By Zephyria 
When Jae-gyeom returned home, the house was plunged into a deathly silence.
“I-I’m home….”
As he offered an awkward greeting, Jae-gyeom took off his shoes and headed toward the living room.
“Huh?”
Jae-gyeom stopped dead in his tracks without realizing it. Yoon Tae-hee was sitting motionless on the sofa. With only a single indirect lamp turned on, the living room was dark, and a single crumpled beer can was visible on the table.
Jae-gyeom fell silent for a moment. Even at a glance, Yoon Tae-hee’s aura was unusual. In a situation like this, the natural flow would be to ask what was wrong. However, for some reason, Jae-gyeom couldn’t bring himself to speak. He had a feeling that the reason Yoon Tae-hee was in such a low mood was related to him.
Then, a quiet voice drifted from Yoon Tae-hee, who had his head bowed low.
“Don’t you ever make a single phone call?”
At those words, Jae-gyeom felt a surge of dismay.
Ah….
He had been so busy working that he hadn’t had a chance to look at his phone. Even on the way back…. Jae-gyeom hurriedly pulled his phone from his pants pocket. Upon checking, he saw six missed calls from Yoon Tae-hee.
Looking at Jae-gyeom, who was belatedly checking his phone, Yoon Tae-hee asked in a low voice.
“Where were you, and what were you doing?”
“Huh? I… I told you. I said I was getting tutoring from Hyo-mun.”
“Then why didn’t you answer the phone?”
“T-that’s….”
Yoon Tae-hee, who had been sitting with his legs up and his back against the sofa’s backrest, lifted his head. As their eyes met, Yoon Tae-hee’s expression hardened. He slowly stood up and approached Jae-gyeom, who was standing in the living room hallway.
“What’s that bandage on your hand? Don’t tell me you got hurt?”
“Huh? Oh, this is… well, I mean….”
Jae-gyeom shifted his gaze back and forth and stepped backward.
Before he knew it, Yoon Tae-hee was right in front of him. Having worked in the kitchen all day, his clothes and hair were saturated with the smell of food and frying oil. It was certain that he would smell of grease if he got too close.
“W-wait, don’t come closer.”
Jae-gyeom said urgently. Nevertheless, the moment Yoon Tae-hee took a bold step forward, Jae-gyeom reacted in surprise and shoved Yoon Tae-hee’s shoulder away. As he was pushed back by the force, the expression vanished from Yoon Tae-hee’s face instantly.
“…….”
“…….”
A deep silence settled between the two.
“…….”
After a long while, Yoon Tae-hee asked in a low voice.
“……What exactly is going on right now?”
Having acted impulsively without thinking, Jae-gyeom was flustered.
“I’ll just… go wash up first… let’s talk after I wash up.”
Jae-gyeom hurried toward the bathroom as if escaping. While scrubbing his body under the hot water, Jae-gyeom agonized over how to fix this situation. He couldn’t tell the truth… what should he do? It was a headache. Moreover, seeing Yoon Tae-hee’s face, he was more worried because the atmosphere seemed to be heading in an ominous direction.
But he couldn’t just run away, so with a miserable expression, Jae-gyeom showered longer than usual, moving as sluggishly as possible. Normally, he would only use shampoo and skip the conditioner because it was a hassle, but today he used conditioner and even stole the treatment Yoon Tae-hee used to apply a treatment. He even brushed his teeth twice. He intentionally stalled in the hope that Yoon Tae-hee might fall asleep while waiting. Of course, that was unlikely….
When he came out of the shower, Yoon Tae-hee was sitting on the sofa with his legs up, just as before. The only difference was that the number of beer cans on the sofa table had increased from one to three.
Jae-gyeom let out a deep sigh and slumped his shoulders.
It was absurd that someone who couldn’t drink well and usually only had one can occasionally was drinking this much. Striding toward the sofa, Jae-gyeom sat down with a thud beside Yoon Tae-hee. The living room was still dark, and the indirect lamp beside the sofa cast gloomy shadows across Yoon Tae-hee’s face.
Even though Jae-gyeom had come beside him, Yoon Tae-hee didn’t look at him nor say a word.
It was just as Yoon Tae-hee reached out to pick up a beer can again.
“Stop drinking. You can’t even handle alcohol.”
Jae-gyeom glared at him while snatching the beer can away.
“…So? Do you have something to tell me?”
Yoon Tae-hee tilted his head crookedly and only then gave Jae-gyeom his attention.
“…….”
After a moment of silence, Jae-gyeom gulped down the beer he had taken from Yoon Tae-hee.
The feeling of the cold beer sliding down his esophagus was exhilarating. It felt as if the fatigue of labor and his thirst were being instantly relieved. Letting out a puha sound as he pulled the can from his lips, Jae-gyeom caught his breath for a moment before speaking.
“I was working part-time at Hyo-mun’s shop.”
He decided he had no choice but to tell the truth. However, he kept the final secret—that he was planning to buy a ring—to himself.
“The reason I didn’t tell you properly at first was… because I thought you’d oppose it, asking why I was working part-time instead of studying.”
It was a reasonably plausible excuse.
“And Hyo-mun said it’s hard to find part-timers… apparently, a staff member quit, so they’re short-handed. So I decided to go and help out every weekend. Anyway, it’s true that I owe him a lot. His parents are good to me, too. They’re always telling me to bring side dishes to Hyo-mun.”
“……Why are you suddenly working part-time?”
As expected, the question flew in, and Jae-gyeom flinched.
