By Zephyria 
As they swallowed the hot porridge without a fan, sweat streamed down their temples. The cicadas beyond the veranda chirped incessantly, meem—meem—.
Glug, glug. Ha-jin, who had quickly emptied a bowl of porridge and two cups of juice, looked around and pointed at the wall clock.
“But that clock seems to be broken.”
Eden turned his head in the direction he pointed.
“Broken?”
“Look. The hour hand is pointing at 3.”
He replied nonchalantly to Ha-jin’s explanation.
“It’s 3 o’clock. Didn’t you check the time before leaving the room?”
“…Huh?”
Ha-jin wiped the juice from his mouth with a flustered expression. If it was really 3 p.m., it meant that even if they left right away, they could only travel for five hours.
“But why didn’t you wake me up? Aren’t we super late?”
“I left you alone because I didn’t plan on moving today anyway.”
Resting for another day? His pupils, filled with anxiety, trembled incessantly.
Eden, as if expecting his reaction, offered a prepared answer.
“It’s not because of Do Ha-jin. It’s just that I’m not feeling well this time.”
Of course, it was a lie. Even though Ha-jin seemed to have recovered for now, his condition could change at any moment, so he was planning to monitor his condition for one more day.
“You’re not feeling well?”
“Yes.”
As if not believing him, a mixture of worry and suspicion lingered on his face for a while.
“You look perfectly fine for someone who’s not feeling well. You don’t have to lie because of me.”
Being quick-witted was a curse.
“I’m a person too. I can get sick.”
“Where does it hurt?”
“I have a fever, and I feel cold.”
Then, leaning closer to Ha-jin, he added.
“I think I caught it from kissing Do Ha-jin.”
“Ptooey—!”
Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, Ha-jin spat out the juice he had been holding in his mouth.
“……”
A brief silence followed.
Eden, with his eyes closed, felt the sensation of the juice running down his chin and let out a hollow laugh.
Drip… drip….
Gasp, followed by the sound of someone inhaling sharply, and the table was pushed aside with a crash.
“Oh my god, what do I do? Are you okay?!”
Ha-jin, who quickly approached on his knees, wiped Eden’s eyes with a wet wipe he found in the corner.
He seemed quite flustered, unusually so for him, and Eden, silently accepting his clumsy touch, slightly turned his head to signal him to stop.
“It’s okay. Give it to me, I’ll wipe it myself.”
“Just a moment, just a little bit here….”
His insistent hand quickly swept across his chest, where juice had splattered everywhere.
“In the future, how about expressing your dissatisfaction with words?”
At the words, which were hard to tell whether they were a joke or sincere, Ha-jin, his forehead flushed red, glanced up.
“I’m sorry for spitting out the juice, but I have no complaints about Jeong Tae-geon.”
“For someone with no complaints, you swear like a sailor.”
“……”
“It’s the first time in my life I’ve heard the word ‘fuck’ so many times to my face.”
Ha-jin stiffened his shoulders and rolled the yellow-stained wet wipe in his hands. He had completely forgotten that he had cursed at him last night, only thinking about the kiss. His lips, swollen from the night before, twitched, not knowing what to do.
He rolled his eyes, seemingly contemplating whether to brazen it out or apologize, and after hesitating, gave a sullen answer.
“Jeong Tae-geon made me swear.”
Look at this. Eden tilted his head at Ha-jin, who was avoiding his gaze.
“Are you going to hit me if I make you worry twice?”
“Maybe. So be careful.”
Despite the apologetic look on his face, Eden couldn’t help but burst into laughter at his consistently defiant retorts. Ignoring him, who had suddenly burst into laughter, Ha-jin got up, clearing the table. Even as he headed to the kitchen, the laughter behind him showed no signs of stopping.
He put the dishes in the sink and turned around, glaring.
“Stop laughing. Do you know how worried I was yesterday? If you didn’t have the medicine, you should have just come back. What were you going to do if you didn’t show up until so late? I really thought something terrible had happened to you.”
The way he looked was just like a nagging spouse, so Eden couldn’t help but shake his head. After laughing for a while, shrugging his shoulders, he suddenly took out the broken wristwatch from his pocket.
“The watch I was carrying stopped. I didn’t realize it was broken until it got dark.”
“……”
“I thought I could come back before Do Ha-jin woke up, but I couldn’t. I didn’t even think you’d come out because of me…. I’m sorry for disappearing without a word and making you worry.”
Ha-jin’s mouth was tightly shut, seemingly embarrassed by the candid apology.
