Chapter 10

It was purely just about lying down and sleeping, but I was blushing for no reason. This was all to blame for his voice being so strangely seductive.

Crushed under his heavy weight, I was pushed back a few steps and plopped down, seated on the bed. In order to not be pulled to lie down, I stretched my back, and with all my strength, pushed Ji Geon-hyung away with difficulty.

“Hyung, wait…you’re heavy.”

I groaned, then all at once, I grabbed his body and flipped him over. This man, who normally wouldn’t have budged, just flopped onto the bed. Ji Geon-hyung hadn’t let go of my waist yet, so I was pulled along with him. I pressed down on his chest with both hands, barely escaping his snare-like arms, catching my breath.

Lifting his legs that were lying across the bed, I pushed and pulled his twisted body to lie properly in place. That alone had already made me breathless.

Ji Geon-hyung was lying still, quietly watching me do it all. Sitting on the bed, I was barely able to remove his suit jacket, loosen his tie and unbutton his stuffy-looking shirt. Ji Geon-hyung’s arms coiled around my waist again.

“Let’s sleep…”

“Yes, alright1, sleep. Here, we’re touching now.”

I heard that it didn’t matter where the physical contact was, one will be able to sleep with the other’s arms around the waist like how we were at that moment.

I thought he had fallen asleep since he wasn’t talking, so I unfastened his second button and raised my head, but then I happened to meet his eyes that were looking down at me. The sharp upward slant of the tails of his eyes were made into nice curves. Then, without saying a word, he petted my head.

Honestly, the feeling of my hair being stroked was something unfamiliar until I became a high school student. My parents, who were always busy with work, didn’t give me proper attention, let alone pat my head, no matter how good my grades were.

It felt good to have my head pet. At first, it felt strange like I was being treated as a child, and that the other person was looking down at me, but at some point, it felt so nice that I didn’t even think about it anymore. One of the many reasons why I liked Kang Ji Seok, I thought, was probably because of the warmth that his touch gave me.

Thinking of Ji Seok, I recalled how these brothers looked so alike, then noticed Ji Geon-hyung slowly closing his eyes. The hand that was stroking my head slowly slipped down and touched my ear. I jumped and almost fell to the floor, and grabbed for his hand without thinking.

I could hear Ji Geon-hyung’s even breathing, who had just fallen asleep. When I saw that, I let out a sigh of relief for some unknown reason. And shortly after, the drowsiness.

The bed was already being occupied by Ji Geon-hyung. If I pushed him away a little bit, I could sleep on the side, but sleeping in the same bed with someone else was a bit… Right. There was quite a significant difference between holding hands and leaning against each other.

Although I had tested it with Ji Geon-hyung before, after ten minutes of no physical contact, I quickly opened my eyes. Even if one was drunk, the result was probably the same.

After much thought, I came down from the bed and sank to the floor. I sat with my back against the side of the mattress on the bed and placed Ji Geon-hyung’s drooping hand on my cheek. Although there was no strength [in his hand], I tilted my head slightly, leaning back; it looked like his hand had wrapped around my cheek from behind.

For the time being, I thought we could sleep since we were in contact. Whether it was hand in hand or cheek in hand…

As expected, I soon fell asleep. The irresistible temptation of sweet sleep paralyzed my whole fatigued body and weighed down my eyelids.

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I don’t know how long I slept for.

With my eyes still closed, my mind awoke little by little, and I felt the refreshing and pleasant languor brought on by a good night’s sleep. Compared to when I’d usually meet Ji Geon-hyung and had slept well, this time felt so much more refreshing that I even wanted to sleep longer.

‘Ah, come to think of it, I went to sleep without even setting my alarm.’

Belatedly, my mind sobered up.

Every time I went to bed with Ji Geon-hyung, I’d set an alarm, otherwise I felt like I’d be completely entranced and sleep for a long time.

I had slept for too long without an alarm and when I realized that, I opened my eyes but my vision was lying sideways. I blinked a few times to clear my blurry vision and became aware that I was lying down. I was even in bed with a pillow.

‘I don’t remember getting into bed…’

I turned my gaze, puzzled. It wasn’t just the pillow, but I was also covered by the blanket. As I lowered my eyes further, I saw someone’s arm around my waist.

“Are you awake?”

Startled by the low voice coming from behind me, I looked back. All I could see was Kang Ji Seok, his body turned towards me, raised up on his elbows with the side of his head in his hand.

“Kang Ji Seok, why are you…”

“It’s not Ji Seok, it’s me. Wake up.”

