Chapter 98 – ​The ​Price ​of ​Misjudgment

Did ​he ​like ​action ​movies? ​Yoon Ki-hyun couldn’t take ​his ​eyes off the ​screen, making Jeong ​Si-jun ​wonder.

His ​eyes ​were ​especially ​sparkling when the ​lead ​actor ​punched the villain ​in the face or ​when the ​car chase ​reached its ​peak and ​a ​vehicle ​exploded.

After the first ​part of ​the movie passed, Jeong ​Si-jun spent more time ​looking at Yoon Ki-hyun’s ​face than ​at ​the film. When the movie ended ​and Yoon Ki-hyun asked ​how ​it ​was ​with ​a gaze full ​of vitality, ​Si-jun ​could only answer ​that ​it was fun.

‘He looks like ​he’d prefer ​romances ​or documentaries, but ​he ​likes ​action. ​How ​cute.’

Then again, ​considering ​how he ​acted like a “real man” from time ​to time, his ​taste was understandable.

If ​he had awakened as ​an Esper, ​his personality would ​have ​been something else. ​Suddenly imagining a ​Yoon Ki-hyun ​who ​had awakened ​as ​an Esper, ​Jeong ​Si-jun gave ​a ​small ​shake of his ​head.

‘Wait. ​Why do ​I ​feel ​like ​I’d lose?’

When it came to fighting, he had never once thought he would lose to anyone. Yet, [Read on Read BL Novels]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[stolen content]just thinking stolen contentof the opponent being Yoon Ki-hyun made him feel like he would be defeated.

Thinking back, he had feelings for him from the start, and now that he had performed a one-sided imprinting, Ki-hyun held his life in his hands, so that explained it…

But an Esper Yoon Ki-hyun seemed utterly impossible to beat.

Well, what was the point of wanting to win against the person he liked? Jeong Si-jun shrugged, shaking off the thoughts.

“By the way, Hyung. Aren’t you a bit hungry?”

It was around lunchtime by the time they left the theater. Feeling reluctant to part ways just like that, he used the time as an excuse to bring up food.

“I guess so.”

“Want to grab a meal, Hyung?”

Fortunately, Yoon Ki-hyun seemed hungry too and nodded. While they looked for nearby restaurants, Yoon Ki-hyun mentioned he would pay, and instead of arguing, Jeong Si-jun decided to just nod.

‘It’s better to shut up than to say something wrong.’

If he had stepped forward to pay as usual, he might have hurt Yoon Ki-hyun’s pride. After all, one of the many reasons Yoon Ki-hyun had given when rejecting the idea of dating was that they weren’t economically equal.

He didn’t like being treated, but if Yoon Ki-hyun wanted to, he could be treated a thousand times. He could just give back something far more valuable in return.

After arriving at the restaurant, he spent more time admiring Yoon Ki-hyun’s face as he pondered the menu. While eating the dishes they had ordered, it suddenly dawned on Jeong Si-jun.

‘Wait. Isn’t this just a standard date course?’

Despite how disgusted and annoyed he had been when Jeong Si-jun listed common date courses earlier, he was faithfully enjoying a date.

“This tastes a bit salty.”

“Then swap yours with mine.”

“How is yours?”

“It’s edible.”

“Then just a little bit.”

Jeong Si-jun grinned as he served some of his food to Yoon Ki-hyun. By the time they finished their meal and left the restaurant, he had reached a point where he couldn’t even remember what the food tasted like.

That was how much his mind was filled with the monumental first date with Yoon Ki-hyun.

Whether it was post-meal drowsiness or fatigue, Jeong Si-jun noticed Yoon Ki-hyun looking suddenly lethargic and cautiously spoke up.

“Shall we head back now? I think you’ll be tired if you walk around too much on your first day after discharge, Hyung.”

“…Hmm, should we?”

Perhaps because he wasn’t feeling great, Yoon Ki-hyun nodded readily. The voice, which seemed noticeably softer since the proposal to date, was pleasant to hear.

Jeong Si-jun smiled faintly and reached out. The moment his fingertips touched the soft cheek, Yoon Ki-hyun tilted his head slightly.

“Is something on me?”

“No. I just wanted to touch it.”

Yoon Ki-hyun’s eyebrow twitched as if asking what kind of nonsense that was. Though his gaze was pouty, he didn’t pull away from the hand fiddling with his cheek, sending Si-jun’s restless heart into a frenzy.

‘Ah, fuck, this is great.’

At this rate, even if Yoon Ki-hyun just stood there blinking, he felt like he would go crazy with joy, making up all sorts of reasons for it. He was unbearably happy that Yoon Ki-hyun had let him in this much.

“But where did you park your car… I forgot the way.”

“It’s this way.”

Jeong Si-jun lightly pulled Yoon Ki-hyun by the shoulder. He wondered why the short distance to the parking lot, with Ki-hyun readily matching his stride, felt so regretfully brief.

‘I should park further away next time we have a date.’

Jeong Si-jun faithfully promised himself a next time, feeling more [unauthorized Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[unauthorized copy]copy]grateful than ever that there actually was a “next time” for him.

The car ride back to Yoon Ki-hyun’s house was quiet. It was because Yoon Ki-hyun, sitting in the passenger seat, had fallen fast asleep, likely due to post-meal drowsiness.

Looking at the profile of the man nodding off, Jeong Si-jun’s heart wavered again.

‘Can he even get proper rest in that tiny goshiwon?’

He agonized over whether it was right to send Yoon Ki-hyun back to the goshiwon after their date. However, he had reached a stage where Ki-hyun simply ignored his suggestions to move in together without even responding.

