By Zephyria 
Haon, who had claimed to be good at riding a bicycle, was out of breath in just twenty minutes. While he pedaled skillfully as he had confidently stated, he lacked the stamina for a long ride.
“Haa, haa….”
In a small rural village, there was rarely a need to ride a bike for more than twenty minutes without a break. Distances like that were usually covered by car.
“Haon, are you tired?”
In-ho, who had been pedaling leisurely to keep pace with Haon, heard the panting beside him and gently pulled the brake lever.
“No, it’s… uh, a little….”
Haon hesitated before honestly confessing, noticing how heavy his legs had become. At that, In-ho stopped his bike first.
“Then let’s take a break.”
Haon quickly pulled his brake lever and caught his breath. Feeling a bit thirsty, he rummaged through the eco-bag in his bicycle basket.
“You should have told me if it was hard.”
In-ho, having parked his bike, stepped closer to Haon and snatched the orange juice from the eco-bag. He narrowed his eyes in a playful scold, opened the cap, and handed it back to Haon.
Haon smiled awkwardly and quenched his thirst. In truth, because In-ho had been riding so effortlessly, Haon hadn’t brought up the idea of resting.
“Would you like some sparkling water?”
After drinking the juice alone, the thought suddenly occurred to him. Knowing that In-ho drank sparkling water more often than regular water, he had brought some on purpose.
“I’ll have yours.”
In-ho took the juice Haon had been drinking. He then pressed his lips to the narrow opening and drank the sweet juice.
Feeling suddenly bashful, Haon rubbed his moist lips and stared intently at In-ho. His gaze drifted down from In-ho’s face and fixed on his bobbing Adam’s apple.
As he watched the Adam’s apple move with every swallow of juice, Haon unconsciously gulped.
It was a strange feeling. An indescribable… very strange feeling.
“Haon.”
“Yes, yes?!”
Haon stammered, startled by In-ho’s hand suddenly touching his cheek. Without warning, In-ho leaned in close, touching Haon’s cheek and forehead with the back of his hand.
W-why is he suddenly doing this?
Haon simply tilted his head up, ignoring his pounding heart. Fearing that In-ho might withdraw his hand if he stepped back, he stood as still as a tree.
“You don’t have a fever….”
Meanwhile, In-ho muttered, gently stroking Haon’s rounded forehead.
Because Haon’s complexion had suddenly turned pink, In-ho thought for a moment that he might have a fever. Since he had engaged in exercise he wasn’t used to while his body hadn’t fully recovered its strength, there was a risk of a fever.
“I-I’m not sick.”
Now with his ears turning red, Haon looked down at the ground to avoid In-ho’s gaze. Even after realizing there was no other intention behind the touch, his racing heart wouldn’t calm down. What on earth was he expecting?
“If you feel sick, you have to tell me right away.”
Haon nodded vigorously, promising he would. For some reason, it was a bit difficult to look In-ho in the eye.
In-ho looked around for a place to rest and led Haon to a nearby convenience store.
“What are you buying?”
Since he had already packed plenty of drinks and snacks, Haon followed In-ho with a tilted head, wondering if there was anything else to buy.
“Haon, your stomach really doesn’t hurt?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
He answered while rubbing his stomach, which remained calm even after drinking a cold beverage. In-ho gave a relieved, comfortable smile and had Haon sit on a bench.
“Sit here for a moment.”
Then, he entered the convenience store alone.
Haon obediently followed In-ho’s instructions and sat on a wide wooden bench. Since the bench was attached to a table, it was comfortable as he could lean his arms on it.
He waited for In-ho to return, tidying his bangs that had been ruffled by the cool autumn breeze. He blew away some flower petals that had fallen on the wide table, occasionally touching them.
Ah, this is nice.
The warm sunlight falling on his body made Haon feel relaxed again.
With a bright smile, Haon tilted his head toward the sky, closed his eyes for a moment, and basked in the warmth. His heavy legs swayed naturally, as if following the beat of a calm piece of music.
Nature really is the best. It was just as he was thinking that.
“Uwah…!”
He snapped his eyes open, startled by a sudden cold sensation on his cheek. Only then did he realize In-ho had come out of the convenience store and was looking down at him.
“Which do you prefer, grape or melon?”
