Chapter 27 — Chaerin’s “Accidental” Sleepover

The aftermath of Yuri’s "Cleaning Day" had left Han Jae-in’s apartment smelling of clinical lavender and psychological warfare. It was now 10:30 PM, an hour where the city of Seiren usually began to settle into a low-light hum, but inside Jae-in’s studio, the air was vibrating with a specific, high-frequency desperation.

Min Chaerin had not left.

She was currently sitting on the edge of his bed, her shoes kicked off, her toes digging into the carpet that Yuri had vacuumed with surgical precision just hours before. She was clutching a lukewarm cup of tea, and her eyes were fixed on the window with a look of practiced, fragile exhaustion.

"I just... I feel so dizzy, Jae-in-ah," Chaerin whispered, her voice a soft, melodic tremble. "The stress of the mid-terms, and then seeing Yuri-unnie being so... intense today. My head is just spinning. I don't think I can walk home. What if I faint on the tram?"

Inside Jae-in’s head, the noise of her thoughts was a torrential downpour of calculated vulnerability.

'Stay here. Stay here. Stay here,' Chaerin’s internal voice chanted in a rhythmic, obsessive loop. 'If I leave now, the lavender smell will take over. I have to stay long enough to overwrite her. If I sleep in this bed, even just on the edge, it becomes our bed. The "dizzy" play is a classic. He can’t kick a sick girl out. He’s too kind. He’s too soft. He’s my soft, sweet Jae-in who belongs in this room with me.'

Jae-in stood by the kitchenette, holding his own mug, his face a mask of weary resignation. He knew she was lying. He could hear the lie—it sounded like a scratched record playing a love song at double speed.

"The tram stop is only a three-minute walk, Chaerin," Jae-in said, his voice flat. "And you ate three of those chocolate bears. Your blood sugar should be fine."

"It’s not my sugar, it’s my heart!" Chaerin cried, dramatically pressing a hand to her chest. 'It’s beating so fast because I’m so close to him. He’s so mean when he tries to be logical. It’s adorable. I’ll just stay until he gives up. Persistence is the highest form of romance.'

Before Jae-in could respond, his phone vibrated on the counter. The screen lit up with a notification that felt like a cold splash of water.

[Yuri: I noticed through the smart-lock log that your door hasn't been engaged for departure in three hours. Is the 'Optimization' meeting still in progress? I’ve prepared a sleep-hygiene checklist for you. Please review.]

The thought-stream associated with the text hit him like a physical weight. Yuri was miles away in her own high-end apartment, but her presence was a digital ghost in the room.

'Three hours,' Yuri’s mental voice rumbled from the distance. 'Subject Chaerin is still present. She is encroaching on the designated rest period. If the door does not log a departure within thirty minutes, I will initiate a "welfare check" phone call. I will not allow the environment I sanitized to be compromised by prolonged exposure to chaotic variables.'

Jae-in stared at the phone. He was trapped between a girl who was physically occupying his bed and a girl who was digitally occupying his schedule.

"Is that her?" Chaerin asked, her eyes narrowing. She stood up, her "dizziness" momentarily forgotten as she stalked toward the counter. "Is she checking up on you? Does she think she’s your mother? Or your warden?"

'DON'T ANSWER HER,' Chaerin’s mind screamed. 'IGNORE THE LOGIC. LOOK AT ME. I’M RIGHT HERE. I’M WARM. SHE’S JUST BITS AND BYTES.'

"It’s just... university stuff," Jae-in lied, but he knew it was futile.

"Liars get punished," Chaerin teased, but her internal monologue was anything but playful. 'She’s trying to pull him away even when she’s not here. I have to win tonight. I have to escalate. If I fall asleep here "by accident," the social contract changes. Once we share a night, we share a life.'

"Jae-in-ah," Chaerin said, her voice dropping to a low, suggestive purr. She stepped into his personal space, the scent of strawberry lotion overwhelming the lavender. "I’m really, really tired. Just let me rest for a bit. You can sit next to me. It helps my anxiety. Just... proximity. That’s all I need."

