# Chapter 141
“Ah, I feel so cheated. To think I’ve been missing out on something this good all this time…”
Taking advantage of the brief moment their lips parted, Mo Eunje voiced his complaint. Just thinking that if he hadn’t mustered up the courage until the end, he might have died without knowing something this good—it felt incredibly unfair. Tae Igyeol chuckled softly, gently brushing Mo Eunje’s hair with an affectionate touch as he responded quietly.
“I’m the one who should feel cheated. You’ve had dating experience, so you must have done this before.”
“Why would I mess around with someone I couldn’t take responsibility for? I only dated once a week at most, and all my relationships ended before reaching 100 days. If I had done anything, wouldn’t that make me a total jerk?”
“…That sounds like you’ve never done anything before.”
“I had my first kiss with you, what are you talking about?”
“Your first kiss… was with me?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Not wanting to answer further, Mo Eunje pressed his lips against Tae Igyeol’s. He pulled his body closer, which he had briefly moved away, embracing him tightly until their legs became entangled. And not long after their lips met, Mo Eunje suddenly noticed something strange firmly pressing against his abdomen and pushed Tae Igyeol away in panic.
“Hey, why are you… just from kissing…”
“Because we kissed.”
“No, I mean, why would you… just from kissing…”
So flustered by the explicit physical reaction, Mo Eunje couldn’t even finish his sentence. But Tae Igyeol, revealing his desire with deeply immersed eyes, brazenly replied.
“If you allow it, I’ll take things further.”
“What do you mean ‘further,’ you crazy bastard?”
“Isn’t it natural to want to do more with the person you love? How does that make me crazy?”
While in his mind, Mo Eunje had imagined doing all sorts of lewd and wild things with Tae Igyeol, facing the reality made him suddenly fearful. Since this was just their first day, the progress allowed for Mo Eunje was strictly limited to kissing. Just thinking beyond that made his breathing quicken.
“The others are in the living room. Get a grip.”
“So if they weren’t here, I could go further?”
Tae Igyeol asked so seriously in his low voice that Mo Eunje couldn’t figure out how to respond.
“Well… why are you asking?”
“If you give me permission, I’ll throw those guys out the window and come back.”
“Stop talking about throwing people. No. Even without them here, what’s not allowed is not allowed. You clearly agreed to take things slowly at my pace.”
It wasn’t that Mo Eunje didn’t want to. He was a man too, with desires, and wanted to do absolutely everything a couple could do in bed without exception. But having justified his inappropriate feelings, he had to maintain at least some conscience. Waiting another month would be difficult but not impossible.
“Mo Eunje. Why don’t you just dry me up and kill me instead?”
“You won’t die from not doing lewd things for a while.”
“Haah… I’m going crazy here.”
“This is only our first day. We have plenty of time ahead of us.”
“So how long am I supposed to just keep kissing?”
“…Until after we return from summer vacation.”
Faced with the prospect of meeting both sets of parents, Mo Eunje didn’t have the courage to do more with Tae Igyeol. He felt that after doing such things, he’d be too uncomfortable to look the adults in the eye. Even if he abandoned his conscience, he wanted to complete the immediate schedule before proceeding. Since Mo Eunje didn’t have as thick a skin as Tae Igyeol, he resorted to rationalization to make himself feel a little less uncomfortable.
Without needing a detailed explanation, Tae Igyeol tenderly kissed Mo Eunje’s forehead as if understanding everything. Then he revealed his sincere feelings.
“Keep your promise. Until we return from vacation, I’ll hold back no matter what, but after we get back, don’t stop me no matter what I do.”
“Okay. I’ll look forward to it.”
“Look forward to it… Fuck…”
Suddenly, Tae Igyeol withdrew his arm from under Mo Eunje’s neck, lay flat on his back, and covered his face with both hands. His ears and nape had turned bright red, though Mo Eunje couldn’t tell exactly what he was thinking.
Oh shit…
“No giant imagination allowed.”
Despite Mo Eunje’s firm warning, the redness of Tae Igyeol’s skin showed no signs of returning to its original color. Seeing his hands and wrists turning bright red as well, Mo Eunje burst out laughing. But the parade of thoughts in his mind wasn’t all that different from Tae Igyeol’s.
&
His neatly settled eyelashes trembled and fluttered. His hand tightened around something cool that he was gripping. Thinking that he must have fallen asleep at some point after repeatedly kissing Tae Igyeol to the point of exhaustion throughout the early morning, he blinked his heavy eyelids a few times with effort before slowly lifting them. The first thing that filled his vision was a strikingly handsome face. Light-colored eyes were gazing at Mo Eunje with affection.
“Ah, what the—you startled me.”
It was natural to be surprised when he woke up to find someone staring intently at him. Although sleeping flat on his back while facing the ceiling was most comfortable, Mo Eunje had changed his sleeping position and was lying on his side, holding Tae Igyeol’s cool hand. Tae Igyeol, who was staring at him while lying down with his other hand between his head and the pillow, slightly curved his eyes.
