After spending the afternoon shopping, next came a fine dinner. In an elegant space so refined that entering in his usual attire would have been uncomfortable, Jaehwi, with a plate in front of him that held food not even enough for a single bite, looked at Raon’s hand.
“Was this the urgent thing you had to do today?”
Jaehwi, who had picked up what Raon picked up among the utensils laid out in a row, was the first to speak.
Of course. It’s urgent. What could be more urgent than this? It was something he’d wanted to do twice but couldn’t. Raon had been dissatisfied that Jaehwi always went around wearing nothing but the same jet-black clothes. While styling him, he also got his hair cut a bit, and when he dressed him neatly, his already handsome appearance came to life even more.
A head taller than others, with a physique as big as a door… no, bigger than that—if his build primarily drew people’s gazes first, then his handsome face fixed their attention next.
“Yeah. But I regret it a little.”
He recalled how his face, always hidden behind a black mask, had been revealed to people and caused a stir. But when he’s dressed up, it’s even worse. Since Nox’s face hasn’t been publicly revealed yet, it’s only this much, but if people realized he was Nox, a comfortable meal like this seemed like something they couldn’t even dream of.
“Why? What don’t you like?”
“There’s something like that. First, we did shopping together, and delicious meals, well, we can just keep doing that from now on. Movies… it’d be more comfortable to watch at home than at a theater, right?”
Raon recalled what Jaehwi had said he wanted to do. And what he himself had wanted to do too. He wanted to do everything together. Sleep together, wake up together, eat together, play together. He wished for Jaehwi’s entire 24 hours to be filled with him.
And for the past few days, Raon had completely possessed his time. He didn’t rebel against his opinions like before, didn’t push him away or run away. Though he didn’t actively step forward, his appearance of steadfastly staying by his side made his heart ache for no reason.
He’d hoped he would date someone his own age who suited him well and live prettily and happily, but in the end, it was by his own side.
“Movies are… …Hyung?”
While looking at Jaehwi speaking calmly while meeting his eyes, he ended up missing his words.
“Huh?”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Yeah. Yeah. I heard.”
Though he hadn’t heard, Raon answered reflexively, and even while his finished plate was cleared away and a new plate was set down, he couldn’t take his eyes off Jaehwi’s face.
“…You didn’t hear.”
“The music was loud.”
This time an absurd excuse popped out, but there was no big change in Jaehwi’s expression. Rather, a mischievous smile rose on his face.
“Then, we’re doing what I said.”
“What?”
“Since hyung did what he wanted to do, this time let’s do what I want to do.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Secret.”
“How can that be? You have to tell me so I can prepare!”
“Why would hyung prepare when I’m doing what I want to do? Even if there’s preparation, I’ll do it.”
“It’s more comfortable if I do it.”
“Mm. That might not be true?”
With a peculiar expression and the plate being set in front of him, Raon’s eyebrow rose slightly. A neatly shelled lobster plate was placed in front of him, and his own untouched lobster plate was placed in front of Jaehwi. He’d been so focused on the conversation that didn’t even contain such deep content that he hadn’t properly seen what Jaehwi was doing while talking with him. But to think he’d do such a cute thing.
Before he knew it, it wasn’t him but Jaehwi who was taking care of him.
“What is it?”
“That’s why you should have focused when I was speaking earlier. What were you thinking about while smiling alone?”
“It’s just a bit absurd and ridiculous. After going through all that chaos and coming back to the past, what we’re doing is things like shopping and dining.”
“How is this absurd and ridiculous? It’s not like we’re people who stop Earth’s destruction or protect world peace. You’re more important to me than that. When hyung isn’t here, what does Earth’s peace or whatever have to do with me? Eating with hyung, watching movies with hyung, traveling with hyung—these things are more precious.”
Looking at Jaehwi speaking utterly ordinary words with a calm expression and leisurely voice while shelling the lobster, Raon bit his lip firmly. Wow. We should have eaten at home. The gazes that had been focused on Jaehwi when they first entered had scattered considerably, but gazes stealing glances at him still remained.
I should have reserved a private room. Why is it such an open dining room? Raon had to suppress the urge to cup that pretty face with both hands right now and rub his own muzzle against those lips that only spoke pretty words.
If he didn’t know, he wouldn’t have known. They say a familiar taste is more frightening.
Now that he’d learned the taste of kissing Jaehwi, not being able to do so made it even more frustrating.
“Don’t look at me like that and eat.”
“What did I do?”
“Want me to tell you what you did?”
“You didn’t say anything.”
