By Zephyria 
“What’s the big deal? You can just fix it, Ho-eun.”
“Yes. I will fix it for you. A hundred times, a thousand times, I’ll fix everything. But still… please, just don’t get hurt….”
Ho-eun pleaded, stroking Tae-muk’s lips, cheeks, and neck as if it were a tragedy to lose even a fraction of him. Then, he suddenly threw his arms around Tae-muk’s neck in a tight embrace.
Even though Tae-muk was clearly right in front of him, Ho-eun felt as if he might vanish somewhere. He felt as though Tae-muk might shatter into a million pieces, becoming fragments he could no longer hold. His mind knew it was impossible, but his heart continued to pour out waves of anxiety.
What if Tae-muk gets hurt?
What if he’s hurt so badly that I can’t fix him?
And what if he disappears from this world because of it?
As those thoughts took hold, a sudden pain seized his chest, as if someone were squeezing his heart with their bare hand. It felt as though his ribs were crushing. Simultaneously, his breath hitched—cut off abruptly.
“Ugh….”
Ho-eun, whose chin was resting on Tae-muk’s shoulder, let out a suppressed groan. Then, his breathing stopped entirely. Tae-muk, who had been patting Ho-eun’s back, noticed immediately. However, he didn’t realize the severity of it. For a moment, he simply had the foolish thought that the boy had fallen asleep.
But Ho-eun’s spine began to stiffen. It was as if he were turning into stone. Only then did Tae-muk realize something was wrong; he lifted Ho-eun’s limp head to make him look at him.
“Ho-eun, what’s wrong? Hmm?”
“Hhh, hugh… ugh….”
Ho-eun gasped and twisted for air, as if having a seizure. His complexion was pale, and his eyelids twitched intermittently. There was almost no breath escaping through his teeth.
“The old man, I have to call the old man.”
Tae-muk sprang up as if launched. But Ho-eun gripped one of his fingers, clinging to him.
“Don’t… hugh… don’t go….”
He couldn’t be separated from Tae-muk. He couldn’t let go. He didn’t want to. Even though the Medical Station was less than a hundred paces away at Tae-muk’s stride, he still didn’t want him to leave. He was gripped by the anxiety that if they were separated now, he might never see him again.
“Just… just hold me….”
“Ho-eun.”
“That’s enough. Haah, if you just do that….”
Tae-muk knew Ho-eun’s words were nothing more than stubbornness. But the hand clutching him was so desperate that he couldn’t bring himself to let go and leave. After hesitating, he lay back down beside Ho-eun. He wrapped his entire body around him. As if he had been waiting, Ho-eun wrapped his arms around Tae-muk’s broad back.
“Ho-eun….”
“Huuu….”
The two stayed like that for a while. However, Ho-eun’s breathing did not easily return to normal. Whether it was a feeling of suffocation or discomfort, he occasionally scratched Tae-muk’s back sharply with his fingernails.
“This isn’t working. Let’s go to the old man.”
It was just as Tae-muk, unable to endure it any longer, tried to rise again. Suddenly, Ho-eun kissed him.
“…….”
Even after doing it, Ho-eun didn’t know why he had acted that way. He simply needed Tae-muk. He felt that if he could confirm Tae-muk was by his side, that he was alive, the surging anxiety would quiet down.
Ho-eun repeatedly sucked and pulled at Tae-muk’s lips. It was an instinctive craving for breath. Noticing this, Tae-muk cupped Ho-eun’s jaw and cheek in one large hand and locked their lips deeply. Then, he exhaled a long breath—huuu—into him.
Ho-eun swallowed it down. Because it was Tae-muk’s breath, the amount was significant, but he consumed it all and clung to Tae-muk as if asking for more. So, Tae-muk continued to share his breath.
After several such exchanges of breath, Ho-eun fortunately regained his stability. His thin shoulders rose and fell rhythmically, and his chest repeated the cycle of expanding and contracting. Feeling this, Tae-muk slowly withdrew his lips. Then, with their noses touching, he whispered.
“Go to sleep now.”
The anxiety Ho-eun was feeling now was a trick of the night. At night, thoughts become noisy, worries grow heavy, and fears turn black. But once morning came and the sun rose, these things would be burned away by the light, leaving no trace.
As Tae-muk gently stroked Ho-eun’s back from top to bottom, Ho-eun looked him straight in the eye and spoke.
“Hold me.”
“Okay.”
Tae-muk immediately embraced Ho-eun. Or rather, he tried to. But Ho-eun pulled his body back.
“Not a hug.”
“Then what?”
Tae-muk asked reflexively, but he soon realized what Ho-eun wanted. Then, ridiculously, his heart sank. It wasn’t something wicked, nor was it something forbidden, but he felt an immediate sense of reluctance. It was because Ho-eun’s current state was unstable.
“……Ho-eun.”
Tae-muk called him softly. But Ho-eun, fearless, climbed on top of Tae-muk.
