Yes, It’s Me. The Obsessive Side Top

#068

The first thing I saw as soon as I woke up and opened my eyes was Sun Woo’s straight, extended neck, and behind that, Kim Shin making eye contact with me and saying, “Good morning.” I carefully escaped from Sun Woo’s embrace, in which I had woken up. Rather than a delicate deer escaping from the arms of a sleeping lion, it was more like a well-built buffalo. That was exactly how it looked.

I looked at Sun Woo, who was sound asleep, and properly covered him with the blanket in case he might get cold from the air conditioning.

Sun Woo, who usually woke up first every day, seemed to be having a lot of hard work these days, as he lay there with his eyes closed without any movement.

After washing up briefly, I saw Kim Shin dressed in light clothing, holding a hat in his hand.

“Where are you going?”

When I asked quietly, being mindful of the sleeping Sun Woo, Kim Shin also glanced at Sun Woo, who was sound asleep on the bed, and smiled mischievously.

“I’m going out to exercise a bit. What about you, Ha Jin? Want to go exercise together?”

“No. I should go eat breakfast. You’re going to exercise right away without eating?”

“It’s my habit to exercise on an empty stomach. I’ll eat a little after exercising.”

As I nodded and was about to leave, Kim Shin peeked his head behind me and looked at Sun Woo again.

“You’re not waking Sun Woo up? If you’re not there, I think he’ll look for you with his eyes like this.”

Kim Shin used his hand to pull his eyelid, expressing the four-eyed gaze of the Four Heavenly Kings who guard the entrance of a temple with a fierce air.

“Sun Woo must be tired these days because of work. I’m going to let him sleep comfortably.”

At my words, Kim Shin looked at the sleeping Sun Woo one more time and then left the room.

After separating from Kim Shin in the elevator, I headed to have breakfast. Perhaps due to the aftermath of yesterday’s drinking, there weren’t many people, and even those who were seen were all stumbling around like zombies.

Looking at the food, strangely, I couldn’t take a step. In the end, I asked an employee for two servings of food, took the packaged meals, and went back to the room. When I carefully opened the door and entered, Sun Woo was sleeping in the same position as when I left. To avoid disturbing his sleep, I leaned on Kim Shin’s bed. How long had I been there when I heard a rustling sound next to me and turned my head?

Sun Woo seemed to be waking up from sleep, groping the air with his hand. As if he couldn’t grasp what he was looking for, he raised his upper body from the bed and slowly scanned his surroundings. When his gaze finally reached me, I smiled as if to show off, but Sun Woo frowned.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Ha Jin, why are you there?”

A faint anger was felt in his low voice.

“To let you sleep comfortably.”

I got up from the bed and approached Sun Woo. He quietly watched me walking. As if he hadn’t fully woken up from sleep, he had his eyes half-open and his eyebrows deeply furrowed. I gently rubbed his eyebrows with my fingers.

“Did you have a bad dream?”

Sun Woo pulled my body into his arms and onto the bed.

“…Don’t go anywhere without a word.”

“I brought you breakfast. Do you want to sleep more?”

I chuckled, looking at Sun Woo burying himself in my arms. He’s throwing a cute tantrum.

“Don’t go and stay by my side.”

“Okay.”

I gently stroked Sun Woo’s back. Feeling his tense back muscles with my palm, I welcomed a pleasant morning. As if he hadn’t fully woken up, Sun Woo fell asleep in my arms with a steady breathing sound.

* * *

I want to go into the swimming pool… I looked at the T-shirt I was wearing and then shifted my gaze back to the swimming pool. Everyone had their clothes on the sun beds and went in wearing only swimsuits.

‘Seriously…’

Resigning myself inwardly, I turned my head and saw Sun Woo looking at me with a smile on his face as if telling me to take it off somewhere. Seeing the smile on his lips, a sense of resentment welled up.

‘Why do you keep leaving scars on my body?!’

This morning, I fell asleep while putting Sun Woo to sleep, and when I woke up from a strange feeling, I saw a head moving on my chest. What is he doing? As that thought slowly sank in, I felt pain.

When I belatedly removed him, I saw a red mark engraved on my chest.

Last night, I firmly refused Sun Woo’s absurd request not to swim. As a result, this situation occurred.

You think I can’t swim because of that?

I can just swim with my clothes on, right?

With a ‘splash’ sound, I jumped into the water. I liked swimming, and it had been a really long time since I had been to a swimming pool. A pleasant smile appeared on my lips, and I moved my body, thinking of swimming.

However, contrary to my intention, it was difficult to even move a hand. A strange sensation began to engulf me. Like a waterlogged cotton, my body became heavy, and I couldn’t control it. When I barely lifted my head to see, it was just black. The black sky was coming down towards me at a terrifying speed.

‘Damn it… Ha Jin, are you a beer bottle? What can you even do?’

Water was filling up all the holes in my body – my nose, eyes, and mouth.

* * *

‘Splash’

Kim Shin thought someone was dangerously diving into the swimming pool, so he ignored it without much thought. Other people’s affairs were outside his interest. He was reaching for the bread on the table to replace the missed breakfast. He picked up the bread he wanted and was about to move to a seat in a good mood when…

“Did Ha Jin not bring a swimsuit? He went into the swimming pool with his clothes on.”

