Seo Baek-han took off his jacket and turned to look at Joo Tae-hyun, who was standing at the boundary between the living room and the bedroom, with a puzzled expression.
Was he really going to get down to business so quickly? Joo Tae-hyun was momentarily taken aback by Seo Baek-han’s straightforward attitude.
Having sex on a bed decorated with heart-shaped rose petals wouldn’t change the relationship between him and Seo Baek-han. They weren’t a real couple or even lovers. Since the purpose was clear, it would be more efficient to keep the process simple and concise. From Seo Baek-han’s perspective, there was no need to waste time on unnecessary formalities.
But what should he do? He couldn’t get wet without using a Switch like an Omega. He didn’t really know how to have sex with a man without it…
Even in this situation, Joo Tae-hyun didn’t consider avoiding penetrative sex.
Ignoring the Pheromone problem caused by taking the Switch was out of the question, and although he planned to keep it a secret from Seo Baek-han, he had unilaterally Imprinted on him anyway, so the most effective way to receive his Pheromones was ultimately through internal ejaculation. Also…
Embarrassed by how overly conscious he seemed to be of sex, Joo Tae-hyun scratched the back of his neck and stepped into the bedroom.
“If you don’t like champagne, should I order a different drink?”
“Ah, no?”
He preferred sweet coffee but his taste in alcohol was the complete opposite, yet he blurted out a random answer in surprise.
All Seo Baek-han had done was hang his removed jacket on the back of a chair and slightly lower his head to examine the table. But even that small gesture made his taut shirt catch his eye, driving him crazy. He hadn’t even taken off all his clothes, so why did he feel like he was committing such a terrible act?
Joo Tae-hyun’s hands trembled as he took off his jacket, trying to act nonchalant. He could only hope that the dazzling artificial lights would cover up his unsightly appearance.
Yes, if he stripped away everything else and left only his honest feelings, he wanted to be held by him with a clear memory, and he was secretly excited because he thought it might be possible this time. Even though he knew perfectly well how miserable a relationship without any affection would be.
“The alcohol and snacks are all too sweet.”
Seo Baek-han sank into a plush armchair and casually undid the top button of his shirt.
“Well, that’s not what’s important right now.”
“…Yes.”
Seo Baek-han probably knew what he was thinking inside. He kept responding like a fool out of embarrassment, but he was also glad that Seo Baek-han had suggested having a drink instead of immediately getting down to business.
He was shocked by the flamboyant state of the bedroom and wondered what it was, but in truth, Joo Tae-hyun was excited and happy.
It made him feel like he was in a real relationship with Seo Baek-han.
“I said that?”
“You did.”
Two bottles of champagne lay empty on the floor. The table was covered with strong whiskeys that had been taken out of the mini-bar at random.
Neither Seo Baek-han nor Joo Tae-hyun had a low tolerance for alcohol. But Joo Tae-hyun was truly intoxicated by the atmosphere. Seo Baek-han… well, perhaps he was just matching his mood to observe his excited self for the first time.
He didn’t know. Joo Tae-hyun no longer wanted to make any calculations. He wanted to focus only on this moment, which might be the first and last.
“You tilted the champagne glass like this and said, ‘You shouldn’t have such a narrow view.'”
“……I really didn’t watch what I said in front of a kid, did I.”
When the story from the Guardian Lion founding ceremony came up, he grimaced and pretended to cover his ears. It was strange to see even the great Seo Baek-han embarrassed by the past, and also… the first time he had ever seen that side of him, it seemed cute.
‘After our marriage was first discussed, Guk-won Hyung actually came to Pyongyang to find me.’
But how did they end up telling such silly old stories? It must have started when Seo Baek-han casually brought it up while pouring champagne.
‘Guk-won Hyung?’
‘Yeah. He left all the other Hyungs behind and came alone.’
Seo Baek-han narrowed his eyes slightly, as if just thinking about it made him uncomfortable.
‘I think that was the first time I thought I could die from drinking.’
Joo Tae-hyun had never heard that story before.
Starting with that, Seo Baek-han told him some trivial personal stories. They were really nothing special, and some of them Joo Tae-hyun had already seen on social media, and there were even episodes that the assemblyman’s office had spread after getting prior consent from the DH Group’s PR team.
Did Seo Baek-han not know that? Or had he forgotten?
No way.
So, he was now opening up his very private world to Joo Tae-hyun. It was permission to say, “I’m going to manipulate and tear you apart as I please, so you can invade my territory this much.”
That invitation, which had the nature of an equal exchange, made Joo Tae-hyun more excited than ever. He decided to think about the unilateral Imprinting and everything else later. He just wanted to enjoy the luck he had somehow gotten his hands on, which would soon no longer be his.
“Around that time, I felt like my whole body was strangely tense. I was also very conscious of what other people thought.”
Seo Baek-han took a sip of his drink, saying he didn’t know how pathetic he must have looked to others, full of the typical affected bravado of a child. He laughed as if embarrassed, but Joo Tae-hyun shook his head briefly, as if he couldn’t agree, and filled his empty glass with ice first. The alcohol tasted sweet today, and he wanted to drink it straight, but he was trying to restrain himself because he thought he would get drunk quickly.
