Red Dot - 66

The scattered mind returned once again, prompted by Hanseo’s voice echoing in his hazy thoughts.

“Junseong, wake up.”

Even in his still cloudy mind, Hanseo’s voice came through distinctly.

As if it were a signal, Junseong could soon open his eyes. Following that, he felt a sense of relief as if something had been lifted off his chest.

The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was Hanseo’s smiling face.

“What kind of dream did you have to look like that?”

Hanseo’s hand gently stroked Junseong’s cheek. Junseong’s pale face, drenched in cold sweat, gradually regained color under Hanseo’s affectionate touch.

Junseong, lying down, met Hanseo’s gaze quietly before suddenly sitting up straight. He took short breaths as he scanned his surroundings.

Where Junseong had been lying down wasn’t the abandoned factory but a container office.

The surroundings were still dim. From the faint light coming in through the window, it seemed to be early dawn.

In a dimly lit corner of the dark office, Hwang Kyung-oh, who was busy modifying drones, and Seo Changmin, who was shining a flashlight only towards him, were present. Lee Jian was lying alone slightly away from where Junseong and Hanseo were lying.

Taking a thorough look around, Junseong tightly clenched his right fist. The bandage neatly wrapped around it concealed the painful wound, which stung.

After confirming even the pain, Junseong realized that the present was ‘reality’. He was barely able to release the tightly wound tension of the dream that had continued. Despite being asleep, due to the events in the dream, Junseong suddenly felt dizzy and pressed his temples with his hands.

At that moment, Junseong stiffened in surprise at the touch on his neck.

Junseong couldn’t do anything about the large hand wrapped around his neck. His body stiffened to the point where his breath stopped and he couldn’t even blink.

The hand that seemed to grip his throat covered Junseong’s neck as if sliding down. With wide-open eyes, Junseong barely blinked at the sensation of a caress on his neck, rather than feeling his throat being squeezed.

“Are you okay?”

The hand, caressing the sweaty neck, was very gentle. It quickly relaxed the excessive tension in his body.

With a pale face, Junseong took a deep breath.

‘It’s not that person, it’s Hanseo. It’s okay.’

Calming his mind that was about to fall apart again, Junseong asked Hanseo calmly.

“Did I… make any sound?”

Although his voice still trembled and his breath was short, speaking made him feel a bit more composed.

“No, nothing. I woke you up because I thought your breathing sounded different, like you were having a nightmare.”

Hearing Hanseo’s words, thankfully, it seemed like he hadn’t muttered anything in his sleep.

Hanseo’s hand stroked Junseong’s head.

“Feeling better now?”

With an infinitely affectionate voice, Junseong looked up at him.

Junseong recalled ‘Hanseo’ whom he had met in his dream.

‘If I were the me from back then…’

He didn’t know why the dream made him experience that time, but there was something he couldn’t help but realize.

The Junseong from back then, due to the shock of betrayal and mental trauma, only knew how to cry. For some reason, Hanseo was near the abandoned factory at that time, and considering his personality, he probably wouldn’t have seen any value in rescuing his weakened self, who had become endlessly feeble.

So he was ignored.

‘I don’t resent being ignored.’

Hanseo didn’t like pathetic people. Strictly speaking, it was close to contempt.

On the other hand, he had an abnormal liking for those who fought back against death. That’s why he could understand the pattern in which he was saved.

Although the dream had already ended, he couldn’t know how the latter part had unfolded. Yet, the fact that he had met Dohanseo became a strange flutter in his heart once again.

Along with that, there was also regret.

The three variables he faced when he went to save his younger brother.

The meeting that changed depending on his actions at the abandoned factory.

If he had acted differently, he could have met Dohanseo in the dream and possibly found a more decisive solution to end the dream with him.

If that had happened, when the zombie situation began, wouldn’t he have gone to meet him before his brother?

“What are you thinking?”

As Junseong stared into space, lost in his thoughts, Hanseo brought his forehead close to his. Through the contact, their body temperatures were shared.

“You…”

Junseong, whose lips were about to utter something, stopped abruptly.

‘I should have met you.’

He almost repeated what he wanted to say to him in his dream just now.

‘But I’ve already met you.’

