He’d answered with an automatic “Yes” out of habit, then caught himself. Respecting your elders…? They were twelve years apart, so it wasn’t entirely wrong — but it was the kind of thing that could rub him the wrong way. He snuck a cautious glance, and thankfully, Kang Jihyeok didn’t look particularly bothered. It seemed like you fucking disgusting pervert was, as far as he could tell, actually a very kind and wonderful person. Did good looks come with a good heart? Because there was no other reason he’d let comments that could easily offend just slide without a word.
“Shall we toast?”
“Yes.”
Clink. The glasses touched. Yeonwoo stared at the quiet ripples spreading across the surface of the drink. It looks so bitter. Can I actually get this down? Maybe he should just barely touch it to his lips and pretend to drink. That didn’t seem like a bad option.
It would’ve been nice if things could’ve gone that way — but unfortunately, no such luck.
“Kid, first glass — bottoms up?”
“…Yes.”
He’d been practically brainwashed from birth to always answer with yes. Yeonwoo replied just as he always did and stole a glance at the glass. B-bottoms up? Uh, um…. Thankfully, the amount didn’t look all that large. The color, admittedly, seemed to be saying you’re really going to down me in one shot? You’ll regret it. But he didn’t have a choice.
“Cheers.”
Yeonwoo squeezed his eyes shut and tipped the drink back. He’d braced himself for it to be awful going down his throat, but —
“Hmm?”
It wasn’t as bad as he’d expected. It was bitter, yes, but there was a strangely sweet note underneath it. Drinkable. Actually — it was good. Without realizing it, Yeonwoo gave the empty glass a little swirl. A warm, tingling sensation bubbled up from somewhere deep in his stomach. At the same time, he felt his face growing hot. Was it always this warm in here? Why is it so hot? He fanned his clothes without thinking. But the heat didn’t fade easily. It wasn’t like he could take his clothes off here though. If he’d known it’d come to this, he should’ve worn something lighter. Just then, something cold pressed against his cheek. The reason that had drifted far away peeked back in. Kang Jihyeok was holding a glass filled with ice against his cheek. He really was a warm person.
“Hot?”
“Yes, I’m hot.”
Without thinking, Yeonwoo rubbed his cheek against the glass. The coolness felt wonderful. He wanted it to stay right there, but the glass kept pulling away. Yeonwoo reached out and wrapped his hand firmly around Kang Jihyeok’s, pinning it in place so it couldn’t move, then closed his eyes as he soaked in the coolness of the glass. From somewhere above him came the sound of laughter.
“Does that feel good?”
“Mm, nice…, it’s cool.”
Ahhh. Yeonwoo fondled the hand Kang Jihyeok was holding the glass with. How could even his hands be so manly and handsome? The calluses scattered here and there made it obvious he was someone who worked hard. His own hands were soft, as if they’d never known a day of hardship in their life.
If inner suffering showed up on the outside, his hands would be rough and calloused like Kang Jihyeok’s. He felt a small pang of regret. Yeonwoo had been running his fingers over Kang Jihyeok’s hand in a trance when the man’s voice, right up close, made him lift his head.
“Hey, kid.”
“Mm?”
“Want me to make you feel even better?”
Better than now? How could he possibly feel any better than this? His body felt like it was floating, and laughter kept spilling out of him. The first drink he’d ever had in his life had tasted good, and the you fucking disgusting pervert he’d been dreading all this time turned out to be such a wonderful, warm, kind, and handsome person. If he’d known he was this good, he wouldn’t have been so scared. What a waste — spending all that time doing nothing but misunderstanding him.
“Mister, I want another drink.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Mm.”
He’d expected him to say no, but Kang Jihyeok nodded right along without resistance. There hadn’t been a single person in his life who’d actually listened to him and given him a word of agreement like that. Yeonwoo felt a surge of emotion well up from somewhere deep in his chest. If he doesn’t like me, I’ll say I’ll do odd jobs. I’ll throw myself flat on the ground and beg. And if he shakes his head and says he can’t even give me odd jobs to do — then I’ll tell him what’s going to happen to me after this. If Kang Jihyeok heard what might happen to him, it was obvious he’d feel some sympathy. It was a scheming thought — but he was planning to lean on that feeling.
“Are you sure you can handle more, kid?”
“Mm, I can drink more. I feel good.”
“Alright, then.”
