YS 63

Realizing he had been played(?) by Yoon Tae-hee, Jae-gyeom was now thoroughly enraged.

“Seriously, who does this? It’s like he’s making a fool out of me.”

Jae-gyeom flopped onto the sofa, his eyes glaring sharply.

While Yoon Tae-hee had written nothing, Jae-gyeom’s notebook was filled to the brim with criticisms directed at him. In the end, it made Jae-gyeom look like the only petty one. He felt ridiculous.

“We agreed to both write things down and then settle it.”

Jae-gyeom tossed the notebook aside with a flick of his wrist, his expression hardening.

“This brat… just because I’ve been treating him so sweetly, he’s getting bold…”

Just as the atmosphere was about to turn murderous in an instant, Yoon Tae-hee—who seemed to have calmed down, slowly rubbing the arm that had been bitten—approached Jae-gyeom with a crooked stance. Looking down at Jae-gyeom with an impassive face that betrayed no inner thoughts, he suddenly spoke.

“Do you adore me?”

At the abrupt question, Jae-gyeom knit his brows deeply and asked, “What?”

As he did, Yoon Tae-hee leaned over, supporting himself with one hand on the back of the sofa, and asked again while looking down at him.

“Am I pretty to you?”

After a brief staring contest, Jae-gyeom replied coldly, “…Why ask something so obvious?”

Hearing this, Yoon Tae-hee, still leaning in, narrowed his eyes.

“Really? I didn’t know…”

Before Jae-gyeom knew it, Yoon Tae-hee’s face had moved so close that their noses were almost touching.

“…”

“…”

The moment the tips of their noses lightly brushed, Yoon Tae-hee asked in a low voice.

“How much?”

“…What?”

“How much do you adore me?”

With those words, the atmosphere suddenly shifted.

Until a moment ago, it had been a high-tension situation on the verge of exploding, but now it was a different kind of tension entirely. Jae-gyeom was momentarily speechless. At a glance, it seemed like a continuation of their fight, or perhaps a prelude to one, but the air had completely changed.

He had forgotten. Yoon Tae-hee was a guy who was incredibly skilled at seizing the initiative. In the span of a single breath, the situation had taken a strange turn. Jae-gyeom felt flustered, not knowing how to answer the question of how much he adored him.

“…”

Jae-gyeom looked down sullenly and spat out.

“Do I really have to tell you that in this situation?”

“Yes.”

Yoon Tae-hee lightly tapped the tip of Jae-gyeom’s nose, then brushed [stolen contentstolen contenttion:absolute;left:-9999px;">]his lips against Jae-gyeom’s cheek.

“Like someone said, this is basically like begging for a bow, so why should I tell you?”

When Jae-gyeom spoke in a spiteful tone, Yoon Tae-hee replied with an expressionless face.

“Yes. Unlike some people, I like begging for a bow.”

“…”

The fact that he clearly knew the answer but insisted on hearing it was incredibly irritating. Yet, at the sensation of lips softly grazing his cheek like a tickle, Jae-gyeom felt his momentum fading for some reason. Feeling awkward, Jae-gyeom shrank back slightly and tried to pull his face away, but Yoon Tae-hee kept their noses touching and asked.

“Aren’t you going to tell me?”

“I adore you a lot… but honestly, sometimes I just want to beat you up…”

At those words, Yoon Tae-hee gave a faint smile, and the air between their noses trembled for a moment.

“Then go ahead and adore me.”

…Good grief, I have no idea how he wants me to ‘adore’ him in this situation.

Hesitating, Jae-gyeom reluctantly raised his hand. He cupped one of Yoon Tae-hee’s cheeks and slowly stroked his hair with the other. Yoon Tae-hee closed his eyes as if savoring the touch.

Jae-gyeom looked down and mumbled hesitantly.

“…There, happy?”

As Jae-gyeom tried to pull his hand away, Yoon Tae-hee slowly opened his eyes and climbed up to sit on the sofa.

“No, not yet.”

Then, as if burrowing into Jae-gyeom’s embrace, he buried his face between Jae-gyeom’s neck and shoulder.

“Keep doing it.”

One corner of Jae-gyeom’s eye twitched.

“Keep… keep doing what?”

“Keep adoring me…”

At that, Jae-gyeom suddenly felt something in his heart melt away. Whenever Yoon Tae-hee acted spoiled like this, he felt as if the ground beneath him were floating, and he felt somehow caught off guard.

“…”

Before he knew it, Jae-gyeom’s aggression had completely deflated like a popped balloon. The residue of their cold war had vanished, melting away like snow.

“But why didn’t you write anything on the paper?”

“Because I love everything about you—your strengths and your weaknesses.”

