By Zephyria 
* * *
Yoo Jiha was completely bewildered. It was bad enough that Park Jun-yeol had become violent, but then Jeil Heon appeared.
“Mister?”
The man, who had been staring with a blank, numb expression devoid of any human emotion, slowly closed and then opened his eyes. Only then did Yoo Jiha realize that he had been looking down at Park Jun-yeol without blinking once.
“……Jiha.”
The low, resonating voice sounded like a sigh of relief, or perhaps a groan. Releasing the wrist he had been gripping tightly, Jeil Heon took Yoo Jiha’s hand and led him out of the hospital room. Park Jun-yeol’s screams echoed through the hallway a moment too late.
Following him in a daze, Yoo Jiha kept glancing at Jeil Heon. If his memory served him right, the man was definitely wearing the formal uniform and cap of the Enforcement Division.
He had so many questions—why he had appeared in uniform after being out of touch, and how he knew to come to the hospital—but only one question escaped his lips.
“Mister, are you sick?”
Even though the man was wearing white cotton gloves, the hand they held was scorching hot.
“Your fever is too high; are you okay? You should go to a hospital—oh, we’re already at a hospital….”
“Jiha.”
Jeil Heon gripped the hand Yoo Jiha had used to touch his forehead. Unlike when he had grabbed Park Jun-yeol’s arm, this gesture was cautious, as if he were afraid of leaving a mark, and Yoo Jiha caught his breath. Was it because of the man’s body heat? A dizzying warmth seemed to surge all the way to his heart.
Unconsciously swallowing hard, he looked up at the man. The man was so tall that Jiha had to tilt his head back significantly to see his face, yet the distance between them was remarkably close. It wasn’t an illusion. The man was leaning his face down toward him.
“I…… you…….”
His voice, feverish and breathless like his body heat, trailed off as his face drew closer. Yoo Jiha stared at him, forgetting even to breathe. His heart hammered so violently it felt as if it might leap out of his chest. This intimate distance, where the hot breath flowing from between his slightly parted lips stimulated his skin, kept reminding him of that kiss.
Even though he knew the man had clearly rejected him and that such a thing would never happen again, Yoo Jiha couldn’t withstand the growing presence of the man and squeezed his eyes shut.
Breath brushed against him, and their noses touched. Then, the formal cap slid off and fell to the floor, and a heavy weight pressed down on his shoulders… weight?
“Huh? Uh-uh? Ack!”
When a weight that must have been at least 100 kilograms crashed down on him, Yoo Jiha let out a scream. He struggled with all his might to keep from falling backward while holding Jeil Heon. His legs shook uncontrollably.
“Mister! Wake up! Mister!”
Before she could even immerse herself in the sorrow of Choi Beom-seok’s funeral, Kang Suk-young pressed her throbbing temples. The sleep of the Prince, who served as the Sealed One of the Ten Thousand Waves Flute, was becoming prolonged. No human can live for 200 years. The final flame of the Prince, who had long since surpassed the natural lifespan of his original body, was rapidly flickering out.
While it was heartbreaking and painful that the death of a man who had dedicated his entire life was approaching, Kang Suk-young, as the Director of the Management Bureau, had to look beyond his passing.
‘I have no way of knowing who the next Sealed One of the Ten Thousand Waves Flute will be.’
It was an entity so powerful that it had been recorded in history books and spoken of by people for ages. Currently, if the conditions were met, it would willingly be sealed by a human to protect humanity, but if there were no longer anyone to seal and isolate it…
What would happen if an Aberration that had existed for over 1,300 years were released unguarded?
Kang Suk-young sighed heavily. It was truly an entity like a double-edged sword. When she added the reality that humans had relied on an Aberration for 1,300 years, it was utterly lamentable.
‘Dammit. What on earth happened 600 years ago that they restricted the conditions for the Sealed One….’
It was even more frustrating because there was no one among the existing imperial descendants who particularly stood out.
The sound of her phone ringing came just as she was deep in worry.
“This is Kang Suk-young. What is it?”
Director! My, my body is hot……!
“……What?”
Fortunately, the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up.
Since Jeil Heon always went to bed later and woke up earlier than he did, Yoo Jiha had never seen him asleep. His impression of the sleeping face he finally saw long after he started boarding was….
‘Why is he handsome even when he’s just sleeping? It’s unfair.’
One would think the sharp impression would soften in a defenseless state of sleep, but Jeil Heon’s face remained the same. He felt a renewed sense of fondness that a person with such cool features always gave him a gentle smile.
If Kang Suk-young hadn’t come to the hospital immediately, he might have dragged him to the emergency room. Dressed in a formal uniform like Jeil Heon, she seemed somehow relieved to see him unconscious.
