Chapter 69: Subtle Disturbance
It was a kiss quite different from before. He gently licked Yeon’s lips, then pushed his tongue through the parted gap, finding and entangling Yeon’s tongue as it hesitantly tried to retreat. It didn’t hurt, but he sucked on Yeon’s tongue hard enough to make him flinch, then released it and licked everywhere—the roof of his mouth and under his tongue. His breath quickened as Dohyuk stimulated every corner of his mouth. When he unconsciously clutched at Dohyuk’s chest, their pressed lips separated.
“This doesn’t seem to be the way to make you smile.”
He whispered at such a close distance that Yeon could feel his breath. Yeon kept his eyes downcast and took deep, ragged breaths.
Dohyuk pulled back slightly and examined Yeon’s face. His hand, moving so swiftly Yeon hadn’t noticed, cupped Yeon’s cheek and lifted his face. When their eyes met, Yeon’s pupils trembled enough for him to feel it himself. He couldn’t tell what expression he had, or what kind of eyes he was using to look at Dohyuk.
“But this isn’t so bad either.”
The corners of Dohyuk’s mouth curved up into a gentle smile. Still holding Yeon’s cheek, his face drew close again. As the distance gradually closed, Yeon felt uncomfortable and closed his eyes, only to feel the warm sensation on his lips once more.
The sound of waves seemed distant. There was something about this tender kiss that made him feel like he might cry.
***
Though he thought they should return to Seoul even if it was late, Dohyuk booked a hotel near the beach instead. As expected when Dohyuk was booking a room, it was an excessively spacious room for two people, with floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a view of the sea so close it seemed to touch the glass.
“This isn’t bad.”
While it was the kind of room that made Yeon want to exclaim in awe, Dohyuk seemed merely satisfied.
“Go wash up.”
Dohyuk gestured toward the bathroom.
“You go first.”
Unlike at home, there was only one bathroom, so Yeon thought it proper for Dohyuk to go first.
“I have something to check.”
Before entering the hotel, he seemed to have been talking with Director Choi, so he probably had work to do. Still, Yeon had no reason to rush his shower either, so he stood there hesitantly.
“What? Feeling lonely about showering alone? Want me to wash you?”
Dohyuk asked as he removed his suit jacket, placing it on the sofa, and began unbuttoning his shirt cuffs and top buttons. At the offer to wash him, Yeon quickly shook his head. He immediately regretted it when he saw Dohyuk looking at him with a mischievous smile. Of course. A man who seemed like he’d only ever received service, not given it, offering to wash someone—it must have been an empty promise anyway. Yeon felt embarrassed for reacting so sensitively on his own.
“You seem to think I’m joking, but I’m not.”
Dohyuk walked over, stopping right in front of Yeon.
“If you want, I’ll wash you. Though I can’t guarantee what might happen afterward.”
Yeon pushed his chest away with both hands as Dohyuk grinned.
“No, thank you.”
After refusing, he immediately entered the bathroom and closed the door. Though he knew it was a joke, his heart pounded ridiculously. He was suddenly realizing how weak he was to this kind of teasing. Until recently, he’d been confident that even when Dohyuk pointed this out, it was just momentary wavering, that he could remain undisturbed, but it seemed that was all empty bravado.
The problem was that it was Kang Dohyuk. If someone else had made such suggestive jokes to Yeon, he would have pretended not to hear and ignored it with an indifferent face. But when Dohyuk said such things, strange scenes kept coming to mind. Lately, even memories he hadn’t known about were emerging, sometimes causing him to bolt upright in bed.
“This is troublesome…”
He felt like a teenage boy who had secretly watched an adult video without his parents knowing. He couldn’t tell if his pounding heart was simply due to the stimulated memories, or because he was anxious about Dohyuk finding out he had such memories—now, even that distinction was blurred.
Shaking his head vigorously to cut off these thoughts, he undressed and stood under the shower. At least while standing under the warm stream of water, he could briefly stop thinking about other things.
After finishing his shower, Yeon faced another dilemma. He didn’t have proper clothes to change into. Since they hadn’t planned to stay overnight, nothing had been prepared. It felt unpleasant to put back on clothes he’d worn all day, especially after being exposed to the humid sea breeze. Besides, it seemed ridiculous to get dressed in outdoor clothes when it was time to sleep.
With no other option, he put on the bathrobe hanging in the bathroom and tightly tied the waist belt. It bothered him that his thighs were completely exposed whenever the robe opened as he moved, but it was better than wearing nothing.
When he came out to the living room, Dohyuk was looking at a tablet PC with a serious expression. Yeon wondered if he had forced himself to come all this way because of him, despite being busy with work. To avoid disturbing him, Yeon quietly went to the kitchen and took bottled water from the refrigerator. Feeling thirsty, he opened the cap and was about to drink when he raised his head and met Dohyuk’s eyes. Despite Yeon’s caution, Dohyuk had sensed his presence.
“I should have bought clothes to change into.”
Dohyuk looked Yeon up and down, then rose from his seat.
“I can just wear what I came in.”
“That might work for you, but not for me. I need to leave at dawn tomorrow and go straight to the office.”
