Why am I stranded in this shitty Island again? chapter 41

“Hyung! Did you see?”

“See what?”

“Senior Ha Minseong went into the caravan with Dohyeon hyung.”

While Minhyuk and Jisoo, who didn’t get a date coupon, were lounging on the terrace, Taeoh came rushing in excitedly. Jisoo, too tired to argue, didn’t even react to Taeoh calling their senior “hyung.”

“So what?”

“Aren’t they going to do something inside?”

“Ah… Too bad.”

Unlike the nonchalant Jisoo, Minhyuk seemed more disappointed, leaning on the terrace railing and staring at the lit caravan.

“Didn’t you like Dansol, hyung? Have you changed your mind?”

Taeoh asked expectantly, but Minhyuk shook his head.

“It’s not that… I thought of using it as a cat house since no one’s using it. It’s getting colder.”

“Ha, seriously… Is this a dating show or an animal farm? If you feel so bad, why don’t you take the cat in?”

“Can I really?”

“Why are you asking me? Ask the island owner.”

“Oh, right…”

Disappointed by the silly conversation, Taeoh mumbled to Minhyuk.

“But… Senior seems to like slightly rude omegas. How can he have such a fixed type?”

At Taeoh’s words, Jisoo’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Taeoh.”

“Yes…”

“Hyung’s sleeping.”

“Uh… Uh?! Hyung! Can I really call you hyung now? Huh? Jisoo hyung?”

Jisoo regretted his slip of the tongue.

As soon as Taeoh heard this, he started calling him hyung like someone afflicted by an illness.

“Ah! I get it, but if you call me hyung one more time, I’ll push you off right here.”

“Yes! Hyung!”

“Ha… damn…”

“Hyung! But I have one more question, can I ask just one more thing?”

“What is it?”

“…Why did you break up with Minseong hyung?”

Even Minhyuk, who usually remained calm and unbothered by most things, turned to look at Jisoo upon hearing this bold question.

Jisoo thought it wasn’t worth answering, but when he heard Yudohyun and Ha Minseong coming out of the caravan, he changed his mind.

“Taeoh, are you really curious about that?”

Taeoh nodded nervously as Jisoo lowered his voice. Before they knew it, Minhyuk had also sat close to Jisoo.

Jisoo lowered his voice even more and spoke in a small tone that only they could hear.

“Ha Minseong can’t get it up.”

“Gasp!”

“Oh… wow…”

“Only you guys should know this.”

Taeoh and Minhyuk nodded vigorously at Jisoo’s words.

***

When Jisoo came down from the terrace, Dansol and Daesoo had just returned to Chunmong Pavilion from an outing.

Daesoo had a white rabbit doll by his side, and Dansol held a grotesque-looking doll in his arms.

“I’ll carry it now. Please give it to me, Senior.”

Dansol had already had a few glasses of soju, mesmerized by the taste of catfish stew he was having for the first time. His slightly drunken voice sounded cute.

When Daesoo handed the rabbit to Dansol, his arms were full of dolls.

“Did you visit a dollhouse?”

“Oh! Jisoo hyung! This is for you!”

“Uh… huh?”

“Daesoo Senior won it by getting first place at the shooting range.”

“What is this?”

Jisoo asked Daesoo with a disgusted expression, as if he didn’t even want to touch it.

“It’s a penis fish. You like penis fishs, don’t you?”

That’s when they’re a food. Jisoo cursed inwardly.

“Hyung… don’t you like it?”

Dansol’s big eyes sparkled, fearing that Daesoo’s effort to win it might be wasted. Jisoo, who was endlessly weak to Dansol, reluctantly accepted the penis fish doll.

“No, of course not. I like anything you give me, Sol.”

“I knew it! I was worried about what you’d do without your comfort doll while I was gone.”

“…Yeah… thanks, Sol.”

Jisoo, feeling humiliated, hurried inside with the doll.

At that moment, Taeoh and Minhyuk were coming down from the upper floor.

“Jisoo hyung! What’s that? That’s too much! I’m an idol!”

“Could it be… modeled after that?”

“Guys…”

Dansol, now blocking Jisoo’s path, scolded them.

“Stop teasing him! This is Jisoo hyung’s comfort doll!”

