By Zephyria 
“Yeah, that’s it.”
Even after speaking, Seo Baek-han stared at the screen for a while. It was the expression he made when he was momentarily focused. With so much work, was there any reason to waste time traveling back and forth to the US?
“Because I miss you.”
…I was really going to tell him not to come starting next week. It was as if he had read my mind. He was acting sly, but I could feel his sincerity, and I was momentarily speechless.
I feel like I keep getting caught up in Seo Baek-han’s games. This is troublesome…
“Of course, I’m coming because I miss Tae-hyun, you.”
Having finally achieved the result he wanted, Seo Baek-han pushed the laptop aside with a refreshed look. The stack of files next to it wobbled precariously, but he didn’t care at all and just looked at me. Eventually, I, bothered by it, readjusted the angles of the tower of documents, and Seo Baek-han chuckled briefly.
Seo Baek-han stayed in Washington for less than two days a week. Yet, this scene of him spreading out his laptop and books on the dining room table, not in the study or tea room, and each of us doing our own thing, had become familiar.
Every time, Joo Tae-hyun tried hard to be wary of this feeling. He felt strange for already taking his presence for granted.
“It would be a lie to say I’m not pushing myself, but it’s manageable enough.”
Seo Baek-han reassured me repeatedly, as if understanding Joo Tae-hyun’s confusion.
In a light tone, saying it couldn’t be helped since he wanted to see me.
“Don’t worry. I’m not sick anywhere. In fact, since I’m moving around like this, the Royal Hospital’s work is progressing faster than before.”
“…I was worried about the people who work with Hyung, not Hyung.”
“Hmm? If that’s the reason, well, not really.”
Tilting his head as if asking why he should care about others, Seo Baek-han… I’m a little sorry, but he really looked like a model of a terrible boss.
I snorted without realizing it, and Seo Baek-han’s expression brightened even more. The moment he closed and opened his eyes was longer than usual… Hmm, did he inhale my pheromone or something?
“Are you going to the lab tomorrow too?”
“I’m thinking of going when the sample survey results come out.”
“So, you mean you have no plans for now.”
With that, Seo Baek-han pulled out the chair next to him. I just stared blankly, wondering if he was telling me to sit there, and he tapped the seat. As if to say that’s exactly what he meant.
Joo Tae-hyun looked up at the familiar ceiling of the house, then swallowed a short sigh inwardly.
“Then can’t you rest until tomorrow?”
Where should I start pointing out the problems…
Just because I didn’t have to go to the lab right away didn’t mean I had nothing to do. He was the Director of the Royal Hospital, so he could come and go as he pleased without anyone complaining, but I was a graduate student working on my doctorate. Whether he was the youngest son of the DH Group or not, everyone in the lab was equally Professor’s slave.
More than anything, just because I didn’t have any prior engagements didn’t mean I had to spend that time with Seo Baek-han. But he acted shamelessly every time, as if he had exclusive rights to Joo Tae-hyun’s weekend.
Decisively, what was the connection between whether I went to the lab tomorrow and sitting next to him now?
When I lightly ignored him, Seo Baek-han moved without further ado.
“Because you react so cutely, I bother you every time.”
So, he was just joking even though he had no intention of telling me to come or go. Just to see my sulky face.
I was so dumbfounded by Seo Baek-han’s actions that my lips loosened without me realizing it. Recently, Joo Tae-hyun had been smiling foolishly like this more often.
…Is this really okay?
To declare the end of everything right here, to make such a fuss at the airport, and to be facing this person again. Moreover, that it was my choice, not anyone else’s… Does that make sense?
“By the way, what were you looking at?”
“…Ah. Uh, that’s…”
The focus returned to Joo Tae-hyun’s eyes, which had been slightly blurred by his thoughts.
“Isn’t it a journal?”
This time too, the quick-witted Seo Baek-han pulled me out of my quiet contemplation. This had happened several times today alone, but he didn’t show any sign of it.
“Yes. Just… there’s some content to look at.”
“Why, is there something difficult?”
He, with his good eye, seemed to remember that I had been looking at this journal yesterday too. …Or maybe he was pretending not to know that I was just acting busy because I didn’t want to look like I had nothing to do.
“It’s not that.”
“I’ll look at it with you. It might be helpful, I’m the Director of the Royal Hospital after all.”
Seo Baek-han, who had been casually resting his arm on the back of Joo Tae-hyun’s chair, tilted his head along. He also played a prank by twirling the hair next to my ear around his finger, and his finger, which lightly touched my face, was very hot. My shoulder twitched without me realizing it.
He was periodically taking in his imprinting partner’s pheromones, so it couldn’t be that he had a fever because he was sick. He had been drinking warm coffee in a warm house, so his body must have just gotten warmer as a result. So, there’s no need to be conscious of it.
…I know it’s a ridiculous excuse, but I tried not to pay attention to him in this way.
Otherwise.
“There’s nothing important, hng!”
Seo Baek-han’s heat, which was always ready to ignite, would obviously be transferred to me.
“Haa, Hyung, suddenly-.”
As soon as Seo Baek-han was sure that Joo Tae-hyun had room to spare, he kissed him without hesitation. He seemed to treat me carefully, but he was fearless in this regard.
‘I have to look good to you, even like this.’
The first week after making a fuss at the airport and flying to Washington, Seo Baek-han whispered as he sucked and bit Joo Tae-hyun’s nipples until they were sore.
‘I want Tae-hyun to feel that you need to keep me by your side in some way.’
In short, he meant that he would try to make us physically intimate while asking for my forgiveness.
Usually, wouldn’t they show an attitude of being able to wait until your heart is completely open, of not touching you until you really want it…
But Seo Baek-han was even more proactive than before.
‘I don’t want to miss you again by being a fool and hesitating.’
Of course, if Tae-hyun, you, hate it, I won’t do anything, and I’ll naturally refrain from coming to Washington, but if that’s not the case. If I’m not that terrible, if you don’t hate seeing me.
‘You can use me like a dildo. I actually like that kind of treatment, haa.’
‘Ah, too, hng, deep, haat!’
The whisper that he wanted to be by my side no matter what, that hot and blatant desire, was so Seo Baek-han-like that I couldn’t bring myself to push him away.
Am I really crazy to be accepting him like this so vaguely…? Just when such questions and confusion began to coil faintly.
‘I love you.’
Seo Baek-han would carefully close one corner of my heart, which had been rotten and about to fall off for a long time.
Of course, the whisper of love was not a panacea. Rather, every time Seo Baek-han showed his affection so generously, Joo Tae-hyun suffered from time to time. It was because he had no immunity to his kindness.
When I read the messages he sent me while I was sleeping, when I heard my sister’s voice yelling that Seo Baek-han was crazy, when I suddenly caught sight of the clothes he had left at my house hanging in my dressing room…
I hated Seo Baek-han uncontrollably. The long-suffering, festering wound opened again, and I shuddered at the flowing pus.
Apart from the fact that his sudden visits to the US had become familiar, the wound caused by Seo Baek-han was still unhealed.
“…Can I look?”
I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even realize he had stopped kissing me. Slightly embarrassed, Seo Baek-han lightly kissed my eyes as if it was okay.
Joo Tae-hyun bit his parched lips and placed his hand on Seo Baek-han’s neck.
…No, can I even call this placing it? It was closer to grabbing his neck tightly, but Seo Baek-han lowered his head as if telling me to do more.
“I didn’t hear you properly earlier… what did you say?”
“Ah. Can I suck here?”