By Zephyria 
“…….”
“…….”
Should he call this awkward, or embarrassing? Forcing himself to swallow his lingering breath, he awkwardly lifted his head. He immediately met a pair of black pupils. The gaze was so persistently clinging that he discreetly dropped his eyes.
“……How are we supposed to go like this.”
Gyu-oh’s top was a mess with whitish fluid. He was no different, but looking at the amount of semen, Gyu-oh’s situation was far more severe.
“I brought everything, knowing this would happen.”
There was a large duffel bag; it seemed he had packed clothes. He must be lunging forward without thinking of the consequences because he had a backup plan. Though, of course, they hadn’t gone all the way.
“You’re really going around with a plan, aren’t you.”
“When it comes to preparedness, isn’t this Won Gyu-oh the best?”
Gyu-oh replied slyly while continuously stroking Min-ho’s half-limp lower half. Since he had just released his excitement, it was extremely sensitive, and the touch kept stimulating him.
“I get it, so let go now.”
Since his whole body was filled with heat, he figured stepping on the cold tiles barefoot wouldn’t matter. He didn’t think he’d even feel the cold. He twisted his waist to escape Gyu-oh’s embrace.
“Where are you going? You have to take it off.”
“……Did you not get hit enough? Should I hit you this time?”
We’re in a hospital and you’re telling me to strip; is he crazy? Even if misunderstandings were less likely between men, that subtle atmosphere was hard to hide.
He pushed away the broad shoulders that were once again closing in recklessly. Just as he was about to tell him to move so he could clean up himself, Gyu-oh slowly lifted the hand that had been stroking the wet genitals. Then, he spread wide the fingers that were a mess with whitish fluid. The soft semen stretched viscously, flowing between the joints.
“You want to let the whole hospital know you masturbated?”
“…….”
As he glanced down, he saw the traces smeared all over the half-lowered patient gown. It was the same thing soaking Gyu-oh’s hand. His face suddenly flushed hot. It was a shame he had never felt even when rolling around with guys whose names he couldn’t remember. It was probably because the partner was Won Gyu-oh.
Eventually, the strength left his hands. Then, Gyu-oh smiled with satisfaction and peeled off the patient gown one piece at a time. As he stood there, surrendering his body to the quick movements, he remembered the new patient gown lying neatly on one side of the hospital bed.
Ah, this brat had a plan from the start, didn’t he? At that thought, he was appalled, yet a laugh escaped.
“Was it that good? You keep laughing.”
I’m not laughing because of that, you idiot. He fumbled with the idiot’s forehead. Heat was pooled there, but fortunately, it seemed the wound hadn’t burst or anything.
Min-ho, who had never once entrusted his body to another’s hand, entrusted everything to Gyu-oh for the first time. The gentle touch of being washed thoroughly and the occasional sensation of bare skin didn’t seem so bad.
Min-ho sat on the bed, sipping a drink. It was a kid’s drink, so it was covered in characters, but it tasted good. While Min-ho changed into the crisp new patient gown and leisurely sipped his drink, Gyu-oh finished all the cleanup. Only after closing the window that had been left open for ventilation did he perch on the edge of the bed.
“Why did you get dumped all this time?”
“Suddenly?”
Things had been quiet for the last few years, but in his memory, Gyu-oh had dated someone seriously before. He seemed to have tried quite hard to take care of them. But it always ended with him being dumped.
At the time, he had just brushed it off, thinking, ‘I guess they found you annoying because you’re so playful.’ But thinking about it now, he was curious about the reason. Even if he was occasionally eccentric, he was a guy without any sharp edges, so he shouldn’t be bad to be around.
“Yeah. I’m suddenly curious.”
Sluuurp, the sound of air circulating as the empty drink pack collapsed rang out. Then, Gyu-oh took it from his hand. As he carefully unfolded the paper pack, he chuckled, saying, ‘I don’t know if this is a good omen or a bad omen.’
“They said it didn’t seem like I was sincere. They were confused because it didn’t show.”
“It didn’t show?”
At the surprised question, Gyu-oh nodded. His specialty was indeed acting out and pretending to be friendly to everyone. But if you spent time with him, you’d know. That he was definitely different when he was sincere.
“……It shows as fuck.”
As he muttered, scratching his eyebrow, Gyu-oh leaned his face in close. The scent of the same shampoo as his own brushed against the tip of his nose.
“Right?”
See, I told you only Hyung understands me. He went into a frenzy again over a single mutter. Watching the boy mutter excitedly, a sense of guilt suddenly crept up again.
Had he turned a perfectly normal guy into a gay man? Had he crushed the right to live a normal and happy life? He was concerned about Gyu-oh’s years, which, though crooked, had been lived normally.
“You, you must absolutely NOT do this with any other guy, okay? It ends with me. Got it?”
Because he wanted Gyu-oh to return to a normal life even if things went sour between them. He had offered the words quite carefully, but Gyu-oh’s face suddenly crumpled. He placed his hands on his hips and stood with his weight shifted to one side.
“Mr. Cha Min-ho. Are you crazy? You’re saying weird things that kill the mood, seriously. In front of your prospective boyfriend.”