“No… Sol, it’s just that I…”

“Wow… I see…”

Between the embarrassed Jisoo, the wide-mouthed Taeoh, and the inexplicably admiring Minhyuk, Yiyeon and Minseong, who had been outside, and Doohyun, who was in his room, entered one after another.

They were all speechless when they saw the grotesque penis fish doll in Jisoo’s hand.

Finding the situation amusing, Daesoo settled in to watch and began to laugh almost to tears.

“It’s not a penis! It looks like one, but it’s a penis fish! A penis fish that hasn’t been used in two years! If anyone teases Jisoo hyung about his comfort doll, they’ll have to deal with me…”

Dansol, who seemed genuinely angry, warned Taeoh and Minhyuk as he took the rabbit doll and stomped up to the second floor.

Daesoo found the situation so funny that he almost collapsed laughing. Jisoo, now resigned, hugged the penis fish doll.

***

When Dansol woke up from the penis fish incident last night, he felt strangely refreshed.

The sunlight poured in through the window, and he snuggled a bit more into the bed.

It was 7:30 in the morning, and his meeting with Yiyeon was at 10. Why couldn’t he sleep in on days like this?

However, Dansol had no intention of leaving the room. He felt that if he opened the door and went outside, the past would replay itself.

Eventually, as the meeting time approached, Dansol hurriedly put on sweatpants and a hat before heading out.

When Dansol came out to the yard to find Yiyeon, he saw him feeding snacks to the cat, Dantanji.

“You… came out early?”

Seeing Yiyeon, who had arrived first, Dansol, feeling flustered, was reassured as Yiyeon came up the steps and adjusted Dansol’s disheveled clothes.

“You seemed to drink a lot last night. Are you feeling okay?”

“Oh… yes. I’m fine.”

Dansol didn’t want to show any weakness to Yiyeon, but he felt things were off from the start.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You look pale. Should we reschedule?”

Yiyeon was meticulous about his self-care and expected others to match his standards. He was a person with OCD and would not like seeing someone unkempt like Dansol.

“You have something in your eye.”

Before Dansol could react, Yiyeon removed a sleep crust from Dansol’s eye.

His hand touched Dansol’s frozen face before he could avoid it.

Dansol had never shown such a side to Yiyeon, even before returning to the past.

He had always tried to appear perfect to match Yiyeon’s personality.

“Oh… I didn’t know where we were going. I’ll just… clean up and come back out…”

“Why? You look pretty now.”

“Oh…”

People change after going back in time. He had liked Yiyeon before, but it had been more difficult back then. The more he tried to impress, the more distant he felt.

What he thought was politeness eventually became the cause of mistrust and distance between them.

“Then… let’s just go.”

Dansol no longer wanted to try to impress him.

So, even if everything wasn’t perfectly set for Joo Dansol, he wasn’t anxious. He wasn’t nervous even if he had to wait for him, nor did he blame himself for showing his vulnerable side.

“I can see through his heart now.”

Yiyeon’s heart, which once caused him to fret and worry, was now so clear to him. And that heart no longer brought joy to Dansol.

Before the regression, Dansol wanted Yiyeon’s attention, but now, he wanted distance from him.

Only now did Dansol see Yiyeon as just another person like himself.

Someone clumsy in love, who couldn’t handle his own feelings smoothly and worried about making mistakes—just an immature person.

He couldn’t control his feelings towards Dansol now.

Yiyeon’s body leaned not forward but towards Dansol sitting next to him, anxiously pouring out questions as if afraid the conversation would end like a nervous wreck.

“Shall we eat lunch? Aren’t you hungry? No hangover?”

“I’m fine. I didn’t drink that much last night.”

“Do you like drinking? Would you drink with me?”

“But, uh… you have to drive.”

“Oh, right… .”

Conversation is a two-way street, but Dansol had no intention of continuing it.

One side was trying hard to talk, while the other side was conserving words to cut off the conversation.

Yiyeon, who never had to try to make someone happy before, was not skilled in this type of conversation.

Naturally, an awkward silence filled the car.

When Yiyeon ran out of topics and stopped asking questions, Dansol just stared out the window.

The car left Chunmong Island and headed towards downtown Seoul.

Like that day before the regression when Dansol still harbored feelings for Yiyeon.