By Zephyria 
He had thrown his body to get hurt in place of Gyu-oh in that traumatizing abandoned warehouse. For Min-ho, that action was no different from risking his life. Even if it meant planting the same nightmare in Gyu-oh, he wanted to protect Won Gyu-oh at all costs.
That said, he couldn’t let a guy who was living perfectly well live like he did. As much as Won Gyu-oh was precious, he wanted that guy to live normally to that exact extent.
He knew that the gazes they exchanged were gradually starting to hold a similar temperature, but he had no choice but to deliberately ignore it. Min-ho decided to act as he had before the accident.
“Want me to wash you?”
“Forget it.”
“Whyyy. The doctor said to be careful.”
However, reality did not flow as he wished. Especially while being a patient. Since he was wrapped in bandages around his side, bending his waist or twisting his body excessively was forbidden. This meant he had no choice but to entrust everything to Gyu-oh, who had set aside everything else to volunteer as his nurse.
“You crazy bastard, it hasn’t even been three hours since I washed my hair.”
All Min-ho could do was refuse to give in to the last remaining sliver of space. Of course, he wasn’t the type of guy to actually listen to words.
“Then brushing teeth.”
“Just stay still.”
After helping him wash once or twice when he first struggled to move, he was now acting like a lunatic, trying to do everything for him. It felt like he was washing his face or brushing his teeth more than five times a day. He barely managed to kick him out to take a quick shower alone, but even that was a situation where he didn’t know when the other might barge in.
Putting on clothes, eating meals, eating fruit—everything had to pass through that guy’s hands. His side was the part that was hurt, yet his perfectly fine hands weren’t even performing their roles.
“Yeah. If you need anything, just tell me comfortably, comfortably.”
“…….”
“I really liked it when Hyung nursed me.”
While taking on the dangerous tasks, Gyu-oh had been injured in various ways, both large and small. There were times when it was severe enough that he was told to prepare himself mentally, and times when he shook off the bed and was discharged in a single day. In those times, Min-ho usually stayed by his side. It wasn’t a promise; it just happened naturally.
Won Gyu-oh had no guardian. He had no siblings, and he said his parents had disappeared after pouring their entire fortune into a pseudo-church when he was young. He didn’t even know if they were dead or alive.
He had lived with his grandmother and uncle, but after those two passed away as well, he was truly alone. Even if he had many people he was friendly with, there was no one he could truly open his heart to. It meant there was no one to nurse him when he was sick, no one to care if he was taking his medicine, and no one to worry when he rode something dangerous like a motorcycle.
So, Min-ho had presumptuously volunteered for that role.
“……It’s not something to make a big deal out of. I just ran some errands.”
“That’s the same thing!”
Gyu-oh handed him an apple juice, though he didn’t know where he had gotten it. There were separate supplements given in the morning and evening, and the health foods he ate every hour were all different. From the moment he opened his eyes until he closed them, Gyu-oh’s care was incessant.
I quickly downed the apple juice I had grown accustomed to and held out the empty cup. Gyu-oh naturally took the cup and reached out. Before I could hesitate and recoil, his finger touched the corner of my lips.
“No matter how much I hate humans, it turns out being alone when you’re sick is pretty lonely, huh?”
“…….”
“But you were always there for me, Hyung.”
He brushed away the moisture that might have lingered on my lips and nonchalantly pulled away. Even that brief brush of body temperature created the illusion of a flushing heat. My heart was pounding so fast that one side of my chest felt achey.
Min-ho, who had been blankly listening to that faint presence, suddenly snapped back to his senses. He told himself he couldn’t be this confused. He was a patient right now; it was only natural for his temperature to spike and his heart rate to be irregular. Shaking his head, he tried to erase the lingering warmth from his lips from his mind.
“I’m not particularly sick, nor am I lonely.”
He answered as coldly as possible, fixing his gaze on Gyu-oh’s shoulder as the younger man stood with his back to him.
“Hmph.”
“Just……”
“…….”
“Think of it as the price for saying bad things and doing terrible things to a guy who didn’t know any better. Well, it’s bearable.”
The shoulder that had been calmly tidying up finally flinched. Gyu-oh turned around with a creak and stared blankly at him. His lips parted as if to say something, but then snapped shut. His complex expression was a mixture of all sorts of emotions. After a short sigh, he planted both hands on his hips and even swept the inside of his cheek with his tongue.
After tossing his shoulders for a while as if suppressing anger, the brat finally turned on his heel. Then, he abruptly left the hospital room.
“……Ha.”
Only now did the frantic pounding of his heart gradually subside. See, it was just an illusion. He couldn’t become a conscience-less human who felt fluttery over Won Gyu-oh.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, he released the grip he had on the sheets. A crescent-shaped mark was clearly imprinted on his palm. As he stared blankly at his hand for a moment, the door suddenly swung open.
