Snow was falling outside the window. The weather seemed to have dropped sharply from before due to the first snow that had piled up softly overnight. After roughly wiping the window that appeared hazy from the frost, Seoheon looked outside, then turned around and raised the heater temperature higher.
The interior, which had already been quite warm, soon began to fill with toasty heat. Seoheon stared intently at the man sitting obediently on the bed with his eyes closed.
The man with Yoon Taeho’s face was breathing raggedly, his flushed cheeks exposed. The face peeking out from under the blanket was cute. Though the reddened face should have seemed pitiful, it only looked pretty to him, making him think he was truly in deep.
Seoheon reached out and carefully touched Bowon’s cheek. A hot temperature traveled up his palm. He couldn’t take his hand away because he liked both that temperature and the soft sensation. He simply controlled his strength so as not to wake Bowon and continued stroking for a long while.
“Ngh…”
Bowon frowned and let out a small moan. Seoheon immediately withdrew his hand and clicked his tongue regretfully, then instead lowered his head and pressed his lips to Bowon’s cheek.
Very lightly, and quickly at that—after the lips touched and separated, Seoheon licked his own lips briefly and left the room. Honestly, he wanted to lift the blanket and lie down next to him, but he couldn’t bother the patient, so he patiently closed the door.
Coming out to the living room, Seoheon plopped down on the sofa and turned on the TV. All his attention was focused on the existence lying in his room, so even with the TV on, he couldn’t concentrate at all. With a bored expression, he let the voices of the people chattering on TV flow past him while only tapping his feet.
After some time passed like that, he heard sounds from inside the room. It was a very faint sound, but Seoheon, who had been continuously paying attention to what was inside, jumped up as soon as he noticed it and walked toward the room.
When he flung open the door, Bowon was sitting on the bed with his head deeply bowed, holding his head.
Seoheon quickly sat beside him and gently pulled Bowon’s hands down. Perhaps because it was a good bed, the mattress didn’t sway at all even though Seoheon had suddenly climbed onto it. Feeling dizzy from a headache that felt like his head would split, Bowon was about to fall backward.
When Seoheon pulled him into an embrace and trapped him in his arms, Bowon obediently leaned his face against his chest.
“…My head hurts.”
“Does it hurt a lot? Should I get you medicine?”
“…No. I want to drink water.”
“Wait.”
Seoheon stroked Bowon’s forehead as if taking his temperature, then gently separated from him. Seoheon got off the bed, went out to the living room, quickly poured water, and returned.
Then he had Bowon lean against his chest again and brought the cup to his lips so he could drink. When weak hands tried to grip the cup, Seoheon stopped him and spoke.
“Just open your mouth a bit. I’ll tilt it for you.”
At Seoheon’s words, Bowon lowered his hands and opened his mouth. Even that seemed weak, so Seoheon’s eyes, filled with worry, soon sharpened. When the bright red tongue visible inside the slightly parted lips caught his eye, he unconsciously bit the inside of his own mouth.
Seoheon barely suppressed the momentary impulse to capture that tongue, then let out a sigh at the sudden self-loathing and shook off the stray thoughts.
For a moment, he also stopped contemplating whether to somehow satisfy his greed by coaxing the man who had obediently opened his mouth at his words. Honestly, it seemed like now was the only opportunity…
Bowon had been practically living at Ace for several months, saying he would study before the college entrance exam. Perhaps his body’s stamina had given out from that, as he was currently severely ill. If there was anything fortunate, it was that it happened right after the exam ended, but with him already sick for over three days, even Seoheon was finding the situation quite serious.
Separately from that, Seoheon was actually quite satisfied right now. They say people become like children when they’re sick, and he found it very pleasant that Bowon kept leaning on him.
So the skinship he hadn’t been able to try until now had increased more than usual, and even knowing that having such thoughts about a sick person was a terrible thing, he couldn’t stop.
Even though they’d spent a lot of time together during the last semester of high school, their affectionate acts had noticeably decreased. So much so that the number of times their bodies had touched while nursing him these past few days was actually greater.
Well, they’d been stuck together practically all day, so it made sense, but even so, Seoheon felt far from satisfied.
As Seoheon tilted the cup so Bowon could drink comfortably, he was burning up inside with conflicting emotions—knowing he shouldn’t do this, yet wanting to keep touching and do even more.
“…Ah.”
Perhaps because he’d been lost in other thoughts, the angle of the cup Seoheon was holding tilted further, and water that had been flowing little by little into Bowon’s mouth spilled out past his lips and streamed down.
“Ah, sorry.”
Coming to his senses, Seoheon hastily pulled the cup away and wiped Bowon’s chin with the back of his hand. Quite a lot had spilled, soaking Bowon’s clothes, and he wrinkled his eyebrows slightly.
Bowon glanced up to look at Seoheon, his gaze becoming sulky. After doing that for a moment, his face immediately deflated as if dispirited, and Seoheon patted his back.
“I’m sorry. Change your clothes. Or… should I wash you first?”
His hair was slightly damp from sweat that had flowed while he slept. Seoheon swept up Bowon’s hair and spoke in an excessively gentle voice.
