By Zephyria 
Step, step. Seo Yi-kyung took a stride forward. He passed by exercise equipment that his frail body couldn’t possibly use and stepped onto the treadmill.
Seo Yi-kyung reached out with thin fingers and fiddled with the buttons. Previously, when helping Jin Seon-yu escape from being trapped in the house, Jin Seon-yu had clearly been keeping a close watch on the situation while hiding diagonally atop the stairs. The signal between the two had been that once Seo Yi-kyung opened the door, Jin Seon-yu would run down in one breath.
Seo Yi-kyung had opened the door first. However, Jin Seon-yu, who came running after him, had easily brushed him aside and climbed into Kwon Gwi-jun’s car first.
‘Just how weak is this body’s stamina?’
Until now, he had mostly stayed home, standing on the bedroom terrace, strolling through the garden, or staying in the painting studio; even when he went out, it was only to art supply stores or exhibitions. Since he traveled by car most of the time, he hadn’t been able to gauge his physical strength.
Seo Yi-kyung boldly pressed the treadmill button, only to immediately look aghast. He tried to extend both arms to balance himself, but his frail, fluttering body was pushed back in a chaotic mess, and he landed hard on his backside with a thud.
“Ugh…”
It hurts like hell. With a grimace, Seo Yi-kyung rubbed his backside and stood up. He approached the side of the treadmill, which was spinning far too quickly, and pressed the button. Since this was the treadmill Han Seung-jae usually used, the speed was likely set to his standards. It was his own fault for overlooking that fact.
Beep, beep, beep. The numbers continuously dropped. Even this speed was too much. He would surely lose his balance and fall again. Only then did Seo Yi-kyung step onto the rail, which had slowed down to an absolute crawl.
Up until now, it hadn’t been a big problem even if his stamina was low. His range of movement was so narrow that he hadn’t had the chance to feel it. However, he never wanted to experience that feeling of helplessness again—of being laid out on a table, unable to offer even a meager resistance.
* * *
“Ugh…”
After stepping off the treadmill, Seo Yi-kyung dragged his trembling legs. Despite only running a little, his face reflected in the mirror was pale. His body was so weak it made his determination seem meaningless. Due to his staggering legs, he bumped his arm hard against a piece of exercise equipment.
Seo Yi-kyung continued walking while rubbing his arm. Haah. Haah. Short breaths leaked incessantly through his parted teeth. He couldn’t even close his mouth. He didn’t even have the energy to wipe the beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
As soon as he stepped into the elevator, he leaned against the wall, struggling to keep his legs from giving out. He arrived at the second floor quickly. Seo Yi-kyung stepped out with difficulty and headed toward the bedroom.
If there was a silver lining, it was that no one else was using the elevator. If they had been, people might have been horrified to see his face. His complexion was such that it wouldn’t have been strange for him to collapse at any moment.
Swaaaa—
Leaning against the wall with one hand, Seo Yi-kyung simply stood still in the shower booth, letting the stream of water hit his entire body. He finished the shower with great effort and loosely wrapped himself in a robe. With a towel draped over his head, he approached the bed and flopped face-down.
“I’m dying.”
Seo Yi-kyung closed his eyes in exhaustion. A droplet of water fell from his wet bangs and trickled down the bridge of his nose. With his limp legs, he felt as if he were still running on the rail. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t running, but rather a desperate struggle not to fall. He had been that busy just keeping up.
A body that would be dragged along regardless of who grabbed it truly had no stamina.
* * *
Late at night, Han Seung-jae stepped out of the sedan and entered the house. Since it was past 2 AM, there was no one moving about in the house.
He took off the suit he was wearing and changed into casual clothes. As he walked down the quiet hallway toward the second-floor bedroom after showering, his expression grew colder and colder.
As he opened the door and entered, the silhouette of a figure sprawled across the bed came into view.
In the room where the only light came from the terrace, Han Seung-jae approached the bedside and looked down at the back of the prone Seo Yi-kyung.
“Such sleeping habits.”
Han Seung-jae’s clicking tongue echoed through the silent room. Seo Yi-kyung remained motionless, lying face-down on the bed. Han Seung-jae’s gaze slowly traveled up from the thin ankles and rounded ankle bones. He looked down at Seo Yi-kyung’s thigh, revealed through the gap in the shower robe where he had tossed and turned.
Han Seung-jae reached out. The soft skin wrapped gently around his palm. Perhaps because he had been sleeping with his skin exposed, his body was cold. The searing heat had subsided.
Han Seung-jae’s hand moved upward, touching the drawers Seo Yi-kyung was wearing. He slipped a finger underneath and circled his buttocks.
“Mmm…”
Tossing his head, Seo Yi-kyung slowly lifted his eyelids. He gasped and propped himself up with both arms at the sight of a tall silhouette looking down at him.
“Seung-jae. Wh-when did you get here?”
He must have fallen asleep just like that after lying on the bed, exhausted from the shower. His heart nearly dropped when he locked eyes with Han Seung-jae looking down at him.
