Chapter 90: Leaning in His Sleep

After coming back from practicing until late at night, I crouched in the living room waiting for the very last shower order.

My exhausted head, feeling heavy, leaned against the sofa, and sleep began to crash over me so fast it was almost frightening.

My eyelids kept drooping, my vision darkening then brightening over and over, until finally the darkness settled in for a long stretch and my consciousness faded far away into a haze.

“Jae-seo.”

I opened my eyes to the sound of my name, small and close by.

It felt as if only a fleeting moment had passed.

As my hazy, half-asleep vision gradually cleared, I was surprised at how much lower my eye level was compared to what I’d experienced the past few days, and I shot to my feet.

“Did you sleep well?”

The moment I abruptly leaned down and saw Yeo Hyun-tae’s face in my field of vision, I instantly understood what had happened.

While crouched in the living room waiting for my shower turn, I’d fallen asleep, and Yeo Hyun-tae must have moved me to his own bed.

…I decided not to imagine how he moved me.

“Ah, sorry.

I’ll go wash the cover and blanket right now.”

Then it suddenly hit me – I was lying on Yeo Hyun-tae’s bedding.

I’d sweated like crazy dancing all day yesterday, and since I’d sat, lain down, and rolled around on the practice room floor, my clothes were probably covered in dust too.

Thinking of the coin laundry behind the shops across the street, I hurriedly stood up.

“It’s fine.”

…No, I wasn’t fine.

Yeo Hyun-tae tried to stop me for a moment as I quietly pulled off the mattress cover, trying not to wake Seo Jun-jae in the next bed, then seemed to just leave me alone – but a little later, he moved to follow me as I got ready to leave with the mattress cover, blanket, and pillowcase.

Just like I had a moment ago, it was obvious Yeo Hyun-tae wouldn’t listen if I told him it was fine, so I gave up on going alone and left the dorm with him.

Fortunately, the coin laundry had a 24-hour sign on the door, so we went inside.

After paying, we put the blanket and covers into a washing machine, set the cycle, and the inside of the machine started spinning.

Since we had to use the dryer after the wash, we sat side by side on a chair placed in one corner of the laundry.

“…Hyun-tae, if something like today happens again, you really don’t have to move me.

Sitting up to sleep for one day isn’t that hard, you know?”

…And honestly, in terms of body aches, I wondered if anything could be worse than the s*x I had with you guys, but I couldn’t bring myself to say that, so I just kept my mouth shut.

Yeo Hyun-tae didn’t answer either.

I figured that meant he’d move me to his bed again next time, so I let out a long sigh – and at the end of it, a small yawn slipped out.

“Tired?”

That question felt like ‘see, I told you so,’ so I stubbornly shook my head.

But my body, which had been lacking sleep for days, immediately betrayed what I thought was a strong will.

My head, nodding off again and again under the wave of drowsiness, dropped without me even realizing it.

Startled by my own movement, I opened my eyes wide for a moment, but it didn’t last.

Eventually my head, along with my eyelids, slowly sank down again.

Ddiring-

The washing complete alert that came the next moment slowly chased away the sleepiness.

I let out a deep breath and opened my eyes – the world looked tilted to the side.

My now-clear mind told me I’d fallen asleep leaning on Yeo Hyun-tae’s shoulder.

At the same time, I realized that Yeo Hyun-tae had also fallen asleep, leaning his head against mine.

Carefully, so as not to wake Yeo Hyun-tae, I pulled myself away and stood up.

I moved the laundry to the dryer as quietly as possible and pressed the start button.

After checking that the dryer was running properly, I hesitated for a moment, then went back and sat down in my original spot.

I gently pulled Yeo Hyun-tae’s head – which had been awkwardly hovering in the air after I moved away – and rested it back on my shoulder.

“Mmm…”

Then Yeo Hyun-tae, even in his sleep, let out a low groan and wriggled his head, as if something was uncomfortable.

Soon he tilted his head and upper body slightly, leaning against me, and stopped moving, his face now relaxed.

…He must have been uncomfortable because my shoulder height was too low.

If that was the case, I thought maybe it’d be more comfortable if I sat a little farther away, so I started to scoot aside – but an arm immediately shot out and grabbed my waist.

For a second I suspected this bastard wasn’t actually asleep, and I almost stood up, but his occasional soft breathing sounded so much like a sleeping person’s that I sighed and stayed put.

I sat there quietly for a long time, letting Yeo Hyun-tae have my shoulder and waist.

***

After the dryer finished, I gathered the blankets and woke Yeo Hyun-tae, then we returned to the dorm.

The moment I unlocked the door and opened it, I came face to face with Yoon Ji-heon, who was busy getting ready to go out in the entrance.

Yoon Ji-heon’s eyes darted quickly between me and Yeo Hyun-tae, then his expression suddenly relaxed as if a weight had lifted, and he let out a relieved sigh.

Then he raised his voice and spat out,

“If you guys are going out, you should at least tell me!

