Sunshine Shower

RainflowerMoon Seoyoon woke up from sleep. His palm felt damp.What is this? As he barely managed to lift his eyelids, he saw hands of different thicknesses entwined between his fingers. Only then did Moon Seoyoon realize that he was holding hands with Woo Yeonjae. It was after he barely came to his senses that he understood why his palm was damp.“Hey, Woo Yeonjae.”It was definitely a cold sweat. Moon Seoyoon, who suddenly got up, touched Woo Yeonjae’s arm. The fingers were so tightly entwined that they didn’t come apart, even unconsciously, and he had to use quite a bit of force to separate them. After shaking his arm a few times, the trembling eyelashes slowly lifted. The half-visible eyes were clouded with fever.“…Yeah.”The reply that came a beat later sounded much lower than usual. Even considering he had just woken up, his voice was excessively hoarse. Maybe I should have watched over him instead of sleeping. Moon Seoyoon placed his hand on Woo Yeonjae’s forehead, which kept trying to lean into him. It was definitely hotter than last night.“I had a dream…”“It’s not about the dream; you should go to the hospital. Try to get up. Are there other cars in the parking lot?”“I don’t want to move.”There was a hint of laughter mixed with the reply, which also sounded like whining.“Isn’t that better than being sick?”He thought it might be better to just drag him out. The car should be in the parking lot, and the elevator wasn’t far, so taking him to the hospital shouldn’t be too difficult. Just as he was turning to get off the bed, his waist was suddenly grabbed.“What are you doing?”He asked, puzzled by the sudden action, as Woo Yeonjae frowned and put strength into his arms. Despite being sick, his strength was still the same.“You know I hate hospitals.”“Are you a kid? You have a fever.”“I took medicine… If I just sleep a bit, I’ll get better. Lie down. Looking up makes my head hurt.”As he tried to ignore him and get up, the force pulling his waist grew stronger. Moon Seoyoon fell back onto the bed, regardless of his will. He was not very strong in the first place, and his body was even weaker in the morning. Even if that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have been able to overcome Woo Yeonjae’s strength.He was taken aback by Woo Yeonjae’s childlike stubbornness, and as he grimaced, Woo Yeonjae laughed sheepishly.“It’s nice having you next to me when I’m sick…”“I’m going to catch your cold. I won’t say let’s go to the hospital, so let go a bit. You have to take your medicine.”“If I hug you while I sleep, I’ll get better.”“What nonsense is that?”The only relief was that they weren’t close enough for their legs to be completely stuck together. The tiny gap was the last line of safety. Moon Seoyoon subtly moved his body back.“A substitute for a teddy bear.”The words flowing out of his feverish lips were ridiculous.“What teddy bear? I’ve never seen a teddy bear in your room. You didn’t even have one when you were six.”“Ah, you caught me…”Seeing him rambling nonsense, it was clear he wasn’t in his right mind.“Just stay until I fall asleep again. It feels good to hold someone.”“Alright, so let go. It’s uncomfortable.”Moon Seoyoon replied with feigned annoyance, tapping the arm wrapped around his waist. Even through his T-shirt, he could feel the hot body temperature and firm muscles.“I don’t want to.”If he asked him to let go once more, he’d probably jokingly hug him like a doll. In the end, Moon Seoyoon gave up trying to detach Woo Yeonjae and quietly watched his closed eyelids. Perhaps feeling the gaze, the eyelashes lifted slowly. Their eyes met directly as a result.The silence wasn’t particularly awkward. Only the feverish breaths escaping between Woo Yeonjae’s red lips were a bit unfamiliar.“I had a dream…”“Yeah.”Moon Seoyoon paused for a moment as he tried to brush away the sweat-drenched hair. It felt like overstepping. Even though he and Woo Yeonjae had been childhood friends for well over ten years, it seemed excessive. It was a relief that he hadn’t extended his arm, avoiding a potentially awkward situation.So, Moon Seoyoon clenched his slightly trembling fingers. This was the extent of his ability to express his feelings.“You were in it when we were kids.”“When we were kids? When?”“When we first met.”“…You remember the first day we met?”It was a past that Moon Seoyoon couldn’t recall. No matter what time he thought of, Woo Yeonjae was always there.Woo Yeonjae and the piano. That was all. Since the piano disappeared after the summer of his sixteenth year, it was ultimately just Woo Yeonjae.“It seems like you don’t remember. How can you not?”Despite sounding disappointed, his giggling face didn’t look displeased. Moon Seoyoon subtly moved his leg to tap Woo Yeonjae’s ankle. The skin that brushed past was hot from the fever.