The Night Of The Untraced Chapter 35

Throughout, Seungjoo  couldn’t reach him, but miraculously he appeared at a crucial moment. If Muheun hadn’t come, he couldn’t even bear to imagine what would have happened. How did Muheun know to be there at such a critical moment?

“Just…”

Muheun wiped the ointment from his hands with a tissue on the table. He seemed ready to explain in no time, but the words that followed were unexpected.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“Why?”

Knowing how frustrating it is to hold back words, when asked in astonishment, he narrowed his eyes with a puzzled expression.

“First, let me take a breath.”

Ah, this person must be tired too. It was indeed too late to explain everything comprehensively. But for exorcists, this hour might be normal. In that moment of contemplation, his voice, tender with fatigue, continued.

“You need to rest.”

“….”

It seemed it wasn’t Muheun who needed to sigh, but himself. He wanted to tell him he wasfine, but ironically, he was tongue-tied by his seemingly trivial remark.

“….Well.”

It was a weary night for him. It was late, he had some drinks, and on top of that, he experienced something he never thought he would in one night. There were many things he wanted to ask him, but the truth was, he was too exhausted to process his words.

“It’s too late.”

Muheun said so as he got up from the sofa. Seungjoo remained sitting quietly, and gently, Muheun wrapped his wrist as if sensing his daze.

“Let’s go to sleep with hyung.”

“….”

His eyes, curving like a crescent moon, brought a sense of relief anew. The tension that lingered until the very end vanished as if washed away.

“What about your work?”

“I can skip it for today.”

Indirectly questioning, Muheun casually replied. Whether it was because it was a rest day or simply that he didn’t want to go out. Feeling unnecessarily ambiguous wasn’t just a matter of mood.

Overall, the sparsely furnished house felt the same in the bedroom. Seeing the king-sized bed lying there, Seungjoo realized another fact and tensed up.

….Are we really sleeping together?

From the start, he had planned to sleep and leave. If he had gone straight home earlier, he wouldn’t have been able to control his expression in front of his parents. Even though Seungjoo was usually indifferent, seeing ‘that’ was unsettling. It was late, and there were many questions to ask, so he was just thinking of closing his eyes and enduring it.

However, simply sleeping and sleeping in the same bed were two different issues. The former just required discomfort, while the latter involved enduring embarrassment as well. Yet, it seemed too troublesome to go back now, change clothes, and beg so blatantly.

“I’ll sleep on the floor.”

So Seungjoo came up with a somewhat reasonable solution. Given Kim Muheun’s personality, there was a good chance he would refuse, but he would at least pretend to listen if it was uncomfortable.

But Muheun’s words that came out of his mouth were more realistic.

“Um… We don’t have an extra blanket.”

“….”

“Wouldn’t it be fine to just sleep?”

No matter how warm the weather had become, it was still April. At night, the temperature dropped sharply, and it was the season when the cold snap prevailed. It was definitely cold enough to sleep without a blanket.

“Don’t you have a summer blanket?”

“It hasn’t been two months since I moved here, Seungjoo.”

So there hadn’t been time to buy a summer blanket. Muheun added that the only spare one had already been washed, and the current one being used wasn’t particularly for winter either. Since he didn’t feel cold, there was no need to cover himself with a thick blanket.

“If it’s uncomfortable, Hyung will sleep on the floor.”

“Ah, why are you like this.”

Seungjoo pulled his wrist free with a frowned expression. People have some decency; he didn’t want to be so picky.

“I’ll just sleep on the bed. Why would the landlord sleep on the floor?”

Saying that, Muheun chuckled softly as he approached the bed first. He pulled back the blanket and climbed onto the bed, dimming the bedroom lights while checking on Seungjoo lying on the bed. It wasn’t too dark, just the right amount of brightness.

“You’re not uncomfortable, are you?”

The casually spoken words couldn’t be denied. Indeed, there were already several things bothering him.

“It’s uncomfortable. Not like when I was a kid.”

There were various reasons. Seungjoo wasn’t picky about his sleeping habits, but it was different when he had to sleep with someone else. Even if he claimed not to have any sleep habits, it was definitely more comfortable sleeping alone.

Moreover, the person he was sharing the bed with was Kim Muheun. It felt awkward sleeping in the same bed with another grown man, and no matter how much he pretended it was fine, there was always a bit of self-consciousness. Perhaps in childhood, he could snuggle up without thinking, but now, was his head too big for that?

“I don’t have any sleep habits.”

“What are you talking about? You do have sleep habits.”

