By Zephyria 
With the sound of a door opening, Gi-dam quietly appeared. Having just showered, Gi-dam had changed back into a shirt and suit trousers.
While Gi-dam had been away for a moment, it had already grown dark outside the window. Vasily checked the watch on his wrist and asked.
“It’s late. Are you hungry?”
“Are we going out for dinner?”
“That’s right. I’ve made a reservation.”
Vasily greeted Gi-dam as if nothing had happened. Due to that nonchalant attitude, Gi-dam didn’t notice anything strange and nodded.
As always, the place they headed to for dinner was the restaurant they frequently visited.
Following the staff, Gi-dam paused in front of the room they arrived at.
“What is it?”
“I think we’ve come to the wrong room.”
As Gi-dam spoke while stepping back, the staff member who had guided them re-checked the reservation and spoke.
“This is the correct room.”
“Pardon?”
“Is something strange?”
Vasily checked the interior visible beyond Gi-dam. However, there was nothing unusual; the food they had pre-ordered over the phone was simply laid out neatly on the table.
“This is the right place, Guide Kwon Gi-dam.”
“Please let us know if there is anything else you need.”
Leaving the still-confused Gi-dam behind, the staff member departed with a kind smile.
Entering the room together, Gi-dam scanned the food on the table with an displeased look. As Vasily sat down casually, Gi-dam asked.
“Didn’t you order too much?”
“I felt like Guide Kwon Gi-dam hasn’t been eating enough lately.”
Vasily answered, recalling how Gi-dam had sat on his lap.
He was lighter than before. Even though Vasily knew that losing weight was inevitable after lying in bed for a month, the noticeably lighter weight bothered him.
Starting today, he planned to feed him a lot to increase his weight. If left as is, he wouldn’t gain any flesh, let alone muscle.
“Two people can’t eat this much.”
“Is that so?”
Just as Gi-dam said, the wide table was packed with food without a single gap. Since he had told the restaurant to prepare one of every menu item, the quantity was indeed excessive.
Gi-dam sat down with a look of half-resignation. Vasily smiled at him and said.
“Eat it all without leaving any.”
“Did you just let my words go in one ear and out the other?”
“I was joking.”
Gi-dam let out a deep sigh and picked up a fork. Watching a large piece of steak enter his mouth, Vasily slowly filled his glass with wine.
* * *
As he spent the night listening to the sound of Gi-dam tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, morning eventually broke.
As expected, he cannot fall into a deep sleep without receiving guiding.
It seemed that Gi-dam’s warmth alone was only enough for a brief nap. Vasily opened his closed eyes and quietly sat up.
Turning his head, he saw Gi-dam sleeping at the edge of the bed. Gi-dam had resisted staying in his own room for a long time yesterday instead of coming to his room, and had fallen asleep late. Perhaps because of that, his face was full of fatigue. Deciding to let him sleep a bit longer, Vasily headed to the bathroom first.
‘Is he still sleeping?’
Even after coming out of the shower, he was greeted by the blanket still bulging upward. The rhythmic rising and falling of the blanket indicated that Gi-dam was fast asleep.
Approaching the bed, he saw Gi-dam sleeping soundly, covered by the blanket. Seeing that he hadn’t woken up even after hearing the sound of water flowing from the bathroom, he must have been quite exhausted.
However, he couldn’t let him just sleep. Today was one day before the Gate departure. To build up even a little bit of physical strength, he couldn’t skip a single day of training.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, wake up.”
“Ugh…”
When called by name to wake him, Gi-dam struggled to toss and turn. Vasily expected him to wake up now and look at him with wary eyes, but instead, Gi-dam turned his back and buried his face in the pillow.
A firm determination to sleep more was evident. At the sight of him showing his back so defenselessly, the corners of Vasily’s mouth slowly curled up.
“You want to sleep more? What should I do…”
Vasily sat on the edge of the bed and reached his hand toward the hair scattered over the white pillow.
Soft hair slid smoothly through his fingers. As he lightly stroked the hair and then swept it back in a large motion, the rounded back of the head fit into his palm.
The warmth of the back of the head and the sensation of the hair winding around his fingers kept his hand moving.
