By Zephyria 
A whisper like a grumble. Eun-ha snorted briefly. How could this kid like him this much? How on earth did it happen? It was a pointless laugh stemming from that question that he still couldn’t quite grasp.
He thought that he didn’t know anything, that it was an emotion one could have because he knew nothing, but on the other hand, he wondered if it was necessary to go out of his way to correct that fantasy and expectation.
It was simply because he was enjoying the moment. An ordinary encounter with a new stranger wasn’t so bad.
If you knew me, you wouldn’t be able to show such purely favorable and affectionate feelings.
Most of those who stayed around Eun-ha were like that. There was a murky emotional impurity that made it impossible to just talk about good things and stick to light topics. Mom loved Eun-ha, but at the same time, she denied his nature and was obsessed with him. His friends couldn’t bear to look him in the face and kept their distance first, creating a relationship where unspoken grudges piled up. A relationship where the desire to resolve things someday coexisted with the desire to maintain distance as it was.
Gu Hae-bin, who knew everything, was the most comfortable person to be with, but paradoxically, he was also the most uncomfortable. Because he had shown him all the shameful depths. Because he had unilaterally accumulated debt. Because he carried a burden of guilt that he could never repay in his lifetime.
“If you like someone, is it okay to touch them whenever you want like this?”
“Hyung allowed it. This much.”
“Well… it feels too frequent.”
“I won’t if Hyung doesn’t like it.”
“……”
“You don’t dislike it. I understand.”
“This is ridiculous, really…”
He chuckled. How long had it been since he had such an ordinary daily life with someone else? How long had it been since he had indulged in light emotions while only exchanging superficial conversations?
Eun-ha decided not to refuse the rather fresh and peaceful feeling he had found in a temporary relationship. Really, he didn’t feel bad. Furthermore, it was a temporary relationship, as he said.
As people began to enter one by one, he pulled his hand away and created some distance. Yeon-jun showed a slightly disappointed expression but didn’t add any words. They briefly discussed what to eat for dinner. Then, as Yeon-jun casually asked if he had eaten lunch, Eun-ha said yes. It was just a lie. Eun-ha had skipped lunch.
It was a frequent occurrence. When he was extremely tired, he lost his appetite and often didn’t eat. Today, all he had was a glass of juice in the morning. Then he went to work in the morning, had a cup of coffee… and left work later than usual, stopped by the bank for a moment, and came straight here.
Was that why? He kept dozing off. The chair that wrapped around him was overly cozy, and the hand that occasionally fidgeted with his fingers as if it were nothing had warmth. As if influenced by it, his eyes closed, and a feeling of lethargy constantly stirred within him. Somehow, his chest felt strangely stuffy.
Eun-ha puffed up his chest so that air could reach his lungs coolly. He wasn’t in good condition, but there was no need to show it. Whatever the reason, he had come out on a date. There was no need to spoil the mood in a well-arranged setting. It wasn’t unbearable either.
After some commercials, the dark curtain came down. Only a few minutes after the movie started, Yeon-jun slowly leaned his whole body towards Eun-ha again. From his shoulder to his elbow, they were completely and deeply touching, and his temple rested on the end of his shoulder. Eun-ha chuckled again at the gentle gesture of leaning on him. Then, as if Yeon-jun also thought it was a bit obvious, he let out a breathy laugh next to him.
Yeah. You’re sneaky…
But again, he didn’t feel bad. Rather, he felt warm and good. Even though he had worn a long-sleeved shirt and a cardigan, he was gradually feeling the chill from the air conditioning. The warmth of the other person’s body, overlapping with one side of his, was cozy.
And it was too warm.
In an instant, even the remaining tension melted away, and he became insanely sleepy. He felt like he couldn’t breathe well. Unable to resist the fatigue any longer, Eun-ha quickly blinked his eyes, unable to gather his senses.
I shouldn’t fall asleep.
That realization quickly changed under the dizziness that darkened his vision. Maybe it’s okay to sleep a little.
His vision, followed by his mind, was instantly dyed black. It was a moment of falling asleep as if he had lost his mind.
Yeah. As if losing his mind, like that.
And when he opened his eyes again, what came into Eun-ha’s hazy view was a white ceiling and a thin curtain hanging like a screen.
Comfortable.
That was the first thought that came to mind when he regained consciousness. Unspeakably comfortable and refreshed. As if he had been in a deep sleep.
So Eun-ha lay languidly with his eyes closed for a while. He felt like he could fall asleep again like this. He could fall asleep. He wanted to.
‘Lying down…?’
Sensing that something was wrong, Eun-ha hesitantly lifted his eyelids. What he saw immediately was a white ceiling with a regular pattern. Next was a drip. Next was a screen curtain.
With a few clues, he could quickly figure out that it was a hospital. Especially this, cool and refreshing air. It was the hospital’s, which he couldn’t possibly not know. It was a smell he didn’t particularly like because he had no good memories of it. A terribly tiresome smell.
It was noisy outside the curtain. Was it the emergency room? Objective judgment was made, but nothing made sense separately. No, there were no memories in his head. Like when he woke up after taking a sleeping pill. He was just vaguely rolling his eyes.
Suddenly, a tremor occurred in his hand. Only then did Eun-ha realize that one of his hands was warmly clasped in both hands. There was someone sitting next to the bed.
“Hyung…!”
The moment he discovered Yeon-jun, who was getting up from his seat and leaning over, information finally came to mind. Date. Movie. That’s right. That’s what happened.
The incomprehensibility deepened. Then what is this situation? I was definitely in the movie theater.
Before he could usefully rack his brains, the area under both shoulders was carefully grabbed. Anxiously trembling eyes quickly swept through every corner of Eun-ha. It was when he was blankly staring at those reddish eyes. A barrage of questions began to pour out.
“Hyung. Are you okay? Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere? Is there anything uncomfortable…”
Thanks to you, my head is about to hurt…
He roughly nodded towards Yeon-jun, who was focusing all his attention. Yeon-jun put his arm behind his back and supported his body as if it were natural, in order to get up and see. It was firm and soft at the same time. Eun-ha briefly furrowed his eyebrows and then relaxed at the support, as if he were dealing with the weakest patient in the world.
“What… what happened?”
When he sat down and asked, holding his slightly throbbing forehead, Yeon-jun took a step back and moved his gaze to various parts of Eun-ha. He slowly sat down on the chair as he looked closely as if examining him.
As if exhaling the breath he had been holding back, he let out a deep sigh and muttered in relief.
“No matter how much I called, Hyung wouldn’t open his eyes…”