“…….”
Sarka’s breathing became quiet.
Ruslan hastily released the strength from his hands again, but Sarka’s dominance no longer issued any commands.
An eerie silence flowed. Ruslan gulped down his saliva.
Whoosh, Sarka’s dominance, which had been hazy, instantly surged back up to his fingertips in a flash.
Sarka seemed to suddenly realize that the body behind him was not his attendant but a stranger.
Sarka’s dominance, jolted awake from drowsiness and beginning to tense up, bristled so sensitively that Ruslan’s fingertips tingled. Ruslan could feel Sarka’s body, touching his palms, stiffen rigidly.
Ruslan, still with his hands on Sarka’s shoulders, rolled his eyes in all directions, not knowing what to do.
As his hands began to slowly pull away from Sarka’s body, Ruslan panicked.
Realizing that Sarka was about to give up on releasing his muscles out of awareness of him, Ruslan hastily blurted out.
“Y-you can keep going!”
“…….”
The moving body stopped.
Sarka remained frozen stiff, still holding his breath.
Feeling that strange tension, Ruslan, not knowing what to do, licked his lips, then stammered cautiously and murmured.
“You’re… un-uncomfortable… Make yourself comfortable.”
“…….”
Sarka didn’t move. For a moment, the only sound in the bathroom was the faint noise of water droplets flowing down from Sarka’s body and hitting the water surface.
Both boys held their breath, listening to each other’s breathing, frozen in place.
“…….”
After a long silence, Ruslan’s fingers began to move again, as if hesitating.
With a slightly hesitant movement, Sarka placed Ruslan’s fingers on his shoulders.
Ruslan noticed that the dominance dwelling within his body wasn’t filling up tightly like before, but had hazily faded as if hesitating.
Ruslan consciously drained the strength from his fingertips and waited quietly, trying to show his intention not to resist as much as possible.
Sarka, who had stopped for a moment unable to decide on an action, finally hesitantly poured his dominance into the empty space when the strength completely drained from Ruslan’s hands, as if entering a vacant spot.
Having recovered his dominance to his fingertips again, Sarka carefully moved Ruslan’s hands, pressing behind the hard muscles he had found earlier.
Ruslan realized that the force dwelling in his hands had weakened compared to before, as if conscious of Ruslan. But even with just that force, it was enough for Sarka to feel pain.
“……!”
Sarka’s body stiffened and a faint sound of his breath catching could be heard.
But now the sound didn’t spill out past his lips. Sarka seemed to be clamping his mouth shut and suppressing the sound, trying not to let Ruslan hear.
Ruslan felt unnecessarily anxious. The muscles touching his fingertips were so hard that they visibly throbbed with each breath. If not released now, he would suffer for days.
Sarka seemed to have made the same judgment. Ruslan’s fingers moved little by little, sliding back over his shoulders and beginning to feel around for the bunched muscles.
Each time Ruslan’s hands pressed down, he could hear Sarka’s breathing become suppressed and tremble, hold tight, and finally release with a faint breath as it relaxed.
Sarka seemed to be trying his best to kill the sound. That boy, who always tried not to show weakness and didn’t want to be caught having weakened, seemed to want to hide his pain as much as possible.
But despite such efforts, the fact that Sarka had weakened could be sufficiently noticed through just the sensation in his palms.
Sarka was like someone who had stones placed beneath his skin. Ruslan could feel Sarka’s back swell and curl up to suppress his sounds each time he pressed down with his hands. The twisted and bunched muscles caused shallow spasms each time they were pressed, and when sliding along their grain, his breathing trembled faintly.
Ruslan swallowed dry saliva with a pitying heart. He recalled Sarka’s face from not long ago, when he was moving his arms while laying the bound Sarka on the bed, suffering even in his unconscious state whenever his arms moved.
……Was he making that kind of face now too?
Without saying a word, Sarka just slightly bent his upper body and, with one hand gripping the edge of the bathtub, laboriously released his muscles with Ruslan’s hands.
What was fortunate, at least, was that Sarka seemed accustomed to using another person’s hands to release his own body. Sarka skillfully used Ruslan’s hands and arms like tools he had handled countless times, pressing the muscles in the exact direction.
Ruslan could feel that Sarka was becoming increasingly accustomed to handling Ruslan’s body. Ruslan’s hands made precise hand movements like a skilled massage therapist, and dispersed strength flexibly from shoulder to wrist, sweeping down over Sarka’s back.
These were movements that would have been clumsy and awkward, absolutely impossible if Ruslan tried to do them himself, but Sarka skillfully used Ruslan’s body as if handling his own body, releasing his own body.
As time passed, Ruslan could feel Sarka’s muscles, which had been bunched up hard, gradually softening.
The muscles bunched up from head and neck, shoulders and arms, to spine and waist slowly released and became flexible, and his breathing became shallow.
When Ruslan’s hands, which had entered the hot water, gripped Sarka’s bunched lower back area, the sound of a faint breath escaping from Sarka’s lips could be heard.
That breath felt more like relief than pain. As his body relaxed thanks to the hot water and massage, the tension that had been dwelling in Sarka’s body also began to faintly release.
Ruslan silently listened to the process of Sarka’s rough breathing slowly subsiding while the hot water gradually cooled to a temperature similar to body temperature.
Sarka now breathed relaxed breaths, swelling his back very slowly. Ruslan felt that his own breathing had become shallow as well before he knew it.