At someone’s words, Kim Shin dropped the bread in his hand. When he looked back, he saw Ha Jin floating in the middle of the swimming pool. His bright-toned face reflected in the blue water looked exceptionally pale. The sight of him entering the swimming pool with his clothes on and a smile on his lips made Kim Shin’s heart race. Kim Shin’s eyes grew cold as he saw Ha Jin slowly sinking into the water.

“Fuck. Ha Jin!”

Kim Shin, who shouted loudly, jumped straight into the swimming pool without a second thought. It didn’t matter if the phone in his pocket was submerged in water or if his clothes got wet. He was only filled with the thought that he had to save Ha Jin in front of his eyes quickly.

At the sudden shout, the kids around finally took notice of Ha Jin. At first glance, the sight of him sinking into the water looked like he was playing in the water, so they tilted their heads in confusion as Kim Shin called his name and urgently jumped into the water. When Kim Shin jumped into the swimming pool, there was someone who pulled Ha Jin out faster than him.

Sun Woo pulled Ha Jin, who was submerged in the water, to the surface. He brought the limply hanging Ha Jin out of the swimming pool and laid him down, turning his head to the side. Fortunately, thanks to being rescued quickly, Ha Jin was coughing and spitting out water on his own.

Sun Woo looked down at the pale-faced Ha Jin with a worried gaze. It was hard to believe that he had drowned alone in a shallow area where the water only reached his chest. Sun Woo kept checking Ha Jin’s breathing.

Sun Woo’s eyes were so fierce that the people around him only expressed their worries and didn’t know what to do. One of them was about to call 119, but Kim Shin approached and quietly lowered the phone. It was a quite familiar situation for him.

“Let’s move him to the room.”

When Kim Shin approached Sun Woo and spoke, Sun Woo carefully lifted the unconscious Ha Jin, who had finally spit out all the water and had a deeply furrowed face. Sun Woo remained silent the entire way to the room. Kim Shin looked at Ha Jin’s face and let out a small groan, biting his lips.

Looking at Ha Jin’s pained face as he was laid on the bed, his childhood appearance was projected.

“Ha Jin can’t swim?”

Sun Woo asked in a slightly calmer voice after changing Ha Jin’s clothes and wiping off the water.

“…He can’t.”

“Then why did he go in to swim?”

“He probably thought it would be fine. It was a long time ago.”

“A long time ago?”

Kim Shin frowned as if recalling an old memory.

“Ha Jin… almost died. From drowning.”

“When he was young?”

“On Ha Jin’s sixth birthday. If he had been discovered a little later, he would have probably died. Since that day, he loses consciousness when he enters deep water. I guess the shock from back then was big.”

Kim Shin felt even heavier, as if it was his fault.

* * *

It was as if hazy dust filled the air, and my vision was not clear. It was blurry, as if a filter with low opacity was applied, but not to the extent that the shapes couldn’t be distinguished. In that vision of mine, I saw someone. A tall woman with long, wavy hair had her arms crossed and was looking down at me. She was a beautiful person whose bright hair color and fair skin suited her well.

Affection for her overflowed in my heart.

“Of all days, you had to catch a cold today? Do you need to show people that you’re sick at a gathering to feel better?”

I had hoped for kind words, but her tone was so cold that it stung my heart. I took a step back.

“I, I’m sorry.”

A small and fragile voice came out of my mouth.

“Madam. Give this child some fever reducer. You said he was healthy… Why did you pretend to be healthy if you were going to be sick all the time? Unnecessarily.”

The woman who had been looking at me coldly disappeared, and someone fed me red syrup. I held back my tears and took it, but I choked and coughed, “Ahem, ahem.”

“Oh my, young master. Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You always have the words ‘I’m sorry’ in your mouth. You don’t have to do that anymore. What is there to be sorry about? You can just take the medicine again.”

Tears welled up, but I held them back, nodded my head, and took the fever reducer that was handed to me. And the scene changed.

The six candles on the cake were blown out by a gust of wind. Everyone clapped and congratulated me. As I shyly smiled, receiving their congratulations, my mother’s expression momentarily froze coldly and then relaxed again. And the scene changed again, and a swimming pool unfolded before my eyes.

“Ah, no!”

The sparkling ring that had escaped from my small hand rolled away and fell into the swimming pool with a ‘plop.’ Not knowing what to do, the small body that had been bouncing on its feet was carefully stepping on the stairs of the swimming pool.

“It’s the one Kim Shin gave me when he proposed… If I dive and retrieve it, it will be fine.”

I muttered in a small voice and entered the swimming pool filled with water alone. Memories of my childhood, when I was good at swimming, flashed by like a video. No, not my childhood. It was the childhood appearance of Ha Jin.

However, I had no strength in my body due to the cold, and my head was also hazy, perhaps because I had taken fever reducers. I barely dived to the bottom and grabbed the ring, but I didn’t have the strength to get out of the swimming pool. No one was paying attention to the swimming pool. I saw them gathered and chatting, and my consciousness began to fade.

At that moment, my eyes met my mother’s.

“He…lp…”

Water quickly filled my small mouth, silencing my voice.

When I barely resurfaced after sinking again, my mother glanced at me and then turned her gaze away, pretending not to see.

All the strength left my body. Water was filling up all the holes in my body – my nose, eyes, and mouth.

At that moment, I thought,

‘If I die, will Mother be happy?’