First, Hyun Gyujin, who had roughly thrown his school jacket behind Yuwon’s desk chair, rolled up his shirt sleeves and headed to the bathroom. As always when he came to Yuwon’s house, he felt that warm, soapy scent emanating from Yuwon, which he had always smelled since childhood. The bathroom was the same.
Hyun Gyujin took out a new towel, soaked it in lukewarm water, squeezed it tightly to prevent dripping, and then headed back to the room. He saw Yuwon huddled up with a cushion, clutching his stomach under the blanket.
“Jung Yuwon, lie down properly.”
Hyun Gyujin thought it might be better to change into thinner clothes first, then remembered the next step. To do that, he had to remove the sweatshirt he was currently wearing, which he didn’t feel confident about.
Yuwon was wearing something under the sweatshirt, so Hyun Gyujin lifted the bottom slightly to see, then quickly lowered it when he saw his bare belly. It seemed difficult to change clothes. Even though they had shared everything and been close friends for a long time, there were clearly boundaries that needed to be respected.
After wiping Yuwon’s moist arms with the towel, Hyun Gyujin rolled up the loose pajama pants to above his ankles. After wiping both long, slender calves, he didn’t know what to do next. He used to lift up clothes and wipe his belly and places like that when he was younger, but now he couldn’t, so his hand with the towel hesitated.
Just as Hyun Gyujin kept wiping Yuwon’s arms, Yuwon’s red skin startled him, so he quickly removed the towel. It was then that Yuwon’s thin eyelids slowly rose, and their eyes met.
“Again…”
“Huh?”
“It happened again…”
“What happened?”
“You…”
“Me?”
“Why do you keep appearing in my dreams every day?”
Understanding the context was difficult, but from what he could gather, it seemed that he appeared in Yuwon’s dreams quite frequently. Hyun Gyujin felt the lukewarm energy dissipate and placed the now cool towel on the desk, then gently took Yuwon’s wrist as if to comfort him.
“Do I appear in your dreams?”
“It’s not that I dream about it… You just… appear…”
Lost in fever and drowsiness, Yuwon’s words kept trailing off. Although he had heard it often, today, for some reason, the trailing off at the end of Yuwon’s words tickled Hyun Gyujin’s ears.
“You dream about me? Pay me and I’ll appear in your dreams.”
Hyun Gyujin, sitting on the edge of the bed, playfully tapped Yuwon’s soft cheek with his finger so it wouldn’t hurt. Yuwon, with his eyes closed, responded as if talking to himself again.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Pc atja mjrf, sbe’v yf glmt… jqqfjglcu lc ws vgfjwr fnfgs vjs…”
“Qbk, fnfgs vjs? Qtja vb P vb lc sbeg vgfjwr fnfgs vjs?”
“Tbe pera… xffq abemtlcu…”
“Aera abemtlcu? Qtja?”
“Zs ojmf…”
“Yt, sbeg ojmf…”
“Zs cfmx, jgwr…”
Lsec Xseplc, regqglrfv atja la kjrc’a pera atf ojmf, ibbxfv delfais ja Tekbc. Qfii, atf ojmf, cfmx, jcv jgwr kfgf qijmfr ktfgf tjcvr boafc abemtfv lc gfjilas, rb la kjrc’a ragjcuf. Dea ab fzqgfrr la jr ‘abemtlcu’ rffwfv j yla bvv.
“My waist…”
“…My waist?”
However, the waist was a bit different. While touching the face was just playful, touching the cheeks when stretching, the neck was just grabbing it or when sleeping, and the arms were places that were often touched anytime, so there was nothing strange about that. But the waist? The waist… there was no particular reason to touch it. Except for special situations like when Yuwon was about to fall, there was no reason for me to ‘touch’ Yuwon’s waist. The idea of touching a friend’s waist sounded very strange.
“But you keep putting your hands under my clothes…”
“What?”
Just as he was about to inquire further about what he was hearing, the doorbell rang. Hyun Gyujin got up from the comfortable bed and left Yuwon’s room. When he opened the door, he saw his mom holding a thermos.
“How’s Yuwon?”
“Seems like he’s in a lot of pain. Judging by the strange noises he’s making.”
“If he has a high fever, that could happen. Poor Yuwon. We should feed him as soon as possible.”
Hyun Gyujin’s mom, who went to the kitchen, carefully poured the seafood soup from a pot into a large thermos. Knowing that Yuwon always ate this soup well even when he didn’t have an appetite when he was sick, Hyun Gyujin’s mom always made the seafood soup herself whenever Yuwon was sick.