“No, not at all.”
Seo Baek-han was shining brightly even back then.
He made Joo Tae-hyun think about how he wanted to live as Joo Tae-hyun, not just as the youngest Young Master of the DH Group.
Joo Tae-hyun learned all kinds of emotions from Seo Baek-han – sweet, bitter, and painful – and thanks to him, Joo Tae-hyun’s colorless and odorless youth was painted with a variety of colors.
Only Seo Baek-han.
The only person who shone so brightly in Joo Tae-hyun’s eyes was Seo Baek-han, and no one else.
“…And I thought Hyung was cool back then.”
“Haha. You did?”
“Yes. I realized for the first time that a person with a clear goal shines so brightly when I saw Hyung. Watching Hyung made me think about how I wanted to live.”
Joo Tae-hyun, who had been chattering happily while pouring alcohol until the glass was almost overflowing, belatedly glanced at Seo Baek-han’s expression.
…Wait a minute. This much praise is okay, right?
Saying “You’re cool” or “You’re okay” is something you can say even between friends. Joo Tae-hyun picked up a chocolate-covered strawberry and pretended to be nonchalant. Hoping that his words wouldn’t seem too meaningful.
Perhaps he didn’t take it to heart too much either, as he was just filling his glass with alcohol. The last of the alcohol from the mini-bar was starting to run out, so just as he was about to ask Seo Baek-han if he should order alcohol through room service.
“That’s unexpected. I thought you liked me for my face.”
“Cough!”
His joke with a barb in it caused the chocolate he had bitten into to get stuck in his throat. Joo Tae-hyun hurriedly drank the alcohol in front of him, but the unique taste of alcohol hitting his palate made him cough even more violently.
After finally calming down and raising his head with reddened eyes, he saw Seo Baek-han staring at him with a strange expression, as if he was smiling but not really.
“…Hyung, that’s-“
“Uh-huh, I know. You don’t like me now.”
“Hyung. Really, I-“
“Yeah, it’s all in the past.”
He felt like he had swallowed something hot all at once.
Seo Baek-han’s gaze and voice as he looked down at him when he confessed to him, the atmosphere of that day… all of it instantly came back to life and weighed heavily on Joo Tae-hyun.
He thought he was okay now, but he wasn’t.
He had just pushed it far away and pretended to forget it because he didn’t want to think about it again.
“Tae-hyun.”
As if to pull Joo Tae-hyun out of the swamp of memories, Seo Baek-han put down the glass he was drinking from and beckoned with his hand.
“Yes? Ah, yes!”
And Joo Tae-hyun jumped up from his seat without hesitation. Seo Baek-han was dumbfounded, wondering why he was acting so dramatic, but he was even grateful to him for calling him. Anything was better as long as he could get away from the story of his miserable confession in his younger days.
“…Hyung?”
But even before he could walk over to him, Seo Baek-han suddenly got up. A huge shadow swallowed Joo Tae-hyun in an instant, like a high wave crashing down.
He knew that he was a little taller and bigger than him, but he was surprised again at how big he was.
As he stopped his steps in mid-air and unconsciously stepped back, something caught on his heel. It was the sofa bed under the window, which was placed in the living room at a slightly different angle.
Even though he knew that Joo Tae-hyun had reached the end of the line, Seo Baek-han advanced relentlessly. Because of him getting closer as if he was pushing him, Joo Tae-hyun naturally plopped down on the sofa bed.
“If it was a one-time Heat, I would have ended it with a mechanical act like that day, but it’s not like that anymore.”
Then, Seo Baek-han’s voice, muttering, was heard right in front of him.
Joo Tae-hyun forgot even how to breathe and just stared at Seo Baek-han’s chest in front of him. Was it because of the pure white shirt, like the chandelier light he had seen earlier? Every time he blinked, his entire eyeball sizzled, and he felt like he would go blind at any moment.
“I don’t want to keep having painful sex as if I’m hurting myself.”
“But, Hyung… doesn’t like it. So I’m a man, and-“
“It’s what adults do if there’s something they have to do, whether they like it or not.”
And Seo Baek-han lightly grabbed Joo Tae-hyun’s chin, saying that the bastards with public official name tags are usually quick to accept the situation.
His lips were slightly curved, so he realized that Seo Baek-han was making a joke in his own way, but unfortunately, Joo Tae-hyun didn’t have the composure to smile back at all.
His lips, moist with the alcohol he had just drunk, lightly landed on Joo Tae-hyun’s lips. It was a very slight contact that couldn’t be called a kiss.
Seo Baek-han lightly kissed Joo Tae-hyun’s lips and the tip of his nose a few more times as if he was exploring, then held only the mucous membrane inside his lower lip in his mouth before letting go. The sound of wet skin rubbing together and then popping was cutely out of place in this situation.
“I’m curious to see how far I can go… well, I guess this is definitely possible.”
Seo Baek-han’s thumb slowly traced Joo Tae-hyun’s lower lip. As a result, the soft flesh inside his lower lip was slightly exposed, and his touch lingered particularly thickly on a certain spot. It was the spot that he had once pointed out in passing, the one that he himself had not been aware of, the one that he had said was a sexy spot, so he should be careful.