The Night Wanderer

“Park Garam.”

Park Garam was walking down the hallway like a ghost.

He was walking barefoot, slowly, then turned.

Then he faced the wall and began lightly bumping his head against it.

Wondering if he might be awake, they checked, but he wasn’t.

He was doing this while asleep.

‘Sleepwalking?’

There was only one condition that came to mind.

“Garam, Park Garam.”

Lee Jaehun called Garam’s name and slid his hand between the wall and Garam’s forehead.

The round forehead bumped against the back of his hand instead of the wall.

He tried to guide Garam back to his room, but the door was locked.

After hesitating for a moment, Lee Jaehun pulled Garam toward his own room.

When he wrapped an arm around him and moved slowly, Garam followed obediently.

He didn’t wake up even when Jaehun laid him on the bed.

Lee Jaehun wrapped Garam in the blanket and held him tight.

‘This way, he won’t be able to move.’

Garam squirmed a few times, but he couldn’t escape Jaehun’s arms.

The night deepened, and dawn came.

Somewhere in the middle of it, Lee Jaehun also fell asleep.

His body felt heavy.

It felt like he’d had a bad dream, but nothing came to mind.

Garam groaned for a while, then opened his eyes.

‘It’s hot.’

Rolling his eyes around, he noticed something strange about the items he saw.

Everything was slightly different from what should have been in his room.

Yet strangely familiar.

Garam decided to try getting up first.

But his body wouldn’t move easily.

Only then did he notice the blanket tightly wrapped around him.

He tried throwing it off, but the blanket wouldn’t budge.

This wasn’t something a blanket alone could do.

He looked around more carefully — then realized someone was holding him tightly.

And there was only one person whose room looked similar to his.

“I—Iik!”

He wriggled again, but his body still wouldn’t move.

He would have to wake the person holding him.

“Jaehun-ssi!”

He called out, and a reply came from behind.

“Why?”

“Please let me go first.”

Only then did the tight hold loosen.

Garam quickly rolled away from the blanket’s restraint and looked at Lee Jaehun.

Jaehun was lying on his side, yawning, his solid muscles visible beneath his thin sleepwear.

No wonder Garam couldn’t move with those arms holding him down.

“Why am I here?”

Garam shot him a suspicious look.

He had clearly fallen asleep quietly in his own room, yet woke up in Jaehun’s arms.

‘No way.’

A terrifying assumption popped into his head.

‘This man—!’

Does he like me?!

If not, how else could he explain this?

Garam shrank back, inching away.

It was true his thoughts about Jaehun had begun to change, but to call it love — absolutely not.

Garam hadn’t loved in the past, and he didn’t plan to love in the future.

His relationship with Seo Taeju, despite being so close, had broken easily.

Love wouldn’t be any different.

“Jaehun-ssi.”

When he pushed for an answer again, Jaehun finally spoke.

“I woke up yesterday because I heard some noise.”

“Yes.”

“You were wandering in the hallway.”

“I was?”

“I tried sending you back to your room, but I didn’t know the password.”

He could have broken the door if he really wanted to.

Realizing his own ridiculous misunderstanding, Garam bowed his head in embarrassment.

“I see.”

“Aren’t you surprised?”

“No, it’s happened a few times before. It just slipped my mind because it hasn’t happened recently.”

After being betrayed by Taeju and running away from the merchant, Garam had suffered from PTSD.

He constantly felt someone chasing him, had nightmares, and upon waking, he would find himself standing in strange places, having left his bed.

It took almost a year before it got better.

“Sleepwalking, then.”

“Yes. Next time, you can just leave me.”

“You might wander somewhere dangerous.”

“It’s inside the building, where could I even go?”

Garam shook his head.

“Let’s have a doctor take a look first.”

“Okay.”

There was nothing bad about seeing a doctor, so he agreed.

That day, Garam visited a doctor.

As expected, the diagnosis was sleepwalking, and he was prescribed medication.

“If you take it, things should improve. I also recommend counseling. Just talking to someone about what weighs on you can ease people significantly.”

After hesitating, Garam decided to receive counseling too.

Doing something was better than doing nothing.

But even after doing everything he could, the nightmares didn’t go away.

Every night, Garam dreamed of that day, and every morning he woke up in Lee Jaehun’s bed.

“I told you, just push me back into my own bed.”

“If I leave you alone, who knows what could happen.”

Jaehun brushed off Garam’s complaints casually.

“There’s nothing dangerous in my room.”

“You could hit your shin or head somewhere.”

His answer was annoyingly logical.

“And you probably didn’t sleep well at night, so sleep more now.”

“What about breakfast?”

“Wake up later and eat twice as much.”

Garam struggled, insisting he had to go check the crops, but Jaehun didn’t budge.

Day after exhausting day passed.

Eventually, Park Deokpal also learned about Garam’s situation.

“Want me to sleep with you instead?”

“No thanks! What are you planning to do?”

“What else? Take good care of you.”

“Take good care of the crops instead.”

Even in this mess, his level kept rising rapidly.

After reaching level 20, a new skill opened.

[Level Up!

Upon reaching Level 20, your one-time harvest range expands.

A new tool, the hoe, is provided.

You can raise more bees.

Your scarecrow becomes sturdier. You can place up to three scarecrows.

Three new crop seeds are provided.

Do As I Say Lv1: You can communicate with insects.]

“My opinion? I don’t think it’s time for you to be farming.”

“Then what?”

“Let’s try something fun.”

“But I am having fun.”

“Nope. You need to try other things too.”

Park Deokpal forcefully dragged Garam outside.

Garam clung to the doorframe, but it was useless.

Deokpal slung him over his shoulder like a sack and handed him off—

—to Lee Jaehun.

“Hey!”

“Have fun on your date!”

“That bastard—!”

Garam clenched his fist, but Deokpal had already run away.

“Let’s go.”

“What about clothes?”

“We’ll buy them outside.”

Jaehun took Garam out.

“Where are we going?”

“The department store. I heard there’s a small event today. We’ll go watch it.”

The department store was still bustling with people.

The event was on the rooftop, and it was already crowded.

But there was something strange.

“They’re mostly children.”

“It’s fine.”

How was that fine?

Garam stood awkwardly in the back and looked toward the stage covered by a red curtain.

At exactly 2 p.m., the curtain opened.

“Hello~!”

A woman stepped out cheerfully.

“It’s time for today’s fun theater performance!”

As the world changed, TVs disappeared.

Broadcasts and movies vanished too.

But one thing survived—live theater.

“Kang Yujun said theater makes a good hobby.”

“This is children’s theater, though?”

“It was the only performance today.”

“Today’s play is Little Red Riding Hood!’”

With a cheerful chime, the play began.

There weren’t many actors, and the sets were crude.

Even so, they performed with all their heart.

Garam, who had watched with an uninterested expression at first, slowly became immersed.

“Oh, no…”

When Red Riding Hood ignored her grandmother’s warning and took another path, Garam murmured without realizing it.

“Why isn’t she listening?”

“Who knows.”

“The wolf doesn’t look nice at all.”

Garam watched with sweaty palms.

Red Riding Hood fell for the wolf’s trick and wasted time elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the wolf went ahead to Grandmother’s house and swallowed her whole.

The play continued smoothly and ended happily, with Red Riding Hood and her grandmother rescued.

Garam joined the other children, clapping enthusiastically.

“Is that your first time hearing the story?”

“Yes. I don’t remember anything from when I was very little, and after I grew up, the world was already a mess. Where would I even get a book? Taeju hyung taught me how to read, though.”

“Taeju… hyung?”

“No. He’s a bastard now. What did I just say.”

Garam let out a long sigh.