At the word “yesterday,” Yoonjo’s face flushed bright red. Yoonjo’s mouth opened and closed before he brought his hand down on Seonwoo’s shoulder.
“Ah, hyung!”
“Ugh…!”
It looked like a small fist, but the force of the blow was beyond imagination. Seonwoo’s knee buckled slightly and the strength left his arms. He nearly dropped Yoonjo for a moment, but Seonwoo managed to hold him and muttered in a somewhat deflated voice.
“If I get hit twice, my bones really will break….”
Yoonjo glared at him, but Seonwoo pretended not to notice and started walking. Fortunately, Yoonjo stayed obediently nestled in Seonwoo’s arms.
Yoonjo, who had been lying still under the blanket, gripped it a bit tighter as his bottom touched the chair. Buried deep in the blanket, Yoonjo looked like a squirrel preparing for winter hibernation.
After rolling his eyes for a moment, Yoonjo wiggled his toes. The inside of the blanket, where he wore nothing at all, felt incredibly empty.
Naturally, last night flashed through his mind. Yoonjo’s face turned bright red again. Yoonjo pulled the blanket over to hide his face and held his breath tight.
It felt like if he made one wrong move, all these emotions would come pouring out. Yoonjo lowered his head and squirmed around, trying to get far away from Seonwoo.
“…Yoonjo-ya?”
For just being embarrassed behavior, something felt strangely off. Seonwoo carefully knelt down in front of Yoonjo and matched his eye level.
“By any chance, yesterday… were you uncomfor—”
“No!”
Yoonjo stuck his face out from between the blankets and shouted passionately while clasping Seonwoo’s hands. His face was burning so red it couldn’t get any redder.
“It’s because I like you! Because I like hyung! Now I can say I like you anytime, anywhere, and ki… anyway, I can do that too! So why are you asking if I was uncomfortable! If I didn’t like it, you’d already be dead!”
Huffing and puffing, Yoonjo lost his words when he saw Seonwoo’s somehow relieved expression. He had no idea why he was reassured seeing this. Such a considerate person… so kind…. Yoonjo’s lips jutted out as he stared at Seonwoo.
“If you’re going to say weird things, use that time to hold my hand one more ti—”
Smack.
Lips briefly touched his cheek and pulled away. Yoonjo just blinked his eyes, then hurriedly grabbed hold of Seonwoo as he moved away. When he pulled lightly as if drawing him in, Seonwoo obediently followed the movement. Yoonjo left a kiss on Seonwoo’s smooth, white cheek.
Seonwoo let out a low laugh. Along with the pleasant resonance in his throat, Yoonjo felt his nose tip rubbing against Seonwoo’s nose tip. At that tantalizing distance of almost touching but not quite, Yoonjo leaned his body forward a bit more. Because of that, the bed sheet wrapped around his body slipped down his shoulder.
“I asked you to hold my hand though….”
“You lied, so you need to be punished.”
“Then let’s make this the punishment.”
Yoonjo lightly bit Seonwoo’s lips and let go. Because their faces were touching, he couldn’t see properly, but it probably turned red in an instant. Wanting to suddenly capture that face with his eyes, Seonwoo pulled his body back a little. Then this time Yoonjo pressed close and attached his lips.
Their gazes locked, and breathing sounds tickled their ears. Yoonjo unconsciously wrapped his arms around Seonwoo’s neck. Then the blanket that had been draped awkwardly on his arms slipped down a bit more. The mottled red marks remaining on the side of his neck were completely visible.
Several times they pressed their lips together like that, one at a time, as if revealing emotions they hadn’t been able to express. Once became twice, and finally when it became too many to count, Yoonjo let out the breath he’d been holding.
Before he knew it, his body was floating in the air. Clinging to Seonwoo with only the blanket precariously draped around his waist as the sole means of covering his body. If Seonwoo let go of the hands holding his waist, he would fall right down.
Toward Yoonjo who was breathing heavily, Seonwoo asked quietly.
“…Do you happen to have plans with a friend today?”
“If I do, hah…. What if I do?”
“I’m telling you that even if you do, you won’t be able to go.”
It was a voice so low it scratched, enough to raise goosebumps. Yoonjo unconsciously pursed his lips and held his breath. On his protruding lips, Seonwoo pressed kisses, smack, smack, continuously tapping. After doing it several times, Yoonjo’s lips naturally opened.
The tongue that slid in was slick and hot. Yoonjo pressed his body even closer to Seonwoo and tensed his whole body. Then in an instant, Seonwoo’s tongue withdrew. At that regret, Yoonjo unconsciously stuck out his tongue a little.
“They said you’re a fast learner….”
Along with his muttering words, Seonwoo smiled and pulled Yoonjo in tightly. He thoroughly entangled the red tongue that came out to meet him and stirred inside Yoonjo’s mouth. Each time he did, Yoonjo let out sounds knowingly or unknowingly and tensed his hands. He was still holding his breath.
There’s a lot to teach. Muttering inwardly, Seonwoo sneakily pulled down the blanket covering Yoonjo’s waist. A heavy sound hit the floor, and the bed swayed softly.
***
Opening his eyes before the morning sun even touched the horizon, Yoonjo entered the bathroom as usual. Patting his slightly stiff lower back, Yoonjo stopped for a moment when he stood in front of the mirror. Unlike what he usually saw, the left side of his chest was reddish.