Was his smile always this softly beautiful? No, before that—did he even know how to smile with such languid, sunshine-like eyes?
Before he could resolve the questions that invaded his half-asleep mind, he heard a sweet, deep voice.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Why are you staring at someone who’s sleeping? It’s embarrassing. Go look at your beloved stocks.”
“I like you more than stocks.”
“Ah… Yeah, okay. I get it, but still, try looking at something more nutritious like your stocks.”
Hearing such a straightforward confession made Mo Eunje feel awkward, so he let go of the hand he was holding and brushed his cheek. After kissing all through the early morning, Tae Igyeol’s lips were slightly swollen and flushed. Mo Eunje guessed his own lips must look similar, when Tae Igyeol’s large hand approached to fix his disheveled hair.
“Today’s Saturday. And the market’s heading into a downturn, so I’m taking a break from stocks for a while.”
“…Hey, it’s a bit awkward with you staring at me like that when I just woke up.”
“It’s not like it’s the first or second time, so what’s the big deal?”
“Huh? What do you mean it’s not the first or second time? Have you been watching me like this every time I sleep?”
“Yeah, until you wake up. When else could I look at you with peace of mind except when you’re sleeping in my bed?”
Realizing how much Tae Igyeol must have yearned alone during all the time Mo Eunje pretended not to know his feelings made his heart ache. He was about to tell him to look as much as he wanted now, but he pressed his lips together instead. If he said that, he knew Tae Igyeol would literally stare at his face all the time.
“What time is it?”
He asked while rubbing his sticky eyes with his hand. With the blackout curtains blocking outside light and only a soft mood light on, it was hard to gauge the time. Tae Igyeol pulled out the hand that was between his head and the pillow to check the time.
“Almost 11 o’clock.”
“Where are the others?”
“Woke them up at 7 and kicked them out.”
Tae Igyeol slightly raised his head, supporting it with his palm as he looked down at Mo Eunje. Although he hadn’t seen it, Mo Eunje could clearly imagine how much Ban Hajun and Gye Minho must have complained and grumbled when they were forced to wake up while suffering from hangovers. But Tae Igyeol, whose sole purpose was to drive them out, would have ignored them without even blinking.
“Then… um, want to go on a date?”
“What… did you say we should do?”
If only he could understand the first time, but Tae Igyeol blinked his eyes as if he’d heard something strange and deliberately asked for confirmation. Well, until now, Tae Igyeol and Mo Eunje had been friends who normally just hung out together rather than dating. But now that their relationship had progressed, this too was a word they had to get used to. Mo Eunje moved his lips, then grinned and said nonchalantly:
“A date. Let’s have our first date today.”
Though he spoke casually as if it were nothing, Mo Eunje’s shoulders hunched up at his own words.
“Damn, that’s so cheesy. I feel like I’m going to die from the awkwardness. Let’s just wash up and go out to eat. I’ll buy you something delicious.”
He spoke rapidly like he was rapping, then escaped from the bed as if running away. His ears, nape, and even his back were turning bright red in real-time as he entered the bathroom attached to the bedroom.
Tae Igyeol remained frozen like a statue until the bathroom door slammed shut. After a few seconds, as he came to his senses, he flopped back on the bed, looking at the ceiling, and ran his hands over his face. Mo Eunje had asked him out on a date. He couldn’t help but smile.
Mo Eunje, who had said they should just wash up and go out to eat, stood in front of the mirror wearing only a pair of purple drawers, trying on different clothes and deliberating extensively. Usually, he didn’t pay much attention to his hairstyle and let it flow naturally, but today he had even applied wax to neatly brush it back. With his smooth forehead exposed, he looked somewhat different, and it was obvious he had put a lot of effort into his appearance. Anyone could tell he was going on a first date with someone he wanted to impress.
“Which one looks better?”
He held a yellow short-sleeved T-shirt and an orange short-sleeved T-shirt alternately below his neck, asking Tae Igyeol. Tae Igyeol, who had already finished preparing for their outing and was leaning against the dressing room doorway, hurriedly lifted his gaze that had been lingering somewhere below.
“Both are pretty.”
“That’s obvious. With a coat hanger as artistic as me, what wouldn’t look pretty? But look more carefully. One must be prettier than the other.”
“What pants are you going to wear? Depending on the pants, one of those two might—”
“Ah! That would be perfect!”
While Tae Igyeol was seriously expressing his opinion, Mo Eunje tossed aside the T-shirts he was holding and snapped his fingers. Then he pulled out a chaotic, psychedelic T-shirt with vividly mixed primary colors that Tae Igyeol had brought as a gift from New Orleans. Standing in front of the mirror, he put his arms through the sleeves and pulled it over his head, but the fit was so loose that his snug purple drawers were almost visible.
