100 – AC

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The next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, daily life continued. Cha Se-jin was still affectionate, and Eun-won remained just as vulnerable to that affection. The problem, however, was that he had become a bit embarrassed to show how completely smitten he was by every single touch or smile from Cha Se-jin, as he had done before.

It felt embarrassing to keep exposing his fluttering heart while he still didn’t know what answer Cha Se-jin would give to his confession. He might not have realized it before, but now… it was because Cha Se-jin likely knew that the reason he was acting this way was love.

So, he wanted to hold himself back a little. To prevent his fluttering heart from losing its pace again and rushing toward him with hopeful expectations.

But the heart is not something that can be held back as easily as one might think. Cha Se-jin continued to shake Eun-won’s composure as if it were nothing. He stroked his hair every morning, held his hand under the dining table, and whenever they sat on the sofa, he would lean his head on Eun-won’s shoulder, sit on his lap, or wrap his arms around his waist from behind. Every time this happened, Eun-won forgot how to breathe and reacted a beat late.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like it. He liked it so much that he needed a moment to catch his breath.

It was like that yesterday, this morning, and just a moment ago. Eun-won kept steadying his breath and his heart, acutely conscious of Cha Se-jin beside him. He wanted to be relaxed, but it wasn’t working.

“What should we watch?”

Startled by Cha Se-jin’s voice suddenly cutting through his thoughts, Eun-won looked up. Only then did he remember that he was spending a leisurely weekend with Cha Se-jin.

“Cha Se-na told me there’s something interesting to watch. Shall we watch that?”

Cha Se-jin held the remote and scrolled through the TV screen. It was a series where the plot wasn’t immediately clear just from the title and poster. Eun-won nodded quietly, imagining what it might be about.

“Yes. I’d like that.”

After playing the first episode, Cha Se-jin used a small remote on the side table to close the curtains and dim the lights. While he liked the atmosphere, which quickly became dark like a cinema, he found himself glancing sideways whenever their shoulders brushed or arms rubbed together as Cha Se-jin moved. Eun-won took a small breath and watched the series opening, which began with an ominous tone.

Only after an atmosphere was set where they could focus solely on the screen did Cha Se-jin sink back into the sofa. While focusing on the screen, Cha Se-jin naturally leaned his head on Eun-won’s shoulder.

“…….”

“…….”

It felt as though Cha Se-jin, who was much larger than him, was leaning on and relying on him. Eun-won tried his best to focus on the events unfolding on the screen, but all his nerves were tilted toward Cha Se-jin.

A teacher, who had been normally instructing students, suddenly twisted his limbs and turned into a zombie. At that exact moment, Cha Se-jin’s arm slid in between Eun-won’s waist and the sofa.

Eun-won’s gaze flickered toward Cha Se-jin. Unaware that Eun-won was looking, Cha Se-jin remained focused on the screen. He looked quite immersed.

When Eun-won turned his gaze back to the screen, the zombie teacher was running with grotesque movements after the fleeing students. Cha Se-jin’s fingertips, which had been fiddling near the hem of the t-shirt, naturally slipped underneath the fabric. In that instant, Eun-won’s shoulders hunched.

“Are you scared?”

Only then did Cha Se-jin’s gaze meet Eun-won’s. He seemed to think Eun-won had hunched his shoulders because he was scared or startled. Eun-won answered with a smile and felt the hand slowly fiddling near his waist and stomach.

Biting his lip and casting his gaze down, he could see the outline of Cha Se-jin’s hand inside his t-shirt protruding through the fabric. It wasn’t a touch intended to arouse. It was simply a soft movement.

However, Eun-won couldn’t accept that touch naturally. It would have been nice if he could just accept it as a light, intimate skinship that naturally exists in this moment, but all his senses converged on the spot where Cha Se-jin’s fingertips touched.

“…….”

When he pulled the blanket draped over the sofa to cover his legs, Cha Se-jin, thinking he had covered himself because he was cold, spread it further and pulled it up to his stomach. Even though the blanket now covered the hand, the movement didn’t stop. The sensation of the warm palm against his skin became so vivid that Eun-won couldn’t even properly hear the screams of the zombie horde on the screen.

And there was one more problem—a big one. Cha Se-jin’s pheromone scent lingered on the blanket he had draped over him. Now, Eun-won couldn’t even breathe properly. Cha Se-jin’s hand was inside the blanket, Cha Se-jin’s head was on his shoulder, and Cha Se-jin’s scent was flooding his nose. Everything was too close. It was too affectionate, too warm. He felt as if his body would truly melt if he received any more of this.

“…….”

Just then, Cha Se-jin’s phone screen on the table in front of the sofa flickered. The hand that had been inside the clothes pulled out slightly, and Cha Se-jin’s leaning body straightened up. Checking the screen nonchalantly, Cha Se-jin muttered, “It’s Se-na,” and sent a quick reply with one hand. Then, he placed the phone face down.

Cha Se-jin’s hand lightly gripped his waist over the t-shirt again before sliding back inside. Students screamed, and the hallway instantly became a scene of chaos. Normally, he would have half-closed his eyes during bloody or scary scenes, but now he didn’t have the mental capacity for that.

The moment the zombie principal approached and threatened him with a wide-open mouth, Cha Se-jin’s fingertips moved deeper along the line of his waist. Tension entered his legs, and his thighs clamped shut. Unable to endure it any longer, Eun-won reflexively stood up. Cha Se-jin’s hand was left hanging in mid-air.