As Seo Yi-kyung awkwardly raised his upper body, the shower robe that had ridden up slid down, and Han Seung-jae’s finger, which had been touching his buttocks, detached. He looked at Seo Yi-kyung, who was sitting on the edge of the bed with a bewildered face.
“A moment ago.”
Through the gap of the disheveled robe, Seo Yi-kyung’s nipple was exposed. It seemed he hadn’t tied it properly in the first place.
Han Seung-jae stroked Seo Yi-kyung’s neck with his finger. The wound had vanished completely. The Adam’s apple touching his fingertip trembled. Han Seung-jae’s finger slid down and toyed with the nipple.
“What are you planning to do if you catch a cold, sleeping with your nipples out?”
It didn’t sound like something a man who had once shoved him into a cold bathtub should say. Though a certain level of concern was embedded in it.
Seo Yi-kyung hurriedly pulled up his shower robe and pushed away Han Seung-jae’s finger, which had been reprimanding his nipple. Then, he lowered his head and tidied the front of the robe, tying the string tightly. He felt a sense of relief in the darkness of the surroundings. Otherwise, Han Seung-jae would have noticed that his cheeks were flushed red.
Suddenly, Han Seung-jae’s gaze seemed to land on one spot, and he grabbed Seo Yi-kyung’s wrist as he was tying the string. His fingers nonchalantly rolled up the loose sleeve of the shower robe. Belatedly, Seo Yi-kyung looked at the same spot.
Seo Yi-kyung’s pupils shook as he looked down at the deep blue mark running diagonally. Was it paint? Because he had just woken up, his mind wasn’t functioning smoothly. His heart, startled by facing Han Seung-jae, had not yet calmed down and was still beating wildly.
It could have been stained while painting. Seo Yi-kyung usually wore the same clothes when entering the painting studio. Since paint wouldn’t come off even after washing anyway, he didn’t feel the need to wear new clothes. Getting paint on his body to that extent was practically a daily occurrence.
“You have a bruise?”
“I think it’s paint.”
The two spoke simultaneously. Han Seung-jae’s words seemed to leak out slightly faster, but they were buried by Seo Yi-kyung’s emphasized response.
Seo Yi-kyung pulled his hand away and lowered the sleeve. Han Seung-jae had been holding his wrist with just enough grip that he could pull away with effort.
“I was painting in the studio.”
And then he rambled on with information that hadn’t been asked for. Perhaps Han Seung-jae already knew everything he had done today. The fact that Seon-yu had visited, and that they had painted together—all of it. Despite that, Han Seung-jae remained silent.
Soon, Han Seung-jae’s cold voice flowed out.
“Didn’t I tell you?”
“…”
Faint shadows formed under Seo Yi-kyung’s eyes. Toward the blinking man, Han Seung-jae murmured.
“I believe I told you that if you came back with things like this on your body, I would lock you up in the house.”
In that moment, the sensation of Han Seung-jae licking his cheek in the freezing bathtub rushed back. His clammy, persistent tongue had constantly moved between his neck and cheek. He had sucked as if he were peeling and chewing the wounded skin. All the while, he had ruthlessly ravaged his hole and thrust his cock upward. Han Seung-jae’s eyes back then had been piercing, like a beast. Just like now.
With the light pouring in from outside casting a diagonal shadow, half of Seo Yi-kyung’s face was shrouded in shade. As he lowered his head, a deep, gloomy shadow formed.
Han Seung-jae’s chilly voice added,
“I can hear the sound of your gears turning.”
Seo Yi-kyung swallowed hard and hurriedly blurted out,
“It’s, it’s paint. I took a shower, but I guess I didn’t get it all off.”
Although he had stood in the shower booth for a long time, he hadn’t had the energy to scrub every nook and cranny with his exhausted body. It seemed it hadn’t been erased because he had simply stood under the stream of water and come out. Recalling that memory, Seo Yi-kyung lifted one leg.
“I’ll go wash again.”
It was to personally demonstrate that he wasn’t lying. Moreover, because Han Seung-jae’s gaze had shifted, the atmosphere was unusual. He had to leave the spot quickly.
Thump. He had clearly stood up, but Seo Yi-kyung’s back was buried back into the cozy bed. Han Seung-jae had grabbed his shoulders and pressed him down. His hand slowly rolled up the sleeve of the shower robe that Seo Yi-kyung had barely managed to pull down, then looked down at the diagonal bruise on the thin arm.
Seo Yi-kyung’s heart pounded. When on earth did this happen? Was it not paint? Then, suddenly, Seo Yi-kyung remembered bumping his arm against the exercise equipment while working out.
“Ah.”
It was the moment Seo Yi-kyung opened his mouth after finding the cause. Han Seung-jae’s head lowered.
“I guess you remembered.”
“…!”
Seo Yi-kyung’s lips parted, but he couldn’t say a word. It was because Han Seung-jae had extended his tongue and licked Seo Yi-kyung’s arm in a long stroke. He rubbed the saliva-coated arm with his thumb.
Looking at the diagonal mark that would not disappear, the corners of Han Seung-jae’s eyes narrowed slightly.