By Zephyria “Why do you have that expression?”
Ahn Seo-myeong’s voice was cold even to a casual listener.
Even the gaze that was fixed on him was unusual. It seemed that the emotion, which had been close to a joke, had become twisted after seeing the other person’s lukewarm reaction. A person who could be called a representative figure of indifference was making such a fuss only when it came to Ki Jae-eon. He’s no Janus. Anyway, only Ki Jae-eon was sweating at the sudden change of attitude. Ah, no-. Even if he dragged out the end of his words, the sharp expression did not subside.
“What isn’t?”
It was that moment.
Suddenly, his gaze was fixed on his chattering lips.
“What is it?”
Ki Jae-eon swallowed hard, forgetting his worries, and chewed on the inside of his cheek just enough to feel the pain.
‘Focus, focus.’
But no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, his gaze was drawn to his protruding lips.
‘If, if I touch that now…… it’ll be an accident, right?’
Was it because he drank alcohol? He was seized by a strange impulse.
‘……Cute.’
Why are a boy’s lips so cute?
If he had his way, he would have liked to hold a deep discussion.
But he was also a little upset.
Don’t adults often bite the round cheeks of young children when they see them?
Ki Jae-eon justified himself and stared intently at the red lips that were constantly moving in front of him. They moved so cutely, chattering away.
Even the gloss that flowed slightly as they repeatedly stuck together and separated.
‘If I touch them, they’ll feel moist.’
His mind gradually became hazy.
Ki Jae-eon’s expression softened.
His focus blurred and his reason blurred.
Yes, that’s right.
Unfortunately, the alcohol was kicking in!
It goes without saying, but Ki Jae-eon was weak to alcohol.
All of this was a mistake caused by ignorance of his own alcohol tolerance.
‘Soft, soft……’
It wasn’t just his eyes, nose, and mouth that had lost their function. His ears also seemed to have given up on interpreting the language, automatically blocking the sharp words that were coming at him. Now, to Ki Jae-eon, Ahn Seo-myeong only looked like he was singing with his small and pretty lips. Those plump, cute-.
“Hyung, answer- brrrrr!”
At the cold call, he finally caused an accident.
His white, slender index finger suddenly went up and shook Ahn Seo-myeong’s lips wildly.
Ah, they were so cute that he couldn’t help it…… he couldn’t resist.
“……”
“……”
When the prank passed, a short, heavy silence remained in the room. Ahn Seo-myeong’s momentum, which had been so fierce until just now, had disappeared as if he had lost his fighting spirit. He stared at Ki Jae-eon with a blank expression, as if he had been slapped in the face unexpectedly.
“……”
“……”
Swish- breaking the silence, his index finger came up again. Ahn Seo-myeong’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the obvious movement. Just one more time. No way. Please. I don’t want to. A silent conversation passed quickly.
Then, when Ki Jae-eon moved, Ahn Seo-myeong also pulled his head back. The movement of approaching and avoiding, approaching and avoiding, was repeated two or three times.
“Ju, just once……”
Ki Jae-eon pleaded desperately, but Ahn Seo-myeong was not easy to deal with either. Uh-uh, no. No way. Every time he shook his head, his thin, dense hair fluttered.
“I’ll get angry.”
He said that, but his eyes were quite soft. Perhaps if Ki Jae-eon clung to him and begged a few more times, he would pretend he couldn’t win and give in.
No, perhaps that expression, which was a mixture of slight displeasure and playfulness, even contained a provocation like ‘go ahead and try.’
In other words, it wasn’t that he really didn’t like it…… but rather that he was welcoming and enjoying it.
At that subtle wink and tone, Ki Jae-eon, who had become fearless due to the alcohol, grinned. It was such an unfamiliar smile to himself that the inside of his throat tickled.
“Seo, Seo-myeong.”
“What.”
“Your lips are…….”
While Ki Jae-eon was stammering and unable to continue, Ahn Seo-myeong suddenly thrust his head forward. The two people’s breaths mixed in the same rhythm. It was a distance that could be transformed differently by someone’s courage or a mistake. Ah-. His eyelids fluttered, and the smell of alcohol and the smell of sweat mixed with soap began to stick together thickly. The light air disappeared in the blink of an eye. Only something deeper and more precarious remained in the gap between the two, filling the space heavily.
