SMW 26

“……I suddenly got thirsty.”

“Still, didn’t you drink that too fast? Your face is red.”

“I-is it? I’m just the type whose face turns red as soon as I drink.”

I had intentionally gulped it down just to make this excuse, but it wasn’t exactly a lie. I pressed a hand to my cheek and looked down at the empty beer glass. The skin touching my palm felt hot. Because I drank so quickly, the alcohol was definitely hitting me fast. My heart was pounding as if it might burst.

“Han Yeo-reum?”

Choi Seol was looking at me with a strange expression. It was hard to meet his eyes. Was he unfazed? Even if it was only for a split second, our lips had touched and parted. There was no way a sensitive guy like him hadn’t noticed. Seeing how composed he was, it felt like he didn’t think it was even worth noting. For some reason, I felt annoyed.

“I’m going to have one more.”

“Hey, Han Yeo-reum.”

Before Choi Seol could stop me, I grabbed a new glass of beer and downed it in one go. The heat spread even faster. Thump, thump, thump—it felt like my heart was malfunctioning.

Suddenly, I thought I heard the sound of rain. Even though all the doors were closed and the sound shouldn’t have reached me, the pitter-patter of rain tapping against the air kept lingering in my chest. Knowing what that feeling was, I sought out more alcohol. Because of that, I failed to realize. That when it comes to love, alcohol is always the enemy.

I had no idea at the time what kind of situation that would lead to.

Waking up in the morning to find a strange man lying naked beside me wasn’t exactly a shocking experience for me. I’d had a few such encounters. They were mostly men I met at gay bars, but I’d stopped because that lifestyle didn’t suit me, and because I’d suffered quite a bit after running into some weirdo toward the end. In any case, to put it simply, the current situation wasn’t something to make a huge fuss about.

Of course, that’s assuming the other person wasn’t Choi Seol.

Is this a dream? I blinked several times and even rubbed my eyes. Yet, the feast of flesh before me showed no sign of disappearing. Fortunately, the blanket was precariously perched on his hips, covering the sensitive areas, but his upper body was completely exposed, revealing his smooth, bare skin.

Naturally, my eyes rolled from top to bottom. And then from bottom back to top… no, they stayed fixed at the bottom. I know a man’s morning is usually full of vigor, but maybe it’s because the blanket is thin, but this is a bit too big…

Gasp! No, I can’t do this.

I quickly lifted my rude eyes and looked back at Choi Seol’s face. My heart hammered as if I’d done something wrong. Let’s calm down and think. I had a few beers yesterday and I think I talked with Choi Seol, but maybe because I drank so fast, the intoxication hit me quicker than usual. Then I lay down in bed and slept? That must be it, right? My memory was vague, but I’d never once caused a scene while drinking. So, that should be the end of it.

I wondered where he’d sold his robe, and while his nakedness was quite a blessing… no, it was bothersome, but everyone has their own preferences, so I could just let it slide. Luckily, I was wearing a robe. There wasn’t a single damp or sore spot on my body. My lower back felt a bit stiff, but not enough to lead to any wild misunderstandings.

Huh? Wild misunderstandings?

As I realized what I had been thinking, my face suddenly flared up. From the way I naturally checked my body to the mention of “misunderstandings.” Was I actually thinking that I might have slept with Choi Seol? That was absurd. Choi Seol wasn’t gay. Usually, straight men don’t have those kinds of misunderstandings just because they slept in the same bed. If anything, they’d just feel unpleasant upon seeing each other naked the moment they woke up.

To avoid causing that unpleasantness, I tried to get up quickly. However, what held me back was Choi Seol’s peacefully sleeping face. He didn’t look like he was about to wake up yet.

Maybe I could stay a little longer before getting up? At home, Choi Seol always woke up first, so I never had the chance to see him like this. And from now on, there would be no more chance of sharing a bed, even by accident.

Making excuses to myself, I lowered my head, which had been [stolen content]halfway raised, back onto the stolen contentpillow. Perhaps because I’d been so frantic, my feelings toward Choi Seol had become considerably lighter.

By the way, how can someone look this perfect even while sleeping? It was truly strange. No matter how great the guys I’d met before were, I never felt much emotion seeing their faces the moment I woke up. In fact, seeing them sprawled out and defenseless usually killed any one-night physical attraction instantly.

But with him, that wasn’t the case, even in the morning. I blinked, checking several times to see if I was wearing “first love goggles.” I even rubbed my eyes again, but the first impression upon waking remained the same. Rather, the more I looked, the more I found myself losing consciousness to the allure. Suddenly, a thick scent of skin tickled the tip of my nose. Once again, a dangerous stimulation suddenly surged.

No. Only good thoughts, right thoughts. I tapped my head with my fist and turned my gaze toward the window. Since the curtains weren’t drawn, the clear sky was fully visible. Perhaps because the rain had stopped, the cloudless blue sky was letting the sunlight stream right through.

I was fine thanks to his large frame blocking the way, but the sunlight falling across Choi Seol’s face caused his sharp eyebrows to furrow slightly. Knowing it was a pointless gesture, I carefully raised my hand and shielded his face from the sun. However, there was no dramatic effect like in the movies where the other person’s expression softens. Eventually, my hand grew numb, so I stopped. It seemed like drawing the curtains would be better.

