By Zephyria 
His swollen, raw eyelids stung. Eun-ha hadn’t checked his reflection, but it wasn’t hard to guess that he didn’t look great. In fact, he had avoided looking precisely because he could predict it. He simply didn’t want to see it.
So, pressing his cheek against the bedsheets, he lightly covered his face with the back of his hand. It was still the middle of the day. Because the curtains were only half-drawn, the room was excessively bright. Eun-ha had never particularly cared about the lighting when having sex, but now it felt different. It bothered him. A great deal, in fact. He didn’t want to show a face that he himself didn’t want to look at.
As if sensing his intention, a hand immediately gripped his wrist. Eun-ha, dissatisfied with the gentle force pulling his hand away, was just about to straighten his head when lips met his, as if they had been waiting.
It was a soft kiss. Eun-ha responded by tilting his chin up slightly, conveying his dissatisfaction through his open eyes since his mouth could no longer speak. Sitting between Eun-ha’s bare legs, Yeon-jun, who held Eun-ha’s wrists pinned to the bed, gave a faint smile with his eyes. It was a common sight. The boy often smiled in front of him, and his gaze had always been kind and gentle.
Yet, strangely, Eun-ha’s stomach churned. A tightening pain, hot and constricting, rose in his chest. The thumping that started there spread throughout his entire body. It pounded. It felt as if his heart were beating inside his brain.
Taking advantage of a brief gap, Eun-ha subtly twisted his body. He turned his head again, burying his cheek deep into the sheets. Naturally drifting away, the lips that had lost their destination began to nibble on the skin just below his ear. Feeling a bit ticklish, Eun-ha reached out to stop him, only for Yeon-jun to bury his cheek in that palm and kiss it. A small laugh escaped Eun-ha.
Soon, the penetration that had paused during the intense kissing resumed. He pushed upward slowly. Every time the deeply embedded member slid out and then pressed firmly back inside, a hazy, pleasant sensation of pleasure bloomed.
“Ah, ngh…”
It was then that a hand stealthily approached, grabbing Eun-ha’s chin and pulling him to face forward. Faced with the stubborn insistence to look him in the eye, Eun-ha finally twisted his head and shot out a single word.
“Stop.”
“Don’t hide.”
“I don’t want to. I cried too much earlier…”
“It’s fine.”
“I’m not fine with it.”
“Really. You’re cute.”
“…What did you just say?”
His eyes narrowed instinctively at the cheeky remark. Even in the face of a cold glare, Yeon-jun acted as if it didn’t matter at all, wearing an almost coquettish expression. It was certain that he had noticed Eun-ha grew weak for this. That’s why he kept doing it, on purpose…
“I want to see you while we do it…”
“…”
“Hyung seems a bit more shy than usual today.”
Which meant he liked it. That’s why he wanted to keep looking.
Eun-ha reflexively pushed back. Who was the one who was fundamentally shy to begin with?
“What about you, Darling?”
“You and I are different.”
“How are we different?”
“This kind of relationship is a first for me,”
“…”
“But you’re probably used to it, Hyung.”
The boy spoke with a faint flush rising on his face. Used to it.
Well. That wasn’t necessarily true. To be precise, kisses and sex had long since become so familiar they were like a daily routine, but every time he did it with Yeon-jun, the feeling was different. For Eun-ha, who had spent his life pursuing simple pleasure—sex that was occasionally close to self-destruction—his relationship with Yeon-jun always had a grueling side to it.
It felt as if they were doing something more than just a physical relationship.
And for Eun-ha, that was an absolutely alien sensation. Because of that, while things had always been somewhat clunky in an unconscious way, today was particularly hard to bear. Facing him made Eun-ha feel lost, not knowing what to do. He was worried about his face, which must be a mess from crying too much, and just looking at Yeon-jun made his insides surge overwhelmingly. Like someone fallen in first love.
Yes. That was the hardest part. The feeling of liking someone surging so strongly it became overwhelming. As if he were suddenly experiencing everything he had pushed aside and endured all at once.
“What are you thinking about?”
As he remained lost in thought, Yeon-jun lightly tapped his cheek. Regaining his focus, Eun-ha offered only a silent gaze instead of an answer. Looking anew at the face he had stared at for over a month, feeling the area around his heart suddenly become a chaotic mess, he looked up quietly and spoke on a sudden impulse.
“Jun.”
“Yes.”
“I like you.”
“…”
Yeon-jun froze instantly, like someone whose power button had been switched off. He stood there blankly for about five seconds before his pupils finally began to shake. His face flushed crimson, and he covered his mouth with his hand, rubbing it as he expressed his sheer bewilderment.
“…If you suddenly say something like that—”
“Why. Do you hate it?”
“No, there’s no way… It’s not that I hate it, Hyung.”
His reaction was as if he had received a confession of love. Technically, it was similar, but…
It was just a “like.” A confession that Yeon-jun himself had delivered countless times.
The boy, unable to hide his touched expression, suddenly leaned in. He slid his hands inside Eun-ha’s upper arms and completely embraced his lean body. As he burrowed into the embrace with a strength that felt as if he might crush him, the connection suddenly deepened. Just as Eun-ha let out a stifled moan and tilted his head back, emotions poured out against his ear.
“It’s because I like you so much…”
Muttering as if his heart were struggling because he liked him too much, Yeon-jun rubbed his cheek against Eun-ha’s neck like a child. What followed was a tone that sounded like a whine.
“Please tell me one more time…”
A voice begging for affection.
Eun-ha stared at the ceiling for a moment as if lost in thought, then obediently raised his arms. Wrapping them around the other’s neck, he whispered faintly. I like you.
…I don’t know when I started liking you this much.
Yeon-jun was silent for a moment. Then, letting out a hot sigh, he tightened his arms around Eun-ha’s waist. He soon released the tension, as if regaining his composure.
Before long, the penetration deepened. Like a man who had lost all composure, he gripped Eun-ha’s waist and arms, thrusting upward as if driving himself in. Stimulated beyond his control, Eun-ha let out moans as he took him. A time spent shaking as he was shaken, making sounds that were nearly sobs.
It didn’t take long to reach ejaculation. Specifically, that was true for Eun-ha; Yeon-jun continued to move his hips for a while longer against the sensitized inner walls. Then, at some point, he stiffened his body and let out a low groan. He ejaculated while gripping the inside of Eun-ha’s spread thighs.
Eun-ha looked up at him with a languid face after the ejaculation. His gaze lingered particularly on Yeon-jun’s expressionless face, which had turned cold with excitement. With his expression erased, he gave off a somewhat sharp impression. Seeing the man, who usually never deviated from a gentle demeanor, suddenly turn stern and cold stimulated Eun-ha’s pleasure. His reason slipped for a moment.
While Eun-ha watched Yeon-jun with the look of a possessed man, the other caught his breath for a moment and removed the condom. After cleaning up roughly with a tissue, he overlapped his body behind Eun-ha, who was lying on his side. He entwined his legs between Eun-ha’s slack legs. As if he had never been expressionless, he called out “Hyung, Hyung,” and pulled Eun-ha completely into himself.