Yeonwoo watched Kang Jihyeok snap his thumb and middle finger together with a clean click. That was cool. So, so cool. How does he make it so loud? Should I try?
I’m gonna try.
Yeah, I can do this! Yeonwoo carefully raised his thumb and index finger. The last thing he remembered was pressing the two fingers together, just like Kang Jihyeok had done.
And then Yeonwoo opened his eyes in a bed.
He sat bolt upright at the unbelievable reality — and immediately, his head split with pain. He clutched his head and groaned, and then a hand appeared from somewhere and pressed a glass to his lips. It was cool honeyed water. He gulped it down frantically, and that’s when he noticed something was off about the situation.
“Huh?”
What — what is this? Yeonwoo’s eyes flew wide open. Why am I lying in a bed? He’d clearly been at the lounge drinking with Kang Jihyeok. He had no idea why he was in a bed instead of there. And the person who was personally feeding him honeyed water was —
“Kid, you’re up?”
Kang Jihyeok. He must have showered — a towel was wrapped around his waist. Water dripped from the ends of his hair. And he was still warm. That much was obvious just from the fact that he was hand-feeding him honeyed water like this. What is this situation?
Yeonwoo stole a glance at Kang Jihyeok standing there with nothing but a towel below his waist, then slowly let his gaze drop down.
His own body came into view, tangled up in the blanket. Yeonwoo quietly crossed his legs beneath the covers — and felt smooth, bare skin.
This…?
“You feeling okay?”
The body hidden under the blanket was completely, entirely bare — not a single thread on him.
“Head not hurting?”
His head was splitting with pain — but Yeonwoo shook his head. Every shake made his skull pound, but it was fine. It didn’t matter. Because the two of them had spent the night together. He had no memory of it, of course — but the fact that Kang Jihyeok hadn’t left and was still here was proof enough that he’d liked him.
Thank goodness!
What a relief. Yeonwoo smiled softly at Kang Jihyeok.
Of course, he couldn’t remember a single thing about what had happened the night before. But since both he and Kang Jihyeok had their clothes off, it wasn’t hard to piece together what must have happened. He’d lived a life somewhat cut off from the world, but he hadn’t grown up naive. He knew what he needed to know.
Kang Jihyeok’s gentle hands were now brushing the hair from his forehead. The touch stroking along his cheek and the back of his neck felt good. Yeonwoo leaned into that touch and went pleasantly limp. He was desperate to close his eyes and go back to sleep. The drowsiness that had retreated came flooding back. But Yeonwoo forced that urge away. Kang Jihyeok was right in front of him, bare (from the waist down, at least, there was a towel) — this wasn’t the time to be closing his eyes and sleeping.
“What time is it?”
Probably around seven? He usually woke up at six. Aside from the headache, his body felt light. So he’d clearly slept an hour or two later than usual. And just that much extra sleep, and it feels this good. Sleeping in really is something. He was reminded, freshly, of Assemblyman Cha and his children sprawled in bed until late. They slept in as long as they liked and still always demanded he wake up early. Awful people. Since he was never going to see them again anyway, he decided not to say anything worse. Right now, his full attention had to be on Kang Jihyeok alone.
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
Kang Jihyeok settled naturally onto the edge of the bed. Yeonwoo’s gaze went on its own to those firm muscles — but he worked hard not to stare. Openly gawking at his bare body felt a little perverted. But his eyes kept drifting over anyway. Partly because the muscles were impressive, and partly because it was a body so completely different from his own. His body was built purely from muscle — calling it that wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Yeonwoo’s had not a gram of muscle to be found. Then, his eye caught a long scar. A wound crossing straight down the center of his back — enormous.
That must have hurt.
It was the only flaw on an otherwise perfect body, but it suited Kang Jihyeok remarkably well. When he was dressed up in fine, polished clothes, he looked like a man with a respectable career — but bare like this, he felt like someone with one foot in a darker world. How did that scar come to be? He was curious — but afraid to ask at the same time. What if he got annoyed at being asked something out of place? That would be terrible.
And if the Kang Jihyeok who had been so warm to him answered coldly — just that alone would make his chest plummet.
I shouldn’t let his warmth get to me this quickly. This was trouble. He needed to pull himself together. So that no matter what was said to him, he wouldn’t get hurt. He had to think of Kang Jihyeok’s warmth as a mirage that could vanish at any moment. That was the only way to keep from getting hurt. Yeonwoo repeated it to himself.
