By Zephyria 
Сliсk. The sound оf thе door сlosing was distinсt. Wоо-уеоn, trapреd in thе gap bеtween the dоor аnd Do-hуun, blinked а beаt lаtе. Teаrs that hаd poolеd in his eyes fеll, plip, to thе floоr.
“……Whаt do you mean bу,”
“Yeon-ah.”
Тhе swееt vоice fеlt like а mаgic spеll. Unаble to push him awаy оr shаke him off, Wоо-уеоn merеlу pаrted his lips blankly. Do-hyun, whо wiped аway thе tears with his thumb, slowlу lowеred his heаd.
“Lоok at Тeaсher.”
Тhе low соmmand hеld аn irresistiblе роwer. From thе timе he first tооk рrivаte lessons until now, his body had always reacted to Teacher’s words. As if possessed, he lifted his gaze to see two eyes looking down at him clearly.
“…….”
And then, their lips met.
His pupils dilated, and pheromones surged forth. Woo-yeon’s eyes widened, his eyelids trembling. The warmth that approached like a feather felt hot enough to melt him.
It was as if he were being given time to adjust. The lips that settled without weight neither pressed further nor pulled away, waiting for Woo-yeon.
Soon, after waiting for a long while, Do-hyun softly bit Woo-yeon’s lower lip.
“……!”
A shiver ran down his spine. An unfamiliar sensation, like an electric shock, climbed up his back. Reflexively, Woo-yeon pushed Do-hyun’s shoulder away with all his might. A thud sounded, one that seemed like it would hurt, but Do-hyun stepped back without concern.
“What… what are you doing right now?”
Pheromones, belonging to an unknown source, mingled in the air. His ragged breath was now filled with heat. Amidst the precarious, tense atmosphere, Do-hyun spoke in a sunken voice.
“I did it because I was worried.”
His tone was quite self-deprecating. Woo-yeon, who looked as if he were about to explode in anger, fell silent the moment Do-hyun spoke. Do-hyun continued softly in his characteristic, measured tone.
“You kept weighing on my mind and I was worried, so I was nice to you. At first.”
“…….”
“That you like me? There was no way I wouldn’t know. You made it so obvious, how could I not?”
Dry pheromones quietly seeped around Woo-yeon. Do-hyun’s characteristic refreshing scent calmed his anxious heart considerably.
“I tried to draw a line, but it wasn’t easy. At first, I was concerned, and then I felt sorry. I knew I shouldn’t do this, but I liked the fact that you liked me so much.”
“…….”
“And because of that, it became too late.”
Do-hyun reached out carefully so as not to startle Woo-yeon. Gently cupping his clear cheek, he softly stroked the area around his eyes with his thumb. His eyes, still tinged with tears, were slightly flushed.
“You were sixteen, Yeon-ah.”
Woo-yeon parted his lips with a blank expression. He had never imagined that ‘too late’ referred to four years ago. Do-hyun blinked slowly and spoke in an incredibly tender voice.
“You were too young for me to love you.”
It was an entirely sensible reason. The reason for the past rejection wasn’t much different from what Woo-yeon had thought. His dazed mind blurted out without thinking.
“……Now, I’m twenty.”
“Twenty?”
Inappropriately for the situation, Do-hyun let out a thin laugh. It was a sweet smile, as if he found Woo-yeon cute. Though the words that followed were utterly cruel.
“When I was your age, I think it took me about a month to forget the person I liked.”
“I couldn’t easily—”
“You shouldn’t be able to forget easily.”
Answering firmly, Do-hyun caressed the shell of Woo-yeon’s ear. The touch was so cautious, as if touching something fragile, that it felt strangely erotic.
“Because I’ve waited until now to make sure that happened.”
Woo-yeon flinched, feeling goosebumps rise along his spine. The predatory glint Do-hyun occasionally showed triggered an instinctive sense of danger.
“Yeon-ah. Teacher isn’t the good person you think I am.”
Contrary to the content of his words, Do-hyun’s tone was very affectionate. Listening to him, one’s heart would soften and melt.
“If I was going to end up liking you anyway, I wanted to hold the emotional upper hand.”
If I was going to end up liking you. It was an overwhelmingly heart-fluttering premise. It was something he had never even expected to hear from Do-hyun’s mouth.
“Honestly, I didn’t intend to become this sincere……”
Smiling somewhat awkwardly, Do-hyun removed his hand from Woo-yeon. Woo-yeon felt that the faint remaining warmth was agonizingly insufficient.
“If you didn’t actually like me, but were just mistaken because of those old feelings, then I’d be the one losing out too much.”
“I’m not mistaken.”
His voice trembled slightly. Whether it was anticipation, excitement, or the lingering anxiety that remained until the very end. It was a mess of tangled emotions, but he felt comfortable rather than confused.
Do-hyun gave a cruel answer back, much like when Woo-yeon had said he was ‘now twenty.’
“To me, you’re still young.”
Whether twenty or twenty-four, to Woo-yeon, it felt the same. Of course, Teacher was an infinitely mature person, but wasn’t he now the same age as that mature Teacher?
“Seonbae.”
