Junwoo's eyes fluttered open once more. This time, however, he was at home.
Well, "home."
Today was unusual, he didn't wake up from a nightmare unlike the last countless nights.
The ceiling came into focus, for a moment, he almost couldn't figure out where he was. The last thing he remembered was - and his heart dropped at this - being carried by Kaelsu.
A dull ache throbbed behind his eyes and rose like a flare into his forehead. His headache returned. Then beeping…
It was a steady electronic beep. A shrill, rhythmic tone and the more he thought about the beep, and listened to the beep, and realised that there was, in fact, a beep: the faster it got.
Until it stopped.
He winced and tried to sit up in bed, but he found himself unable to move. There was a heavy weight wrapped around him, tightening each time he tried to move – or even wriggle. Then he realised it, a warm breath grazed his neck and a body shuffled behind him.
That weight wrapping around him? A strong pair of long arms. He panicked and tried to struggle violently, only to be subdued further when the arms shifted to keep him in place.
"Calm down," a stern, yet sleepy voice sounded behind him.
"K– Hah…" He muttered as he tried to squirm. "What are you doing?"
"Restoring stamina. You talk a lot in your sleep."
The fight drained from him when he realised escape was pointless. It was futile. A hand moved up and petted the soft fur on his head.
"Can you let go please?" His voice was a low whisper, it was barely audible over the steady beat of his heartrate.
Junwoo managed to flip himself, he didn't get anywhere, except now facing Kaelsu's warm gaze. He contemplated baring his fangs or pulling out his claws, but after weighing up the consequences, it wasn't worth it.
Besides, it was cold. He didn't mind the immense warmth that radiated from the taller subject being in bed.
"Just another minute."
"Every time I wake up, I hear this beeping sound." Kaelsu was silent as Junwoo tried to muster up his words. "I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's good."
As he explained everything, or just the beeping and the headaches, he tried to replicate the noise which earned a laugh from Kaelsu.
"Hey, don't be mean." Junwoo pulled a fake pout. "What did I say in my sleep?" He closed his eyes in anticipation of something embarrassing.
"Well, I just came back from work so I only caught the last part of it but… it was mostly gibberish."
Kaelsu's arms loosened. "What do you mean by beeping?"
…
A day had passed since the party's expedition and Kang Min, a tall man with well-groomed hazel hair stepped into his house. Light flooded the room as he entered, and his belongings dropped from his hand.
The house was clean, yet solitary. The jingle of the keys sounded as they hit the pot, a faint echo with each footstep as Kang Min was drawn back to his computer. A bottle of grape soju was swiftly picked up from the fridge during the trip.
Kang Min loosened his tie, then unbuttoned his shirt as he sat down in his chair. It was a comfy, leather chair that reclined when he shifted his weight back. The lights in his bedroom were dimly lit. It was a muted amber light glowed softly, like the embers from a cosy fireplace.
He loaded up Eterna and logged in. Yesterday, he left the Abyssal Crown partway through after his team fainted with exhaustion. They made good progress, but he needed to make a couple of changes to his party before the next attempt.
Kaelsu logged in and scanned the territory around him. If Azadeus wasn't trying to punch the barrier to escape, he was probably still sleeping. He snuck around the house, quietly, careful not to make a sound that would disturb or spook Azadeus. Last time he tried to mess with him, he almost got a face full of fire.
He stopped in his tracks, just at the doorframe. He wasn't looking into the room but he could hear some light rustling of blankets.
"Foxseo…" He heard briefly from the sleeping form. Then some grunts and moans followed, as if he were in pain. "Run – RUN." Glancing around the door frame, the rustling grew louder and the aforementioned form was now a sweating mess, as if trying to escape something. But it was futile.
Was he having a nightmare? Or not? The writhing stopped momentarily and heavy breathing soon slowed down.
Foxseo was a name he recognised. But where from?
In a new tab on his browser, he quickly typed in the name and his search results were flooded with entries relating to Eterna.
Top Player quits game after reaching floor 100
Foxseo speaks out on expectations for patch 4.0
Foxseo hits rank 1 on leaderboard
Foxseo's monster tierlist for patch 3.9
There were more as well. He wasn't well versed in the top ranking players or any fancy guides. He prided himself in being a casual player with little to no interaction with the game's forums or other online content regarding the game, except for the game itself.
Kaelsu closed the distance between them and stared at Azadeus for a moment. He sat next to the bed and considered waking him up, but he finally looked peaceful. He could see the sweat glisten on his cheek, and blankets were scattered like lost paper. Stray golden locks of hair were ruffled from all the movement, and Kaelsu carefully pushed the hair together to try to maintain it.
Azadeus looked cute, he'd never looked so innocent. Cheeks red, and ever so slightly puffy. Ears flickered as Kaelsu's breath tickled the fluffy tips.
Before he realised it, he was beside him and already wrapping his arms around the sleeping form who'd instinctively curled up to allow for room.
They stayed like this for a minute. Even though Kaelsu was just a character, the player behind it could feel the warmth. Yet, why did it still feel empty? It wasn't enough.
"I believe you," Kaelsu whispered gently.
He could feel shifting in his arms, Azadeus tried to sit up but he kept a tight grip on him. He knew he was going to fight back, but there was no chance he was letting this end so soon. Then thrashing panic in his arms, while only momentary, it took all his strength to keep him calm.
"Calm down," he spoke, trying to keep his voice soft.
He felt Azadeus continue to squirm, he wasn't sure why he wouldn't let him go any more. He wanted to pet him. "K– Hah…What are you doing?"
"Restoring stamina," he blatantly lied. He couldn't tell him that he was too cute to watch suffer in whatever nightmare he was trapped in. "You talk a lot in your sleep."
Ah, he sort of wished he never said that, but it did stop him from trying to escape. Either that, or he just tired himself out again. They exchanged a few more words while Kaelsu softly ran his hands through his hair-like fur. His fur looked so soft just like his pale skin.
He listened as Azadeus talked about the beeping. He tried to think about what it was. His character paused his actions for a moment, as the player behind the screen took a minute to stretch while he thought. His arms were bent and supported the back of his head as he leaned back on his chair.
"Beeping…" Kang Min said out loud to his empty room.
"What kind of beeping?" He typed in game.
Azadeus only responded with, "It feels like my heartbeat is on a microphone."
Kaelsu thought it was weird. What does that even mean?
…
He scrolled through news pages, and out of curiosity checked for any recent accidents. There were a few, but none of them stood out. He'd already logged off the game an hour ago. It was an uneventful day in the game and Kaelsu felt too distracted from their earlier conversation. He completed his blur of a routine: completing dailies, attempting challenges and feeding his pets.
But one thing weighed on his mind, like if he were trying to swim against a relentless current. The beeping.
There was also the mention of the name 'Foxseo' too. Was this person his previous summoner?
Normally, he'd brush off a weird comment like that. He wasn't the type of person to get involved with other people's business. However, he really felt some sort of companionship with Azadeus. Despite the hurls of verbal abuse, and attempts at attacks, he couldn't help but feel magnetised the golden-haired Jiuweihu.
If he was right – and he really hoped he wasn't – what Azadeus could be describing was something like a heart monitor. Just like what they use in hospitals. When someone's life is on the brink of life and death.
It was coming close to the middle of the night, and sitting reading his luminous screen in the dark caused his eyes to strain harshly. He didn't know enough about his pet to figure out if any of these could be him. He read the headline of '29-year-old hospitalised after being bitten by vicious animal', and then another one popped up 'Man arrested after suspected murder of 17-year-old'.
His heart sank. What if he'd really died?
There's no way, right?