It was the weekend. Out of sheer embarrassment and shame, Min-jae hadn't logged in for a couple of days. He didn't check his notifications on EclypseLink but instead just binged series, movies and hid under the covers until his eyes blurred, trying to hide away from his life.
If he couldn't face reality, maybe he could just disappear into fiction for a little while.
He remembered waking up that one fateful morning parched and feeling like death. His head hurt so bad, like he'd been struck on the head multiple times. Min-jae could remember looking into the mirror that morning and seeing his eyes - dusky bags sagged down his face and his eyes were a painful red. No matter how much water he splashed on his face, it still remained the same.
And of course the comments rolled in when he went to work that day, except for Jun-ho who was too preoccupied with something on his phone for most of the day. Relationship problems? 'Does the boss even have a girlfriend?' Min-jae thought to himself. He'd never seen a partner or heard him talk about his personal life. His boss is usually a private guy, but someone with good looks like him wouldn't have any trouble getting a girlfriend.
Perhaps it would make him more bearable.
To make matters worse, when he'd woken up that day, he was still in the EclypseLink chat and Jun was still there. Min-jae's microphone wasn't muted, the thought of Jun listening to him sleep, make weird sounds, snore, and so on made him want to jump out of his window. There was a tightness forming in his chest, so he immediately closed off the game and the chatroom and vowed never again.
Min-jae couldn't figure out what he was going to say to his friend. He didn't remember much from the night he got absolutely wasted and the shame of whatever he did, whatever he said, was too much.
So.
Every night followed the same monotonous rhythm: come home, change into his nightwear, maybe eat, then crawl into bed. Sometimes he'd turn on his PC and then mindlessly watch shows from bed, other times he wouldn't bother to turn on his computer and instead would scroll through videos and posts on his phone. He chased distractions.
In his remaining days at work leading up to the weekend, Min-jae kept his head down. His boss moved back into his office and kept to himself over the past couple of days. Thankfully, he didn't mess up enough to warrant another verbal beating. He wasn't even sure he saw Jun-ho at all yesterday, except brief flashes of fuzzy, black hair from the small window framing his office.
But isolation came with a price. Min-jae became rapidly bored and depressed. The more alone with his thoughts, the deeper he dug himself into an emotional pit until he started to spiral. Every insecurity chipped at his brain.
Well, 'it was time to change that,' he thought.
Min-jae's feet timidly tapped over to his door and armed himself in a coat in the fight against below freezing temperatures then headed out the door in the same breath.
As soon as he opened the door, instant regret punched him in the face.
A gust of icy wind howled through the hallway and slammed into him. That would've knocked a good chunk of hitpoints off his health bar. There wasn't much snow on the ground, but scattered patches of white clung stubbornly to the pavement where the sun hadn't touched. It was late in the evening, the sun had disappeared into the darkness for its slumber. The streetlights were dim and cast long fragile shadows. The synchronised hum of insects made the silence feel deafening.
He fumbled with gloves in his coat pocket, the cold threatened to gnaw at his joints otherwise.
Min-jae just intended on going for a short walk, no destination in mind, but he found himself on a bridge overlooking a river with the road behind him. He'd passed this bridge many times before, but never stopped to truly appreciate the peaceful glisten of the water.
"It's so pretty," he spoke to himself. His breath was visible from the cold.
Min-jae leaned over and rested his arms on the stony barrier. His gloved fingers danced with each other as he took a minute to appreciate the cold, fresh air and momentary silence.
Despite his expedition, he couldn't help but return to his lingering anxieties. If he thinks about work, his body screams for him to run. A multitude of thoughts overwhelm him: it would be easier for him to just fake his death, run away and live in the middle of the woods than to quit.
Then if he tries to think about Eclipse Online, his mind drifts to that one night. He hasn't spoken to Jun since, Min-jae hoped that Jun would forget about him and the scene he probably made and move on with his life.
"Oi pretty boy," a threateningly familiar voice snapped him out of his trance. Instinctively, feet shifted backwards a step back when he turned around to meet the signature smile that could strip wallpaper.
"Dae-hyun," Min-jae sputtered. "Good evening." He kept to his polite and curt responses.
Dae-hyun ran a hand through his crimson hair, brushing aside the long fringe. His pout was mockingly soft, with a devilish undertone. "Stop being so formal, did you really think you could get away with what you did to me back then? I haven't forgotten."
His long fingertips delicately reached out to touch Min-jae's shoulder, then firmly grasped it. "Come on," he drawled. "Don't you remember your old boyfriend?" He teased, but applied harsher pressure from his fingertips.