The words were spat out with such excitement that even Min-ho’s own breath felt labored just watching. Moreover, a prospective boyfriend. After all the years they’d known each other, didn’t he feel embarrassed? He said such things so naturally. It was somewhat fascinating, and at the same time, since it was a presence he had never properly possessed, he was a bit curious.
If it was Won Gyu-oh, he felt he could trust him a bit more…
“Hyung, you think the reason you couldn’t date is because of work and your habit of not sleeping? No? You just don’t have the DNA for this. You just don’t have any dating cells! Zero, zero.”
Veins stood out on the nape where the tattoo was engraved. Seeing that, the moment in the narrow bathroom earlier, where their lowers met and they breathed heated breaths, came to mind. Discovering an unfamiliar side to the guy he had considered just a childish younger brother was more erotic than he had thought.
“Since you only work, I guess you think you can process people like documents, and if you block them like this or that, it’s over. That won’t work on me. Why? Because I know Hyung well.”
“…….”
“Hyung is definitely wavering for me, and I know it.”
If he were by this guy’s side, perhaps someone like him could live a bit more normally. It’s not just anyone, it’s Won Gyu-oh. He’s the guy who led him even when he wasn’t given the qualification. As he stared blankly at him continuing to nag in an agitated tone, his anxiety gradually subsided.
“So, if your plan was to irritate me by talking about other guys and push me to date normally… you’d better take that back.”
The head that had been noisy with all sorts of worries and concerns suddenly went quiet. For Min-ho, who had always lived with anxiety, it was an unexpected silence.
“Did you get it? Answer me.”
“……I got it, you brat.”
Gyu-oh, closing and opening his eyes deeply, replied in a fairly stern tone.
“Don’t be so blunt. We agreed to act like we’re dating for a month, remember?”
Honestly, I didn’t know which part of me was being blunt, but I paused to think before opening my mouth. I repeated what I had said earlier, just stripping out the curses.
“Got it.”
“No—”
With a look that suggested he had a lot more to say, his lips parted, but then he slumped his head forward. As I stared blankly at his shoulders shaking with a sigh and the nape of his neck where the heat had subsided, Gyu-oh suddenly snapped his head up.
“……Ha, forget it. Forget it.”
Then, he strode forward and firmly hugged Min-ho, who was leaning awkwardly against the headboard. As their upper bodies collided somewhat abruptly, Min-ho felt a throb near his side, but he clenched his teeth and endured the pain.
“Still, fuck, I feel like Hyung would’ve been this way to anyone. I guess that’s a relief.”
“……Are you mocking me right now?”
“No, no. It’s not like Hyung did it with malice.”
Perhaps because his mind was quiet, Min-ho could focus more on Gyu-oh’s body temperature against him and the steady sound of his breathing. Along with that, the pulse that was racing quite violently.
“…….”
Min-ho closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the broad chest. He felt the mental exhaustion from the entire hospitalization and the tension that had gripped his whole body melt away. Then, a small laugh escaped him. Strangely, an expectation bloomed that such moments would become more frequent whenever he was with Won Gyu-oh.
* * *
When you’re exhausted from exercise or work, setting short-term goals is quite effective. It sharpens your focus and provides the momentum to move forward toward a nearby target.
It seemed that applied to human relationships as well. After setting a period of one month, Min-ho no longer pushed Gyu-oh away or rejected him. He seriously considered the relationship and acted cautiously, and for the most part, he accepted Gyu-oh’s clinginess.
However, since Cha Min-ho wasn’t exactly a pushover, there were bound to be moments where things slipped, even when they were going well.
“Yeah. Pass all of that over to the legal team?”
The mood had been so damn good until just now.
Because the weather was cold, he had let Gyu-oh fumble with his cheeks and hands under the pretext of taking care of him, and he had even let Gyu-oh be held in his arms for a while, making the oversized padding he rarely wore worth the effort. Then they had entered a secluded walking path, and as they sat side-by-side on a bench, the atmosphere shifted strangely. In truth, he was the one who had pushed the mood in that direction.
Anyway, it was the perfect timing for a kiss. Hyung had shifted his eyes a few times and quietly lowered his gaze, but as soon as a vibration rang, he pushed him away and answered the phone.
“I wonder if that’ll work.”
He immediately became immersed in the call, even tilting his head. Is this the same person who had just parted his lips, ready to accept a kiss? With a face that didn’t hold a single gram of sexual desire, Min-ho continued talking about work.
Judging by the voice he could faintly hear, the person on the other end was definitely Mu-gyeong. Why is that Hyung suddenly working so hard when he should be focusing on his own love life? Just how many times a day does he call? Is he going to visit again later?
Even though he knew Mu-gyeong’s personality meant he was likely just organizing things alone to deliver the results, an unknown emotion boiled up inside him.
Unconsciously, he shut his mouth tight and let out a deep breath. Perhaps the sigh was too loud, as Min-oh’s gaze flickered toward him.
“Ah, you were acting so bold, and now you’re totally fucked.”
It must be a mistake to think he was talking to him. Did he look like some childish brat who was jealous?
“…….”
Ah, no? This isn’t jealousy? There’s no way it’s jealousy. Anyone who knows the two of them well would naturally know there’s no need to be jealous, and besides, he wasn’t the type to act childishly. Absolutely, positively, it was not jealousy.