"You all clearly understood my answer, right?"
"Yes, remembered everything."
"Yes."
"Aren't you asking for the third time now? Why are you so worried?"
The first two answers were crisp and straightforward, which was nice, but the last one irked him. It was as if Lee Hamin developed a peculiar condition that caused him to speak up as if he had thorns in his tongue. Otherwise, how could he cling to every little thing every time?
"It's important, so I'm asking multiple times. I clearly answered and asked you to wait, but what if you push me later with a different statement?"
"Do I seem like I'd do that?"
"Yes."
"...You've always been oddly quick with your responses, haven't you?"
"You have a history of it, so yes."
If he had any conscience, he would reflect on every moment he had mistaken me for being in my teenage years and brushed it off. The one who had embarrassed and awkwardly positioned me was glaring at me, so the boy, who seemed about to lose his temper, quickly sat back down on the bed. The bed lightly bounced under Hamin's weight. Seowoo got up and walked straight over to my side.
"Can I come over to your side now that we're done talking?"
The way he boldly claimed the empty spot next to me as if it was his right was a talent in itself. Dumbfounded by his question, I tapped the other empty side to call Haru over.
"It's fine to come over, but just know that I'm going to sleep with Haru."
Saying this as if I had planned to take care of the winner, Haru, from the beginning, Hamin raised his eyebrows.
"Who decided that?"
"It's up to Haru, who won the bet. Losers stay quiet, right?"
"Did he get cocky all of a sudden?"
"Who said anything about arm wrestling in public?"
"I didn't arm wrestle, Sihyun."
"Well, that's true."
I knew Seowoo would react this way, but there was no immediate solution. It wasn't exactly comfortable to suggest that Haru should arm wrestle Seowoo, too.
Looking at the red-eyed boy who was just staring with wide eyes, I turned my head back to Seowoo. When I asked him in a gentler voice than usual if he planned to yield, the boy responded with an unusually tender smile, saying no. His words and actions were completely contradictory.
"So what now? Are you and Haru going to arm wrestle anew?"
"That wouldn't be too bad."
"...Shall we do it again?"
"Would that be okay?"
Wondering if I had unnecessarily complicated things, I cautiously asked, and Haru nodded. As Sihyun decided to referee, the two boys took their arm wrestling positions. Hamin, who had been loudly asserting his presence, started yelling even louder when Haru and Seowoo clasped hands and placed their elbows on the table.
"Have you been treating me like I'm invisible this whole time? Why am I being left out?"
"Losers step aside."
"If Seowoo joins, shouldn't we start over to make it fair?"
"It's not fair. If that were the case, you should have included Seowoo from the beginning. Who told you to bet secretly?"
"Did I include you? Why do you keep…"
"Wouldn't I have ended up beside you if I won the bet anyway?"
Interrupting Hamin mid-sentence to question him caused the boy, who was previously vocal, to suddenly go silent. Whether struck to the core or embarrassed, the tips of his ears reddened. Sihyun watched the boy, unable to say anything, just biting his lip in frustration and confusion, before returning his gaze to the arm wrestling match.
Ultimately, Haru was the victor, but the silence that followed was so profound that Hamin, unable to stand it, initiated what came to be known as "Hamin's Rebellion," resulting in the merging of the two beds. Regardless of the victor, the outcome of sharing a single bed was the same.
Initially, Sihyun questioned the sanity of it all but eventually threw himself onto the combined bed in a fit of resignation. The inefficiency of four people uncomfortably sharing a bed that could comfortably fit two seemed irrelevant now that the beds were combined.
Concerned that placing himself in the middle with one person on either side would marginalize the fourth, Hamin's antics didn't stop with just merging the beds. Having lost the race for the side spot, he decided to sleep not beside but atop Seowoo, climbing over despite objections. The awkwardly distant torso but closely nestled heads made Sihyun burst into laughter.
It seemed Hamin might as well switch his major to comedy.
"Why go through all this trouble? Just sleep separately."
"How can I be left out every single time? Just a couple of times, okay, but every time?"
"Maybe it's just bad luck, Hamin."
It was Seowoo who had quickly claimed the spot next to me, speaking nonchalantly as if it was his right all along. Hamin, irritated by Seowoo's calm demeanor, resumed their bickering. Amidst their quarrel, I, having a chat with Haru, suddenly realized the peacefulness of the moment and let out a small laugh.
I had thought receiving confessions would only bring headaches and discomfort, but reaching a compromise within a reasonable boundary wasn't so bad after all.
The initially overwhelming emotions became somewhat manageable as I got used to them, prompting me to look at the three boys anew. Noticing my gaze, they looked back at me, opening their mouths as if on cue to ask why.
Checking my phone, I wondered if someday I would have to choose one among them, feeling conflicted.
[Make sure you eat well.]
[I'm worried.]
Those two sentences were all there was. It had been quite some time since I informed Geonu of my departure, but that was all I received from him. In contrast to Haewoon, who had kept my phone ringing off the hook, Geonu's approach was succinct.
As I checked my phone at just the right timing, I sent back a questioning reply only to swallow hard at the response.
