“…Close the door but stay here?”
“Uh-huh…”
I wondered what kind of drunken nonsense this was, but since he was drunk, I decided to just do what he wanted. Judging by his condition, he’d probably fall back asleep soon anyway. As I grabbed the door handle, I made eye contact with Kim Sekyung and mouthed “I’m drinking, I’ll be right back,” and he nodded.
I closed the door and groped along the outline in the darkness to sit on the edge of the bed. There was no sound so I thought he’d already fallen asleep, when he grabbed my arm and pulled a couple times.
“Hm?”
“Come here.”
Won Dogyeong patted the bed with fluttering hands. It seemed like he wanted me to get in, so I felt around to check the space and lay down next to him.
Then Won Dogyeong turned toward me and pulled me into an embrace. Before I could even be flustered, he rested his cheek on my hair and slowly rubbed against it. At the rustling movement above my head, my fingers twitched without realizing it.
The commotion outside instantly faded into a distant hum, and small breaths cut through the darkness, sounding as loud as thunder.
“Ugh… everything’s spinning…”
“That’s why you should’ve skipped Halli Galli.”
“I don’t know… Can you make bean sprout soup tomorrow?”
It was one of the few dishes I knew how to make. Since I was the only one who drank carefully, it was always my role to take care of the guys groaning with hangovers the next day. It was no exaggeration to say it was a dish solely for hangover relief that I’d never used for any other purpose.
Won Dogyeong always begged me to make bean sprout soup tomorrow before sleeping when he got drunk. I’d never not made it for him, so I didn’t know why he asked every time.
“I’ll make it for you.”
Won Dogyeong, who muttered a small “yes,” laughed like a child and pulled me close, pressing our bodies together. He buried his lips in my hair and shook his head playfully from side to side. It tickled.
The closer distance made the arm caught between us uncomfortable, so I wriggled and pulled it up to wrap around his neck. Whether from the alcohol or drowsiness, his skin was warm. I slowly ran my fingers down his prickly nape and spoke bluntly.
“…Why are you so cute today?”
“Cute?”
He lifted his face sharply. It was too dark to see his expression well, but from his proud voice, I could tell he was very satisfied.
“A little?”
“Ah shit, I can’t drink all the time though…”
Won Dogyeong, who’d been giggling, suddenly muttered dejectedly. Had his brain really been rewired? Even that looked cute. I just blinked, unable to get a grip on the fluffy emotions rising up, wondering what was happening.
“What if Yongyong doesn’t like a drunk dad?”
I let out a hollow laugh at his grumbling complaint that sounded like sleep-talking.
“Yongyong will understand when they turn twenty.”
“Twenty… that’s so far away.”
He trembled slightly as he laughed. It was absurd to be discussing twenty years in the future of a child who hadn’t even been born yet.
By then we’ll be fifty, my god.
As I thought about it, it felt so distant that we giggled together when suddenly there was a smacking sound and soft lips touched my forehead. The hand that had been fidgeting with the back of his head stopped without my realizing it.
Won Dogyeong slowly lowered his head, bringing his face close enough that our gazes could vaguely meet. At a distance where I could feel his breath, he pressed the tip of his nose against mine and rubbed gently as he whispered.
“You said you were seeing someone…”
Whether he’d heard it at the BBQ restaurant or hadn’t actually been sleeping, it seemed he’d heard me say I was seeing someone. We were so close that with each word he spoke, our lips were precariously close to touching.
“You said I was cute…”
My nerves stood on end at the sensation of our skin grazing at the edges.
“Is the review process looking pretty positive?”
My ears burned so I secretly swallowed. My throat was dry. Won Dogyeong urged an answer with a laugh-tinged “Hm?”
“…It’s a secret. Since when do you tell the subject under review about the progress?”
His probing tone made me feel somehow indignant, so I lightly bit the tip of his nose right in front of me. Even though I didn’t bite hard, Won Dogyeong whined “ow” dramatically.
“You told me last time though.”
“That’s up to me.”
After whining that it was unfair, he pressed his lips tightly shut and didn’t open them again until much later.
“…Then what about that?”
“What.”
The hand that had been resting obediently on my back gently climbed up, tracing the shape of my spine. Deep in my lower abdomen, I shivered. His hand passed over my nape and firmly gripped the back of my head.
“Should I keep going slow?”
He was talking about what happened during the day. When I’d laughed my fill teasing him.
Unlike then, when lips had come within a word’s distance and I’d only laughed, a mischievous tension now coursed through my entire body. I felt like I’d be devoured by the eyes shining brightly in the darkness. I recalled his aggrieved protest in the car, shouting that he knew how to do it too.
