By Zephyria 
173
“I’m not worried about catching your mouth ulcer, but about your lower lip hurting. It might hurt if we kiss.”
Tae-muk gently brushed Ho-eun’s hair, which was long and loose because it wasn’t tied up, behind his ear as he spoke. Hearing him mention the mouth ulcer, he belatedly became concerned about Tae-muk’s pain. He couldn’t even chew his food properly, so he wondered if they should even kiss. But then.
“It’s okay. I’m good at enduring pain.”
Ho-eun, with a serene face, completely turned Tae-muk inside out. Tae-muk’s eyes immediately narrowed sharply.
“You don’t have to do it if it means enduring pain.”
“But I want to.”
“……”
Tae-muk let out something that could have been a sigh or a groan. What’s with him today? Is he really drunk? Tae-muk stared intently at Ho-eun, assessing his condition.
“Then please be gentle. So it doesn’t hurt. So I don’t have to endure it.”
Ho-eun said something that couldn’t be refused again. Having come this far, it didn’t seem right to push him away any further. Did Ho-eun know that Tae-muk had made up his mind? Ho-eun slowly closed his eyes.
“……”
Tae-muk visually devoured Ho-eun, then gently pressed his thumb against Ho-eun’s chin, to separate his inflamed lower lip. Ho-eun opened his mouth without resistance. Soon, Tae-muk carefully placed his lips on Ho-eun’s.
The kiss continued slowly and sweetly. Tae-muk was careful and cautious, worried that Ho-eun might be in pain.
“Mmm……”
Their lips lightly touched and parted, and their tongues slowly intertwined. Still, the sensations and emotions felt as voracious and ferocious as their previous kisses. Well, it might not be enough for Tae-muk, but Ho-eun was satisfied enough.
“Haa……”
Ho-eun took Tae-muk’s tongue into his mouth, entwined it, and felt his saliva seep into his mouth, letting out a hot breath. Then, he quietly opened his eyes and looked at Tae-muk.
“……”
Tae-muk, for some reason, had his eyes closed. Whenever they kissed like this, he always stared at him with his eyes wide open, as if watching or spying. Now, he seemed to be so focused on being careful that he didn’t have the leeway to do that. Indeed, he only licked the roof of his mouth and the inside of his cheeks, never touching his lower lip.
Ho-eun somehow liked that and slightly raised the corners of his lips. As he did, he observed Tae-muk.
His bangs, still not completely dry and hanging limply, his manly, straight eyebrows, his gently raised eyelids, his eyelashes, not very long but densely packed, his nose, as high as a mountain peak, always touching when they kissed, and his eyes and forehead, subtly creasing and smoothing each time their tongues intertwined or his saliva passed into him. Looking at those things made his body strangely tingle.
So, without realizing it, he wiggled his hips and moved closer to Tae-muk.
Chop.
Their lips parted, and Tae-muk moved away.
“Why? Does it hurt?”
He asked with a worried expression. He had misunderstood Ho-eun’s movements.
But Ho-eun licked the saliva of Tae-muk’s that was on the corner of his mouth. Just like Tae-muk always did. He felt a subtle lingering taste of Tae-muk, and he wanted more. He wished the kiss had lasted a little longer.
“It doesn’t hurt……”
Ho-eun mumbled, then suddenly wriggled and moved his body, standing on his knees on Tae-muk’s lap. His gaze was now higher than Tae-muk’s. Ho-eun cupped Tae-muk’s cheeks with both hands and sucked on his lips before releasing them. Then, at a distance where their noses almost touched, he called out to him in a whisper.
“General.”
“Why.”
“You’re really handsome.”
“Hand, what? Handsome?”
Tae-muk’s face twisted strangely. It was the first time he had ever heard such a word. No, it was strange that he even knew the word. He knew it, but he didn’t know why he knew it. It was that unfamiliar.
But Ho-eun, seeing Tae-muk’s contorted face, was once again impressed. Tae-muk was the only person in the world who could pull off such a scowl. Everyone said that the best-looking face was a smiling one, but that was because they didn’t know Tae-muk.
He looked good expressionless, he looked good scowling, and looking back, he seemed to look good when he was angry or annoyed. As expected, a handsome face could pull off any expression.
“You’re beautiful.”
Ho-eun uttered another bizarre word.
“Beau…ti…”
Tae-muk couldn’t bring himself to finish the word. It was as if the word was blocking his throat.
Beautiful. Handsome.
He wasn’t the kind of person those words suited. Those words suited someone as lovely as a flower, as white as untouched snow, and as nobly raised as Ho-eun.
But then… it didn’t feel bad… Whether it was handsome or beautiful, it meant he looked good, didn’t it?
