By Zephyria 
===
Sitting on the edge of the bed for a moment to catch his breath, the heat that had been churning inside him finally settled. Relieved, Eun-won took out his tablet PC and a stack of printouts filled with notes from the bag he had brought from school.
He sat at the desk in the room, switched on the lamp, and began reviewing the sections he had marked as important, when a sudden laugh escaped him. In all the world, was there anyone else who spent their honeymoon at a hotel studying for exams?
Even to him, it felt a bit absurd, and he wondered how it seemed from Cha Se-jin’s perspective. He probably shouldn’t have said he’d just be studying… Even I wouldn’t feel attracted to someone who came all this way only to study alone in a room… No, I should have just gone with him. I could have just watched the Executive Director swim without getting in the water myself…
Regrets began to follow in a belated rush. Letting out a deep sigh, Eun-won stopped his idle thoughts and shook his head. He then focused his eyes on the meticulously written notes on the glowing white screen, wishing that Cha Se-jin would return quickly.
* * *
As usual, without a single thought, he swam several laps with complete freedom, but strangely, it wasn’t very fun. He loved swimming so much that he often thought it would be wonderful to throw away all his work and spend his entire life just swimming, but today he felt no inspiration; everything was simply boring.
After completing one more lap, as he leaned against the deck, thoughts of Eun-won studying alone in the room crossed his mind. The hotel room wasn’t a dangerous place, nor was it a place where one couldn’t be left alone, yet he couldn’t stop worrying about having left him behind.
He had intended to loosen up his body leisurely for about two hours, but less than thirty minutes later, Cha Se-jin climbed out of the water and sat on the sunbed where his belongings were placed to drink an ionic beverage. He contemplated for a moment whether he should just head back up, but feeling that it would be a waste to have come all this way, he dove back into the water. However, the feeling remained the same. He felt no enjoyment whatsoever.
Eventually, Cha Se-jin left the pool again, washed up in the private shower room, and stopped by the chocolate shop next to the hotel lobby. It was a place that had never caught his eye before, but today, for some reason, it drew his gaze. He thought it would be nice for Eun-won to eat them one by one while studying.
Looking at the chocolates displayed in the showcase, Cha Se-jin chose the largest and most beautiful chocolate box. It was too much for one person to eat in a day, but since chocolates could be eaten over time, he wanted to give the prettiest and best one since he was buying them anyway. It was only natural that the person he married should enjoy the most sparkling things.
Carrying the bag with the well-packaged chocolate box, Cha Se-jin went up to the suite and quietly looked for Eun-won, leaning into the bedroom. He saw Eun-won, wearing earphones and oblivious to his arrival, diligently writing something down as he studied.
He considered sneaking up behind him to surprise him, but decided it was an immature act. It made no sense for an adult eight years older than Eun-won—and someone who had been married for only two days—to do something so childish.
“What are you studying so hard for?”
So, he simply entered the room as if he had just arrived, and feeling his presence, Eun-won turned his head. Even though he hadn’t tried to scare him, Eun-won’s shoulders flinched in surprise the moment their eyes met. Quickly removing his earphones, Eun-won stood up from his seat.
“You’re back early?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t as fun as I thought. Am I disturbing you? Should I go back and come later?”
When he made a gesture as if to leave the bedroom, Eun-won quickly approached and grabbed his arm. Not realizing that he had just done something just as childish as sneaking up to surprise him, Cha Se-jin looked down at Eun-won’s hand gripping his arm and grinned. This was certainly much more interesting than flailing around in the water.
“Here. These are chocolates; eat them while you work.”
Receiving the white shopping bag Cha Se-jin held out, Eun-won took out the box inside and opened it. Inside were chocolates of beautiful colors and shapes. There were nearly twenty chocolates, and every single one was so pretty that it felt like a waste to eat them.
“…Thank you. I’ll enjoy them.”
“Yeah, try one.”
While contemplating which one to eat first, Eun-won picked up a chocolate that looked like a planet—the most eye-catching one—and put it in his mouth. As soon as it entered, it melted away, and the sweetness spreading throughout his mouth was so delicious and wonderful that it made him happy.
“It’s so delicious.”
“Is it too sweet?”
“Um… not that sweet…”
He was about to say that it was less sweet than the ordinary chocolates he occasionally ate or the ones easily bought at stores, and that it had a richer, smoother taste, but something soft and hot touched the spot where the chocolate had melted.