Seungjoo naturally settled into the inner side of the bed. Despite not having spare blankets, there were two pillows. As Seungjoo laid down after adjusting the pillows properly, he looked at Muheun and spoke.

“You’re really annoying when you sleep.”

That was the reason he didn’t like sleeping next to Muheun when they were younger. It wasn’t that he disliked it exactly, but it was a bit bothersome. However, it was inconvenient to claim he had no sleep habits.

Muheun was the type who would persistently bother the person next to him until he fell asleep. Whether it was insisting on using the arm as a pillow or snuggling up close to the face. And once asleep, there would be a lot of physical contact, as if pulling the person into a hug even while sleeping.

“Me?”

“Yes, you hyung.”

Why did Muheun look so puzzled? Approaching closer, Muheun’s face genuinely showed confusion.

“You didn’t know?”

“Someone has to tell me.”

Muheun replied casually and climbed onto the bed. Before Seungjoo could say anything, he added in a composed tone.

“It’s been too long since I’ve slept with someone.”

“……”

The “sleeping” being talked about right now probably wasn’t the same as that “sleeping.” Even knowing that fact, it felt oddly pleasant. So, he glanced away, and Muheun, lying next to him, covered him with the blanket up to his neck.

“I won’t bother you tonight.”

The gently offered voice was excessively gentle. It even whispered softly, tickling the heart.

“Let’s sleep.”

“……”

He debated whether to advise him against treating him like a kid. He briefly entertained the idea of turning over to face the other way but ultimately opted to remain still. He believed that displaying self-consciousness would only exacerbate the awkwardness.

Thanks to the large bed, lying side by side wasn’t uncomfortable. We weren’t tightly pressed together from the start, just maintaining a comfortable distance while gently comforting each other.

Now, Muheun bid his final farewell almost in a whisper.

“Goodnight.”

You too, hyung.

He wasn’t sure if he had said those words or not. As soon as he closed his eyes, the wind from the spreading blanket made it difficult for him to even move his lips. Come to think of it, quite a bit of time had passed. With that thought, he lazily drifted into sleep.

***

He dreamed of being chased by something. He ran endlessly without knowing why, his legs becoming heavier as if dragging himself halfway forward. Sometimes, he walked in circles, sometimes his feet sank into an unknown swamp.

His breath rose to his throat, and his stomach churned as if he were about to vomit at any moment. Not knowing where to go, he wandered, and gradually, the collapsed surroundings turned into a dead-end alley.

“……”

Suddenly, Seungjoo, who had stopped walking, caught his breath. His heart pounded as if mad, and it felt like blood was rushing through his whole body. Just a moment ago, he had been running until he was out of breath, but now his eyes were drooping as if he were suddenly sleepy.

How do I get out of here? If I stay like this, I’ll be in big trouble. No, I couldn’t even remember why I was running away in the first place.

“……!”

Suddenly, something grabbed his ankle. As his body stumbled, Seungjoo found a hand protruding from the ground, looking eerie as if it would melt away. The bizarre-looking hand slowly dragged the grabbed ankle into the ground.

“……”

He wanted to scream, but no sound came out. Seungjoo, who had fallen to the ground, tried to pull out the grabbed ankle by grasping the ground with his fingertips. However, the more he struggled, the wider the part sinking into the ground became.

“Save me…..”

He pleaded with a voice that wouldn’t come out. Chewing on rising curses in his mouth, he continued to scratch the asphalt floor with his fingertips. Amidst the pain of digging into the ground, something that had clearly been in the shadow revealed itself in front of Seungjoo’s eyes. And then their eyes met.

“……Se-Seungjoo!”

“……”

With a blink, his eyelids fluttered open. Air rushed into his collapsed lungs in an instant. Gasping for air, as he turned his head, he saw worried eyes looking down at him. They were deep, dark, and if he stared into them, it felt like he would be sucked in.

“Are you okay?”

The owner of the eyes was none other than Muheun. Seungjoo trembled, his eyelids trembling as he took a deep breath. The moderately dim lighting, the landscape illuminated by that light, everything was completely different from the dim alley from earlier.

“Ah……”

It was a dream.

“……Ha.”

Realizing it, something choked him up. Seungjoo covered his eyes with one hand, taking a deep breath. As he raised his upper body, Muheun, who had been looking down at Seungjoo, carefully tidied up his bangs with a very gentle touch. His forehead was damp with cold sweat, as if he had sweated while sleeping.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

“……”

Instead of answering, he just nodded his head. He didn’t even have the strength to speak. Looking at Seungjoo like that, Muheun spoke with a voice tinged with guilt.

“Sorry, I was too late.”