BHB 22

Yeowon gestured lightly towards the interior of the house with those final words. It wasn’t that he particularly liked Chaemin and wanted to let him stay. He had always lived by certain principles, even while engaging in delinquent behavior. He had always tried to maintain basic human decency – respecting the elderly, protecting children, helping those in need. Those around him might laugh and mock this as ridiculous, but Yeowon had always strived to uphold his personal code of ethics.

“…Thank you,” Chaemin reluctantly accepted, his hesitation evident. The awkwardness was mutual, but Yeowon chose to ignore it.

“I’ll only stay for tonight.”

“You don’t need to be so formal,” Yeowon replied, gesturing towards the room next to his bedroom. Though he lived alone, there were a couple of spare rooms. One had been set up with Lee Taegang in mind, but he never used it, always preferring to crash in Yeowon’s bed instead.

“The bathroom is behind the kitchen. You can wash up there.”

“Okay.”

“Do you need a change of clothes?”

Yeowon asked casually, his gaze steady. Chaemin nodded slowly, seemingly uncomfortable with asking for more favors.

“My clothes are a bit damp,” he explained sheepishly.

Yeowon disappeared into his walk-in closet, returning with an unworn t-shirt and sweatpants. 

“They might be a bit big,” he warned.

“It’s fine. Thank you.”

“All set?”

“Ah, yes.”

Without further comment, Yeowon entered his bedroom. The day felt unusually long. The situation of having Taegang’s sex partner in the next room was quite awkward, but he tried to ignore it and headed for his en-suite bathroom.

A gentle knock interrupted his thoughts. The sound was unfamiliar in his apartment, but its source was obvious. Opening the door, he found Chaemin dressed in the borrowed clothes. The oversized garments made him look different from his usual polished self.

“Need anything else?” Yeowon inquired.

Chaemin shook his head with a soft smile. “No, just wanted to say thanks again.”

“…Didn’t you already say that a few times?”

“Yes, I do, sorry just wanted to wish you goodnight.”

The sentiment felt oddly intimate, reminiscent of ex-girlfriends’ bedtime farewells.

“Goodnight, Yeowon.”

“…Yeah, sure.”

Despite Yeowon’s awkward response, Chaemin’s smile remained gentle. He waved before returning to his room. As the door closed, Yeowon flopped onto his bed, pondering how a fellow man could be so… tender. Was this what drew Taegang to him?

One thing was certain: Chaemin, Taegang’s lover, wasn’t a bad person. Which, frustratingly, left Yeowon with no reason to dislike him.

***

As sunlight began to sting his eyes, Yeowon barely managed to open them. Perhaps because he had fallen asleep so late, it took a long time for him to wake up. With consciousness barely returned, he lay with his eyes closed for a while, then roughly rubbed his face dry, and only then did he fully wake up and sluggishly get out of bed.

As soon as he got up, he took off the t-shirt he wore instead of pajamas and headed for the bathroom. A cold shower seemed like it would properly wake him up. This was Yeowon’s usual morning routine to begin with. Being a heavy sleeper, it wasn’t easy for him to become fully alert, so he always started with a shower right after waking up. Then he would have an energy bar for a light breakfast and watch sports reruns that aired in the morning.

After finishing his shower and wrapping only a towel around his lower body, Yeowon came out of the room and went straight to the kitchen. He gulped down a bottle of cold water from the fridge and roughly shook his dripping wet hair.

“…!”

Then, sensing an odd presence, Yeowon turned around and came face to face with Chaemin coming out of the bathroom in the living room. Seeing Chaemin, he suddenly remembered that he had let him stay at his house. Yeowon, who had momentarily forgotten, flinched slightly.

Ah, right.

Soon, blinking his eyes calmly, he rummaged through the shelf and handed him an energy bar.

“Want one?”

He offered, thinking it might be unkind to eat alone, but Chaemin showed a slightly puzzled reaction. His eyes rolled around as if he didn’t know where to look, and a faint blush spread across his pale skin.

Only then realizing that he was half-naked, Yeowon let out a short sigh and scratched the back of his neck indifferently.

“I just got out of the shower.”

“Oh, right. Yeah.”

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“Huh…? Ah, no.”

He had never felt embarrassed about being shirtless in front of men before, but seeing how flustered Chaemin was made him feel strange too.