Tae-muk turned his head and kissed the palms of Ho-eun’s hands that were cupping his cheeks, asking,
“Looks like you like my face?”
“Yes.”
Ho-eun nodded without any shyness. Tae-muk chuckled at his pure reaction. Ho-eun stared blankly at him again, at his deeply curving eyes and his wide-open mouth. He thought he looked best when he was scowling, but he also looked great when he was smiling.
“That’s a relief. I like your face too.”
Tae-muk wrapped his hand around Ho-eun’s slender neck and traced his delicate jawline with his thumb. His beautiful face was like a painting. Of course, he had never seen a painting and didn’t know how to appreciate one, but he knew that Ho-eun’s face was beautiful. How could it not be beautiful when it was so radiant?
To think that this precious person was his Bondmate.
To think that he was his destined partner.
Tae-muk, feeling moved by that fact, sucked on Ho-eun’s lips whole before releasing them. Then, belatedly remembering the mouth ulcer, he clicked his tongue in dismay. He was about to gently turn his lower lip inside out with his thumb to check if the inflammation had worsened.
“Then do it more.”
“Do what?”
“Kissing. It seems to have ended too early compared to usual……”
Ho-eun trailed off, pouting his lips slightly.
“……”
Tae-muk inhaled sharply. Ho-eun’s words were just proper and neat, but somehow, they felt more lewd than vulgar words like fuck, asshole, and such. Tae-muk felt his lower body getting heavy, but he tried to ignore it and smiled.
“Okay, let’s do it again.”
As he said that, he hugged Ho-eun’s back and pulled him close.
“Um… How about something else?”
Ho-eun asked, caressing the collarbone of Tae-muk, who was only wearing a Durumagi on his bare body. There was a strange lust in his touch. Lust. Could there be a word more unfitting for Ho-eun? But seeing it like this, it didn’t seem so unfitting.
“……Are you serious?”
Tae-muk stared intently at Ho-eun, asking again. He was looking at him with suspicion, wondering if the person in front of him was really Ho-eun, or a ghost wearing Ho-eun’s skin.
“Yes. I want to share Jeong-i with you, General.”
Ho-eun nodded with his characteristic neat face. To say he wanted to fuck so elegantly was a talent in itself.
“……”
Tae-muk hesitated and struggled. Then, he remembered that Ho-eun had a mouth ulcer, had cried for several hours, and had only eaten a bowl of rice gruel all day. If he touched him carelessly, he might end up bedridden and groaning for another five days.
“No. You said you need to sleep well to heal your mouth ulcer.”
Tae-muk shook his head, shaking off his lust along with it, and picked up Ho-eun. As he was about to move him to the blanket, Ho-eun grabbed the collar of his Durumagi and resisted.
“You can sleep even better after we do it.”
“……What?”
Tae-muk looked at Ho-eun with an expression of disbelief. But Ho-eun was subtly bringing his knees together. His cheeks were also redder than before. Tae-muk slowly looked down at his lower body. He could see the white silk of his pants bulging out.
Noticing his gaze, Ho-eun gasped and flinched. He was also quite embarrassed by his erection. He didn’t know why it had happened. He just felt this heat rising in his lower body, which was very uncomfortable and unsettling, and he wanted to relieve it somehow.
And according to his experience so far, Tae-muk would probably be able to relieve it in one go. The thought of him touching and caressing his body made him feel strangely excited.
He wondered if he had drunk poison instead of alcohol, but anyway, he wanted to do something now because his body was burning.
Seeing Ho-eun swallowing hard as if he was thirsty, Tae-muk chuckled. Then, with a serious expression, he suggested to him.
“You… drink alcohol every day.”
“Yes?”
Ho-eun’s eyes widened at those words. Then, he giggled like a child.
“Do you like it when I act up when I’m drunk?”
“Yeah. It’s not bad.”
Ho-eun giggled again at Tae-muk’s honest answer. But Tae-muk couldn’t laugh. The person in front of him was too sexy, too sexy. His lower body was so erect that it felt like it would tear through his clothes. He thought he could somehow ignore it and sleep before, but not now. He had to taste Ho-eun, he had to shove his raging cock into him to quell his desire.
Tae-muk sat Ho-eun on his lap and placed his legs on either side of his waist. Then, he slowly pulled on the strings of his clothes. He had untied them countless times, but his heart was pounding for no reason.
Ho-eun also pushed Tae-muk’s Durumagi back. Since he was only wearing a Durumagi, his bare skin was revealed in an instant.
“……”
Ho-eun looked at Tae-muk’s huge body with a sense of wonder.