Throughout the singing, it felt like Hyun-woong’s gaze was poking his cheeks. Though it should have been annoying to be stared at silently, Jae-min didn’t particularly feel that way. It was appropriately distracting.
Hyun-woong, who had been listening silently for a while, carefully spoke during a gap when Jae-min briefly stopped playing.
“They’re… all fine.”
“Really? Ah, we also have an original song. It’s a song our team’s drummer made, an unreleased track. The title is…”
Jae-min turned his head at an angle to look at Hyun-woong. He remembered the lyrics that were nothing but alien language except for the chorus when he sang it at the park last time, and laughed. Jae-min looked at Hyun-woong with a smile on his face and said.
“I Like You.”
Hyun-woong, who already had dark skin, looked like a black animal coincidentally encountered in the middle of the night since he was in a dark space without lighting. He even hunched his body so his face was hidden in shadows and his expression couldn’t be seen.
Jae-min, who took his eyes off the consistently quiet Hyun-woong, started the song. Recalling the chords Chi-won taught him, he sang the chorus part where only the five syllables “I like you” repeated. He sang as if carving the lyrics onto the calm melody.
At first he hummed without much thought, but as he repeated the same words, he naturally became immersed in the song lyrics.
If I like someone… what happens to me?
It was when he was continuing the song while looking blankly at empty space. Hyun-woong rustled and leaned his waist back. At that small noise, Jae-min turned his head as if entranced.
Filling his vision, a large chest that made his clothes taut came into view. In that moment, Jae-min slipped and his hand slid on the guitar strings.
“Oops.”
The song ended awkwardly. Jae-min looked down at his own fingers absurdly.
“I like this song.”
Hyun-woong, who had been keeping his mouth shut the whole time, finally spoke. Feeling awkward because of the last mistake, Jae-min put down the guitar.
“Why do you like it?”
“It just sounded the best.”
“I messed up at the end though.”
“I don’t really know about that. Something… I can’t explain it, but I just like it. I could feel you were concentrating too.”
“Did I?”
Jae-min pulled his knees in and wrapped his arms around them. Come to think of it, he hadn’t been particularly immersed in the situations in the lyrics for the songs he sang before. Only the last song made him imagine things.
“Why?”
Jae-min, who had been hugging his knees with both arms, released his left arm. He tried to press the ground to change to a more comfortable position, but the moment he pressed the floor with his hand, his fingertips touched something.
It was Hyun-woong’s fingers.
“Ah!”
Hyun-woong was faster than Jae-min pulling back his hand with an “oops.” Startled, he hurriedly removed his hand. Jae-min, also surprised by the somewhat extreme reaction, pulled back his hand and tried to place it somewhere else, but accidentally pressed his palm firmly on something that had fallen on the floor.
Click, with a sound, a nearby standing lamp turned on. The pitch-black club room brightened a bit. Thanks to that, Hyun-woong’s appearance, which had been like a shadow painted pitch-black, became properly visible.
Hyun-woong’s face turning away in embarrassment was the first thing that caught his eye. Jae-min slowly lowered his gaze.
This time Jae-min’s eyes widened.
“Hey, you. Here.”
Jae-min raised his hand and pointed somewhere. Hyun-woong looked at Jae-min’s face once, then looked at where Jae-min’s finger was pointing.
“It’s wet.”
The place Jae-min pointed to was Hyun-woong’s right chest. Even though it was a black t-shirt, the wet part was noticeable. Hyun-woong’s complexion turned pale.
“…Ah.”
“Does it get wet this often normally?”
Jae-min asked seriously, watching Hyun-woong hurriedly bend his arm to cover that part. It wasn’t time for Hyun-woong to go to the clinic yet. Moreover, breast milk was leaking even though he hadn’t bumped into or pressed anything just now. It was strange.
“No, recently it’s been like this much more.”
Hyun-woong let out a deep sigh. Then he covered his face with both hands and dry-washed it. Jae-min watched him looking distressed, fidgeting. He was pondering what to say. But suddenly Hyun-woong stood up abruptly.
“You saw something you shouldn’t have. I’m leaving.”
