By Zephyria 
Haon eventually let his tears fall.
Because he wept silently, shedding only transparent droplets, it looked at a glance as if water from the bathtub had splashed. But they were indeed tears. In-ho noticed immediately.
In-ho wrapped his arms around Haon’s subtly trembling shoulders, patting him gently before they stepped out of the tub. Haon had suggested they leave first. Although the water had cooled, he felt it wouldn’t be good for In-ho to sit in the tub for too long.
The two went to the shower booth and did a quick shampooing. In-ho washed Haon, and Haon washed In-ho. Because of this, it took a very long time.
By the time they dried their hair and lay down in bed, it was nearly ten o’clock at night. In-ho, lifting the duvet for Haon to lie down, brushed his lips against Haon’s cheek—now moist from lotion—and asked.
“Do you not want to watch the movie?”
Haon blinked his reddened eyes and shook his head.
Then, as if he lacked the energy to speak, he tapped In-ho’s pillow. Following Haon’s gesture, In-ho lay down first. Instead of a pillow, Haon used In-ho’s arm as a headrest and snuggled deep into him.
“Tomorrow… let’s eat when we wake up in the morning.”
Leaning against In-ho’s shoulder and inhaling his familiar scent, Haon murmured softly. He suggested that after eating, they take a walk together in the park near the house.
“They say the weather will be nice.”
“Alright. Let’s go.”
“And then let’s watch the movie at home.”
In-ho repeated the same affirmative answer while rubbing his lips against the crown of Haon’s head. He repeatedly kissed every single strand of Haon’s hair, which smelled of the same shampoo as his own.
About an hour passed.
In-ho, pressing his ear to the tip of the nose of the already sleeping Haon, carefully stroked his soft cheek.
“Thank you, Haon-ssi.”
Chewing over the confession Haon had given him countless times, In-ho waited for the impending sleep to wash over him.
* * *
The next day, thanks to Haon waking him up, In-ho was able to get up in the morning. The two ate a simple breakfast and cleaned the house together. They decided to go for their walk after lunch.
Haon, who had prepared the meal instead of In-ho, made porridge for breakfast. While pushing the vacuum cleaner, he pondered what to make for lunch, and upon hitting on a good idea, he ran over to In-ho. Having had a deep sleep, Haon’s energy had recovered significantly.
“I’ll boil some chicken for lunch.”
In-ho was sitting on the sofa folding laundry.
“What?”
In-ho, who had been folding towels with slow movements, looked up upon sensing Haon’s presence. He seemed not to have heard what Haon said as he approached. A heavy drowsiness lingered in his eyes.
It was because of the medication prescribed by the psychiatry clinic. He had been warned beforehand that he might feel this sleepy at first.
“In-ho-ssi, do you want to sleep for a bit?”
Haon approached In-ho and cupped his face. In-ho wrapped his arms around Haon’s waist and rested his cheek against Haon’s lean stomach. He didn’t particularly want to sleep.
“Take a nap on the sofa. I’ll finish folding the laundry here.”
Haon sat beside In-ho and finished folding the towels he had been working on. In truth, because In-ho had folded them so clumsily, it looked like they all needed to be redone. Looking at the messily folded towels, Haon could guess just how sleepy he was.
“You couldn’t fall asleep right away yesterday, could you?”
When Haon asked inquisitively, narrowing his eyes on purpose, In-ho gave a wide grin. Seeing that he couldn’t answer, it seemed he had indeed fallen asleep late. It appeared the drowsiness wasn’t caused by the medication alone.
“Then you must take a nap. Hurry up and lie down.”
Haon patted the sofa firmly. Since the sofa was wide, there was plenty of room for both of them to lie down.
“Then Haon-ssi, you watch TV.”
In-ho rejected the cushion Haon offered and rested his head on Haon’s thigh. After having the remote control placed in his hand, he said he would sleep for exactly one hour.
“Sleep comfortably.”
Haon chuckled and spread a towel over him like a blanket. Wearing a pleasant smile, In-ho pulled the towel toward his mouth and sniffed.
“The towel smells like you, Haon-ssi.”
Leaning down, Haon pressed his nose to the towel and sniffed along. It was the scent of the fabric softener from his own body. A similar scent came from In-ho as well, but perhaps because it was mixed with his natural body odor, In-ho’s scent felt a bit deeper. Different from Haon’s.
“It’s nice.”
In-ho murmured after taking a deep breath in and letting it out. Whenever he smelled Haon, his heart felt at peace. Although that tranquility didn’t last long, he felt great happiness in those moments.
“Really?”
Haon asked tentatively. The smile on his lips looked slightly different than usual. It didn’t seem forced or fake, nor did he seem drained or dark.
“You’re happy when you’re with me, right?”
His tone was strangely calm. His expression was the same.
In-ho tried to lift his upper body, hit by a sudden, inexplicable sense of anxiety. Haon lightly stopped him, placing his hand over In-ho’s chest.