After doing so for a while, the tips of the ears, which had turned red, suddenly caught his eye. Seeing that the shoulders were stiff, it seemed he had finally woken up.
“Are you awake?”
“…There’s no way I could sleep in this state.”
“Then get ready to go out. We’ll go to the physical training room first today, and then I’ll have the Attending Physician check Guide Kwon Gi-dam’s condition once more.”
“Understood.”
Vasily took his hand off Gi-dam’s head and stood up from the bed. Following that, the sound of the blanket rustling was heard as Gi-dam also seemed to be getting up.
“Ugh!”
A pained groan escaped Gi-dam’s mouth. It was loud enough to make Vasily, who was about to leave the room, turn back.
“What’s wrong?”
“I-it’s nothing.”
Gi-dam, half-lying on the bed in an awkward posture, smiled awkwardly.
The corners of his forced smile trembled. Seeing him lie so blatantly, the relaxed mood Vasily had felt until a moment ago began to sink.
Gi-dam turned his head as if he wouldn’t answer, but when a sharp gaze pierced the crown of his head, he had no choice but to open his mouth.
“I think… I have muscle pain.”
Gi-dam barely managed to continue, sounding ashamed.
To verify if those words were true, Vasily reached out toward Gi-dam. Gi-dam flinched and tried to avoid the hand, but as soon as he shifted his body, he collapsed back onto the blanket due to the sudden onset of pain.
It seemed his words were true. Seeing that he couldn’t even steady his body, the symptoms seemed quite severe.
“Stay lying down.”
“No. I can endure this much—”
“What are you planning to do with that body? Just lie down and rest quietly today. I’ll cancel all the schedules.”
“…”
Gi-dam pressed his lips tight. He had an expression as if his pride had been wounded.
Vasily watched Gi-dam flop back onto the bed with a frown, then pressed firmly on his calf.
“Ugh…”
Gi-dam flinched and let out a groan. The muscle pressed by the finger twitched violently; it seemed the muscle pain had hit him properly.
“Did you just go to sleep yesterday without stretching your body?”
“…Yes.”
“That’s why this happened.”
Indeed. If so, it was natural for the body to overload the next day.
If he had known, he should have forced him into the room yesterday to check his condition. Since Gi-dam had shut himself in his room and wouldn’t come out as soon as they returned from dinner, Vasily hadn’t bothered him until he came on his own. Vasily also needed time to organize his thoughts.
Since his own influence played a part in Gi-dam ending up like this, he should take responsibility.
“Ngh…”
“Relax. I’ll loosen it for you.”
As he gently massaged the leg, Gi-dam grit his teeth. Feeling a sense of aversion, he tried to twist his body to escape, but it was impossible to get away in a state where he couldn’t even use his strength properly.
Looking down at Vasily, who was massaging his leg with a confused gaze, Gi-dam asked cautiously.
“Why are you doing even this…”
“I told you we are in a romantic relationship.”
“…”
Silencing Gi-dam with an excuse that he wouldn’t even be able to bring up once his memories returned, Vasily massaged the leg over the clothes, meticulously checking the sensation caught in his hand.
He had certainly lost a lot of flesh and muscle compared to before he was caught in the rampage. Would his memories return around the time his body recovered to its original state? There were still no signs of him regaining his memories, but…
He sank into thought while massaging Gi-dam’s leg. The more he moved his hand, the more Gi-dam’s body stiffened with tension.
“I told you to relax.”
“You can stop now. I’ll take care of my body… ugh!”
He didn’t like how Gi-dam was still being stubborn despite being unable to even get up from the bed. When he tightly gripped the leg that was trying to slip away from his grasp, Gi-dam screamed.
“Ack, stop! Aaaah!”
Press, press. Every time he pressed the knotted muscles, interesting sounds popped out of Gi-dam’s mouth.
Because it was amusing, he kept doing it, and at some point, the reactions disappeared. When he looked at the quieted Gi-dam, he was trembling, biting his lip with a flushed face.
Anyone watching would think he was doing something terrible.
Vasily released the pressure and gently massaged the stiff leg again. He felt that if he continued the prank, he might start feeling strange himself.