The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 188
Cha Eui-jae stared in bewilderment at Lee Sa-young’s trembling eyes. Why was he acting like this all of a sudden? Lee Sa-young even took a step back, as if he were about to bolt out of the room. This guy, who usually couldn’t stand not being close to him!
What’s with him now? Cha Eui-jae absentmindedly rubbed the chin of his mask before stopping abruptly.
‘Wait a second.’
What did I just say? Let’s sleep?
A strange sense of déjà vu crept in. It felt like they had argued about something like this before. The conversation from back then slowly surfaced in his mind.
“Just to sleep! Literally sleep! Nothing weird!”
“I wasn’t going to misunderstand, but now it seems like you’re the one who had weird thoughts, Hyung.”
No way.
Eventually, Cha Eui-jae’s face was also filled with shock. He unconsciously took a step back, pointing accusingly.
“Hey, hey, what are you thinking? What’s with that expression?”
“…”
There was distrust in the eyes he could see through the gas mask’s lenses.
What, does he think I’m some kind of pervert now? He was being treated like a creep for no reason. Frustrated, Cha Eui-jae clasped his hands together and mimed falling asleep, pressing them to the side of his face as if resting on a pillow.
“No, I meant sleep! You know, head on the pillow, blanket over us. Nothing weird! Last time you said you weren’t even going to misunderstand, so why are you acting like this now?”
“…Who said anything?”
“Your eyes are impure right now. And why are you backing away?”
“I just want to move back. You’re the one making it weird… Besides, didn’t you phrase it weird in the first place?”
“You’re the one who misunderstood first!”
Lee Sa-young crossed his arms and snorted, but the distance between them didn’t shrink. No. Cha Eui-jae could feel it— the more they talked, the more Lee Sa-young was slipping back into his usual, unyielding self. The version of him Cha Eui-jae knew was regaining control, and that was bad.
Feeling desperate, Cha Eui-jae quickly stepped forward and grabbed Lee Sa-young by the shoulders. Lee Sa-young narrowed his eyes. Cha Eui-jae’s voice wavered like a bleating goat as he asked,
“Lee Sa-young, aren’t you sleepy? I hope you’re feeling sleepy.”
“…Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”
“We have to sleep. Please, let’s just sleep.”
“Why do we have to sleep? In the middle of the day?”
“If I explain, it’ll take too long. Just lie down first, and I’ll explain.”
“Even if it takes long, go ahead. It’s not like we’re short on time…”
“No, we are short on time.”
“What are you talking about?”
Cha Eui-jae gritted his teeth, holding onto Lee Sa-young as he stubbornly resisted. Clutching his shoulders tightly, Cha Eui-jae closed his eyes and hung his head low before shouting,
“If you and I don’t sleep, the apocalypse won’t be stopped!”
Go! Go! Go…!
Maybe it was because the only furniture in the room was the bed, but Cha Eui-jae’s words echoed faintly, lingering in the air. Damn it. He felt like crying. Lee Sa-young, who had been staring blankly at Cha Eui-jae, grabbed the filter part of his gas mask and let out a deep sigh.
“Hyung, you’re… seriously…”
“…”
“This is ridiculous…”
With another sigh, Lee Sa-young placed his hand over Cha Eui-jae’s, still gripping his shoulders.
“Fine… Let’s lie down. Explain while we lie down.”
“Really?”
Cha Eui-jae lifted his head in surprise. In that instant, Lee Sa-young slid his fingers under the mask and removed it with a soft click, revealing his flushed face beneath. He stared at Lee Sa-young’s bright eyes for a moment before tapping Cha Eui-jae’s forehead lightly with the filter.
“You’ll take responsibility for this.”
A moment later.
‘Should’ve listened to my aunt and bought a bigger bed…’
Cha Eui-jae was now regretting a choice he’d made eight years ago.
The room, which previously only held a bed, now looked more like someone lived there, with gas masks, a mask, a black coat, and a jacket scattered on the floor.
On top of that, the weight pressing against his back was no joke. It was impossible for two adult men to comfortably lie side by side on a super single bed, so the two of them had to lie sideways, back-to-back. And yet, it was still cramped.
Having given the pillow to Lee Sa-young, Cha Eui-jae had to rest his head on his arm, glaring at the wall. He needed to mentally prepare himself.
‘It’s still better than using a skull as a pillow back in the rift.’
He could clearly feel Lee Sa-young breathing through his back. They were so close that he couldn’t even wriggle his toes without causing discomfort. Then, Lee Sa-young’s back rumbled. He was talking.
“So to sum it up, you can see past worlds through the watch… and the other guy inside me can also see them. If we’re close, we share what we see in front of us. Is that right?”
“…Yeah, that’s right.”
“The reason you suddenly wanted us to sleep together… is because when I’m under that guy’s influence, if we sleep together, I could see the world even without him falling asleep. Is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s a clever idea, but…”
Lee Sa-young’s large foot nudged Cha Eui-jae’s foot.
“Hmm. And you hid this from me until now?”
Cha Eui-jae bit the inside of his cheek. Again! He gritted his teeth and replied,
“No… I didn’t hide it. I just missed the right timing to say it. I’ve been all over the place myself…”
“Oh, so you had time to run away but no time to explain?”
“I was panicking back then too.”
“Sure, let’s go with that.”