Why aren’t you answering your calls?”

At Yoon Ji-heon’s words, I immediately checked my phone – dozens of missed calls and messages.

Only then did I remember that I’d set my phone to silent for all notifications, using the excuse that it’d distract me during practice, and I let out an ‘ah,’ stupid sound.

“Sorry.”

Yeo Hyun-tae, who seemed to have left his phone behind entirely, apologized without checking anything.

I apologized right after him, and Yoon Ji-heon asked in a much milder voice,

“So where did you go?”

“Downstairs, to the coin laundry.”

“No, why would you… when there’s a perfectly good washing machine in the dorm…”

Yoon Ji-heon trailed off in a bewildered voice, then stopped mid-sentence.

He must have realized while speaking that with our recent schedule, running the washing machine in the dorm was far from easy.

“Never mind, just go inside and get ready.”

“Okay.”

Come to think of it, I still hadn’t showered.

I hurried inside, thinking I’d get ready and wash up quickly, when Lee Woo-rim sidled up to me and glanced inside the shopping bag I was carrying.

“Why the blanket all of a sudden…

No way, Jae-seo hyung, did you… you know…?”

“Are you crazy?

This is Hyun-tae’s.”

“What?!

Then does that mean Hyun-tae hyung…?”

…Did I think so?

“Should I go buy some lube and salt?”

Only then did I notice his face, beaming with mischief.

Ugh.

I sighed, reached out, shoved Lee Woo-rim’s head far away, and headed straight for the room.

***

After showering and having a quick breakfast of cereal, I left the dorm with the managers.

I got into the car as the manager held the door for me, and Seo Jun-jae was sitting in the seat next to me.

Park Seo-hu and Lee Woo-rim, who had climbed in behind me, were talking about the choreography for ‘White Night.’

I half-listened and sank back into the seat.

Feeling like I might fall asleep again, I slowly closed and opened my eyes – then a low voice whispered in my ear.

“Did you sleep with Hyun-tae?”

The moment my brain processed the sentence, sleep vanished instantly and my eyes flew wide open.

Logically, given how narrow the beds in our room were, the question ‘did you sleep with him’ in that sense didn’t make sense – so I figured he was asking in the most ordinary sense, whether we had lain down together and fallen asleep.

…Though it seemed like he’d deliberately made the wording ambiguous.

But what struck me anew was Seo Jun-jae’s perceptiveness – he spoke as if he’d already figured out roughly what had happened just from hearing that I’d washed Yeo Hyun-tae’s blanket.

“I slept alone.”

Actually, I didn’t even know for sure.

Even if the bed was narrow, two people could still lie down and sleep together.

Sure, I’d been lying alone when I woke up, but that could be because Yeo Hyun-tae, who had fallen asleep with me, had gotten up first and woken me from outside the bed.

“Ah, I see.”

From his offhand reply, he probably didn’t believe me.

No – he’d clearly realized that I’d just answered without actually knowing.

“…Jae-seo, next time come to me.”

“What?”

“Sleep with me, okay?”

“Hey, watch your language!”

Startled by the voice that reached my ear, so thick and blatantly suggestive, my voice shot up momentarily.

At that sound, not only Park Seo-hu and Lee Woo-rim, who had been talking right in front of me, but even manager Park Bo-sung in the driver’s seat turned to look at me.

“What’s going on, are you two fighting?”

“Ah, no.”

“Alright, don’t fight.”

I replied that I understood to the manager, and beside me, a low laugh burst out.

I turned my head and met Seo Jun-jae’s eyes – his already deeply curved eye-corners crinkled even further down.

“Aren’t you being too conscious of it?”

At the follow-up, whispered small and cute, I ended up turning my head away first.

Has he really lost his mind since last time?

I thought that just not listening was the answer, and fixed my gaze on the scenery outside the window.

Seo Jun-jae’s laughter tickled my ear softly for a long time.

***

After driving for a good while, we arrived at a photo shoot studio.

The studio was already packed with staff from the magazine that would publish the pictorial we were shooting today, as well as the shoot crew.

We listened to an explanation of the concept, then moved to the inner waiting room to get our hair and makeup done and change outfits.

“Jae-seo-ssi, hello!”

After finishing hair and costume prep and waiting for my makeup turn, a camera approached me.

The woman holding the camera looked quite familiar.

She was a staff member from the video team – I’d greeted her once when we recorded the title track at Randy Kim’s studio.

“Oh, I haven’t had my makeup done yet – is it okay to film?”

At my question, the staff member glanced at the camera screen once, nodded that it was fine, and handed me a small microphone.

“This is your first magazine pictorial, how do you feel?”

“Ah, well… Since it’s my first time, I’m nervous and also worried a lot.

Today, with bubble gum—”

The staff member, who had been watching me from behind the camera, immediately raised a hand to stop me.

Saying it would be better to speak indirectly rather than outright, she continued the interview.

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