By Zephyria 
Having roughly filled their empty stomachs, the two lay back down. Ha-jin, who had offered his armpit to Pie and fallen asleep as if fainting, opened his eyes again exactly six hours later. He rolled his clear eyes, gazing at the still heavily pouring midday rain.
He didn’t know how long it had been since he had enjoyed such a sound sleep. Thanks to sleeping soundly without even dreaming, his body and mind were more refreshed than ever. Perhaps because it was hot, Pie, who had been nestled in his arms, was now lying on the bare floor where there was no blanket.
When he turned his head slightly to the side, he saw Eden’s face, sound asleep with his shirt off. His lips were swollen and redder than usual. Ha-jin, suddenly remembering how red his tongue, which he had used to lick his chest, had been, let out a hot sigh.
‘He’s disgustingly handsome…’
If not for his ruined personality, he would have had a face full of fatal charm that you would only see on a large screen. There were celebrities who often wanted to appear on his YouTube channel, which had a large number of subscribers, but he could say with certainty that even those who had been managed could not compare to Eden’s face.
He felt a sense of dismay, as if he was completely blinded by infatuation. Eden’s appearance, which had naturally attracted attention even before their relationship developed, was now shining even brighter after he had given him his body and mind.
‘There’s not a single blemish on his face…’
As Ha-jin rolled his eyes, trying to find even the slightest flaw, a faint tattoo caught his eye. He gently rubbed the drawing on Eden’s forearm. It was a pattern that had aroused his curiosity since he first saw it.
The crossed swords and guns in the shape of a capital T, which did not seem to have been retouched, were blurred. The way the hard and rough pattern was casually engraved seemed to suit his personality somehow.
At that moment, Eden turned towards Ha-jin. A sleepy voice called out to Ha-jin languidly.
“Um… Do Ha-jin.”
Ha-jin quickly removed his hand from the thick forearm.
“Are you awake?”
At his carefully casual question, Eden lifted his eyelids. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand a few times as if trying to shake off the sleepiness, and then stared at Ha-jin instead of getting up right away.
It was a new and unfamiliar sight to see him, who was more sensitive to time than anyone else, burying himself in the blanket and relaxing.
Then, a slightly clearer voice than before pierced his eardrums.
“Why were you rubbing my forearm?”
“I was looking at the tattoo. Is that the Delta Force logo?”
Eden glanced down at his forearm, where Ha-jin’s index finger was pressing. He blinked slowly, as if it was a sudden question, and then opened his mouth after a moment.
“Delta Force is a secret unit, so there is no official logo. In fact, the name Delta Force is not an official name, but a nickname…”
He raised his chin again and met Ha-jin’s eyes.
“This tattoo is a drawing that my Tier One unit roughly put together with my comrades.”
“Ah. It was a friendship tattoo…”
“The excuse was to prepare for the case of death during an operation with a crushed face, but that was just an excuse, and we just wanted to feel good. It was Leo who pushed for it, as I said before.”
“Ah.”
Ha-jin scratched the tattoo with his fingernails as if he was curious. Eden, who was watching him, suddenly chuckled.
“I heard that one guy got a tattoo near his genitals and had a hard time getting it removed after he was discharged.”
At that, Ha-jin frowned as if it was too terrible to even imagine.
“Then Jeffrey must have this tattoo too? I think I saw something near his pubic bone last time.”
“When did you get to see Jeffrey’s pubic bone?”
Ha-jin, who lightly brushed off the joke mixed with jealousy, pressed the tattoo again. Nail marks were clearly engraved on the blurry tattoo.
He didn’t have any special feelings about tattoos, but he had never thought they were cool or fancy. However, the threatening tattoo with guns and swords crossed like a cross suited Eden very well and even aroused an unknown sense of longing.
“Actually, my brother also whined that he wanted to get a tattoo. It was too sudden, and I didn’t have any friends with tattoos around me, so I was scared for no reason.”
Ha-jin smiled faintly, but his voice was tinged with an unmistakable bitterness.
“When I looked it up, it said that it would cost twice as much to remove it later, and that it would be very painful. So I desperately tried to stop him… Now that I think about it, I don’t know why I did that. I should have just let him do whatever he wanted.”
“Wasn’t your brother an adult too?”
“That’s right.”
“Even if his Hyung stopped him, he would have done enough to get a tattoo if he wanted to, so he must be a good listener.”
Ha-jin put a happy smile on his face instead of answering. Eden, who swept back his shortened bangs, asked.
“Do you two look alike?”
“Jun-seok is a little cuter than me.”
“Cuter?”
“His face is round, and his eyes are completely innocent.”