“Hyung.”
The low tone dropped. There was no longer a ‘boy’ in the voice that reached him like a whisper. Only a mature man remained.
“Jae-eon Hyung.”
It was a more secretive call, as if he was telling a secret story.
Ki Jae-eon himself felt the gaze that grew hotter every time his lips touched and separated, creating subtle wrinkles.
Then, he realized very late that the gaze he inadvertently met was no longer coming up from below as it used to be. Huh? Ki Jae-eon opened his eyes wide. The child he once looked down on had now grown into a full-fledged adult and was colliding at the same height.
His height, his shoulders, and the depth of his gaze were all different from before.
The child who always followed him, saying “Hyung, Hyung—” had disappeared, and he was now standing next to him, ready to stand shoulder to shoulder.
That one fact changed the relationship between the two.
An equal relationship.
In other words, Ahn Seo-myeong’s growth.
‘And…… that the day it comes is not far off.’
He knows. He knows it well.
That time does not only bring happiness.
Just as there is agony when there is peace, happiness is accompanied by unhappiness for some reason.
Therefore, joy and shadow brushed his heart at the same time.
Because the memories of the past painfully followed him.
Whether he read Ki Jae-eon’s mind or not.
Ahn Seo-myeong continued his own work.
With a sly, fox-like smile, he made Ki Jae-eon’s gloomy heart flutter again. In reality, he had accomplished a great feat with just that.
“Why? Aren’t you going to joke around anymore?”
With those words, his gaze shot down and then up again. It was a gaze that did not feel light at all. Ki Jae-eon felt a strange tickle in the place where that gaze had passed.
“You’re not going to do it.”
“……Ah, that.”
Ahn Seo-myeong stared blankly at the frozen Ki Jae-eon, then folded his eyes and smiled. Coward. His lips, which were moving slightly, were clearly muttering that.
“……!”
“Then shall I do it? I can also play with lips.”
Just as the whisper with a clear intention was about to dig into his ear like a lick.
Hyung-. His face came closer.
He stopped abruptly at a precarious distance where their lips were about to touch.
‘Ki, kiss……’
He didn’t know why the joke had come this far. He didn’t know, but…… what was even more difficult to understand was that he didn’t particularly dislike it. I, I smell like alcohol. Ki Jae-eon couldn’t even scream and squeezed his eyes shut. The tips of his toes curled up on their own and his shoulders shrugged slightly. His nose tingled with tension.
It was right then.
Ddukluk, the inside of his throat spasmed as if convulsing.
“……Ah, uh, heuk!”
“…….”
“Ah, no…… Uh, kkeut!”
A foolish sound cut through the silence.
He didn’t want to be like this, but his upper body kept shaking, heuk-heuk—moving like an idiot.
He figured he was ruining any chance of a mood, to say the least.
‘This, this is embarrassing.’
Ki Jae-eon blushed and clenched his fists tightly.
But no matter how long he waited, nothing he expected happened.
His tense lips remained just as they were.
There wasn’t even a hint of something soft touching him.
What, what is it? Unable to endure any longer, Ki Jae-eon cautiously opened his eyes. Like someone who is scared but also anticipates a scary scene, he peeked through his slightly raised eyelids, and what he saw was Ahn Seo-myeong, grinning as if teasing him. He raised the corners of his lips as much as possible and said, “Why are your eyes closed? Do you want to do something more with me?”
There was a clear tease lingering at the end of his sly voice. But it wasn’t unpleasant. Even though it was a teasing remark, it felt strangely comfortable. Was it because he knew the kindness hidden within? The remnants of anxiety that had been deep inside him seemed to melt away like snow.
And a warmth that was rising.
It wasn’t an unfamiliar sensation.
As always, this kid, no, this man, would play mischievous pranks but ultimately stabilize him.
Ki Jae-eon trembled his eyes and twitched his lips.
‘I, I want to touch him.’
It was as if someone was pushing him on the back.
‘It’s all because of the alcohol. It must be.’
Soothing himself in that way, Ki Jae-eon raised his hand and gently cupped Ahn Seo-myeong’s cheek. After hesitating, his head slowly tilted, and his lips touched.