By Zephyria Yu-jin was silent for a moment. He simply stared blankly at the pure white world beyond the glass.
“…When you were, unconscious.”
After a long time, Yu-jin finally opened his mouth in a faint, trembling voice, as if squeezing it out. Winston waited silently for his next words. As he had always done. Yu-jin exhaled a short breath as if to relieve his stuffy heart and continued.
“I went to see you several times. I was kicked out every time… But once, I succeeded.”
He frowned and narrowed his eyes as if recalling a distant memory.
“For some reason, there was no one guarding the hospital room that day. The hallway was empty as if it was on purpose… I was surprised, but there was no time to hesitate. I just went to see you, grateful. And then…”
Hu, a trembling breath scattered from his lips. Yu-jin distorted his face as if in pain and whispered as if mumbling in his mouth.
“You were, alone.”
His fingers clenched together as if gathering courage. Winston glanced at his hands and then turned his eyes back to Yu-jin. Yu-jin continued his story to him, who was waiting silently.
“You were unconscious. Your injuries seemed to have healed a lot, but… I called your name and shook you, but you didn’t answer… You looked painful, so I apologized while crying… ”
Yu-jin suddenly felt a tingling in his fingers and hurriedly unclenched his hands and shook them. Stubbornly averting his gaze, he revealed the truth.
“You, opened your eyes.”
“I did?”
He had no memory of it at all. Yu-jin glanced at Winston, who had unknowingly made a sound, and smiled, as if to say, “See?”
“You don’t believe me.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Winston hurriedly denied it at the self-deprecating smile. It doesn’t matter, Yu-jin muttered.
“You told me not to cry and stroked my cheek. And I kissed you, and suddenly, a pheromone scent came out…”
Yu-jin bit his lip and then confessed.
“You went into Rut.”
Winston stared at him blankly. Winston asked instead of Yu-jin, who couldn’t continue speaking.
“You’re saying I slept with you then…?”
His mind was blank, but even in the midst of that, his cold reason judged that it was true. If it was then, the dates would match. He had thought that Yu-jin had slept with his father and had a child while he was unconscious and on the verge of death, but the truth was…
“So that’s why I couldn’t remember.”
A deep sigh escaped. He covered his face with both hands and collapsed to the floor. Yu-jin left him alone while he sorted out his complicated thoughts. Winston, who had been sitting there silently, slowly lowered his hands. Yu-jin glanced at him, who still had a complicated expression, and opened his mouth.
“If you do a DNA test…”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to.”
His voice had no energy at all. Winston muttered, staring into the distance with a completely exhausted face.
“I believe you. Everything.”
After saying that, he closed his mouth again. What was he thinking? He didn’t intend to ask, but Yu-jin was curious. He glanced at him, and Winston, who seemed to be deep in thought, took a deep breath and suddenly turned his gaze to Yu-jin. He looked up at Yu-jin, who was sitting up in the lounge chair, and opened his mouth.
“By any chance… Did I, force myself on you?”
Yu-jin stared at him silently at the faintly trembling voice. Winston’s eyes shook anxiously. Only then did Yu-jin realize what he had been thinking. In short, he was asking if he had raped Yu-jin. Yu-jin, who felt the temptation of the devil for a moment, paused and shook his head. No, he replied in a small voice.
“You weren’t in any condition to do that. But you were in so much pain that I…”
“You, how?”
Winston rebuked him for the first time. It seemed to be an important issue for him, but it wasn’t at all for Yu-jin.
“It’s all in the past, what does it matter?”
“It matters, to me.”
Winston continued quickly.
“If I forced you to get pregnant, then I…””That’s not it, I told you, you weren’t in a state to do anything. You… couldn’t even get out of bed.”
“Then?”
Winston was persistent. He showed no signs of backing down, and Yu-jin belatedly regretted not just lying that the man had raped him, but it was far too late. Eventually, Yu-jin gave up and opened his mouth.
“I…”
Yu-jin bit his lip and then released it, turning his head away from Winston and confessing quickly.
“I got on top.”
