# Chapter 94
Every moment of meeting Junseo’s eyes was as happy as it was frightening. How long could he appear as a human in his eyes? His heart pounded as if he had run a long distance without rest. Even though he clearly knew there would be an end to this moment, he wanted to engrave this brief happiness like eternity. Dohyuk finally inhaled to prevent even a single tear from falling as he felt his eyelashes growing damp.
When would my end come? Contradictory emotions tangled chaotically—wanting to stay by his side until the end, yet absolutely not wanting to show him that clearly ugly final moment.
I’m sorry. I might be using you for myself right now. Just as Dohyuk’s lips moved slightly…
“I’m sorry.”
Though it was Dohyuk who was hiding the truth with his eyes covered, the words of apology flowed from Junseo’s mouth.
“Huh?”
“I just had a really bad thought.”
Something familiar in both shape and sensation touched his closed eyelids. Soft lips brushed against Dohyuk’s eyelashes, making him reflexively flutter his eyelids.
He kept his lips tightly pressed together. If he allowed even the slightest gap for all the unrefined feelings he had suppressed until now, they would immediately overflow.
He wanted to stand by his side.
For as long as possible.
But since he couldn’t promise the future, he wanted to be entangled in a complete mess right now, enough to steal each other’s breath from the deepest places. It would be nice to mix his bone ash with Junseo’s bone ash too. Dohyuk twisted the corner of his mouth while having such petty thoughts.
His dry lips readily began to moisten.
***
After successfully leaving the bed without being entranced as usual by Junseo’s still-sleeping face, Dohyuk completed ventilating the room before finally sighing.
Checking the time, it was already 6:30 in the morning.
Yesterday he had been writing the incident report around 1 AM, so despite not having properly slept even an hour, he wasn’t tired at all. His heart pounded with tension as if the intermingled body heat still remained. It was an incredible awakening effect.
Especially the scene of Junseo looking up with those gentle eyes beneath him and drawing eye smiles—it stuck in his mind with no intention of falling away. With his mouth wide open while rolling his tongue, Junseo noticed how Dohyuk responded to his smile and narrowed his eyes mischievously.
You crazy bastard.
He deliberately ignored his tactless body that was trying to react again with throbbing.
Junseo’s mouth corner, just before Dohyuk got out of bed, was… slightly torn. When he discovered that wound, Dohyuk sighed with lamentation, remembering his past self who had acted instinctively, unable to control his desire. After making pained sounds for a while, Dohyuk finally left the room with half a mind feeling embarrassed to face him pretending nothing happened, and half a mind wanting to hurriedly find ointment to apply to it.
It was when Dohyuk was pressing his heated forehead against the cold wall of the lodging hallway.
“Is this a new morning exercise?”
Dohyuk hastily turned at the familiar voice. The owner of the voice was Sangjun, who had lost his room to Junseo yesterday.
“Ah, Esper Ji Sangjun. Yesterday… where… ahem, did you sleep well?”
Perhaps noticing Dohyuk’s awkward gaze, Sangjun snickered and crossed his arms. Though he should have been upset about being kicked out of the lodging, he was quite friendly at least to Dohyuk.
“Oh? Now you’re curious? Well, I slept rough, and aside from my mouth being a bit crooked, nothing special happened. Actually, I’m on my way to get my luggage now. You ventilated well, right?”
“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Dohyuk, who had thoroughly ventilated the room before coming out because he felt preemptively guilty, responded lukewarmly.
“Hmm, is that so? Well, with that troublesome… I mean, picky personality, I wouldn’t think he’d be satisfied with such a crude lodging. Besides, Esper Choi Dohyuk looks too normal for something to have happened.”
Dohyuk, who was mentally translating Sangjun’s words as ‘Junseo values atmosphere,’ asked curiously.
“Pardon? Is there a reason I shouldn’t look normal?”
…After all, it was Junseo who had suffered last night. He wanted to quickly get some medicine for him. Should he say he didn’t even have the confidence to do more after seeing the wound on his mouth?
For some reason, Junseo had worn a strange expression, ambiguously holding back laughter, before finally concluding with, “Take it slow. It’s your first time too, so you need to study. There’s a lot to prepare separately.” The night had passed awkwardly. Feeling guilty that he alone had enjoyed it, Dohyuk had mustered all kinds of shamelessness and told Junseo he would do it for him too, but Junseo had whispered with that same ambiguous expression.
‘Actually, the remaining night is too short, so I don’t have confidence to start now.’