Only then did I realize that the other person was actually Ji Geon-hyung, not Kang Ji Seok. The two of them have such similar faces, and with his bangs that were usually half up, slowly falling down like Kang Ji Seok’s, it was understandable to be mistaken.

As soon as I knew it was Ji Geon-hyung, I immediately tried to get up, but as if he expected it, he put his arm around my waist and pulled me to lie down again. I looked up at him with bewildered eyes, and he looked down at me, beaming like he was enjoying himself.

I was about to ask why Ji Geon-hyung was in my bed when I suddenly remembered what happened the day before. I was sure that I was the one who put him in bed, but I didn’t know how I came up and slept with him.

Seeing my rolling pupils2, Ji Geon-hyung answered the question in my mind.

“It was so difficult for you to sleep, so I lifted you up here. I had left the bed to do something.”

“Is that so…”

It seemed that Ji Geon-hyung put me up [on the bed] after waking up. Seeing that his eyes were clear and his voice wasn’t hoarse, it must have been a while since he woke up and that he’d been there with his hand around my waist, staying still the whole time, for me. I felt more awkward rather than grateful for JI Geon-hyung’s care because I had fallen asleep to an unintentional back hug in bed.

I sat up and tidied my disheveled hair with my hands.

“You seemed to have drank a lot yesterday.”

“That’s what happened. But even when I drink like that, I won’t be able to sleep.”

Ji Geon-hyung put his arm away and sat side by side, stroking my head as if it was habitual.

“I won’t drink so much like that anymore. For your first day [here], I’m sorry.”

“There will be times like that in life. I understand.”

“You, you’re more like an old man than you look.”

“That’s what Kang Ji Seok says, sometimes.”

Ji Geon-hyung chuckled and stepped out of bed. He looked down at his shirt that was wrinkled in sleep, heading to the door he picked up the jacket I took off then turned around.

“What would you like to eat for lunch later? I’ll have it delivered.”

“Why not breakfast but lunch?”

“I’ve never had breakfast, and delivery starts around lunchtime.”

“What delivery, forget it. I was supposed to cook. I went grocery shopping with Kang Ji Seok yesterday.”

Thinking about what could be boiled right away to relieve his hangover, I picked up my cell phone — it was just past seven a.m.

‘You shouldn’t like this, you shouldn’t.’

Since the ring manifested, there was something that I felt every time I slept with Ji Geon-hyung, that the level of satisfaction when sleeping with physical contact was much higher compared to the time spent sleeping. I can sleep without dreaming, or I can sleep less than expected and still feel refreshed as if I had slept for long enough.

I had slept for about five hours, but my head was clear and refreshed so I was very satisfied. I wondered if it was just my imagination that I felt more rejuvenated than when we’d just hold hands.

“I’ll cook you something for you to relieve your hangover after you get out of the shower.”

Ji Geon-hyung looked back at me and blinked. I saw him staring instead of asking questions and I thought, ‘That’s just like Kang Ji Seok.’

“To sober up3. It’s Saturday, you’re not going to work, are you?

“You’re going to make it yourself?”

I nodded my head and the slanted tails of Ji Geon-hyung’s eyes drooped slightly. He waved his hand as if asking me to come closer, I approached him and his large hand stroked my head.

“What are you going to make for me?”

“I know how to make a delicious bean sprout soup4.”

“Do you know where the instant rice is? Ji Seok should’ve told you.”

“I know where, but I bought rice and cooked it for you yesterday. It’s better than instant rice.”

The hand that was petting my head became a bit stronger. If it was someone else, I’d feel bad, but because it was Ji Geon-hyung, I was happy.

“I’ll go wash up, then I’ll take a look at your skills. If Ji Seok’s praises are true.”

“Don’t ask for more when you eat it. I’m only making one portion of soup for your hangover.”

“You want me to eat by myself? I’m lonely.”

Ji Geon-hyung, who slightly gathered his brows and spoke of being lonely, was so embarrassing. I could tell he was imitating Kang Ji Seok and couldn’t help laughing.

“Just quickly go and wash up. Doesn’t the alcohol smell stink?”

I pushed his wide back towards the door with both hands. Ji Geon-hyung’s face gently softened, he grabbed the doorknob and turned it while saying he would shower soon. As soon as he went out the wide open door.

“Hyung, why are you coming out from there?”

Just then, I walked out of my room and met Kang Ji Seok, who was staring at us. He looked at us, rubbing his eyes as if he was still sleepy, and his body stiffened.