Looking at the marks left along with bite marks, Yoonjo unconsciously caressed that spot with his fingertips. At the tingling sensation he felt afterward, last night’s events flashed through his mind.
‘I should bite here a lot.’
‘Hold on tight, Yoonjo-ya.’
His face flushed hot. Yoonjo, who had sat down and flailed about, jumped up. He examined his body meticulously in the mirror. Then he stomped his feet on the floor and let out a silent scream.
When washing, when brushing his teeth, even when eating—Yoonjo stomped his feet at every opportunity. It was because of memories from last night that came to him whenever he was about to forget. Yoonjo showed a different expression when it came time to choose clothes.
Rummaging through the closet, Yoonjo made a tearful face. No matter how much he looked, there were no clothes worth wearing. Then he flinched at a kiss landing on his shoulder.
“What are you looking for.”
“…Clothes. A turtleneck….”
It might seem odd to want a turtleneck in the hot summer, but Yoonjo was more serious than ever. That was because red marks densely filled his neck, shoulders, and chest without exception.
At first, he was embarrassed. Next, thinking that the marks on his body were left by Seonwoo made his heart flutter. Finally, he faced a realistic problem.
On the weekend when Seonwoo and Yoonjo were stuck together the whole time, there was no need to worry, but the problem was Monday. If he wore his usual light short-sleeved outfit, the marks on his neck would definitely show completely.
Honestly speaking, Yoonjo was the type to think marks on his neck were no big deal, but he still knew that much—that they shouldn’t be visible on the outside. It was the result of sex education that Huiwon had given him until he was sick of it.
“Hmm… it doesn’t seem that bad.”
Having said that, Seonwoo lowered his head to Yoonjo’s nape where red petals had settled. Smack, smack. He pressed kisses and quietly breathed in Yoonjo’s scent while hugging him from behind. It was like the scent of blankets well-dried under the sun. As Seonwoo rubbed the skin with his lips as if feeling soft fuzz, he suddenly noticed Yoonjo not moving at all.
“Why.”
At the subtle question, Yoonjo’s fingertips trembled. Yoonjo, who held Seonwoo’s arms around his waist as if embracing them, lowered his head.
“Just. Because I like it.”
Yoonjo fiddled with Seonwoo’s hand then sneakily lifted it up. After just staring at the hand with his head lowered for a while, Yoonjo finally moved. He pressed firmly on the back of his hand like stamping a seal, then bit it with his teeth.
“I stamped it well, so now hyung is mine.”
At the grumbling voice, Seonwoo let out a slight laugh. Cute enough to want to put in his mouth in one bite, so cute. He still found it strange where such a creature appeared from. He raised the captured hand a bit higher.
“Then I should become Yoonjo’s from now on.”
Along with the ending words, he kissed the back of Yoonjo’s hand and reached out to rummage through his clothes.
“Even though I’m Yoonjo’s, I can’t make you skip school…. Hmm…. It might be a little big, but try this on.”
It was a thin short-sleeved turtleneck made of knit. Seonwoo slipped the clothes over Yoonjo’s face. After quietly observing Yoonjo’s eyes, Seonwoo soon averted his gaze. Fortunately, they weren’t as swollen as he’d thought. Unknowingly letting out a sigh of relief, he adjusted Yoonjo’s clothes and asked.
“It’s hot, so I think you could just wear what you usually wear. Why are you suddenly looking for a turtleneck?”
“Ah… that. It’s nothing else, but Huiwon said before. Visible marks… what was it… socially acceptable norms… they shouldn’t be shown on the outside. Pretty old-fashioned, right.”
Socially acceptable norms. At those words alone, Seonwoo narrowed his eyes slightly. Certainly, the other day too, he’d said ridiculous things about how socially acceptable pretty people should go on bottom or something.
“How socially acceptable pretty people should go on bottom, and all that.”
“Right! But um… um…. Hyung is okay. Cool and pretty… anyway, you’re Ji Yoonjo’s man who does everything.”
“I’m honored.”
Seonwoo responded like that and kissed near Yoonjo’s eyes. He lightly touched Yoonjo’s nape, now covered without gaps, as if regretful. Then he opened his mouth as if it were nothing.
“This friend Huiwon… did you meet at university? Or Namhang?”
“Seoul, of course. I’m the youngest person in Namhang. Uh… anyway, I’m close with Huiwon. Me, Seonghyeon, and Huiwon, the three of us. Ah! That… I mentioned before when picking melons in the field. I said I have a friend in a club. That’s Huiwon.”
“Aha… really?”
“Yeah.”
Seonwoo lightly touched Yoonjo’s earlobe and narrowed his eyes. In other words, it meant that the bastard called ‘Huiwon’ was the one who instilled ideas that were half right and half strange.
“The friend who told you to live alone was also him.”
“Right. But even when I ask why I should live alone, he won’t answer. Still, thanks to Huiwon, I see the world differently….”
“Other men’s names keep coming out of Yoonjo’s mouth….”
Seonwoo, who slightly sharpened his nails, poked his earlobe not painfully. Yoonjo looked at Seonwoo like that with wide eyes. This… could it be….