After that, Dohyuk’s memory was half-cut off because of Junseo using Dohyuk’s hand as if it were his own. Sangjun narrowed his eyes at Dohyuk, who was pressing one hand against his hot and flushed nape.
“Oh my. Let’s stop here. Come to think of it, this isn’t a topic I want to delve into deeply.”
By coincidental agreement with Dohyuk, Sangjun waved his hand lightly and asked, “Then can I go into the room now?” Dohyuk nodded, and Sangjun squinted suspiciously and asked again.
“That bastard Junseo isn’t naked or anything, right?”
“No! Nothing happened!”
To be precise, something had happened but it was closer to having cleaned up properly afterward, but Dohyuk raised his voice urgently. As if raising his voice could make all the embarrassment disappear.
“With that expression, you’re making me have hot thoughts too.”
“No, no, Esper Ji Sangjun…”
“But you’re accepting these jokes? So you two really did become that kind of relationship, right?”
“…?”
He kept acting like he knew something, making Dohyuk think Junseo had already told him something, but it turned out he was just fishing. When Dohyuk looked at him blankly as if betrayed, Sangjun winked.
“Every time you act so awkward, you look like a sacrificial lamb, and it makes me feel sorry for you. Why are you so embarrassed? With that face, it can’t be your first relationship. Well, it might be your first time with a man, I suppose.”
Unable to retort that he had neither the time nor the confidence for romance in the first place, whether with men or women, Dohyuk just kept his mouth shut. Not knowing Dohyuk’s inner thoughts, Sangjun just kept muttering, “Esper Choi Dohyuk really has a strange fate. What sin did he commit to get entangled with a guy like that?” before adding more.
“Anyway, there’s a transport bus waiting outside now. You said you’re not going with us, right? Junseo said he’s staying too.”
After thinking about it a bit at those words, Dohyuk slowly nodded. While returning to the research lab at headquarters was urgent, he was also curious whether the cat that had gone to the Sokcho research lab was adapting well.
“Ah… yes. Since we’re in Sokcho, I think we’ll go to Dr. Yu Junwoo’s research lab. I’ll see you again at headquarters.”
“Alright. His brother’s lab isn’t too far, so take this opportunity to visit. Please give my regards to that pig.”
After smiling affably, Sangjun suddenly seemed to remember something and mischievously nudged Dohyuk.
“And I’m telling you this because that Junseo bastard is annoying, but Junseo rides a bike well.”
“A bike, you say?”
Feeling confused because it sounded like praise rather than something said out of annoyance, Dohyuk asked puzzledly. But instead of answering Dohyuk’s question, Sangjun offered different information.
“Just so you know. He’s as interested in motorsports as he is in cars and bikes, and he’s even won several amateur competitions he entered as a hobby.”
“Ah… that’s really impressive?”
As Dohyuk hesitated, not knowing how to react, and gave a perfunctory answer, Sangjun laughed hard at something he found funny before going into the room to get his luggage.
When Dohyuk, who had been staring blankly at Sangjun, belatedly came to his senses and returned to the room with some ointment, Sangjun had already left.
“Hyuuung, how could Ji Sangjun be the first face I see when I wake up?”
And Dohyuk wasted over an hour trying to console Junseo.
***
The most straightforward way to get from the headquarters’ temporary lodging to the Sokcho research institute was to rent a mission bike. Of course, Espers could run at speeds comparable to cars, but using abilities for simple travel was too burdensome.
Junseo, who was sticking close to Dohyuk as he filled out the bike rental application form, pressed his index finger firmly on the quantity Dohyuk had written and whispered.
“Are we renting two bikes?”
“Yeah. I’ll carry the luggage, so you just need to ride the bike.”
As Dohyuk was signing the application while responding, his hand slipped at Junseo’s next words.
“I can’t even ride a bicycle well.”
“…”
“It’s not even that far. Can’t you just give me a ride?”
Dohyuk sighed faintly at Junseo, who was casually pressing his cheek against Dohyuk’s right shoulder while telling lies.
Clearly Sangjun’s intention had been a future where Dohyuk would start to find Junseo disgusting after noticing his pretentious nature. But all Dohyuk could vividly imagine was how Sangjun would faint if he knew the truth.
‘How can he be this cute?’
“Really…? Well, I guess there’s no choice. Let’s just attach a trailer to carry the luggage.”
Dohyuk pretended not to notice and changed the rental quantity to one bike.
