By Zephyria 
“I’ll keep chatting with you until you get sleepy.”
“….”
The moment Min-ho showed a hint of hesitation, Gyu-oh quickly dove into the gap.
“It’ll come eventually. Surely you can’t go your whole life without sleeping?”
Min-ho’s eyebrow twitched as he listened obediently.
“Wait, does that mean you’re sleeping over?”
Gyu-oh nodded up and down as if it were obvious. He went as far as springing up and pulling on Min-ho’s arm. Min-ho was pulled up awkwardly by the considerable force.
“Yeah. I’ll sleep here today and tomorrow too.”
“Is this a motel?”
The guy had always been prone to packing his bags and staying for several days, claiming he was lonely being home alone. Min-ho thought he’d been a bit infrequent lately, but it seemed the habit had returned.
“I have to be right here to make sure Hyung doesn’t waste his time on those weird losers.”
“….”
“If I just leave you alone, you’ll just… ha…”
What meaning lay in the words that couldn’t be finished? He probably meant that every time Min-ho met someone new, he’d wonder, ‘Is this guy going to sleep with Hyung too?’ Still, it was a relief that he didn’t push him away, calling it disgusting or dirty. Min-ho quietly breathed a sigh of relief, making sure not to be caught.
Gyu-oh usually used the guest room, but this time he stubbornly insisted against it. When Min-ho kicked him out to the guest room, he stormed back into the bedroom with a pillow a few minutes later. Min-ho had locked the door, but since Gyu-oh easily picked it with a chopstick, he simply gave up.
“Do you think I don’t know that Hyung locked me in the guest room and went out?”
“….”
“Back then, I didn’t know where you were going, but now I do… so I’m staying here.”
With those firm words, the large body squeezed in beside the bed. Min-ho had snuck out a few times, but he hadn’t known Gyu-oh was aware. Whenever he returned home at dawn, Gyu-oh was always fast asleep. Avoiding the stinging gaze, Min-ho pretended to stare at the ceiling.
Soon, a familiar, calm piece of music played. It was the music Gyu-oh always played whenever Min-ho took naps in the office.
“Familiar music, right? Your body probably remembers sleeping deeply whenever you hear this song, right?”
A faint laugh escaped at the words that sounded like a sports commentary. However, Gyu-oh simply remained lying on his stomach, chin propped on his hand, looking up at him.
“Where on earth do you find things out like this?”
“Your ‘old man’ side is showing, isn’t it? You’d probably find it immediately if you searched, right?”
“Ah, why is your way of speaking so annoying again. Act your age.”
“If we’re talking about acting one’s age, wouldn’t Hyung be more desperate?”
Forget it. No point in talking. He let out a long sigh and blinked slowly. But strangely, as soon as he recognized the calm music, the strength left his body. It was almost like the feeling of alcohol kicking in. Moreover, the sound of Gyu-oh’s rhythmic breathing seemed to gradually soothe his frayed nerves.
“….”
Strange. I only smelled alcohol, but I’m getting sleepy. Thanks to Gyu-oh, he might actually be able to close his eyes for a few hours. The steady rhythm of inhaling and exhaling gradually slowed. Gyu-oh continued to look up at him without a single movement until the end.
That day, he woke up thirty minutes later than usual. Even so, it was only three hours, but no headache or unpleasant feeling followed upon waking.
He thought it might be because of the warm gaze that had lingered until he fell asleep.
* * *
From that day on, Won Gyu-oh became strange. He was already a strange guy, but it was more accurate to say the degree of it had increased.
Whenever he went out with Min-ho or had free time, he insisted on taking the wheel and volunteering as the driver. Then, regardless of the route, he always passed through the hideous redevelopment project area where Seong-tak’s crew hung out. With all the windows rolled down, he would circle the neighborhood at a very slow speed, and if Seong-tak’s men recognized them and approached, he would either raise his middle finger or suddenly pour out a stream of curses. When the men, caught off guard, got angry, he would sneer at the sight.
He had always been exceptionally talented at getting under people’s skin. Min-ho couldn’t understand why he was suddenly so passionate and diligent about it.
“…Where are you drifting off to now?”
After circling the already ominous neighborhood and picking fights with this guy and that guy, he told Min-ho to get out once they arrived in front of the house. As Min-ho stayed still, gripping his seatbelt at the suspicious behavior, Gyu-oh, who was glancing at the rearview mirror while fixing his hair, answered nonchalantly.
“Today is the day for the Wednesday service.”
“What service?”
