Chapter 3
Snicker.
Taeheon suddenly let out a small laugh as he slowly swirled the glass filled with ice.
[If I get an A+, can I get another 50,000 won?]
Normally, wouldn’t someone get angry if a person suddenly offered money first?
He kept thinking about her face when she had smiled brightly because they could understand each other, and how she had waved her pinky finger asking for more.
It was ridiculous.
That woman really seemed to love money.
“Ha…… damn it.”
The smile on his face quickly disappeared.
The headache that had been bearable for a while became severe again as soon as he returned home.
On top of that, no matter how skilled a physical therapist treated him or how much he stretched, his shoulders felt heavy as if someone were sitting on them and pressing down.
Taeheon poured whiskey into his glass and downed it in one gulp.
He had to do this at least, so he could forget the pain and fall asleep.
Please, just for today……
Taeheon closed his eyes under the influence of the alcohol and desperately prayed.
Tap tap tap.
Tatatatatatak.
Hahahahahahahaha.
Heeheeheeheeheehee.
“Ha…… stop!”
Taeheon struggled at the sounds that seemed loud enough to burst his eardrums and reached out his hand.
His searching hand soon found the headset he had placed beside his pillow.
Heeheeheeheeheehee.
Aaaaaaah!
Whether he frowned deeply or not, the cheerful voices continued to reach his ears.
He put on the headset, frowning at the noisy sounds that had woken him from the little sleep he had managed to get.
He pressed the noise-canceling button so that the sound would be completely blocked, then pushed the headset tightly against his ears.
Only then did the world become quiet.
“……”
But his peaceful expression quickly twisted again.
Once the sound disappeared, his body became hot this time.
“Ugh!”
Taeheon clenched his jaw and shifted his lower body.
He felt something strongly sucking at his penis.
Even when he touched his lower body with his own hand, there was nothing there. It made no sense for there to be something in his house when he lived alone.
It made no sense…… But then what was this sensation?
The sensation that had been limited to his lower body gradually began to move upward through his upper body.
“……Fuck.”
The fact that his body faithfully responded even to this disgusting sensation was so horrible that it made him feel sick.
Taeheon quickly got up from the bed and threw the headset onto the floor.
Tatatatatatak. Waaahahahahaha.
The moment he took it off, the loud footsteps and voices of children crashed down on him.
“Ha…… damn it.”
The place where he lived was a luxury villa on the top floor.
There was only one home on each floor, and the ceiling was so high that there was absolutely no noise coming from the floors below.
He had even confirmed that there were no children living in this villa building before moving in.
But why?
Why did the sound of children running around become so vivid every night?
It was extremely loud, as if they were running directly above his head.
And whenever he tried to block the noise somehow, he would then feel some unknown sensation touching his body.
Taeheon had no confidence that he could fall asleep again, so he gave up on sleep once more.
“……”
3:30 a.m.
His eyes strangely twisted as he happened to look at the clock.
It wasn’t because, even after drinking all day, he had only managed to sleep for about two hours.
Even if someone deliberately tried to make him wake up at the same time every day, it would have been difficult.
Yet whenever he endured the noise until he finally gave up and got out of bed, the time was always exactly the same.
Ignoring the hot sensation that still vividly remained in his body and the strange energy he could feel, Taeheon shook his head and got ready to go out.
His day had begun far too early again.
On the highest floor of the community center in the villa complex, there was a swimming pool overlooking the Han River.
Waking up at dawn wasn’t entirely bad.
Since he could enjoy the swimming pool all by himself, without the crowds of adults and children that usually filled it.
Wearing a simple black swimsuit and swim cap, Taeheon lightly rotated his hands and feet to warm up.
He did not forget to stretch his stiff neck and shoulders.
“……”
His body reflected in the blue water had unusually broad shoulders compared to his small face.
Because the time he spent exercising increased whenever he couldn’t sleep, his already well-developed body was gradually becoming even larger.
Splash.
Taeheon threw himself into the water without hesitation and cut through the calm surface.
The moment when every cell in his body woke up as it rubbed against the cold water was his favorite time of the day.