The blanket rustled, followed by a grumbling voice.
“But do we really have to sleep like this? It’s uncomfortable.”
“That’s why I said I’d sleep on the floor.”
Lee Sa-young snorted. Cha Eui-jae grumbled quietly.
At that moment, ‘Lee Sa-young’ was sitting in a chair next to the bed. It seemed that as long as the two were close to the watch, they could connect without physical contact. After a brief explanation, Cha Eui-jae had proposed sleeping on the floor, realizing the bed was too narrow for two men. However…
“Who said you could?”
“Huh?”
“Lie down. We’ll fit if we squeeze together.”
He hadn’t been able to shake off Lee Sa-young’s hand as he pulled him onto the bed. And now here they were. As Lee Sa-young shifted and rustled again, Cha Eui-jae muttered,
“If I move to the floor now…”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“Then what? We need to sleep.”
“Haa…”
Lee Sa-young sighed in annoyance and sat up. What? Was he about to sleep on the floor himself? Cha Eui-jae was about to turn around to check.
Suddenly, an arm wrapped around his waist, pulling their bodies together. Warm breath brushed against the back of his neck and ear. Cha Eui-jae instinctively held his breath. A low voice murmured,
“Lift your head a bit.”
“…”
“Hurry.”
Still stiff, Cha Eui-jae obediently lifted his head slightly. A firm arm slid into the space between his neck and the mattress. What is this? Cha Eui-jae blinked, frozen in place like a stone statue. What’s going on? He was now entirely enveloped in warmth, from his back to his waist and legs. And what was pressing against his back wasn’t a back…
A chest?
While Cha Eui-jae was frozen, Lee Sa-young coolly covered them both with the blanket. The soft fabric wrapped around their bodies, and their legs tangled together. A large foot brushed against his shin. Cha Eui-jae clenched his fists. Lee Sa-young muttered,
“Now this is better.”
Not for me!
Cha Eui-jae barely swallowed down a scream. This was the first time they’d ever been this close, and in such a cramped space, no less. His heart pounded. Lee Sa-young must know too, he thought, given how close they were. They were practically one body.
Heat radiated from his toes and fingertips, spreading through his entire body. Cha Eui-jae squeezed his eyes shut. The hand wrapped around his waist and resting on his stomach felt too heavy.
From behind, a low voice whispered,
“…It’s too loud.”
“What is?”
“Your heartbeat.”
Cha Eui-jae flinched and snapped back,
“Shut up.”
“Can you stop fidgeting?”
“It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose. We’re stuck together like this…”
Just as Cha Eui-jae grumbled and shifted his body,
“…”
Something pressed against him.
“…”
“…”
Silence hung in the air. Cha Eui-jae paused for a moment before abruptly sitting up. Lee Sa-young frowned.
“What now…?”
“I can’t do this.”
There was no way he could sleep like this! Cha Eui-jae grabbed his head in frustration, messing up his hair. Lee Sa-young buried his face in the pillow with a sigh before lifting his head again.
“What do you mean you can’t? You were the one who wanted to sleep together.”
“How about we hit each other once? Passing out counts as sleep, right?”
“…Are you serious?”
Lee Sa-young ground his teeth and rubbed his face with his hand. Cha Eui-jae awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the heat rising. His face and neck were surely flushed bright red.
“Cha Eui-jae.”
Lee Sa-young’s cracked voice called his name, making Cha Eui-jae flinch. He didn’t even have the energy to get angry at being addressed so casually. Lee Sa-young’s black-tipped fingers wrapped around his side.
“You don’t need to be so self-conscious…”
“…”
“I’m holding back too, so just lie down.”
“…”
“Shit… we need to save this damn world first…”
Lee Sa-young irritably finished his sentence and forcibly laid Cha Eui-jae back down. Once again, warmth enveloped his entire body.
Damn it! Cha Eui-jae squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the overwhelming sensations. His racing heart, the slightly labored breathing, the rustling sound of the blanket every time a foot moved. And then, at some point, the room fell quiet. Eventually, Cha Eui-jae realized something.
The loud heartbeat he’d been hearing wasn’t only his own.
Once he realized that, sleep finally came to him. Cha Eui-jae didn’t resist it and closed his eyes.
***
When he opened his eyes again, a familiar yet strange scene came into view. The wallpaper and everything else were identical to the room he had been in before falling asleep. However, there was a subtle sense of wrongness.
Cha Eui-jae sat up. The feel and color of the blanket were the same. The difference was… the room had a lot more furniture. There were desks, bookshelves, drawers, and a wardrobe— making it look much more like a lived-in home compared to the original room. And then,
‘Am I alone?’
The presence of Lee Sa-young, who had been pressed tightly against his back, was gone.
‘Did I end up in the right place…?’
Judging by the look of things, this wasn’t reality. Cha Eui-jae scratched his head and got out of bed. That’s when he noticed he was wearing silk pajamas— something Cha Eui-jae would never have bought for himself.
He gently pinched the collar between his thumb and forefinger. The soft, smooth fabric felt strangely familiar.
He should probably step outside. This place seemed to be his home, after all. Cha Eui-jae cautiously opened the closed door. Creak— light spilled through the crack. And then,
“…”
He found Lee Sa-young, dressed in the exact same pajamas as him.