“The service at church. To do some repenting.”
Because of his parents, who had been obsessed with a cult in his youth, he was a guy who distrusted the very notion of believing in something. Min-ho didn’t understand why such a person was suddenly looking for a service and wanting to repent. He wondered if he was digging into the pastor’s background on his own, but hadn’t he been disgusted by Mu-gyeong’s suggestion back then?
“…What are you up to now?”
“I’m just curious if a guy like me can go to heaven.”
As Min-ho stared at him with a bewildered expression, Gyu-oh leaned over and reached into the glove box. With a click, a small Bible was inside.
“I’ll go and ask.”
The Bible, looking even smaller in his large hand, shook slightly from side to side. He was the type who wouldn’t listen even if stopped. If he had prepared to this extent, he had made up his mind to go, and it wouldn’t be easy to change that.
“…Do whatever the fuck you want.”
“Sss, isn’t your choice of words too irreverent in front of a Bible?”
He was nitpicking again. Knowing there would be no end to it if he entertained it, Min-ho quietly unbuckled his seatbelt.
“Will you come straight back?”
“Mm-hmm. Don’t drink too much just because you can’t sleep; wait for me.”
If you’re worried about me drinking, then come back quickly. Min-ho struggled to swallow the words that had reached the tip of his tongue. Instead, he held up his middle finger to the face of the guy who was smiling brightly while leaning on the steering wheel. Just as Gyu-oh had spent the whole time circling the redevelopment project area and picking fights.
Thump. As he slammed the door shut, the giggling laughter faded. As soon as he moved a few steps away, the car slowly headed back onto the road.
“….”
That wasn’t the only thing that had become strange. Lately, mysterious night outings had increased. Normally, he would have stayed glued to his side, chatting and telling him not to go out. Now, he would leave quietly and return only when the dawn was deep. Even when asked where he’d been, he would only shrug.
It wasn’t like he was meeting women, and he wasn’t handling any other work besides the redevelopment project. Min-ho had no idea what he was doing while wandering around.
Min-ho shook his head as he watched the rear of the car already far in the distance.
“…I only sleep a bit when that guy is here.”
He knew he shouldn’t keep waiting. But what could he do when he couldn’t sleep no matter how much music he played while alone? At this point, he even started thinking that it wasn’t the music, but Won Gyu-oh who was effective for a good night’s sleep.
“….”
He thought about going out to meet someone, but then he imagined Gyu-oh left alone at home, and he couldn’t do it. Thanks to that, he had been spending his nights drinking for the past few days. Until Gyu-oh returned. To anyone watching, he looked like a person who couldn’t sleep because he was waiting for Won Gyu-oh.
The whereabouts of Gyu-oh, which had remained a question mark, were finally revealed a few days later. The day to settle the redevelopment compensation with Seong-tak’s crew approached, and Won Gyu-oh, who had spent the previous night entirely away from home, stormed into the office at the crack of dawn.
“Where have you been wandering all night to only crawl back in now?”
“Are you nagging me now too?”
Gyu-oh, holding a heavy-looking shopping bag in one hand, smiled and took a seat on the sofa. With a crash, he poured out the contents of the bag, scattering papers and photos haphazardly.
“What is all this?”
Instead of answering, Gyu-oh kept gesturing for him to come closer. Perhaps because he’d spent the night pouring alcohol down his throat without a wink of sleep, his mind felt hazy. As he rubbed his eyes vigorously with the back of his hand and headed for the sofa, the office door swung open once more.
“What is it, calling me here so early in the morning?”
Mu-gyeong entered, dressed in a beige-toned suit that didn’t quite suit him. At the consecutive visits of people he hadn’t even invited, Min-ho blinked stupidly, looking back and forth between the two. Gyu-oh patted the shoulder of the particularly dazed Min-ho and leaned close to his ear.
“I called him.”
“…Why?”
Gyu-oh gestured with his chin toward the table. The haphazardly scattered papers and photos. Looking closely, they were familiar faces.
“It’s the guys from that neighborhood.”
Mu-gyeong also seemed to recognize the protagonists in the photos, as he sat down with narrowed eyes.
“We were going to meet the ping-pong parlor ghosts today and put a tail on the pastor to track his movements, right? You don’t have to do any of that.”
“…What is all this?”
“An impatient guy solved it cleanly.”
At Gyu-oh’s confident voice, Min-ho’s foggy mind seemed to clear a bit. It was because he felt certain he was about to find out why Gyu-oh had been absent every dawn for the past few days.