Chapter 24: A Place to Stay

Doyoon’s heart felt increasingly restless watching Haesu.

Since yesterday morning, Haesu had eaten absolutely nothing.

No matter what Doyoon suggested, Haesu only shook his head, and in the end, the only thing Doyoon managed to prepare was plain rice porridge.

Sitting across from him, Doyoon quietly waited while watching him eat.

Or rather, struggle to eat.

Even this soft porridge that required almost no chewing took several minutes for Haesu to swallow each spoonful.

“Doyoon, aren’t you eating breakfast?”

“I’m not really hungry.”

“I’ll eat the porridge, so you should go eat something good instead.”

In other words, you can go home now.

Haesu couldn’t remember much from last night, but he could easily imagine how hard Doyoon must have worked taking care of him.

Just the brief phone call he received while barely conscious must have frightened him badly enough to rush here in the middle of the night.

“…Okay. I will. After I watch you finish eating first.”

“Yesterday…”

“……”

Unable to refuse the porridge Doyoon made for him, Haesu kept forcing spoonful after spoonful into his mouth.

Plain white porridge was better than stronger flavors anyway.

He would swallow this past his aching throat and reassure Doyoon afterward.

Make sure Doyoon no longer worried about him.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Doyoon. It was just coincidence.”

“……”

“It’s just… I ended up seeing him.”

“……”

“I panicked, so I ran away.”

If I was going to see him someday anyway, I thought it would happen at the wedding.

I thought I would steel myself before going there, look at Seha’s face, watch him smiling happily beside someone else…

And only after seeing all of that would I finally organize my feelings.

Because then I thought maybe I could do it.

If I witnessed it with my own eyes, maybe I could finally let go of both Choi Haesu and the Kwon Seha from the past.

Maybe then I could bury everything between us as a memory.

By that point, I probably could have accepted that our story was truly over.

“But instead, I met them before the wedding and ended up resenting someone innocent.”

“……”

“I don’t know anything about what kind of person he is, so I just automatically think badly of him.”

Ridiculous, right?

Pathetic. Childish.

A hollow laugh escaped him before he fell silent again.

He stirred the porridge twice more before setting the spoon down quietly.

“The wedding is really close now.”

“…Yeah. It is, Haesu.”

“Time passes fast…”

Pretending not to notice the pain crushing against his chest, Haesu avoided Doyoon’s gaze.

Too many things had happened this week already.

Once this week passed, and then the next one after that, Kwon Seha’s wedding would arrive.

And by then, Choi Haesu would finally need to decide what to do with himself.

It felt strange trying to live a life he had never practiced in years.

A life where he let go of Kwon Seha.

It no longer felt like some distant, abstract thing.

It was right in front of him now.

The fact he couldn’t even choose how much he missed Seha anymore made him feel unbearably miserable.

The moment Haesu put his spoon down, Doyoon smiled and praised him automatically.

Even though he hadn’t finished the bowl.

Haesu blinked at him in confusion.

Turning away from that expression, Doyoon quietly cleaned up the dishes.

Since Haesu had finished eating, it was technically time for Doyoon to leave now.

But his feet refused to move easily from the living room.

Haesu wasn’t even looking at him or trying to hurry him out, yet Doyoon still felt uneasy and rushed somehow.

“Haesu.”

“Yes?”

“Would you… stay with me for a while?”

“…Where?”

So Doyoon asked sincerely.

Would Haesu come stay at his house for some time?

Naturally, Haesu questioned him immediately.

After all, this was where Haesu belonged.

To him, Doyoon’s question sounded absurd.

After finishing breakfast, Haesu hadn’t done anything else.

He hadn’t left the table or tried helping Doyoon clean up.

He simply sat there blankly before finally turning those distant eyes toward him.

Doyoon had already finished washing the dishes in that short span of silence.

Now standing before Haesu again, he struggled to figure out how to begin explaining himself.

More than anything, he needed to be careful.

If I leave you alone, I’m scared you’ll die.

That was what he truly wanted to say.

And no matter how gently he phrased it, Doyoon feared those words would still wound Haesu deeply.

The silence stretched on beneath Doyoon’s anxious expression.

Haesu still hadn’t received an answer about where exactly Doyoon wanted him to go.

Maybe he already understood the meaning behind the invitation and simply lacked the courage to acknowledge it first.

“Come with me.”

“…And leave my own house behind?”

“Yes. I think you’d hate having me stay here instead.”

So why exactly was Doyoon asking this?

Quick-witted as always, Choi Haesu pretended not to understand with all his strength.

He already knew what Doyoon was thinking.

And somehow, that embarrassed him a little.

It hurt realizing people truly saw him that way now.

Like some kind of ticking time bomb.

