By Zephyria The people of the slums are not given the opportunity to prepare for the distant future.
In that respect, Jin Mu-hae’s plan to gather 204,000 Deals was a considerably patient and arduous journey, but even that was nearing its end after seven years of work.
It was a path he ran without much thought. He hardly ever agonized over how difficult it was to gather that much money or why he had to go to the trouble of finding his father’s keepsake at such a great expense.
Nevertheless, Mu-hae occasionally had such thoughts.
Once he retrieves his father’s keepsake from the pawnshop, what should he do next?
If the item he left behind is insignificant, what should he run for afterward?
‘Why do you think I’d do that? I’d take the lump sum and run.’
‘Really? You won’t do it?’
Perhaps he had grown up for this, without a desired future.
Such thoughts crossed his mind, but Mu-hae felt no particular dissatisfaction or displeasure.
If there was such a firm and captivating goal, he would have eventually found it and clung to it himself, even if someone hadn’t orchestrated it.
To end the era of Crystal Blue and create a new foundation for humanity outside the Comfort zone…
“If you’re awake, get lost.”
“Ugh…”
Jin Mu-hae pushed Joo-oh’s sluggish body away with his foot.
Thud. He heard the sound of him falling straight to the floor, but he didn’t care.
Since a while ago, Joo-oh had started to dig into other people’s beds as if it were natural. After that incident in Seogyeong City, he would often be clinging to him when he woke up in the morning.
He didn’t even notice when or how he had crawled in. Even though he usually slept soundly at home, it was shocking that he hadn’t noticed a man that size snuggling next to him.
Eventually, Mu-hae, whose sleep had become lighter even in a safe place, finally woke up with a start in the early dawn.
He frowned and looked down at Joo-oh, who was once again wriggling next to him and reaching out his arm.
Thump. Thump. An unusual heartbeat was transmitted through their touching bodies. His condition was strange.
Even in the darkness, he could tell that Joo-oh’s face was pale.
Suddenly, Mu-hae recalled Joo-oh having a nightmare inside Buckta’s Small aircraft. What memories could a man who had forgotten everything from the past have seen to be twitching like that?
So, was that why he came to him every time? He missed the timing to push him away while thinking that.
Joo-oh, who had snuggled into Mu-hae’s arms, soon slowly fell asleep. Only then did his heartbeat subside, and even the slight trembling ceased.
He realized that he really came to him whenever he had a nightmare. It was absurd, but Mu-hae found it increasingly difficult to kick him away.
‘Damn it.’
It wasn’t easy to coldly abandon Joo-oh, who was different from his usual self and anxious, as if being chased by something.
But he couldn’t just let him into the blanket with his eyes wide open either.
Faced with this dilemma, Mu-hae… damn it, pretended not to notice. He kept sleeping and pretended he hadn’t woken up. He couldn’t let him know that he was putting up with Joo-oh’s nonsense out of a shred of sympathy.
Surprisingly, he slept well even with him in his arms. The trembling Joo-oh was warm and cozy.
Then, when he opened his eyes, it was morning. When it was bright, Mu-hae would push him away, feigning annoyance as if he didn’t know anything.
Otherwise, he would end up touching him.
Morning was a time of agony. Mu-hae would often slowly massage the waist he had held onto in his sleep, then become aroused by the warm, soft skin.
He would lift up his rolled-up clothes and caress his smooth flesh with a hazy mind. He felt like he was going crazy. Unbearable shame and impulse took turns stirring his head and heating his lower abdomen.
This shouldn’t be happening. He didn’t want to do this. But for some reason, his body, not fully awake, betrayed its owner’s will and kept groping the sleeping man’s body.
He had become a lecher, despite having criticized others for it. It was serious because he couldn’t calm down even when he imagined how Joo-oh would react if he noticed this fucked-up behavior.
Well, because he wouldn’t be surprised. Rather, he wouldn’t even realize what was going on and would cling to him, happy about it.
That’s why it was even more of a problem. Because one of them was half-incompetent.
Once he thought that far, the bubbling desire became repulsive, but until then…
“Haaam… Jin Mu-hae hit me.”
“Go wash your face.”
“Now pet me.”
“I told you to get lost, didn’t I?”
It was his fault. Jin Mu-hae gritted his teeth and turned away from Joo-oh every morning.
As he stopped questioning why he kept coming into his bed, he was increasingly found in his arms without knowing the reason.
“I’m going to eat and go out in a bit today.”
“Are you going to Teacher Jung?”
“Yeah. You can go out in the middle if you’re bored.”
“Umm. Should I?”
After meeting Gu-reum, he periodically visited Teacher Jung’s clinic.
He learned the basic principles of Crystal Blue and Blue Energy, as well as the understanding structure of Central, from him.
If it was the former, Director Gil would know more about it, but he deliberately listened to Teacher Jung because Teacher Jung had mostly taught him something in the form of studying since he was young.
Jin Mu-hae somehow felt like he was returning to his childhood and crammed all sorts of knowledge into his increasingly stiff head.
