NPC Fell onto My Bed C17

Chapter 17

“Ah, and don’t worry,” Noah said gently, his golden pupils luminous beneath the gym lights. “Even if you use your knees a great deal today, I can heal them again afterward as much as necessary.”
“……”
“You wanted to train again, didn’t you?”

Noah smiled—softly, like the curve of sunlight over water—as he looked at Gu Taeheon. Taeheon, unable to tear his eyes away from his now perfect legs, slowly raised his head to meet Noah’s gaze.

“Noah.”
“Yes?”

At the quiet call of his name, Taeheon suddenly turned and strode across the gym. When he came back, he held something out to Noah.

“Change into this.”
“Eh? What is this?”

It was a judo uniform—the same kind Taeheon wore, only in blue.

“Judo isn’t something you can do alone.”

A faint smile tugged at Taeheon’s lips. It was so natural, Noah stood speechless, staring at it.

“That over there’s the locker room. Go change.”
“Yes…”

Still dazed, Noah gathered the uniform and headed toward the locker room. He turned the cold metal handle and opened the door; the heavy smell of sweat drifted out instantly. Looking around, he set the uniform down on a bench and began undressing carefully.

The judo uniform fit him surprisingly well. Though not new, frayed along a few seams, Noah didn’t mind. He tied the belt around his waist, mimicking how Taeheon had done it, and stepped back outside.

But the unfamiliar knot felt loose. Awkwardly pulling at it as he walked out, Noah found Taeheon approaching him in two quick strides.

“Tighten it.”
“Eh? Wh—!”

With a sharp snap, the belt cinched around his waist. Shocked at first, Noah realized then that his clothing finally looked proper—that this was how it was meant to be worn.

Once Noah’s uniform was in order, Taeheon guided him through a series of warm-ups. He knew Noah’s pale, slender body had likely never endured real training; he couldn’t risk injury now. Meanwhile, Taeheon dragged a soft mat beside him while standing on the harder floor himself.

“Noah,” he said, voice low and deliberate. “Judo is a sport where you control, not strike, your opponent.”
“Control them… without striking?”

Noah found that hard to imagine. In the world he had come from, “control” meant something else entirely.

To explain, Taeheon demonstrated. He reached into the air as though gripping an invisible figure—then spun suddenly and rolled his entire body across the floor. Thud! The sound echoed loud and deep through the gym, making Noah flinch with his eyes shut.

“So it’s the gentlest of martial arts.”

When he opened his eyes, Taeheon was already standing again, pulling down his uniform top and smiling in front of him. There was liveliness in his face—something Noah hadn’t seen before.

“Did it hurt? That was loud…”
“No. Just noisy.”

Taeheon laughed and tapped his foot lightly against the blue mat beneath them. How long had it been since he last heard that familiar hollow sound?

“Even if a one-year-old fell here, nobody’d worry—they don’t get hurt.”
“I see… What a fascinating place.”

Noah finally grasped the purpose of the mat. Kneeling to touch its surface again, he was interrupted by Taeheon’s voice.

“Noah, come here.”
“Yes?”
“Here—grab like this.”
“Like this, sir? Li—”

The instant Noah’s hand took Taeheon’s sleeve, his body soared. Air swept past him before he even realized what had happened—and then he was flat on the soft mat, staring up at the ceiling.

Blinking, he lay stunned, trying to understand how he had ended up there.

“It doesn’t hurt.”
“Eh? Y-yes!”

It didn’t hurt at all. Noah wasn’t even sure if that flight through the air had truly happened—everything had gone too fast, the technique too fluid.

“That’s judo. You can subdue someone gently—without pain, if you wish.”

Of course, it could also be painful if one intended it that way. Taeheon didn’t add that part.

And that was wise, for Noah’s eyes gleamed with clear fascination. A martial art where one could restrain another without harm—it was a new concept to him. He touched his arm thoughtfully where Taeheon had thrown him.

“Judo is… a very kind sport.”
“Kind?”
“Yes. To subdue another without hurting them—it’s the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing.”

Noah’s understanding of combat had always been different—strike, conquer, destroy, leave no chance for retaliation. In his former world, such violence was survival.

“It’s small, but… could I learn a little too?”

At that, Taeheon smiled softly once more, and Noah watched him as their brief judo lesson began.

For quite some time, the two rolled and practiced on the mat, their movements weaving together. Eventually, both lay side by side on the soft surface, staring up at the lights fixed to the ceiling.

“Mr. Taeheon.”
“…What?”
“Is this a world without stars?”

Unblinking, Noah gazed up at the bright fluorescent lights, seemingly unfazed by their glare. Taeheon turned his head toward him and answered quietly.
“Not without. It’s just too bright down here to see them.”
“I see. I’d thought this world lacked stars. In the Tyrel Forest where I lived, the night sky was always so full that the stars outnumbered the falling leaves.”

For Noah, who lived without desire, joy had meant looking at stars. Each night, he would sit before the temple, leaning against its tall columns, and look upward at the glittering expanse—eternal, constant.

Since arriving here, he had not truly seen stars again. Sometimes one appeared, unnaturally bright, but that wasn’t enough. To him, this was a world without stars.

“But seeing you on the mat tonight…”
“…”
“Felt like seeing a star.”

Noah remembered Taeheon as he moved and shone with sweat. The man had glowed, vibrant and alive in a way that mirrored the brilliance of his beloved sky.

“You shine, Mr. Taeheon.”

Was he speaking of the future—the promise that he would shine again—or of the present—that he already did? Taeheon didn’t ask. He just breathed roughly, fighting to steady himself.

“More than anyone, you shine brighter than any star I’ve seen.”

The words carved deep into Taeheon’s chest, like the trail of a meteor burning its mark into the earth. In that moment, both made silent resolutions.

Noah vowed to help the star he had found in this world shine its brightest; Taeheon, meanwhile—

“Noah.”
“Yes?”
“…Tomorrow, shall we go see the stars?”

For the first time in his life, apart from judo, this man had made his heart race so violently that he decided—he would have him.

“There’s somewhere you can see stars here?”

Noah sat up abruptly, leaning toward Taeheon. The motion disturbed his uniform; the belt loosened, and with it, the neckline fell open, revealing a glimpse of his pale, smooth chest.

Taeheon turned away immediately, unable to look. He nodded briefly.
“…Yeah.”
“I’d love that! A place in this world where I can see stars…”

Taeheon’s heart pounded wildly. He tried to calm himself, but each glance toward Noah—his sweat-dampened hair, his flushed skin—only made him turn away again, guilt edging his every breath.

Beep…

Then, suddenly, the phone Taeheon had left aside lit up and chimed. He retrieved it absentmindedly, unlocking the screen. A new message had arrived.

[Web message]
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Footnotes:

Tyrel Forest (티렐 숲, Tirel Sup) – A sacred forest from Noah’s world, representing purity and divine presence.