Avoiding Jaehwi’s eyes looking at him, Raon ate the lobster meat he’d shelled.
“I want to kiss you.”
*Cough.*
Raon, who almost spit out what he was eating because he brought up the word kiss precisely when a piece of meat entered his mouth, urgently searched for water.
“Not bbobbo, I want to grab our Hwi’s face and kiss him deeply.”
The corners of Raon’s eyes, who had been about to swallow the lobster while holding a bit of water in his mouth, went up. Resting his chin on the table, Jaehwi was continuing his words with a seemingly indifferent expression. And because that content was the same as what he’d just been thinking himself, he couldn’t say anything.
Moreover, ‘our Hwi’… He’d never expected the pet name he always used to call him to come from Jaehwi’s mouth.
By the way, was mind reading among Jaehwi’s abilities? That couldn’t be. If so, such foolish(?) incidents wouldn’t have happened during the past regression time.
“If we’d eaten at home, we could have done that. Bbobbo too, and hugging. Covering ears too…”
At the continuing content as if he didn’t want to finish the words he’d started, Raon’s eyes gradually grew bigger. He’s really reading his thoughts. Then… going into the dungeon asking for bbobbo too, and the golem too…
“This won’t do.”
Raon, who’d been trying hard to think of something else, blankly watched Jaehwi get up from his seat. It was timing for the main course to come out now that the appetizer was finished, but Jaehwi picked up the leather jacket he’d taken off and was looking down at him.
“Aren’t you getting up?”
“Huh?”
“Even if you don’t want to get up, you have no choice.”
Jaehwi, who approached his side, grabbed his elbow, and Raon was soon leaving the restaurant. To follow the stride of Jaehwi walking with big steps, Raon had to walk quickly with small steps.
“Hwi.”
“Yes.”
“Min Jaehwi.”
Though he called Jaehwi several times, his steps didn’t slow down, and only after arriving at the parking lot could Raon finally match his stride. With his breathing rough from the urgent movement, Raon looked up at the stopped Jaehwi.
“You… Mmph.”
Raon’s lips, which had opened to ask what suddenly happened, were instantly devoured by Jaehwi. Held deeply in his arms, Raon’s heels lifted slightly to match him bending down to kiss him. Even with the sudden action, instead of pushing him away or stopping him, Raon raised both arms and wrapped them around Jaehwi’s neck.
Soft, tender, and moist lips touched, but it was by no means sweet and airy like cotton candy. A rough and sticky kiss continued where even Raon’s breath was all devoured by Jaehwi. Before he knew it, the lips biting and sucking, the tongues entangled without distinction of mine or yours, couldn’t fully contain both their emotions.
At Jaehwi’s strength hugging him tightly as if not allowing any space between them, a faint moan flowed from Raon’s mouth. It was Raon who became urgent at Jaehwi’s lips that kept following even when he turned his head because he was breathless.
Had there ever been anyone who died of suffocation while kissing? At first he’d wrapped his arms around his neck because he liked it, but now, for survival, as soon as Jaehwi released his lips, Raon was busy gasping and inhaling air while trying to pull him away by gripping the hair at the back of his head. Even in the midst of this, Jaehwi’s lips didn’t know how to leave Raon’s face and nape.
Dragged out to the parking lot in the middle of eating, Raon was trapped between the car and Jaehwi, receiving his rough kisses and touches. Only when he realized during the brief moment of catching his breath that Jaehwi, who had hugged him tightly, had buried his face in his nape and wasn’t budging at all, did Raon stop pulling at his hair.
“What is it? Min Jaehwi.”
“This is all hyung’s fault.”
At Jaehwi’s mumbling words without even showing his face, Raon let out a chuckle. When was it that he kissed roughly as if there was only this moment, and why has he become such a gentle lamb now?
“What did I do?”
“Where does anyone look at someone like that? Really… what am I supposed to do?”
“So you brought me all the way here where there are no people and kissed me?”
“You would have disliked it if I did it in a crowded place.”
Though he’d thought he wanted to kiss him, Jaehwi was bolder than himself, who couldn’t readily put it into action. The moment he thought this action of Jaehwi’s was cute, Raon muttered, “I’m in big trouble.” They say it’s okay if he’s handsome and looks cool, but if you think he’s cute, that’s irreversible, and apparently he was definitely thoroughly captivated by this young one.
After all, kissing someone on the street was an absurd action by his standards. Inside a crowded restaurant even more so. He’d probably brought him here where there were fewer people out of consideration for him to kiss, but Raon could bet his entire fortune on the fact that even if he had kissed him inside the restaurant, he would have accepted it.
