By Zephyria “Lee Tae-kyung! Why, what’s wrong?”
Sung Se-han’s urgent voice leaked through the noise, but I couldn’t answer anything other than shaking my head.
“Tae-kyung!”
A large hand grabbed my head tightly. The moment I opened my eyes wide at Sung Se-han’s call, the Status Window’s red letters appeared in front of me.
[Emergency!]
[Emergency!]
[Emergency!]
[Emergency!]
The noise stopped. But I blankly stared at the Status Window flowing like blood.
[Emergency! Lee Tae-kyung, be careful! Time is being torn apart!]
Time is… what…?
[Emergency! Lee Tae-kyung, be careful! Time is being mixed up!]
What does that mean…?
[Emergency! Warning to Lee Tae-kyung! The Status Window is no longer…….]
“Tae-kyung! Snap out of it!”
Sung Se-han was desperately calling me. I opened my eyes wide as if they would pop out and looked at Sung Se-han. I had to tell him not to worry, that I was okay.
My vision became hazy.
“Tae-kyung! Lee Tae-kyung!”
And soon, my mind fell into a dark abyss.
*
I wish I could have stayed in the darkness.
I had to walk through a painful time alone.
‘Tae-kyung! Se-han… Se-han had an accident!’
I don’t want to see Gun-woo Hyung running up to me in tears anymore.
Hyung, please stop now. I’m really so tired of it.
‘Tae-kyung! You have to go to the funeral! Se-han will be waiting….’
Stop it! I’m never going to the funeral again!
‘Tae-kyung! If you’re like this, Se-han will….’
Shut up! Se-han is safe! He’s never going to have an accident like that again!
I pushed Gun-woo Hyung away and turned around to run.
That kind of time when Sung Se-han has an accident no longer exists. Because I will never let that happen.
So, this is just a dream.
Even if I shouted at the top of my lungs, the fear didn’t disappear. I was still running through a painful time.
Suddenly, I thought I saw a faint light in the distance.
The legs that were running started to pick up speed. That was because I quickly realized where that place was. That was the room where young Se-han had been trapped.
Scenes from an old movie were playing on the TV, and Se-han, sitting on the blanket, was blankly looking out the window on the left.
Se-han!
It was strange. This time, I couldn’t enter that room. Blocked by a transparent wall, I pounded on the wall like crazy.
Se-han!
Young Se-han couldn’t hear my voice. This time, he didn’t turn to look at me.
He was just looking at the sunlight coming through the window. He was counting the dust particles floating in the sunlight.
Even while watching Se-han, who was as pretty as an angel, helplessly looking only at the window, I couldn’t do anything for him. The sight made my heart ache so much that I clutched my chest.
“Tae-kyung.”
A low voice called my name. Warm hands wiping my cheeks woke me up from the nightmare.
“Tae-kyung, why are you crying?”
I didn’t have to try hard to come to my senses, and I could see clearly with eyes as clear as if I hadn’t been asleep.
The person sitting next to me, looking down with a worried face, was Sung Se-han, a robust man exuding overflowing vitality.
“Se-han.”
When did he grow up so much? Now, Sung Se-han, who has grown into a strong man that no one can confine or touch carelessly, is in front of me. This moment is the unchanging reality.
“Yeah, Tae-kyung.”
The hand that had been wiping my cheeks moved up to my forehead. I closed my eyes briefly at the touch, then rolled my eyes to check my surroundings. As expected, it was a familiar hospital room that I had been to before.
“How long was I asleep?”
“A little over a day.”
For more than 24 hours, Sung Se-han would have spent a lonely and difficult time waiting for me to wake up. He hadn’t even changed the clothes he had been wearing yesterday, and he was waiting for me in a daze.
It hurt my heart, so I tried to smile brightly, but the muscles in my face didn’t cooperate.
“Sorry, I surprised you. I really don’t hurt anywhere….”
“Yeah.”
Sung Se-han nodded and pulled the blanket up to his neck.
“I had tests done all over, and the doctor said it just seems like stress.”
“Yeah. I guess I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.”
I wanted to check the time first, so I looked around for my phone.
“Se-han, my phone is….”
At that moment, I suddenly had a thought and jumped up.
“Wait, damn it! The survival filming today….”
“Lee Tae-kyung.”
Sung Se-han grabbed my shoulders and pressed me back down onto the bed.
“Don’t worry about filming or anything like that. Just rest now.”
“No! Today is our team’s practice room filming! If I can’t do it because of me… that won’t do….”