Doyoon looked painfully careful, like someone saying things he shouldn’t be saying to Haesu at all.

Every word he spoke came out low and cautious.

“Are you worried about me?”

“Yes. I’m worried.”

“Sorry for making you worry.”

“I didn’t mean it like that—!”

“I know. I’ll go with you, Doyoon.”

Even after hearing the answer he wanted, Doyoon’s expression still didn’t relax.

They were trying so hard not to hurt each other, yet every word still felt like a blade turning back on them.

Still, Doyoon remained firm.

He had no intention of backing down anymore.

Ever since experiencing the terror of feeling his heart drop to the floor in this apartment once already, he had wanted Haesu somewhere within sight.

Somewhere he could move, breathe, exist where Doyoon could see him.

Except when sleeping, Doyoon never wanted to witness Haesu lying motionless again.

If it meant achieving that much, then Doyoon was willing to push past his fear and ask.

Eventually, Haesu accepted.

The moment he did, Doyoon felt tension leave his entire body.

“Sorry for raising my voice.”

“I’ll probably become a burden.”

“There’s no way.”

Haesu didn’t know how long Doyoon meant by “for a while.”

Still, because it was Doyoon asking, Haesu thought he could willingly enter an unfamiliar space if it eased his fears.

The only thing worrying him was the possibility that he might start talking to himself again like yesterday.

Doyoon asked if he could get ready to leave together.

Only then did Haesu finally notice the state he was in.

Looking down at his wrinkled, sweat-soaked clothes, he lowered his head in embarrassment.

Turning side to side slightly, he became painfully aware of the sour smell clinging to his entire body.

When he first woke up, Doyoon had been right beside him.

Which meant Doyoon must have smelled it too.

“I smell weird… I’ll wash up first.”

“Take your time. Really.”

The moment Haesu saw the teasing curve appear at the corners of Doyoon’s handsome mouth, he immediately turned and hurried toward the bathroom.

Along the way, scattered clothes and random objects caught his eye.

Embarrassing things everywhere.

And then suddenly, another thought hit him.

The medicine.

What happened to the medicine?

He remembered taking it before falling asleep, but afterward his memory disappeared entirely.

Quickly turning his head, he searched for it anxiously.

And there it was exactly where it should be.

A clean white bottle sitting neatly atop the nightstand.

Only then did he relax enough to enter the bathroom.

Doyoon had told him to take his time, but Haesu still hurried a little anyway because he didn’t want to keep him waiting.

For three straight days now, he had left the house without fail.

The feeling was strangely unfamiliar.

It had been years since Haesu last came to Doyoon’s house.

Probably… around two years.

Back then, he hadn’t been doing well either.

There had been a period where Haesu shut himself away completely, ignoring even Doyoon’s calls and Chairman Yoon’s calls for nearly three months.

Eventually, unable to keep ignoring Doyoon forever, Haesu finally went outside to meet him — only to collapse less than a few hours later.

He still remembered Doyoon panicking and immediately carrying him while running somewhere without direction.

They had been eating at a hotel restaurant, and Doyoon had been too frantic to even reach the parking garage properly.

The elevator never arrived, and at some point Doyoon even stopped responding to employees trying to help them.

At some point during that chaos, Haesu regained enough awareness to whisper one thing.

He didn’t want to go to the hospital.

Anywhere but there.

Doyoon somehow heard even that faint mumble clearly and granted his wish.

Since his own home was nearby, Doyoon asked if they could go there instead.

Compared to a hospital, it sounded a hundred times better.

“Excuse me.”

“Yeah. Make yourself at home.”

“What is this…”

Stepping into the apartment again felt oddly unfamiliar despite vaguely remembering it before.

But the moment he entered, a familiar scent greeted him.

Doyoon’s scent.

The same subtle smell Haesu always noticed whenever they met.

As soon as they entered the house, Doyoon checked his temperature again.

Touching his forehead.

Pressing a thermometer against him.

In the blink of an eye, he finished fussing over him before pulling Haesu up from the round white sofa in the living room.

Then he guided him straight toward what was obviously the master bedroom.

“Rest. Your temperature still isn’t normal yet.”

“W-Wait, but this is your room…”

“You’re sick, Haesu. A patient with a fever. Right?”

“Well, yes, but how can I steal the homeowner’s room?”

The only response he got was a look asking why he was asking such pointless questions.

Doyoon simply told him to stop talking and lie down.

And when Haesu could only blink speechlessly in return, Doyoon immediately pushed him gently onto the bed like he’d been waiting for the opportunity.

After disappearing into the living room briefly, he returned carrying a steaming mug.

“Sorry, but all I have at home are tea bags. Still, I made it properly.”

“It smells like mint.”

“Yeah. I thought it might help you rest better.”