It was only a moment’s time.

Holding the cigarette smoke in my mouth and breathing it out repeatedly was only a moment’s time.

That moment of time pushed me into a pit of eternal pain that I couldn’t swim out of.

[Painful Dream]

“Haa! haa… ha…”

At blue tinged daybreak, Jong Kook suddenly woke up, breaking out in cold sweat. His bare body was tense, and his face was contorted in pain as if he had dreamt a terrible nightmare.

“Why now….? I haven't had that dream for seven years..”

Jong Kook wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and slowly climbed down from the bed.

He looked out the dim window for a moment before running to the steel bar on the doorway— then as if washing away the cold sweat with exercise, proceeded to do chin ups. His toned muscles shook almost sensually. He did chin ups until his well developed muscles had reached their limit then started on curl ups on the support fixture installed in the near corner. It was an exercise he did every morning.

After curl ups were pushups, then thirty minutes on the running machine.

The job of a security guard definitely used a lot of strength, which was why he so vigorously took care of his body. Seven years of constant strenuous exercise and the work had made his body a scar-covered muscle mass with not a trace of fat to be found.

His reasons for focusing on his work so much was the obsession that he heeded to protect someone.

It had been such a long time ago he couldn’t even remember it, but he had taken that incident, one so painful it had always brought nightmares, as an opportunity and worked like a madman; and so his nightmares had ended seven years ago.

But that dream had started up again.

Having finished his workout, Jong Kook headed to the shower, and thought carefully as he washed up with cold water to cool himself off. He had never taken a leave to rest, had never been lazy; the day right after he had taken a break however, his nightmares had started again.