〈I’ve been working my Sunbae to the bone on secret assignments. He worked with almost no sleep, so the fatigue hit him all at once.〉
After bringing him back to Pilgyeongdang, Kang Suk-young left with only a vague answer: ‘If Sunbae is sleeping, he’ll be fine.’
The problem was that she had simply left him lying on the bed. Yoo Jiha struggled to change the clothes of a man who was more than 20 centimeters taller and 40 kilograms heavier than himself, but eventually gave up and only undid the buttons. Instead, to bring the fever down, he kept wetting a towel to wipe the man’s forehead, hands, and feet, and thanks to that, the heat had subsided significantly.
‘The fever seems to have completely broken, right?’
Still, he felt anxious, so he decided he should sleep beside him. It wasn’t because of a hidden desire to steal glances at the sleeping Jeil Heon all night. Probably. No, really.
Perhaps because he felt guilty over the secret desires rooted in his heart, Yoo Jiha jumped in surprise when a hand softly grasped his wrist.
“Ack, you scared me! Are you awake? Do you feel better? You don’t have a fever, right? I bought some antipyretics from the pharmacy just in case.”
“……Jiha.”
“Your cute 4-year-old is right here-ong.”
He didn’t know why the man kept calling his name so much today. Yoo Jiha plopped back down beside the bed. Jeil Heon’s gaze followed him as if clinging.
He was about to say he had bought porridge and would heat it up if he was hungry, but a slightly hoarse, sleep-laden voice spoke slowly. His hand was still holding him.
“Don’t meet men like that.”
“What man?”
“A man who tries to hit you.”
“Huh?”
What was he talking about? Was he not fully awake? Or was he talking nonsense because of the fever? Worried, Jiha touched his forehead. There was no fever. He became even more anxious.
“This won’t do. You should take the antipyretics right now—whoa.”
As Yoo Jiha let go of Jeil Heon’s hand to stand up, he was pulled and fell flat onto the bed. As he blinked, unable to comprehend the situation, Jeil Heon pulled the blanket over him and hugged him tightly underneath.
Thump, thump, thump. His oblivious heart began to react. They were too close. Feeling that the man might hear his heartbeat, he tried to push him away slightly, but the stubborn arms wrapped around his body didn’t budge. Instead, the man buried his face deep into the crook of his neck, as if trying to feel the heartbeat. Yoo Jiha was certain that if he looked in a mirror right now, his face would be bright red.
“I mean, uh…. I’ve never met a man who tried to hit me…….”
“You met one today. Han Geun-woo.”
No, seriously, what is he talking about?
“I only saw Geun-woo Hyung in the Aberrant Realm. I haven’t even chatted with him since then.”
“You didn’t meet him at the hospital?”
“I went to visit a school Sunbae. You know, the one you know about too. The Sunbae who got hurt at Eight Phases Mental Hospital. I don’t know why he made such a fuss at me, though.”
“……Ah.”
In a rare moment, Jeil Heon let out a low groan as if he had been caught off guard.
“……I see, it wasn’t that.”
Now that the misunderstanding was cleared, Jiha hoped he would let go, but Jeil Heon’s arms showed no sign of loosening. Thump, thump, thump. Only the sound of his heart grew helplessly faster. Every time Jeil Heon’s breath touched his neck, his toes kept curling.
“Jiha, I like you very much. More than you think.”
But that’s different from the way I like you. Yoo Jiha swallowed the words caught in his throat.
“If I had to define my feelings, I thought it was paternal love.”
“Ack, I’m only 12 years younger than you, Mister!”
“……Yes. Even though you’re only 12 years younger.”
Jiha could feel Jeil Heon giving a bitter smile.
“It was a foolish thought. If I liked you as a father or as family, I should have congratulated you on meeting someone new, but in truth, it bothered me the whole time. You contacting Han Geun-woo, you talking to him.”
“……You knew?”
“Yes, I was constantly jealous of that man. It’s pathetic of me, considering I’m the one who rejected you.”
“…….”
Even in this moment of finally revealing his inner thoughts, Jeil Heon thought himself pathetic. Was it not because he lacked the confidence to face the boy that he was hiding his face?
“I will continue to be foolish, stupid, ridiculous, and do pathetic things. I don’t want to lose you to someone else. I don’t care if you don’t like me; I just want to keep you by my side.”
He could feel the boy in his arms tensing up, even holding his breath. The boy he thought was just a child knew what his own emotions were, yet he still did not know the name of this feeling.
Jeil Heon poured out his most foolish self to the boy.
“And yet, I don’t know if this feeling is love, Jiha.”