“You’re the strange one for remembering something from when you were six. What did we do when we first met?”“I’m not telling you. Try to remember.”“How can I remember something from when I was six, not something from a couple of years ago?”Woo Yeonjae chuckled and muttered, “Is that so?” The blankets rustled, and then his warmth pressed closer.“…”Moon Seoyoon hurriedly held his breath. Woo Yeonjae had nestled his head near his shoulder. The way his large body curled up against him was like a big dog that still thought it was a puppy. But the problem was he wasn’t actually a puppy. As his familiar scent wafted closer, Moon Seoyoon’s cheeks flushed as if he’d caught a cold. Since he was lying facing Woo Yeonjae, they were uncomfortably close.“Woo Yeonjae.”“Yeah…”His voice teetered on the edge of sleep. As Moon Seoyoon subtly pulled back, the grip around his waist remained strong. If he moved back a little more, Woo Yeonjae seemed ready to pull him entirely into his embrace.In the end, Moon Seoyoon slowly relaxed his body. Getting any closer would lead to a troublesome situation, so it was better to give up here.“Seoyoon.”His name was called in a low, deep voice. Moon Seoyoon’s lips parted like a fish out of water. He wanted to respond, but he was so tense that he had to swallow the saliva gathered in his mouth before he could make a sound. The saliva felt like the waste product of his emotions.“That time…”“When?”It was only when Woo Yeonjae began to speak slowly that Moon Seoyoon managed to find his voice. It was after he barely swallowed the emotions that were like waste to others.“In the winter…”“Winter?”His words were disjointed. Even though he was responding, Moon Seoyoon wasn’t expecting coherent sentences from someone who was sick, so he just asked again.“When did it snow?”“Snow?”He wondered if he was talking about last winter when they met after two years. It was a past that felt oddly distant even though it hadn’t even been half a year.“It must have been in December.”“Yeah… Then the fingernails?”“Fingernails? What fingernails?”“Balsam…”“Balsam?”Why flowers all of a sudden? Seeing him mumble words from different categories at random, it seemed he was drowsy.Moon Seoyoon slowly relaxed. If he was this out of it, he probably wouldn’t remember even if he made a mistake.“Flowers?”He asked again, but Woo Yeonjae didn’t reply. Hearing the steady breathing near his shoulder, Moon Seoyoon cautiously lowered his head. His long eyelashes came into view, indicating he had fallen asleep.“Woo Yeonjae. Are you asleep?”There was no answer. He just squirmed at being called and tightened his grip around Moon Seoyoon’s waist. He was worried that the excessive physical contact might cause him to get an erection, but fortunately, he wasn’t the kind of scoundrel who would get aroused while his friend was sick.“Sigh…”Moon Seoyoon let out a faint sigh and just looked down at Woo Yeonjae’s sleeping face.He wanted to touch his forehead to check his temperature, but there wasn’t anything special he could do about it now. The same went for brushing back the sweat-soaked hair. Even if he tidied it up, it would just stick back to his forehead as he tossed and turned.“…”Moon Seoyoon really did nothing and just stared at Woo Yeonjae, as if he were a teddy bear.The truth was, he was scared that he might want more than he deserved the moment he touched him.Only after the grip around his waist loosened could he leave the bed. Moon Seoyoon tidied up the blanket and quietly walked out of the bedroom.“Where could it be?”He wasn’t prone to minor illnesses, so he wondered if there was any medicine on hand.‘I took some medicine. I’ll probably be fine after sleeping.’He suddenly remembered what Woo Yeonjae had said about taking medicine. Instead of searching elsewhere, Moon Seoyoon headed straight for the kitchen. Woo Yeonjae disliked having a water cup in the bedroom, so if he took medicine, it would have been in the kitchen.“I don’t see it…”Even opening the kitchen drawer revealed nothing. Did he really take medicine? Just in case, he opened the trash can, but it was completely empty. Considering Woo Yeonjae’s usual habits, he might have already disposed of the trash.‘I should probably give him medicine when he wakes up.’Walking cautiously back to the bedroom, he saw Woo Yeonjae’s peacefully sleeping face. Moon Seoyoon bit his lip and gently placed his hand on his forehead. As expected, it was hotter than last night.Note:

“봉숭아” Balsam flower, known in English as the “touch-me-not” or “balsam” flower. There’s a traditional practice of using the petals of this flower to dye fingernails a reddish color. The mention of “손톱” (fingernails) and “봉숭아” together suggests that Wooyeon and Seoyoon are talking about this custom of dyeing nails with balsam flowers.