By Zephyria 
“I’m not.”
“You are. I think you are.”
A smirk escaped his lips unconsciously. He was a guy who could be annoying by scratching at him sometimes, but he seemed to have a cute side. Discovering unfamiliar sides of Won Gyu-oh was actually very, very enjoyable.
“He’s at the company. He’s much closer than you, and he knows my door password too.”
“……He knows it?”
“I did tell him once. I don’t know if he remembers, though.”
Even if he forgot, he could just tell him again. Moreover, unlike Gyu-oh, who barged in at any time, that guy always rang the doorbell every time he came.
“Even though the password isn’t Hyung’s birthday, he knows it?”
Min-ho gave a vague nod and reached out to grab the coffee cup that was steaming. However, there was a hand that snatched the handle before him. Gyu-oh lifted the cup dangerously high.
“Change it.”
“Give it. You’ll spill it.”
“Crazy, just change it quickly.”
He seemed determined to continue the threat until he got an answer that the password would be changed. Min-ho replied without taking his eyes off the steaming cup.
“I don’t know how. Hey, I’m really going to spill it.”
Gyu-oh, still clinging to his back, only turned his head to glare at him. They were so close that their noses and cheeks often brushed, but the boy didn’t seem uncomfortable. Since he was hugging him and holding the coffee cup high, Min-ho couldn’t easily struggle. As he just reached out his hand asking for the cup, Gyu-oh, who had been glaring at him for a while longer, let out a huff.
“Fine. I’ll change it and let you know.”
Having safely placed the cup on the table, the boy turned around abruptly. The feeling of a cold breeze brushing against the small of his back, where they had been touching until a moment ago, felt very strange. This must have been the usual temperature of the house.
“Won Gyu-oh.”
He called out to Gyu-oh, who was heading toward the entrance with angry strides. Of course, he didn’t stop as intended, but a very irritated voice returned.
“What.”
“Try your best not to get a nosebleed this time.”
“……I don’t get them.”
The blunt voice was much quieter than before. Min-ho hid the rising corners of his mouth as he brought the coffee cup to his lips. Seriously, I only laugh because of this kid.
He sat leisurely in the dining chair and sipped his coffee. While loud guidance tones continued incessantly as Gyu-oh tried to figure out how to change the password, Min-ho checked the clock from time to time. It had finally reached the time when he could no longer delay.
“For the password, press my height and then Hyung’s height in order.”
“Got it.”
It was a fairly long number, but not hard to memorize.
“If you tell anyone, you’re dead.”
After threatening him like that, Gyu-oh reached out and cupped the back of his head. Then, he crashed his lips against Min-ho’s as if crushing them. The body temperature mixed with a cold breeze met the lips that held the warm heat of the coffee. With a shy-sounding ‘mwah,’ Gyu-oh pulled away.
“Hey, don’t… do things like that so suddenly.”
“Why? Does it feel like your heart is about to drop or something?”
“…….”
Since he had been hit right on the mark, no other excuse came to mind. As he just sipped the remaining coffee without answering, a hot gaze poked at his cheek.
“Our Director is shy about this kind of thing. See, you should have met a guy who did this for you sooner.”
“……Just go, you brat.”
The chuckling boy rolled up his sleeve to check the time. Realizing he could no longer delay, he even clicked his tongue softly. Then, he leaned over and lightly hugged Min-ho’s shoulder. Their cheeks touched briefly before he moved away. It was physical affection he often showed when drunk, but for some reason, it felt dozens of times more ticklish.
“Anyway, I’ll be back, so wait quietly. Now—”
Gyu-oh stopped mid-sentence and swallowed his words. From the lips that were silently fluttering, a different sound finally emerged.
“Director Cha.”
He probably almost called him ‘Darling’ just now, right? Min-ho glanced up slightly to check Gyu-oh’s face. Whether he was awkward or embarrassed, the boy scratched his eyebrow and quickly turned his back.
“Anyway, I’m going.”
Min-ho fixed his gaze on the broad back striding across the hallway.
“……He’s acting cute.”
Before, he used to scratch at his nerves by calling him ‘Darling’ at every opportunity. Does a guy who was so aggressive with expressions of affection also know how to feel embarrassed? Min-ho could now laugh out loud.
While Gyu-oh was away, he folded the laundry and aired out the house. After washing up refreshingly and finishing the disinfection of his side, he felt that the house was somehow too quiet.
“Since when did I get used to someone living with me?”
While staying at the hospital, Gyu-oh had talked to him relentlessly, worried about him and looked after him. Although it was a bit noisy, it was a period during which both his body and mind were very comfortable.
He leaned back on the sofa and looked at the ceiling. In the past, he wouldn’t have killed time doing nothing like this. No, in the first place, he wouldn’t have even come home. He would have thrown himself into a suffocating pile of work. Although the rest he had now become quite accustomed to felt awkward, his heart was somehow light.
“…….”
