Chapter-3🥲

For the first time that day

Han Tae felt genuinely curious.

Who was that man?

And why was Lee Yun so afraid of him?

Before Han Tae could stop him or ask a single question, Lee Yun was already running through the dark streets, his breathing heavy and uneven as he rushed forward without looking back even once.

Cold sweat covered his face, and his trembling hands could barely remain steady as he continued running, driven by a fear that seemed to have completely taken control of his body.

While running, one of his slippers suddenly slipped off and landed somewhere behind him on the road, but Lee Yun didn't even stop to pick it up; he simply kept running barefoot across the cold pavement as though stopping for even a second would allow something terrifying to catch up with him.

BAM!

Lee Yun harshly collided with a man walking down the street.

“Ah… shibal,” the man cursed angrily.

The impact caused Lee Yun to lose his balance and fall hard onto the road, his palm scraping against the rough pavement and leaving a small wound that immediately began to bleed.

But Lee Yun didn't care.

He quickly pushed himself back onto his feet despite the pain and continued running, moving even faster than before as though something terrifying was chasing him through the darkness.

After several minutes, Lee Yun finally reached his house.

His shaking hands struggled to unlock the door, and the moment he managed to get inside, he quickly shut it behind him before leaning against it and breathing heavily.

The house was silent.

Too silent.

Lee Yun slowly walked toward the sink and splashed cold water onto his face, but even the cold water couldn't stop the trembling that continued throughout his body.

His hands shook uncontrollably, his legs felt weak beneath him, and the fear from earlier still clung tightly to his chest no matter how many times he tried to calm himself.

Exhausted, Lee Yun eventually walked toward his bed without even bothering to change his clothes before collapsing onto the mattress and curling slightly into himself.

The room remained dark and empty around him, just as it always had.

Eventually, exhaustion slowly pulled him into sleep.

That night

Lee Yun dreamed of his grandmother for the first time in a long while.

Warm sunlight filtered through the trees along a quiet mountain trail, casting soft golden shadows across the ground as his grandmother sat beside him with the same gentle smile he remembered so clearly.

“Everything's okay, Yun-ah,” she said softly.

Her warm hand gently brushed through his hair, just as it had when he was younger.

Lee Yun quietly rested his head against her lap, allowing himself to relax beneath the familiar warmth he had missed for so long.

For the first time in a very long while

He felt safe.

And slowly, peacefully, the dream began to fade into darkness.

Morning sunlight gradually entered through the old window curtains, and Lee Yun slowly opened his eyes as he stared quietly at the ceiling for several seconds.

The warmth from the dream still felt real, so real that his exhausted mind seemed to forget everything for a brief moment.

“Grandma…?”

His voice sounded sleepy and soft.

Lee Yun slowly sat up from the bed and looked around the house, his eyes still heavy with sleep as he searched the quiet rooms around him.

“Grandma?”

He looked toward the kitchen first, then toward the old dining table, and for several brief minutes, he continued searching as though she might actually be there, as though nothing had changed and she was still alive somewhere inside the small house.

But slowly

Reality returned.

The silent house.

The empty rooms.

The untouched chair where she used to sit.

Lee Yun stopped walking.

His eyes quietly lowered as the truth settled over him once again.

“…Right,” he murmured softly.

“She died.”

The words sounded strangely calm as they left his lips.

No tears came.

There was no breakdown.

Instead, a quiet warmth slowly settled inside his chest as he remembered the dream from the previous night.

It no longer felt painful.

It felt comforting.

Lee Yun slowly looked toward the morning sunlight entering through the window, and a small thought quietly crossed his mind.

Maybe

Even after death

His grandmother was still watching over him from somewhere above.

Still protecting him.

Still comforting him whenever he became afraid.

For the first time in a long while

Lee Yun smiled faintly.

Later that morning, after getting ready for college, Lee Yun quietly left the house, carrying the strange sense of calm that the dream had left behind as he made his way toward Hanguk University.

When he entered through the university gates, he noticed someone standing near the pathway.

Han Tae.

At almost the same moment, Han Tae noticed him as well.

For a second, Lee Yun thought Han Tae would simply ignore him as he usually did, but unexpectedly, Han Tae lazily lifted one hand and gave him a small wave.

“Hi.”

The simple greeting caught Lee Yun slightly off guard, and after a brief pause, he quietly raised his hand and waved back.

Neither of them said anything else afterward, and they simply continued walking toward the main building separately.

A few minutes later, Lee Yun entered his classroom and stopped near the doorway.

His eyes widened slightly.

Han Tae was there too.

They were in the same class.

The moment Han Tae noticed him standing near the entrance, he casually pulled out the chair beside him with one foot.

“Sit.”

Lee Yun silently stared at him for a second before quietly walking over and taking the seat beside him.

The classroom slowly filled with students, and the noise of conversations grew louder as everyone discussed clubs, professors, assignments, and the latest rumors spreading around campus while waiting for the professor to arrive.

At first, most of the conversations were harmless.

But somewhere among the chatter

A different conversation suddenly began spreading through the room.

“Did you hear? There's apparently a gay student in our department.”

“Seriously?”

“Eww… disgusting.”

“How can a man like another man?”

“That’s actually so weird.”

“Yuck.”

The words spread carelessly from one student to another, with some students laughing, others looking uncomfortable, and a few joining the conversation without even considering how hurtful their words might be.

Lee Yun quietly listened to every word.

At first, his expression remained completely blank.

But slowly

Something inside him began to change.

His fingers started trembling beneath the desk, while his breathing gradually became uneven as the voices around him seemed to grow louder and louder inside his head.

“Disgusting.”

“Yuck.”

“How can a man love another man?”

The words repeated over and over inside his mind until he could no longer separate the voices around him from the ones echoing inside his own head.

Han Tae slowly noticed that something was wrong.

Lee Yun's face had become noticeably pale, and his body was trembling beneath the desk as though he was struggling to remain conscious.

“Yun?”

Han Tae quietly called his name, but Lee Yun didn't respond.

Then suddenly

THUD.

Lee Yun's body gave out beneath him, and he collapsed onto the classroom floor.

The entire classroom instantly fell silent.

Even Han Tae froze.

For a moment, nobody knew what to do.

And as Han Tae stared down at Lee Yun lying unconscious on the floor, a strange feeling of alarm slowly settled inside his chest.