The thought crossed my mind that the guys were outside, but only briefly. They’re all drunk and won’t know anything.
If they know, so what, let them know.
“No.”
I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and shook my head slightly.
With a low laugh, hot lips locked together as if he’d been waiting. There was a faint smell of alcohol that made me laugh a little.
You do know how, Won Dogyeong.
He gently bit my lower lip and moved his jaw slowly. Hot breath flowed down along my lips. My cheeks tickled at the small breaths I could feel.
I moved my hand from stroking the back of his head to press firmly on his earlobe. Unlike his nape where his body temperature had risen from the alcohol, the relatively cool skin wrapped around my fingertips.
As if the sensation was strange, he hummed lowly. Because our lips were overlapping, a faint vibration traveled through the touching skin.
After holding my lips captive for a while without releasing them, he soon pressed down on my chin to open my mouth. A heated tongue pushed in, parting between my lips. He gnawed at the root of my tongue playfully, then rubbed warmly as he tilted his head. The tips of our noses brushed.
It was a slow, careful kiss.
His lips were appropriately plump, making the curves felt along the tongue pleasant. The lips that attached and detached in small increments gradually became wet with saliva.
The pressure supporting the back of my neck felt good. The hand wrapped around my waist slipped under the hem of my t-shirt and touched bare skin. Without digging in further or retreating, it slowly caressed my skin. Rather than sexual contact, it was an affectionate touch like soothing a child.
After rubbing the tip of his tongue and pulling away, he kissed me in pecks—smooch, smooch. We’d just been mixing tongues, but this was somehow embarrassing. Each time our lips touched and separated, my hands twitched and grabbed Won Dogyeong’s t-shirt, crumpling it.
He who’d been lightly biting and rubbing my lips suddenly dropped his head with a thud.
“This is bad… I’m sleepy, Jeongwon…”
Won Dogyeong, who mumbled with our lips touching, seemed to be trying to wake himself up by blinking. The eyelashes touching my cheek were fluttering up and down.
He’d looked really sleepy from earlier, so I’d thought he was doing well to keep his eyes open. Sure enough, it seemed he’d been battling the oncoming drowsiness.
Still though,
“You’re sleepy now?”
I stroked around his eyebrows that I’d found by groping and laughed softly.
“I want to wake up too… Kim Sekyung… I’m going to report him for forcing alcohol…”
“Who was drinking so excitedly?”
“Mmm… No I wasn’t…”
As if he was truly being devoured by uncontrollable drowsiness, his words gradually became unclear. Occasionally he’d leave a small kiss with a smooch and pull away, but the hand that had been fidgeting with my waist had also stopped long ago.
“I should’ve drunk a little less…”
He who’d been mumbling in unclear pronunciation suddenly lifted his weakly drooping head.
“But you said I was cute when I drank…”
“Forget it, just sleep.”
In this situation, I was dumbfounded that he was getting sleepy, but also felt deflated thinking about what I was doing with a completely drunk person. I let out a hollow laugh and pressed the drowsy head down into my arms.
Won Dogyeong squirmed and changed position to bury his face in my chest.
“Where is there anyone who falls asleep while kissing?”
I grumbled while kicking his legs with my foot. This time I’d really sulk. Not because of hormones or anything, but purely of my own will.
“…I’m up… Should we do it again…?”
As he kept fidgeting in my embrace, I pressed firmly on the back of his head meaning to stay still. When I patted his back, I felt the strength gradually leaving his body.
Listening to his evenly resonating breaths, I gently stroked the hair tickling under my chin.
“Don’t think there’ll be a second time for a while…”
I threatened the sleeping head. Won Dogyeong let out an incomprehensible groan in feeble resistance, then soon fell asleep breathing regularly.
When I ran my hand down his cheek and felt his chin, his mouth was slightly open as he breathed. I stroked his slightly swollen lips with my fingertips, then pushed inside and pressed down firmly on his tongue. I poked the tip of his tongue and also pressed the soft flesh against his front teeth. It was a small bit of mischief.
As if uncomfortable, he turned his head and my hand slipped out with a plop. It was wet with saliva. Without hesitation, I wiped it on his t-shirt, rubbing it clean.
Hmph, that’s what you get for falling asleep.
I pulled him close as he slept soundly and buried my lips in his hair. My heart pounded heavily.
The anxiety I’d tried hard to ignore seeped in hotly along our touching skin.
What does it mean to become even closer than we are now?