In-ho was holding cold ice creams in both hands.
Haon had wondered what he was buying, and it seemed he wanted ice cream. Oh, but.
“You said you didn’t like sweets….”
Haon rubbed the cheek where the ice cream had touched and looked up at In-ho. Ignoring the comment, In-ho simply shook the ice creams lightly, as if urging him to choose.
“Grape? Melon?”
“I like both. Give me either one.”
Smiling at the sight of In-ho shaking the ice creams, Haon raised both hands, signaling for In-ho to choose first. Anything In-ho gave him would be fine.
“Then pick the one you like more.”
However, In-ho insisted until Haon chose a flavor. It really didn’t matter.
“Uh… then I’ll have this one.”
Since In-ho showed no sign of backing down until he chose, Haon eventually picked the melon-flavored ice cream. He was slightly more drawn to the soft melon flavor than the hard grape one.
“Melon over grape. Okay.”
Having discovered one of Haon’s preferences, In-ho sat down beside him with a satisfied expression. He then removed the wrapper from the ice cream Haon chose and placed it directly in his hand.
“Thank you,” Haon whispered, bringing the cold ice cream to his lips.
Just from soaking up a bit of sunlight, it felt as if something was already growing inside him. If a seed had been planted around his heart, it felt as though it would have already borne fruit.
With such silly thoughts, he glanced at In-ho, who was sitting close to him. He wondered why In-ho had sat so close.
Despite the bench being long enough to sit with plenty of space, In-ho deliberately sat so close that their arms touched.
It seemed Haon was the only one conscious of that narrow distance. In-ho looked perfectly unbothered.
“You don’t have to finish it all, so just eat as much as you want and leave the rest.”
“Okay….”
To hide his awkwardness, Haon gave a deep, exaggerated nod. Smiling at this, In-ho sat with his legs out and leaned his back against the table.
Haon followed suit and slightly adjusted his posture. He tried crossing his legs like In-ho, but it was uncomfortable, so he quickly uncrossed them. Haon found it much more comfortable to stretch his legs out.
“The weather is really great.”
Perhaps because of the bright sunlight, In-ho’s voice sounded brighter than usual. Haon murmured, “It really is,” and slowly let the sweet ice cream melt in his mouth. He felt that eating something cold would soothe the heat rising inside him.
The two stopped talking for a while and enjoyed the leisure.
Whenever a cool breeze blew, small petals flew and fell all around. Haon watched them with delight. And In-ho watched Haon.
“Is it tasty?”
In-ho asked, watching Haon out of the corner of his eye. At first, Haon had been licking only the edges of the ice cream, but now he was sucking on it with the ice cream fully in his mouth.
The sight of the ice cream going in and out of those small lips was quite addictive. In-ho felt like he could watch that sight for hours. Ah, was that a bit too much?
“Yes, do you want a taste?”
Haon started to offer the ice cream he had been sucking on, but then hesitated. He should have just bitten into it. There were too many places where his tongue had touched; he couldn’t bring himself to give it to In-ho.
“At least the end part….”
The moment he offered it again, pointing to the part his mouth hadn’t touched, In-ho opened his lips instead of answering.
He took a large bite of the part that had melted against Haon’s tongue. Then, with a smirk, he looked at Haon.
“It’s tasty.”
Haon’s gaze fixed on In-ho’s lips as they slowly pulled away. Blinking, Haon rambled, “Right, it is tasty.”
“Melons are expensive. Uh, maybe that’s why it tastes better….”
What on earth am I saying?
Flustered by his own nonsense, Haon tried to cover his mouth with the ice cream. Then, seeing the bite mark In-ho had left on the ice cream, his face flushed again. It was because he remembered their kiss.
The sensation of hard teeth and hot flesh colliding blurred his stomach. At the same time, the vivid sound of wet flesh meeting and echoing began to resurface. In broad daylight, and outdoors at that.
I must be crazy.
Haon sucked on the ice cream fervently to calm the heat rising inside him. He became anxious that the tingling sensation in his stomach might travel further down.
“…….”
In-ho watched the scene in silence, lightly licked his lower lip, and looked away.
He, too, was recalling a similar memory to Haon’s. Though, he was adding other imaginations to it.