I really don’t want to get up. Having to turn my eyes away from a man who is this sexy in the morning felt like I was being cruel to myself. Since it’s come to this, if I just touched those bursting biceps one time…

Stop! You can’t do that.

Summoning all my reason, morality, and conscience, I quietly rose. As I finally stepped off the bed and straightened my back, a stiffness surged from my buttocks up to my spine. Did I sleep in a bad position? Why does my back hurt so much?

It was then.

I’m good at it. Want to do it once?

Huh? What was that strange hallucination that just brushed past?

I blinked blankly and looked back at Choi Seol.

Our Seol is healthy.

What on earth…

How is it? Feels good, right?

Wha—what? What’s good?

Haa,

Damn…

This is seriously amazing.

Aaaaaah!

I bolted into the bathroom at the speed of light and slammed the door. Looking in the mirror, my face was as bright red as spicy chicken sauce. I quickly threw open my robe. Just in case, I meticulously checked my body from front to back and bottom, but there were no suspicious marks anywhere. In fact, my body was more than clean; it was practically pristine.

As I thought, nothing definitely happened. Then what were those memories? Did I get so drunk that I had some wild delusions on my own?

I looked in the mirror again. Come to think of it, my lips seemed a bit swollen.

Then, I heard the hallucination again.

Ha, this is great.

What! What is it! What exactly is great? Let me know too!

I’ve never once blacked out from drinking in my life, but for some reason, I couldn’t remember yesterday’s events. It felt as if I had forcibly shut the shutters on my own mind, as if I absolutely must not remember.

Calm down, Han Yeo-reum. If we’d done that, there would have to be traces. Especially down there; there’s no way I wouldn’t know. Gasp! What if I was on top… no, there’s no way Choi Seol would do that. It was unimaginable. I saw it yesterday, and I saw it just now. With that size, it’s a loss for all of humanity to let it go to waste without using it… No, that’s not it! Why do I keep going back to the idea that we did it!

I slapped my cheeks with both hands. Yes, this is just a dream. The hallucinations I’m hearing are just me remembering the delusions I had in my dream. So, it has nothing to do with Choi Seol.

Let’s wash up.

I took off the rest of my robe and stepped into the tub. Soon, cold water poured over my head. As the intense heat subsided, I finally felt like I was coming back to my senses. Right, this is it. This was all just a hangover. I should order something spicy for a morning cure…

I like you.

My heart dropped.

What? What was that?

Until now, it felt like I was listening to an embarrassing live show, but this hallucination was of a completely different nature.

For some reason, it felt desperate and sorrowful, making my chest tighten. And “I like you”? Isn’t that exactly the kind of thing I would say?

Surely I didn’t get drunk and give [stolen content]some outdated confession like, “You were my Read on Read BL Novelsfirst love,” or something?

No, that can’t be it.

“This is really…”

…absolutely ridiculous!

I writhed and screamed silently under the showerhead. Even after that, I couldn’t bring myself to step out until Choi Seol woke up and knocked on the bathroom door.

“A-achoo!”

“Did you stay in the cold water too long?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I just… I just choked on something.”

Under Choi Seol’s gaze, which seemed to ask if I really thought he couldn’t tell the difference, I avoided his eyes and poked at the omelet on my plate. While I was pouring cold water over myself and screaming in the bathroom, Choi Seol had woken up and ordered breakfast. He had also placed the clothes that arrived from the laundry room in front of the bathroom so I could put them on immediately. Underwear was included. I clearly remember wearing my underwear when I went in yesterday, so I couldn’t have left them, yet there were clean, crisp, dried underwear neatly folded on top of the clothes. I wanted to ask how that happened, but there were a mountain of other things I was more curious about, so I kept my mouth shut. If I opened it, nonsense like “Did you and I sleep together yesterday?” would probably fly out. Or maybe, “Did I confess to you?”

My relentless poking broke the omelet into small pieces. Whether it was a hangover or not, my stomach felt sour. I knew I had to eat this, but I couldn’t bring myself to take a bite. After a while, I glanced at Choi Seol. What are the odds of making eye contact just by looking at someone? I quickly lowered my head as I met his sharp gaze, which seemed to catch me far too often.

However, not long after, my eyes rolled back toward Choi Seol.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“No! I don’t have anything to sayyy?”

The voice that came out was strange. I cleared my throat and drank some water. Meanwhile, Choi Seol’s gaze continued to follow me.

“No, actually. I do have something to say.”

I finally put down the fork and looked Choi Seol straight in the eye. Right, rather than suffering in silence, it seemed much better to ask everything and just die of embarrassment.

“About yesterday. I mean, we drank, and…”

Now that I was actually trying to say it, the words wouldn’t come out. Meanwhile, Choi Seol’s brow was furrowing. He seemed frustrated by my attitude.

Oh, whatever.

“D-did I do anything wrong after we drank?”

“Something wrong?”

Choi Seol raised an eyebrow. From his expression, it looked like he was asking what I meant. Or was it? But seeing as he didn’t immediately deny it, it felt like something had happened.

I stared intently at Choi Seol, tense as a man awaiting a death sentence. After appearing to be lost in thought for a moment, he finally spoke.

“There was.”