Watching From the Gaps

"You, your foot…"

"What about it?"

Lee Sa-young asked calmly, as if enjoying himself. His violet eyes, narrowed slightly, were filled with Cha Eui-jae. Cha Eui-jae unconsciously tightened his grip. The foot that had been rubbing against his ankle lightly brushed against the hem of his pants. Cha Eui-jae quickly put down the bread.

"Hey, wait a minute."

"It's not 'hey.'"

As the foot moved, the hem of his pants swayed helplessly, tickling his ankle. Cha Eui-jae, with his eyes tightly shut, gave the answer that was wanted.

"…Lee Sa-young."

"Yes. I'm right here."

"Why are you touching my foot?"

"Well…"

Lee Sa-young smiled gently.

"Because I want to."

"You think you can do anything just because you want to?"

"But."

Just as Cha Eui-jae thought the foot that had been lingering at the hem of his pants was about to withdraw, it slid up, softly filling the hollow of his sole as if it belonged there.

Lee Sa-young slightly lifted his chin.

"You'll accept it, won't you?"

'This guy, why is he so restless with his foot?'

Was the strange feeling because of the scenery he'd seen in the room earlier, or was it because of Lee Sa-young's face that had flushed red? He couldn't tell. His foot curled up.

"What kind of nonsense is this… Hey, get your foot off."

Just as Cha Eui-jae was about to hide his foot under the chair,

"Can't handle even this? After biting my finger like that."

Lee Sa-young raised his finger, with a bandage still wrapped around it, showing it off. Seeing the bandage on his left ring finger, Cha Eui-jae was left speechless. Now, Lee Sa-young would bring up his finger whenever he got the chance. With a conflicted expression, Cha Eui-jae picked up the bread again. The soft skin rubbed against the hollow of his sole. Lee Sa-young, resting his chin on his hand, muttered lazily.

"It seems like… the versions of us in this world are pretty close."

Close… Cha Eui-jae coughed lightly, covering his mouth. The memory of a bed large enough for two people and two items clearly belonging to different people was vivid. The heat rising in his cheeks and ears was unmistakable. Even if it wasn't as much as Lee Sa-young, he was probably blushing quite a bit.

'Damn, why doesn't my poker face trait activate in times like these?'

Cha Eui-jae, who had been coughing sporadically, suddenly paused.

'…Now that I think about it, it's like it disappeared entirely at some point…'

But before he could continue his thoughts, Lee Sa-young smirked, lifting the corner of his mouth.

"What on earth were you thinking… Your face is bright red."

"…I just choked on something."

"Oh, I see…"

"I'm serious."

"Sure, sure. But I was talking about us as family…"

Lee Sa-young shrugged and gestured toward the living room with his eyes.

"…There was a picture of us together."

"Picture?"

"You didn't see it? You must've been really out of it… Take a look later."

Lee Sa-young said, then picked up a piece of egg roll with his fork and started eating it, nibbling slowly. He had been smiling just a moment ago, but as soon as the food went into his mouth, he frowned. It was odd.

"Is the egg roll not good? If you don't like it, don't eat it."

"No…"

Lee Sa-young grimaced slightly.

"I just thought… it's been a while."

"What's been a while?"

"Well…"

Lee Sa-young mumbled as he slowly chewed and swallowed the egg roll.

"Eating while actually tasting the food."

"…What?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's nothing."

Lee Sa-young, who answered dismissively, started spreading jam on his bread. Cha Eui-jae pressed his lips together.

Had he not been able to taste his food all this time? But he seemed to enjoy the food at the hangover soup restaurant.

Then, suddenly, a memory surfaced. The day Lee Sa-young first came to the hangover soup restaurant, the first time he ate hangover soup. Cha Eui-jae remembered clearly because he watched intently from the moment Lee Sa-young took the first bite, just to see how he would react.

Come to think of it…

"The broth is hot."

"The meat is tender."

There was no evaluation of the taste.

'This damn poison.'

"Why, do you feel sorry for me?"

Cha Eui-jae lifted his head. Lee Sa-young took a deliberate bite of the jam-covered bread and chewed it slowly. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed, and he wiped the crumbs from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.

"If you feel sorry for me."

The soft skin rubbed against his foot again. Lee Sa-young smiled gently.

"Don't push me away."

Cha Eui-jae stayed silent. In truth, both of them knew. That Cha Eui-jae didn't truly pity Lee Sa-young, and that he wouldn't push Lee Sa-young's foot away. This was just…

"…"

An excuse. An excuse for Cha Eui-jae.

Sometimes, there are things that must be left unsaid, even when understood.

There are also emotions that one doesn't know how to name.

That's why Cha Eui-jae didn't avoid the warmth pressing against him. Instead, he lightly tapped Lee Sa-young's ankle with the tip of his foot. Pretending it was an accident.

***

Cha Eui-jae picked up the small frame placed in the living room drawer. It was a photo of Cha Eui-jae and Lee Sa-young, warmly embracing each other around the shoulders and waist, smiling at the camera. A world where the West Sea rift had not occurred.