“What is it?”

Cha Se-jin’s face looked genuinely puzzled as he looked up, which only made Eun-won more flustered.

“Ju-juice….”

“Juice?”

“Juice…! I want some. Would you like some too, Director?”

“I’m fine.”

“Ah… yes, then… I’ll be right back….”

Eun-won practically fled through the living room and into the kitchen. Even though he tried to be careful not to speed up his pace, he couldn’t walk leisurely or nonchalantly. His heart pounded so hard it almost hurt, even while he opened the refrigerator and took out a cold bottle of juice.

Why am I like this?

Seriously, why? It’s not like this is the first time….

It was a touch no different from any other time. Whenever Cha Se-jin was with him, he always touched his body like this. He would touch his face, his hands, hold his waist like today, or even slide his hand inside his pants to slowly stroke the inside of his thighs. He always felt fluttery, trembling, and nervous whenever he was touched… but that didn’t mean it was something to be this startled by.

“…….”

Before, he hadn’t been this unnaturally conscious of the touch. When Cha Se-jin leaned on him, he would lean his head back; when Cha Se-jin hugged him, he would snuggle deeper into that embrace; they would kiss while being touched, and as the kiss grew longer and deeper, they would press their bodies together on the sofa. Even when the weekend afternoon passed and it became pitch black outside, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of regret.

But today, he couldn’t do that. In his head, he wanted to be closer to him. He wanted to kiss, and he wanted him to touch him in deeper places. But… strangely, he felt like he shouldn’t. No, it wasn’t that he couldn’t, but… since he hadn’t heard Cha Se-jin’s answer yet, he felt that if he succumbed to the sensation of his head floating and his body melting, his heart would once again race too far ahead.

Calming the slight arousal spreading through his body and catching his breath several times, Eun-won poured the cold juice into a glass. His fingertips trembled slightly. When he returned to the living room, Cha Se-jin was still sitting on the sofa. He appeared to be watching the screen, but his gaze followed Eun-won the moment he approached.

Eun-won sat down a bit further away from where he had been sitting before.

It was only a little. So little that someone else wouldn’t even notice. But Cha Se-jin noticed that slightly wider gap.

“…….”

Cha Se-jin’s gaze landed on the small gap that had formed between them before moving back up to Eun-won’s face.

Eun-won placed the glass full of juice on the table. He had said he wanted to drink juice, but he only brought it; he didn’t take a single sip.

Cha Se-jin turned his gaze back to the screen. He did, but naturally, nothing on the screen entered his mind anymore.

Why isn’t he drinking the juice?

Did he drink some while pouring and then fill it back up? No, that doesn’t seem right. There’s no sign of him drinking. If he wasn’t going to drink it right away, why did he suddenly get up and leave as if he were fleeing?

…As if he were fleeing?

Fleeing?

Suddenly? Why? Because he’s scared of zombies? Is it boring? No. Then what? Because I touched him?

No, that can’t be it. There’s no way that happened suddenly. He was like this before. He was like this not long ago, and he likes it when I touch him while we talk before sleeping in bed. When I stroke him and touch him, he gets shy and his ears turn red, and he’s the one who hugs me first….

“…….”

Yes, Eun-won had definitely been like that before. Even if Cha Se-jin just stroked somewhere on his body with a touch that was more “cute” than “arousing,” his cheeks and the tips of his ears would turn flush, and he would bury his face in Cha Se-jin’s shoulder, arm, or chest. Then, as the touch grew more intense, he would let out soft moans, and when their eyes met again, their lips would lock deeply.

But today was different. Even though he leaned on him, Eun-won didn’t lean back, and he didn’t bury himself deeply or snuggle into his touch. He simply jumped up and left the living room without looking back, as if fleeing. And then he brought juice he didn’t even drink and sat with more distance than before. To lean his head or hug his waist like before, Cha Se-jin would have to actively move closer.

Nah, surely he didn’t avoid me. He didn’t actually flee. Even as he tried to think that way, seeing Eun-won still not drinking the juice made his thoughts lean in that direction.

“…….”

Cha Se-jin stole a glance at Eun-won. Eun-won was watching the screen. His face looked as if nothing was wrong. However, the tips of his ears were red, as usual.

See? His reaction is the same as always. Then it’s probably not because he hates me touching him.

Then what is it?

Why did he suddenly flee? Why is he sitting so far away?

Now, no matter how he moved his body, he couldn’t reach Eun-won. It wasn’t as if Eun-won was sitting at the far end of the sofa, but it still felt strange. It was only a tiny bit, but that tiny bit kept bothering him. He felt like being bitten by the zombies on the screen would be less stressful than this.

While he kept circling the same thoughts, the first episode ended and the next one began. He remembered Cha Se-na saying that although the second episode was a bit boring, he had to endure it and watch until the third. As if to prove those words, the second episode was filled entirely with scenes of people running around. Someone was running, someone was being bitten, and someone was crying, but Cha Se-jin could no longer tell who was who.

It was boring, but more than that, there was someone beside him who was more concerning.

Eun-won was sitting quietly in that widened gap. The glass, with the juice level not having dropped at all, remained in the same spot.

As expected, it didn’t seem like he had left his seat because of the juice. Then… if not that….

Wow, did he really flee to avoid me?