The smile hanging on Yeohwi’s lips stiffened slightly. As expected, it wasn’t easy. Dowon was still thoroughly drawing a line. However, instead of being disappointed, Yeohwi nodded. Just being allowed to freely enter and exit the study was tremendous progress.
“……I understand.”
Yeohwi answered cheerfully, his bright amber eyes shining.
“I’ll clearly distinguish between public and private matters, Director Do.”
“That’s fine then.”
Dowon gestured toward the second floor with his chin.
“Go upstairs and sleep.”
“Yes.”
And Dowon, leaving Yeohwi behind, climbed the stairs leading to the second floor first. Of course, he wasn’t heading to the bedroom.
His figure entering the bathroom could be seen from a distance.
Yeohwi followed Dowon up to the second floor, then hesitated in front of the bedroom hallway. He stopped right there.
‘Hmm……’
Going straight to bed like this felt somehow unsatisfying. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t even properly given the greeting he’d prepared. The wait throughout the day had been too long for that.
‘Am I being too annoying?’
Yeohwi furtively glanced at the bathroom door across the hallway. His legs moved first without him realizing it.
He hadn’t meant to do this. When he came to his senses, he’d already reached the closed bathroom door.
The sound of water came from inside. Every time the sound of water pouring from the showerhead hit his ears, his heart pounded.
‘This won’t do. Should I just go? I can greet him tomorrow…… Damn, but it’s too disappointing. I want to see his face too…… I finally met him after waiting all day. Right, it was too dark earlier. I couldn’t see anything.’
Yeohwi paced in front of the door, agonizing for a while.
‘Let me just see his face. Really, just my handsome husband’s face!’
After a moment, the sound of water stopped.
Yeohwi swallowed his dry saliva and stared at the door. His body gradually leaned forward. It felt like he was being sucked inside. If it were up to his heart, he wanted to press his ear against the door and eavesdrop.
Instead, Yeohwi shut his eyes tight with superhuman patience. That only made him imagine more. The sound of water droplets falling, the sound of wiping his wet body with a towel, the sound of shaking out his hair, and the sounds of applying skin lotion and putting on a robe…….
‘Uh, this is getting a bit dangerous.’
Click.
While he was immersed in imagination, with the sound of the door opening, hot steam came rushing out.
Yeohwi drew in a sharp breath.
Only then did he realize something was wrong, but it was already too late.
Dowon was coming out of the bathroom.
Unlike his usual impeccable suit attire, he was completely different, carelessly wearing only a black silk robe defenseless.
His wet black hair was scattered haphazardly over his forehead, and water droplets that had formed ran down his sharp jawline. The transparent trail passed his long neck and pooled in the deeply carved hollow of his collarbone, then disappeared into the firm chest glimpsed between the robe.
As if entranced, Yeohwi lowered his gaze following that sight.
The firm wrist revealed below the robe sleeve, the knot tying the waist cord, and the silhouette of the straight legs extending below it.
His eyes were persistent as they examined from Dowon’s head to his toes, as if he couldn’t miss a single spot. It was difficult to control his blatant gaze and raw desire. Hiding it was impossible anyway.
His heart pounded violently as if it would break through his ribs. His throat was burning dry.
Was this what first love was like?
He wanted to touch him. He wanted to embrace him. He wanted to smell the body scent from that wet body.
‘I’m going crazy……’
Dowon saw Yeohwi standing in front of the door and hesitated.
And soon, he felt Yeohwi’s hot gaze devouring him. His brow furrowed deeply.
“You, what are you doing instead of sleeping.”
At the cool voice that felt like a slap on the cheek, Yeohwi finally snapped back to his senses.
“Ah, oh.”
Realizing what he had just been thinking, how rudely and blatantly he had licked him with his eyes, Yeohwi’s face flushed red like the sunset glow. Flustered, he belatedly turned his gaze wildly, floundering. Not knowing where to rest his eyes, he looked at the wet hair, looked at the hem of the robe, and finally buried his head and stared at the pattern of the marble floor tiles.