Meanwhile, Joo-oh would clatter Teacher Jung’s strange wire puzzle collection or peek at his data next to Mu-hae.
He would sit on the bed in the clinic, swing his legs, and mutter something to himself, but Teacher Jung seemed to assume that he was listening to his explanation even then.
In fact, when he mixed Joo-oh’s name into the story, he peeked his head out from behind the curtain.
His face seemed to ask, ‘Me?’ and he frantically gestured for him to go back in.
“Or you can get a checkup today.”
“I don’t hurt anywhere.”
Mu-hae swallowed the words that it was because of the state of his head.
Anyway, he was steadily improving, and he hadn’t thrown away his personality enough to bring up the issue of his mental state in front of him.
Of course, Teacher Jung wouldn’t be in charge of such fields. Still, a healthy mind resides in a healthy body, and he wondered if the recent increase in nightmares was a physical problem.
There were too many things to consider. He had eaten so many strange things, and Mu-hae had taken him outside the Comfort zone, where he had touched contaminated rain and soil.
Or perhaps the ‘experiments’ he had received in the past were now causing some problems. Either way, it was difficult for Mu-hae, who had little medical knowledge, to judge.
So, since he was going to follow him to the clinic anyway, he was thinking of leaving him to Teacher Jung during his idle time.
“I really don’t hurt anywhere.”
“Then do the puzzle.”
“I like that.”
Joo-oh hummed, unaware of what Jin Mu-hae was thinking.
“You told me to do the puzzle.”
“Shut up and go sit over there.”
“This isn’t a puzzle.”
“Why? Did you swallow another bone?”
“No. Not that. It’s just that he seems to be in ambiguous condition these days.”
As soon as they arrived at the clinic, he took off his coat and put him in bed, and Joo-oh, who had noticed something strange, weakly resisted.
“It’s not scary.”
“That’s right…”
It wasn’t that he didn’t like it. It’s just that he thought he was going to play, but suddenly he was getting a checkup, so he was excited and then deflated.
He had learned after visiting this place a few times that some of the wire puzzles that were supposed to be scattered everywhere were gathered at Teacher Jung’s house.
There were even some puzzles he had never seen before. Whenever he told him to solve them one by one, Joo-oh had a lot of fun playing with them.
So, he was looking forward to that today, but suddenly he was being examined.
“You’re being too fussy.”
Teacher Jung said as he put on his gown and approached them.
Joo-oh chuckled, agreeing with his words, leaving Mu-hae, who was narrowing his brows in the distance.
“Anyway, I have to check it out since the customer wants it. Where does it hurt?”
“Nowhere.”
“Your appetite is good too.”
“Yeah.”
“Mouth.”
“Ah.”
Teacher Jung carefully examined Joo-oh’s teeth and tongue, then briefly stared at his eyes, which looked moist and healthy.
Joo-oh sometimes felt that his eyes seemed to scan even his hidden inner self.
“We did this last time. Let’s look at something far away.”
As soon as he put a light device on his eyes, his vision turned green. One, two, then one again, rabbits far away in the blue meadow.
He could hear sounds coming and going from both ears. Joo-oh unknowingly opened his mouth slightly and became absorbed in the video shown by the measuring device.
“It looks real, doesn’t it?”
When Teacher Jung spoke to him, Joo-oh smiled faintly and nodded.
With this kind of technology, it’s a pity that Starlight Road is blocked by iron bars without any function even for the glass windows.
“But it’s fake.”
“Well, yeah.”
“The sun rises from there, so the trees shouldn’t be like that.”
“You’re right. Let’s close our eyes for a moment.”
Warm hands wrapped around the back of his head and took off the device. Joo-oh felt that the soft touch was quite pleasant.
It wasn’t as much as when Jin Mu-hae touched him, but anyway, he liked the feeling of warm fabric touching his body.
Teacher Jung raised one eyebrow as he looked at Joo-oh, who was leaning his head back.
When he tried stroking his head, Joo-oh twisted his mouth as if to ask him to do more.
“Okay. Open your eyes.”
Regretting it, he slowly opened his eyes, and the square device that Teacher Jung had used before swept over his body.
Joo-oh smacked his lips slightly, recalling the taste of the meat he had eaten that day.
“It doesn’t seem to be a problem at first glance. Rather, you’re the problem, Mu-hae. Have you reduced your work a bit?”
“I’m fine.”
“That’s right. Jin Mu-hae is fine.”
Jin Mu-hae’s hair. The color of his eyes and lips. There is no change in the scent he exudes. Unlike the personality he saw in the game, he has become a bit more irritable, but other than that, his temperature is moderate and not bad.
Teacher Jung turned his eyes to him.
“Joo-oh, right? If that guy gets hurt, help him out.”
“Okay. I’ll bring him here.”
Even when playing the game, Jin Mu-hae was always spawned at Teacher Jung’s clinic after losing all his health due to a control mistake.
So, in case of an emergency, if he is moved here, he will receive proper treatment.