So much so that he couldn’t even bring himself to fill the blank space with a single dot.

“…”

After a moment of silence, Jae-gyeom scratched his forehead and spoke hollowly.

“If you say it like that, what does that make me…”

“Why?”

“It makes me feel embarrassed. Like I’m the only narrow-minded one.”

Yoon Tae-hee nodded in agreement.

“Well, that is certainly true.”

“What was that, you brat?”

Yoon Tae-hee, who had been chuckling with his head down, closed his eyes and spoke.

“I’ll try harder.”

“At what?”

“Everything about me that you don’t like.”

Fidgeting with his fingers, Jae-gyeom spoke in a sheepish tone.

“I’ll try harder too. I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For going to the PC cafe late at night, for making you worry, for leaving you alone…”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I’ll be better about answering your calls from now on.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Jae-gyeom looked down at the crown of Yoon Tae-hee’s head as he snuggled into his arms. He rubbed the area under Yoon Tae-hee’s chin along his jawline, then traced the brow bone with his thumb. Yoon Tae-hee slowly opened his eyes and stared intently at Jae-gyeom. His eyes were languid and relaxed, almost looking sleepy.

Jae-gyeom brushed back Yoon Tae-hee’s bangs with his palm and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“On my mouth too.”

“…What?”

“Do it on my lips, too.”

Having said that, Yoon Tae-hee tilted his chin up slightly, as if waiting for the coming kiss.

“…”

It couldn’t be helped. Jae-gyeom lightly pressed his lips against Yoon Tae-hee’s. It was a simple, clean kiss. When their lips parted with a soft mwah sound, Yoon Tae-hee opened his eyes halfway and murmured like someone half-asleep, “Keep doing it.” In response, Jae-gyeom kissed him over and over without a word of complaint. By the time he felt it was enough, Yoon Tae-hee seemed to feel the same; instead of asking for more, he slowly opened his eyes.

“Now it’s enough, right?”

Just as Jae-gyeom said this and stroked Yoon Tae-hee’s hair…

“…”

Yoon Tae-hee neither affirmed nor denied it. He gazed at Jae-gyeom for a moment, then suddenly turned his head to the side. He kissed Jae-gyeom’s ear and began to nibble and tease the outer rim of the ear with his lips.

Without realizing it, Jae-gyeom bit his own lip and squeezed his eyes shut.

The breath and the sensation of lips against his sensitive ear caused his breathing to falter instantly.

“Hng…”

Yoon Tae-hee toyed with the soft earlobe for a long time before moving across the cheek to press his nose against Jae-gyeom’s. Gasping for air, Jae-gyeom slowly opened his eyes.

The two of them looked at each other silently with half-open eyes, their noses touching. At a distance so intimate that it felt impossible to be any closer, their breaths mingled and scattered repeatedly.

Yoon Tae-hee seemed to think of himself as the subordinate in the relationship, but for Jae-gyeom, it was different. Looking only at the result, it was always Jae-gyeom who was dragged along by Yoon Tae-hee. Even now, he had been swayed by Yoon Tae-hee and slipped right into his grasp like a snake sliding over a wall. At some point, he would find himself handing over the initiative without even realizing it.

For example, suppose Jae-gyeom were gripping a pair of chopsticks tightly, on guard not to let them be taken. In such a case, Yoon Tae-hee wouldn’t try to take them by force. Instead, he would press his lips to Jae-gyeom’s ear and whisper things to distract him, and in that gap, he would slowly stroke up the arm with his fingers, caressing the clenched fist.

Because he didn’t actually touch the chopsticks but instead slowly slid his fingers between the fist, the grip would eventually loosen. By the time Jae-gyeom snapped out of it, his fingers would be interlaced with Yoon Tae-hee’s, and he would have dropped the chopsticks without even knowing. He was a truly bewitching and perverse fellow.

Looking back after time had passed, he would only then realize that what Yoon Tae-hee wanted from the start wasn’t to take the chopsticks, but to hold his hand. Just like right now.

At some point, Yoon Tae-hee stared intently at Jae-gyeom and asked quietly.

“Do you love me?”

Jae-gyeom answered without hesitation.

“I love you.”

“Even though I’m rude, jealous, petty, stingy, weak, and look down on others?”

“…”

When his own blunt criticisms were thrown back at him, Jae-gyeom was momentarily speechless. It was absurd, and hearing him say it with his own mouth was almost funny. So, he found himself scowling and laughing at the same time.

Next time, I should write a letter filled only with the good things about you.

And put some dried flower petals in it…

“That’s part of your charm.”

Jae-gyeom pulled Yoon Tae-hee’s head into a tight embrace.