If the West Sea rift hadn't happened, could they have lived like this? Like a family.

At that moment, the phone in his pocket buzzed. Cha Eui-jae put down the frame and hesitated as he checked the phone screen. It was a text message.

[Our Cha Eui-jae, have a good lunch! Are you getting along well with Lee Sa-young? Let's have a call tonight~^^]

The message, suffocating with its lack of spacing and a smiley face at the end, was from…

'Aunt.'

Park Hye-kyung. Cha Eui-jae pressed the familiar number and checked the message box. There were countless texts exchanged, and the call history showed a call at least every two days.

'So, Aunt is alive in this world too…'

Cha Eui-jae rubbed the screen as if he could physically touch the words in the message. The sunlight pouring in from the large window was bright and warm, almost blinding.

This place is perfect and peaceful, as if it was crafted from only the best memories.

Swish… The sound of water flowing from the sink filled the air. Cha Eui-jae looked up. Lee Sa-young stood straight in the kitchen, rinsing the bubbles off the dishes. Perhaps sensing the gaze, Lee Sa-young turned his head. Their eyes met, and there was a puzzled look in Lee Sa-young's violet eyes.

'…'

Cha Eui-jae turned off the phone screen and shoved it back into his pocket. The immediate issue had been dealt with, so it was time to find a way to escape the dungeon.

The view outside the window hadn't changed much since before. Surely the answer lay outside. This house must be a kind of safe zone, or perhaps a base camp.

He headed towards the front door. The door was unique in that it wasn't equipped with a digital lock but rather opened with a key. He unlocked it and cautiously grasped the handle.

'Let's just check what's outside the door.'

Cha Eui-jae was prepared to face a monster the moment he opened the door. He gripped the doorknob firmly and turned it. Then,

"…What the…"

He was met with an empty void.

Thud, roll… A single shoe, kicked by his foot, rolled past the threshold and into the endless darkness beyond. No sound of it hitting the ground was heard. Outside the door was a sheer cliff, and everything around was pitch black. It was literally 'void.' Faced with this bottomless darkness, Cha Eui-jae froze, still holding the doorknob. A voice called out from afar.

"Hyung?"

'What is this?'

This couldn't be right. If the outside looked like this, then what was the scenery reflected in the window? Where was the dungeon's master? What were the boundaries of this dungeon?

At that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps approached, and damp hands and arms wrapped around his waist like a snake. Thud, a firm chest pressed against his back. Then a large hand covered the one holding the doorknob.

Bang!

The door slammed shut. Cha Eui-jae heard slightly heavy breaths near his ear. Only then did he snap out of it. With a long exhale, Lee Sa-young rested his head on Cha Eui-jae's shoulder before quickly lifting it.

"Are you crazy?"

"No, just now… Did you see that?"

"I did. If it looks like that outside, the first thing you should do is shut the door. What were you standing there dazed for?"

Lee Sa-young snapped sharply. However, Cha Eui-jae stared blankly at the firmly closed door.

This place was a memorial dungeon, created based on someone's memory. The range of the dungeon…

Cha Eui-jae murmured.

"This house is…"

"What?"

"The range of the dungeon, I think it's this house."

Only this house… A creeping sense of unease slithered up from his feet. The dungeon was this house. Most dungeons are cleared by killing the dungeon's master.

If that's the case, the dungeon's master is inside this house…

'No, no.'

He needed to break his habit of always assuming the worst. Cha Eui-jae bit the inside of his cheek and tightened his grip on the doorknob. At that moment, something caught on his fingertips. His eyes widened. Lee Sa-young, still holding his waist, tugged at him impatiently.

"What are you doing, still hanging on to the door?"

"Wait, just a second."

There was something like a scratch under the doorknob. Cha Eui-jae released Lee Sa-young's arms from around his waist and squatted in front of the door to inspect the area under the doorknob.

The clearly etched scratch was…

[HYS]

It looked like letters. Cha Eui-jae traced the scratch with his fingernail and muttered softly.

"HYS…?"

"HYS, you say?"

"Yeah. It's carved right here, under the doorknob."

As soon as Lee Sa-young heard the letters, he clicked his tongue.

"Why the hell would that guy's initials be here…"

"What is it?"

"…You said this place is a dungeon, right? Created based on someone's memory."

"Yeah."

"…Hong Ye-seong could create dungeons too. Since he can manipulate his own space, it's not impossible…"

"Hong Ye-seong?"

Hong Ye-seong's face, smiling brightly with a thumbs-up, floated vividly in Cha Eui-jae's mind. Annoying as he was, his abilities were top-notch. Lee Sa-young responded with a dissatisfied expression, arms crossed.

"That guy has a strong sense of narcissism… He leaves his signature on most things he touches. He carves Chinese characters on works he considers masterpieces, and uses English initials for things he made for fun."

"So, does that mean he made this too…"

"If it's not just the doorknob… then it's likely Hong Ye-seong made this dungeon too."

Lee Sa-young murmured while pressing his fingers to his temple.

"More precisely, the Hong Ye-seong of this world."