Usually he spoke casually, but he’d realized it was effective to use formal speech when he wanted something from Bowon or was being stubborn about getting his way.
So to soothe Bowon, who seemed upset for some reason, Seoheon gently curved his lips upward. As if he absolutely hadn’t had any sneaky thoughts.
At Seoheon’s appearance, Bowon hesitantly moved his lips before speaking.
“Just give me clothes. I feel better than yesterday, so I’ll wash myself today.”
“…You can barely hold a cup and you want to wash yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“No way. What if you get worse doing that? What if you collapse in the middle? What if you fall on the way there? You’ll get hurt, and you want to add injuries on top of that?”
“…Fine. Then help me a bit.”
At Seoheon’s pressing words, Bowon closed his parted lips and sighed. Not noticing Bowon’s complicated feelings, Seoheon smiled with his eyes curving.
Immediately pulling Bowon into his arms like a princess, Seoheon left the room and headed for the bathroom. Though the limp, powerless body should have been heavy, Seoheon moved lightly as if it took no effort at all.
Bowon glanced at the people noisily chattering on TV and buried himself in Seoheon’s embrace with a self-abandoning feeling.
Crossing the spacious living room, Seoheon opened the door with his foot in front of the bathroom and went inside. After setting Bowon down in the bathtub, he turned on the light and came back in.
Seoheon easily removed the clothes of Bowon, who had been struggling to undress. Having quickly stripped Bowon naked, he laid him down in a comfortable position and turned on the water.
While warm water filled the bathtub, Seoheon withdrew his arms and added bath salts to create foam. When he slowly stirred his hand, bubbles bloomed fluffily. Soon he began washing Bowon’s body.
“Is the temperature okay?”
“Yeah.”
Bowon, who had rested his head at the edge of the bathtub, lowered his gaze to watch the increasingly abundant foam. Feeling the pleasant fragrance circulating in the bathroom, he glanced sideways to observe Seoheon.
Though he felt extremely grateful to Seoheon who washed his body without missing a single day, he honestly also felt burdened by the excessive attitude. No matter how much Seoheon said he did it because he liked doing it, Bowon inwardly wondered if it wasn’t bothersome and had refused, but he couldn’t break the guy’s stubbornness. Only then did he realize there was another purpose under the pretense of washing him, but Bowon didn’t stop Seoheon.
It was partly because he was weak from being sick, but there was also the reason that he should let Seoheon do as he pleased, thinking he hadn’t paid much attention to Seoheon while supposedly studying.
It was also convenient that if he just obediently leaned his body, Seoheon would do everything… But soon, in the awkward situation, Bowon opened his eyes that he’d closed and rolled his lips inward, biting them to keep from pouting.
“Ngh…”
The sensation of the touch rubbing upward from his calves was too stimulating, making it hard to hold back sounds. At the sight of his waist jerking involuntarily, Bowon bit his lips and glared at Seoheon. Not seeing that gaze, Seoheon was absorbed in washing Bowon. Soon firm fingers rubbed around his chest, then caught on a particularly prominent part, touched it, and fell away.
“Hey!”
At the sensation that made all his fine hairs stand on end, Bowon shouted, and Seoheon raised his bent upper body.
“It can’t be helped. Try to endure it a bit.”
Even if it was accidental, at the words spoken indifferently, Bowon let out a small “hah” sigh. Seeing the obvious intention in those words, Bowon found Seoheon’s now bold attitude both absurd and a little sorry.
Bowon knew well that Seoheon was at his peak of health and had a strong sex drive. They’d been lovers for well over a year, yet their last base was just relieving each other’s desires—Bowon felt a pang of guilt too.
From the time he’d accepted that he liked Seoheon, he’d thought they’d do it someday and had resolved to accept everything, but there was a problem.
Even while they were kissing intensely, he’d cool off abruptly, worried that Yoon Taeho might see this scene in his dreams, and the excitement that had surged would all subside. Then Seoheon would also know his state and reluctantly pull back with regret.
Yoon Taeho’s body was more sensitive than his actual body, getting aroused quickly and feeling stimulation more intensely. Each time, awkwardness aside, he wanted to let Seoheon know he felt the same way, but he absolutely couldn’t advance things.
Moreover, though he’d gotten used to it, every time he looked in the mirror and encountered Yoon Taeho’s face, he hesitated even more about doing such things. In any case, it was because his conscience pricked at him for carelessly handling the body of a child who wasn’t even an adult yet.
Since Yoon Taeho, who must be living in his body, was maintaining an appropriate level, shouldn’t he also match that as the older brother’s duty?
Swallowing the sigh that was about to burst out, he twisted his legs together, and Seoheon lowered his head, lightly pressed his lips to Bowon’s cheek, and pulled away.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my promise.”
That promise was to wait until he became an adult. Fortunately, Seoheon understood the meaning of his words and didn’t pick at them. But sometimes he revealed his desires without hiding them, and now, as if keeping his promise, he didn’t touch between Bowon’s legs and instead rubbed Bowon’s arm with a towel.
Though his expression was plain, noticing the sharp, intensely honed gaze, Bowon swallowed dry saliva.