At that, Eden slowly scanned Ha-jin’s face. Ha-jin’s jawline was sharp, so he was far from having a round impression, and his monolid eyes had a wild side like a cat at first glance. Of course, when he smiled, he had a surprisingly innocent impression.
He seemed excited to talk about Jun-seok and began to rattle off stories he hadn’t even asked about.
“My brother is only two years younger than me. But everyone thinks there’s a huge age gap when they actually see us. Jun-seok has a lot of aegyo.”
Eden smiled as if he understood, looking at his slightly flushed face.
“You love your brother a lot. It’s not easy for brothers who are two years apart to be like that.”
“He’s the only family I have. And he’s cute.”
“Is your brother kind too? Like Do Ha-jin.”
“That’s a bad comparison. I told you, I’m not that kind? Anyway, Jun-seok is… kind-hearted. He was born that way. He likes people, he likes animals. He’s my brother, but I’ve never seen anyone as kind as him.”
“Hmm.”
“Jeong Tae-geon, you have a brother too. What’s he like?”
“I don’t know. I can’t even guess my Hyung’s personality. We’re not that close as brothers.”
“Why?”
“My Hyung is very wary of me.”
A human being who even his older brother is wary of. Well, Jeong Tae-geon seemed like he could do that. A human being who was too smart and born without any shortcomings in the world was bound to be burdensome even to his blood relatives.
Ha-jin blinked, leaving Eden’s naughty hand, which had already burrowed inside his top, alone.
“But Jeong Tae-geon doesn’t ask.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Usually, when I say that my brother is the only family I have, everyone is curious. Where are my parents, where and how did the two brothers grow up?”
Eden’s hand, which had been gently rubbing Ha-jin’s nipples, went back out. He rested his chin on his hand and looked down at Ha-jin.
“Actually, I don’t really like it when others ask me about my private life, or when I ask others about theirs. My personality is like this, so making walls has become a habit.”
“Ah…”
“Of course, if it’s a special relationship like with Do Ha-jin, it doesn’t matter what you ask.”
“……”
“To be honest, I’m curious about Do Ha-jin’s upbringing. It seems like a sensitive topic, but I was waiting, hoping that you would tell me someday.”
Ha-jin widened his eyes as if surprised by the unexpectedly considerate answer. He had no memory of being asked questions by him in this regard, so he thought he had no interest in the past, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“To be honest, there’s nothing special.”
Ha-jin pondered for a moment where and how to explain his childhood, which was literally nothing special.
His biological mother died giving birth to his brother, but it happened when he was two years old, so he had no memory of it at all, and he learned that the man he had followed as his biological father was actually his maternal uncle when he was five years old.
He lived with his brother under his crib until just before he reached puberty, but after his uncle had a woman to marry, he was entrusted to a facility. He occasionally exchanged news with him, but contact was cut off after he returned from the military.
Ha-jin listed his childhood memories, which were not ordinary but not special either ─at least that’s how he felt─ in no particular order. He didn’t usually go around talking about his family history, so he was at a loss as to what to explain first, but once he started talking, it wasn’t difficult after that.
“Um, so my brother had no choice but to follow me especially. Of course, I relied on him a lot too.”
Ha-jin, who had finished speaking, looked at Eden with a slightly nervous face. It wasn’t an embarrassing past, but belatedly, a slight worry rushed in because there were people who occasionally belittled him as a rootless child.
Eden, who was still resting his chin on his hand and looking down at Ha-jin, asked calmly.
“Have you ever thought about looking for your father?”
“My uncle said he went to live abroad somewhere… I don’t know. I’ve been too busy trying to make a living to think about it.”
He gently rubbed Ha-jin’s slightly swollen eyelids from the aftermath of last night’s lovemaking.
It was a pretty trashy thought, but Eden was satisfied enough with Ha-jin’s answer just now. The fact that Ha-jin’s parents, who he didn’t know if they were dead or alive, weren’t holding them back was enough to make him feel quite pleased.
Of course, he was curious about his lover’s past, but that was only because he was curious about Do Ha-jin in the days he didn’t know. His surroundings were of no interest, and his family was no exception.
He felt disgusted with himself for dwelling on the current benefits first rather than feeling sorry for his lover’s unfortunate childhood, but it couldn’t be helped. As long as he didn’t reveal that kind of personality carelessly, there would be no problem.
“You’ve grown up well, Do Ha-jin.”
Ha-jin blushed easily enough to be innocent even at one carefully chosen, unremarkable answer. Eden felt that he was very lovable and gave him a short kiss on his smooth cheek.
After that, the two of them spent a long time touching each other’s bodies and talking about this and that, and then they both looked out the window at the same time.
“The rain seems to be thinner than before.”
At Ha-jin’s whisper, Eden raised his upper body. Pie also stretched and got up from his seat.
“If you’ve rested enough, shall we start now?”