Meanwhile, Pie lay on the summer rug with his belly exposed. The dog’s eyes, relaxed after eating his fill, were half-closed. Ha-jin, watching his cute antics with a pleased expression, went next to him and stroked his velvet-like fur.
“Honestly, I know it’s not anyone’s fault. We were just unlucky yesterday. Of course, I’m sorry for swearing… anyway, I didn’t know Jeong Tae-geon went out for medicine.”
How could he have imagined it? Although he had recently discovered many new aspects of him, he couldn’t deny that Jeong Tae-geon was inherently cold and heartless. Even if he risked his life for the safety of his colleague, would he really have gone out to get medicine until late at night…?
Then, an unexpected answer came to Ha-jin’s ears.
“That’s right. You didn’t know, so you could call me a son of a bitch and a crazy bastard.”
“Ah, come on… I said I’m sorry.”
Ha-jin gave Eden a sidelong glance and fiddled with the lid of the half-empty orange juice. After playing with his hands for a while, he opened his mouth after hesitating.
“I hope we don’t get separated until we meet the others. We’re supposed to be in pairs, right?”
“Can I take that as you wanting to stick together?”
He felt like he was missing the point a little, but Ha-jin reluctantly nodded.
“Yes, because I don’t want us to be in danger again like yesterday.”
“Hmm, I understand.”
“By the way, do you have any ointment left?”
“I’ve used almost all of it… are you hurt somewhere?”
That couldn’t be. Eden tilted his head, recalling Ha-jin’s naked body from last night. Even though he had a bruise on his right shoulder blade from falling while fighting the zombies, there were clearly no scratches or injuries.
“Give me the ointment quickly.”
At his urging, he finally got up and handed him the dried-up ointment. Ha-jin took the medicine and grabbed Eden’s arm, leading him to the bedroom.
“What is it?”
“Jeong Tae-geon’s neck. You were injured yesterday.”
Ha-jin quickly sat Eden on the bed and squeezed the ointment hard, even though it wasn’t coming out.
“All done. Turn your head a little.”
Eden tilted his neck to the side like a well-behaved child. In the full-length mirror across from him, he could see Do Ha-jin examining his neck at a glance. His lips were slightly parted in concentration.
The touch of his hand spreading the ointment on his neck was quite light and delicate, and a satisfied smile spread across Eden’s lips.
“The wound is deeper than I thought. It would be good to apply it for a few more days, but I’ve used up all the ointment…. Hmm, I’ll see if I can find a bandage.”
Ha-jin put the ointment on the side table and turned around. Eden impulsively grabbed his wrist as he was about to leave.
At the sudden skinship, Ha-jin’s fingers, which had been drooping, curled inward for a moment. …Why? The look in his eyes was like that of a herbivore caught in a net.
After a while, a blue spark crackled in the area where their skin touched.
Ha-jin’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
“Do Ha-jin.”
Conversely, Eden’s voice calling his name was no different from that of a hunter who had been starving for days.
“How much do you remember from yesterday?”
How much…?
“What do you mean, how much do I remember?”
“You don’t remember anything beyond the kiss?”
Ha-jin’s brain was reeling from the uppercut that came straight at him. It was hazy, but as far as he remembered, they had never progressed beyond a kiss.
“I don’t know.”
It was an honest answer. Eden frowned, making an unpleasant expression. Soon, a blatant sentence flowed from his mouth.
“So you’re saying you don’t remember clinging to me and rubbing your dick against me.”
“…Huh?”
What do you mean clinging and rubbing? Ha-jin was genuinely bewildered by the poor interrogation, which was an odd mix of truth and lies. Eden didn’t miss the opportunity and pulled his body closer to him.
“Where did you learn the habit of enjoying yourself and then falling asleep on your own?”
It was a light tone, but Ha-jin stiffened, realizing that it contained a subtle sincerity.
He admitted that he had been aroused by Eden’s blatant expression of desire lately. But even so, would he really have done such a shameless thing as thrusting his penis at him while he was sick…?
…Did I? Really?
The more he thought and pondered, the more he felt lost in a maze. But clearly, the last thing he remembered was his rough tongue, which violently entered and exited his mouth.
Just as he was blinking blankly, Eden got up. Despite his not inconsiderable height, Ha-jin’s chin was invariably raised upward.
Eden’s eyes suddenly took on a serious light. As he lowered his head, it seemed as if Ha-jin’s forehead and his lips would touch at any moment.
The density of the air increased in an instant, as if someone had compressed it. They stubbornly met each other’s gaze, aware of their increasingly labored breathing.
Ha-jin felt his heart pounding more vigorously than ever and swallowed a lump of saliva that had solidified like a bead.