“No, I’ll take care of it. I can do it all. General, please just stay still.”
As he spoke, he pulled the ties of his Sokjeogori. The smooth silk slid open without a single snag. Just as he hurriedly pushed the garment back, thud—Tae-muk, who was beneath him, grabbed his wrist. Ho-eun reflexively twisted his wrist, trying to escape his grip. But in that moment.
“Will that make you feel better?”
Tae-muk asked.
“…….”
Ho-eun froze. He slowly looked at Tae-muk. Then, Tae-muk asked again in a low, utterly tender voice.
“If we do it, do you think you’ll be able to sleep?”
“…….”
At those words, Ho-eun pouted his lips as if he were about to burst into tears, then nodded his head.
“Alright.”
Tae-muk gave a pleasant, beaming smile. He then raised his upper body and swapped positions with Ho-eun. Ho-eun’s hair scattered softly across the blanket. Tae-muk used his large hand to brush away the hair covering his face and slowly kissed him.
“…….”
Ho-eun remained frozen for a moment, then urgently wrapped his arms around Tae-muk’s neck.
As if soothing him, Tae-muk continued with light kisses, sucking on Ho-eun’s plump lips before letting go. Every time the thin membranes of their lips met and parted, a ticklish chu, chu sound echoed.
“Ha….”
“Mm….”
While the kissing continued, Ho-eun felt Tae-muk, touching his ears, stroking the back of his head, and fumbling along his nape. He tenderly caressed the skin and flesh that had been torn and torn again throughout his life.
Tae-muk opened Ho-eun’s Sokjeogori. The revealed naked body was dazzlingly white. Tae-muk stroked his body carefully and warmly, as if touching a precious treasure.
“Ah….”
Ho-eun let out a languid sigh. He could clearly feel the firm hands caressing his chest, ribs, sides, and pelvis. The hands, slightly rough yet hot, were truly characteristic of Tae-muk.
Even while touching Ho-eun’s body, Tae-muk continued to kiss him incessantly. Sometimes as lightly as just touching lips, and sometimes with enough force to slightly press into Ho-eun’s jaw.
Chu, chok, jjop, chok….
The wet sounds echoed softly through the quiet room. Ho-eun thought the sound was very pleasant to hear. Then, Tae-muk hooked a finger into Ho-eun’s trousers and pulled them straight off.
Suddenly naked, Ho-eun shuddered. The chill brushing against his groin was unfamiliar, and his knees instinctively closed, but he forced them open again.
Seeing this, Tae-muk couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. At that, Ho-eun pulled his chin in and muttered sullenly.
“D-don’t laugh….”
“It’s because you’re pretty. Because you’re pretty.”
To think that Ho-eun would endure such embarrassment just to have a sexual affair with him. How could he not be lovely?
“To be this pretty as someone’s Bondmate…. That God of War fellow must have saved a whole country in his past life. Hmm?”
“…….”
“I’ll have to save it in this life too. That way, I can meet you again in the next.”
Tae-muk soothed him, kissing his forehead, the space between his brows, and both eyelids. Ho-eun kept his lips pouted, then tried to pull down Tae-muk’s trousers himself.
However, Tae-muk’s member was fully erect, and the fabric caught on the tip, refusing to go down. As Ho-eun fumbled with his small hands to pull the trousers down, the member mischievously swelled even larger and harder, making the fabric stretch tight.
Frowning, Ho-eun struggled to remove the trousers. Then, Tae-muk grabbed both Ho-eun’s hand and the trousers and pulled them down together. Finally freed from the trousers, the member sprang upward with a boing.
“…….”
Ho-eun kept his mouth shut and looked down at it. After contemplating for a moment, he carefully grasped Tae-muk’s member and guided it toward his own crotch. At this, Tae-muk’s brow furrowed.
“It’ll hurt if we just do it.”
“It’s okay.”
“That damn ‘it’s okay’….”
It irritated him every time he heard it. Tae-muk glared at Ho-eun’s pretty but annoying lips, then sucked them hard—jjop—before letting go.
“Eut!”
At the stinging sensation as if his lips were being torn, Ho-eun reflexively covered his mouth. Tae-muk kissed over his hand, as if pecking him, and scolded him.
“Don’t. Say that.”
“…….”
Ho-eun blinked a few times, then gave a short nod.
Tae-muk moved down his body. It was to apply saliva to the back. But Ho-eun suddenly grabbed both of Tae-muk’s ears, preventing him from going down.
“I want to… see your face.”
“What?”
“If you go there, it’s too f-far, so I… can’t see your face….”
“…….”
Tae-muk frowned as if he didn’t understand what he meant, then let out a short, dry laugh. If he hated having his back sucked, then how was he supposed to lubricate it…. While contemplating and slowly scanning the thin but beautiful body from top to bottom, he suddenly brought Ho-eun’s legs together and climbed on top of them.