'LIAR,' Jae-in thought, but his body was already moving. He was conflict-avoidant by nature, and the sheer volume of her needy thoughts was starting to wear down his resistance. He sat on the edge of the bed, and Chaerin immediately collapsed against his side, her head landing on his shoulder.

The ecchi-comedy tension in the room spiked. The bed was small—a standard studio twin—and with Chaerin clinging to his arm, there was nowhere for Jae-in to go. He could feel the curve of her body, the warmth of her breath against his neck, and the frantic, rhythmic thumping of her heart.

'YES,' Chaerin’s mind exploded in a firework display of triumph. 'Skinship achieved. Heart-rate synchronization: 80%. He’s so warm. He’s not pushing me away. He wants this. He’s just too shy to admit it. I’ll just close my eyes... I’ll just pretend to drift off... and then it’s official.'

Jae-in stared at the wall. He could feel the "Accidental Sleepover" protocol being engaged.

Suddenly, a new sound echoed from the hallway outside. It wasn't a knock. It was a faint, metallic click—the sound of someone leaning against the doorframe.

'Return time noted,' Hana’s thoughts drifted through the wood, as sharp and clear as a winter morning. 'Subject Chaerin has entered the "nesting" phase. Target Jae-in is in a state of passive compliance. I will remain at the secondary observation post. If Subject Yuri arrives for her "welfare check," I will intercept. No one disturbs his rest. Even if he is resting with a nuisance.'

Jae-in’s eyes widened. Hana was right outside. He was currently in a room with one girl on his arm, one girl on his phone, and one girl in the hallway. He was the center of a three-way siege.

His phone vibrated again.

[Yuri: Jae-in, you haven't responded. I am beginning to suspect the 'lavender' aroma might have been too potent, causing respiratory lethargy. I am five minutes away. I’m bringing a portable air purifier.]

'Liar,' Jae-in thought again, this time directed at Yuri. 'You just want to catch her here.'

'Five minutes,' Yuri’s mind echoed. 'I will find her there. I will frame it as a concern for his health. I will legally and socially dismantle her "accident" with the precision of a scalpel.'

Chaerin, sensing the shift in Jae-in’s posture, clung tighter. She had started to actually doze off, her breathing slowing, but her internal voice remained a high-speed engine of possessiveness. 'Don't move. Stay. Stay. Stay. We’re in our own world. Just us. And his bed. And our future.'

"Chaerin," Jae-in whispered, his voice cracking. "Yuri is coming. You really need to go."

"Mmm... no... five more minutes," Chaerin murmured, her lips brushing his collarbone. 'If I’m asleep, she can’t move me. It’s a law of nature. A sleeping girl is a sacred object. Even a Vice President can’t touch a sacred object.'

The minutes ticked by like a countdown to a nuclear meltdown. Jae-in sat frozen, his arm going numb under Chaerin’s weight, his eyes fixed on the door. He could hear Yuri’s heels clicking on the pavement outside the building. He could hear Hana’s breathing in the hall. He could hear the chaotic, sweet, terrifying loops of Chaerin’s dreams.

'He smells like home,' Chaerin thought in her half-sleep. 'He smells like the day we promised to get married when we were six. He doesn't remember, but I do. I remember everything. I’ve stored every second of him in my heart. He’s the only thing that makes the world stop screaming.'

The sheer sincerity of her warped love hit Jae-in with a wave of guilt. He hated himself for the tiny spark of warmth he felt in his chest. He hated that being wanted this intensely—even by someone insane—felt better than the empty silence of his old life.

Click.

The smart-lock on his door engaged. Yuri didn't knock. She used the override code she had "assigned" herself for "maintenance emergencies."

The door swung open.

Yuri stood in the doorway, the portable air purifier in her hand like a weapon of war. She looked at the scene: Jae-in sitting on the bed, Chaerin draped across him, half-clothed in his oversized hoodie that she had "borrowed" from the closet Yuri had just organized.

The silence in the room was absolute. The only thing louder was the psychic roar in Jae-in’s head.