With barley tea at the perfect temperature placed on a tray, Hyun Gyujin’s mom headed to Yuwon’s room.
“Yuwon, Auntie’s here.”
“Auntie…”
“Poor thing, our Yuwon.”
Hyun Gyujin’s mom, who placed the food tray on the desk, sat on the bed and helped Yuwon sit up.
“I made the seafood soup you like. Eat this and take your medicine. Drink plenty of water too.”
“Thank you, Auntie.”
“Yuwon, eat well and get well soon, okay?”
“Yes…”
Yuwon blew on the soup… and took a spoonful. Even though he didn’t want to eat anything, smelling the seafood soup he had always eaten when he was sick since he was young made him feel a little hungry.
“How is it? Does it taste good?”
“Yes, it’s delicious. Auntie.”
“That’s a relief. Haewon—I mean, did you inform your mom?”
“My mom and dad said they had a really busy schedule today, so I didn’t mention it. It’s not that serious.”
As Hyun Gyujin’s mom sat on the edge of the bed, observing Yuwon eating soup little by little, she felt a bit concerned. Although their conversation was interrupted when his mom suddenly came in, earlier, Yuwon had said something strange. He mentioned that Hyun Gyujin kept touching him in his dreams, not just his face, neck, and arms, but even under his clothes.
‘You keep putting your hands under my clothes…’
Though short, that sentence echoed in his mind. What kind of dreams does Jung Yuwon have? And what am I doing in Jung Yuwon’s dreams? Hyun Gyujin was curious.
“…Yuwon.”
Since Yuwon said it in a feverish state, there was no need to take it too seriously. It could just be a random remark. But they had never had such conversations before, so it bothered him.
It’s one thing to casually talk about doing something funny in a dream yesterday that made him laugh, but it’s not the kind of story friends usually share about appearing in each other’s dreams every day or touching each other in dreams.
“Gyujin, you should go home and have dinner. Mom will be here.”
“No, Auntie, you should go home and have dinner. I’ll be fine taking medicine and resting alone. Mom and Dad will come by midnight.”
“But how can you be alone when you’re in pain?”
“If it gets worse, I’ll let you know.”
Although his mom wanted to stay, she nodded silently, as if she would follow Yuwon’s words. She still looked like a child in his eyes, so it was better to prioritize respecting and listening to Yuwon’s words, even if he’s grown up.
“If it gets worse, don’t endure it alone. Make sure to contact Auntie or me. Okay? Even if you don’t feel like talking, just call. Then I’ll come right away.”
“Yes, I will.”
Smiling faintly, Yuwon nodded his head, and Hyun Gyujin’s mom, who stroked Yuwon’s hair, got up from the bed. Then she patted Hyun Gyujin’s shoulder as he sat at the desk, lost in thought, and left the room.
“Let’s go. Let Yuwon rest properly.”
“Leave him alone?”
Lost in thoughts about the dream Yuwon mentioned, Hyun Gyujin, who missed the entire conversation between the two, was dragged out of the room by his mom.
“Let him rest alone. He said he’ll call if it gets worse.”
“But he won’t call. Mom still doesn’t know? He’s just stubbornly enduring it.”
“Is that being stubborn? It’s because Yuwon is kind. Let’s just let him rest quietly. Mom will come to check on him later.”
“Oh, I have something to say to Jung Yuwon.”
“What can you possibly say to a sick person? Say it later. Tomorrow.”
He had to ask why he came out like that in the dream. Hyun Gyujin, who couldn’t even utter a word in response, reluctantly went out to the entrance and slipped on his sneakers. It seemed like he needed to stay at home for now and then come up with an excuse to leave later.
***
Yuwon was plagued by the dream again. Even though he couldn’t move due to the pain, Hyun Gyujin didn’t take any notice of it. The Hyun Gyujin in the dream was always… too… carefree. He touched everywhere more unreservedly than ever, as if he had become more accustomed to it.
Although it’s hard to say he got used to it, Yuwon, who experienced it every night, several times a night, was no longer as startled when Hyun Gyujin appeared on top of him as before. It was because he knew that Hyun Gyujin wouldn’t appear in his dreams if he resisted. It was a kind of resignation, but also a curiosity about the ‘next’ thing that would never happen in reality.
With the thought that dreams weren’t necessarily bad, the sense of guilt became somewhat blurred, and the curiosity about the next stage only grew. Because you can’t know unless it’s a dream. Yuwon even thought that maybe he was more used to being touched than Hyun Gyujin.