Whenever he tried to lay the groundwork to suggest living together, Ki-hyun would usually look at him as if to say, “Are we doing this again?”

Even if it was cramped, if Yoon Ki-hyun felt stability and peace there, he couldn’t force him. If that was Yoon Ki-hyun’s wish, he had no choice but to follow it.

‘There’s still some time left, so I’ll just let him go today…’

Though he didn’t like it, he knew he couldn’t get everything he wanted at once. Considering how pushing too hard had caused a backlash, he needed to be patient.

As he smoothly brought the car to a stop on the now-familiar road, Jeong Si-jun glanced [Read Read on Read BL Novelson Read BL Novels]at the seat next to him.

“…”

“…”

Yoon Ki-hyun was still dozing off, his head swaying, showing just how tired he was. After gently touching the stray hairs with his fingertips, Jeong Si-jun stealthily crossed his arms.

‘If possible, I want to see him lying in bed before I leave.’

Contrary to his eager heart, Jeong Si-jun didn’t know the passcode to Yoon Ki-hyun’s house.

He had visited a few times, but he had either forced the door open with paramedics or Yoon Ki-hyun had opened it from the inside, so there was no way he knew the passcode.

Moreover, Yoon Ki-hyun wasn’t the type to readily give the passcode to a “limited-time” partner they had only been dating for a few days.

Just as he was sinking into deep thought about what to do…

‘Wait. If I just wait a bit longer and Hyung doesn’t wake up, can’t [[unauthorized [visit our site]copy]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels]I just take him to my place?’

He couldn’t leave someone who had just been discharged from the hospital in a car forever. And taking him to a hotel would obviously look like he had very impure intentions.

‘Ah, it can’t be helped. If Hyung woke up and went home, there would be no problem, but since he won’t wake up… I’ll have to take him to my house to sleep.’

Grinning, Jeong Si-jun stealthily changed the destination. Until they arrived at the spacious underground parking lot after driving along the familiar road, Yoon Ki-hyun remained in a deep sleep, breathing evenly, completely unaware of what kind of scheme Jeong Si-jun was plotting.

Thinking he had just dozed off for a moment, he opened his eyes to see a strangely familiar chest.

“Uh…”

Before he could clear his foggy mind, a large hand gently stroked the back of his head.

“Did you sleep well?”

As the hair was brushed with a tender and delicate touch, his body felt strangely languid.

“Where am I?”

“My room. Since you wouldn’t wake up in the car yesterday, I brought you to my house. Oh, for the record, I waited in the car for four hours. I can prove this.”

Yoon Ki-hyun blinked at the detailed explanation Jeong Si-jun provided to preemptively block any scolding.

“I slept that long yesterday?”

“You didn’t wake up once while I carried you home and laid you in bed. Did you overdo it yesterday?”

Even through his blurred vision, he could see a face clearly filled with worry. Looking at Jeong Si-jun, who was lying on his side and half-hugging him, Yoon Ki-hyun retraced his memories before sleeping.

After being discharged, they watched a movie, had lunch, and he fell asleep on the way home.

“No. It was fun. The movie, the food…”

Jeong Si-jun chuckled softly at the dreamy voice that hadn’t yet shaken off the sleep.

“Was yesterday’s date fun?”

“Yeah.”

At the answer that came out without hesitation, Jeong Si-jun hugged Yoon Ki-hyun tightly. He expected him to toss and turn to push him away, but surprisingly, Yoon Ki-hyun softly leaned his cheek against his chest.

‘Ah, is it because he hasn’t fully woken up? He’s so damn soft.’

Jeong Si-jun forced down the surge of emotion rising in his throat and murmured.

“If you’re tired, sleep some more.”

“What time is it?”

“Six in the evening.”

“Yeah, I should sleep a bit more.”

Unable to overcome the fatigue that made his whole body limp, Yoon Ki-hyun eventually closed his eyes. He felt that if he slept a bit more, woke up to have dinner together, visit our [Read [Read on Read BL Novels]on Read BL Novels]siteand then went home, it would be a decent day.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been a really long time since I went on a date…’

Just as Yoon Ki-hyun let out a small yawn as sleep rushed back in like a tide.

“Let’s have dinner together after you wake up.”

As if reading his mind, Jeong Si-jun said something welcome.

“Yeah…”

Yoon Ki-hyun replied ambiguously—whether it was a response or sleep-talking—and closed his eyes.

“But, Hyung.”

“Hmm.”

“Is living with me really that bad? I’m confident I can visit stolen contentour sitetake really good care of you.”

“Why again…”

“Just trust me and leave everything to me. It won’t be a choice you’ll regret.”

Looking at the hand slowly patting his back, it felt like he was telling him to sleep deeply, but hearing him chatter about living together, it felt like he was telling him not to sleep. In his hazy state, Yoon Ki-hyun vaguely imagined a future of living with Jeong Si-jun.

He thought it might be chaotic, but he also had a vague feeling that it might not be so bad.

“What are you going to do if I actually leave everything to you, why do you keep doing this.”

“I’m doing this because I’m begging you to do exactly that.”

It was while Jeong Si-jun was smiling softly and fiddling with his warm cheek.

“Then…”

Yoon Ki-hyun’s half-closed gaze turned [Read visit our siteon Read BL Novels]toward Jeong Si-jun. The moment his eyes, drenched in sleep, slowly closed.

“Maybe I’ll try living with you.”

Yoon Ki-hyun murmured like sleep-talking and exhaled slowly. Using the sound of Jeong Si-jun’s heart, which had begun to beat frantically, as a lullaby, he fell fast asleep.