The phone continued ringing, and Joo-won answered before it could wake Yo-han. "This is Lee Yo-han's phone."

A woman spoke immediately. "Who are you? Why are you answering oppa's phone?"

Oppa.

Joo-won looked toward the bed. "I'm a friend. He wasn't feeling well, so he took some medicine and fell asleep."

"Is he drunk?"

Her tone irritated him more than the question itself. "No. He has an upset stomach. He's sick."

The woman did not sound convinced, but she stopped arguing. "Whatever. Could you tell him I'm going to Europe tonight? Oppa was looking after my dog, so I need to know she's okay."

Joo-won looked toward the hallway, where Yulie's empty bed waited near the window. "Yulie's doing very well."

"Good. Tell Yo-han to call me when he wakes up. I need to leave for the airport soon."

The call ended before Joo-won could respond. Hye-ri had not asked what was wrong with her brother. She had not asked whether he needed anyone, whether he had eaten, or whether someone should stay with him. Even her concern for Yulie had lasted only long enough to hear that the dog was alive.

Joo-won returned the phone to the nightstand and checked the time. If he left within the next five minutes, he could still reach the clinic.

He picked up his backpack and walked toward the front door, but something struck the bedroom wall behind him. When he turned, Yo-han was coming down the hallway with one hand against the wall. His hair was in disarray, his shirt was partly untucked, and what little color had remained in his face was gone.

"What are you doing?" Joo-won asked.

Yo-han opened his mouth, but before any words came, he bent forward and vomited beside the front door.

Dropping his backpack, Joo-won reached him before his knees gave out. "Come on."

By the time Joo-won got him into the bathroom, Yo-han could barely walk. He sat him on the closed toilet lid, turned on the tap, and wet a washcloth.

Yo-han leaned forward with his elbows on his legs. "I'm sorry."

"Don't talk." Joo-won cleaned his face first and then his hands. After helping him rinse his mouth, he found a toothbrush in the cabinet and put toothpaste on it. "Open."

Yo-han took the toothbrush but failed to keep hold of it. It struck the sink and fell onto the counter. Joo-won washed it, added more toothpaste, and stood between his knees. "Open your mouth."

This time, Joo-won brushed his teeth for him. Yo-han didn't resist, following each instruction when he was told to rinse or spit. By the end, his eyes had closed again.

"Can you stand, Yo-han-ssi?"

Yo-han tried, but his legs did not cooperate.

Joo-won brought him back to bed, cleaned the floor near the entrance, and returned to the bedroom. Yo-han had curled onto his side, and the water remained untouched.

Taking out his phone, Joo-won called the clinic. When the supervising veterinarian answered, he explained that a personal emergency had come up and he would not make it in for the night shift. He accepted the scolding that followed, apologized once, and promised to cover another evening.

After ending the call, he placed his backpack beside the armchair in the corner of the bedroom.

Yo-han opened his eyes. "Aren't you leaving?"

"Go to sleep."

"I ruin everything."

Joo-won pulled the chair closer to the bed. "You're drunk."

Yo-han's eyes closed again before Joo-won could decide whether to say anything else, so he remained in the chair.

—

The night moved slowly. 

Twice, Joo-won woke Yo-han and made him drink water. On another occasion, he helped him to the bathroom and waited outside until he was certain Yo-han could make it back to bed.

Near midnight, Yo-han began talking in his sleep. Most of it made no sense, though a few names returned more than once. Da-in, Hye-ri, Mother, Tae-joo. Joo-won did not try to understand any of it.

Sometime after two, the apartment became completely quiet. Yo-han's breathing had settled, and some color had begun returning to his face.

Sitting with one ankle resting over the opposite knee, Joo-won looked at the photograph he had brought in from the refrigerator. He had not meant to take it, but the picture of Yo-han asleep on the sofa with his daughter and Yulie had remained in his hand when he returned to the bedroom.

The man in the photograph did not resemble the person Joo-won had met at the bar. Here, Yo-han looked peaceful and ordinary, loved at least by the child sleeping against him.

Before dawn, Joo-won returned the photograph to the refrigerator.

When he came back, Yo-han's phone was charging beside the bed. 

Joo-won stood over it for several seconds before picking it up. The screen required a fingerprint, so he drew Yo-han's hand out from beneath the blanket and placed his thumb against the sensor on the screen.

Once the phone unlocked, Joo-won called his own number. His phone vibrated inside his pocket, displaying Yo-han's number across the screen. He ended the call, saved the number, and deleted the outgoing call from Yo-han's recent history before returning the phone to the nightstand.

Yo-han did not wake.

Joo-won put on his coat, picked up his backpack, and left the apartment before five.

—

Yo-han woke up with a headache that seemed to fill his entire skull. The curtains were still closed, and the room was dark enough that he could not tell whether it was morning until he checked the clock.

5:03 a.m

He pushed himself upright and immediately regretted it. A wastebasket stood beside the bed, accompanied by a full bottle of water, two clean washcloths, and an empty glass.

Fragments from the night returned without connecting properly. The bar, his car, Joo-won behind the wheel, cold water against his face, someone telling him to open his mouth.

"Who took care of me?"

The apartment gave no answer.

Yo-han drank half the bottle before getting out of bed. In the kitchen, he mixed honey into warm water and stood beside the counter until he had finished it.

His jacket had been hung near the entrance. In the sunken entryway, his shoes stood neatly side by side. The floor was clean.

He looked around again, trying to decide whether he had imagined Joo-won being there, but the headache made thinking impossible.

After taking a shower, Yo-han returned to the bedroom with a towel around his waist. His phone vibrated on the nightstand.

The message came from a number he did not recognize. 

This is Kim Joo-won. 

You owe me. You can buy me dinner.