An awkward silence descended. Yu-jin felt his face flush red with shame. His heart was pounding like crazy, and even his fingers were tingling. What do I do! He wanted to run away, but before he could even move, Winston asked first.
“You got on top? On top of me?”
“W-What are you saying!”
Yu-jin was horrified by the explicit expression and turned to look at him, but immediately regretted it. Winston was staring at him with a blank, dazed expression.
“You were on top of me…”
“S-Stop it, stop it!”
Yu-jin panicked and hurriedly covered his mouth, which was repeating the same words as if he were drunk. In his haste, he blocked the man’s mouth with both hands, but that was a bad move. As if he had been waiting for it, Winston grabbed Yu-jin’s arm and pulled him in.
“Ugh…!”
Surprised, Yu-jin screamed and fell onto Winston. Winston, who was holding him, lay down on the floor and whispered above Yu-jin’s head.
“I can’t believe I don’t remember that.”
“L-Let me go.”
Yu-jin hurriedly tried to get up, but Winston immediately stopped him by grabbing his waist. Yu-jin, who had no choice but to lie on top of Winston, raised his head and glared at him with as much resistance as he could muster. But despite that reaction, Winston only gave a bitter smile.
“How could I forget such a precious thing, I should have remembered it even in death.”
“You probably forgot because it was forgettable.”
“No way.”
Winston strongly denied Yu-jin’s retort.
“My damn pheromone has never been so cursed as it is now. If only I had remembered it…”
He trailed off with a sigh. Yu-jin was about to tell him to just let him go, but stopped. There were various emotions mixed in the purple eyes looking at him. Regret, remorse, and…
Deep longing.
“Yu-jin.”
Winston called his name in a low voice. Yu-jin couldn’t say anything and just looked at his face. More precisely, his gaze was fixed on his lips, unable to move. Winston slowly stroked Yu-jin’s cheek and then wrapped his hand around his neck. He only gave a slight amount of force, but Yu-jin’s face tilted towards him. Winston’s hand didn’t have the same grip as before. It was something that would end if he just got up, but for some reason, he couldn’t. In his lowered vision, he saw lips slowly parting.
‘Honey…’
Trembling breaths met. He didn’t bother to think about what would happen next. There was no need to. Because it would soon become reality. When he closed his eyes, all his senses were focused on one place. It felt like his body temperature was being transmitted through the air. A pleasant shiver ran down his spine. His lips parted naturally. He felt a strong throb in his unconsciously opened palm. Winston’s heart was beating madly fast. Just like Yu-jin’s.
And just as their lips were about to touch.
“Daddy, Daddy!”
Angela shouted, accompanied by loud footsteps. Surprised, Yu-jin swallowed his breath and hurriedly got up. Just barely, by a hair’s breadth, when Angela entered the living room, Yu-jin was sitting in the lounge chair. Angela, who had run in excitedly, tilted her head when she saw Winston slowly getting up.
“Winnie, what are you doing on the floor?”
“Ahem.”
Yu-jin quickly cleared his throat. As if telling him to figure it out. Winston glanced at him and then answered Angela.
“I fell.”
Whew, Yu-jin breathed a sigh of relief, but Angela tilted her head in confusion.
“Do adults fall too?”
“Angie, what’s wrong?”
Angela quickly changed the subject and asked Yu-jin, who immediately perked up and answered.
“We have a guest! Guess who it is!”
“A guest?”
Hadn’t he said that no one could come here?
While feeling bewildered and embarrassed, he looked at Winston, but unexpectedly, he opened his mouth without showing any surprise.
“I forgot to mention that we had an invited guest.”
No way, he deliberately didn’t say it. He must have wanted to surprise him. Yu-jin gave him a light glare, but if that was the case, it meant it was someone Yu-jin would be happy to see.
Who could it be…?
While wondering, he got up from his chair, and just then, the guest appeared. The moment he saw him, Yu-jin’s eyes widened.
“Grant, how…”
“Yu-jin, it’s been a while. Thank you for inviting us, Mr. Campbell.”
“Thank you, Mr. Campbell.”
Beneath his brightly smiling face, a small girl also bowed. Yu-jin could only blink blankly as he looked at Grant and his daughter’s welcoming smiles.