“I’m happy. I’m happiest when I’m with you, In-ho-ssi.”
As if soothing In-ho, he continued his question while gently patting his chest.
“But I’m curious how you feel, In-ho-ssi.”
In-ho stared intently into Haon’s face, then relaxed and opened his mouth.
“I’m only happy when I’m with you, Haon-ssi.”
It was a concise but clear answer above all else. Upon hearing this, Haon’s smile deepened. Haon stroked In-ho’s anxiously beating heart and closed his eyes for him.
In-ho soon fell asleep.
Setting down the TV remote, Haon spread the towel wide over In-ho’s body. Continuing to pat his chest, he slowly looked around the spacious living room.
A massive TV that had no place in a rural house, floor-to-ceiling glass windows that revealed a stunning night view every evening, and magnificent furniture. Everything was sophisticated and flashy, just like the owner of the house.
He had been so surprised when he first came here. Haon had thought In-ho’s guest room was a hotel. At the time, he hadn’t expected for a moment that he would end up living here. It was something Haon couldn’t have even imagined.
As he blankly looked around the house, his gaze finally rested on a giant display cabinet. Inside, frames containing photos of cute children were displayed. Haon had already memorized all the children’s faces. Every time he cleaned, he would greet the children in the photos.
“In-ho-ssi.”
Haon whispered in a very small voice, looking down at In-ho. With the hand that had been patting his chest, he caressed the light brown hair and warmly cradled the sleeping face.
Then, soon, Haon also closed his eyes.
In-ho woke up around dinner time. Because Haon had also fallen asleep, he had ended up sleeping for a long time. He worried he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.
“It’s okay. We can just go to bed a little later.”
In-ho stood up from the sofa with the sulking Haon and stretched. The two had opened their eyes almost simultaneously. It was a strange timing.
“I’ll go prepare dinner quickly. In-ho-ssi, could you finish organizing the laundry?”
Watching Haon rush toward the kitchen, In-ho answered that he would. Even though he told him to take his time, Haon moved hurriedly. Though, in reality, that was just a normal pace for others.
In-ho went back to folding towels. After waking up, his body felt a bit lighter. He had felt stiff since morning after taking the medicine, but he felt much better now.
It was all thanks to Haon-ssi. Gathering the towels and standing up, In-ho chuckled as he looked toward the kitchen. Haon was leaning his face in so far he looked like he was about to enter the refrigerator. It was a sight that invited laughter.
“I’ll help you, so take it slow.”
Haon, busy inspecting the ingredients in the fridge, didn’t hear In-ho. Instead of repeating himself, In-ho decided to quickly put the towels in the bathroom and come back.
He opened the sliding cabinet in Haon’s bathroom and filled it with towels. Feeling that the shape was different from the towels already displayed, he took them out again, folded them neatly, and put them in one by one. Because he had someone to handle the housework his entire life, no matter how he folded them, they always looked clumsy. The only thing he was good at was cooking.
Still, he managed to organize all the towels and closed the sliding cabinet.
Suddenly tilting his head, In-ho opened the sliding cabinet again to look inside. The interior of the wide storage cabinet was empty. The only items were the towels he had just filled.
He knew Haon didn’t use many things, but seeing it like this, he was surprised anew. The storage cabinet in In-ho’s own bathroom was always packed. Since he tended to change the products he used easily, it was filled with items that weren’t even half-used.
Seeing the empty bathroom cabinet made him curious about the state of Haon’s closet.
Leaving the bathroom, In-ho opened the closet door. He opened it intending to fill in whatever was lacking. He figured there wouldn’t be any clothes suitable for the dead of winter. With the cold winter not far off, it was time to prepare.
“…….”
Looking inside the closet, In-ho’s face went blank. There were no clothes at all.
Blinking in confusion, he let out a hollow laugh, realizing, “Ah.” He had personally carried all of Haon’s luggage upstairs and simply forgotten about it. How foolish.
Just as he was about to close the closet door with a light laugh.
He spotted Haon’s bag in a corner inside the closet. It was the bag Haon had carried when he first came to this house. He was sure he had moved it upstairs along with the clothes.
Wondering why it had been tucked away in the corner, he picked up the bag. Assuming it was empty, he lifted it without applying much force.
However, contrary to his expectation, it was heavy.
For a moment, the sound of Haon’s presence from outside felt distant. As he opened the worn-out zipper, which looked as if it might break off, the surrounding sounds grew even fainter.
In-ho stared silently into the bag, then zipped it back up without a word. And he placed it back where it had been.
As In-ho closed the closet door silently, his Adam’s apple moved slowly up and down.
After swallowing hard, he took a step toward the door, but stopped abruptly. In-ho slightly furrowed one eyebrow.
He seemed to press his stomach firmly, then quickly composed his expression and left the room.