Maybe that was the problem.
He pushed off, tires humming against the road, the wind catching the ends of his braid like threads of memory.
He remembers me… but from where? What does that mean, anyway?
The thoughts flared once, bright and frightening, before he crushed it with speed.
Tomorrow, he told himself. Tomorrow he’d stop thinking about it.
He didn’t believe it for a second.
??????
Chapter 32 — Bed Rights
By the time evening returned, Seoul had cooled to a lazy blue.
Rain threatened somewhere behind the skyline, a slow electrical hush pressing against the air.
Haneul coasted the last few blocks home, shoes soaked from puddles. Every turn of the pedals beat the same rhythm: don’t think, don’t think, don’t think.
He thought anyway.
The memory of Ji-ho’s grin—you already know the answer—had stuck to him like humidity.
He had laughed it off, smacked his own cheek twice, then spent the rest of the day drawing lines that turned into Seungho’s profile no matter what angle he started from.
By nine,he was standing outside the penthouse door, dripping on the welcome mat.
Inside, the lights were low. One lamp in the corner, the sound of rain beginning against the glass.
Seungho was at the kitchen island, sleeves rolled, reading something on a tablet.
He looked up when Haneul entered, gaze steady, unreadable.
“You’re late.”
“College,” Haneul said, kicking off his shoes. “And existential dread.”
“Productive.”
“Marginally.”
They regarded each other across the stretch of polished floor, the same space that had once felt too large and now felt like pressure.
Haneul’s throat worked. He wanted to say a dozen things, none of which sounded safe out loud.
So he didn’t. He headed for the bathroom instead, muttering, “I’m showering the century off me.”
??????
Steam rolled under the door twenty minutes later.
When he came out, he was clean, barefoot, damp braid trailing down the back of an oversized T-shirt.
In one hand: the bird-guide book that had become his latest obsession, pages marked with sticky notes and doodles.
Hepadded down the hall, made the turn toward the master bedroom, and stopped in the doorway.