The muscles touching his fingertips were warm and moist, having absorbed moisture. From remaining in continuous contact, Ruslan’s body temperature had become similar to Sarka’s, and had slightly swollen from absorbing the moisture on Sarka’s skin.
Finally, Sarka let out a long breath. He seemed to have judged that his body had released to some degree.
Ruslan felt his body straighten its knees and stand up. Ruslan’s upper body, which had moved to the side of the bathtub, bent down, and his hands stretched out to touch Sarka’s wet upper body.
Sarka wrapped his arms around Ruslan’s shoulders and slowly began to rise from the bathtub. Now the flesh touching his palms wasn’t lukewarm or sticky like before, but warm and damp like freshly removed tofu.
Sarka’s waist, touching Ruslan’s palms, slid on the moisture and made a strange sound of flesh rubbing against flesh. Ruslan, somehow conscious of that sound, wanted to clear his throat or swallow once, but held back, trying not to create an awkward situation.
Sarka slowly stood up and sat on the edge of the bathtub. Ruslan’s body began to pour the water he had scooped out separately earlier slowly over Sarka’s body.
Sarka let out a light breath and rubbed his body, rinsing it with clean water. Ruslan’s body continued to move, pouring clear water little by little while changing angles downward.
Ruslan could hear the sounds of Sarka catching the water he was pouring in both hands to rub his face, and letting out light sighs as if refreshed. The sounds of water flowing down and hitting the floor and water droplets falling from Sarka’s elbows faintly echoed in the bathroom.
Finally, after rinsing his entire body, Sarka slowly exhaled a long breath like someone who had finished a difficult task.
Ruslan’s body, which had put down the basin, turned around and began to walk somewhere. There was a feeling of opening something, and a soft, dry texture touched his hands.
It must be a towel.
While Ruslan returned carrying the towel, Sarka waited, exhaling shallow breaths.
Sarka’s hands took the towel from Ruslan’s hands. While Sarka slowly dried his body with the dry towel, Ruslan stood beside him quietly listening, worried that Sarka might collapse into the bathtub or onto the floor.
Sarka definitely showed signs of fatigue. The movements of his body, languid as blood circulated, were slow, and his breathing was subdued.
As if feeling faint dizziness from sweating, Sarka dried his body very slowly, stopping and resting intermittently.
Ruslan carefully observed Sarka’s dominance dwelling within his body. When bending down to dry his legs, it briefly hazed, perhaps losing concentration while tensing up not to collapse from dizziness, but still Sarka didn’t let go of his dominance until the end. Ruslan exhaled a sigh of relief.
Ruslan’s upper body bent down again. Sarka’s arm, which had been dried but still felt moist, wrapped around his neck.
Ruslan’s palms slipped and touched Sarka’s waist. Ruslan could feel Sarka’s skin, now fluffy-feeling, wrap softly around his palms.
Sarka moved Ruslan’s body very slowly. The body, more tired than when he started the bath, was warm and languidly relaxed, wrapping around Ruslan’s body like a damp mass.
Instead of the strong flesh smell from the beginning, something like a faint soap scent wafted from Sarka. Ruslan felt warm heat and faint moisture lingering in Sarka’s breath touching his nape.
Ruslan’s body, having barely reached the couch where he had seated him earlier, sat Sarka down and stood up again.
Ruslan felt his hands, which had walked toward the bathroom entrance, open the door and fumble on the floor. Dry cloths were caught in his hands. It seemed to be Sarka’s clothes that Baigarten had brought.
While Ruslan returned, Sarka seemed to be finishing drying his hair with the towel. When Ruslan stopped, Sarka’s hands picked up the clothes.
Ruslan made tremendous efforts to detach his nerves from those sounds while Sarka slowly put on the dry clothes.
Sarka’s breathing was more languid than before, and occasionally the sound of swallowing dry saliva as if thirsty could be heard clearly. He should sing the Frükan national anthem or something.
Sarka finally finished putting on his clothes safely. Sarka stopped for a moment as if hesitating, then began to move Ruslan’s body again.
Ruslan’s hands picked up one cloth presumed to be a towel, then gripped it with both hands and moved it to chest level. Something damp touched him and began to be slowly rubbed.
Ruslan knew that his hands were finishing drying Sarka’s wet hair.
Perhaps, even though the muscles had relaxed, lifting his arms above his head or exerting force was still difficult.
Sarka sat leaning his waist against the back of the couch with his head slightly bowed, and began to dry his hair with Ruslan’s hands.
Ruslan rubbed the towel over Sarka’s round head at chest level, feeling the moisture gradually dry. Each time the fluffy strands of hair touched his fingertips, his chest felt strangely ticklish.
Sarka sat obediently, exhaling tired breaths. He thought it felt exactly like taking care of a very young child. He seemed to be having many strange thoughts today in particular.
When the hair had dried to some degree, Sarka moved Ruslan’s body to his front.
Ruslan now waited calmly while his upper body bent with familiar movements and his two arms embraced Sarka’s waist. Still, now that the texture touching his hands was crisply dried clothes rather than bare skin, it seemed he no longer needed to hold his breath and tense up.
It was the moment Ruslan secretly felt relieved.
“……!”
Suddenly there was a sound of breath being choked off, and Sarka’s body poured forward.
At the same time, Ruslan clearly felt the sensation of Sarka’s dominance, which had been lingering faintly within his body, being completely severed as if a thread had been cut.
“!!!”