Min-jae was used to the whiplash of Dae-hyun's moods: the gentle facade that cracked like brittle glass the second something didn't go his way. Dae-hyun's compassionate and caring mask was easy to break.
And it did on multiple occasions.
The taller red-haired man's signature smile dissolved back into a scowl. His hand fell, but only to push Min-jae backwards, Dae-hyun was haphazard with his movements. He had him pinned against the stony railing on the bridge.
"Are you just going to ignore me?" His voice was low and vaguely dangerous.
"What do you want from me?"
Dae-hyun ignored the question. "Are you still playing Eclipse these days? I saw you deleted your account, but there's no way you'd quit the game. What's your ID?"
"That's none of your business. Besides, didn't you quit that?"
"I did." A sly grin crept back as he continued, "in a way."
Min-jae opted out of questioning that, he didn't want to know what that meant. Anxiety bubbled in his stomach and twisted into a tight, sick knot. Instead, he shifted to the side and gently pressed his hands against Dae-hyun's chest hoping to increase the distance between them.
But the older male didn't budge.
"I need to leave, please move aside."
In response, Dae-hyun tilted his head. "No."
"No?"
"Not again, you're not leaving me again."
Min-jae pushed harder, but Dae-hyun caught his wrists in one swift movement, wrenching them out to the sides."P-" Min-jae desperately tugged at his wrists but was unable to free them.
"P-please," he gasped. "Don't do this here." Pressure bit into his skin.
Lips curled into a victorious grin. "Oh, shall we go back to mine then?"
"No, wait–"
"Hah! I'm just kidding, I love that look on your face." The look he meant was raw fear crawling on Min-jae's back. "But seriously, I've come to take you back."
Dae-hyun lowered Min-jae's hands to his side, his hold on the thin wrists, unyielding.
"Take me back? It's been years, things ended between us." Min-jae's voice came out in a low hush, tight with the kind of restraint that sat between fear and defiance. His eyes flicked around the street, searching for any sign of onlookers.
But there was nothing. Just the weak orange halo of the streetlights, the distant hiss of passing cars, and the faint ripple of the river behind them. Evening had settled fully now, the kind that felt like it could swallow sound whole.
Dae-hyun was too busy examining the thin wrists and delicate skin in his grip. "You've lost weight. Let's go get dinner."
He had a bad habit of ignoring what he didn't want to hear.
"How many times do I have to tell you? N-" An intense glare snapped up to meet his, stopping his protest dead in his throat. Min-jae's pupils blew wide, his breath caught and trapped in his chest. For a second, everything around him narrowed to that look. He didn't realise he was already being whisked away, into the direction of the city.
His wrists lightly shook in trepidation.
When Dae-hyun was in one of those moods, it was easier to go along with it.
The city loomed ahead, pools of yellow light spilling across the pavement as they stepped out of the quiet. Dae-hyun tugged him forward to a bar, one that Min-jae frequents for the occasional late night meal after work.
As they entered the establishment, the door swung open with a dull chime. A wash of warm air and low noise hit Min-jae like a wall. The sound of clinking glasses and low murmur of chatter permeated the building. It should've felt comforting - as it usually does - but today the warmth didn't feel safe. Dae-hyun's fingers relaxed into a gentle lace, a quiet pressure engulfed his hand instead.
Dae-hyun's hand was warm against his skin as he guided them through the bar, waving and flashing that effortless smile at the people who turned to look. Min-jae didn't say a word. He didn't need to. Dae-hyun already knew where they were going. He confidently steered them towards a booth tucked in the back.
The lights were lower, the music felt quieter yet heavier.
There was a leather couch built onto the wall that faintly reeked of generic alcohol and… vomit? A scratched coffee table laced with dents and scuff marks was placed in front. He kept his head down, hoping that nobody would recognise him. To anyone watching, it would look intimate. Too intimate. Their hands laced together felt like a chain. If he pulled away, he'd be making a scene, and Dae-hyun's charismatic and charming personality has always worked against Min-jae.
They sat next to each other. Min-jae's shoulders were drawn tightly together when Dae-hyun's arm wrapped around them, removing the hold on his hand.
"Let me get you a drink," Dae-hyun waved and held his free hand up. "Excuse me, over here!"
Min-jae looked away as an employee came over to take his order. A wave of angst hit him like a hammer, his hearing was fuzzy and the sound of his heart beating in his chest drowned out the music. Static muffled the sounds of the two talking, the red-haired senior subtly flirted with the female employee as he ordered their drinks and some starters for the table.
Min-jae's gaze shifted around the room, looking for something to focus his energy on and calm himself down. The bar blurred at the edges of his vision as gaze sifted through it. His pulse thudded too loud in his ears. And then he saw him.
Lee Jun-ho.