'PHYSICAL BREACH,' Yuri’s thoughts were a red-line alarm. 'SUBJECT CHAERIN HAS OCCUPIED THE PRIMARY REST SURFACE. NON-COHABITATION AGREEMENT VIOLATED. INITIATING DISPLACEMENT PROTOCOLS. I SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT THE DISINFECTANT.'

"Jae-in," Yuri said, her voice a calm, terrifying arctic breeze. "I see the 'dizziness' was more severe than anticipated. I’ve called a taxi for Chaerin. It’s waiting downstairs. I’ve already paid the fare and tipped the driver to ensure a swift departure."

Chaerin’s eyes snapped open. She didn't look tired anymore. She looked like a cat that had been doused in cold water.

"You!" Chaerin hissed, sitting up but keeping her hand firmly locked around Jae-in’s bicep. "You have no right! This is Jae-in’s house! We’re... we’re having a moment!"

"A moment of 'respiratory lethargy,' perhaps," Yuri replied, stepping into the room and placing the air purifier on the desk. She began to plug it in, her movements rhythmic and terrifyingly controlled. "Jae-in has a 9:00 AM seminar. His REM cycles are already behind schedule. You are an inefficiency, Chaerin. Please collect your strawberry-scented belongings and vacate the premises."

'I’ll drag her out by her hair if I have to,' Yuri’s mind whispered. 'But I’ll do it with a smile. I’ll make it look like I’m helping her into the cab. I’ll tell the driver she’s intoxicated. Social neutralization is the most efficient path.'

"I’m not going!" Chaerin shouted, turning to Jae-in. "Jae-in-ah, tell her! Tell her I’m staying! We were just about to fall asleep together! Like we used to!"

'WE NEVER DID THAT,' Jae-in’s mind screamed, but his mouth stayed shut.

The two girls glared at each other over his lap. The ecchi-comedy reached its peak as Chaerin tried to pull Jae-in back down onto the pillows, while Yuri grabbed his other hand to "check his pulse" for stress.

"His heart rate is elevated," Yuri noted. 'Because of you. You are a cardiac stressor.'

"His heart is beating for me!" Chaerin countered. 'Because he loves the thrill of our secret night!'

In the hallway, Hana’s thoughts reached a crescendo of tactical boredom. 'Conflict escalating. Both subjects are currently compromising the target’s rest. Decision: Intervention is required to ensure total silence.'

Suddenly, the lights in the apartment flickered and died.

"What?" Yuri gasped.

'The fuse box,' Hana’s mind rumbled. 'I have disengaged the power. In darkness, the visual competition ceases. Silence will follow.'

In the pitch-black room, the thoughts of the girls became even more vivid. Without the distraction of sight, Jae-in could feel every spike of their emotions.

'He can’t see me, but he can feel me,' Chaerin thought, her hands fumbling in the dark to find his face. 'This is better. In the dark, we’re the only two people in the world.'

'Tactical disadvantage,' Yuri thought, her breath hitching. 'I cannot manage what I cannot see. I must find the flashlight I placed in drawer two. Drawer two. Far right. Efficiency must prevail even in the void.'

Jae-in sat in the center of the darkness, one girl’s hands on his cheeks, the other girl’s hand on his wrist, and a third girl guarding the door in the hall.

He realized then that he wouldn't be sleeping tonight. He realized that "accident" or "schedule," his life was no longer his own. He was a shared resource, a territory to be occupied and defended.

"Jae-in-ah," Chaerin whispered in the dark. "Don't let her take me away."

"Jae-in," Yuri’s voice came from the other side. "I’ve found the flashlight. The order will be restored."

'The power will stay off until I am certain they are both exhausted,' Hana’s mind finalized.

Jae-in closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the headboard. He listened to the three of them—the delusion, the control, and the protection. It was a suffocating, warm, and utterly insane blanket.

"I just... I just want to go to sleep," he whispered to the darkness.

'With me,' Chaerin thought. 'Under my supervision,' Yuri corrected. 'In my sight,' Hana concluded.