After that nice confession, we all ended up sleeping in the same bed, my bed.

And thankfully, nothing happened.

We were just five guys wearing matching pajamas, having a sleepover in my room with snacks that I did not hesitate to get from the kitchen.

There was no way I was going to stay up so late with just dinner in my belly.

Min-Cheol had a lot to talk about, Ki-hoon did a lot of staring at me, Seo-Jun made sure to counter Min-Cheol’s words and lead to a bicker, while Jin-Yeok simply smiled.

I could tell he had a lot on his mind, and I wanted to find out what it was, but each time he brushed it off.

It made me a little worried, but I couldn’t probe further since there were a bunch of us there.

And so I slept, only to wake up in the middle of the night and find him sitting by the window, staring at the sky with no moon or stars.

I rubbed my eyes and walked up to him. As soon as he noticed me, he said with a soft voice,

"You should sleep more."

"Yes, and so should you?"

I sat opposite him and looked at what he had in his hand, his gloves.

I looked up at his face and found him smiling at me.

"Did... Something happen?" I asked but he just shook his head.

There was no way I’d believe that nothing happened when he had such an expression on his face... When he was holding his glove like a Glock.

"Then, wanna talk?"

He remained silent for a while and began his usual confession.

"I killed a lot of people this time." He said, his eyes down on his gloves. He couldn’t look up at me as he confessed. "The deeper I dug into the matter, the more I was reminded about how ugly this world is. It’s cruel, it’s painful and it’s not a world I want you to live in. I keep asking myself, what do I need to do to make sure Jo-Pil is no longer exposed to the ugliness of this world?" He leaned forward and finally lifted his gaze to look at me. "What do I need to do to wipe out all the dirt so Jo-Pil only sees clean things?"

I felt my breath hitch, caught in my throat and I gulped. I felt speechless, not knowing how to answer such a profound question.

"Did you... Come up with an answer?" I asked but he chuckled. "What? What’s funny?"

"Do you believe there’s an answer to such a selfish and greedy question?" He asked and I thought about it.

I already knew there was no answer.

In every corner, there was one ugly thing or two. And if you wiped the one you see, there’s always the one in places your eyes can’t see.

"There isn’t," I answered, my voice solemn and a bit heavy. "We just have to live with it. We aren’t gods," I tilted my head. "So we can’t recreate the structure of the world. We can’t change how it works, and how hierarchy affects all these aspects." I reached for his hand and covered it with mine.

His hands were cold, but I hoped the warmth of my own hands would soothe him.

"If that’s what you keep worrying about then don’t. I don’t mind seeing one filth or the other." I smiled. "Instead of trying to clean the filth, let’s just try not to stain ourselves with them, hm?"

He looked at my hand on his and then up at me. His lips curled into a genuine smile.

"It was such a simple solution but I couldn’t think of it." He said. "I guess that’s what makes the difference between our thought processes." He reached for my face, caressed it softly with his cold touch, and then pinched my chin. "Thank you, Jo-Pil."

I shook my head.

"No, I should thank you. For always thinking of me, for always wanting the best for me, for always wishing me well, thank you." I smiled at him and he leaned closer to kiss my lips.

Unlike his cold hands, his lips were warm. They brushed against mine in a soft lingering passion before going deeper, wetter, filling me with an overwhelming sensation before pulling back.

"What? Do you want more?" He asked and I flinched.

"You... don’t tease me," I said and he laughed. "Oh, by the way, about that letter you sent me," I recalled, my eyes glinting, and he darted his eyes down. "What? Why are you hiding your face? I’d say you write letters quite well. Kinda like you’re from the sixties."

"I... I poured my all into that letter."

"Ah, right. I know. It was clear as day that you poured your all into it." I said, and he nodded, pursing his lips, and I laughed. "Don’t worry, I’m not trying to scrutinize you. That letter... It felt nice. I felt like I received a letter from my lover who went out to war. I was both happy to hear from you and worried that you were getting into something dangerous." I leaned back into my chair, staring up at the dark ceiling. "In any case, I liked it—"

My words were cut short when Jin-Yeok suddenly hovered over me, his face just an inch away from mine.

"J-Jin-Yeok?" I called and he muffled over my lips.

"Call me Daddy,"

But he didn’t even give me the chance to call him anything and kissed my lips.

I gripped his shoulder hard, barely able to catch my breath. But the kiss wasn’t long. It ended quickly and then he lifted me from the chair.

"Now, time to sleep." He said. "You can’t be up like this when tomorrow is such a big day."

"What’s tomorrow?"

"The cooperation!" He said and my eyes widened.

Ah, it keeps slipping from my mind.

Though everything is going differently from the original plot, I still have to be cautious in case something happens... In case of a conspiracy.

"You’re right," I said. "So, hurry up and sleep as well."

"I will, right next to you."