Sung Se-han’s eyes looking down at me were so dark that my heart ached. My voice gradually faded, and I eventually had no choice but to apologize hesitantly.
“Sorry… you must have been very worried… I was only thinking about myself….”
Sung Se-han, who was sitting in the chair next to the bed, took my hand.
“Lee Tae-kyung.”
Now that I looked, Sung Se-han was angry. Even though he was suppressing his emotions, I could clearly see his transparent eyes boiling with nowhere to vent his anger.
“What should I do?”
“Huh…?”
The stiff voice seemed to be telling Sung Se-han’s rigid state of mind, and even that made my heart ache.
“If I don’t talk about dreams anymore, if I pretend not to notice no matter how strangely you act. Would that be okay?”
“No… there’s no need to go that far….”
Sung Se-han’s hand tightened.
“I don’t want to feel that helpless feeling again.”
I felt the feelings that Sung Se-han must have felt from the tips of his fingers, so I held his hand tightly.
“You felt… helpless?”
To think I made him feel even those negative emotions, I really messed up. I should have been more clear-headed.
“Suddenly, it felt like Lee Tae-kyung was too far away and I couldn’t reach you. Tae-kyung, do you know that feeling?”
Sung Se-han’s alluring lips twisted and spat out a cynical bass.
“That’s really, it drives people crazy.”
Even the fact that his disheveled hair was falling down looked so charming as if it was intentional. How transparently his brown eyes, suppressing anger, were shining.
“Tae-kyung, I’m telling you clearly.”
He probably doesn’t know how beautiful everything that makes up Sung Se-han is.
“If you leave me, I’ll never let you go.”
So that’s why he can have the ridiculous thought that I’m out of his reach. There’s no way I can leave Sung Se-han.
“Listen carefully.”
Sung Se-han, who had gotten up from the chair, placed his hand next to my head.
“Lee Tae-kyung.”
His other hand painfully gripped my arm, but I couldn’t even groan. Because Sung Se-han’s cold eyes were flashing with hostility that I didn’t even know who it was directed at.
“If you do that again, I’ll never let you go, no matter how much it’s you.”
The terrifyingly lowered voice and the pressure that felt like it was pressing down on my body made it hard to breathe properly.
“Sorry….”
I shook my head unconsciously and barely opened my trembling lips.
“I’m sorry… for making things hard for you….”
“It’s not hard.”
The hand that had been gripping my arm grabbed my chin.
With my chin forcibly lifted, I met the gaze of the brown eyes that were coming closer.
“What’s hard about it. I have Lee Tae-kyung.”
Along with the rough voice, his lips touched mine. I opened my mouth as if it was natural. The tongue that roughly pushed in started rubbing against my tongue and sucking as if it was thirsty.
“Ugh, ungh…!”
I waved my hands because I was suffocating from the tongue filling my mouth, then hugged his thick shoulders. As the firm muscles wrapped around my fingers, the distracting thoughts flew away and my head became hot.
I want to be pinned down by his body, which is as heavy as a stone, so that I can’t even breathe. I was so impatient that I couldn’t stand it. My waist wriggled as I waited for his hand to boldly dig between my thighs.
“Ah…!”
I blinked blankly, unable to hold onto the tongue that suddenly slipped out.
“If we keep going, it won’t end with just a kiss.”
Sung Se-han, who was breathing roughly like me, wiped his wet lips with his thumb.
I couldn’t avoid the gaze that was scanning my face, and I had no choice but to slowly raise my knees to cover the situation in the blanket.
To think that I just came to my senses a little while ago, but I couldn’t stand it and got excited and erected. I must really be crazy about Sung Se-han.
“Tell me what you want to eat.”
Sung Se-han picked up his phone from the bedside table and looked at me.
I turned my head away because I resented him for exciting me and then putting on a cold face so quickly. Looking out the window, it was dark, so it seemed like it was late at night. No, is it dawn?
“What time is it now?”
“One in the morning. I’ll prepare anything you want to eat.”
I got out of bed and sat down, crossing my arms.
“Hamburger. Pizza. Pasta.”
The corners of Sung Se-han’s lips, who had been looking at his phone, turned up. I smiled too at the natural smile that I was seeing for the first time today.
“It’ll take a while to prepare three things.”
“Come slowly. I’ll take a shower and rest in the meantime.”
Sung Se-han, who had been staring at me intently, ruffled my hair.
“Okay, rest quietly.”
I watched Sung Se-han’s back as he closed the hospital room door until the end. And I slowly counted to ten and got out of bed.