Although they might have been at odds in the dream, they were together now.

Having Dohanseo right in front of him.

That was the most important thing.

Junseong lightly smiled, putting unnecessary regrets and regrets behind him.

“It’s nothing. Let’s just go back to sleep.”

He didn’t feel like discussing the dream he just had.

It was not a hint for the future, but merely a rehashing of his past choices, and he saw no point in reproaching himself for them.

Hanseo, who had been staring intently at Junseong lying down again, lay down beside him. It was unusual for Hanseo not to question Junseong but just lie down next to him and watch him.

Covering them both with the only blanket, Hanseo watched for a long time as Junseong’s breathing gradually became regular. The ‘basic smile’ that had hung on his face was now completely gone.

After some time passed,

Hanseo’s hand reached for Junseong’s neck. Through the large grip gently holding his neck, his breath was clearly felt.

Hanseo recalled the moment when Junseong seemed to be gasping for breath just a while ago.

With his head tilted back and his throat exposed, he looked like someone was strangling him. The hyperventilation symptoms that overlapped with that sight naturally began to follow.

Even without Junseong saying anything, Hanseo seemed to know who was in his dream.

“What kind of jerk.”

An ominous voice, which he hadn’t managed to swallow, flowed out between Hanseo’s lips.

Hanseo pulled Junseong closer, wrapping his arms around his neck. Quietly embracing Junseong, who let out a shallow moan, he put his arm under Junseong’s head, creating a firm pillow.

As Hanseo gently stroked Junseong’s cheek, he overlapped his face with Junseong’s distressed expression.

There was a sharp, tooth-splitting sound.

“It’s mine, so who dared to touch it first.”

Only he could have made such a face and only he could have seen it.

Pulling Junseong’s head closer, Dohanseo’s eyes, which were kissing his face and head, were filled with such strong vitality that it seemed like anyone could be torn apart by them.

* * *

At the same time,

A man who had just woken up from sleep grimaced and slammed the bed.

“Damn it!”

The man, who spat out coarse curses, kicked or threw objects and chairs in frustration. Startled by the noise, a few people knocked on his door.

“Sir, what’s wrong?!”

“Shut up!”

Without any explanation, the angry man continued to throw and break several items while repeating curses. Then, catching his breath heavily, he slumped onto the bed.

With both hands clutching his head, the man muttered.

“Don’t forget. You can’t forget. I told you not to forget, damn it!”

Desperately holding onto the fragments of his fading dream in his mind, the man said.

“If you forget this, you have to hit your head and die. No, you can’t forget.”

After mumbling for a while, trembling, the man regained his composure and lifted his head.

“Okay.”

The man was surprisingly calm, unlike the person who had just thrown a tantrum. Moreover, he even had a pleasant smile on his face.

“I don’t know who he is, but I remembered him clearly.”

He recalled the tall young man in black clothes he had seen in his dream. If it hadn’t been a gradually fading dream but someone he had met on the street, his face was noticeable enough to remember without having to throw a fit like this.

Thinking of the young man, the image of Junseong clinging to his chest came to his mind.

The man’s lips twisted upwards.

“Even if it was a dream, the one who touched what’s mine deserves to die.”

With a twisted smile bordering on eerie, the man got up from the bed and headed for the door. As he opened it, he found two men outside who seemed anxious.

“Uh, Hyung, are you okay… scared?”

One of them asked cautiously, and Nam Ki-hyuk grinned.

“I’m perfectly fine.”

With a cheerful tone, Ki-hyuk passed them and walked down the corridor. The two men followed closely behind him.

“Pick a few and prepare the helicopter.”

“Are you planning to leave today? The hideout there might not be fully prepared yet.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

One of the men behind him handed him glasses. Putting them on, Ki-hyuk looked at the window at the end of the corridor with clearer eyes. The sky beyond the window, which had gradually brightened, was now filled with thick clouds.

“I’ve waited long enough. I need to see his face now.”

Perhaps because they met again in the dream.

Ki-hyuk couldn’t bear to suppress the longing he had held back.

He urged his subordinates again to prepare the helicopter for the destination, ‘Inhansi,’ and straightened his clothes. His mind was busy simulating where Kang Junseong might be by now.