“I-I just wanted to try it… I should experience this kind of thing at least once. It’s all experience. Since I always use your card… I also wanted to try earning money with my own strength and spending it.”
“…….”
Yoon Tae-hee silently raised a hand and rubbed his eyes and forehead as if washing his face with his hands.
“Anyway, I’m sorry for not telling you properly.”
Having squeezed out an answer, Jae-gyeom stealthily gauged Yoon Tae-hee’s reaction. Although he had added some seasoning to the truth, Yoon Tae-hee’s expression remained poor.
“What’s wrong? Cheer up.”
Yoon Tae-hee asked in a slightly cracked voice.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Is he drunk?
Jae-gyeom blinked at the inexplicable question and answered nonchalantly.
“No. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Then?”
“What do you mean, ‘then’?”
“Did you change your mind now?”
“What have you been talking about since last time?”
“Did I bore you?”
“Hey. Yoon Tae-hee.”
“Do you love me?”
With those words, Yoon Tae-hee bowed his head low and leaned his forehead weakly against Jae-gyeom’s shoulder. In that moment, Jae-gyeom’s expression hardened instinctively. It was because Yoon Tae-hee’s forehead felt hot against his shoulder.
“You, look at me.”
Jae-gyeom grabbed Yoon Tae-hee’s shoulder and pushed him away.
He tried to see his face, but Yoon Tae-hee remained slumped like a wilted spinach leaf with his head down. Thus, Jae-gyeom cupped both of Yoon Tae-hee’s cheeks and forced his head up. Even looking closely, Yoon Tae-hee’s face was expressionless. However, he could faintly sense something fragile and precarious, as if a single layer of glass had been overlaid.
As if to prove it, Yoon Tae-hee’s cheeks felt burning hot against his palms.
“Hey. You have a fever.”
Jae-gyeom hurriedly reached out and touched Yoon Tae-hee’s forehead. A boiling heat was transmitted to his palm. Yoon Tae-hee’s forehead was as hot as a fireball. At this rate, it wouldn’t be strange if he collapsed right now. He had no idea since when it had been like this. Could he have been in this state since morning?
Jae-gyeom gripped Yoon Tae-hee’s shoulder firmly and said,
“Since when have you been like this?”
“…….”
“Have you been like this all day?”
“…….”
Yoon Tae-hee remained silent.
…Could it be that he started getting sick because things went south with me?
Jae-gyeom closed his eyes tight. He thought once again that this guy was truly relentless.
“Did you eat? Answer me!”
“I didn’t eat.”
“Not a single meal all day?”
“Yeah.”
“You have a fever, you didn’t eat, and you drank alcohol? Are you crazy!”
Unable to find words, Jae-gyeom sprang up.
He flung open the living room and kitchen drawers, searching for medicine. But come to think of it, there was no medicine in this house. Jae-gyeom rarely got sick, and while Jeong-ju occasionally suffered from indigestion or illness, Mesani would immediately heal them or provide healing water, so the family members had no history of being sick. Moreover, it was a time when hospitals and pharmacies would all be closed.
“This is driving me crazy….”
Jae-gyeom scratched his head in frustration and paced the living room.
Setting aside the lack of medicine, the immediate priority was to get Yoon Tae-hee into bed. Jae-gyeom hurriedly grabbed Yoon Tae-hee’s wrist. Limp and lifeless, Yoon Tae-hee was dragged along wherever Jae-gyeom led. Jae-gyeom took him to the room and laid him on the bed. Just as he was about to turn away to get a wet towel to cool the fever, Yoon Tae-hee grabbed Jae-gyeom’s wrist and asked.
“Do you love me?”
Jae-gyeom was speechless.
“Do you really want to ask that in this situation?”
“Yeah. You didn’t answer when I asked earlier.”
“I love you. I’m probably the person who loves you most in this world.”
Yoon Tae-hee, looking up at Jae-gyeom while lying in bed, murmured.
“Then give me a kiss so I can get better quickly.”
At those words, Jae-gyeom kissed Yoon Tae-hee’s forehead. Then the corner of his eye, his cheekbone, his cheek, and finally, just as he was about to kiss his lips, Yoon Tae-hee slightly turned his head to the side to avoid the kiss.
“Except the lips. You’ll catch the cold….”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind catching it.”
“No.”
When Yoon Tae-hee shook his head, Jae-gyeom said,
“You told me before that you wanted to pass your illness to me.”
Holding Yoon Tae-hee’s cheek with one hand to make him look at him, Jae-gyeom asked,
“Do you not want to pass it now?”
Yoon Tae-hee looked up at Jae-gyeom in silence, then his lips parted with a voice that was barely audible.
“No, I want to pass it….”
Right?
Jae-gyeom slowly closed his eyes, leaned down, and kissed Yoon Tae-hee.
If passing an illness was Yoon Tae-hee’s way of loving, Jae-gyeom was willing to savor it, no matter how terrible the disease. That was Jae-gyeom’s love.
Lips brushed softly against lips. Then, at some point, Yoon Tae-hee pulled his lips away and raised his hand to lightly press the back of Jae-gyeom’s neck down. With their noses touching, Yoon Tae-hee whispered.
“I want to suck your lips. And I want to lick the inside of your mouth with my tongue….”
As if responding to those words, Jae-gyeom parted his lips. As the kiss deepened, Yoon Tae-hee slowly explored the inside of Jae-gyeom’s mouth. The inside of Yoon Tae-hee’s mouth, burning with fever, was surprisingly hot.