17. At The Bathhouse...3

"Remove your clothes and wipe yourself up. I'll wring them out for you. You can't go dripping water along the corridor as we go, right?"

Byeongho wanted to refuse, but that didn't seem sound to him, as the younger boy was quite right. 

He removed his shirt and handed it to Doyun before wiping himself and wrapping the towel around his waist. 

He removed his shorts from under the wrapped towel and gave that too to Doyun, who was almost done with wringing the shirt out.

"Use the towel to dry off some of the water from your boxer. I'm assuming that you're wearing one, right?" 

Byeongho did as he suggested, dismissing his question. 

"Wear this." Doyun handed him his own clothes that he had worn earlier.

"Hm?" Byeongho looked at him questioningly.

"The weather is too cold out here, as you said earlier, so put on mine since they're dry."

"And what will you wear?" Byeongho asks after staying quiet all this while.

"Don't mind me. I'm rather enjoying the cold now." Doyun said, smiling.

"In just your boxers? Are you nuts? And won't you dry yourself at least?"

Doyun smiled at him as he made his steps to leave the cubicle by carefully passing beside. 

"I'm hot, remember?" He said this and winked at the older guy before taking the bucket and making his way out of the cubicle.

Byeongho removed the towel and quickly changed into the boy's clothes before stepping out of the cubicle after seeing that the boy had already removed all their stuff from the wall.

He joined the boy who was holding his wet clothes in one arm while the other had the gel and towel, and together the two left the bathhouse.

"Are you alright?" Doyun asks the older guy who was trailing behind him but gets no response. 

It's very late, so he didn't want to shout, and because both his hands were occupied, he decided to walk quickly and drop the things in his room first before returning to check on the older guy.

"Take these. Change into them first. I'm going to hang your clothes on the drying lines. I'll be right back." Doyun said as he handed some new clothes to his visitor before he stepped out again.

He was wearing only a boxer, not the wet one from earlier.

He had found Byeongho shivering and chattering his teeth when he returned to him after dropping the things in his room first. 

He didn't know that the cold weather was that severe. 

"Are you done?" Doyun asked once he returned to the room. "Hey, can I come in now?"

He pushed the curtains and went in after no response came. He saw that his visitor was already asleep and had covered his whole body with the blanket.

e laid his mat on the floor space left and made a bed for himself. 

"Would you like to sleep beside me?" Byeongho popped his head out of the blanket and asked.

"Oi! You scared me." Doyun was surprised that the guy was still not asleep. "Are you still cold?"

Byeongho nodded in the affirmative. The scene looked like a snail popping its head from its shell.

Doyun didn't dare to laugh. His headache has subsided, but he finds Byeongho's invitation quite tempting, as he still longs for that soothing scent. 

He went through his things and brought out a duvet. "Here, let's use this." 

He removed the blanket from Byeongho and covered him with the duvet, leaving only his head.

He then folded the blanket into two and put it on him to add extra heat, before he raised the duvet and went under the sheets.

He normally sleeps without light, but this night he left the light on because of the visitor.

Doyun lied on his back at the end of the bedbecause it's quite a small bed and he didn't think the guy would want them to be that close to each other.

Yet as soon as he joined him on the bed, Byeongho shifted and moved from his side of the bed to his, throwing the younger boy off.

"Whoa! Are you trying to push me off the bed? Wait, your fingers—they're too cold. Why?" Doyun sat up quickly and turned to look at the older guy, who was now lying on his side, also staring at him.

"Is this something normal with you? Or should we call the ambulance?" 

Byeongho shook his head and said in a weak voice, "No, don't call."

Doyun wouldn't have heard him if he wasn't paying attention. The guy has changed so much in a matter of a few minutes.

Doyun did not want to let it show, but he had felt the domineering air around this dude as soon as he first turned and opened his mouth to speak to him.

Unlike he himself, who is just an arrogant person and, as such, does not seem to cower at anyone's feet except for his parents, Doyun could sense the incredible aura around this guy. 

He had been intrigued as to who the guy was, especially after realizing that he was the one whom he had misdialed.

Had it not been that he wore casual clothes, he would've assumed that he was the main boss of an empire. The guy has that vibe.

But unfortunately, his clothes and the personality he has shown so far speak a different story.

Though they seem to be of very high quality, Doyun doesn't know what brand they're from, so he's sure it's nothing crazily expensive. 

At first, Doyun was assuming maybe he was of the well-to-do middle class, but since he didn't even mind sleeping in his small bed, instead of insisting on going to a hotel, Doyun started to think that the guy might have even borrowed the clothes, just to show off. 

His theory became solid when the guy came all the way to the bathhouse and even took care of him. 

No one of a high breed would have wanted even to be in that outdated bathhouse for just a millisecond.