“What? Where are you going? To the bathroom to squeeze it out alone?”
At Jae-min’s blatant question, Hyun-woong froze stiffly. That seemed to be his plan. Jae-min narrowed his eyes.
“What if there are people there? And what if someone sees you on the way? There will be a lot of people outside.”
At the additional words, Hyun-woong whirled around. Irritation could be glimpsed on his reddened face.
“Then what should I do?”
Though his tone was rough, his lips trembled. He seemed flustered, not knowing what to do. Jae-min calmly examined Hyun-woong’s face and his chest getting moistly wet, then gestured.
“Don’t unnecessarily get caught here and there and have rumors spread, just sit down.”
“What?”
“I’ll help you.”
Jae-min thought he spoke very kindly. But Hyun-woong froze in place and let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
“How will you help with what? You don’t even know the method.”
“Method? Isn’t it simple?”
Jae-min, who was about to raise his finger and speak confidently, hesitated. Right now Jae-min had to pretend he didn’t know the disease name, the clinic’s existence, or what kind of treatment was done there.
He couldn’t let it be discovered at this point that he was the massage therapist. He had to be careful so Hyun-woong wouldn’t notice the connection between the clinic and Jae-min at all. Jae-min gulped.
“Well… milk comes out from your chest. I guess you just need to get it out.”
“So how?”
“I’ll suck it for you!”
Jae-min, who had to think of a completely different method from massaging the chest with his hands to squeeze it out, exclaimed with shining eyes. Though his expression and voice were fresh, Hyun-woong opened his mouth wide and took a step back.
“Are you crazy?”
“Huh? Babies normally suck on breasts, right? I’m saying I’ll try it?”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because you helped me choose a song, I’ll help you too.”
Jae-min spoke nonchalantly while stretching. Since milking Hyun-woong’s breasts was already familiar work, Jae-min really was nonchalant. On the other hand, Hyun-woong just stared at Jae-min with a face where the shock hadn’t faded.
“Won’t you try it? Won’t you accept my help?”
Jae-min asked while tilting his head. Hyun-woong looked at Jae-min with wavering eyes, then covered his face with his large hand.
“I knew you were a pervert, but… I didn’t think you’d say something like this.”
Hyun-woong, who spoke as if muttering, reached his hand toward the door. Then he clicked the double lock on the club room door. Watching him thoroughly lock the door first so other people couldn’t enter in the middle, Jae-min chuckled.
Even calling him a pervert and whatnot, in the end he wanted to be sucked. A beaming smile spread at his acceptance. Hyun-woong, glaring at the smiling Jae-min, returned to his spot with big strides and plopped down on the floor.
“Pervert. Isn’t that harsh? When I have good intentions! And I’m trying to help.”
“Isn’t it just curiosity since you heard something comes out from a man’s chest?”
At Hyun-woong’s cynically delivered question, Jae-min tilted.
Well. That might be the normal reaction.
Though the curiosity stage had long passed, Jae-min decided to pretend that way. He awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth and played dumb.
“Ah, well. Honestly there’s a bit of that too…”
Hyun-woong, who had been watching Jae-min trail off with furrowed brows, let out a deep sigh. Then he crossed his arms and grabbed the hem of his t-shirt. Hyun-woong took off his clothes in an instant, flipping them inside out. Whoosh, the t-shirt flew far away.
“…Here.”
Hyun-woong’s upper body was fully revealed. He hid his arms behind his back as if taking an “at ease” posture. Then his chest came forward a bit more.
“If you feel disgusted, stop even now. I’ll take care of it myself.”
With his head turned to the side, Hyun-woong spoke quietly. Jae-min looked intently at his face flushed red.
As I thought, he does turn his head when embarrassed.
He’d only guessed before, but seeing it today made it certain. When he’s embarrassed, he averts his gaze. Jae-min slowly looked over Hyun-woong frozen without being able to look at Jae-min’s face with fresh eyes.
Though he’d seen Hyun-woong’s naked body several times without him knowing, it was always with half his face covered by an eye mask. It was the first time seeing his face red with embarrassment and his chest swollen from being full of milk at the same time. Saliva pooled in his mouth like when eating sour food.