Woo-yeon intentionally did not use the old title. Just as he was no longer a middle school student, the other was no longer his teacher. Regardless of this or that, in the end, those were all unnecessary assumptions.
“You said you didn’t know what to use a conscience for.”
Do-hyun let out a helpless chuckle. Reaching out again, he pulled Woo-yeon into his embrace. Trapped within the broad chest, Woo-yeon tightly gripped Do-hyun’s collar.
“I like you.”
His heart was beating as if it would burst. A thumping sound echoed loudly, as if he had been sprinting. Despite appearing composed on the surface, it seemed Do-hyun was not much different.
“I like you so much that I wanted to hold onto you with a ridiculous lie, like saying we’d slept together.”
“…….”
“So, you can’t say you don’t like me anymore.”
There were many things he wanted to say, but they all clumped in his throat. After stroking his back once, then twice, Do-hyun whispered softly in his ear.
“Your answer?”
“…….”
Woo-yeon couldn’t answer and buried his face in Do-hyun’s chest. He felt that if he made one wrong move, this precious moment would crumble away.
Only after a long time passed did Woo-yeon mutter in a watery voice.
“……I can’t believe it.”
It all felt like a dream. The teacher he had loved for so long was telling him that he liked him back. He had heard the long explanation, but even so, he couldn’t believe it.
The kindness and affection he had shown. Woo-yeon had come too far to believe that those were romantic feelings.
“If you like me, why didn’t you sleep with me back then?”
“…….”
“You said if you like someone, you want to sleep with them……”
“……That’s not entirely wrong, Woo-yeon.”
Do-hyun spoke slowly and ruffled Woo-yeon’s hair. Every time his fingers slid through, he felt a languid relaxation. A drowsy pheromone faintly enveloped their surroundings.
“But you have to consider the TPO.”
He didn’t fully understand. It wasn’t that he didn’t know TPO stood for Time, Place, and Occasion, but he couldn’t understand why that time had been inappropriate. Noticing that Woo-yeon didn’t understand, Do-hyun added lightly.
“I know you didn’t ask to sleep together because you liked me.”
Right, come to think of it, that was true. He had said, ‘If I had held you, you would have kept running away.’ He felt amazed once again at how quick Do-hyun’s intuition was.
“If you can’t believe it, I’ll keep telling you until you do.”
Do-hyun very carefully released Woo-yeon from his embrace. Woo-yeon stepped back, frowning as if disappointed. Lightly grabbing Woo-yeon’s arm, Do-hyun meticulously examined the bruise on his wrist.
“Is the other side like this too?”
“No.”
He answered immediately, but Do-hyun didn’t seem to believe him. ‘There’s no way it’s only one side,’ he muttered, as if saying it was nonsense. Before Woo-yeon could argue, he grabbed the other arm and rolled up the sleeve.
“…….”
“I should apply some medicine.”
As he said that, he pressed his lips against the wrist. It was soft and squishy, just like the sensation that had touched his own lips a moment ago. With a bright red face, Woo-yeon violently shook off Do-hyun’s hand.
“S-Seonbae’s lips aren’t medicine.”
Do-hyun shrugged as if to show he meant no harm. Woo-yeon, who bumped his elbow against the wall, let out a groan. Do-hyun reached out again, but this time Woo-yeon recoiled in shock and stepped aside.
“…….”
“…….”
An erotic current flowed between them. Even though they had done things far more extreme than this, he felt strangely embarrassed by Do-hyun’s touch. Even though they had been hugging tightly just a moment ago.
Do-hyun looked at Woo-yeon intently and took a step back.
“I’ll ask again…… where did you get the nerve to do such a thing?”
Do-hyun’s gaze turned toward Woo-yeon’s wrist. Recalling the memory of saying ‘let’s sleep together once,’ Woo-yeon trailed off awkwardly.
“That’s because I thought we already had……”
He had been frantic for various reasons, and above all, his heat cycle was imminent. Being pushed into such a corner, throwing himself at the other was nothing. Now, however, the situation had changed.
“Then I guess it’s okay to kiss. Since we’ve already done it.”
Stepping closer, Do-hyun curled the corners of his mouth into a smirk. It was a look full of mischief to anyone watching, but Woo-yeon covered his mouth, his face red up to his neck. Tilting his head slightly, Do-hyun’s eyes curved into a smile.
“Why are you covering your mouth, Yeon-ah.”
It was a smile so attractive it made his heart throb. It was also the kind, smiling Teacher that Woo-yeon loved the most. In the face of this, how on earth had he tried not to like him? Woo-yeon tried to clear his throat, which had become completely clogged.
“That was also something Teacher did unilaterally……”
“Well…… I guess we’ll have to go with that.”
Do-hyun turned his gaze away with a slightly ambiguous expression. The slight furrow in his brow suggested he was hiding something. With a feeling of ‘could it be,’ Woo-yeon spoke very cautiously.
“I did things like that too……”
On the day he woke up in the same bed as Do-hyun, Woo-yeon had been wearing a robe, at least. They had gone as far as petting while drunk; he couldn’t guarantee that nothing had happened that day either. Do-hyun shifted his eyes to look at Woo-yeon and muttered to himself.
“You’re not completely clueless, are you.”