Chapter 57: The Weight of a Shared Morning

“…!”

“I can help you.”

In that instant, a sturdy forearm fiercely snatched his waist, which had been retreating. Pupils as black as spilled ink stared intently at Yunhwan. Those dark eyes began to greedily consume his refined features. The gaze Seonghye fixed on Yunhwan’s face was both obsessive and scorching. It was a look that seemed to press him, demanding he voice his need for help.

Then, suddenly, the black pupils stopped at a certain point. Seonghye tilted his head slightly to the side.

Brown hair, damp from the humid air, was veiling Yunhwan’s smooth forehead. Looking displeased by the obstruction, the younger man cupped Yunhwan’s cheek with his hand. As his crescent-shaped fingertips brushed away the tangled strands, Yunhwan’s face finally became clearer.

Only one person remained reflected in Seonghye’s eyes.

Holding Yunhwan in his arms, Seonghye exhaled a deep, hot breath. His gaze dropped busily across every inch of the face trapped within his hands, yet he stubbornly refused to let Yunhwan slip from his grasp.

Just as his long fingers were about to comb through the brown hair, Yunhwan met Seonghye’s eyes.

“…Seonghye.”

Yunhwan breathed heavily as he called the other’s name. Every time his lips flickered, Seonghye’s eyes followed the movement as if possessed. Standing there, Yunhwan swallowed hard and took a step back. Seonghye pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, a look of lingering dissatisfaction crossing his face.

“Hyung.”

Just as he exhaled a short breath and called out to Yunhwan, the vividly colored lips—so well-suited to those hazel eyes—parted as if on cue.

“You’re all done washing, right? Since you’re finished, I’ll head out now.”

The following voice was stiff, but a tension Yunhwan couldn’t quite hide pricked outward like a needle. Anyone else might have missed it, but Seonghye, who shared an imprint with Yunhwan, could feel it instinctively.

At the taut anxiety surrounding Yunhwan’s entire body, Seonghye pulled the corners of his mouth into a smirk. Certainly, living in the countryside for several years must have made this type of stimulation quite overwhelming for him.

“Why?” Seonghye asked, wiping the moisture from Yunhwan’s cheek with the back of his hand. “Do you think you can just go out and handle it on your own?”

This time, he lightly grasped Yunhwan’s wrist. Yunhwan’s gaze slid downward, following his captured hand.

“…….”

Just as a subtle sense of shame settled on his handsome face due to the swelling he had been trying so hard to ignore, a small, mocking laugh sounded right in front of him.

“It’s grown quite a lot.”

“…….”

Unlike Yunhwan, who was momentarily speechless, Seonghye had a playful glint hanging in his eyes. He cupped Yunhwan’s cheeks, lifting his face, and spoke tenderly.

“Still, I’m happy.”

“…….”

“It feels like I’ve finally found my usefulness.”

His thumb slowly brushed against Yunhwan’s reddened eyelids.

The next day, at dawn.

“…….”

Sitting in front of the door with his arms crossed, the man opened his eyes at the sound coming from behind the door. When he lifted his head, what remained in his ears was a voice as faint as mist. Others might have dismissed it as nothing, but for Seonghye, who had experienced Yunhwan’s nightmares before, this was an exception. Frowning slightly at the unwelcome sign, he stood up.

A man who usually fell asleep at the same time every night and lived a regular life had recently begun to show hollowed cheeks and signs of fatigue under his eyes. Even if Seonghye asked what was wrong, he knew the man would just brush it off, so he hadn’t pressed for a reason.

Entering the room, he saw Yunhwan sleeping in a curled-up position. Seonghye pulled up the blanket that had fallen to the man’s feet and covered him again. Lying down and wrapping his arms around Yunhwan’s back, Seonghye buried his cheek in the other’s shoulder.

“You’re having a nightmare again. Just what exactly is appearing in those dreams?”

“…….”

“If I ask, will you even answer me?”

“…….”

“Talking nonsense to a sleeping person… anyone seeing this would think I’m a madman.”

As Yunhwan twitched occasionally, the furrow in Seonghye’s brow deepened. He hugged Yunhwan tightly and buried his head. In doing so, it became impossible not to notice the sweat-soaked nape and the intermittent, gasping breaths. Ha. Seonghye let out a deep sigh.