“I, well…… I wanted to greet you before sleeping.”
“Greet?”
“Yes. I wanted to see your face and greet you.”
Yeohwi fidgeted with his fingers. His lips trembled.
Dowon’s wet face encountered up close was stimulating enough to take his breath away. His heart beat crazily again, but Yeohwi held back and said.
“Good night, Dowon-ssi.”
Then he mustered his courage and slightly lifted his head.
Dowon gave no answer. He just stared down at Yeohwi looking up at him with bright red ears while shaking out his wet hair with a towel.
At this dawn, he waited in front of the door just to say good night? Or did the kid still not understand and expect something else?
Just as he was about to lightly interrogate him, Yeohwi spun around as if he’d reached his limit. His figure could be seen rushing to the bedroom in an awkward posture. The hallway rang noisily with clattering sounds, then the door that had been open slammed shut.
Dowon looked at the distant closed door with furrowed eyes, then let out a hollow laugh.
***
6:50 AM. Seong Yeohwi opened his eyes wide even before the alarm went off.
Yeohwi rushed to the bathroom to wash his face and chose to wear the most presentable-looking black t-shirt. He shook his wet bangs and looked in the mirror. There was no trace of the illness from a few days ago. Standing there was a twenty-year-old young man with cheeks flushed pink with anticipation.
6:58 AM. Yeohwi ran down the stairs and headed to the dining room.
Dowon was already seated at the huge dining table. Dressed in a crisply pressed three-piece suit, he held a coffee cup in one hand and a tablet in the other, checking the news. The morning sunlight touched his sharp nose bridge and shattered.
Yeohwi caught his breath and approached the dining table.
“G-good morning!”
Dowon’s gaze left the tablet and turned to his wristwatch. He said dryly.
“You’re not late. Sit.”
Yeohwi sat down across from Dowon with relief.
As if she’d been waiting, Mrs. Park brought out a warm breakfast. A soft omelet and fresh salad, freshly baked bread. Normally it would have been a meal he ate alone, but today was different.
Dowon didn’t leave his seat.
Until now, he would head to the office as soon as he finished his cup of coffee, but today, even after emptying his cup, he remained seated.
Realizing this fact, his heart pounded. He couldn’t tell if the omelet was going into his nose or his mouth. He felt like he might get indigestion, but at the same time, his chest swelled.
He was confused, not knowing what had suddenly happened. But even that confusion felt sweet.
Yeohwi completely cleaned his prepared breakfast without leaving even a piece of salad. Only then did Dowon get up from his seat. He moved his steps not toward the entrance but toward the second-floor stairs.
“Follow me.”
Was he going to the study now? He said he would teach him.
Yeohwi blinked his eyes questioningly.
“Dowon-ssi, then you’re not going to the office today……?”
“I’m working from home.”
He answered nonchalantly as he climbed the stairs.
“Wow, you work from home too, Dowon-ssi?”
“If an executive sticks to the office too much, it’s tiring for the people below.”
Dowon unbuttoned his shirt cuffs. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing his firm wrists, and added.
“Above all, I have some free time thanks to you.”
“Thanks to me?”
“Since I obtained a definite weapon to strike Do Jingyu, I have justification to pause existing projects for a while and pour time into this. I need to completely revise the optimization strategy.”
Yeohwi’s face brightened. The fact that he had truly helped Dowon. And the fact that thanks to that, Dowon had time to rest, or rather, time to spend with him, made him so happy he could jump.
“Th-then I did well.”
“Don’t be conceited. We’ll have to wait and see how it turns out.”
“Still. Hehe.”
The two headed to the second-floor study.
Dowon’s sanctuary that had been firmly closed until now. Though he had been allowed into this space before, it had only been once. Yeohwi entered with a pounding heart.
Surprisingly, the study’s landscape was slightly different from last time.
When it had been prepared, he didn’t know, but across from Dowon’s massive desk, near the window, a small folding table and chair had been newly placed.
“That’s your seat.”
Dowon gestured with his chin.