[I'm not there, so I can't see what you're doing.]
Despite being a text, Geonu's uniquely deep and low voice seemed to accompany his words. The text, which could feel stiff when read, sounded leisurely and affectionate when imagined in his voice. Staring at the message, I hesitated.
"Is it really okay for it to be the three of us?"
A sudden doubt crossed my mind. From the data on the boys' behaviors collected so far, it seemed highly probable that Geonu was also interested in me.
Wondering if it was just self-conceit but unable to shake off the suspicion, I narrowed my eyes and typed a few times.
The keyboard clicks filled the air, and a sentence formed in the chat input field.
'Do you like me too?'
A question transformed into words. I wrestled with whether to send it or not before firmly pressing my thumb down to erase it.
Considering Geonu's personality, it seemed better to ask him in person rather than over text.
Instead of sending the unconfirmed suspicion, I took a picture of the three boys playing together and replied.
'You don't have to worry.'
Sending it along with the picture of the boys laughing seemed appropriate to alleviate Geonu's concerns. Waiting for a reply, only a 'read' notification appeared on the screen without any new messages. After waiting a few more minutes, I checked the time and realized the reason.
It was past 1 a.m. Recalling Geonu's usual habit of falling asleep as if under a spell right at 1 a.m., he probably fell asleep with his phone screen on.
Certainly late. Putting down my phone, I remembered the morning meeting time conveyed by Hahyuk and got up from the bed. Announcing it was time to sleep and turning off the lights, the once noisy bed became eerily quiet. Turning off the lights seemed to have switched off a robot's power.
Amused by the thought, I let out a soft laugh, which prompted Hamin's hand to fly up and touch my forehead. Whether he was caressing my hair or chiding me to be quiet was ambiguous.
"Why."
"Let's sleep."
"To be quiet?"
"Yeah, yeah..."
Having been the loudest until just a moment ago, he now acted as if ready to sleep immediately. Though it seemed like an act, the tiredness in his voice made me hold back my response.
Relaxing into the bed, I too felt a wave of fatigue belatedly wash over me. As I lay there, I felt a gentle tugging at my right hand. Quietly holding the hand that reached for mine, I closed my eyes.
Breathing evened out, and darkness enveloped my vision. Soon, Sihyun, who had not truly rested in a long time, welcomed the engulfing darkness without realizing he was falling asleep.
***
"...Ugh."
My chest felt heavy, as if being pressed down by something. The suffocating sensation made me grimace, muttering complaints as I slowly regained consciousness and struggled to lift my eyelids.
The fatigue from last night was more severe than I thought, making it hard to open my eyes. Feeling weighed down, I finally managed to clear my vision and identify what had been pressing down on me.
"...?"
This sense of déjà vu was unsettling.
Opening my eyes, I was greeted by an uncomfortably close face first thing in the morning. The weight pressing down on me belonged to the limbs of that face's owner, causing me to swallow my panic.
Waking up to find myself entangled with Seowoo was completely bewildering. I was certain I had turned to sleep on Haru's side before closing my eyes, yet waking up, I found myself in a peculiar embrace.
Puzzling over how events unfolded to this scenario, the boy shifted, increasing the pressure of his hold on me, prompting me to squirm for escape. Initially, I twisted my body slightly without much force, finding no escape. Growing increasingly forceful, the muscular arms around me tightened their grip. Another movement and I was fully ensnared, sparking a rational suspicion that perhaps he was awake and feigning sleep.
With suspicious eyes, I scrutinized Seowoo. Even under intense scrutiny, his long eyelashes didn’t flutter.
Resigned, I sighed and relaxed my tensed body, not wanting to waste energy needlessly first thing in the morning. Just as I decided to give up and lay back down, the sight of my phone displaying the time jolted me upright.
9:45 AM.
At first, I rubbed my eyes, thinking I saw wrong. However, as the time ticked to 46 minutes, the reality set in, propelling me into action with an exasperated, "This is crazy..."
The meeting was scheduled for 10 AM. If things continued this way, we were guaranteed to be late. Leveraging my skills, I splashed water on the faces of the three boys.
"Ah!"
Hamin reacted first to the unexpected dousing, and the startled boys scrambled up. There was no time for kind explanations; I applied a quick cleaning skill and tossed them their clothes.
"What's happening? Why?"
"We're late."
"What?"
"Late, so hurry up and get dressed!"
With an urgency uncommon to me, I hurried into my activity clothes, and the boys, realizing the time, frantically changed out of their pajamas. By the time everyone was ready, it was 9:57 AM.
We gulped down water for breakfast and, shoes half-on, rushed to the meeting room.
"Who didn't set their alarm?"
"I did, but...!"
"Nobody heard it?"
"Just run!"
The corridor echoed with our raised voices as we dashed. Glancing at my phone, which now read 9:59 AM, I was filled with disbelief.
Starting the day of the Titan mission with lateness was beyond ironic, especially when we typically woke early. That we all overslept today of all days was absurdly frustrating.
As we entered the meeting room just in the nick of time, the chaos of our morning seemed to set the tone for the day ahead, marking an unforgettable start to our mission against the Titan.
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