As Cha Se-jin’s tongue rubbed against his, the sensation—which he had just felt was fine—shook his entire body. Whenever the other man slowly sucked the tip of his tongue, a chill ran down his spine, which soon turned into an intense heat that flowed deep inside him. Yet, that unfamiliar sensation wasn’t unpleasant or uncomfortable in the slightest.
Eun-won entwined his tongue deeply with Cha Se-jin’s until the taste of the chocolate completely vanished from his mouth. At some point, Cha Se-jin’s tongue felt sweeter than the chocolate.
“…Haa…”
“Even this is too sweet for me. This is the only way I can eat it.”
As Cha Se-jin pulled away with a smile, he smelled of a cozy, freshly-showered scent. Eun-won stared blankly at the curve of Cha Se-jin’s smiling lips before biting his own lip. The entwined tongues, the gripped arm, and the touching bodies—everything had been so hot.
“I’ll be outside. Study.”
Only after Cha Se-jin left did Eun-won finally sit back in his chair to catch his breath and calm his heart. He kept his eyes closed for a long time, feeling his heart beating excessively fast, and once it finally subsided, he picked another chocolate and put it in his mouth. This time too, the chocolate melted very smoothly in his mouth. Since it was white chocolate, the taste was slightly different from the first one.
“…”
Suddenly, the thought crossed his mind that he wished Cha Se-jin had tasted this chocolate too. Recalling the sensation of their lips meeting and the tongue sliding in, Eun-won startled and shook his head, quickly looking down at the tablet PC screen that had been glowing the whole time. However, the sensation sweeter than the chocolate remaining in his mouth kept resurfacing, making it impossible to concentrate for a while.
Despite having slept, once midnight passed and the hour became one fitting for the term ‘dawn,’ sleepiness washed over him. After studying for about three hours, Eun-won watched a movie with Cha Se-jin while eating a light snack to satisfy their hunger.
It was a new release that had just hit an OTT platform yesterday; for Eun-won, who usually didn’t have the luxury to watch movies, it was very interesting. For Cha Se-jin, whose threshold for entertainment was high, it was merely a mediocre commercial film with some plot holes. However, the pleasure of watching Eun-won’s face as he focused intently without taking his eyes off the screen made the movie-watching time quite rewarding.
By the time the movie ended and they prepared for bed, it was slightly past one-thirty. Eun-won packed all his belongings and laid out the clothes he would wear tomorrow so he could get ready and leave immediately in the morning. After moving busily and finishing everything, Eun-won climbed into bed and slid under the covers. Cha Se-jin suddenly became curious.
Yesterday, although not to the point of being drunk, they had a drink, and because he was so exhausted, he had passed out and slept together without even realizing he was falling asleep. But today, he was completely sober. He wanted to know if he could sleep with Eun-won even in this clear state of mind.
“We’re lying down to sleep again only nine hours after we woke up.”
“Strangely, I’m sleepy again…”
“It’s probably because you studied. Hurry up and sleep. That way you can leave early tomorrow.”
“Yes… Goodnight to you too, Executive Director.”
“Yeah, sleep.”
Before long, the sound of quiet, regular breathing echoed. No, how could someone even fall asleep so quietly? Without tossing and turning, without spending hours on a phone before bed, just quietly drifting off. Is it because he’s young? Was I like this when I was twenty? No, I don’t think I was ever like that.
He looked at the clear, pale face of the sleeping Eun-won with fascination and admiration, occasionally touching the fine hairs on his skin and watching anxiously, fearing he might wake him by pressing on his cheek. Then, unbelievably, sleep came to him as well. Shedding the robe he was wearing and tossing it onto the chair next to the bed, Cha Se-jin lay down beside Eun-won as if testing himself.
“…”
As Eun-won’s steady breathing tickled his ear, the complex thoughts in his head scattered like mist. The warm body heat of Eun-won spreading under the shared blanket released even the tension in his body.
What is this kid, really? Why is this okay? I’m someone who truly can’t sleep with anyone. I really hate that kind of thing.
And yet, it wasn’t unpleasant at all. The approaching warmth was even welcome. A rule that had been so absolute had crumbled so easily. As Cha Se-jin drifted into sleep, he thought to himself.
That he should probably get rid of one of the two bedrooms in the annex.