The one striding inside was, naturally, Won Gyu-oh. Unlike when he left, his face was filled with conviction, as if he had firmly made up his mind. He was moving so fast that his hair was fluttering with every step.
Gyu-oh, having approached within arm’s reach, spoke.
“Hyung, hold your side tight.”
“…….”
Was he going to punch him for ruining a life that had been going along just fine? If so, he was more than willing to take it. While he was thinking this, Gyu-oh reached the bed and extended his hand. Min-ho instinctively tried to put up a guard but instead covered his bandaged side. Just as he closed his eyes and waited for the impending pain, something hot touched his cheek.
“What are you—.”
His pronunciation was muffled because both cheeks were being gripped. When he snapped his eyes open, he saw a sharp face so close it didn’t even fit properly in his field of vision.
The moment he realized the distance was too close, their lips met. Hot breath spread around his mouth, and the blurred sensation of wet flesh rubbing against him flowed into his ears.
Under the force of being pressed down, his lips were completely crushed, and soon something hot and wet forced its way through the gap. A panicked Min-ho clenched his teeth. However, the tongue that had already penetrated the gap obsessively licked his upper lip. The sensation sent a shiver through him, making his vision blur white, but Min-ho endured it by tightening his jaw.
Gyu-oh, gripping his cheeks, tilted his head and pressed their lips together again. The thin, wrinkled skin parted helplessly. If he only held out with strength, he would eventually be swept away by Won Gyu-oh. Realizing this, he felt he couldn’t stay caught like this. He struggled to escape the grip, twisting his body and pushing at the shoulders. Perhaps because he resisted so violently, a sharp pain flared from his bandaged side.
“Ugh.”
The moment a small groan escaped him, the brat who had been recklessly swallowing his lips pulled back. His lips were red, and he wore a look of utter bewilderment.
“Ah, Hyung, why are you resisting so hard?”
Only after Min-ho pushed Gyu-oh’s shoulders with force to secure a safe distance did he cover his mouth with the back of his hand. Because of the rubbing, licking, and pressing, his lips felt tingling and wet.
“You crazy bastard. Did you think I’d just take it?”
Gyu-oh watched silently as Min-ho scrubbed away the saliva, his eyebrows twitching. He seemed visibly flustered, perhaps not expecting such a struggle, but he soon seemed to regain his composure.
“Now we’re even, right?”
“What is?”
“I also did something bad by kissing a Hyung who didn’t know anything.”
“…….”
Those were the exact words that had come out of his own mouth just a few minutes ago. In other words, Won Gyu-oh was throwing that nonsense back at him in his own way.
“Since we’re both the same now, stop thinking about ‘prices’ or whatever.”
To think he walked out suppressing his anger, only to come back and say the exact same thing. It was absurd, yet Min-ho found himself swept up in a strange feeling.
Caught by those black pupils, he couldn’t even avert his gaze. Looking closely at Gyu-oh’s face, it felt like an expression he had never seen before.
“…….”
“…….”
No words were exchanged, only glances. From his tingling lips, which had been rubbed so much, only faint breaths scattered. The cool, black eyes slowly scanned his face, eventually landing on his reddened lips. It was then.
Closing the distance he had been pushed back from, Gyu-oh slowly tilted his head and cupped the back of Min-ho’s head. Unlike before, there was no harsh force, yet for some reason, he couldn’t move an inch.
Hot breath leaked through the lips that met without pain. The tip of a tongue, softly scanning as if wetting the fine wrinkles, slowly pushed between his teeth.
This time, he didn’t clench his teeth or tighten his jaw. All the strength left his body, leaving him unable to move a single finger. When that hot, soft thing finally invaded his mouth, Min-ho had no choice but to close his eyes tight.
The sharp tip of the tongue tickled the roof of his mouth and tapped against his own tongue. Wet pieces of flesh intertwined softly. Moist lips gripped his own, pulling away and swallowing again and again. Listening to the blurred sound of mixing saliva, tension flowed through his entire body.
Since he wasn’t pushing him away like before, Won Gyu-oh’s movements became bolder. He tilted his head, breathing into the open lips. He seemed to dig under the tongue and then tickle it with the tip.
For someone who looks like a gangster, he kisses quite tenderly. Where did he even learn this?
Unconsciously, he thought of the people Gyu-oh must have encountered. After that, he felt an even greater sense of guilt for being in this situation, rubbing lips. Min-ho withdrew his intertwined tongue and hurriedly turned his head. A string of saliva stretched out, wetting his lower lip.
Thump, thump. The rapidly racing pulse had become so loud that it was now difficult to dismiss it as an illusion. It felt as if his heart were attached to his swollen red lips. He bit his aching lip and quietly caught his breath.
“See. I told you that you don’t just want to push me away.”
“…….”
He couldn’t respond to the words that seemed to carry a hint of a smile. He had never done this even when having sex, so in what state of mind had he been kissing?
To think his only thought was that he kisses tenderly. Cha Min-ho must have truly gone insane.