“There’s probably no suitable place nearby to buy clothes. It would be better to have Director Choi prepare something.”
Dohyuk paused, then frowned. Yeon was right. Near the beach, one might find casual clothes, but not the kind Dohyuk would wear to work. Though he sat back down on the sofa reluctantly, the wrinkle between his brows didn’t smooth out.
“There’s a shower robe in the bathroom. You can wear that to sleep.”
Though Yeon was trying to be considerate, somehow the wrinkle between Dohyuk’s brows seemed to deepen. Wasn’t the robe better than sleeping in his clothes? Surely he wasn’t planning to sleep completely naked? He would undoubtedly tell Yeon they would sleep in the same bed, and sleeping naked would be problematic. Though he hadn’t shown such a habit until now, Yeon still felt nervous and stood awkwardly, maintaining eye contact with him.
“The bedroom is over there.”
Dohyuk pointed to the door on the right side of the living room.
“Go to sleep first. I need to finish what I was doing.”
Caught off guard by the unexpected statement, Yeon didn’t know how to respond. He had never gone to bed before a client who was still up working. Of course, Dohyuk was no longer a client, and there had been times when Yeon had fallen asleep before him, but not while he was working.
“I’ll just wait here.”
No matter how he thought about it, going into the bedroom and lying on the bed first seemed strange. The idea of appearing to be waiting for him was also uncomfortable.
“I don’t know when I’ll finish, so go to sleep first.”
“I’ll wait.”
As Yeon persisted, Dohyuk put down the tablet PC he had been looking at and stared at him.
“Is there a reason we need to go to bed together?”
“What?”
His gaze slid down from Yeon’s face.
“Like, is there something you want me to do for you in bed…?”
“No!”
Yeon was startled by the words that reminded him of what had happened a few days ago.
“If it’s that, I’m more than willing to help.”
“I said no.”
Dohyuk, who had been staring at Yeon, chuckled and asked why he was being so sensitive.
“If you’re not too lonely to sleep alone, go in and sleep. If you are lonely, just say so clearly. I think I could accommodate you in that case.”
His words had completely changed from when he said he might not be moved by Yeon. Yeon bit his lip hard and turned away. After closing the bedroom door with a bang, he heard laughter from outside. He was being teased. Dohyuk was clearly enjoying his reactions. Even knowing this, Yeon continued to be disturbed. His equanimity had long since vanished.
Why was he really acting like this? It wasn’t like him. Even if the other person was Dohyuk, showing all his emotions like this would only make him vulnerable to manipulation.
“I wish I could cut this off for real.”
He grabbed the red thread tied to his right hand. No matter how much force he applied, no white light appeared. Seeing the thread that wouldn’t break or fade in color, he sighed. He couldn’t tell if his increasingly turbulent feelings were entirely his own or influenced by this thread, making it harder to accept his changing heart.
Looking at the bed standing solitary in the spacious room made him feel more troubled. It was certainly too large a bed to sleep in alone.
‘If you’re lonely, I’ll keep you company.’
The words he had just heard from Dohyuk seemed to buzz in his ears again. At the same time, as a scene from his past life flashed in his mind, heat rushed to his face.
“I must be crazy…”
Rather than feeling repulsion, he felt heat spreading from inside his heart. It was bewildering and troubling how his body was responding to past memories.
Lying on the bed, he pulled the blanket over his head. It seemed better to fall asleep before Kang Dohyuk came in. He had a premonition that if he faced him now, even the last defenses he was barely maintaining would crumble completely.
***
Sitting on the living room sofa and looking at the tablet PC for a while, Dohyuk felt stiffness in his neck and moved his head left and right to loosen the tense muscles. Looking at the clock, he saw about an hour had passed since Yeon had gone into the bedroom.
He must have fallen asleep by now. Exhaling deeply, he put down the tablet PC. In truth, there was nothing so urgent that required immediate attention. If there had been, he wouldn’t have come all this way to see the ocean. He had received a call from Director Choi when they entered the hotel, but it was just a report about Kang Chahyuk’s movements.
He rose from the sofa and went to the bedroom door, but hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. He was ridiculously wondering if he could maintain his composure after opening this door and going in.
When he saw Yeon coming out after his shower, wearing only the robe, he felt his mouth go dry. It was definitely thirst. His eyes followed every move Yeon made. With each step Yeon took, revealing and concealing parts of his body, Dohyuk felt the urge to grab him and forcibly hold him in his arms, preventing him from moving at all. Not allowing him to take even a single breath.
It had been since that day. Since the day Yeon’s body had heated up and he didn’t know what to do, Dohyuk had been tormented every night by the desire to hold him.
Whoo. After taking a long, deep breath, he opened the bedroom door and entered. Seeing Yeon curled up asleep on one side of the bed, he felt somehow deflated and let out a hollow laugh.
“Mmm.”
As Yeon stirred, the robe secured only by the waist belt became disheveled. The intimate parts that should have been hidden from everyone’s eyes were nakedly exposed.
“It’s good that your guard is down, but being this defenseless is problematic.”
A faint smile appeared on Dohyuk’s lips as he sat on the bed and leaned closer.