At first, he lightly felt the water while doing breaststroke, but soon he completely entered the water.
A swimming style where he kicked the water hard with the tops of his feet, using the recoil to raise his upper body while moving both arms like the wings of a butterfly.
The butterfly stroke was the most difficult swimming technique, but it was also the fastest, which was why it was Taeheon’s favorite.
Splash, splash.
The rough sound of him cutting through the water echoed around him.
He moved swiftly along the lane, using the up-and-down movement of his waist like a dolphin.
Then, just as he lifted his face out of the water to breathe—
“Gasp……!”
Glug glug.
His body began sinking into the water.
In his panic, water quickly rushed into his open mouth instead of air.
As he began choking, Taeheon belatedly flailed his arms and legs.
But he could not bring his body back to the surface.
His legs were heavy, as if someone were hanging onto both of his feet and pulling him down, and his body gradually sank deeper.
“Mm……!”
With his eyes wide open, he barely moved his upper body and looked at his legs.
There was nothing visible in the clear water.
And yet, something invisible continued pulling his legs downward.
He frantically waved his hands around his feet and tried to force his legs to move, but his body would not obey him.
“Mm!”
The hands he had been wildly waving underwater gradually became slower.
He had confidence in his lung capacity because of his many years of swimming experience, but now he had reached his limit.
His breath was about to run out.
If this continued, his lungs would soon fill with water.
This can’t happen.
Someone, please……
Taeheon desperately wished for someone to help him, but soon let out a small laugh that did not fit the situation.
There was no one in the world who would come to help him.
“……”
Soon, Taeheon’s movements stopped completely.
I’m sorry, hyung.
I won’t be able to keep the promise I made to you after all.
Having given up on everything, his expression actually looked relieved.
Right then.
Someone’s hand grabbed his neck and pulled him up hard.
“Haa!”
In an instant, he was pulled above the surface.
Only then could he desperately breathe in the air he had been unable to get.
“Are you okay?”
The person who had wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him out of the water looked at him with concern even while cutting through the water.
His face looked familiar.
He was the safety officer at the center who came to work at 5 a.m.
“I had several strange dreams today. Someone kept shouting in my ear to come to work early, so I came early just in case. It’s a good thing I did. Was it a prophetic dream?”
The safety officer muttered as he reached the edge of the lane, climbed out first, and held out his hand to Taeheon.
Taeheon shook his head to show that he was fine, then grabbed the stainless-steel railing and climbed out.
His legs moved perfectly normally, as if nothing had happened.
“Looks like you got a cramp. You swim so well, too.”
It wasn’t a cramp.
Having experienced that tingling sensation countless times, Taeheon knew that for certain.
“Thank you for helping me.”
But he kept his words to a simple expression of gratitude.
Even though he had experienced it himself, he couldn’t properly explain what had happened.
“Even if it’s annoying, make sure you stretch before you start. You almost got into serious trouble.”
Taeheon mechanically nodded at the officer’s words and left the swimming pool.
He skipped the shower, dried his body with a towel, and dropped heavily into a chair in the changing room.
Then he quietly stared at his legs, which looked perfectly normal.
“……”
What had that been?
Was he suffering from strange delusions because he couldn’t sleep properly?
Or had he really gone insane now?
But the sensation of something pulling his legs downward had been far too vivid.
Even now, remembering it was enough to make his skin crawl.
Hoo.
Taeheon roughly brushed his wet hair back and stared at his reflection in the mirror across from him.
For three years, he had never slept more than three hours at a time.
Deeply sunken and dark shadows under his eyes, sharp eyes, and a jawline that had become sharp enough to cut.
A strange-looking man was staring back at him.
As if he didn’t want to look at himself, he turned his gaze away from the mirror.
Then he irritably dried his hair with the towel and changed his clothes.
“……”
However, his feet, which had been moving quickly, suddenly stopped.
Where should I go?
Even the luxurious villa that anyone would have envied was nothing more than a horrifying place to him.
It was still dawn, before the sun had risen.
Taeheon stood there for a long while, unable to move, like a lost child who had lost his mother.
