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Han Yoojin was familiar with this scene.
It was etched into his memory so deeply that no amount of time or power could erase it.
His younger brother lay in his arms, far too still, far too cold. Yoojin could remember every detail. The weight of him, the blood, the way his breathing had already stopped.
He couldn’t do anything. All he could do was hold his dear brother.
Every night, without fail, he cried into that lifeless body and whispered the same words, over and over.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry—”
Han Yoojin jolted awake with a sharp gasp.
Sweat soaked his clothes, his breathing ragged as his chest heaved.
For a long moment, he could only stare at the ceiling, trying to calm his mind.
“….”
He wiped his face with the back of his hand and forced himself to sit up.
——
Han Yoojin was already irritated by the time he found himself standing beside Sung Hyunjae at the entrance of the dungeon.
“You know,” Han Yoojin muttered, poorly masking his irritation, “I should be paid extra for accompanying you to this dungeon.”
Sung Hyunjae glanced at him, amused. “Is my dear item not enjoying spending time with me?”
“Stop with the possessiveness.”
Unfortunately It was just the two of them. Baek Yerim and Han Yoohyun had both been dispatched to separate dungeons, leaving Yoojin stuck as Hyunjae’s companion for this one.
Hyunjae extended his hand with a smile. “Shall we?”
Yoojin sighed and took it.
——
The moment they stepped inside, the temperature dropped.
The cold seeped into Yoojin’s bones, the air thick and heavy, like the dungeon itself was breathing.
The scenery shifted unnaturally, walls warping and stretching as though reality had been folded the wrong way.
Before Yoojin could make a comment, the world around them shattered.
——
Before Yoojin could register what was happening, the dungeon twisted.
He staggered and suddenly, he was kneeling on the floor.
His arms were full.
He knew this.
“…Hyung?”
Yoojin’s hands trembled as they clutched his brother’s shoulders. His mind screamed at him to move, to stand or to do anything but his body refused.
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you,” Yoohyun whispered, breath shallow, fading between words. “The rauchtar, it falls asleep every five—”
The words blurred together into noise. All Yoojin could feel was the slow bleed of warmth from the body in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” Yoojin choked, clutching him tighter.”I shouldn’t have entered— I’m sorry.”
The weight in his arms grew heavier and colder.
Where did things go so wrong for us?
——
Elsewhere, Sung Hyunjae looked at the distorted dungeon walls with mild interest but now the boredom was getting to him.
With raw, overwhelming force, Hyunjae chains tore through the illusion as if it was wet paper, shredding the false reality apart.
The dungeon screamed, the walls collapsing inward. The boss didn’t even have time to manifest properly.
When the dungeon finally crumbled into nothingness, Hyunjae stood alone for a moment before turning.
——
A flash of gold ripped through the suffocating darkness. The chains easily shattering the illusion.
“There you are, Yoojin-ah.”
Yoojin barely registered the voice.
He stayed on his knees, his entire body trembling violently. His hands were still curled, fingers digging into empty air as if he were afraid to let go.
“…Hyunjae.” he whispered, barely audible.
Hyunjae stepped closer and his brow furrowed in concern, his sharp gaze taking in the sight of Yoojin's trembling form.
“You’re shaking quite hard.”
“I—” Yoojin swallowed, his throat tight. “I’m fine.”
“My, my,” Hyunjae drawled softly. “I thought we’d gotten close. Why are you lying to me now?”
Yoojin didn’t have the strength to argue. Instead, he slowly stood, only for his legs to give out beneath him a second later.
Hyunjae clicked his tongue and caught him easily, pulling Yoojin against him. Yoojin’s face ended up pressed awkwardly against Hyunjae’s chest. Hyunjae’s arm braced securely around his waist.
“I can walk.” Yoojin muttered weakly, but Hyunjae was already guiding him toward the exit, his grip unyielding.
“And I can politely pretend to believe that.” Hyunjae replied.
——
The ride back was quiet.
Yoojin sat in the back seat while the other drove.
Yoojin stared out the window his hands were clenched tightly in his lap. He was slightly trembling, no matter how hard he tried to calm himself down.
Hyunjae, ever perceptive, noticed everything, his gaze flicking to Yoojin from time to time.
——
He opened the car door, grabbed Yoojin’s wrist, and dragged him straight into his apartment.
“Hyunjae,” Yoojin protested, stumbling slightly. “I said I’m fine. I can go home.”
“I can’t leave you alone in your apartment. Your brother isn’t home, remember?”
“Yoo Myeongwoo is there though—“
Hyunjae didn’t respond only steering Yoojin through the spacious apartment.
“Do you only have one bedroom?” Yoojin asked suddenly.
“Yes.”
“You have all this money,” he gestured vaguely at the designer furniture that probably cost more than most people’s yearly rent, the view of Seoul, “yet only one bed?”
Yoojin paused, realising his predicament.
“I refuse to share a bed with you.”
Hyunjae sighed dramatically, “You wound me, Yoojin-ah.”
Hyunjae chuckled, “Go take a shower. There are spare clothes in the drawer. I’ll make tea.”
Yoojin opened his mouth to argue, then closed it.
He was exhausted. And the idea of fighting Hyunjae right now felt like trying to push a mountain.
“Fine,” he muttered. “But I’m still sleeping on the couch.”
Hyunjae only smiled.
——
An hour later, Yoojin was curled up on the couch in the living room, wrapped in one of Hyunjae’s blankets.
He’d taken the world’s quickest shower, thrown on an oversized shirt and sweatpants that were clearly Hyunjae’s, and claimed the couch before Hyunjae could drag him back into the bedroom.
Yoojin’s exhaustion caught up with him.
His body relaxed into the soft fabric of the couch, his breathing deepening as he drifted off.
——
Hyunjae had found him on the couch, holding a tray of tea.
He set the tray down on a nearby counter and glanced over at Yoojin. The couch was small, and Yoojin took up most of it, leaving no room for anything else.
Hyunjae clicked his tongue as he pushed the coffee table closer to the couch.
Then he gently laid beside Yoojin trying not to wake him up, wrapping a blanket around both of them.
The couch was indeed too narrow for two grown men, especially one as imposingly tall as Sung Hyunjae.
Yoojin stirred slightly in his sleep, murmuring something incoherent, his brows furrowed.
Yoojin's breathing evened out again, the tension in his shoulders easing under the shared blanket.