Is this what stability feels like? It was an unfamiliar peace he had never felt before. If he traced back where this originated from, Won Gyu-oh was at the end of it. It was a stability different from when Gyu-oh was by his side as a close brother or colleague, and a peace different from when he barely managed to fall asleep using alcohol and sex.
And he didn’t hate this silence. Perhaps he even wished it would last a lifetime. He also thought that, as Gyu-oh said, there might be a healthier way to overcome nightmares than alcohol and sex.
“The real lunatic isn’t him, it’s me.”
Because if it hadn’t been for Won Gyu-oh, he wouldn’t have even thought of this. Even though he was younger, he was a guy with a lot to learn from.
Min-ho let out a small chuckle and slowly pushed himself up. Since Gyu-oh had hidden most of the remaining liquor bottles in the house, cleaning up didn’t take very long. He cleared away everything, including the vodka and hard liquor he had received as gifts and lined up on the display cabinet.
It felt like he no longer needed to call someone over to have sex until his mind went blank, or pour down drinks he wasn’t even good at. The nightmare was gradually drifting out from under Cha Min-ho’s shadow.
While he was looking through a book with a fairly light heart, the doorbell rang. Since there was no one expected to visit, he tilted his head in confusion and headed toward the wall pad.
“……What the, this kid.”
Did he forget the password he changed himself? Shrugging, Min-ho turned toward the hallway.
As soon as he released the lock, the door swung open as if it had been waiting. Since the sun had set, the chilly, crisp air rushed in. Gyu-oh stepped inside with the cold wind clinging to his entire body.
“Did you forget the password?”
“Nooo.”
He replied, dragging out the end of his words, and then suddenly pulled Min-ho into a hug. Min-ho placed his hands on the small of the back that still held a chill and slowly rubbed it. So that his own warmth could transfer.
“I didn’t realize it because you always just barge in, but it’s nice when Hyung opens the door for me.”
Gyu-oh, burying his nose in Min-ho’s shoulder, muttered softly. His pronunciation was a bit muffled, but not to the point of being unintelligible.
“Nothing about this is particularly ‘nice’.”
“It feels like you’ve opened the door to your heart and all that?”
Because he pushed with force, Min-ho’s body stumbled backward. He stepped back until his back finally hit the wall. Thanks to the large hand that reached the back of his head just before the impact, he felt no pain at all.
“You haven’t eaten yet, right? I haven’t eaten either, so we can—”
“Can I kiss you?”
“…….”
The guy who had been burying his face in the nape of his neck suddenly snapped his head up and asked that. Min-ho’s stomach churned because of the gaze meeting him so directly. He couldn’t tell if he wanted to cry or if he was just dizzy. Since he hadn’t mastered many emotions in his life, he couldn’t distinguish between them.
“Even if you tell me not to, I still want to.”
“…….”
The voice whispering those words was incredibly tender. It was surprising how he could produce such a warm voice after being out in the freezing cold. Gyu-oh tilted his head and slowly approached. A face that was colder than the chilly winter wind, yet had eyes full of tenderness, reached right in front of him.
“I’ve always been reckless. Hyung knows that well, right?”
Min-ho dropped his gaze and stared at the crookedly lifted corner of the other’s mouth. In truth, he had never been very interested in the act of kissing. Pressing lips together, mixing tongues, and sharing saliva felt embarrassing and looked too much like a deep relationship.
He dreaded that. Because even if they shared their breath like this, they would ultimately end up as strangers. He was afraid of being left alone again.
“……I know.”
Yet, strangely, sharing breath with Won Gyu-oh felt natural. Perhaps it was because of the belief that Won Gyu-oh would never turn his back on him.
“I appreciate you understanding.”
“…….”
“Since you understand, why don’t you stick out your tongue.”
A damp, hot tongue slowly licked up his upper lip. It also teased the gap between his lips as if urging him. Min-ho slowly lifted his lowered gaze.
“…….”
All his nerves were tied to the black pupils that were still staring intently at him. Without realizing it, Min-ho parted his lips and stuck out his tongue.
The moment he touched Gyu-oh’s tongue, which was rubbing as if to dig into the gap, a hot thrill surged up his spine.
Closing his eyes tight, he opened his jaw wider. Soon after, a hot breath rushed in. It felt as if his entire body was melting into Won Gyu-oh’s body temperature that filled his mouth.
“Ngh……”
He was the one who wanted to warm up Gyu-oh, who had come in with the outside wind. Instead, his own body was heating up. The hand wrapping around the back of his head tightened, and their heads pressed closer together. They mashed together thickly, as if saliva would seep through the creases of their lips. The guy, who had been pushing so hard that their teeth clashed, nibbled on the lower lip once and slowly pulled away.
Kissing Won Gyu-oh always made breathing difficult. It felt overwhelming, as if every emotion was being poured into a single shared breath. Gyu-oh repeatedly licked his glistening skin with his tongue and gripped it with his lips. When Min-ho slowly opened his eyes, their gazes met immediately.
The gaze directed at him was still excessively hot and persistent.