“Kwon Yunhwan.”

Swallowing hard, he turned Yunhwan’s body to face him. Since the face he saw was still contorted in pain, one of Seonghye’s eyebrows arched.

“It seems even my voice isn’t very effective today.”

There are many ways to pull someone drowning in sleep back to the surface. But with nightmares, the story was a bit different. Seonghye had coaxed and soothed Yunhwan out of dreams before, but today, a bit of mischief took precedence over patience and consideration.

How can I distract this person’s nerves?

The depth of his pondering gaze intensified. While Yunhwan frowned and rubbed his cheek against the pillow, Seonghye pulled the man’s face toward him without hesitation.

You’ll get hurt if you do that, he clicked his tongue softly. Leaning close to Yunhwan’s face, Seonghye whispered.

“Actually, there’s a lot I want to ask you besides your dreams. I’ve found out a few things about you, and it seems like we’ve known each other from much earlier.”

Honestly, thinking about it now, it was absurd. Not only had he regained his memories while trying to check Kwon Yunhwan’s past, but after he came to his senses, all the materials he had been reading and the USB he had been handed had vanished into thin air.

If so, someone must have intentionally made them disappear, and if they did, it was likely…

“I plan to look into it again soon, but before that, I want to hear it from your own mouth.”

His dark pupils rested on the troubled cheek. Yunhwan remained submerged in his nightmare without answering. From his pale lips, breaths that teased the heart continued to flow intermittently.

Just what is happening in your dreams? Unable to bear watching the trembling lips any longer, Min Seonghye let out a deep sigh.

“I won’t get angry. I’ll just listen quietly.”

“…….”

“You have to tell me everything without hiding a thing.”

In the room where not a single speck of light entered despite the dawn, Seonghye pressed his forehead against Yunhwan’s and pulled him in deeper.

“Hyung.”

The fingers gripping the steering wheel trembled slightly. Instead of answering, Yunhwan decided to stare straight ahead, pretending he hadn’t heard. Beside his determined face, deep green mountains and blue rice paddies stretched out endlessly.

The old truck carrying the two of them was heading toward Yunhwan’s field. There was still work to be done before the Aronia harvest.

“Why are you pretending you didn’t hear me?”

Throughout the drive, Seonghye watched Yunhwan—who was stubbornly keeping his mouth shut—with a curious gaze. A sense of wonder toward the other man was buried in that look, which had become even more obsessive than usual.

The silence was long, and a reply only came much later.

“…What?”

When Yunhwan replied with a slight frown, Min Seonghye turned his head completely. He began to stare at Yunhwan quite overtly now.

“Are you in a bad mood today?”

Fittingly for him, the question was remarkably pure. After a moment of thought, Yunhwan slowly shook his head. He felt his cheek, under the barrage of that gaze, growing inexplicably hot.

“Are you mad at me for something?”

“…No.”

Seonghye arched an eyebrow. A humming sound followed, as if he were mulling over Yunhwan’s answer.

“Then why are you angry?”

“…I’m not angry, so look ahead. Look at the road.”

“Is it because we slept together?”

“…!”

A violent surge rose in Yunhwan’s pupils. He looked at Seonghye with a shocked face, as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have, but then quickly turned away upon meeting the younger man’s eyes, which were as hot as glowing iron balls.

Yunhwan swallowed hard. The reason he was reacting like this was due to the incident this morning.

“We only slept.”

“I know that…!”

Yunhwan had been startled out of his wits to see Min Seonghye the moment he opened his eyes, while the other had calmly examined his face. Holding Yunhwan’s cheeks in his hands, Min Seonghye had asked only one thing: what appeared in the nightmares he had.

Yunhwan bit his dry lip. He thought for a moment. Since the incident in the bathroom yesterday, seeing and dealing with Seonghye wasn’t as easy as it once was. It had happened despite the line he had worked so hard to draw. He couldn’t believe he had a physical reaction to someone he was supposed to look after and then let fly away like a butterfly.

He bit his lip again. While turning the wheel, Yunhwan muttered to himself without realizing it.

“…I’m going to spray herbicide.”

“What?”

Seonghye, who had been watching Yunhwan silently, widened his eyes.