A Night That Passed

For a brief moment, when the cold air of the living room brushed against his skin, Seha wondered if all this had really been necessary.

But the instant he saw Jeongyun bracing himself against the wall, gasping for breath, that thought vanished completely.

After making sure the bloodstained parts of his clothes were now turned to the back and out of sight, Seha smoothed his expression as if he’d never hesitated or been frightened at all.

The thought did cross his mind that if Jeongyun had a seizure because of him, he might be thrown out on the spot—ten billion won or not.

Still, his genuine worry outweighed everything else.

Right now, Jeongyun looked dangerously fragile.

“Do-ryeon-nim.”

He called him that on purpose.

Seha hoped that hearing the title would make Jeongyun forget about the blood and snap at him instead.

Fragments of information he had studied about Cha Jeongyun’s accident drifted through his mind.

The image of a young Jeongyun, having spent hours with his parents’ lifeless bodies, refused to leave his thoughts.

“So what if I spilled something on my clothes?

Why are you making such a big deal out of this?”

He put on an annoyingly flippant tone.

He wanted Jeongyun to look at him instead of the past.

To feel something like That annoying shaman bastard is being shameless again, instead of remembering his parents’ blood.

Perhaps Seha’s sincerity reached him.

Jeongyun, who had been hanging his head and gasping, slowly lifted his face and looked at Seha.

Seha raised his chin even higher, wearing an even more brazen expression.

Jeongyun spoke.

“What the hell is a scammer like you saying.”

“I told you I’m not a scammer.

And let’s not make such a fuss just because someone spilled food!”

“Let’s?”

“…I-I mean, please don’t….”

When Jeongyun shot him a fierce glare, Seha finally mumbled in a somewhat cowed voice.

Despite the intimidated look on his face, relief bloomed inside him.

Even under the dim lights, Jeongyun’s complexion clearly looked better.

Jeongyun took a few more long, rough breaths to steady himself, then straightened his bent back.

Watching him, Seha clenched both fists tightly in secret.

Thank goodness he hadn’t collapsed.

“You’re unbelievable.

Don’t bother me and get lost.”

That arrogant, irritating voice was infinitely welcome in this moment.

Having barely steadied himself, Jeongyun brushed past Seha and headed back to his room.

Seha had shrunk back, half-expecting their shoulders to collide.

When Jeongyun simply passed by, Seha tilted his head slightly and watched his retreating back.

He looked utterly drained of strength, but at least he wasn’t staggering.

Only after Jeongyun disappeared into his room did Seha finally let out a long breath and relax his tightly wound body.

It felt like a storm had just passed.

Bleeding from a nose he’d never once had trouble with was shocking enough.

Going through all that with Jeongyun on top of it left him completely exhausted.

“What the hell was that at dawn….”

He muttered weakly and looked down at his clothes.

The sight of himself wearing them inside out looked incredibly stupid.

Still, he was relieved that the whole thing had ended as nothing more than a passing incident.

In the end, Seha let out a small laugh and headed toward the bathroom.

“f*ck….”

The moment he returned to his room, Jeongyun cursed and roughly ran a hand through his hair.

Cold sweat soaked his forehead, making the fresh shower feel pointless.

He had nearly gone into a full-blown seizure.

It had been a long time since he’d seen someone else’s blood in real life.

He’d thought that maybe his condition had improved by now.

Facing the reality that nothing had changed only soured his mood further.

He really had believed he was doing much better.

Just four or five years ago, even seeing blood briefly in movies or on TV would send him into a panic.

When he was younger, even hearing the words traffic accident would make him lose control.

At least now, he could tolerate brief bloody scenes in films, unpleasant as they were.

That was why he’d thought he might manage seeing real blood too.

But he was wrong.

Just the sight of bloodstained clothes had made his chest tighten and his vision go dark.

An unbearable noise filled his ears.

The violent crash, the sound of things shattering, screams that felt like they were tearing his ears apart, the arms pulling him close, the body temperature growing colder—

All of it washed over Jeongyun as if it were happening again.

He had almost made a truly ugly scene.

“…….”

As that thought settled, Seha came to mind—trying to distract him with utter nonsense.

The excuse about spilling food was so absurd it wasn’t even funny.

And turning his shirt inside out—what kind of ridiculous move was that.

That was why Jeongyun couldn’t deny it.

Seha had desperately tried to stop his panic at all costs.