Well… given his orientation, maybe he could be uncomfortable.

“There’s nothing else to eat at home, so this is all for breakfast.”

As he casually waved the energy bar that Chaemin hadn’t taken yet, Chaemin nodded emphatically and received it with both hands.

“No, just letting me stay is already kind enough.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. The room was nice.”

Chaemin replied with a gentle smile. Meanwhile, he seemed to be trying hard not to look at Yeowon’s almost naked form.

“I’m just going to change clothes and leave. Do you want to leave together, or go first?”

“Are you going to school?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s… go together.”

“Okay then. Wait a little bit.”

Yeowon shook his hair some more as he headed to the walk-in closet. The house was messy all over since he couldn’t call the cleaning lady. He chose the cleanest clothes, put them on, stood in front of the mirror, dried his hair without hesitation, lightly gelled it back, and came out. Then he saw Chaemin fidgeting alone in the living room. At school, he had the image of a mature and adult-like senior, but seeing him so flustered and at a loss yesterday and today was quite unexpected.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you at school lately…”

As they were about to leave together, Chaemin asked casually.

“Ah, I haven’t gone for a few days.”

“Did something happen?”

There was something, but it’s just that he couldn’t talk about it.

“No, just something…”

Unable to find an excuse, he mumbled vaguely, and Chaemin didn’t press further.

“But how did you know?”

“Hm?”

“Senior, you don’t have many overlapping classes with me, right?”

He roughly put on his sneakers and flung open the door. Out of habit, his gaze went towards Taegang’s house, but he deliberately ignored it and looked at Chaemin. Just as he felt those clear eyes trembling slightly, the door of the neighboring house also flung open.

“……”

Silence suddenly fell with the appearance of the neighbor. Not only Chaemin but also Yeowon and Taegang stopped in their tracks. But the silence was brief; Yeowon forcibly tore his gaze away and tried to continue speaking to Chaemin.

“I’m going first, what are you going to do?”

“Huh…?”

“Go with him or something.”

Yeowon suggested, nodding towards Taegang who was standing like a statue. He had no other intention. Whether they were dating or not, they were in that kind of relationship, so he thought it would be better for Chaemin to go with Taegang rather than move with him unnecessarily.

“Um…”

At his question, Chaemin visibly flustered, looking back and forth between Taegang and him.

“Why are you here?”

Taegang cut into the conversation that had deliberately excluded him. With a face visibly tired, he asked Chaemin as if displeased.

“Well, yesterday…”

Under Taegang’s gloomy aura, Chaemin hesitantly stuttered, checking the atmosphere. Taegang looked quite upset, but whether it was because his bedmate had stayed at Yeowon’s house or simply because of Yeowon who had ignored his calls for days and changed the house password, he couldn’t tell.

“I’m leaving first.”

But Yeowon had no intention whatsoever of standing side by side with Taegang for a three-way confrontation. He was still angry, and seeing him being supported home drunk after drinking with Chaemin made him lose any desire to make up.

“Wait, Yeowon…!”

He heard Chaemin’s voice urgently calling him as he was about to get on the elevator first, but he was already inside, and through the slowly closing doors, he saw Taegang’s menacing figure grabbing Chaemin’s arm and turning him around. Seeing the scene that looked almost like a lovers’ quarrel, Yeowon let out a faint laugh. Was Taegang going to interrogate him for sleeping at another man’s house…?

Yeowon swallowed a deep sigh-like irritation even as he laughed. Why had Taegang kissed him then, with that attitude? Why had he looked at him with yearning eyes as if he had different feelings for him? It was all incomprehensible.

***

As soon as he entered the lecture hall, Do Youngjae clenched and unclenched his fists as if he wanted to give Han Yeowon a good punch. The guy was clearly angry, but Yeowon himself was indifferent. In truth, he had no interest in academics. He had only come to this university following Taegang, without much thought. As such, he wasn’t the type to diligently pursue his studies. He had just been treating it as an extension of high school. After all, there was no better place than school and campus to mingle with people. Time flew by quickly when laughing and chatting mindlessly.

That’s why he had many friends among his classmates and juniors. As proof, many people worriedly asked about his well-being when he hadn’t shown up for a few days. Both the female juniors he was close with and the excessively angry Do Youngjae were the same. He didn’t dislike such attention, but perhaps because he was troubled, it didn’t particularly improve his mood.