Chapter 17: Time we don’t have
"It’s time to sleep, Eun-woo."
That answer was enough to make Eun-woo’s body tense. He squeezed his eyes shut and clutched the covers even tighter. Since his back was to Rhys, he couldn’t see the effort it took for Rhys to stay still, resisting the urge to run over and hold him.
Rhys knew exactly what he had to do: show Eun-woo who he truly was. No masks, no lies — only then could he be certain of what was starting to grow inside him, and offer the bond.
For his part, Eun-woo was getting the wrong idea. He believed Rhys was rejecting him because of his peculiar and strange nature.
Before leaving the Research Center, everything revolved around him and Rhys, Rhys and him, but since his arrival at the glass house, three more components had been added to the equation.
First up was Caelan. Of the group, he seemed closest to Rhys. They talked, joked, and laughed. They had a devastating closeness, and in a way, he understood. Apparently, Rhys’s friendship with Caelan went back years, compared to his own, which was relatively new.
Second was Jae. His friendship with Rhys was different from his with Caelan. Rhys teased Jae constantly. Eun-woo surmised that this was his way of showing affection for the boy. Still, he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly bothered him about that dynamic. Jae clearly admired both Rhys and Caelan.
And last but not least, there was Rong Ye. There was a certain air of enmity between Rhys and Rong Ye, and Eun-woo had the feeling it was because of him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he felt uncomfortable being caught between them.
Eun-woo longed to return to the days when it was just him and Rhys, where their thoughts were directed solely toward each other and nothing that didn’t involve them both mattered. At the same time, he felt like that was wrong.
He felt horrible for thinking that way because he knew part of Rhys’s happiness lay in his friendship with Caelan and Jae. Taking that away from him would be heartless, so the best thing he could do was get closer to them. Get to know them, learn their mannerisms, their flaws, and their strengths. This way, he’d feel Rhys’s closeness to the group, and the bad thoughts would cease.
But for now, he preferred to be a little selfish and hog Rhys’s attention.