He’d helped Jeongyun with everything he had, without caring how foolish he made himself look.

He must have heard about the seizures from Donghyun.

There was no way something that important hadn’t been mentioned beforehand.

Still, knowing something in theory and reacting properly in a sudden emergency were completely different matters.

With a deep sigh, Jeongyun lay back down on the bed.

The sound of Seha’s voice—pretending to be frightened while subtly relieved when Jeongyun criticized his speech—needlessly echoed in his ears.

It irritated him.

It irritated him far too much.

Logically, he should have felt grateful.

Seha had shown quick thinking and prevented the worst outcome.

Yet instead of gratitude, what surfaced first was an uncomfortable feeling.

Probably because that quick response only proved how calculating and sharp Seha really was.

If Seha hadn’t gotten blood on his clothes in the first place, Jeongyun wouldn’t have had to go through such an ordeal in his own house at dawn.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, a question struck Jeongyun hard.

Then why was Jin Seha bleeding at that hour in the first place.

He bolted upright in bed.

There had been a lot of blood on his clothes.

Far too much to be from a small cut on a finger or something similar.

If it had been something that minor, Jeongyun wouldn’t have noticed it in the dark.

“Did he have a nosebleed or something….”

Jeongyun muttered, glancing toward the door.

Since the blood had been on the front of Seha’s shirt, that seemed plausible.

“How ridiculous.”

After staring at the door for a moment, Jeongyun scoffed and lay back down.

Barging into someone else’s house uninvited and causing all sorts of trouble—he really was unbelievable.

Because of him, Jeongyun had gone through an unnecessary ordeal at dawn.

Everything the guy did made him more irritating by the minute.

Feeling grateful toward someone like that was out of the question.

If anything, Seha should have been apologizing.

He needed to be thrown out.

No matter what it took, somehow or another, Jeongyun would make sure of it.

Reaffirming his resolve, he closed his eyes.

As darkness settled again, his mother’s red eyes surfaced in his mind.

Jeongyun forced himself to picture the pathetic image of Jin Seha wearing his clothes inside out instead.

He tried to criticize Seha rather than think about his mother.

There was no way he’d fall asleep again tonight.

At the very least, he’d wait until the lingering tremors in his body calmed down, then find some mindless movie to watch.

That was what he thought, as he closed his eyes for a moment—just for a moment.

When Jeongyun opened his eyes again, he was confused.

Warm sunlight streamed through the window, brightly illuminating the room.

It was morning.

That alone was baffling.

He hadn’t expected to sleep again.

No—he shouldn’t have been able to.

After a nightmare and that whole mess with Seha, falling asleep made no sense.

And yet, that impossible thing had happened.

With a dazed expression, Jeongyun got up and walked to the window.

The sunlight pouring in was unmistakably real.

“How did I sleep…?”

The sheer absurdity of it made him mutter aloud.

It was hard enough to believe he’d fallen asleep at all.

What was even more astonishing was that he hadn’t had a single bout of sleep paralysis—or even another nightmare—until morning.

Normally, once he dreamed of the accident, he’d have to brace himself for a night from hell.

More horrific nightmares were guaranteed, followed by crushing paralysis.

On those nights, he’d give up on sleeping entirely and force himself to stay awake with movies or books.

Staying up all night put enormous strain on his already frail body, but he had no choice.

Nightmares he could never get used to were that terrifying.

But last night, he’d slept.

He’d fallen unconscious without knowing when or how—and stayed that way until morning.

Anyone who had witnessed Jeongyun’s life would know how extraordinary that was.

It was nothing short of shocking.

He’d slept so deeply that his body felt light.

It was completely different from the countless nights where sleep never felt like rest.

Of course, this was probably just a rare, one-time fluke.

He didn’t dare hope that things were truly improving after just one good night.

He’d endured far too many days like this for that.

Still, facing the warm sunlight, he couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his lips.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d woken up feeling this clear-headed.

Something as simple as one peaceful night of sleep had become an unattainable luxury for him.

With a faint smile still lingering, Jeongyun left his room and headed toward the kitchen to get some water.

That was when a still-unfamiliar voice rang clearly in his ears.

“Hey, if you’re going to kick someone out, kick me out.

How could you kick out the madam?

That’s not what’s happening at all.”

It wasn’t a voice he was used to yet, but Jeongyun recognized the speaker immediately.

It was Jin Seha—the parasite who had crawled into this house.