he realized that wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Well, I was twenty-seven before the regression, so… strictly speaking, you are younger than me…”

He barely stopped himself from blurting out that when they’d met again, Woo-jin had seemed like a baby. Ignoring the dull pain rising from below, he scrambled to get up and kneel at the same time. He felt solemn, suddenly feeling like he had completely devoured someone six years younger.

Facing the silent Woo-jin, Jae-chan continued his explanation with “Anyway…”

“I’m sure you noticed I changed around two years ago.”

Jae-chan was certain Woo-jin would agree with this part. Their relationship had changed so much because he had changed.

“And there were quite a few strange things too. For example, recently I knew about the Technician’s, I mean Go Young-woon’s ability, right?”

As it happened, Go Woo-jin had experienced some difficulties because of that very issue.

While dealing with the aftermath of the incident, the Intelligence Service had inquired about how they had obtained information on the cloning ability. Fortunately, he had coordinated with Chae Seong-hwan beforehand. Chae Seong-hwan had stepped forward himself and falsely testified that he had discovered documents about the guy’s ability in the Technician’s destroyed secret room in District 2.

‘I did as you asked, but there’s more than one suspicious thing regarding Guide Seon.’

Woo-jin recalled Chae Seong-hwan’s words. His former mentor had advised that it was necessary to find out exactly where and how Seon Jae-chan had obtained the information.

‘There was a District 5 investigator named Kwon Joon-young who worked with Seon Jae-chan. But Investigator Kwon said he didn’t even know about the existence of the secret room. Yet Guide Seon entered the passcode without any hesitation. Like someone who already knew it.’

Chae Seong-hwan had definitely phrased it that way—like someone who’d known.